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Reviews
Minority Report (2002)
So far, the best film of 2002.
I had Spider-Man pegged as film of the year, so far. But merely weeks later Minority as kicked its eight legged butt outta top spot. I'm not a big fan of either Cruise or Spielberg, but every now and then they each come up with something special. Well now the two of them, working together on a production for the first time, have brought us the greatest film of the year so far. It's imaginative, innovative, the action sequences are exciting, production design is stunning and there's a top story to boot. You never quite know what's going on, even when you are fooled into thinking you do.
Saying any more would spoil it.
5 out of 5
Planet of the Apes (2001)
response to some questions.
i know i am nnot meant to directly respond to another post, but i think these questions need to be answered:
*******SPOILER ALERT************
Q. How did the clock in the mini-spacecraft know what year it is? You see the year quickly moving forward - on what signal or date is this based?
A. I dunno. But it turned out to be innacurate anyway, as Davidson was actually in the past.
Q. In the original movie, the humans could not talk. This made it believable that the apes would treat humans like animals, because in our own world, animals do not talk. One of the biggest problems in this remake is that the humans CAN talk. This makes the idea that they would be treated like animals ridiculous. You can bet that if apes could speak English in our world, we probably wouldn't keep them in zoos, animal rights notwithstanding.
A. Remember when Americans kept black people as slaves? I beleive they could talk, but it made no difference to their 'masters'.
Q. How is that when Capt. Davidson (Wahlberg) lands on the planet, he enters it in the future, but when the main ship crashed on the same planet going after him, it was thousands of years in the PAST? Wouldn't the time be the same for both - after all, they are going through the same space-time distortion?
A. The distortion was unstable, so it spat anyone that entered it out at many different points in time. Hence Davidson, the Monkey, and the main ship all entering at different times.
Q. It's never clearly explained how the chimps mutated to become apes, and intelligent, English speaking apes at that.
A. In the film it is mentioned that they were genetically engineered apes. After arriving on the Planet and killing the humans on the ship, thy evolved into English speaking apes.
Q. How did the apes get from their planet to Earth and replace all the humans?
A. The apes never left their planet. There planet was in fact Earth. Davidson landed on Earth in the PAST, therefore affecting the future. Since he didn't kill General Thade, we are meant to assume that after Davidson left to return home, Thade escaped from his captivity, got the apes to join him again and dispatched all the humans. So when Wahlberg returned to Earth in the FUTURE, it was populated by apes.
Anyway, that's how i understood the movie.
Chopper (2000)
Best Aussie Film Of 2000
I can't recommend Chopper highly enough. Even if you hate the guy in real life, but there's no denying that Eric Bana puts in a flawless performance. For everyone overseas who has seen this film, I really wish you had seen the real Mark 'Chopper' Read so you could compare Bana to the real thing. It's hard to spot the difference. As for the film, it's funny, chilling, disturbing and enjoyable all at once. See it.
Le Cinquième Élément (1997)
See it.
See this movie. See it for the dazzling special effects, the action and the humour. The Fifth Element has everything you could want in a movie, and even though it's fairly long you will not be bored. I have seen it a number of times and I am far from being tired of it, it's one of my favourite movies of all time. I hope you see it so it can become one of yours as well.
Hard Target (1993)
The Best Of Van Damme
Hard Target is arguably Jean Claude Van Damme's best film. The action sequences, particularly the chase through the cemetery and the shootout in the Mardi-Gras warehouse are are smoothly and stylishly directed by John Woo. It stands up to repeated viewings and is worth watching along with Broken Arrow and Face/Off just to see how John Woo has progressed since coming to Hollywood. Lance Henriksen is perfect as the villain and Van Damme is a good hero. Overall quite an exciting and well done film, though not perfect.
The Waterboy (1998)
See It
Obviously any Adam Sandler fan will love the Waterboy. I certainly did. No matter how many times Sandler knocked some guy out I still found myself laughing, and Rob Schneider's cameo was amusing too. And there's no way I can knock a movie which co-stars Henry Winkler. Overall, not as good as the classic 'Happy Gilmore', but an excellent movie all the same.
The Peacemaker (1997)
Not just any old nuke flick
'The Peacemaker' takes that old scenario of stolen nuclear weapons and injects it with enough energy and excitement to make an entertaining action/thriller. I thought Mimi Leder did a top job as director while Clooney and Kidman put in solid performances in their roles, even if Clooney got to do all the fun stuff.
Truth or Consequences, N.M. (1997)
Slick, Stylish, Enjoyable
I'd been meaning to rent this film for quite a while and when I finally did it was definitely worth my cash. While the basic elements of the plot are nothing new, the finished product is a stylish film which I enjoyed from start to finish. Sutherland does a fine job directing, not to mention his acting. The rest of the cast puts in good performances as well. I only wish we could have seen more of Martin Sheen's character.
Soldier (1998)
Starts Well, Ends Well
This movie starts off well, showing Russell's rise through the ranks as a soldier and then his downfall when he and his comrades are replaced by more advanced soldiers. Then he's left for dead on a planet used as a garbage dump.
From here, the mid section of the film is light on action as he gets to know the people on the planet. Then it hots up at the end as he saves these people from the very same soldiers who replaced him.
The special effects are quite good, but similar to those seen in many other films of today, so they didn't exactly blow me away.
The dependable Gary Busey is also in the movie, but not enough in my opinion. Russell doesn't have a lot of dialogue, but that doesn't matter because we've come here to see the action.
Overall not terrible, not excellent, but a passable action distraction.
The Assignment (1997)
Smart, Sophisticated Action/Thriller
I loved this film. It was so intelligent but it also had some great action sequences, without basing the movie solely around them. Quinn, Sutherland and Kingsley all put in fantastic performances and there are enough twists to keep anyone interested. The ending was great as well.
Black Dog (1998)
A brainless but entertaining experience
I caught Black Dog when it came out on video. It's one of those films where you just have to sit back and watch the action because you don't need to worry about the story. I especially liked the chase scene early in the film. Meatloaf's constant quoting of bible verses is highly irritating and I just couldn't take him seriously as a villain. Oh yeah, Swayze plays the role of the ex-con forced to do a job against his will in order to save his house and family. Unoriginal? You bet, but the action scenes are exciting and well executed.
The Avengers (1998)
Between Good and Great
While not a brilliant film, The Avengers was a good piece of entertainment, with a great chase scene featuring mechanical bugs and some off the wall humour (bear suits!!?) which people may not appreciate. The site of a boardroom table with multi coloured bears sitting at it has to be one of the weirdest of 1998.
However, I don't think that Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman were the the right choices the play Peel and Steed. Instead of sounding witty they just sounded plain boring, and there was little chemistry. The constant references to tea were funny though, especially the dispenser in Steed's car.
On the other hand I found Connery to be a worthy villain. Definitely the best performance in the film.
The film had style, but the whole thing didn't seem to flow properly. I guess this is the fault of the editor(s). I can't help thinking that it could have been so much better, and that if there was a sequel that it would be so much better. But I guess there's no hope of a sequel, is there?
Snake Eyes (1998)
Loved It
I've read many reviews of Snake Eyes from this site and from other sources, and the majority of them are bad ones. I have to say that I saw this film the day it came out (and got a free poster) and I enjoyed every minute. From the brilliant opening sequence (which has been praised in almost every review I've seen, good or bad) to the end I was engrossed in this film. It didn't matter that the villain was revealed early in the piece, as there was still a great deal of suspense generated in the remainder of the film. I left the cinema happy in the knowledge that my ten dollars had bought me a great 2 hours of entertainment. Snake Eyes was definitely one of the best movies I saw in 1998.
The Big Hit (1998)
Hits the spot
This movie was excellent. It had a perfect mix of action and comedy, especially the running gags. The visuals are great especially the way the flashbacks are done. It seems that a lot of fun was had making this film and I sure had a lot of fun watching it.
Con Air (1997)
Just Plain Fun
This movie was fantastic because it had a mix of everything. The action was exciting, the jokes were funny and it all added up to a movie which was well, fun. Of course it's corny, violent and pumped full of testosterone, but it's a big boy's action movie, so what else would you expect?
Spawn (1997)
Yawn
The worst movie I've seen this decade. I must have checked my watch 97 times when I saw this at the cinema. I just wanted to get out. Virtually no storyline, average acting and overall a very boring movie. I kept waiting for an exciting ending but it didn't happen. Don't bother. 1/10
The Young Ones (1982)
Completely Brilliant
Simply one of the best TV shows ever made. Totally hilarious, and sometimes you have to think about some of the jokes too, which shows smart writing, or dumb viewers maybe. Anyway, The Young Ones never gets boring.