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John_Warwick
Reviews
Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers: To Live and Die in Starlight (2002)
Not as Bad as some say
I have noticed some criticisms of this film which I don't agree with like...
The Hand' don't come off at all either. We are told they are billions of years old, and only their servants show themselves in this movie. Despite their superiority though, their technologically superior ships (which tear the Valen to pieces in seconds) have a really hard time taking out a damaged patrol vessel and its escape pod slinging captain. Their leader, glimpsed in transmissions is hardly menacing: he simply wears a horned hood and speaks in a vaguely legalistic sense.
The Hand are a carrot dangled before us we should want to watch the rest of the series to see them. The Minions of the hand are not supposed to be menacing they are races of aliens who are far more primitive than humans yet have been given 'Toys' by the hand to do their bidding, as explained in the film.
I believe the idea was to make the minions appear to be defeatable and believe that there was some hope until we saw their masters. If so it would have been more relevant to what we saw here. Sometimes the bigger picture reveals the hidden brilliance.
The Wasp Woman (1959)
Amusing
This film is really quite great, what you got to do is go into this film realising that its a Roger Corman film and you get what you expect. From the quality of the make up of the Wasp Woman herself to the very funny scene where the white guinea pig doesn't really get younger as promised but turns into a white rat! your first clue that this film exudes class and high production values (well maybe not). I also liked the scene where Susan Cabot asks how old do I look? how old? and the woman tells her 22! maybe its just me but I screamed out 40. Beware of the UK Elstree Hill Entertainment DVD it has very poor sound quality but you can still make it all out without straining too much. Oh I could go on all day about the funny scenes which I think are deliberate but you never can tell with R.C. but I'm not going to.
Drainiac! (2000)
Not the worst I've seen but it tries hard to be.
Well I've been suffering from insomnia for the last couple of months but after watching this film on DVD I have found a cure. Like I said its not the worst film I've ever seen but it is extremely dull and I found my mind drifting off before I nodded off. The story involves a bunch of kids a haunted house with some gooey green stuff and thats about all I can remember of it. Maybe the film would benefit a little from some decent editing as certain scenes where nothing interesting happened seemed to go for too long but then again it is such a short film without cutting it, it would probably come in at under an hour that way. So if you have to watch every cheap horror film it might be worth a look otherwise save your time and cash.
The Dead Hate the Living! (2000)
Wait for it to start.
It's a shame that this film has such a low rating on IMDb because it really is quite an entertaining film if you are prepared to wait. The problem with this film is that it seems to take forever to actually get going which can be a problem with a lot of the cheaper horror films ( I think that dark power is the worst of those I've ever seen). But for a film with a low budget when it does get going the going is good okay so its not brilliant but you shouldn't really be expecting it to be. A good little horror film made on a low budget and if you have no patience at all just skip forward for the first half hour you'll still get some background info before the action starts.
They Nest (2000)
Better than I would have credited it
I didn't really know much about this film when I saw it in the shop a cheap looking horror film for only a couple of pounds, and it looks so similar to they crawl that at first I thought it was the same film. Luckily this film is far better than they crawl. I guess that my expectations were rather low going into this film (which always helps) but I did like this film. It was a bit strange that I happened to watch this film straight after watching cold creek manor as certain plot stories are almost identical, but I am sure that they nest wasn't the first to come up with this it certainly preceded cold creek manor. Only thing to say is...If cockroaches and/or bugs make you feel errgh don't watch, otherwise not a bad little horror film there are much worse ways to kill an hour and a half.
Siu Lam juk kau (2001)
My favourite film of the 2000's
I think my summary says it all really. But I have to say more for a review and there are so many great things I could say about this film. This film has everything the zero to hero story, the humour some amazing kung fu (although mostly wire-fu but still great)and of course me being English the football too. I really don't think I have ever seen a better foreign film for all round entertainment value even if you don't like kung fu or football there's still the humour and the romantic angle I believe that everyone will find something of interest to them in this film either that or you should give up on watching films right now! The only thing I was wondering about this film is why it is called Shaolin soccer? A good name but superman soccer would have been more appropriate its just mental in places.
Great Film.
Urban Ghost Story (1998)
Not a Ghost story at all.
Well the name of the film and the description on the back of the DVD, and even the tag line would have you believe this is a ghost story.
In fact what you have here is a story of a 12 year old girl in a high rise block in Glasgow who suffered a car crash where she died but was revived.
What follows seems to be more focused on her life and her mothers struggle to raise her kids in the poverty stricken area, and the ghostly elements play a very small part and the film never really takes it any further than you are expecting.
OK watch this film if you'd like to see a film about the above mentioned but not if you want a ghost story urban or not.
Ringu (1998)
Forget about the rest
Forget about the Exorcist, forget about the American remake of this film, this film is truly the most terrifying film ever. I really couldn't recommend this film enough. Maybe the only problem with this film is that it is subtitled I myself have no problem with this but I know some people will not watch or have trouble following a subtitled film which is a shame as those people will most likely turn to the American remake of this The Ring. Although the American version isn't at all bad it just doesn't have the same atmosphere as this film does. This film does tend to have a rather slow pacing but this all adds to the climax at the end, when I first watched this I had no idea of any of the plot details and really enjoyed the ending which was the best ending I've ever seen in a film of this type and I never guessed it unlike some films eg. The Others etc.
Troll 2 (1990)
Not as bad as I thought
Well I bought this film as it only cost me like £1 so I thought why not?, then I logged onto the IMDb and read all about this film and then I thought to myself hmmm maybe thats why not. But after watching this film maybe with my expectations set rather low I was quite surprised and I found this film entertaining if not really good, but then thats why we watch films isn't it? to be entertained. Yes OK the acting is appalling no doubt about that however there are some great expressions of shock on the faces of the "actors" I especially enjoyed the mothers look of shock ! All in all not a bad film I have seen many low budget films in my time and I have to say this is far from the worst, and almost good but not quite. Probably best viewed when intoxicated.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life (2003)
This film is treading Thin Ground
OK so I could just about stand the first film Lara Croft Tomb Raider, Although that film was so far fetched and ridiculous that even fans of 007 would find it un-realistic but it seems that this sequel goes even further to the realm of unrealism it portrays scene so unbelievable that a two year old child would be stroking their chin. See the way "Lara" escapes from the underwater city for proof of this.
The Story as such isn't really so bad, it seems to me to be a case of good idea poor execution and some OTT scenes don't help at all. Otherwise I found this film to be a reasonable action film maybe the middle of the film is a little dull but the opening and esp. the closing scenes are done to provide a reasonable amount of interest and if your a fan of either Angelina or Tomb Raider you will most likely enjoy if not love this film probably worth renting but don't pay large amounts of cash to own this one though.
The Dummy (2000)
Maybe the worst film in history
This has got to be the very worst film I have ever had the misfortune to endure. The dummy himself does absolutely nothing at all he just sits there with a silly grin. The plot is extremely poor and very very dull. You will most likely find that just trying to stay awake during this film is nearly impossible. But enough about the good points, The acting is second only to a primary school play, and the production values are non existent. in summary its fair to say I didn't like this film a whole lot. Avoid this film at all costs, also beware of any film from the Film 2000 label.