This has got to be one of the most disappointing films of recent memory. And I just got finished watching License to Wed. The basic notion is intriguing enough: people live in a dystopic future but the "Man" keeps it hidden from them using computer chips implanted in their brains. Our hero is a stand-up, police-officer kind of guy who, for fairly unclear reasons, decides to join a rag-tag group of rebels (by group I mean one or two) dedicated to showing the world the truth. But this didn't even rise to the level of a Sci-Fi channel original movie, but was slightly better than that one zombie movie made by those kids in their trailer park one weekend... and Transmorphers. The acting was as good as could be expected, given the wooden dialogue, bad direction and snails-pace editing. No, that's not true. The acting was also pretty bad. The music sounded like something out of a mid-80's video game. This was more like someone's proof of concept of a movie than the actual movie itself. If I had a chip implanted in my brain I'd program it to make myself remember doing something slightly enjoyable for the last hour and a half of my life. Avoid at all costs.
8 Reviews
Not the worst movie ever ...
karlito315 September 2008
but not far from it either. Can rise some mild interest, but every now and than it also blow it by some stupid, not needed scene ( one where two main characters fight with swarm of flying bots is really beyond comprehension, both technically and logic wise), copycat cliché usage and , as someone already mentioned, worst "should be post-apoc" sets I have ever seen in any movie. Nevertheless, I watched it to the end. Main actor did rather solid job, despite some criticism here. It looks refreshingly underplayed as opposed to regular overplay standard for this type and level of movies. Some of effects are decent (???), and story itself is not that horrible. All in all, not the worst movie(just in last few weeks I saw at least two much worse, one of them being Living hell), but not too far either.
Better than forking yourself in the eye. Just.
richardlamond7928 November 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I didn't have high expectations going into this one: Rubbish B-movie title, the poor man's Bruce Willis style lead actor, the dodgy effects but that could have been part of the charm of it. I love B-movies. I really do. Sometimes the story (and particularly with sci-fi) is good enough to redeem matters. But not here.
Some of the acting is truly dreadful - the lead male is painfully average but with the notable exception of Alexis Thorpe, still manages to turn in the best performance...
Mr Valentine's demise is, as others have already said, unintentionally hilarious and is the only reason I can muster up to watch any of this dross ever again.
The plot is a lame Matrix rip-off with nothing even remotely original about it. A particular highlight is the scene where Kyla is put in a prison cell and promptly escapes within 20 seconds making the whole sequence completely redundant.
And that's pretty much it really... avoid.
Some of the acting is truly dreadful - the lead male is painfully average but with the notable exception of Alexis Thorpe, still manages to turn in the best performance...
Mr Valentine's demise is, as others have already said, unintentionally hilarious and is the only reason I can muster up to watch any of this dross ever again.
The plot is a lame Matrix rip-off with nothing even remotely original about it. A particular highlight is the scene where Kyla is put in a prison cell and promptly escapes within 20 seconds making the whole sequence completely redundant.
And that's pretty much it really... avoid.
Is it profitable?
charlesdias28 October 2007
This movie has all characteristics to be one of the mos awful movies of the year. It's a mix of superficial story with poor dramatization, far than poor sets and cheap CGI (computer generated images).
I choose to watch it because the poster I saw on a website but I needed just three minutes to realize it was a waste of time I just accepted to go on with because it was a lazy rainy Sunday night.
I'm really curious to know why people design, work on and put on the market such crap movies like this one. I barely believe it's minimum profitable. Perhaps it's a way to get some business tax reduction by "supporting culture financing movies production"./ Anyway, just think about watching it in a lazy rainy Sunday with no other good movie aveible for watching.
I choose to watch it because the poster I saw on a website but I needed just three minutes to realize it was a waste of time I just accepted to go on with because it was a lazy rainy Sunday night.
I'm really curious to know why people design, work on and put on the market such crap movies like this one. I barely believe it's minimum profitable. Perhaps it's a way to get some business tax reduction by "supporting culture financing movies production"./ Anyway, just think about watching it in a lazy rainy Sunday with no other good movie aveible for watching.
Nightmare city is a nightmare
disgras7 November 2007
This movie sucks but Alexis Thorpe is gorgeous! Why the world turned to be that way is not clearly explained and I don't understand how mass mind control could be achieved (they have to catch every citizens and implant chips in their brain?) The sci-fi basis is weak. Imagine in medieval times, a group of rebels led by a woman tried to rise up against tyrannical rule and somehow a brave knight (our hero is an employed cop now) joined them. It makes no difference except laser guns are used in this movie. Not every successful sci-fi movie relies on cheap visual effects but most importantly, the plot must make sense and illuminate our vision of future. Some hollow and meaningless conversions are particularly turn-off in this one. However, it's a pleasure to see Alexis Thorpe controls machines with her pretty eyes.
A waste of time
gianmarcoronconi4 December 2023
This is not a real review, it should be understood more as a collection of impressions on the film.
But why when you have a small budget do you decide to make films that should have million-dollar special effects, I really don't understand, this is obviously one of the main problems of the film because the special effects are something terrible and make the whole thing really unenjoyable. Film, then we add the fact that the acting literally sucks, that is, in addition to the horrendous special effects they hired actors without even a shred of talent which horrifies the viewer even more. The only positive note is the plot which isn't that bad.
But why when you have a small budget do you decide to make films that should have million-dollar special effects, I really don't understand, this is obviously one of the main problems of the film because the special effects are something terrible and make the whole thing really unenjoyable. Film, then we add the fact that the acting literally sucks, that is, in addition to the horrendous special effects they hired actors without even a shred of talent which horrifies the viewer even more. The only positive note is the plot which isn't that bad.
The worst movie ever!
muzikbg8 December 2007
Seriously. What the hell was that? I'd give it minus 10 if I could. Awful scenario, awful acting, awful effects, awful choreography... there was absolutely nothing in this movie that can make you feel anything but a complete loss of time. I'd never write a comment like this, just because I respect people's effort to create something, but this is by far the worst movie I've seen... By the way, most of it is shot in Sofia, Bulgaria, in a place called "Business Park Sofia", and is what I see everyday when I look out the window. Well, that was the only thrilling thing for me in this movie, but it won't be for you, so PLEASE don't waste your time :) Oh. There's one reason to watch it - "what shouldn't your movie/acting look like". I apologize to the crew that worked on this movie but it's a shame to charge people money that they have worked for to see this. It really is. I bet you didn't spend more than a 500 000$ on this movie. And who made the 3D... guess what? IT'S AWFUL! My little brother make better 3d than you, and he's a high school student.
Pretty cool sci-fi movie - seriously!
sarastro727 October 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Going in, one doesn't have enormous faith in a movie titled "Nightmare City 2035" - it sounds more like a game than a movie. As it began, the movie did seem rather cheesy. As we're first introduced to the two cops, Stevenson (Stefan Ivanov) in particular seems to be over-acting, as if he has no actual acting experience whatsoever. But it immediately gets a lot better, and not just on the acting front, either. The story draws you in, and from then on it never gives you a chance to feel bored. Stevenson is perhaps a bit over the top, but that's how his character is, and it works well in the end, when he comes to the Security Center to beat up McDowell, shaking him out of his chip-induced complacency.
The movie has a politically charged and obviously post-9/11 plot. It's about a ruthless ruling elite which engineers social collapses in order to induce fear in the population so people will accept an oppressive police state which gets increasingly out of hand, trampling still harder on the ordinary person's rights and freedoms. It's like an extreme version of the Patriot Act, coupled with the conspiracy theory that the U.S. government itself was behind 9/11 (which I don't believe, but in some cases the notion doesn't seem so far-fetched).
It's a good and worthwhile science fiction movie. All the plot points not only make sense, but also connect into a greater and coherent whole, and most of the acting talent is perfectly fine. The movie is pretty much carried by the surprisingly impressive performance of Maxwell Caulfield as Deputy Minor McDowell - I will even go so far as to say that this is the best performance by Caulfield I have ever seen (but then, he's never been a favorite of mine).
The copious visual effects, while probably cheap, are created with obvious passion, and in an economic way which serves the story without wasting expensive effects shots on action and explosions.
This is one of the rare, low-budget productions where every elements truly gels, and the story, directing and special effects actually work together and complement each other in a way that lifts the whole of the final product. I was impressed.
I rate this an 8 out of 10. Normally, I would give it 7, but considering what type of movie this is, and how rarely they turn out well, I think this deserves an extra notch, just for the passion the producers poured into it. This is a seriously nice piece of science fiction movie-making. As someone mentioned on the message boards: this is not a big movie with small ideas, but a small movie with big ideas. A handsome work, well worth the price of the DVD.
The movie has a politically charged and obviously post-9/11 plot. It's about a ruthless ruling elite which engineers social collapses in order to induce fear in the population so people will accept an oppressive police state which gets increasingly out of hand, trampling still harder on the ordinary person's rights and freedoms. It's like an extreme version of the Patriot Act, coupled with the conspiracy theory that the U.S. government itself was behind 9/11 (which I don't believe, but in some cases the notion doesn't seem so far-fetched).
It's a good and worthwhile science fiction movie. All the plot points not only make sense, but also connect into a greater and coherent whole, and most of the acting talent is perfectly fine. The movie is pretty much carried by the surprisingly impressive performance of Maxwell Caulfield as Deputy Minor McDowell - I will even go so far as to say that this is the best performance by Caulfield I have ever seen (but then, he's never been a favorite of mine).
The copious visual effects, while probably cheap, are created with obvious passion, and in an economic way which serves the story without wasting expensive effects shots on action and explosions.
This is one of the rare, low-budget productions where every elements truly gels, and the story, directing and special effects actually work together and complement each other in a way that lifts the whole of the final product. I was impressed.
I rate this an 8 out of 10. Normally, I would give it 7, but considering what type of movie this is, and how rarely they turn out well, I think this deserves an extra notch, just for the passion the producers poured into it. This is a seriously nice piece of science fiction movie-making. As someone mentioned on the message boards: this is not a big movie with small ideas, but a small movie with big ideas. A handsome work, well worth the price of the DVD.
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