Dissident Reviews

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

The best film in the original trilogy.

[2 May 2000]

The Empire Strikes Back is the best film in the original Star Wars trilogy. It has all the great qualities that the original Star Wars has: great effects (at the time of its release), appealing characters, and lots of spellbinding action. It also has eliminated some of the problems that plagued the first: the storyline is tighter, and goes much deeper into character development. The performances are terrific, especially by Harrison Ford as Han Solo, and Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian. George Lucas has also remembered to include a spellbinding battle sequence with the snowspeeder sequence near the beginning of the film. The conclusion, with a lightsaber duel between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, is truly one of the most suspenseful and dramatic scenes in the entire series. This is a truly wondrous film, and serves as a constant reminder that just because a movie is expensive and a blockbuster doesn't mean that it has to be shallow and two dimensional. This film will undoubtedly entertain viewers of all ages from start to finish.

Leprechaun 4: In Space (1996 Video)

A new low for the series

[29 April 2000]

The fourth entry in the Leprechaun series is definitely the worst. The acting is juvenile, and it's made worse by a laughable script. The effects show no effort or quality whatsoever. And don't get me started on the "comedy" . . . The story is about a leprechaun who terrorizes a ship of space marines in order to get his bride and his gold back. In the corner of the marines is a handful of really dull characters, including a sargent (lovingly called "Sarge") with a cheesy-looking plate in his skull, no less than TWO buxom ladies, and the good guy with the obligatory toughman shirtless scene. Then there's the head of the ship (or something, we never really understand what he is) whom I think is a doctor, but is also one of the bad guys (I'm guessing here again). In the end, there is little reason to see this film, it certainly will not entertain you (unless you get kicks out of renting REALLY bad movies and throwing your money away) and it will only give the filmmakers MORE money to make another one of these sequels (which they already have, *sigh*).

Leprechaun 3 (1995 Video)

A complete waste of time and money.

[29 April 2000]

This is a truly terrible film. I'd say it's the worst one in the series, but parts 1 and 4 aren't exactly Citizen Kane either. The "plot" (and I use the term loosely) has something to do with the little green devil being resurrected in Las Vegas, and that about sums up all that is interesting about this film. On the other hand, we have several characters whose job it is to sit around and read off terrible dialogue, jokes that are usually obvious and out of place, and a monster that speaks mostly in limerick(!). I could go on about the terrible performances, or how the film tells us everything we never wanted to know about leprechauns in a cheesy little computer program. And yes, I do realize this film is supposed to be played for laughs, but more often it just extracts groans from the audience. Believe me, this film isn't even worth the price of a video rental.