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BloodBeret
Reviews
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (2004)
A movie-based game that actually is really, really good.
Anyone with a remote interest in video games have probably noticed that, with a few exceptions, games based on movies tend to be, well... crap (and vice versa for that matter). The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is however both an exception to this rule and in some ways a milestone when it comes to collaboration between the video gaming industry and Hollywood.
Everything in this game just resonates quality. From the highly impressive graphics to the story to the voice acting and enemy AI. From the moment you slip the disc into your Xbox it's obvious that some real talent and hard work went into this product. TCoR: EfBB also blends shooting, hand-to-hand fighting and stealth elements all in a first person perspective in a very clever way, with the shooting portion being the meat and potatoes of the game. There's been a few games that has tried to pull off this variety of elements before, but Escape from Butcher Bay is the only one so far that has implemented it properly.
The only real downside to the game that I found was that it was a bit on the short side. Depending on which difficulty you choose and how much you are into exploring the surroundings and such, you should be looking at the region of 9-16 hours of game play (I recommend you play this game on hard difficulty!). This is certainly a game you would want to come back and play again though, first and foremost since it's so damn fun and secondly since there's plenty of unlockable extras scattered around the game in terms of trailers, concept art etc.
I give it a well deserved 9/10.
Pearl Harbor (2001)
I don't want to see this movie ever again.
First off, I would like to say that I'm not going to talk about the truckload of historical errors in Pearl Harbor but instead talk about the movie for what it is.
I've managed to avoid Pearl Harbor ever since it premiered, and it was never a movie I planned on watching, but when it aired on tv the other day my curiosity got the better of me. I have to admit that I had a really hard time hindering myself from switching channels. During some of the more unbareable moments of the movie (and there's lots of them!) I caught myself wishing that everyone who participated in this movie should be banned from acting ever again. Adding to the turkey-esque feeling of the movie is that fact that just about every cliché known to the movie industry is fired off at some point during the movie. Everything from the unlikely black guy hero (Cuba Gooding Jr.) to the amazingly sluggish and painfully sentimental love story to the run-off-the-mill war heroes (i.e. Affleck, Hartnett - which by all accounts manages to look handsome in uniform - but are about as interesting as a complicated tax return). Just about the only thing they got right was the prolonged battle sequence at the end which no doubt looked spectacular, but that alone is not enough by a longshot to save this movie from the abyss of cheesyness. It's simply nothing more than a bad script, bad acting and bad dialogue trying to look good by a budget that could feed a third world nation.
I'm not the first one to say this, but if you want to see a good movie about the Pearl Harbor attack, watch "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and do yourself a favour: try real hard to avoid this garbage.
Ringu (1998)
Psychological horror at its best.
I have read numerous opinions concerning the subject of Ringu versus the U.S. remake. Since I have not yet seen the Hollywood interpretation of Ringu I won't comment on it, yet I find it hard to believe that it could be more terrifying than this. I've also noticed that people seem to either love or hate this movie, much like The Blair Witch Project, which some people seemed to loathe for whatever reason. As for myself, I have grown to love both Ringu and the first Blair Witch Project. My theory is as follows; how much you enjoy/dislike these kind of movies all have to do with how much you embrace the atmosphere of the movie, how much you try to picture yourself in the characters situation, sort of speaking. In the Blair Witch case, for example, I think we would all be scared half to death if we were in the situation that was portrayed in that movie. Unless, of course, you have a steady supply of valium and horse tranquilisers. If you can't picture yourself in the protagonist(s) situation, of course you're going to think that the movie is boring. Sorry for the rant, but the conclusion is: same goes for Ringu. I might have a slightly unorthodox take on this, but for me, a good eerie atmosphere that you can picture yourself in is absolutely paramount in any horror flick. Without that, you have nothing as far as I'm concerned. These kind of horror movies are supposed to get your imagination going, and sad to say many people don't seem to have much of an imagination to move in the first place.
Ringu was one of those movies I sat down and watched without having heard anything about it beforehand, except that it was some sort of a Japanese horror flick. I began to watch it with little hope of this being a good movie, but when it was over I was left sitting on the sofa with my fist stuck between my teeth in an attempt to cope with my `post-horror stress disorder'. I also think I might have swallowed large portions of the pillow I used to shield my tender eyes with during the more terrorizing portions of the movie, as well as choking on the popcorn. The director Hideo Nakata (kudos to him, by the way) has really achieved a perfect atmosphere of psychological horror-suspense here, not so much relying on `BOOH!'-effects (though there are a few of those around, for sure) but rather constructing a more and more unpleasant and ghastly mood as the movie progresses, and this is all done in a highly impressive and skillful way with thankfully little use of special effects. In the beginning of the movie I thought that this was probably some sort of dull Japanese take on Scream with dumbfounded teenagers running around getting butchered, and even though some vague parallels with Scream might exist, it was something I quickly forgave Ringu for. I will certainly not post any spoilers, but after an hour or so into the movie you really start to feel the uneasy mood start to creep up on you, and I have to say that the subtitles didn't bother me at all. Good acting, a superb score, a terrifying story and excellent directing are all combined in Ringu. Needless to say, I highly recommend this movie. watch it on a rainy night with the lights turned down and let the atmosphere embrace you.
In my personal opinion, this is one of the very best horror movies of the 90's together with The Blair Witch Project. Ring(u) really re-established my faith in this genre which has recently been plagued by far too many crappy additions. Next to the old master Dario Argento, I dare to say that Hideo Nakata is one of my favourite horror directors of all time.
Suicide Kings (1997)
Clever and skillfully told
A skillfully told and at times hilarious thriller about a group of spoiled youths of whom one has received word that her sister has been kidnapped. In order for the kidnappers to return her sister they also decide to play the hostage game and subsequently abduct the local Cosa Nostra-chieftain Carlo Beneditti (Christopher Walken). As you might imagine, they indeed chose the wrong man to kidnap.
I certainly can't complain about the acting in Suicide Kings, Christopher Walken is simply perfect in the role of a cold-hearted and methodical mafioso. I also have to mention that one of my favorite comedians of all time, Denis Leary (who figured the eminent "No Cure for Cancer" standup session), can be seen in the role of a brutal hitman, a role he was born to play it seems. Sean Patrick Flannery, Jay Mohr, Henry Thomas and the rest are otherwise great in impersonating desperate yuppie kids.
When you see Suicide Kings it's very easy to compare it to the Tarantino-genre (especially "Reservoir Dogs"), and probably not without reasons. However, Peter O'Fallon has made such a superb movie that I wasn't bothered at all by any possible Tarantino-parallels. I enjoyed Suicide Kings immensely; then again, it might just be me who's a sucker for these kinds of movies.