I came into this movie really wanting to line it. I thought the premise had a lot of potential and was ripe for an interesting movie. Don't get me wrong here, I wasn't expecting Citizen Kane, I was taking this for the B movie that it is. That said, it still fell short of the expectation. The historical aspect of the story is glazed over and the ending left me a bit cold. The acting in the movie was very wooden. All in all I give it 4 for a great idea, but the movie could have scored much higher with a bit more attention to movie making fundamentals. Is it worth seeing? I didn't wish for my two hours back, but I don't know that I'd recommend it to others.
27 Reviews
Mummified because I felt my brains being pulled out my nostrils
tfc13 November 2005
"The fallen ones" falls under the waste of life (WOL) category. I am sad that I am now two hours older was not entertained. My other family members also watched this movie and threw demeaning comments at the screen and rooted for the mummy. I felt sorry for the actors (Wagner). I have read other negative reviews and cannot add anything else to this movie other than it could be reduced to 25 minutes so it could take a 30 minute slot on TV without any loss of plot. It reminds me of a dish that has several good ingredients but when served is bland with no flavor at all. In my humble opinion, The 42 foot mummy should have been 8-10 feet and improved the plot by taking out the mystic and replacing him with several people who want to denigh the facts and want DNA samples for evil reasons. The heroes are discredited and tossed on there ear by their colleges. Later after everything was screwed up by the evil people. The heroes would save the day and prove everyone wrong.
Watchable, Predictable and Forgettable
claudio_carvalho5 May 2007
Five thousand years ago, in Sumer, the fallen angels had intercourse with human females and their offspring were a race of giants called Nephilim, destroyed by the great flood. The evil angel Ammon (Navid Negahban) mummifies his son Aramis to save him, and hides in hell. In the present days, the archaeologist Matt Fletcher (Casper Van Dien) finds Aramis tomb with excavating for building a resort for the entrepreneur Morton (Robert Wagner). The engineer Angela (Kristen Miller) joins the team, giving support in the diggings. When some workers mysteriously vanish, Morton hires the security force of Ammon to find the missing men. However, his real intention is to resurrect Aramis in the eclipse of the moon and dominate the human race with a new breed of giants.
"The Fallen Ones" has a promising idea, recalling those sci-fi horror movies from the 50's, but unfortunately it is badly executed. This low budget movie is leaded by Casper Van Dien, a promising actor in "Starship Troopers" that fell to a synonym of star of low quality films, and "The Fallen Ones" is no exception in his terrible filmography. The plot has many flaws and terrible lines, but contradictory entertains, with some laughable scenes. The funniest one is when Matt throws one dynamite banana precisely in the mouth of a 12 m (i.e., a height of a four floors building) mummy in movement, blowing up Aramis. The best in this watchable, but predictable and forgettable movie, is the beauty of Kristen Miller. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "Os Anjos do Mal" ("The Angels of Evil")
"The Fallen Ones" has a promising idea, recalling those sci-fi horror movies from the 50's, but unfortunately it is badly executed. This low budget movie is leaded by Casper Van Dien, a promising actor in "Starship Troopers" that fell to a synonym of star of low quality films, and "The Fallen Ones" is no exception in his terrible filmography. The plot has many flaws and terrible lines, but contradictory entertains, with some laughable scenes. The funniest one is when Matt throws one dynamite banana precisely in the mouth of a 12 m (i.e., a height of a four floors building) mummy in movement, blowing up Aramis. The best in this watchable, but predictable and forgettable movie, is the beauty of Kristen Miller. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "Os Anjos do Mal" ("The Angels of Evil")
Should be deleted and forgotten
scyphe13 October 2005
What a piece of junk this movie was. The premise was okay, but even in the beginning with crappy effects to blend in a giant with normal sized people (even the effects in Hercules was better) I knew this would be bad. But the really awful part of the movie is the dialogs. It's completely incoherent, silly and stupid. I felt like it had been written by some 9th grader in creative class and gotten a D-. I want to slap Casper van Diem and the other actors for following this movie through.
I've had my share of cheesy and bad movies (I love the tremors series), but this... I do not recommend it at all. It's silly and the totally flabbergastingly bad dialogs will make you cringe.
I've had my share of cheesy and bad movies (I love the tremors series), but this... I do not recommend it at all. It's silly and the totally flabbergastingly bad dialogs will make you cringe.
"What do you mean where did he go? He's a 42 foot Mummy." Terrible.
poolandrews12 November 2006
Warning: Spoilers
The Fallen Ones starts with archaeologist Matt Fletcher (Casper Van Dien) in the desert discovering the mummified remains of a 42 foot tall giant, now there's something you don't see everyday. Matt is working for property developer Morton (Robert Wagner) who wants to build a holiday resort on the land & he calls in fellow archaeologist Angela (Kristen Miller) for reasons I'm unsure of. Anyway they both try to figure out what they've got on they're hands when some of the team go missing, Morton calls in security guy Ammon (Navid Negahban) to handle the situation. Meanwhile ancient text translator the Rabbi Eli Schmidtt (Tom Bosley) translates some ancient text (as he would) & is shocked to learn of a evil prophecy in which these giants will rise up & take over the world for the Fallen One, or something like that. It's up to Matt to save the day & the whole planet...
Written & directed by Kevin VanHook, who also has a small role in the film as the ancient warrior leader at the start, I personally thought The Fallen Ones was a terrible film & it's as simple & straight forward as that. There are so many things that are just plain bad about The Fallen Ones both on a technical & conceptual level, the script doesn't make a whole lot of sense & it doesn't really get going until the final 20 odd minutes by which time I had almost lost the will to live. The character's are awful & as clichéd as you like, the dialogue is bad as in very, very bad & the entire film is predictable, I mean it's not going to come as a surprise that Casper Van Dien is going to save the day is it? It's not a huge surprise that the mummified giant is going to come back to life either so why wait until over an hour into the film when most of the audience will be in some sort of comatose state. This is bad, very bad. You have been warned.
Director VanHook doesn't impress, the fight scenes are absolutely awful & why dress your bad guys up in a horrible shade of purple? They look naff. To give it a bit of credit the special effects on the giant Mummy itself are actually good although there's not that many of them since he doesn't make an appearance for over an hour, there are also some normal sized Mummy's that look to have come straight from the set of The Mummy (1999), unfortunately these aren't used to any great effect & in fact are wasted as some comic relief. The mechanical Mummy was a pretty good idea but looked silly & there is no way on Earth that all those people inside could work in sync with each other to operate it, actually the more I think about the more ridiculous the idea is. Forget about any scares, tension or atmosphere & don't even think about any gore or violence because there isn't any.
Technically The Fallen Ones isn't anything special & apart from the impressive giant Mummy effects there's little her to get excited about. The ghost CGI & water effects are terrible, it was made-for-TV & it's shows. The acting was poor, Wagner looks embarrassed & this is probably the only thing the likes of Dien & Bosley can get these days.
The Fallen Ones is a bad film, there's no two ways about it as far as I'm concerned. Not recommended on any level or in any way, one to avoid.
Written & directed by Kevin VanHook, who also has a small role in the film as the ancient warrior leader at the start, I personally thought The Fallen Ones was a terrible film & it's as simple & straight forward as that. There are so many things that are just plain bad about The Fallen Ones both on a technical & conceptual level, the script doesn't make a whole lot of sense & it doesn't really get going until the final 20 odd minutes by which time I had almost lost the will to live. The character's are awful & as clichéd as you like, the dialogue is bad as in very, very bad & the entire film is predictable, I mean it's not going to come as a surprise that Casper Van Dien is going to save the day is it? It's not a huge surprise that the mummified giant is going to come back to life either so why wait until over an hour into the film when most of the audience will be in some sort of comatose state. This is bad, very bad. You have been warned.
Director VanHook doesn't impress, the fight scenes are absolutely awful & why dress your bad guys up in a horrible shade of purple? They look naff. To give it a bit of credit the special effects on the giant Mummy itself are actually good although there's not that many of them since he doesn't make an appearance for over an hour, there are also some normal sized Mummy's that look to have come straight from the set of The Mummy (1999), unfortunately these aren't used to any great effect & in fact are wasted as some comic relief. The mechanical Mummy was a pretty good idea but looked silly & there is no way on Earth that all those people inside could work in sync with each other to operate it, actually the more I think about the more ridiculous the idea is. Forget about any scares, tension or atmosphere & don't even think about any gore or violence because there isn't any.
Technically The Fallen Ones isn't anything special & apart from the impressive giant Mummy effects there's little her to get excited about. The ghost CGI & water effects are terrible, it was made-for-TV & it's shows. The acting was poor, Wagner looks embarrassed & this is probably the only thing the likes of Dien & Bosley can get these days.
The Fallen Ones is a bad film, there's no two ways about it as far as I'm concerned. Not recommended on any level or in any way, one to avoid.
Casper was good?
crankyerma27 September 2005
I generally avoid anything this guy is in. He is the new Lorenzo LLamas as far as acting and the quality of the films he appears in goes. He was not completely laughable in this picture however, which is high praise compared to my estimation of his other work. Hopefully he will continue to get better. I haven't checked, but I get the feeling that he started out in soap operas and never really graduated beyond that level. He tends to do a lot of intense looks and pauses that generally mean the actor is searching for the next line.
This was better than average for a VanDien vehicle. If there is nothing else in the video store you haven't seen and you've seen all of the movies you like more than once, this would not be the worst choice for a rental. Let me stop before all of this praise seems maudlin.
This was better than average for a VanDien vehicle. If there is nothing else in the video store you haven't seen and you've seen all of the movies you like more than once, this would not be the worst choice for a rental. Let me stop before all of this praise seems maudlin.
Oh God! The inhumanity, the horror, the sheer boredom!
klaarg7 February 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Some moron who read or saw some reference to angels coming to Earth, decided to disregard what he'd heard about the offspring of humans and angels being larger than normal humans. Reinventing them as mythical giants that were 40 feet tall, is beyond ridiculous. There was some historical references to housing and furniture in parts of the world, that were much larger than would be needed for standard humans. These were supposedly built on a scale that would lend itself to a 10 to 14 foot human, somewhat supporting the "David and Goliath" tale from the bible. There is no mention in any historical references to buildings or artifacts that would support the idea of a 40 foot tall being. If I was rating this movie on my own scale, it would have been a negative value instead of a one...
Disappointment
pyerro24 September 2005
I saw not so fabulous rating on IMDb, but I went to see it anyway, because I am a big fan of Bible related material. First thing that bothered me was a little too much Indiana Jones wannabe movie, but it also looked like Casper Van Dien didn't see those Jones movies through (but he should). I believe he tried his best, but script just stunk. Music tried to be kinda Jones style too. Great work, but for such movie it seemed like too much work, like the video part did't deserve all that great music. Robert Wagner gave his best acting skills, he did a good job, but somehow the script was bringing everything down. "Jokes" are old school, somewhere 20 years old; they brought only cynic smile to my face. There are some really bad camera angels, SFX looks like homemade and unrealistic. Kevin VanHook had probably a good idea on the story (in my opinion, but I love such stories), but things just didn't work out in the end. Maybe he should put it on a paper when it was still fresh in his head. When I (in first minutes) saw that movie was going to be one of those 'low budget movies', I hoped that I will at least 'hear' a good story, but sometimes movies just disappoint.
passable entertainment, but genius compared to other Sci-Fi Originals
movieman_kev28 December 2008
When archaeologist Matt Fletcher (Casper Van Dien of Starship Troopers) finds a mummified giant from the biblical age, he bites off more than he can chew as he & his crew are soon beset by both cult members who worship this thing as well as the giant's father, a fallen angel who hopes to resurrect him. Now it's up to Matt, Angela & Rabbi Schmidtt (Tom Bosley??!!?) to stop both factions and their evil plans.
This was one of the better Sci-fi Originals films that I've seen and I found that it moved at a brisk pace (for the most part, there are some lulls in action here and there) The film is heavily cheesy, but thats kind of part of it's charm. All the actors work well for the type of film that it is. Especially the always entertaining B-movie mainstay Irwin Keyes as a member of the cult.
My Grade: C
This was one of the better Sci-fi Originals films that I've seen and I found that it moved at a brisk pace (for the most part, there are some lulls in action here and there) The film is heavily cheesy, but thats kind of part of it's charm. All the actors work well for the type of film that it is. Especially the always entertaining B-movie mainstay Irwin Keyes as a member of the cult.
My Grade: C
When Giants Roamed The Earth
bkoganbing20 December 2008
Back in ancient Sumeria when supernatural creatures were roaming the Earth with the descendants of Adam and Eve, they mated with humans and created a race of giants. But when the Deity decided to flood the Earth they were lost.
All except one who was mummified and dad in the person of Navid Negahban has come back to resurrect him and establish his reign on Earth. An archaeological team headed by Casper Van Dien and Kristen Miller are his unwitting accomplices. And Negahban has other Snidely Whiplash like plans for Miller.
For a product from the Science Fiction Channel I found myself really liking this film that takes itself so seriously it's good fun. Veterans like Geoffrey Lewis, Robert Wagner, and Tom Bosley in an atrocious Jewish accent as a rabbi/scholar seem to be enjoying themselves while waiting for the paychecks to clear.
Best performance in the film is young Scott Whyte, late of City Guys TNBC series who has some rather droll lines written into the script for him which he delivers with aplomb. Not the worst thing the Science Fiction Channel has done.
All except one who was mummified and dad in the person of Navid Negahban has come back to resurrect him and establish his reign on Earth. An archaeological team headed by Casper Van Dien and Kristen Miller are his unwitting accomplices. And Negahban has other Snidely Whiplash like plans for Miller.
For a product from the Science Fiction Channel I found myself really liking this film that takes itself so seriously it's good fun. Veterans like Geoffrey Lewis, Robert Wagner, and Tom Bosley in an atrocious Jewish accent as a rabbi/scholar seem to be enjoying themselves while waiting for the paychecks to clear.
Best performance in the film is young Scott Whyte, late of City Guys TNBC series who has some rather droll lines written into the script for him which he delivers with aplomb. Not the worst thing the Science Fiction Channel has done.
The Mummy Lives ... In Arizona
jabrbi1 February 2014
Warning: Spoilers
If you've seen any of The Mummy films, then you know what to expect from this cheaper TV movie that's very much in the same genre, with the same plot line.
We have an ancient evil unearthed, a woman who is the 're-incarnated' soul of a corrupted innocent, lots of fighting, and the defeat of evil, with lots of tunnels and water.
There are a few changes to the plot, some of which work, some don't. I liked Tom Bosley's Rabbi, with his knowledge of ancient Hebrew and the biblical/rabbinical texts that helped to explain much of what was happening without some annoying kid wandering around the set - which really annoyed me in The Mummy 2. There was only one mythical creature - a giant mummy - so none of those annoying swinging monkeys, mummified soldiers who don't know how to fight, or great unleashings of magic power that the Mummy had.
The Fallen Ones has a smaller budget, so the effects are much fewer and more subdued, and the direction and editing were a bit shoddy. Some tighter editing of the fight scenes would have ratcheted up the tension. At least the female wasn't a useless victim and she didn't scream at every opportunity. However, with the smaller budget, the film comes over as a bit more realistic and I enjoyed it because of that.
There are moments of humour, as per the clichés of modern Mummy films, lots of events happen in the dark, and a hero with chiselled jaw who starts off on the wrong foot and falls heavily for the female lead. It's all very predictable, but I found the journey enjoyable nevertheless.
OK, some of the special effects were poorly done, especially when the giant is seen with normal sized men, and some of the acting is ropey, but the main characters are all on form so the movie keeps moving along without jarring to a halt due to some naff dialogue. Indeed, with a budget to match The Mummy, this could easily have been the Mummy 4.
One of the questions at the start of the film is, why is there a giant mummy in Arizona? I know it was probably done to keep the budget down. No trip to Egypt meant everyone could stay in a Hilton hotel and eat at the IHOP, but the movie does provide an explanation for the chosen location, so someone was paying attention to some of the loose ends.
This isn't a film where you engage the brain, it's a modest blockbuster, with a predictable plot. Sit down, disengage brain, relax and enjoy a straightforward 21st Century Mummy film. I know I did.
We have an ancient evil unearthed, a woman who is the 're-incarnated' soul of a corrupted innocent, lots of fighting, and the defeat of evil, with lots of tunnels and water.
There are a few changes to the plot, some of which work, some don't. I liked Tom Bosley's Rabbi, with his knowledge of ancient Hebrew and the biblical/rabbinical texts that helped to explain much of what was happening without some annoying kid wandering around the set - which really annoyed me in The Mummy 2. There was only one mythical creature - a giant mummy - so none of those annoying swinging monkeys, mummified soldiers who don't know how to fight, or great unleashings of magic power that the Mummy had.
The Fallen Ones has a smaller budget, so the effects are much fewer and more subdued, and the direction and editing were a bit shoddy. Some tighter editing of the fight scenes would have ratcheted up the tension. At least the female wasn't a useless victim and she didn't scream at every opportunity. However, with the smaller budget, the film comes over as a bit more realistic and I enjoyed it because of that.
There are moments of humour, as per the clichés of modern Mummy films, lots of events happen in the dark, and a hero with chiselled jaw who starts off on the wrong foot and falls heavily for the female lead. It's all very predictable, but I found the journey enjoyable nevertheless.
OK, some of the special effects were poorly done, especially when the giant is seen with normal sized men, and some of the acting is ropey, but the main characters are all on form so the movie keeps moving along without jarring to a halt due to some naff dialogue. Indeed, with a budget to match The Mummy, this could easily have been the Mummy 4.
One of the questions at the start of the film is, why is there a giant mummy in Arizona? I know it was probably done to keep the budget down. No trip to Egypt meant everyone could stay in a Hilton hotel and eat at the IHOP, but the movie does provide an explanation for the chosen location, so someone was paying attention to some of the loose ends.
This isn't a film where you engage the brain, it's a modest blockbuster, with a predictable plot. Sit down, disengage brain, relax and enjoy a straightforward 21st Century Mummy film. I know I did.
Attack Of The Fifty Foot Mummy
lordzedd-314 October 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This has got to be a unique twists of two genres of ever seen. The giant monster movie genre with the living mummy movie genre. This unique blend makes for a unique and compelling story. The casts is outstanding, including TOM BOSLEY who as far as I know never has been in a horror movie before, ever. The effects are impressive and the idea of a giant mummy filled with smaller mummies is a cool one. My one complaint, I just wish we saw more of the giant mummy, but other then that I think they did a great job. The dialog, the characters and the story was perfect. The acting was wonderful. This has got to be the best movie to come out of the sci-fi channel. You heard me, the best movie to come out of the sci-fi channel. I give THE FALLEN ONES 9 OUT OF 10.
Strangely i found myself enjoying it
wildfire16025 August 2005
I cant quite put my finger on why i enjoyed The Fallen Ones but i did like Van Diens,Navid Negahban and Tom Bosleys performance..i think they rose above the scripts limitations very well.. Unlike a lot of the low budget B movies out there,there were very few really bad lines and most of the plot made some kind of sense but the major letdown for the film came from the SFXs especially the cgi work which was mediocre at best,i could'nt recommend anyone actually go out and buy the film but i didn't think id wasted my time watching it and would suggest its worth seeing if they repeat again it on the SciFI channel.. One last thing i would like to add is about the music by Kevin Kaska and William Richter which i thought was excellent and of a much higher quality than you would normally find in this type of movie..
As seen on Telefutura, this movie coulda been on MST3K if it was still on
the_glorious_sob15 November 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I've noticed that a lot of the ridiculous adventure/action films on Telefutura were original TV-movies from what is now Syfy, & that made me wonder if Telefutura & Syfy have some sorta partnership in airing such crap. But nevertheless, "The Fallen Ones" had such numerous errors that it had me riffing, MST3K style. Someday I hope to record this on DVR or perhaps get it on Netflix so I can make my own "iRiffs" & show my work on Rifftrax.com. One particular riff was on how you notice a Native American, policeman, guy in a cowboy hat, guy in hard hat, & even a biker at some point during the movie. Had all five shown up in one scene, they might've been singing "Macho Man." Of course the cast was pretty embarrassing. Remember Casper Van Dien? He was on "Starship Troopers" & "Tarzan & the Lost City." I almost thought he restored his career by dating J. Lo till I learned it's a different Casper. (& I don't mean (Caspar) Weinberger) Yes, Kristen Miller is pretty. That's showbiz, dude! She has to be! Granite, because I didn't recognize this throwaway actress right away, I mistook her for Naomi Watts, Traylor Howard, or Helen Slater; guess which actress sounds the most familiar. & don't forget Robert Wagner. He at least earned some respect from me in his recurring role on "Two & a Half Men" around the time "The Fallen Ones" was made. & finally the late Tom Bosley. As I said, I saw it on Telefutura, so I couldn't hear the bad Hebrew accent other reviewers have mentioned. But if there are other works I want to remember Bosley by, I'd prefer "Father Dowling Mysteries," "The World of David the Gnome," or those SMC commercials on late-night or unpopular TV stations than "The Fallen Ones." Incidentally, Miller plays Angela, the engineer who meets cute w/ Matt & looks hot in that purple outfit while on the slab. I don't wanna sound sexiest, but there ain't too many women who work as engineers so I assume that was just a disposable job description. I was more convinced Denise Richards could be a nuclear scientist in that 007 film. Before I talk about how bad the mummies were, I also gotta bring up the "action." There was one scene where Matt Fletcher (Van Dien) & his sidekick, Mickey, fought the Ammon's thugs, & those thugs were some wussy fighters. & what pestered me was that Mickey's fighting technique was biting his opponents, including him spitting dirt out from biting a mummy, u'no, so it'll make u LOL. I thought he had overdone it when he bit his 2nd opponent, but by the time he bit all of his enemies he was as absurd as someone in a Sat. morning cartoon or a sitcom in Spanish. (& the actor might have been a Brazilian jujitsu champion, but I could be wrong.) & now, the mummies. Why don't I start w/ the "mecha-mummy"? Hey, Angela's an engineer; maybe she built that! By golly! Who else was thinking about "Wild Wild West" (which Telefutura shows occasionally)? The engineering behind the animal-powered gadgets in "The Flintstones" was more practical than that mummy! & I ain't just saying that; the man-powered beast appears for only a few minutes & moseys around until it falls down a ravine. Then there's the ginormous mummy (& the smaller, life-size mummies that spring 4th later on). If the makeup artists appeared in the realty show "Face-Off," I might have some respect. One scene that stuck w/ me was when the monster crushed one (just one!) helicopter. Geez, VanHook, even worse directors managed to fill up screen time w/ stock footage of jet fighters & bombers! Unless, this is his subtle editorial of how slow FEMA is to scary stuff like storms or bigass mummies. Afterward, the mummy throws away the chopper & when it explodes, it apparently had the Fat Man bomb on board as the explosion was noticeably big. & also notice that when he throws boulders @ the heroes, they fall like objects in a video game. I'm not even sure if the ground shook or if there were impact clouds. To summarize, "The Fallen Ones" demonstrates how some directors & writers can concentrate too much on showing a useless variety of mummies that they fail to include not just useful stuff like plot & character development but even stuff typical of B-movies like stock footage of planes. Enjoy for a good laugh. But if you want better SFX, watch a "Lord of the Rings" film (or "The Hobbit" in the near future.)
Giant waste of time!!!!!!!!
cojosh9 September 2006
Mr. VanHook took a good idea and kicked like a football. Unfortunately, it didn't make the goal. The historical subject of giants is a good one, but pour in the goon milk and you end up with a giant wheel of cheese. I say, take this reel wheel and roll it off a cliff. I couldn't even watch the entire film. That says a lot because I rarely walk away from any movie. I always like to give them a chance for last-minute redemption. It's impossible to redeem something this bad. Well, at least the acting was good....NOT!
The only thing "falling" in this film is the rating. 1/10 and sinking into the negative numbers!
The only thing "falling" in this film is the rating. 1/10 and sinking into the negative numbers!
What a waste of time
pepe4u2220 October 2008
I had some time to kill before watching football so I saw this movie being offered on the scifi channel and it literally after watching it I thought I had encountered my version of mentally walking the Bataan death march as my conscious was beaten into submission by the awful movie which ripped off the Mummy series and Jurassic Park. It was so bad that I thought the opening credits were the highlight of the movie and then it went into such a abysmal descent that it made the recent drop in the stock market seem like a hiccup. The acting was so bad that I was hoping that one and all would be buried at the end. The lead by Casper Van Dien made me long for the high caliber acting of Steven Seagal in "On Deadly Ground" as his line reading was so wooden that Woody Woodpecker was thinking of making a cameo to sit on his shoulder. I also noticed that his emotional range is so limited that I was under the impression my kitten was more expressive when asking for popcorn to eat . The direction was so abysmal I looked back yearning to my nephew's grade 3 play recital which had more pace and better vision and the fact that this movie seems to be have spliced together from afterthoughts of the aforementioned movie franchise it can not even be thought of as a homage. The FX of the movie was so bad that I thought the director and producers were enviormentally friendly by recycling cheap special effects from grade Z horror flicks from yesteryear. What Robert Wagner, Tom Bosley and Geoffrey Lewis were doing in this movies is beyond me and they should look at litigation against their agents for misrepresentation for getting them involved with such a dreck of a movie. My warning to one and all is watch this movie at your peril as this movie may cause your IQ to diminish with prolonged viewing. On a side note I noticed at IMDb that sometimes salaries for movies are published I was wondering if their is a way that actors that should give the salaries back for their poor performances in such movies. Beware and be safe avoid at all costs.
Desert adventure/horror with Casper Van Dien
Wuchakk1 November 2023
An archeologist (Van Dien) finds the remains of a giant in the deserts of Southern Cal, which attracts a mysterious man (Navid Negahban), who has diabolical interest in the colossal mummy. Robert Wagner plays an entrepreneur and Geoffrey Lewis a team member.
"The Fallen Ones" (2005) is desert adventure/horror on a TV budget. Blockbuster comparisons include "The Mummy" (1999) and "Raiders of the Last Ark" with bits of "Jurassic Park." Of course, this is by far the least of these.
The locations are great, the score is fitting, Van Dien works well as the protagonist, there's some witty humor and both the mecha-giant and mummy-giant are well done. The flick scores its highest points in the interesting commentary on the Nephilim and the evil spirits that produced them via mating with women from Genesis 6, not to mention the corresponding flood.
Wagner probably only worked a couple of days, I don't know, but he was effective in the role at the age of 74 during shooting. Unfortunately, the proceedings are hampered by cheesy CGI, which is to be expected in a TV flick made in 2004. Meanwhile Kristen Miller is winsome, but her part isn't big enough and it looks like she could eat some cheese burgers.
The writer/director improved in all areas as observed in "Alpha Wolf" (2018), which also features Van Dien.
The movie runs 1 hour, 29 minutes, and was shot in Trona in SoCal, which is a 3-hour drive northeast of Los Angeles, not too far before Death Valley National Park.
GRADE: C+
"The Fallen Ones" (2005) is desert adventure/horror on a TV budget. Blockbuster comparisons include "The Mummy" (1999) and "Raiders of the Last Ark" with bits of "Jurassic Park." Of course, this is by far the least of these.
The locations are great, the score is fitting, Van Dien works well as the protagonist, there's some witty humor and both the mecha-giant and mummy-giant are well done. The flick scores its highest points in the interesting commentary on the Nephilim and the evil spirits that produced them via mating with women from Genesis 6, not to mention the corresponding flood.
Wagner probably only worked a couple of days, I don't know, but he was effective in the role at the age of 74 during shooting. Unfortunately, the proceedings are hampered by cheesy CGI, which is to be expected in a TV flick made in 2004. Meanwhile Kristen Miller is winsome, but her part isn't big enough and it looks like she could eat some cheese burgers.
The writer/director improved in all areas as observed in "Alpha Wolf" (2018), which also features Van Dien.
The movie runs 1 hour, 29 minutes, and was shot in Trona in SoCal, which is a 3-hour drive northeast of Los Angeles, not too far before Death Valley National Park.
GRADE: C+
Sanctuary! Sanctuary!.....
drewcam14 September 2008
...from this awful movie! There are so many things wrong with this film, acting, writing, direction, editing, etc. that it's amazing that something rises to the top and proves itself to be the absolute worst. The music! I noted that the film has two composers listed. This must be the reason why every single frame has music, of the absolute worst "D" movie style drivel. They have never heard of the expression "less is more". It got so painful to listen to, I muted the sound every time there was no dialogue, not that the dialogue was that good. You have to feel sorry for Robert Wagner and Tom Bosley, I'm sure they didn't see roles like this in the twilight of their careers. See it at your own risk.
Could have been a lot worse...
stsinger22 January 2006
Intriguing story inspired by the line from Genesis 6:4 "There were giants in the Earth on those days." Basically, a team of archaeologists finds one and unleashes an ancient prophecy.
Sort of fun... Casper Van Dien plays the pretty-boy archaeologist, who is super smart, but also able to single-handed punch out supernatural beings. Kristen Miller -- who is so incredibly hot that I'd sell my mother to be with her -- plays some sort of authority figure, but, of course, is really just eye candy. She and Dien, of course, begin to have a relationship because they're just so darn good looking. Robert Wagner and Tom Bosley are also on board, and the DVD could be worth watching just to listen to Bosley's horrible accent! Basically, not a bad way to spend 90 minutes. Action, giants, angels, and mummies abound. The plot really doesn't make a lot of sense, but it never drags, and Kristen is hot (and we get a scene with her in her underwear).
Like I said, sort of fun.
Sort of fun... Casper Van Dien plays the pretty-boy archaeologist, who is super smart, but also able to single-handed punch out supernatural beings. Kristen Miller -- who is so incredibly hot that I'd sell my mother to be with her -- plays some sort of authority figure, but, of course, is really just eye candy. She and Dien, of course, begin to have a relationship because they're just so darn good looking. Robert Wagner and Tom Bosley are also on board, and the DVD could be worth watching just to listen to Bosley's horrible accent! Basically, not a bad way to spend 90 minutes. Action, giants, angels, and mummies abound. The plot really doesn't make a lot of sense, but it never drags, and Kristen is hot (and we get a scene with her in her underwear).
Like I said, sort of fun.
Passable but could have been better!
FromBookstoFilm21 December 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Giants have been in every mythology of every culture. This particular story takes place in Ancient Sumeria right before the flood of Noah. The story is based on the Biblical passages from Genesis and the passages from the non-Biblical Book of Enoch and the eventual return of the fallen angels and more matings with the daughters of Men as mentioned in the New Testament in the end times. The basis of this story starts with Genesis chapter 6 The matings of the Sons of God (Angels) and the Daughters of Men and their gigantic (more physically like the Titans of Greek Mythology in height anyways)cannibalistic (reference the Book of Enoch) offspring the Nephilim. The Angel Ammon knowing of the flood plans to have his hybrid son Aramis(?,the writer of this piece could have come up with a better name than this the origin of the name is Greek and is most associated with the Musketeer Aramis of Three Musketeers fame and mens cologne. He could have picked any mythological god or giant of Middle Eastern or Greek mythology)drugged and put in a deep sleep and mummified to call forth in the end times. The Sumerian priests sacrifice then mummify (Egyptian influence?The Egyptian civilization wasn't around during the flood)several male slaves and one female who are to serve Aramis when he is resurrected in the end times. The drug given by the priests to Aramis causes Aramis to become an insane mummy which causes his father Ammon to magically put him to sleep. After Noah's flood Ammon arrives during the time of Lot (Genesis Chapter 19)to destroy the city of Sodom and to start a new race of Nephilim with the youngest daughter of Lot. After Ammon destroys the city of Sodom (There are three theories as to why the citizens of Sodom were destroyed the first being homosexuality,second inhospitality to strangers and the third lusting after "strange flesh" flesh not of the human persuasion such as Humans having sex with fallen angels which also gave rise to the legends of the succubi,incubi and demon lovers)and possibly humans having sex with certain animals like apes Yeti and Sasquatch hybrids and then if you look at some of the half human gods in different mythologies maybe there was a reason why those myths were created. Ammon destroys the wife of Lot and persuades the two surviving daughters of Lot to get their own father drunk and commit incest with him and become pregnant. The younger daughter of Lot is also the lover of the fallen angel Ammon she has relations with Ammon and her father Lot the same night. She names her son after her fallen angel lover Ammon Ben-Ammi unfortunately for Ammon Ben-Ammi is the son of Lot and is human not giant. So skip over to thousands of years and Ammon is back to start another race of hybrid Nephilim in the 21st century and out of love resurrect his brain damaged giant of a son who's body is found not in Iraq (Ancient Sumeria) but in the United States in what was once Native American territory. The acting was decent considering some of the script they had to work with. This film could have left out the metal mummy machine and the idiotic chant of the followers of Ammon "Ammon Naamah".Strange chant. Naamah by the way was a descendant of Cain and one of the first women to mate with a fallen angel named Shamdon and their son was a half-demon known as Asmodai or Asmodeus and another descendant of Cain was a Naamah who was the wife of Noah of the flood fame. Anyone who loves mythology,the Bible,B-Movies reminiscent of the 1940's and 1960's mummy or Ray Harryhausen flicks will enjoy this film.
Awful apart from the Mummy
TheLittleSongbird2 August 2012
I saw The Fallen Ones as it did have a good idea and I do like Tom Bosley. Unfortunately the film itself doesn't come close to living up to this idea. It is not without redeeming values, the Mummy is impressively rendered especially for a low-budget movie and the final 30 minutes or so are reasonably entertaining if not holding that many surprises. Conversely, the acting features a wooden Casper VanDien and the veteran actors like Robert Wagner and Tom Bosley either given little to do or trying too hard. Bosley especially sports an atrocious accent that hinders the quality of his performance quite a bit. The actors are not helped that said by the story, script and characters. The story is sluggishly paced and predictably told and only comes to life when the Mummy appears, with any tense moments lacking in suspense and the humorous moments cheesy. The script is quite possibly the worst asset, sometimes incoherent with lines that are so badly stilted that they make your toes curl. I don't mind clichéd characters, as long as they are written well and we care for them. That is not the case with The Fallen Ones, you don't learn much about them and the things they do make you quickly irritated by them. The music is forgettable at best, while the camera work is choppy and does little to enhance the atmosphere. All in all, apart from the Mummy and to a lesser extent the final 30 minutes, The Fallen Ones is not worth bothering with. 2/10 Bethany Cox
This is Such a Fun Movie
milligancharm9 December 2020
This movie is so fun and one I watch multiple times. I discovered it on DVD so didn't see it when it first came out. I was completely caught off guard by how much I enjoyed this film. The characters are very good, and they are all helped because of the amazing actors that came on board for this one. It is like a classic George Lucas or Steven Spielberg movie, with an old "serial adventure" vibe. The story is unique and fun, with an amazing score. Just a really well written and fun adventure/supernatural/horror/comedy blend.
OK movie, but predictable
sjaaks30 August 2005
It is a movie which is good enough to watch if there is nothing else and you like the genre. Maybe it is not meant for grownups to watch, but merely for the younger SF-lovers. Most of the scenes have been seen in other movies. The jokes are a little repetitive and there are some questions about the motives of the characters. The positive part is that the violence is not so obvious and taken with a sense of humor. The special effects are OK, but not up to date. Sometimes the scenes are so fast that you need to stop your DVD player to be able to appreciate the scene. Not a movie which you would like to see a second time. All in all a very predictable movie.
Awful but funny
xredgarnetx30 June 2007
This cheapo but oddly watchable mummy flick is one of those made-for-TV deals that stars several has-beens and pretty faces who can't act. The has-beens in this case are Tom Bosley and Robert Wagner, who probably thought they were doing a LOVE BOAT reunion. The pretty-faced nonactors include Casper Van Dien and Kristin Miller. I have no idea what the great Geoffrey Lewis is doing in this. Actually, the Iranian-born actor, who plays the chief villain, Nahvid N., wasn't bad, but pretty much all he gets to do is talk, talk, talk until you're ready to switch to a rerun of that old Olson Twins show. For a great rundown on the plot, check out the first IMDb synopsis. I shan't go into it here other than to add the flick borrows liberally from JURASSIC PARK, THE MUMMY and SAHARA. Not bad films to steal from. To say THE FALLEN ONES plot line is ambitious is not giving it enough credit. But what we get is a bunch of stiff-assed actors standing around most of the time. The action is severely limited in what should have been an action-packed horror comedy flick. The CGI isn't bad for a TV movie. The idea of a 42-ft.-tall mummy chasing around the countryside isn't bad, either. Neither is the 42-ft.-tall mechanical mummy (see the movie). Watch it for laughs if nothing else.
Casper Fletcher, Giant Mummy Slayer.
Vomitron_G1 September 2010
More demanding viewers will certainly find this a disappointing or even ridiculous watch. Indeed, the silly plot might cause one to chuckle every now and then, and most events or aspects in it, don't really lead to anything. It does feel somewhat ambitious, and the cinematography, camera-work & musical score all are decent enough. But the poorly drawn-out characters and the lack of many extra's (for the evil clan, for example), makes you think twice about what it is this movie might succeed in on other levels, if any. The (fist)fight scenes are extremely lame and poorly staged. But all the rest of the movie (including the effects) looks okay. AND... it's got a giant mummy, on a rampage, snatching helicopters out of the air and smashing them against a mountain and stuff and all... A GIANT MUMMY, I tell you! Everybody loves giant mummies, no? So switch off the lights (and don't forget to put your brain to bed first) and have some fun with it. Even if only for seeing Casper Van Dien as a third rate Indiana Jones incarnated.
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