Ekul1021 Reviews

Lightyear (2022)

A confusing movie where the doesn't go to infinity but falls flat out

[5/10 · 19 June 2023]

Lightyear when I first watched it, I could not establish what the movie was trying to become. Was it supposed to be an origin story of Buzz or trying to be a Buzz on a journey movie here. Unfortunately everything we learn from the Toy Story was not properly integrated in the Lightyear. Also anything the film producers trying to present the story, we're scrambled out of our minds to see what the heck is going on. The bad guy of course is a big disappointment but then again what we learn from Toy Story 2 doesn't mean will translate well in this new movie. The characters are in terms, forgotten, not enjoyable and completely unrelated as well. Otherwise, what made this movie really bad is the complete lack of storyline that is unbelievable as well as trying to force the audience to already figure out who Buzz is before we even started the film. The actors of course nothing wrong with them as they're just reading the script and the visual are Pixar which we expect nothing other then beautiful dazzle. The story-line of course is the big problem and this movie lack of course. Even the kids and adults are having a tough time figuring out what the plot is about and given we all watched the Toy Story series, this Buzz seems to be trying a "Prometheus" attempt but in a bad way. Anyways, a sad shame Pixar let us down with this movie here.

Chernobyl (2019)

Very difficult series to watch

[10/10 · 4 September 2022]

The fact that Chernobyl disaster happened in real life makes any current Sci-Fi, drama, and any series put to shame. The series goes minute by minute, hour by hour of the disaster from the beginning to the trial in the last episode where it details the negligence and mismanaged of the nuclear power plant. Of course given this is the Soviet Union, our enemy are portrayed as humans and brothers and not like the typical James Bond Soviet enemies. The actors did a terrific job in portraying their historical counterpart. Otherwise, this was a very difficult series to watch especially the horrible affect of someone exposed to radiation as well as the hardship of keeping this disaster from ending the world. This series although took some liberties to entertainment, however should be a watched as a reminder that human and technology if not in check could end the world.

Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau (2014)

And this documentary explains the downfall of Val Kilmer

[10/10 · 29 September 2021]

Like someone said, this is a train wreck of a production and I have no doubt this movie cursed Val Kilmer. The document film goes into depth of what I didn't know for years especially after watching Batman Forever and remembering how Val took over Michael's role. Other then that, this is something to watch for sure and highly recommend it. And those who are curious how Val Kilmer went down hill, this documentary explains it all.

Creature (1998)

Street Shark gone bad

[7/10 · 8 March 2020]

Well, I remember this was aired on TV and boy this movie made for TV was called "Street Shark gone bad" especially the cartoon was released the same time as well. Now the movie takes on the usual of "man messing with DNA" and you get this messy of a movie. The characters are pretty much forgettable as Craig T. Nelson tries to be the good father/good ethical marine biologist to his ex wife and son in this turkey of a movie. He does do a great job but even he can't save this movie. If you have watched jaws, it's the typical, rogue shark killer but in a dumb nonsense story. Otherwise, this is just another bad movie to add to the resume and something to watch while being bored at home.

The Command (2018)

Not an entertainment movie but a good reminder how dangerous Submarines are

[10/10 · 22 November 2018]

I was able to watch the movie at the limited edition theater with a few historian war buffs and we all agreed this movie tells most if not all the main events of the Kursk. I was only 20 years old when Kursk happen and couldn't imagine some of these men about my age are stuck and drowned in the submarine and forgotten by their government by Putin. This movie is to be watched with an open mind because seriously we certainly don't know what the survivors did in the submarine but I'm sure they had high hopes of knowing rescue will come. Otherwise, this was a very sad tragedy that was marked in my lifetime just before 9/11. Other then that, this movie is true to it's core and I hope the navies of the world will take heed to prevent this from happening ever again.

Alien: Covenant (2017)

Uhh......no

[4/10 · 21 May 2017]

Don't expect Alien: Covenant to be the actual sequel to Prometheus, think of it as more like a story within the time-line. In a poetic way, maybe the Engineer who pulled David's head out to kill Weyland did the right thing. The android would create something he calls the "perfect organism" into a nightmare and thus mass murdered the entire Engineer people.

The story of the vessel Covenant comes in as conveniences of the cenario of just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. However if we expect anything such as Shaw's quest to figure out why the Engineers wanted to kill their creation the humans, Ridley tossed that out the door and we just have Shaw as dead body as a result. The teaser where Shaw and David in the ship was basically a red herring until the part where David destroys the entire city.

Only thing I find redeeming in the movie was the photography scenes and the soundtrack. This is consistent with Scott's MO as he is famous for scenes, locations, and the photography. Otherwise the visual is very much stunning and the soundtrack is much more alien this time.

As for Lore of the Alien, we now know who made it and it was humanity's creation who made it, or in the spirit of Weyland. Instead of the mysterious creation like how the Engineers made them, what we got is typically a flat answer of "Oh...David created the Alien." Otherwise then that, Alien: Covenant seems best on a Netflix movie rather then spending your hard earn money unless you're a DIE HARD alien fan. Even some fans who came in with high expectation were left disappointed, wanting more, and felt the movie just had too many holes. I certainly was disappointed because I seriously did wanted to see if Shaw ever found her answers as well as explore more about the Engineer's culture and home. Anyways, the movie is just another addition to the franchise and nothing more. At least it's not as disappointing as Aliens: Colonial Marines game.

Fatal Attractions (2010– )

Proof that some people are quite stupid

[9/10 · 7 April 2017]

People complain about the show being one sided, but the fact is, those animals the show features are wild, not domesticated, and ready to kill because of their nature and instinct. Several of the episodes would feature all creature from snakes to tigers with the exception of aquatic fishes. The show is now available on iTunes for anybody wanting to watch it but know that the show is not just for entertainment, but a good lesson that these animals will always be wild and regardless of feelings, have the potential to kill. And sadly, the animal pays the price for being wild while the stupid humans either survives and etc.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

What a waste

[3/10 · 2 March 2017]

I love the Pirates movie just because they are fast action, fun movies, and belly laughs when it occurs. The fourth movie brings back our favorite pirate who just happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and gets in a lot of trouble.

This trouble now comes in the form of Blackbeard which I was really hoping for a really dark villain with some heart, but we got a shallow character out of him. Another was Penélope Cruz which was supposed to be Jack's love interest with a lot of potential, all wasted. The preacher kid there too along with some of the characters.

All the visuals are basically the same quality we expect from the Lucas Studio on CGI and the ships were build from scratch or retrofitted.

Otherwise, the fourth movie is pretty much just a filler episode in the adventures of Jack Sparrow. Hopefully the next one will have character development, villains that aren't one dimension, and some characters like Orlando Bloom's character will be a different darker personality.

In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

Not a bad film in all

[7/10 · 13 December 2015]

I was drawn into the movie because I'm a history buff, and its always nice to see a film that is "based on a true story" and on the big screen. And given this was made by Ron Howard who did extensive research, the movie met my expectation as a historical/entertainment film.

In the Heart of the Sea is no exception and nice to see Chris Hemsworth starring in a history based movie rather then the Thor fantasy movie. Also Cillian Murphy from Batman, Tom Holland aka Spiderman, and Brendan Gleeson from a lot of fantasy film.

The story is based on the account of the whaling ship the Essex on her voyage to bring some whale oils back to USA. During her final hunt for some whales, the ship was rammed by an unusually large sperm whale that was twenty feet longer then anything recorded. The main ship was badly damaged beyond repair and sank. The crews had to used their small whale boats as life boats and pray that rescue will come. During their course to survive, the survivors resorted to cannibalism until rescued by passing ships. And the story became legend and Moby Dick was born.

The cast was actually pretty good. Chris throwing his "Thor" command and putting himself in that time period was a good change, Cillian which we all know from Batman and Tom Holland from Spiderman knew their part.

The film itself was entertaining and some of the historical main features were kept, some were left out but that is to be expected to keep the flow of the film going. Most history buff may be a little annoyed, but keep in mind this was a full production film and one that wasn't made for the History Channel. However, most of the main theme from the book and Owen and the Cabin boy's account were spot on and just showed the dreadful condition these men had to endure.

The one thing I do complain was the whale showed up like some giant monster whereas in the book, whale never showed up again. I would count about 3 scenes which was nice and moving, but historically speaking, never happen. The only thing that DID happen was when the whale after ramming the ship, swam side by side and that was when Owen had the lance but did not throw it. That was exactly what happen and Ron made that scene very powerful and both sad that that whale was defending his people and the real bad guys were the whaling people.

Some people ACTUALLY wanted more scenes of the whale, but if you want something like that, go watch a whale monster movie. The film is about extreme survival where decent humans had to throw away their humanity to survive and Ron Howard did a great job in presenting that to us.

Now remember for us History buff, the movie does leave out some features in order to keep the show going so don't expect it to be like another docu-drama where they can have many episodes.

Rommel (2012 TV Movie)

A sad ending for the Desert Fox

[9/10 · 3 July 2015]

Now here is a story that doesn't embellish or does over the top dramatic. The film records the last few months before Rommel was killed by the man who served and the German people. The history includes a lot of small but crucial detail such as he knew and was horrified at the killing of Jews including revenge killing when the S.S. men killed 450 women and children. The film also explores the inner conflict between Hitler, high ranking officers and Rommel. It doesn't portray him as suddenly turning sides but gradually learning of the war crimes, the difficulty with Hitler, working with the German resistances, and eventually suicide. This film was studied and everything carefully studied although the uniforms was sort of wrong at times. Another complain is some of the character seems a little bit heavy weight especially Von Kluge looks a bit too fat, Keitel looks like a skinny man who is like a dirty old man. One thing for sure, the film does portray Rommel as Hitler's right hand general, but soon learns more about crimes committed by the German S.S. and some of the army official. Had he survived, I'm sure he would have been fully against or may defect along with his family. But otherwise, these things you can overlook and ignore because the movie does stand itself as written "as it had happen." The movie seems like a documentary too so treat it as that, not just for entertainment purposes but a general points leading up to his death.

Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb (1980 TV Movie)

A sad movie and one to not repeat again

[9/10 · 24 August 2014]

The movie itself is how the Americans would later drop the bomb and how the men of the Enola Gay were trained. The attitude of the film is of course not for entertainment, but a look at both sides the US and Japan up to the point where bomb explodes.

The actors were fine and nothing over dramatic was shown. Even the Japanese Field Marshall who seemed very fanatic in real life was actually fanatic and that was recorded as well.

The overall story seems boring, and it doesn't try to be entertaining as well since the purpose is to show the horrors of wars. The letter from a brother to his brother before his suicidal plane hit the US carrier was probably the most somber scene of the film.

Other then that, this movie's purpose isn't to entertain, but show a part of a forgotten history as well as bringing the whole world into the nuclear age.

Blood Oath (1990)

A dark history

[9/10 · 12 August 2014]

We all know about Nuremberg, the Nazi leadership was sentenced to death, but what about their allies the Japanese Empire? To some historians, the Japanese POW was on par with the Nazi's Death camp where most Allied POWs never made it out.

The movie Prisoners of the Sun shows one of the few court where following orders is just as bad as murdering. Just because he is following orders, he is still held accountable. George Taki plays the sly Admiral who manage to wheeze his way without admitting guilt. Lt. Tanaka who in fact was a Christian, but let the loyalty of his country cloud his judgment. Captain Ikeuchi is the savage camp commandant and no doubt was the sole person behind the war crimes.

The movie itself was great acting with nothing you could see except are facts, most was real emotions I'm sure from the actor especially playing a heavy role here. Now on to the entertainment value, there is none. This movie itself is a historical docudrama and there is no kissing sex or any of that garbage here. The purpose is to open a dark window of what happened in the Japanese death camps that we know so little about. Even the Nazi death camps are very well documented compared to here.

I recommend seeing this movie not for its entertainment value, but a history lesson of what really happen and how men can become monsters. It is a history to learn so that we don't repeat it again.

Event Horizon (1997)

Pretty good story especially one that influences Doom

[7/10 · 30 December 2013]

Whoever would have thought that science fiction can be mixed in with religion? Well Event Horizon certainly does fit that bill and no doubt the 3D shooter game Doom certainly followed through.

Imagine a ship goes through Hell, must be one pretty bad trip especially when the thought of having demons in a science fiction world seems impossible. The movie color does give that evil view and Doom certainly took that creative license to another level.

Unfortunately, some of the acting was about on average especially with Sam Neil which could have been expanded like why was he so obsessed with the ship and the history on his wife too when she has no eyeballs.

Otherwise, a good film that goes good with Doom 3 since game was a success and no doubt owes some to this movie.

Phantom (I) (2013)

Not a bad movie but you won't miss it

[7/10 · 5 June 2013]

Its very rare to see any good submarine movies nowadays. K-19 was good, Red October was a nail biter, and Das Boot was the masterpiece. What is unique about the submarine movies is the cramp space the actors have to run through and imagine that happening during war and trying not to make a peep or else will reveal your position.

Phantom takes the horrible tragic of K-129 and uses one of the possible theory of why the ship sank in the first place. The story goes is a group of rouge KGB agents try to get the US to declare war on China, eliminating both rivals leaving the Soviets the only superpower left. However, predictably the KGB are dispose of but the ship is lost and for you history buff, everybody dies in the end.

If you look past the fictional storyline and look at the visual arts, then the movie is worth a lot. The details of the submarine was great along with the creaking sound of pressure. The acting, wasn't that impressive as it seems at the same time, everybody in American accent, but you know the crew is Russian.

Anyways, the ending is completely fiction and that's where the movie "based on a true event" ends there as we all know that the Soviets lose the entire submarine and it was the Glomar Explorer that would rise parts of it up.

In all a good Saturday flick if you're bore if you have Netflix or if this movie will ever be on the Comcast program. For submarine movie fans though, this is sure a good one to have in the collection, but there will be some days, where you rather just pull out a good submarine movie such as Das Boot or Red October out.

Aliens: Colonial Marines (2013 Video Game)

A serious big letdown

[5/10 · 13 February 2013]

Aliens Colonial Marines had so much going, it is to be considered part of the Alien's canon along with finding out what happen to our heroes from another point of view. Sadly, after playing the game through with considerable thoughts and process, I was very letdown and also don't have my $60 since that is the cost of the game. For a PC player, I cannot trade in the game nor get a refund for it. Anyways, here is what I experienced in the game and hopefully help you decide whether to get the game or not.

The storyline is about the marine corp who finally receives the distress call from Corporal Hicks from the movie Aliens. As part of the detachment, I'm to go and rescue any stranded marines since we don't leave them behind. The story does offer a lot of fan services which is very nice especially being part of the Aliens movie, we do expect to see some mentioning about Ripley, Bishop, Newt, and the other characters. Sadly though, there is no Burke mentioned much, would have been nice especially we want to hear how a person like him, a sleazy business men sent hundreds to people to their deaths. Sadly, the story throughout the game was ho-hum and could have been more developed such as O'Neal and Bella could have been more develop to where you actually care for the characters. The voice acting was so-so, Michael Biehn tries to maintain his "marine" calmness but on a computer game, you just don't sense that feel. Lance Henriksen is the cyborg Bishop and his character is just as creepy, but even big name actors doesn't really saves the game's storyline.

Graphic for the game sometimes make or break the game but not always, but here, it seems the game is dated around Half Life 2 or something. For paying $60 of a dated game is way too much and is a complete rip-off. The texture is very bland and very uncolorful, the texture on the aliens when you shoot them, acid supposedly bleeds, is colorful yellow? Is the yellow supposed to be really glowing that bright? I know graphic isn't everything but for a game this old, this is just not acceptable especially for the price you pay and staring at the screen for the next 6 to 8 hours. Just look at the fire texture in the game, either it is because the surface of LV-426 is lighter then air or the developers just want to rush the game out the door.

Weapons in the game is the pulse rifle, smart gun, shot gun, assault guns, but the sound of the guns just sound so bland, it just doesn't have the feel of the game.

Gameplay was what broke the game for me. Instead of squad-based game where you're in charge, commanding your troops, or giving them a free order, it seems like you're playing with a bot from Unreal Tournament or something else. Because you're carrying around 4 to 5 weapons, the game just doesn't seem like you're in trouble or the "poop in the pants" moment when you're out of ammo. The boss fight with the alien queen was an utter disappointment. Unlike the movie where she grabs stuff with her long arms or try and spike you with her inner jaws, your objective is to try and get her in front of this sliding loader to slide her out into space. All the aliens even doesn't seem that interesting, just your standard aliens. There is even an acid spitting aliens that is considered a brand new alien? I thought they had those guys in Alien 4 and they are the same standard alien drones. I would have thought they have the queen's guard or something or even the hybrid aliens. Gear Box was invited to see the Prometheus script? Well, I found nothing that was "prometheus" link in the game at all, I was hoping at least a boss fight with an engineer, but anything Prometheus was not present in the game at all.

What a mess this game is, game over man, no doubt about it that I'm very sad and $60 down the drain for a half baked game. The fan service is good for us Alien fans to point out and say "oh cool, that was in the movie", but even fan service just doesn't justify dropping $60 down the drain. Gaming wise, Aliens Colonial Marines is probably the saddest thing for me in the world of gaming, so much could have been better, and for once when Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox was demoing the game, it looked very impressive at one time, how could this happen? Anyways, if you want to really know the storyline for the game, probably check out the wikis and youtubes as playing through the game just to know the storyline is a complete waste of your money.

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012)

Nothing is the same anymore

[9/10 · 20 January 2013]

When you watched the preview to 3.0 after watching Evangelion 2.0, it seems like we're still in that year where the kids are the same age and Seele finally shows its full color. Whatever you watched before, you will be shocked at how 3.0 is.

I was fortunate enough to watch Evangelion 3.0 in Japan with English subtitle, and although many fans were disappointed, I wasn't really letdown although the universe of Evangelion has been tossed out the door.

The story is set 14 years after the second film, many things have changed, a lot of the characters have switched sides and people that Shinji came to know is no longer those same person. Misato and the rest of the characters along with the new characters are now his enemies. Only people that seems to be on his sides is his father Gendo, Fuyutsuki, Kaworu, and Rei. Even the mighty Seele is nothing more then AIs and are on Gendo's side this time. The new Evangelion No. 13 sports a more futuristic look that is a site to behold.

As the story goes, Shinji is the main focus of the movie and we see him having to deal with the future while everybody else is 14 years older then him. Everything has completely changed for him and the city that we see in Evangelion 1 and 2 is completely gone. None of the characters are explored like we don't know why Misato and the rest have switch side other then she is a commander in the organization called Willie whose mission is to destroy Nerv and its Evangelion. Interestingly, Willie has its own Evangelions piloted by Asuka and Mari.

The color of the animation is just as modern as ever, computer graphics mixed in gives this movie a life in itself and thats what I loved about the three movies. Lively is also key to movie's success. The music also drives the movie too and the composer did a fantastic job in being the proper background as well as mixing the great master's like Beethoven into the mix.

Sadly, because I watched the subtitle, the English voice actors won't be available until the movie hits the United States. I have no doubt when it hits the state, I'll be back in line to watch the movie again as well as buy the DVD or Blue Ray.

Some people have complained that the movie is completely different from the Evangelion that we all know and love, but this is a different road Evangelion is taking and the creator has already said there will be lots of surprises and shock like how Yamato 2199 is turning out. No doubt all Evangelion fans should watch the movie.

The Shadow (1994)

Not a bad action movie

[10/10 · 13 January 2013]

I remember Adam Baldwin was action man, first starring in Hunt for Red October which was very awesome and now in The Shadow. I remember when The Shadow came out, it didn't get too many good reviews and pretty much was lost. After watching the Last Emperor where John Lone was the main character, I decided to give The Shadow a chance. What I saw was an action movie that wasn't bad and was very entertaining. It surely wasn't going to win an Oscar, but I doubt anybody would wanna know more about The Shadow. Ian McKellan is also in the movie along with Tim Curry, what more fun can we ask? Penelope as the love interest wasn't all that bad although her career seems like to be limited to supporting cast and TV movie. The action and special effects were quite excellent for a fun movie. As a fun movie, this is how you should treat it as, just a fun movie.

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)

Not a bad movie but you won't miss it

[5/10 · 9 September 2012]

I remember watching the movie trailer on TV when I was a kid in high school. The movie was sorta interesting especially it got Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando. Now that I've been able to watch it thanks to Comcast's on-demand, well I certainly didn't miss much. The movie pretty much was so and so. So many of the actors' talent was wasted by the director and I heard there was some clashes with the director and the cast. The art of the movie could use some improvement as well as the music and camera direction. Anyways, nothing was spent on watching this film but probably not really a film you wanna watch on Saturday night. I certainly want my 1 hour and 36 minutes back.

Napoleon Dynamite (2012)

An example of trying to milk something to death

[5/10 · 14 June 2012]

When Napoleon Dynamite came out, it was a sleeper hit with making big bucks. What does the studio do? The studio thinks they can milk the movie into a cartoon series and it all goes down the big giant hole.

The positive about the series is most of the cast from the movie are in here with the exception of Don which I wish he should have sign on.

Nonetheless, the cartoon just doesn't take off at all like the movie and most of the humor from the cartoon is so borrowed from the movie that its just playing the same rabbit in the hat trick over and over again.

The studio should have just completely left this cartoon on the shelf and not waste any money with it. Too bad the show got canceled and the cast and producers are left pondering what to do next. Making Napoleon Dynamite into a franchise, well some stuff are just best left alone.

Prometheus (I) (2012)

A different path in the Alien universe

[10/10 · 14 June 2012]

I was very lucky to see the film in the IMAX theater and like Scott's film Kingdom of Heaven, cinematography makes the film very beautiful.

The story looks into the origin of the human beings where the creation tries to find the creator. Many characters have personal agendas that range from noble to selfishness.

The actors played great and I love Guy's James Mason-like voice and how he could play an old frailed man. Mike as the android is just as creep like Ian's character from the original Aliens, and Miss Theron has that beautiful woman dark heart character.

In all, a great return to the Alien universe without the cheesy characters like in Aliens 3, 4, the versus Predator 1 and 2. Don't expect the movie to be gun shooting with bugs around, this is a film about searching for your long lost parents.

Sinking of the Lusitania: Terror at Sea (2007 TV Movie)

A really good docu-drama especially for the discovery channel

[9/10 · 17 April 2012]

People always talk about Titanic this Titanic that, it was an accident waiting to happen. People died yes on that ship where it could have been averted. The Lusitania however, was the beginning and the end for the Germans and eventually lose World War One. The sinking of the ship was a barbaric act and no doubt a sad ending for those who died. Unlike the Titanic where there wasn't enough lifeboats, Lusitania had all the safety feature that was built into after Titanic like double hull and more then enough lifeboat for the passenger, but wasn't build to stop a torpedo.

The movie itself was really good. I'm surprise that guy from Mummy was in the movie and instead of being a comic relief, gave a very serious acting in the movie where he was a victim on the ship. The other people in the movie also showed the same and for a quality we expected in a docu-drama movie, the movie more the met my expectation. The sinking was very well done and was more sad then Titanic. Thank goodness there is none of this Jack and Rose crap in it.

Otherwise, a very well made movie and one that should be a reminder about how Lusitania became a pawn in the World War.

The Hunley (1999 TV Movie)

No doubt a keeper if the DVD came out

[10/10 · 17 January 2012]

The best submarine movie that we could think of is of course Wolfgang Peterson's Das Boot and from then on, whenever we think about submarine movie, Das Boot comes to mind. But another part of history that is almost forgotten is the CSS Hunley. Most people dismiss the notion we all know they didn't make it, but how did it get to be there is another story.

When TNT first aired the movie on television, I was interested in the movie, but missed the day it was showing and rented out the video. The Civil War was the first war that would use science and wacky technology in order to bring either side to its knee. The guns have now changed, the use of railroads was needed, and cannons now are larger. Even the warships now have moved into the ironclad era and from there the Hunley was born.

The movie takes place after Captain Hunley dies in his submarine and this is where George Dixon takes over as commander. Armand Assante did a great job portraying as Dixon and didn't have that look from Judge Dredd or anything, but played the part very well. Donald Sutherland who played the General also did a great job which although people see him as lax, but he played as a general that just didn't want to continue on. The other cast also played well.

Historically, the movie is based on a true story with some parts being fiction and others having to be filled in as a guessing game because we hardly know anything about these men. Even we don't even know what they look like and TNT did a fantastic job in portraying them as best as we can according to photos and diaries from the history books.

This movie is not an action movie, but more of a drama and tragedy during the Civil War. Families lost their sons or fathers while other suffer from other causes in the war. No doubt this movie stands next to Glory in terms of presenting a story of how being next to the Hunley may have felt like.

Duke Nukem Forever (2011 Video Game)

Not bad, but nothing new

[7/10 · 17 January 2012]

Wow, Duke Nukem Forever finally came out at last. I remember I was 18 playing Duke 3D and now I am 30 and have moved on until an announcement about Duke Forever was coming out. Too bad I lost my hold voucher from EBworld and now that gamestop bought them out. Anyways, after reading the reviews and waiting for the price to drop, I got the game on amazon.com for 10 bucks. Not bad for the price that was until I played the game.

Well the game wasn't the masterpiece I was hoping for, it wasn't that bad as I thought it would be according to the review sites that give it 0 out of 5 or just plain trashing the game. Gameplay of Duke Nukem is the typical kick butt American action science fiction style movie with a bit of a super hero in it. Everything from Duke Nukem 3D has been updated with today's graphic including all the aliens and now humans are included.

Unfortunately, several things let me down in Duke Nukem which was storyline, amount of guns carry, save system, and some game graphic models. Usually storyline wasn't really the epic story where Duke gets betrayed or something like that, or he is captured by the aliens which would have made it interesting. Same one sentence storyline, aliens comes and kidnaps babe and Duke is to the rescue.

Remember Duke had a huge array of guns? Well for some reason Duke can only carry 2 guns which took away the fun factor and added the survival factor of Halo. Halo only has so many guns while in Duke Nukem, most guns do different cool stuff but only allowed to carry certain ones and certain ones work with aliens while others don't.

The save system although wasn't that annoying, but I like to save anywhere and shut down the game and go to bed or return later. Also some parts I would like to save in order to come back to it just for fun. The checkpoints aren't that far apart but if you start a new game, the checkpoints resets and you can't go back to the previous game.

And the last let down is the game graphic. The general looks like a bad design model from Red Faction or something. Even character models from Quake 4 and Prey look even a lot better then him. It just seems like rushed.

Unfortunately, Duke Nukem Forever is just a game to have fun, nothing new added or any cool feature that would chance the FPS game standard. Half Life 2 seems to have beat to it and had the game been released on schedule back in 2001, I think it would have given Valve a run for their money. Also another problem is, too many Duke Nukem hardcore fans had their expectation way too high thinking this game would have been king and that is the problem of why everybody thinks the game is a complete failure since we're all spoiled by Half Life 2 and Portal and what not. Right now, Duke Nuke Forever is now cheap for $10 on amazon.com and hopefully Gearbox does continue making Duke Nukem game, but then again, who knows.

Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009)

Very beautiful anime film

[9/10 · 17 January 2012]

Well after watching the first Rebuild, onward to the second Evangelion movie. Like the first film, the tone is a bit serious, touching, and more background on to the characters. Unlike the TV series, Evangelion 2.0 is a lot more serious in terms of the tone.

The most dramatic differences is the character of Kaji who is more serious and caring unlike the TV series where he was a downright lovable goof-ball that we know.

Another differences is we sorta know the world still has the blue ocean whereas in this version, the ocean is red and the entire ocean is already dead. And the introduction of the mysterious girl Mari who just jumped out of nowhere, but I assume we'll find out more about her and how she fits in the storyline.

Once again, the animation is a lot more crisp, CGI and a lot more detail then the TV series. I think it is a great addition that adding more color makes Evangelion a very beautiful film. Music is jazzy, but also some were very somber and dark.

As a fan of Evangelion, I'm happy of how the anime turned out and where it is headed. Just like how I waited for the second movie, I'll wait for the third one as well.

Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007)

Just beautiful

[9/10 · 11 January 2012]

Having been an anime fan since Akira first came out, Evangelion borders on the known science and religion. The movie takes the whole series and redo almost everything to bring the beautiful color we would see today and thats what Rebuild did.

Without spoiling the story line, those of us who watched the 26 volume anime on DVD or TV will see the differences between Rebuild and series. Most scenes are the same, but some added differences makes Rebuild worth watching.

However, those of us who have already watch the TV series should really lower their expectation as Rebuild is A lot different then what you expect to be in the Evangelion universe. With that said, most of the voice actors from the TV series are in the movie and others are not.

Another thing to note is character development was a lot in the series while in Rebuild, expect the three main characters to be the ones who develop the relationship while the rest are background as if we're already expecting to know who they are. This may and can cause confusion to those who never watch the TV series.

Rebuild is just one of the many beautiful movies that I keep on my DVD player as it is a serious version of the TV series, where as there are comedies in the series, don't expect the same to be in the movie, this movie is a complete action, drama, and spiritual movie.