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"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""
The movie trivia is from the original Thing, not the prequel.
Fixed .
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Optimus Reviews
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"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""
Just finished watching The Thing (1982) and i must say what a movie. So much better than the prequel i last reviewed. I'll get a review up pretty soon.



"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""


The Thing (1982)
Directed By: John Carpenter




The Story
]The story is fantastic. It's gripping, nerve wrecking, and has relentless suspense. To be honest it's everything i love about old school horror, and I can't believe it's took till now for me to finally watch this movie. Also for a movie that's nearly 35 years old it's held up very well, and you can also tell that the special effects for that time would of been top notch. The location of the movie, the atmosphere, the soundtrack, and the whole paranoia element also add to the horror of this movie. To be honest i could sit and do nothing but praise the film.

Movie Trivia;
This movie has become part of the culture in Antarctica. It is a long standing tradition in all British Antarctic research stations to watch The Thing (1982) as part of their Midwinter feast and celebration held every June 21.

This film is considered a benchmark in the field of special make-up effects. These effects were created by Rob Bottin, who was only 22 when he started the project.

In the DVD commentary, John Carpenter said Wilford Brimley was the only cast member not initially grossed out by the autopsy scene where they used real animal organs. Brimley had been a real-life cowboy and hunter, so gutting animals and removing organs was a normal experience for him.

John Carpenter has stated that of all his films, this is his personal favorite.
Z
The Cast
There is one stand out performance in this movie for me and it's Kurt Russel. He's cool as f***, and one of the many great reasons why i love this movie. The rest of the cast are okay too, which is actually rather refreshing considering most horror movies have atleast a couple of annoying characters.





Movie Highlight
My movie highlight is the whole paranoia element of the movie. Sure, the movie has a body snatching alien, but the real killer at their base is paranoia. You can see that it's wearing them all down and they have no knowhere to go, or no one they can even trust. They literally are in the middle of knowhere and the location makes everything a whole lot worse.



My Verdict
The Thing is a horror classic and a movie i wish i would of seen a long time ago. It's horror at it's very finest and doesn't need no cheap scares to satisfy it's audience. It's a movie that would fit right into my all time favourites and a movie i will be re-watching very very soon.




You can't win an argument just by being right!
I rewatched this the other night when it was on tv. Next time you watch it, focus on the soundtrack as you're watching. Urghhhh goes right through you. I'm still hearing it.

Great review, Opt!



"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""
I rewatched this the other night when it was on tv. Next time you watch it, focus on the soundtrack as you're watching. Urghhhh goes right through you. I'm still hearing it.

Great review, Opt!
Thanks Dani. I'm going to watch it again the weekend so i'll keep listening. I'm currently watching Knock Knock at the moment.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Thanks Dani. I'm going to watch it again the weekend so i'll keep listening. I'm currently watching Knock Knock at the moment.
When I was watching the other night I just really focused on the sound more than anything else. Very very creepy. Very clever.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Do you guys like the way i format my reviews?. I was just wanting a little feedback to see if i can improve anything?.
Yes I do. I dont think they need any changes, Opt.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Do you guys like the way i format my reviews?. I was just wanting a little feedback to see if i can improve anything?.

I love the way you format your reviews. The separate sections make it easy to read, and if you're reviewing a movie that I haven't seen, I can read the story and cast sections first to see if it sounds like something I might be interested in without accidentally reading spoilers. I also like that you include trivia about the movie.
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"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""


War For The Planet Of The Apes
Directed By: Matt Reeves




The Story
]War For The Planet Of The Apes's is the Dark Knight of the Ape trilogy. It's dark, grounded (as far as a ape movie goes), and character driven. The story really does reach new heights in this movie, and although there is less action than the previous two movies, it's a hell of a lot more powerful.

Movie Trivia;
While promoting Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), Andy Serkis was asked if the AlZ-113 drug had also affected apes outside of Caesar's tribe. Director Matt Reeves and co-writer Mark Bomback took note of this, which led to the introduction of "Bad Ape" in this film.

In October 2016, it was announced that a fourth Planet of the Apes film was already being planned.

According to director Matt Reeves, the name of the group of rebelling humans are the Alpha and Omega, a reference to the bomb the mutants worshiped in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970). The logo on their helmets and flag matches the original logo on the bomb.

The little girl named Nova is named after the character played by Linda Harrison in the first and second films in the original franchise.

The giant "X"s that the humans use to tie up the apes outside their camp are the same design as the "X"s used as markers to The Forbidden Zone in the original Planet of the Apes (1968).
The Cast
The cast are fantastic. Andy Serkis is brilliant as always as Caesar. But it's Woody Harrelson that steals the show here. He's fantastic as the colonel, and he's perfect for the crazed leader obsessed with wiping out the Ape's. He's one of my favourite actors out there, so it was great to see him in this movie and back in a major role.





Movie Highlight
My movie highlight isn't a particular scene, but it's the whole look and feel of the movie. As I mentioned above the movie feels very powerful. It's emotional, it has a little humour, and it has a little action, but it really does seem to nail everything rather cleverly.



My Verdict
Overall this was a fantastic movie. It surprised me just how much this movie was centred around it's characters rather than go full blown action, which is actually rather refreshing for a summer blockbuster. It's a movie with heart, its a movie with suspense, and it's a movie that tops off a rather impressive trilogy.




You can't win an argument just by being right!
Goodlooking movie, too



"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""
Predators
Directed By: Nimród Antal




The Story
This time around the story takes place on another planet with our characters being hunted and killed off like wild animals. I thought this was a very cool idea and a great direction to take the franchise, but i was left feeling a little disappointed that they didn't explore the planet a little differently. This could of been an excellent way of buiding some real suspense, but they didn't and sort of rushed things wayyyy to quickly.

Movie Trivia;
According to Nimród Antal and Robert Rodriguez on the commentary, in the script, the character Cuchillo was described as "a guy who looks like Danny Trejo." When Danny Trejo heard this, he called Robert Rodriguez and said, "hey, I heard there's a guy in the script for 'Predators' who looks just like Danny Trejo, and guess what, I look just like Danny Trejo!"

Louis Ozawa Changchien insisted his character Hanzo fight using Kendo, as he is a practitioner of the martial art, instead of using Kung Fu, as most Hollywood films do.

Hanzo is missing two fingers on his left hand. The reason that the Yakuza traditionally cut their fingers starting from the left pinkie, is that these fingers have a vital role in controlling a Japanese sword, and their loss would significantly impair a duelist. Hanzo must be a formidable swordsman to be able fight in close combat as he did, despite the loss of his fingers.

The alien creature that pursues Edwin (Topher Grace) through the jungle, during the ambush scene, is a slightly modified version of the original, abandoned Predator design from 1987.

The Cast
The Cast are nothing to really get excited about. There just bait for the Predators to kill off in gruesome fashion, which I suppose we love. But there's nothing to connect too. There is no background to any of them, no relationship between any of them, there all very meh and hard to relate too. But the movie is called Predators so I suppose there the star of the show.




Movie Highlight
I'd probably go with the action. I absolutely love the Predator so it was great to see more than one of them hunting and killing our characters off. Plus we get to see a predator vs predator fight so whats not to like about that.



My Verdict
Overall Predators is a fun movie. I enjoyed it alot more with a second viewing than i did back when it was released in the cinema, but sometimes i'm weird like that. If you enjoy the predator series it's certainly worth a watch, but it's not a patch on the original Predator movie. Dutch: [the Predator pulls off his mask] You're one... *ugly* mother****er!




"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""
Home Alone
Directed By: Chris Columbus




The Story
Home Alone is one of my favourites movies out there. It made my top 50 favourites thread alongside Home Alone 2 and for damn good reason - there so much fun. Sure there silly, and the story is a little far fetched, but it's lots of fun and it has some hilarious moments. It's a christmas movie like no other, and I don't think i have ever seen a movie were the bad guy's take so much of a beating and keep coming back.

Movie Trivia;
Joe Pesci deliberately avoided Macaulay Culkin on-set, because he wanted Culkin to think he was mean.

Catherine O'Hara revealed in 2014, that Macaulay Culkin still calls her "Mom".

The picture Kevin finds of Buzz's girlfriend was a picture of a boy made up to look like a girl, because Director Chris Columbus thought it would be too cruel to make fun of a girl like that. The boy that was used in the photo was the Art Director's son.

John Candy shared all of his screentime with Catherine O'Hara. The two previously worked together on SCTV (1976), and were good friends. Candy passed away on O'Hara's 40th birthday, and O'Hara gave a tearful eulogy at his funeral.

Joe Pesci kept forgetting that he was filming a family movie during his character's on-screen outbursts, so Chris Columbus advised him to say "fridge" instead of the "f" word.

The movie that Kevin watches on video tape is not a real film, but footage specially created. It was called "Angels With Filthy Souls". Along with other similar era references in the movie, this is a play upon the movie Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) starring James Cagney.
The Cast
The cast truly are awesome. Macaulay Culkin was fantastic. He was at such a young age when this movie was released, and it's crazy to think he was the star of the show. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern added so much humour to the movie, and have to be the most likeable bad guys in movie history, they are fantastic together, they were a brilliant double act.




Movie Highlight
As with all the Home Alone movies the ending is definitely the highlight of the movie. It's brilliant watching two grown men falling for some of the craziest traps put together by a genius 8 year old boy. It's so much fun and so entertaining to watch.



My Verdict
If you can look past the darkness of child neglect and house burglary's over christmas then there's a very funny film here.... just kidding. Home Alone is a great family movie, especially watching it this time of year. Now time to watch Home Alone 2.




You can't win an argument just by being right!
Always fun reviews, Opt. and the home alone one is so cute. I could watch those idiot villains again on xmas eve.

But I have to take a moment to take issue with your review of Predators and saying the cast are nothing to write home about. Really?

Walton Goggins? He just screams villain.
I liked the whole cast. Probably the only reason I watched it when franchises curl my nostril hairs and I really enjoyed this. Good fun.



"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""
Always fun reviews, Opt. and the home alone one is so cute. I could watch those idiot villains again on xmas eve.

But I have to take a moment to take issue with your review of Predators and saying the cast are nothing to write home about. Really?

Walton Goggins? He just screams villain.
I liked the whole cast. Probably the only reason I watched it when franchises curl my nostril hairs and I really enjoyed this. Good fun.
Thanks Dani.

I thought the cast were very dull. I couldn't of cared less about any of them.