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Reviews
Invasion: Earth (1998)
Well Worth the Watch
This was one of the few shows ever that have taken place in an English countryside that contains elements of romance that I could stomach.
Of course this series wasn't about some messed up broke aristocrat trying to choose between the boring Duke or the good looking pool guy. This series is about an Alien Invasion. That always helps :) I caught this Invasion Earth about 8 years ago and I thought it was really good. I thought the way the Military acted was fairly credible, which is usually not the case in SciFi series, so that scored points with me. The alien adversary hadn't at the time was very unique, so more points. I also liked the ending, though it would have been great if a second mini series had been made. It would be great now, twelve years later, if a second mini series were made, with the battle continuing.
I caught the series again on Net Flicks, and this time I could see a few more plot gaps. A few reviewers have remarked that they thought Fred Ward did was bad being cast as the American NATO general, I can see where this criticism comes from, but the acting isn't so much Ward's fault as some of his dialogue was weak. His character, though realistic in the situation, I think was written in later so the American's would have someone to identify with, and his lines could have been polished up a bit more I think. Acting wise Ward did a fine job IMHO.
If you are a SciFi fan, you will like this series. It isn't 10 stars, but there are many unique aspects of the miniseries that make it worth the watch, and for those who are sci fi fans, concepts presented in this mini-series I'm sure will reinforce and add to kind of the body of lore that SciFi writers draw from when the make new stories. Good stuff.
If you are not a SciFi fan, you will be bored with this series. I bet the negative reviews here pretty much pan every scifi offering.
Spellbinder (1988)
I liked it.
Some of the commentators have ragged on this movie for it being predictable, and some parts of it are, but some parts of the ending really surprised me. Again, I saw this movie originally when I was about 19, so maybe what would be obvious now weren't so obvious to me back then. Anway, given the context of the late 80ies when Spellbinder was made there was all this talk about Satanism, most of which later proved to be just urban legend type of stuff, probably made the movie for me a little more spooky in the 80ies then say if someone just randomly saw it now. Anyways, the movie I thought had a pretty cool plot that had some surprises, the acting was good, Kelly Preston was hot, and the movie freaked me out a little back in the day, so I'm giving the movie 8 out 10 stars. I haven't found it on DVD yet, if I did I would buy it and add it to my collection.
El buque maldito (1974)
This Movie Rocked!
Not! I like the previous commenter's comment about two bimbos encountering a boat in a bath tub. It wasn't that bad, you have to take into account that the movie was made in the 70ies. But I do agree, the zombies moved pretty very slow and the some of the cut scenes to the phantom boat were a we bit cheesy. I give it one star for a scene where a religious reference (Christian no less) is made that actually had an effect on evil for once (something you won't see in many movies made today), one star because the zombies looked pretty cool, and one star because you can find and watch the movie for about 50 cents. Another one in this series, Oasis of the Zombies, was a little bit better (4 stars).
La tumba de los muertos vivientes (1982)
Uhhh...OK, I guess.
I saw this movie as "Oasis of the Zombies" on some 20 Horror movies on 4 DVD's for 10 bucks pack. So, given that I saw the movie for 50 cents, I can't complain to much. The above comment pretty much captures the movie. Interestingly, I think with some modern special effects and some re-writing of the plot a really cool horror movie could be make out of this. Anyways, I gave it one star because there were a few cute chicks in the movie, one star because even though the zombies were pretty cheesy for early 70ies standards I thought they were pretty good, one star because there was a pretty good battle, and I tossed in another star because the concept at somewhat interesting. I think the date either here or on the DVD is wrong, I believe the movie was made in 73, not 81.
The Thirteenth Floor (1999)
Great Movie...In Some Respects
Firstly, The 13th Floor really isn't an 8, it is more like a 6.5. The 13th Floor does deal with some concepts that were pretty far ahead thinking for when the movie was made, so I will give The 13th Floor an 8. The 13th Floor is a movie about virtual reality and like the movie the Matrix The 13th Floor has an interesting spin on "what is real." I also liked the way the movie depicted how users who enter realistic virtual 3D worlds where they can do anything they want often become warped by those worlds. I think with emergent 3D worlds like Second Life the affects of what people do in the virtual and how that both reflects and affects the actual will become big issues in our near future. The 13th Floor was ahead of its time by dealing with that issue, which impressed me.
You see a few big name actors in this film before they were famous and a few actors that you wonder why didn't their careers didn't go further.
The ending for me was a little disappointing and I thought a weak spot in the script writing. If the ending would have been different and maybe if The 13th Floor has slightly better visual effects the movie could have been a solid 9. The visual effects guys did do a great job by 1999 standards of creating what Los Angeles probably looked like in the 30ies. Also the custom and set designers did a fantastic job for the 30ies sets as well.
So, I would recommend it because it gets you thinking a bit. Is it a keeper for the DVD collection? I would say borderline.
The New World (2005)
Very Slow
This movie has two things going for it. The costumes were pretty cool, and the breath taking panoramic views of the landscapes were nice. Thus I gave it 2 stars for each of those, plus I'll toss in another star because it has a lot of decent actors in the movie. Other than that, I watched most of the movie on 2x or 4x to speed it along, and it still evolved to slow for me. You could condense the whole movie into about a 45 minutes. This is a shame, because there was potential here. There were many talented actors here who just stood around looking at the sky or wondering around, which was a waste of their talents. The movie did pick up towards the end a little bit, but getting there was a little bit painful. Honestly, unless you have a real affinity for the production staff, an actor in the movie, or the time period, I would pass this one by.
The Octagon (1980)
This Movie Sucks but...
...You have to take it in the context of when it was written and the age group that it appealed most to. If you some fat goofy ten year old growing up in the early 80ies, seeing Chuck Norris fighting evil ninjas was just brilliant. It didn't get any better. I remember a few years later sneaking up at night just to watch it on HBO. I give it a 10 for being sort of a cult early 80 martial arts classic, not for its production quality or the talent of the actors. On those merits I would give it a solid 4, but screw that, it is a 10 because it is what it is, a cheesy Ninja vs Chuck Norris movie that if you were a little kid at the time seeing it you would have been in complete awe.