djeb2004 Reviews

Predators (2010)

A good flick, a worthy sequel

[8/10 · 12 July 2010]

I saw this movie opening night in the theater and it was surprisingly packed. Movies like this around here I didn't think would have a large fan-base. I'll start with the basics. First off the acting. Adrian Brody surprised me with his role. He was completely believable. Every actor seemed to pull there own character together. The cast worked great. Topher Grace was probably the biggest surprise. He seemed the odd man out but he fit his role just fine. The story was pretty bland with the Surviving the Game as the basic plot. It was the subtle little stories that fell into the movie that became more interesting. The ideas of more than one specie to hunt on this game preserve were pretty cool. The creature effects were top notch. It was nice seeing the original Predator design again. The new predator designs were pretty cool and they each seemed to represent there own character. The new face on the leader Predator I personally liked as the design wasn't too scewed from the original but was different enough. The predator hounds were a cool idea as well. The CGI in this movie was used very minimally. I would say about 15 to 20 percent was CG which I prefer since films these days are heavily reliant on computer effects. The music and sound effects were pretty good. The score by John Debney was excellent. It put the feeling of the original back into this one. The sound effects were just fine as it wasn't trying to copy really much of the original which is OK. The movie felt like an older action movie and it does fit as a worthy sequel to the original Predator. I am sure why some people will not like this movie as it will be an acquired taste to like it, but if you come in with the expectation to see a Predator movie you'll like it. It won't really fill the void as an awesome action picture, or sci-fi or horror flick, it screams Predator movie mostly. I give this movie an 8/10. Its not perfect by any means and it does have some minor plot holes which any nitpicker will find and exploit. The movie does keep you interested the entire time and the attitude along with classic like scoring and good acting brings back fond memories of the original. Predators is a worthy sequel in the franchise.

Kick-Ass (2010)

wanna go fight some crime?

[8/10 · 21 April 2010]

Well I went and saw this movie opening night on our local mega screen. I was happy that I did and this movie was worth the money. The acting was excellent. I was very surprised with "hit girl" performance. Some of the things you see are a little out there but well done none the less. The plot actually had some meaning and depth and turned into quite a serious movie. Nicholas Cage doesn't share too much screen time but when he does it is quite memorable. The music and atmosphere would get intense at times which gave the movie more props. If you watched the trailer you are getting something more than you would expect as that is all I have seen and knew nothing else about it. It contained a lot of teen humor and adult humor. The action sequences and gun fights were excellent. There were only a few moments in the movie where I thought "ok now this would never happen" but it didn't take away too much from my viewing pleasure. I am giving this movie an 8/10 simply because it started this summer out excellent with more great movies to come this year and if you in the mood for fun, laughter, and action, and Mclovin! Then this is your movie.

Fright Night (1985)

Excellent 80's horror/comedy mix

[8/10 · 11 February 2010]

A movie I nearly forgot about until it became available on demand through my cable provider. Its your typical 80's movie for sure, however it possesses its own unique style. The visual and make up effects are excellent. There plenty of frightening moments in the movie which made me feel uneasy. Chris Sarandon played an excellent vampire. The acting was not top notch by any means but it was somewhat believable and it didn't take you away from the movie. The transformations were excellent which the wolf to teenager transformation was extremely creepy. There were plenty of funny moments along with the right amount of horror. This was a completely fresh movie which was professionally executed. I was quite pleased with watching this at my age and enjoying it quite a bit. Not a bad reaction for an 80's film. Kudos to the director for his story and his vision. This is definitely a movie to watch, however I am going to be adding it to my collection so I don't forget about it again 10 years later.

Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)

An excellent sequel to an all but lost franchise

[8/10 · 4 February 2010]

Universal Soldier was a great movie. It had its own unique vision and excellent casting and special effects. Universal Solider: The Return was way below par to its original counterpart. Universal Soldier: Regeneration is a true sequel with dead on action. The story is quite cliché'd but still executed properly. The look and feel of the movie is realistic. The acting is spot on. The dialog was short but it was necessary. The action was excellent. The fight sequences were brutal and realistic. It was a very good action picture. Dolph Lundgren's cameo was excellent and the fight between him and Jean Claude was very well executed. This is the true sequel to Universal Soldier. This doesn't have Oscar written on it, nor does it come close to being anything spectacular, but this isn't your normal sci-fi cheapo movie. It captures you and you get drawn in by excellent hand to hand combat and fight scenes. There is never really a dull moment in the movie and it does happen to fall short which probably helped. No special moments really, but a down and dirty in your face action picture. Excellent and worth renting for sure. A true surprise to a franchise that was looking dead in the water after a bummer sequel. Watch the first, skip the second and watch the third and you have the true story for Universal Soldier.

Tremors (1990)

Fun movie, worth owning

[10/10 · 15 January 2010]

This is probably one of my favorite movies. It stands up there with acting, story, and special effects. This movie has its own original idea and molded it together great. The acting is excellent with very convincing attitude. This is an excellent buddy movie with a lot of humor in it, which I cannot help but laugh every time they get into a sarcastic speal. The supporting cast was excellent and very believable. The special effects were top notch with no CGI used. These creatures were all practical using full scale puppets or miniatures. We can thank the good special effects wizards that did this movie including Dennis Stotak, Alec Gillis, and Tom Woodruff Jr, who all have an impressive resume. There is one blue screen shot used and still everything was real just used to a backdrop in a scene. The dialog was great and it was sold excellent by the actors. The movie ends with no need for a sequel, however three more become created. It's its own story, and characters with no cliché's tying to any other characters out there (for the time). The timing and direction was great. It did create good suspense and terror at times which didn't take away from its humor. It is a great movie which should have more love than it has. This is a movie you can watch time and again because it is good entertainment and has a touch of many genre's for viewing pleasure. I give this a 10 out of 10 because it still has stood time for me as a great movie with few flaws and much much entertainment value. A must own in my opinion.

Troll 2 (1990)

Michael... Who are the Goblins? ... THE GOBLINS?

[1/10 · 15 January 2010]

So unbelievably bad its great! The acting was painful. I had to watch more to see how this thing can turn out. I could have made a better movie with what they had. I think the cast was having a great time since no one knew what was going on which you could tell when this was made. It had many random scenes which made no sense, like the dance sequence which has nothing to do with anything. The corn seduction, which again has nothing to do with anything. All of these things made this movie so awesome to watch. You cannot help yourself to watch till the end. The most annoying thing was the magic Grandpa Seth who is like a fairy for little Joshua. Again another thing that doesn't make sense. "Joshua, sing me that song I love" Oh My God! This is some classic stuff. This movie tickles you in everyway possible, which you don't see much of anymore. This should be in the comedy section since it was made with the intention of being serious but turned out to be a huge comedy. Priceless! 1 out of 10 since its an awful movie, but 10 out of 10 for extreme goofyness.

Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008 Video)

Enjoyable, not the greatest but decent movie

[6/10 · 15 January 2010]

Starship Troopers 3: Marauder. Hmm, well I'll start with the good. There was quite a bit of good in this movie. A great starship troopers movie. Like Casper Van Dien says in the making of the movie, this is the true sequel to starship troopers. Casper Van Dien reprises his role as John Rico. He plays the role great, maybe even better than the first film. Supporting lead cast was good. Boris and Jolene played excellent roles. Special Effects were superior to syfy movies but not up to par as first or second movie. Could have been excellent with more money in the budget. They had the right person for the job in Dennis Stotak. The directing was pretty good for Ed Neumier's first directing job. The fednet sequences are good and campy as the first movie. This movie features more citizen and human depth than war with bugs which made it its own picture. The Marauder's needed more screen time and more money to make better CG effects, but it wasn't awful.

The bad: Money and time. Which about sums up the times you can tell when things were CGI effects or looked visually unappealing. The supporting cast was pretty bad, as in they would destroy the dialog or you couldn't understand them too well with the heavy accents. The weapons looked too bulky but at least they were not lazers. They did shoot actuall shell cased ammunition which was a cool thing from the first film. This movie isn't a good stand alone movie which is not necessarily bad but its great for starship troopers fans, but it won't jolt much excitement from someone who hasn't seen any of the other movies or read the book.

I hope they get a bigger budget and maybe create another movie with some more original cast members and an all out war picture. Just my wishful thinking. 6 out of 10, I did enjoy this movie because I enjoyed the others but if you are not a fan of the others you probably won't enjoy this one.

Predator (1987)

Excellent Movie, one of my all time favorites

[9/10 · 29 September 2009]

When I saw this movie for the first time, it literally scared me to the point I had to keep a light on at night. Of course I was way younger then. In my opinion this is one of the most brilliant, well thought out creatures I have ever seen. We are given a full scale setup of the lifestyle of this monster. John McTiernan did an excellent job at building tension for this creature. The way it killed people was something new and it all seemed to serve a purpose. Stan Winston defintately delivered on building this creature. Kudos to the late Kevin Peter Hall for delivering an excellent performance in a suit. When looking at the rest of the movie, you have to consider what it is and why this movie works so well. The commandos led by Arnold Swarzenneggar are true 80's action stars which shows in the gun fights. They can shoot at the hip and seem to hit there targets no problem. They barely ever reload, and seem to all come out without much harm. Now this seemed like it was done purposely to deliver on the Predator turning there world into a nightmare. Suddenly they are dying one at a time in a sick toying matter. The gun fight where they all had to reload and pretty much level a Forest without killing anything pretty much took the movie out of the typical 80's action movie style. It was great! This is one of Arnold's few 80's action movies where he didn't dominate. He got lucky and still had to run for his life to make it out alive. How many times did Arnold really have to do that in a movie? Not many. When looking at the making of this movie you cannot help but wonder what would of happened if Jean Claude Van Damme was still playing the predator and if the original design still took place. Makes you think doesn't it? This movie could have been very very bad. I mean look at Commando. Sorry guys it just wasn't good lol. This movie is definitely worth buying the 2 disk DVD. You can see the full documentary making of this movie, plus a look inside Stan Winstons work and the creature. Some really good stuff. A classic in my eyes.

Heat (1995)

Long movie, worth every minute, one of the greatest gun fights I've seen

[9/10 · 20 July 2009]

Heat was a long movie. Its not the most fast paced movie either. It does star two of the greats of our generation in DeNiro and Pacino. It also followed suit with many wonderful actors and actresses filling in minor spots in this movie. The characters are very believable, and you do get a sense of there background even though they don't say much about it. The action sequences are excellent. The score is good and appropriate for this type of movie. After done watching this movie you will realize it was long, but you will say it was worth it to watch all the way through. The best thing about this movie was the city gunfight after the robbers exit the bank. The gun sounds almost make you think it is real. Most Hollywood gunfights are completely unrealistic and sound corny. The people actually reloaded, they weren't all pinpoint accurate, and it sounded real. Very A++++ gunfight. Overall this is a very good movie. It has a great story. Great acting. Great fights. Believable characters. Good direction from Michael Mann. Worth your time and money at the video store or 5 dollar bin at walmart. haha

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)

Fun Movie that pays homeage to the creatures.... somewhat

[8/10 · 14 July 2009]

I am a huge aliens and predator fan. Aliens is my favorite movie of all time. So going into this movie I am a little biased. However there is a point where you have to draw the line. The biggest, i mean biggest flaw in this movie was the script. When Ricky walked into Jessies house and Dale says nice outfit and his friend goes, yeah isn't halloween in October. I knew that the script in this movie was dead. However Ricky's comeback was quite nice in response, well at least I know who ordered the sausage lovers. The rest of the dialog was absolute horrible, which isn't the actors fault, I blame Shane Solerno, the credited writer for this movie. I must say A++++ to the actors having to work with this script. The acting wasn't that bad in this movie. There is much more good then there is bad in this movie. The creature effects were top notch. The overall special effects were great. The movie seemed to get its point across pretty well even though it seemed to run short. I think this could have been a great 2+ hour long movie. Nice touches including the alien sounds from James Camerons Aliens, the original predator vision sounds, and original soundtrack themes hidden within the movie were great touches. I think they could have done better with the predator clicking noises and predator roars and growls. I'm glad they made this predator a more kick ass predator instead of a soft emotional and weak predator as in the first one. The only thing that upset me about the predator is that it wouldn't kill the main characters even when it had plenty of chances to. If a non main character came up it would have no problem slaughtering that person. Another thing that was great in this movie, was the predator face. It looked great. It looked more the like the predator from the original which was awesome. The aliens looked good since they followed the ridged head design and looked more like insects than men in suits. The predalien was a cool twist, I think they could have designed it alittle better to look scarier but it wasn't too bad. The end fight sequence was excellent but way to short. Overall the movie was good, if you are an alien or predator fan you will enjoy it. It has many flaws but a lot of good. I give it an 8 out of 10. Its worth renting for sure.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Fun Movie, good action, Terminator was better

[7/10 · 10 July 2009]

Well I would have to say the first Transformers was pretty damn good and seeing the trailer for the second one showed that they are trying to up the action level and maybe explain the story a little better. Well they do this OK. Its not what I expected. I did enjoy this movie. It was very fast paced, with extremely well done special effects. Sometimes the story got a little out there, which unfortunately you do think about it watching the movie. Most times you would like to think back after you've seen the movie to review the story, well that doesn't happen so don't be surprised if you start to review the movie before its over. The characters are mostly just there. The only person you really care about is Sam because well he is the only real character in the movie. Megan Fox seemed way way too fake in this movie. Just watching her makes you think she is a total b*tch in real life. She was only eye candy in this movie. Again the special effects are top notch in this movie. They were about the same professional wise as terminator salvation's were. It did seem sloppy at times and it was hard to tell who was fighting who and who really to root for. That didn't distract me too much. The only two things that bothered me the most about this movie is its split audience attraction. With the 2 gangster robots and there dialog and childish behavior you would guess this movie would be PG. Then all the sudden the robots would start cussing and swearing and talking ghetto. The movie would start to look dark and evil and move to its PG-13 rating. It didn't stay consistent all the way through. The second thing that bothered me was the cliché's of right place right time in every instance in this movie. There would just happen to be the "right" missile on a ship that just would happen to be close to where the action was. They would all be prepared to handle this unexpected and unlikely event. You knew Optimus was going to live again to see the final climactic battle yet the battle was short and pretty pathetic and expected. Now I did like this movie and sequels are hard to be as incredible as the first movies. Its rare to see newer movies these days that can be moving and worthy as some of our past classics that are available to us. I would say that many people are going to hate this movie and many people are going to love it. Me... I like it, nothing incredible nothing horrible, just there for me. I thought between to two summer blockbusters Terminator Salvation was much better but thats just me. I give it a 7 out of 10 because for what it is... it does its job I guess.

Event Horizon (1997)

Paul Anderson's best here, Very Entertaining

[9/10 · 4 May 2009]

This is Paul Andersons best movie here. Anderson has been bringing us some very unsatisfying movies as of late and this one seems to fly under the radar. When your watching the movie you don't realize that this is his film. A couple of reasons will show this, 1, you got a good/strong cast. 2, It's well written and acted. 3, it works and will scare you or make you feel uneasy. I like this movie quite a bit. I'm not one to be scared by movies easily but this one makes it hard for me to sleep at night. Its not so much the movie itself but when your hear that transmission that Dr Wier plays back you know there's trouble ahead and when you see what happens to the crew on that ships log it makes you feel extremely uneasy. The ship plays the perfect villain here and the whole feeling of the movie is uneasy. Nothing looks pretty in this movie. And that look sells it. I would recommend it because all in all it is a good movie. Sam Neill puts on a great performance along with Lawrence Fishburne. The supporting cast is great as well with familiar faces all around. If your in the video store and want something to tickle your mind alittle, go ahead and watch this flick. It won't disappoint, but its not for the easily sickened.

Carnosaur (1993)

Hmm, I hated it but I loved it....

[2/10 · 27 February 2009]

Well, I must say that this movie does tickle you in every way possible. The acting was amazing lol. When Raphael Sbarges character is kneeling down when he sees the dying kid on the road, it looks like he is taking a dump on the road!!! lol, the stupid one liners, and extremely fake sneezing really got to me in this movie. Now if the acting doesn't pull you in I tell you the dinosaur effects will! The fake barbie limbs, the inconsistent dino sizes, the colors of the two dinos changed drastically! You can easily tell when its a puppet/man in suit, or animatronic creature. Now the only thing remotely interesting in the movie is its story line. Though a bit far out there, it is quite an interesting catastrophic effect attempt that I don't think we have ever seen. Not only dinosaurs but a deadly fever that spreads rapidly as well. Now if this movie were to have probably 10 million more this would have been a mainstreem movie with more love and credability, now its funny on the VHS cover is says Ebert and Roeper give it thumbs up. Lol I watched the rating on youtube and they both thought the movie was awful but the story was quite interesting and the bad guy (ladd) was something new and exciting.

Now i must say that anyone that watches this please do not take it seriously, and don't come in with high hopes. Now if you come in watching the movie with an open mind your going to have a hell of a time!!

What I do want to see is a remake of this movie. I'm actually going to type up a story and script for it because I think with the modern technology seeing a new age Carnosaur movie will be something people will want to see, also I think this movie should be a stand alone movie with no sequels. I think the fever idea and dinos will stay but the giving birth will have to go, far far away lol. The characters are pretty good and will need to be developed more. Thats what i think should happen. We haven't had any really new age dino movies

Carnosaur 3: Primal Species (1996)

lol, great a ratarded T-REX!!!

[4/10 · 26 February 2009]

OK I had higher hopes for this Carnosaur movie simply because it seemed like the sequels were getting better as they came out. I did like Carnosaur 2 better than 1. I figured well this one is newer so it must be better right? Well... I quickly learned I was wrong. I was extremely confused with the casting. They brought back Rick Dean for another spotlight character and Michael MacDonald as a police officer. Now for Rick dean lol, in Carnosaur 2 I thought he fit the role pretty well and wasn't really annoyed by him, now in Carnosaur 3 wow they placed him as an elite soldier. Now we are getting goofy here. The movie actually started out pretty good with a decent gun fight and dinos escaping out of there little freezer trucks, but as soon as Scott Valentines team showed up we had a mix of a romantic comedy with very funny performances from retarded and floppy dinosaurs.

I'll start with the raptors first, they had there tails drag the ground, which in the second one they were up in the air which looked more common for a dinosaur that can run up to 50-60 mph. Now when they ran they wiggled back and forth and the heads didn't move at all. there hands were floppy all over the place and since they were extremely poorly shot by the director they looked stupid and out of place.

The t-rex was extremely pathetic, they would of been better off using the one from the previous 2 movies. At least that one looked somewhat frightening. The one in this film looked like it was smiling all the time. The legs when it walked was hilarious, like it was john wayne in the old west all stiff legged and stuff. LOL another thing I noticed is that the hands did not move, they were stuck next to its body so it looked and sounded (god the sound effects were awful) retarded!!! Now if I was the director and realized that I had this to work with maybe I would of maybe tried a little bit harder to hide the fakeness fact. As for the rest of the movie, well this was the sloppiest and loudest military team I have ever seen. The weapons they used wouldn't make sense for the scenario. They even had an arm wrestling scene inside the warehouse where the carnosaurs were roaming, now I was tickled at this scene because I thought that while this stupidity was going on that the Dinos would get in there and cause some damage. Instead the director wasted about 7 minutes of our time. I would like to look at this movie as the 3 stooges of dinosaur movies. You have retarded military, retarded dinosaurs, retarded scenario and you have a wonderful 83 minutes to spend of your day watching this.

Now I'm not saying I wouldn't watch this, bc actually i do recommend everyone see this movie that wants 83 minutes of pure entertainment. It may seem like I'm ranting but really I'm hyping this movie up to what it is. Its really a lot of fun to watch because while watching this you think to yourself, "did the director really make this seriously?"

Carnosaur 2 (1995)

A fun movie, These Dinos Have BITE!!!!

[8/10 · 26 February 2009]

Well I must say that I did really enjoy this movie. I know this thing is no where near perfection, and I'm not judging this movie based on that. I am a big movie watcher and I must say that I was able to sit through the movie all the way through and stay pretty interested to see what was going to happen. I was actually impressed with the dinosaur affects. The velociraptors were actually pretty cool looking. These dinos looked more vicious than the ones in the first one did. It gave the Carnosaur title more meaning i think. I did notice the tyrannosaurus was the same from the first one, but this movie used it more which i think that was a plus. Overall the acting was mediocre, I thought John Savage was pretty good. The nice thing about no name or mediocre named actors is you don't really know who is going to die. You may get an idea, but you still watch to see how its going to go down. I would recommend this movie if your bored and nothing is really on TV. It is definitely worth watching. It is much much better than the first Carnosaur and even better than the lame Carnosaur 3. I would say this is the best of the serious. Even though its got the alien like plot but another fun factor is that the team going in there to repair the plant aren't armed to all living hell with guns. I'd say this movie learned a little from the first Carnosaur and then watched Aliens and was like, "hey, we can make a dino sequel!" I give this movie an 8 out of 10 simply because its better than the first and way better than the 3rd, but a fun movie overall and if your disappointed then you'll be only losing a buck at family video lol.