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Dr Worm
Reviews
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
Not great, but very good
I'm not a huge Star Trek fan, but I know enough of the universe to hold a conversation with your average Trekkie. Which means I know enough of the universe to get into Insurrection, and I did get into Insurrection. It is a really fun film!! It's good to see a bit of humour injected back into Star Trek. Generations was a bit heavy and First Contact was quite dark, so to see Data, Worf, Riker, and Troi cracking some gags (some of which were actually very funny) was a refreshing change.
Although Insurrection fits perfectly well into the Star Trek universe, unfortunately I don't think it stands up as a film in its own right. First Contact stood up a lot better in this respect, as it was a lot more self-contained. Insurrection also lacked a really good space battle (as do all Trek films excluding First Contact). The one it had, while good, was all too brief. It would be great to see perhaps a Deep Space 9 film that details the war with the Dominion, and they pull out all the stops with the space battles.
I saw this film with a Trekkie friend, and he loved it. I don't think Insurrection will gain the Star Trek franchise any new fans, but should keep the current fans very happy.
Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (1975)
Bereft of redeeming features
I can find little complimentary to say about Salo. It was banned in Australia for 20 years, then the ban was lifted, then I think it was banned again. I don't agree with censorship in any way, as people should be able to decide for themselves, but if anyone asked for my opinion if Salo was worth a look, I would reply with a firm negative.
As a film, apart from the utterly vile scenes of rape, torture, and excreta a la carte, the whole thing plods along very slowly. If I have to say one positive thing about Salo, it would be that the above scenes do look realistic.
I guess if part of a movie's job is to provoke an emotional response, then Salo does that, even if that response is one of revulsion and disgust.
Jung on zo (1993)
Chan's serious side
I don't know the background on this one, but it seemed to be based on a true story, and as such there wasn't a lot of room for Jackie Chan's trademark slapstick stuntwork. Not that there aren't any stunts in Crime Story, but they're just lacking the 'fancy' elements from such films as 'Dragons Forever' or the 'Police Story' series.
Nevertheless, this is a good film, if for nothing else than to see a different side of Jackie Chan in a serious role as a haunted cop without the fancy footwork in some of his other films.
Chin san chuen suet (1992)
Very cool
The only reason I rented this was due to the fact that Maggie Cheung was in it, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a very enjoyable film. All the good guys are like-able and the bad guy is a right b******!! Excellently choreographed fight scenes, great cinematography (especially the scenes with the Fei and the killer whale Hai Wei(sp?)), and an extra bonus surprise about a third of the way into the movie - Anita Mui!!
The ending shocked me somewhat, but didn't detract from my enjoyment the movie in any way. Well worth checking out.
The Incredible Torture Show (1976)
Don't bother
I don't know if the version I saw of this was heavily edited or what, but this was a very poor movie. The impression I got was it tried to take itself far too seriously, and failed miserably. A very disturbing (and potentially interesting plot) is hopelessly marred by utterly fake looking special effects.
Some b-grade horror films are so bad they're good, but Blood Sucking Freaks unfortunately doesn't fall into this category.
If you're into excessive gore, check out Peter Jackson's two masterpieces, Bad Taste and Braindead.