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Reviews
Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
Premise is terrible but, execution is not bad
Let me state the obvious to begin. The idea of a shark having a personal grudge against a certain family is crazy. How would the shark even know who is a Brody and who isn't? That being said, I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. While the idea is silly, the actual story of some of the Brody family being scared that a shark is targeting them is preformed pretty well. The action scenes with the shark are so much better than the third movie and are not far behind the second. I enjoyed all the nods to the first movie and felt it was just enough without dwelling on the past. The ending is alright until you get to the moment of the shark's demise which really doesn't make sense. From what I understand the original ending made a lot more sense even though it's still far fetched.
I realize that few will probably agree with my opinion but, I don't think this movie deserves the low rating it has. It is no classic but, it's a decent enough movie if you get past cringing a little whenever the "the shark is out to get us" statements are made. I think it still ends the franchise a good note and I'm personally glad the it didn't end with train wreck that was Jaws 3. I didn't expect to enjoy this movie very much but, I was pleasantly surprised.
Jaws 3-D (1983)
Hard to believe that they made another Jaws after this
I know most people think the last Jaws movie is terrible but, it is a classic compared to this one. There are so many issues with this one and I want to point out some of the highlights or low-lights depending on how you look at it.
1. Obviously anybody watching this movie is watching it for the shark but, they could have at least attempted to give some attention to the characters and stories. The only time this movie has your interest at all is when the shark is present. It felt like all the actors/actresses were just going through the motions but, you can't blame them when you consider what they're working with.
2. Why was so much of the movie almost pitch black? I realize that it wouldn't be realistic for it to bright underwater, especially at night but, enough light to actually see what is happening would've been nice. There are many scenes where you might as well close your eyes since you can't make anything out. That includes most of the final 10 or 15 minutes and a scene early on that is not even in the water.
3. As I stated earlier, you are watching because of the shark but, you don't really see much of it and it's too dark to actually see it most of the time it is on screen.
4. This is not so much a complaint as an observation. Watch for a special effect shot at the end that is so bad, it's hard to believe it made it into the movie even if it was a 3-D shot. It's the next to last 3-D shot if I remember correctly.
King Kong (2005)
If you can make it through the first hour, it's really good
The movie starts off slow and I mean really slow. I'm not someone who needs action scenes every 5 minutes to enjoy a film but, the first 50-60 minutes really drag. I think the boat trip and what preceded it could've been trimmed down to 20-25 minutes without really disrupting the backstories of the characters. I was seriously about to turn it off until it looked like it might get interesting and I'm glad I waited because the last 2 hours are great. I gave it an 8 but, without the slow start it's easily a 9 or 10 in my opinion. If you can make it through the first hour or are willing to skip it(you wouldn't miss a whole lot), I would highly recommend it for the last 120 minutes.
NWO Souled Out (1997)
It's clear why there wasn't a second NWO PPV
I'm sure it sounded like a good idea at the time but, this was pretty much a disaster. None of the matches were very entertaining. I know the production value was supposed to be unique from typical WCW shows but, it just came across as low budget. Perhaps it was supposed to feel that way but, it just hurt the overall feel. Another low point was how the announcers especially Bischoff, tried way too hard to convince the audience that the NWO were upstanding good guys. DiBiase did his best but, Bischoff had me wanting to hit the mute button more times than not. The biggest problem can be summed up by pointing out that the entire PPV felt unnecessary. It was a NWO PPV with NWO wrestlers, announcers and referee, so how could anybody affiliated with WCW actually win a match? They shouldn't have but, they still did. This show goes down as one of WCW's infamous bad ideas.
WWE: History of the World Heavyweight Championship (2009)
Pretty good but could have been better
As a huge wrestling fan, I was pretty excited for a video collection covering a title that could be traced all the way back to the early 20th century. For the most part I wasn't disappointed.
The documentary does a pretty good job of telling the history of the title. I was surprised about a couple of notable events that they didn't cover but, I guess they didn't want to risk getting sidetracked. I wish they spent more time talking about the 90's and beyond. It felt like they jumped almost straight from Flair's dominant run as NWA champion to the title being revived in WWE and even that didn't get very much attention. I realize that with the much more frequent title changes since the early 90's, it would have been impossible to go into detail about every champion but, more attention could have been spent on the era. I think the bio also was too short. It would have been better with another 30 or 45 minutes to tell the history of the title.
I think the match selection was good enough. They did a good job showcasing some matches from the 50's, 60's and 70's without overdoing it. There aren't many of the most historic WHC matches included but, most of those have been included in countless other collections, so you can overlook that for the most part. It's nice to see some lesser known contests although, it keeps the collection from feeling quite as important as it should at times. For example one of the Flair/Steamboat or Flair/Rhodes classics would have better shown the prestige of the belt than a random Flair/Scott Steiner match.
Overall it's worth the price even if it's not quite as great as it could've been.
Duck Dynasty (2012)
Great show about a loving family
This is my first review and I probably couldn't have started with a better title. I've loved this show since I first watched and know most of the episodes by heart. I think it's great that this show proves you can have a quality show without resorting to foul language and adult content. It also proves you can have a good reality program without constant fighting or the cast being involved in one scandal after another. You can really tell that everybody on the show cares about each other, even when they have disagreements. I'm glad that the family and their friends have allowed us into their homes and have stayed true to their faith, values and beliefs even when it hasn't been politically correct.