Byrnstar Reviews

Masters of the Universe: Revelation (2021)

Watch it for yourself and ignore all else.

[9/10 · 25 July 2021]

Beautiful animation, well-paced story, and a metric TON of nods to not only the original series but other aspects of the toy line and comics. Anyone teed off that we aren't watching formulaic (usually white) cookie-cutter muscle men bashing each other endlessly in lieu of a plot needs to understand we're not under-10s in the 80's anymore. Kids (and original fans) need more substantial meat to their stories today, ones with actual stakes, and this series provides both, with the addition of some moments of humor as well as genuine heartbreak.

One can only hope this brings new fans and new life into the fandom - those 'original fans' frothing at the mouth for this to fail are essentially wishing He-Man doesn't continue. IP's need to evolve, or they die away.

Streets of Fire (1984)

Great forgotten 80's romp...

[9/10 · 4 August 2015]

This movie...it's as if the 50's and the 80's had a love child, and it that child was William Defoe, channeling Kiefer Sutherland's David from the Lost Boys plus Edward Cullen...and then they gave him crack. If you thought the man was creepy before, there's a particular scene with latex overalls and fire that just cranks it up to 11.

Great movie if you love the 80's. The visuals are awesome, a combination of 50's scenery and cars mixed with tons of neon and 80's punk dress/music. Plot is so-so – the concept is straightforward but halfway through the movie it turns into a live action series of TV Tropes (which are fun, don't get me wrong, but send the plot all over the place). There are numerous scenes where the actors are clearly reading rather than performing their lines, and there's no chemistry between the male lead and his damsel in distress. But seeing Rick Moranis hamming it up as a sniveling business manager, Bill Paxton in a bit part as a wimpy barkey, Amy Madigan as a surprisingly interesting Action Girl and a young William Defoe being a creepy creeper of all creeps is more than worth it.

If you want a movie that will trigger 80's nostalgia and is a good romp to watch with a beer, this is it. If you're looking for art, you probably want something else. But this movie is what gave us the 80's hit song 'I Can Dream About You', and for that alone I give it top marks.

Wolf Lake: Unaired Pilot (2001) Season 1, Episode 0

The best werewolf story I've ever seen.

[21 January 2003]

A policeman comes to the Pacific Northwest town of Wolf Lake searching for his girlfriend, who vanished one night after being attacked. What is revealed to the viewer, however, is that the town has a secret; a small population of 'skinwalkers' - called werewolves by some - has survived here, coexisting with the local humans and sometimes even marrying them.

The 'Wolf Lake' series gives a fascinating glimpse into the possible society, beliefs, and troubles a species of 'skinwalkers' might have. There is infighting for power, for love, for and against beliefs that might be killing them. There is a struggle between a young character learning of her powers against her father who has long denied his. There is the problem of a gene pool so small and fragile that more than half of the children born die at puberty, in their first change from man to animal. There is the constant struggle to balance the human nature with the wolf, to remain hidden from the world; and a fight against those humans who know and simply refuse to accept coexistance.

This series is a powerful tribute to the fact that instead of the 'monsters' so often portrayed in stories, 'werewolves' might actually be wonderful, beautiful, if at times savage creatures in their own right; creatues with just as much right to exist as any of us. And it shows that, perhaps, 'skinwalkers' are no worse - indeed, in some ways they might be better - than the humans that fear them.