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I first saw Commando at the movies when it came out. It was a hit then, but I think it's more highly regarded now.
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I first saw Commando at the movies when it came out. It was a hit then, but I think it's more highly regarded now.
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LATEST REVIEW Zack Snyder’s Justice League // Godzilla vs Kong
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LATEST REVIEW Zack Snyder’s Justice League // Godzilla vs Kong
My Top 50 Favourites
"Banshee is the greatest thing ever. "
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I think that's happened with quite alot of movies. Same thing happened with Predator.
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Kong Skull Island
Directed By: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
The Story
Firstly- this movie is fecking awesome. Secondly- it does everything just about right. From the moment the movie starts we see Kong in all his glory. And the movie waste's no time into delving right into the thick of things, which of course was a huge problem with the 2005 King Kong. Sure, thing's feel a little bit rushed at the beginning when we first meet our characters, but who cares?. All we want is Skull Island, and giant gorillas anyway right?. This time around Kong is alot more terrifying too. He's a 100ft gorilla that behaves exactly how you would expect a 100ft gorilla to behave. He squashes people like their bugs, eats people, and destroys anything he feels threatened by. He truly is the king of skull island and he feels more powerful than ever. What i also liked about this movie; and it's something i think Gunslinger mentioned in his review thread, was the movie felt like a Vietnam War movie. Obviously it's not your typical type of war movie because it involves a 100ft gorilla, but the movie does have that feel, and the whole war and soldier angle really works.
Movie Trivia;
Kong's design is inspired by a combination of King Kong (1933) and the Japanese adaptation in the 1960s. This allows the creative team to both utilize a look similar to the classic Kong, while drawing upon the exaggerated "kaiju" aspects, and powers, displayed by the Japanese adaptation, such as greatly exaggerated height, build, strength, and supernatural abilities. This will allow a more "even" confrontation with Godzilla, in the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong (2020). Sets were built at Kualoa Ranch, Hawaii, near the same filming locations as Jurassic World (2015).
Michael Keaton and J.K. Simmons were originally attached to the film, but both had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. John C. Reilly took over Keaton's role while Samuel L. Jackson replaced Simmons.
At the premiere in Vietnam the 16 foot tall display model statue of King Kong was engulfed in flames which was caused by the models of smaller volcanoes surrounding the statue. The fire was extinguished in fifteen minutes and no one was hurt.
The poster for the IMAX release is an homage to the iconic poster for Apocalypse Now (1979).
Samuel L. Jackson repeats his line, "Hold onto your butts," from Jurassic Park (1993), which is also about an island inhabited by giant creatures.
Samuel L Jackson was fantastic. He's a pretty messed up character with a fair few problems, and there are a few intense moments between him and Kong too. Then we move onto John C Reilly who again is pretty messed up, but in a completely different way to Jackson. Jackson is more insane like a psycho path, were as Reilly is more lost from the world crazy. Anyway, John C Reilly brings the humour to the table, and there are actually a fair few laughs to be had from him. The rest of the cast are pretty meh... except Kong of course. He's by far the star of the movie.
Movie Highlight
I really enjoyed the opening half hour of this movie. I enjoyed the helicopter scenes as they battled through the storm clouds to get to Skull Island. My hairs were standing, and my body was full of excitement as Kong came along and started to smash the helicopters out of the sky, and caused absolute mayhem. It was a fantastic scene that had me glued to the big screen.
My Verdict
Overall Kong Skull Island was one of the most exciting movies i have seen in a very long time. It's everything i could of hoped for, and it's a massive upgrade on Godzilla. All i can say is i'm super excited for Godzilla vs Kong now. And i really hope we see even more of Kong after that. Fantastic movie.
Last edited by Optimus; 03-18-18 at 05:29 PM.
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Well i have finally hit my 50th review in just under a year. I know some of you post a hell of lot more than that .. but i'm pretty happy i have hit that number. Anyway, here ya go...
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I loved the last Kong movie and I'm really looking forward to Skull Island-great review!
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Thanks Cricket. Let me know what you think of it.
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Stephen Kings: IT
Directed By: Tommy Lee Wallace
The Story
I.T has been on my watch list for around 15 years. It's one of very few old school horror classics that i never got around to watching, even tho i heard nothing but positive things about it. My friends have told me for years now how terrifying I.T was, and it's only now that the remake is coming out that i have finally decided to check it out. Now if i'm honest here i had a difficult time reviewing this movie. It's probably due to the fact it's almost 30 years old now, and obviously cinema and horror has moved on since this movie was released, but I.T has aged bad.... very bad. I'm not doubting this movie wasn't a good movie back when it was released in the early 90's, and i do believe that it was quite terrifying back then too. But this movie bored the living s*** out of me. I didn't find it scary at all. Not one single moment did i feel any type of horror, to be honest i laughed at how bad I.T really was.
Movie Trivia;
On the DVD commentary track, the actors note that Tim Curry's characterization of Pennywise was so creepy and realistic that everyone avoided him during the filming. Tim Curry was reluctant to take the role of Pennywise initially because he didn't relish the thought of being buried under so much makeup. When he played Darkness in Legend (1985), it was a difficult and demanding role, and the hours in makeup was still fresh in his mind. To compromise, Tommy Lee Wallace minimized the amount of makeup on Curry, and a lot wasn't necessary anyway because Curry's performance was so strong.
Tommy Lee Wallace felt that Part 2 wasn't as good as Part 1, because the adults weren't as magnetic to watch, especially when it came time to battle Pennywise.
The night guard in the asylum is called Koontz, named after Stephen King's rival author Dean R. Koontz.
On the day the kids go into the sewers, it was actually raining, saving the production crew the trouble of having to fake it.
Jarred Blancard (young Henry Bowers) hated having to call Marlon Taylor (young Mike Hanlon) a "******", and would often apologize to him before and after filming for his character's excessive use of the slur.
Again this maybe because the movie is old and dated now, but i thought the cast were terrible. Part 1 the kids are cheesy as hell. And part 2 the adults are annoying as hell. It's a lose/lose situation. I thought Tim Curry was pretty good at Pennywise (clown), but even he became a little tiresome after a while - although i did really like his voice.
Movie Highlight
My highlight of this movie is definitely the opening 20 minutes. The opening sequence of the little girl riding her bike only to be killed by I.T was actually quite disturbing. Then we see little Georgie talking to the clown through the grid (drain) only to be also killed by the crazed clown made me think this movie was going to be awesome. But damn was i wrong. What follows is 3 hours of boredom. It literally turns from being a movie about a killer clown into a movie about a gang of kids becoming friends. Seriously; i thought i'd switched Stand By Me on by accident somewhere inbetween the movie.
My Verdict
Overall I.T pretty much sucks. It probably doesn't help watching this movie for the first time nearly 30 years after it's release, but i honestly didn't like much about this movie at all. It may have been scary watching it when i was 12/13 years of age, but it's not scary in the slightest anymore, and the ending is just plain stupid. Anyway, i'm still looking forward to the remake just to see how they approach things.
Last edited by Optimus; 03-18-18 at 05:26 PM.
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LOL Opt. OK you've convinced me not to watch. Cheesey kids and annoying adults? I'll Pass. Thanks for the headsup.
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Movie Highlight
My highlight of this movie is definitely the opening 20 minutes. The opening sequence of the little girl riding her bike only to be killed by I.T was actually quite disturbing. Then we see little Georgie talking to the clown through the grid (drain) only to be also killed by the crazed clown made me think this movie was going to be awesome. But damn was i wrong. What follows is 3 hours of boredom. It literally turns from being a movie about a killer clown into a movie about a gang of kids becoming friends. Seriously; i thought i'd switched Stand By Me on by accident somewhere inbetween the movie.
My Verdict
Overall I.T pretty much sucks. It probably doesn't help watching this movie for the first time nearly 30 years after it's release, but i honestly didn't like much about this movie at all. It may have been scary watching it when i was 12/13 years of age, but it's not scary in the slightest anymore, and the ending is just plain stupid. Anyway, i'm still looking forward to the remake just to see how they approach things.
My highlight of this movie is definitely the opening 20 minutes. The opening sequence of the little girl riding her bike only to be killed by I.T was actually quite disturbing. Then we see little Georgie talking to the clown through the grid (drain) only to be also killed by the crazed clown made me think this movie was going to be awesome. But damn was i wrong. What follows is 3 hours of boredom. It literally turns from being a movie about a killer clown into a movie about a gang of kids becoming friends. Seriously; i thought i'd switched Stand By Me on by accident somewhere inbetween the movie.
My Verdict
Overall I.T pretty much sucks. It probably doesn't help watching this movie for the first time nearly 30 years after it's release, but i honestly didn't like much about this movie at all. It may have been scary watching it when i was 12/13 years of age, but it's not scary in the slightest anymore, and the ending is just plain stupid. Anyway, i'm still looking forward to the remake just to see how they approach things.
Sad to see such a low rating. Maybe you went in with different expectations, since the film and the book isn't about a killer clown at all. It's about the relationship of the kids.
Watching it today, sure, it looks cheesy and might not be scary. It does scare the hell out of kids though. Maybe give the remake a chance, I suspect they'll go the more killer clown is scary route.
Also, the book is so damn daunting, over 1,200 pages and the kids have a big orgy at the end. Don't think that'll show up in the remake* either.
*waits for @The Rodent to chime in
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The book has a orgy?. When there kids?. Pretty messed up that.
Yeah the orgy was brought up the other day in the It thread. I cant remember that from the book.
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How the hell did Stephen King get away with making kids have a orgy?.
I agree with US and think you went in with the wrong expectations. I saw IT as a child and was scared but I still enjoy it to this day. It is very camp but remember is was a TV release movie and not a cinema release (or that I remember). These were the days you have to have to VHS tapes to watch the movie.
Most of Kings books are character based before the horror aspect comes into it.I always enjoyed the character development in this movie even though it was cheesy. It is hard to sell the movie being so great after 30 years but maybe if you watched it again and go into it thinking this is a character based horror movie (oxymoron I know) you may enjoy it better.
Also i do agree with the acting not being top notch and the production is on the low side but still one of my favorites I watch twice a year.
Most of Kings books are character based before the horror aspect comes into it.I always enjoyed the character development in this movie even though it was cheesy. It is hard to sell the movie being so great after 30 years but maybe if you watched it again and go into it thinking this is a character based horror movie (oxymoron I know) you may enjoy it better.
Also i do agree with the acting not being top notch and the production is on the low side but still one of my favorites I watch twice a year.
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Consumers will eat everything except the sequel
Consumers will eat everything except the sequel
The Thing (2011)
Directed By: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
The Story
Firstly this movie is not a remake of the 1982 version, its a prequel. And i only found that one out myself when this movie had finished. Why the hell they even called this movie The Thing i'll never know. They could of just went with The Thing: The Beginning, or even just Thing. But nooo they like to confuse people, so now i'm going to have to give the original movie a watch aswel now. Anyway, The Thing (prequel) was actually not a bad movie. It's not great, but it's pretty entertaining and offers a few scares along the way too. I did feel like this movie rushed along a little to quickly, and i thought some of the characters could of been explored a little better, but it's a horror movie so what do you expect; their pretty much just bait anyway.
Movie Trivia;
An enormous number of screen shots from the first movie were kept on the set while filming at all times, in order to ensure that the Norwegian station would be rebuilt to the smallest details.The filmmakers used Kurt Russell's height as an estimate as to how big the sets would have to be to faithfully recreate the Norwegian camp as no blueprints existed from the John Carpenter movie.
The producers convinced Universal Studios to allow them to create a prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) instead of a remake, as they felt Carpenter's film was already perfect, so making a remake would be like "painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa". However, the prequel still has the title of the original film, because they couldn't think of a subtitle (for example, "The Thing: Begins") that sounded good.
The creature effects were done primarily with cable-operated animatronic robots on the director's insistence, since it would improve the performances of the cast if they saw what they had to react to. Computer-generated images were used to add elements to the animatronics (such as tentacles), or in some cases, to replace the entire animatronic if it didn't behave convincingly.
The Cast are pretty meh. There is literally no character development so it's pretty hard to care for any of them when they are being killed off. But like I mentioned above, it's a horror movie and the cast/characters are pretty much just pawns anway.
Movie Highlight
My movie highlight was The Thing itself. It's some sort of Alien creature that looks like a crab.... a really fu**** up crab. And some of the killings are actually quite brutal and hard to watch (ask my girlfriend), but The Thing itself does look awesome, and i liked that we got to see a lot of it throughout the movie.
My Verdict
Overall i thought this movie was okay. It's not great, but it does have some pretty cool moments. I'm afraid to say it does rely on some cheap scares tho, but what horror movie doesn't these days. I'm gonna go and check out the original movie now and see what all the fuss is about.
Last edited by Optimus; 03-18-18 at 05:20 PM.
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I know it's a prequel, but from the trailer it seemed like some things were directly lifted from the '82 version. I'm still interested in seeing it though.
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