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rhob1960
Reviews
Battlestar Galactica (2004)
One of the best SF Series ever
When I heard that the Science Fiction Channel (I refuse to acknowledge their new name), I was less than thrilled. The original series was, to put it bluntly, crap. They took a great idea, the near genocide of a species and let it rot. Rather than keeping it within the boundaries they set, Glen Larson and company made it basically, the fugitive in space. I won't go into how there was no science in this at all, no jump engines, no warp, no FTL of any kind. Of how they knew nothing about any astronomy, or the stupid measurements that meant nothing. The writing was horrible, many episodes were just rip offs of movies, the acting barely tolerable. So I was less than thrilled. However, when I heard that Ron Moore, one of the geniuses behind Deep Space Nine, the best of all the Star Trek spin-offs, was doing it. I was interested. Then, when I saw the miniseries, I was hooked. Galactica is a brilliant show that brought humanity back to Science Fiction. As the show went on and more and more plot threads were revealed, the show was shown to be complex, the kind of TV that's been lacking and can only be held up with excellent shows like Dexter and Breaking Bad. Brilliant in every aspect, Galactica is the kind of show that cannot be understood in one viewing, it has to be watched again and again. Galactica led the way for a resurgence of intelligent Science Fiction, with shows like Fringe and Flash Forward following it's example. Four seasons was for some, too short, but for me a perfect length. I eagerly await THE PLAN.
Diary of the Dead (2007)
Simply a Brilliant movie!
I just finished watching this and all I can say is - WOW! A brilliant Zombie movie that really deserved a much larger release. It took the taste of the absolutely horrid Day of the Dead remake right out of my mouth. George went back to his roots and really showed the people who did Blair Witch and Cloverfield how to do a hand held 'you are there' movie. The tension in this film, especially when Eliot is killed on monitor, was excruciating. Jason Creed was my least favorite character since basically, he was a moron! But I do understand his obsession, and how it could get in the way of reality. The little pieces with the zombies, such as the first scene where the corpses get off the gurneys, were tremendous, as was George A's later cameo as the sheriff denying it all. I also enjoyed George's little winks to the audience such as the farmhouse, (Samuel was awesome right up until his death, which was sad, but brave). The Professor was used like a Greek Chorus and his lines were among the best. I didn't think a voyeuristic zombie film would work, but this did. The acting was superior to either Blair or Cloverfield, especially Deborah. The characters were all very well done and not just stereotypes. Overall I will be adding this to my DVD collection and will watch it again and again. Just a brilliant piece of guerrilla film-making. It really, really should have had a MUCH larger release. People would have left the theaters shaking. Two final notes; Thank you George for reminding people that 'dead things' don't run! They don't! (The infected are not dead remember!) They are much more frightening when they stagger simply because they have the numbers! #2 - Are we worth saving? Then Commander Adama asks that in Battlestar Galactica and I'll say yes. Even though many humans are stupid, or bigoted or greedy (the list goes on) we are, as a species, worth saving.
Thank you George A!
Day of the Dead (2008)
Not even for the zombie completist
Well, I finally got to see this. And I wish there weren't a self imposed rule against expletives, or I'd write a message filled with them and my anger at this piece of crap still wouldn't be sated. Not even close to being a remake of a much better film, it is a raping of much better films title. How they got two decent actors (Mena Suvari, who I guess has no career any longer and Ving Rhames, who sleep walks through his ten minute cameo) is beyond me. A stupid-fest from beginning to end, I can't think of one positive thing to say about this garbage simply because even it's short running time felt like five hours. I won't point out all the mistakes, someone did that in an earlier message, I will say that if I were George Romero, I'd want to hit someone for the credit: BASED ON DAY OF THE DEAD BY GEORGE ROMERO. I'd like to meet the idiot who read this terrible script and said, "Yeah! This sounds GREAT!" I will point out some of the stupider things that were slightly missed in earlier critiques. 1 - We never find out why the hell Mena's gun isn't loaded. "It's complicated." Oh, unlike the script which was just STUPID? 2 - The bit with the spear. Nick Cannon killed like ten creatures (I refuse to call them zombies) with a saw medic taped to a crutch! 3 - Why, why, why in all zombie movies (but a Romero one) is there one idiot who says, "No, they may not turn." We've seen an ENTIRE town turned in like 8 minutes and this guy won't turn? PUH-LEEZE pass the barf bag. 4 - Bud, BUD the vegetarian Zombie? Oh I think I'm gonna heave... 5 - Zombies running around shooting guns? Sorry, but zombies are either morons (like most) or can think (return of the living dead), which leads to: 6 - No consistency among the zombies. Either they are fast or they aren't. Either they think or they don't. Either they suck (like here) or they are great. 7 - The lead zombie... they tried to have a reason for them. But viruses don't just mutate over night. And Pat Kilbane... guess his career after Mad TV is really over.
Sigh... that's enough I guess. Just a crapfest (and boring at that) from beginning to end. A bad, bad, bad movie. And on a final note, I will NEVER forgive the far superior 28 series for introducing the idea of fast zombies. To paraphrase Indiana Jones, "I hate fast zombies, Jock. HATE EM!" And to paraphrase Doctor Zachary Smith, after sitting though this trash, "Oh the pain... the pain!"
AVOID AT ALL COSTS! Not even recommended for the Zombie completist.
Night of the Living Dead (2006)
Night of the Living GARBAGE is more like it!
Just a totally worthless remake, done to make a quick buck. They took the fine wine of one of the greatest zombie films ever, the movie that started the modern zombie epic and RUINED IT. The acting is terrible. The SFX were truly bad, looking like someone who failed say Tom Savinin's film school made it, there is no GORE whatsoever. Two minutes of say, Planet Terror is better than this whole mess. The acting (who told Sid Haig he could act, cause he can't and he's the best actor in this) is simply atrocious. The story barely exists. The attempt at explaining the zombies is pathetic. I'm not sure those are spoilers, but I'm being careful here. The comedy elements are barely funny in fact only the opening titles show any imagination whatsoever. The company that made this should refund not only my Netflix rental price, but Netflix for buying this! Think of the robot from Lost in Space saying: AVOID WILL ROBINSON! AVOID!
Le Bagman. Profession: Meurtrier (2004)
Hysterical
Brilliantly funny. The terrible SFX (no doubt planned so) remind me of The Toxic Avenger (you know the first one, which was good). The scenes of utter depravity and violence (especially the useless gang guy who gets all kind of mutilations visited upon his body before getting killed), were just hilarious. This makes me wonder when we'll get to see a full length version. It was certainly better than garbage like Hostel, Saw or Cabin Fever, all movies that took themselves way too seriously. I'm hoping that we'll see a sequel to Bagman. He was like Leon the Professional, only fifty times more violent. A really dark and funny piece of work that I applaud. Vive Le Bagman!
Logan's Run (1977)
Simply trash
What a terrible follow up to one of my favorite SF movies of all time! It might have been good had it A)had some decent stories rather than simply making it a rip off of the Fugitive and B) had more than 10 dollars an episode for a budget. Rather than slavishly follow the movie, it should have been a follow up to the movie, having Logan and Jessica and their people re-learn how to live in their new, unprotected world. Even better, perhaps they should have adapted more ideas from the book, but that would have cost money. Will we ever see this on DVD? I find it unlikely. Pity it might have been great.Only Rem was a decent character. Lame, lame, lame.
Ozone (1993)
Should be called STREET TRASH
I'm not going to say that all movies made on video are crap just because they have little or no budget! No! But rarely, rarely have I seen one worth squat and this is one of them. Filmwork-Bad. Screenplay-Bad. Acting-non-existent. SFX- worse that The Incredible Shrinking Man. Bookhalter or Bookwalter should at least take a few classes at a community college, or read a book before he ever attempts to make another film, if he hasn't done humanity a favor and stopped already! Go rent out Invisible Invaders or The Giant Behemoth or the Brain from Planet Arous and have a good time. Don't watch this! You've been warned.