As someone else pointed out, oh, the hatred pouring out from the Tolkien fanboyz. Yes, the orc costumes are straight from LotR, as is the Sting replica. I saw the same thing with the original Conan sword for 20 years after Arnie's first movie with it. Get over yourselves -- if you really want to gripe, go gripe at Joss Whedon for reusing those awful costumes from "Starship Troopers" in "Firefly", or play the Stargate/Stargate:Atlantis/NuBSG Drinking Game.
The story concept was good, if not overly original. The camera work was above average. The soundtrack was well above average. The FX, frankly, were pretty cheesy - I've seen better blood-spatter work done by amateurs on YouTube using the identical software. The acting could have been better in places, but overall was much better than I expected.
And technical advisers - seriously. They will keep you from making dumb mistakes, like the hideous "bouncing rifle", the dreaded "million- shot magazine" and remembering to remove the scope's end caps before shooting.
Unfortunately, part of this film's problem is that the director was apparently afraid that it would take too much dialog to explain why things were happening, so the "troubled, ex-Special Forces hero" seems to suddenly understand how everything works, when he should have been scribbling furiously through the entire middle of the film, desperately trying to diagram out what was happening. It comes off as forced and flat. Likewise, there is the enormous body count that no locals seem to question, and no county sheriff asking why a long-time resident is suddenly dead and buried in his own yard -- not in 21st Century America.
The film could have added another 30 minutes to explain these things, and it would have made it a far better film.
Overall, I place this solidly in the camp of the "Guns, Girls & G- Strings" classics, like "Hard Ticket To Hawaii" and "Savage Beach", et al, without the gratuitous nudity.....Definitely a 'B', but a good 'B'.
The story concept was good, if not overly original. The camera work was above average. The soundtrack was well above average. The FX, frankly, were pretty cheesy - I've seen better blood-spatter work done by amateurs on YouTube using the identical software. The acting could have been better in places, but overall was much better than I expected.
And technical advisers - seriously. They will keep you from making dumb mistakes, like the hideous "bouncing rifle", the dreaded "million- shot magazine" and remembering to remove the scope's end caps before shooting.
Unfortunately, part of this film's problem is that the director was apparently afraid that it would take too much dialog to explain why things were happening, so the "troubled, ex-Special Forces hero" seems to suddenly understand how everything works, when he should have been scribbling furiously through the entire middle of the film, desperately trying to diagram out what was happening. It comes off as forced and flat. Likewise, there is the enormous body count that no locals seem to question, and no county sheriff asking why a long-time resident is suddenly dead and buried in his own yard -- not in 21st Century America.
The film could have added another 30 minutes to explain these things, and it would have made it a far better film.
Overall, I place this solidly in the camp of the "Guns, Girls & G- Strings" classics, like "Hard Ticket To Hawaii" and "Savage Beach", et al, without the gratuitous nudity.....Definitely a 'B', but a good 'B'.