Robin-58 Reviews

The Fifth Element (1997)

Earth, Fire, Air, Water...and coolness

[18 January 2004]

Cool enjoyable sci-fi actioner that starts off in early 20th Century Egypt for the set up, the barrels through 300 years later for the main story. Bruce Willis is on great form as his atypical reluctant action hero, pretty much in the same mold as the "Die Hard" trilogy. The f/x are just amazing. The New York of the future alone is worth the price of the dvd.

The tone of the film is lighter than the advertising would leave one to suppose - in my estimation the tone of the movie plays pretty much like a Bond film - staggering f/x, likeable hero, awesome action sequences, some comedy, and a lot of coolness.

Alice Cooper: Brutally Live (2000 Video)

Still setting the standard after all these years !!

[10/10 · 12 October 2002]

At the time of writing, this is the most recent of Alice Cooper's concerts to be released on video. In my view, it is the best to date, surpassing "Welcome to my Nightmare" "Trashes the World" and even "The Nightmare Returns". In this outing which was taped in London in 2000, Alice is at his best. Starting with a prologue, leading in to Alice's entrance to the guitar riff from "Brutal Planet", leading on to a perfectly balanced mix of the classics and the "Brutal Planet" material, this is a must have for any Alice fan, and a great starting point for someone wanting to see the grand master of shock rock while listening to a selection of his greatest hits. High points in the concert are (as usual) "The Ballad of Dwight Frye" performed from a strait jacket, the beheading, "Feed My Frankenstein" and Alice's "resurrection" plus great performances of "Wicked young man" "School's Out" and "Take it Like a Woman". There are no low points. As an interesting piece of trivia, readers may want to note that the "Go to Hell" dominatrix and the asylum nurse are both played by Alice's daughter, Calico Cooper.

Somewhere in Time (1980)

Simply....

[30 June 2002]

Outside his role of "Superman", Christopher Reeve's finest screen outing. Perfect soundtrack music, perfect cinematography in and around the hotel. Good performances also by Jane Seymour and Christopher Plummer. Nice evocation of a byegone age. Check your cynicism at the door and enjoy.

Barbarella (1968)

Flash Gordon, in drag, on LSD !

[19 November 2001]

When I watch a film, I try and gauge my reaction with a sense of how it must've been a product of its time. Example, "King Kong" 1933 will always be a masterpiece for the sheer ingenuity involved in its making. However, any way I look at it, and I've just seen it for the first time in a decade and a half, "Barbarella" seems to me to be one of those films that just amazes me with its ineptitude. If it's a comedy, it's just not funny. The constant and repeated penile shaping of various vehicles gets tedious really, really quickly. If it's sci-fantasy, it's practically an insult to the genre. It's amazing to me that it was made at the same time as "2001". That became a high watermark for f/x. This lamentable waste of celluloid actually tries to get away with back projection of lava lamps as a representation of space.

If watching Jane Fonda's lowest career ebb as a bargain basement soft porn Flash Gordonette is your thing, fine.....to me, it's a horribly dated, horribly executed mis-step.

Fantasia 2000 (1999)

An Almost Flawless Masterpiece

[9/10 · 1 September 2001]

Although I was aware of the original plan to renew the Fantasia concept every so often, and that it was visualised as an ongoing project, I felt that going back after 60 years was too much, and that the original classic should be left alone. However, my initial scepticism was dispelled within seconds of the opening sequence. What we have here is a lush, vibrant fusion of animation and music, each fully complimenting the other to perfection. It's hard to pick a favorite sequence, but if really pressed, for personal taste alone, it would be the awesome sequence with the whales. Mickey's Sorcerer's Apprentice sequence is the only carry over from the original, and a worthy match for it in the 2000 lineup is the Donald "Noah".

The only criticism I have of the film is the bridging sequences, featuring Steve Martin, Penn & Teller, Bette Midler and others. I would have preferred that they stuck to one presenter, preferably James Earl Jones or Angela Landsbury. They seemed to take the material and the project far more seriously than Martin and Penn & Teller who's humor detracted from the dignity of the movie as a whole.

Alice Cooper: The Nightmare Returns (1989 Video)

The Legend Lives !

[10/10 · 23 August 2001]

If you've ever wanted to get to an Alice Cooper concert, but fate just never went your way, your days of woe are over. This is what you need. The definitive Alice Cooper concert on video ! The classics, the (then) new stuff, and the theatrics, all in one glorious 84 minute package. Get it, slip it in the player, turn the volume on high and have a BLAST !

Wild Wild West (1999)

Mild, Wild West

[5/10 · 5 February 2001]

Strange film....very strange. It's clever....but misguided. Fans of the original t.v. series will find very little familiar here, the title character, played by Will Smith, is the film's main problem. Street smart, hip, rapping dialogue doesn't fit in easily with an Old West backdrop, where in reality, someone would probably have shot him in the back. Having said that though, the film's climax, with the giant mechanical spider is one of the best f/x sequences yet committed to film in my opinion, very "War of the Worlds" in tone as it menaces and destroys a Western Town. All in all, if you can overlook Smith's streetwise 90s humor being a century out of place, the ending alone is worth your time.

American Pie (1999)

Funny.......damn funny !

[9/10 · 17 December 2000]

I was surprised to see the amount of negative reaction to this movie. I saw it, and laughed almost the whole way through. The only problem that I had was that I couldn't accept the cast as being an average age of around 17, but then again.....who ever cared that John Belushi was way too old in Animal House ? My recommendation, by it/ rent it/ relax/ kick back/see it with a crowd of friends.....it won't change your life, but it'll make you laugh.

The Net (I) (1995)

Hitchcock would have been proud.

[22 August 2000]

This is undoubtedly the type of film Alfred Hitchcock would be making, if he was still among us, an ordinary type of person, caught in extraordinary circumstances, not knowing who to trust. Sandra Bullock plays the girl next door computer analyst to perfection, as small, seemingly insignificant events accelerate way out of her control, and she finds herself on the run from just about everybody. Pretty much the same way as Cary Grant did in "North By Northwest".

Beyond the Mat (1999)

When the lights go down and the crowds go home.

[13 August 2000]

I, like many others, find wrestling a kind of a guilty pleasure, seen more often by non-fans as the mainstay of 10 year old kids. I like watching shows like "Raw", I enjoy the sheer spectacle of the pay per views. But what happens when the lights go down, the stadiums empty, and the seemingly indestructible superheroes of the ring go home to their wives and their kids ? This is what this documentary explores.....from the ranks of the unknowns trying to work their way to the big leagues, to the current legends, Mick Foley, and Terry Funk...to past idols like Jake The Snake Roberts. We see at first hand the toll that wrestling 28 days out of every month can take.......the injuries, the trauma caused to kids seeing their father staggering, covered in his own blood from an appearance in front of a baying crowd...."I think we reached some people tonight" Foley says as his head is stitched up. And the even higher cost to Jake Roberts, fallen from grace, now wrestling in front of hundreds on a local circuit,instead of millions on pay per view. Disturbing, touching, and very, very well done. Highly recommended.

The Beach Boys: An American Band (1985)

Warts and all.

[10/10 · 19 July 2000]

An excellent warts and all docu-bio of the legendary Californian surf band, told by the members themselves. From the very beginning, all the way to drummer Dennis Wilson's untimely death. A mixture of vintage concert footage, interviews, film clips and narration by those concerned. Well worth an hour and three quarters of your life.

Wishmaster (1997)

Well, it's not that bad, but I wish it was better.

[7/10 · 19 July 2000]

Basically, I liked it. The Djinn itself was well realised, even if it's demon voice eventually got a little irritating....there's only so many times you can listen to him saying "Make......your wishesssseeeeh". Having said that, the film isn't as bad as it's sometimes made out to be, and it's nice to see a film featuring cameos by Tony Todd, Robert Englund and Kane Hodder.

Tarzan (1999)

Let's do the Jungle Rock !

[30 November 1999]

I've seen most, if not all of the Disney animated classics, and recently, they've ranged from dull and uninspired (Pocahontas) to future classic (Beauty and the Beast) to just disappointing (Aladdin)to basically bad ideas (Hercules) to blown opportunities (Hunchback) but this was a story screaming to be made, and thankfully, they got it right ! From the opening scene aboard the blazing boat right up to the ending, it was a thrill ride that kept both me and my son on the edge of our seats. The animation was just about the most fluid I've ever seen, and the backgrounds were absolutely astounding. The comedy worked, without being intrusive, cutesy animals kept to a minimum, very little mawkishness and a Phil Collins soundtrack to embellish the perfection. I'll give at an almost unheard of 9

Nick Fury: Agent of Shield (1998 TV Movie)

A less than Marvel-ous outing !

[30 November 1999]

I wanted to like this, I had pretty high hopes for it. I mean, a one dimensional actor playing a one dimensional character. Nothing could go wrong, right ? Er.........wrong ! From Hasselhoff's wooden acting, (and lets face it, this guy's been upstaged by a car, and several mounds of silicone in his past roles,) is even worse than normal. The f/x are abysmal, the SHIELD base looks a lot like Captain Scarlet's Cloudbase..........actually, thinking about it, Captain Scarlet would've been a better leading man. No spoilers here, people..........you can't spoil trash !