Change Your Image
elektra33
Reviews
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
It's a Gorch !
I think Insurrection gets a hard time by some fans. Of course it's not as good as First Contact, but it's far from being a bad film. How could any film featuring Picard and Data singing the HMS Pinafore be bad ? - or a film featuring a kingfisher trapped in a perfect moment in time - or the scene where Bev examines Geordi's eyes in sickbay.
I would highly recommend this film to Trekkies and non-Trekkies, but make sure you give Star Trek V a whirl first, as it's probably the best damn film you're ever likely to see.
Natural Born Killers (1994)
A film of two halves
I was looking forward to seeing "Natural Born Killers" for some time, as I am something of a sucker for violent movies (done well). I wasn't really sure what to make of this one as the credits rolled. I certainly enjoyed the first half, Mickey and Mallory on the run and their backstory, but things turned a bit dismal and predictable as they were caught and the TV/Jail "overly-long" sequence began. Overall, some touches of brilliance, especially in terms of acting and direction, but a slight mess of a story. 7/10
Hannibal (2001)
A new lease of life on DVD
When I first saw "Hannibal" at the cinema in February 2001, I was highly disappointed, I felt the first hour had some depth and good character work, but the plot(s) - especially the Verger storyline were unengaging and slightly predictable.
On DVD (and with the added commentaries as a guide), I found the film really took on a second lease of life. Moore was better than I remembered as Clarice Starling, Hopins as deliciously evil as before and Oldman, better, but still not perfect in his role.
Maybe I enjoyed the film more, because I had just finished watching "Silence" on DVD - still as thoroughly engaging as I remembered.
The only comparison between the two is the strong acting throughout both films. Both films have annoying characters - Dr Chilton in "Silence" and Paul in "Hannibal" - but both have distinct feels to the films, which make you equally identify them as separate films.
Hopefully, in time, Ridley WILL make the Director's cut of this film which he claims he won't make, as many of the Deleted Scenes were very good and would have added to the film a lot.
Obviously, the thing I most wondered on a repeated viewing is how I would feel about the ending, at the cinema, I absolutely hated it. On DVD, it was......better. Still outrageously stupid, but better than it was on first watch.
I would say "Hannibal" is a little bit behind "Silence" on every level, but only slightly. The one thing that "Hannibal" did have over "Silence" was a shocking and powerful soundtrack that is already a classic.
So, I say, give it another go if you didn't like it. You might be surprised like I was.
9/10
Yd.
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Not what I was hoping for, sadly.
I am a HUGE Tim Burton fan, the only two films I don't *love* of his are Ed Wood and Beetlejuice, sadly, Planet of the Apes was very close to falling into this category also.
There were a lot of things going for the film which were realised at times, the feel of the planet is great, the acting is generally top-notch, the soundtrack is fantastic and the ending - although unfathomable - was atleast unexpected, and that's good in a strange way.
Where it failed was in the HUGE plots holes and convenient devices used to drive along the story. All the plot-holes have been mentioned elsewhere in this review section, suffice it to say, there is little ways of getting around most of them. They just don't make sense ! - and the chimp saving the day was a very poor way to end it.
The actual plot runs thin half-way through the movie and the final battle was rather anti-climatic I thought.
I will go and see a sequel if there is one, but with a lot less excitement than I had for this film.
I can't say it wasn't good, because I never looked at my watch during the cinema, but it wasn't the best BLOCKBUSTER SUMMER movie of the year (that was Jurassic Park 3 and earlier Bridget Jones and Hannibal), but it was entertaining enough. Sadly I will always feel the *most* apt word for the movie is "Disappointing".
Yd.
Vertical Limit (2000)
Better than expected
Films like this are generally so caught up with the special effects that the plot and characters take second place. This one has some great acting all-round, Tunney, O'Donnell and Paxton (the leads) all give good performances, although I have always been a fan of Tunney (from the Craft and End of Days).
The plot is simple, but gets some nice touches to take it above the norm every now and then, the explosion of Siddig and the other guy was excellently done. I was also very impressed with the opening sequence.
A good film, highly enjoyable. 8/10
The Shining (1980)
THE BEST HORROR FILM OF ALL-TIME
Many people would say "The Exorcist" is the ultimate horror. In some ways they are right - it is the most disturbing horror of all-time. But this one is the best, the characters are generally likeable, the acting an all-time high, the imagery magnificent and there are just too many scenes that are well produced.
Nicholson is my favourite actor of all-time, so maybe I'm biased, but I absolutely love this movie. It's in my all-time top 5 !!!!
Yd.
Children of the Corn (1984)
A disappointment.
This was a disappointing film, especially considering it carried the trademark of Stephen King and actress of Linda Hamilton.
The film starts very well with the young boy telling the murder of all the grown-ups with such unawareness of what's happened. The tension is built up nicely with our two main characters driving towards Gatlin, but things suddenly take a terrible turn for the worst when Vicky is kidnapped by Isaac and cronies. Burt's refuge in the kid's hide-out is very unbelievable....why did they not ever look in there ? - It would seem to be a prime hiding spot ?
And the end......well, mighty confusing, disappointing and all-round timid considering it's supposed to be a horror film.
It's not horrendous, it starts very well and does have it moments. The acting is generally good and I'm a sucker for horrors anyway. I gave it a 7/10. If you're not a King or Horror fan, you'd probably only give it a 3 or 4.
Stir of Echoes (1999)
An excellent film
Having missed the film on it's cinematic release, having bought the DVD, I was quite pleased. The film was fantastic, but ot really a cinematic event-film, which may have brought about disappointment.
The story is the strong aspect of this film, which is actually better than it's counterpart "Sixth Sense", it doesn't capture the "I can see death" theme as well as TSS, but it's not supposed too, as it's not the driving thrust of the film.
The dilemma is:- can this one man overcome his distrust of paranormality to make sense of the visions he is seeing and understand them enough to unravel a mystery.
The film's ending was quite well done, with the viewers knowing that the child (at least) still retains his ability and is unlikely to get rid of.
A strong flick I thought. 10/10.
Ydna.
The Mummy Returns (2001)
MUCH better than the first.
I was pleasently surprised with this one, it was much more entertaining than the first, the actors were better (esp.the kid, john hannah and the two lead females). Fraser was as "over-the-top" as always, which is great for those who like his style of acting.
The effects (except for the Scorpion King) were fantastic, especially the army which reminded me of the Gunguns in SWI.
All I would recommend this one. 9/10.
Ydna.
Cherry Falls (1999)
Enjoyable slasher movie, but not what it was meant to be
Having bought this film on DVD, I was expecting for some laughs during it, but personally I didn't get many. I wasn't really sure where the tagline of "American Pie meets Scream" really came into the film, sure it resembled Scream, as a lot of films nowadays do, but it wasn't anything like American Pie.
However, the twists and turns of the suspense/slasher story were enjoyable enough, though I would have preferred a different killer, as I think everyone was expecting it.
I enjoyed Brittany Maloney's performance a lot and Michael Biehn was his usual excellent self. Jay Mohr kind of got on my nerves as the dopey teacher, but that was more the character's fault than his as an actor.
Some of the supporting cast were pretty awful though and the first death sequence doesn't bode well for the film. All in all, it kept me entertained and I felt "satisfied" after turning the film off. 9/10.
Yd
Supernova (2000)
Disappointing, but saved by a strong end.
When I first put the film into my DVD player, I thought this was the biggest "buy" mistake I'd made this year ("Fight club" was a close second - personal preference I guess). I watched about 30mins and actually thought about turning it off and taking it back to the shop. I actually came on this database next and saw the "poor" rating it had been given by critics and decided to watch it all the way through. I'm a sucker for bad films, as I usually like them !
Thankfully, the film did get better, the middle of the film was mediocre, not Sci-Fi at it's best or worst, the characters were still extremely unlikable and the Sex element was still annoying me.
Even more thankfully, the end was much better than I could have hoped for, mainly because the impact that the film had on the galaxy was quite unexpected, Spader & Bassett got better toward the end of the film and the scene where Benj got killed was actually quite well done.
It made me watch the film again to judge whether my early scepticism was justified and I still feel it was. It starts bad, gets better and ends well quite pleasing. Give it a chance if you've nothing better to do or if you've won the lottery. But if it's a choice between this DVD or another, probably best to go for the other.
Ydna.
Tale of the Mummy (1998)
Excellent, average and poor all at once.
I wasn't expecting much from this film, especially with the title "Talos the Mummy", to be honest I was quite surprised at how enjoyable the first 20mins or so were. Christopher Lee was as good as always and the rest of the cast fine. When the story went to England, things kind of lost focus a little and the story underwent a radical change. Unfortunately though it was the last 10 minutes that ruined the film completely. Do we really want to watch a film where every single character who utters one line is killed ? - Just what was the deal with the ending anyway, I couldn't half understand it at the pace the ending went!!!
It started strong, then became average and ended poorly. Sadly it's usually the ending of the films you remember most.
3/10
Practical Magic (1998)
More entertaining than I thought
"Practical Magic" was something of a surprise really, that had a far more enjoyable middle to the film than the beginning and ending. It's most captivating aspect was the cast who were all extremely good, Kidman, Bullock, West and Channing were a "magical" combination and all seemed to get along very well.
The story was too predictable though and the final scene was extremely corny. However, I enjoyed it more than I thought.
7/10