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Reviews
The First Men in the Moon (2010)
One of the better Hg Wells adaptations.
After so many bad Hg Wells film and TV adaptations it's nice to see one that's quite faithful to the original story and well made. the acting's great, so is the script and it should make you smile. It's well worth a watch if you like Wells stories and sci fi in general. The pacing was well done unlike for instance the new series of Dr Who has been since it came back in 2005.
The special effects aren't too bad either. the selenites themselves are well done and there's also a nod to the old George Melies silent film which was a really nice touch.
the only real downside i thought was we didn't see much of the Selenites world underneath the moon. I'd like to have seen some more spectacular scenery like giant caves and the impression there's a city of selenites under the moon.
Still I liked it and will be watching it again.
Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)
As expected...a complete travesty of Jules Vernes book!
I wasn't expecting much from this film and my expectations proved to be correct. When I read that the original writer left because the film was turning into a theme park ride, that immediately set alarm bells ringing and the end result is nothing more than that. The special effects are pretty good and the 3D is also good but because the film has virtually zero story (unlike the adult Beowulf in 3D) the ONLY thing going for it is the 3D.
Brendan Fraser is his usual self, just passable as an actor (though he's much worse in this than the Mummy) plus cheesy lines, Josh Hutcherson is plain annoying (just like those annoying brats in Spielbergs Wotw) and the rest of the cast just seem to be uninterested (not surprising seeing how bad and clichéd this film is). Things like the cart chase are obviously just thrown in to show off the 3D (also a rip off of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) same with the yo yo, plus other things and the whole movie is just one big gimmick without any substance whatsoever. the T Rex looked good in some shots, bad in others along with the underground rocks, scenery etc.
This should never have been just a kids movie considering it's based on a classic book (it's not even a good kids movie) and I bet it would have made a lot more money, gained much, much more respect and had lasting appeal if it had been made like Peter Jacksons brilliant version of King Kong. As it is, it might well just be throwaway garbage that won't have lasting appeal. This could have been a real classic of the cinema if they had followed Verne's story a lot more closely, had it in the same time period as the book and used Vernes characters and I'm suspicious and question any professional critic/reviewer who says this is good.
Both Michael D. Weiss and Jennifer Flackett should be ashamed of themselves for writing such garbage (along with the rest of the film makers), especially as they've pinched the title from a great book.
So to sum up......another in the long list of Americanised abominations of great books by Hollywood (another recent one like i've already mentioned was Spielbergs War of the Worlds which was a complete travesty of Hg Wells masterpiece book). If you're brain dead or a 3 year old child then you might just enjoy this but to think they've cashed in on Jules Verne's title and then ignored everything he wrote is an absolute disgrace.
War of the Worlds (2005)
An Insult to HG Wells
This film is a massive disappointment and an insult to HG Wells. Clichéd characters such as the divorced dad who's a jerk but turns out to be a hero in the end, clichéd action scenes such as Cruise and the grenade and a clichéd Hollywood ending. Cruise as usual just plays himself as that's all he's capable of and he's a mediocre to average actor at best and Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin are just plain annoying. The film has some good scenes such as when the tripod first appears and the tripods and special effects themselves are good as to be expected from ILM, but on the whole this film just smacks of a missed opportunity.
I'm usually a fan of John Williams scores but this one is nothing special at all and I also also thought the terrorism references were in very poor taste and the reasons for Spielberg and Koepp including them are very questionable.
Above all this film should have been set in Victorian England just like the book. That would have set it apart from all the other aliens invade the USA films.
Why also can't Spielberg work with proper actors for a change instead of big stars who can't act particularly well. Cruise who seems to be more interested in promoting himself instead of the film or War of the worlds, should have been the last choice for a film like this, which is supposedly based on a classic story and I really think Spielberg is way past his best.