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Reviews
Kill Speed (2010)
A below average B movie with some nice flying scenes
I watched this with a couple of pilot buddies of mine. I'll start with what I liked because the list is quite small.
The flying. Apart from a few shots which were obviously CGI, the rest were actual aircraft actually flying, and the production team did a great job of making them look and sound fantastic. The fact the producers chose to go down that route instead of doing them entirely in CG deserves some credit.
But the list of gross factual errors, bad dialog, silly direction, and holes in what is already a paper thin plot pales in comparison with the bad pacing. For me, the pacing totally ruined any enjoyment I might have received from this film. One of the action scenes in the middle of the film was far better done than the one at the end so the second half of the film felt rather anti-climatic.
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
A must for anyone who likes cars, but thats about it
I want to start by saying that this film has some beautiful cars in it that were the result of hundreds of hours of hard work. Rob Cohen does them justice with his slick camera work and effects to really bring the cars to life.
However, the film lacks two ingredients to make it a truly great film. Number one, a plausible plot that flows logically. The basic setting of an underground street racing circuit is an excellent place to start, but to simply use a plot that was dangerously similar to Point Break was disappointing. I found the film was way too easy to predict the ending and unlike Point Break they didn't resolve the outcomes for the majority of the ensemble characters. I thought the film needed to be about 15 to 20 minutes longer so that adequate time could be given to fill out certain parts of the film that seemed to jump from a to b without much substance, i.e. the formation of Brian's relationship to the Toretto siblings.
Two, Vin Diesel does the most with a script that struggled to portray all the multiple facets that his characterization of Dominic Toretto possessed, but Paul Walker simply doesn't have the talent as a leading man to carry the film. I thought Jordana Brewster was good and I would have liked to have seen more of Michelle Rodriguez's character as I really enjoyed her outing in Girlfight, but to no avail.
While I have no doubt that the actors are more than capable of doing a lot better than the script allows, we were not allowed to see it.
I really hope that if they make a sequel, they do it properly.
Wing Commander (1999)
Could have been better... a LOT better.
After seeing this movie a couple of times, I'd say it's a rather forgettable film. However, there are some redeeming features. Firstly, the plot (and its subsequent sub-plots) was fairly plausible, and the societal dynamic wasn't as 'squeaky clean' as a lot of other sci fi films these days. The effects overall were fairly good considering the limited budget.
Now the not so good stuff. Poor scripting lead to some very accomplished actors like David Suchet and Jurgen Prochnow appearing very wooden and forced. The editing meant some parts did not flow well at all and instead of building character relationships (particularly between Blair and Devereaux and Marshall and Forbes) it rather glossed over some very important scenes. The 'bullet time' sequence rather than being an effective plot device was made into a 'look at me' effect thrown in at the last minute and was totally superfluous to the film.
This film could have been a very good film if it had been scripted and edited better. In it's current incarnation you spend half the film scratching your head trying to decipher what is going on and the other half looking at your watch.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
The definitive 80's film
For me this was the film of the eighties. It encapsulates a lot of the humor, values and style of the teen comedy films of that period without resorting to the more vulgar aspects common to other films of it's type. A decent light hearted film that I still enjoy watching today.
Into the Sun (1991)
A film beside itself.
This film doesn't appear to want it's own identity. Instead it steals concepts from other, more successful films. The main theme is the turbulent relationship between Michael Pares character and Anthony Michael Halls which then evolves predictably into some sort of twisted buddy film.
If you are interested in this sort of comedy, see The Hard Way, which has a similar plot but is better paced, better scripted and better acted by James Woods and Michael J Fox.
Chariots of Fire (1981)
Excellent piece of film making
I remember seeing this film at the cinema with my parents in 1981 and I was impressed then.
When I watch the film now I look past the somewhat slow moving plot, and am more taken in by the great camera work, sets and costumes that really transport you into that time and place. The now famous theme music is about as perfect a score as you could want.
A great piece of British film-making.
Macross Plus (1994)
One of the better manga films I've seen
A well thought out story that unwinds around 3 separate plots. Firstly, there is a love triangle between the three main characters; the two men are test pilots competing against each other for a new transforming fighter contract with the UN Spacy defense force; and we have the latest AI music superstar visiting the lovely yet slightly odd planet of Eden.
The version which I saw was in English, and I have to say, made a very good transition from the original Japanese. Of the dubbed anime/manga films I have seen, this one is one of the better ones.