IMDBReader Reviews

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

Dont Blame William Shatner

[6 April 2004]

V has some of the best moments in the entire series. The camping scene is both funny, and insightful. I also love the scene in the brig. ("I oughtta knock you on your Goddam ass!"......."Want me to hold him, Jim?")

The only mistake was hiring an effects crew who had never done motion control blue screen model effects before. And that was NOT William Shatner's fault. That was Ralph Winter's and Harve Bennet's fault. Quit blaming William Shatner. The producers hold the purse strings, and hired idiots. Watch the new DVD and you will see model test shots that were not for action blocking, but were the effects team actually trying to figure out how to do the effects. Lame

Watch this movie, focus on the characters, and ignore the space shots, and it's pretty good. I think since they reworked ST:TMP with new effects based on the original story boards, they should have done the same for ST:V for the new DVD. That would have fixed the whole movie.

Besides all of the exterior ship shots, the scenes I would have fixed are as follows:

The turboshaft - Change the deck numbers to make sense and erase the shadow made by the boom holding them up.

All viewscreens - Insert remastered footage digitally to replace the poor rear-projection versions. The new Enterprise would have an even clearer screen, not a grainy, dim one. The only one that worked was the observation windows as they approached the great barrier.

The fall scene at the beginning. Inserting the closeup of Kirk and Spock ruined the entire scene.(Exactly like the parasailing scene in Die Another Day) Seeing a real stuntman is always better than seeing a fake shot of the actor.

Toy Story (1995)

Good Writing First

[13 March 2004]

I am pleased, and amazed that films so cutting edge in their use of technology are so well written. Hollywood is notorious for taking the latest tricks and building entire movies around it, rather than using them to support a well written story.

Here, where it would have been so easy to rely on the WOW factor and slap together a meaningless story, Lasseter and company chose to focus on story and character, and leave the tech to the technicians, who also seem to have a better grasp on humanity than most movie techs.

These two movies (1 and 2) are part of a very short list of movies I've attended that actually got a standing ovation and applause at the end.

Bravo

Jurassic Park the Ride Trailer (1997)

Terrible

[17 February 2004]

for the money they spent, this ride STUNK! They should have hired Disney to do it.

The truck didn't plunge like it';s supposed to, you could see the actuators on some of the little dinos, at the last turn before going inside, the dino sounds are coming from 2 JBL bookshelf speakers just sitting on the rocks, not even hidden, and you can see that the T Rex is only a partial. The only good part was the drop at the end, but not really worth it. Also, Universal Studious is not worth the same admission as Disneyland, so go to the latter, instead.

Deep Impact (1998)

Very well done for a premise done so badly other times

[25 January 2004]

Armageddon was so bad it was insulting. Action movies still need to have some basis in reality. It did not. Deep Impact focused on the people, not the explosions, while still having very good effects, when appropriate. The title clearly refers not to the comet, but the people. I loved the mystery at the beginning, having Jenny slowly realize what is really going on, and the much more realistic depiction of the attempt to divert the comet. I liked how the ship was clearly scavenged from existing parts, with a bit of new technology. much more believable. A happy, but not perfect ending also made this a very good film.

Armageddon had so many holes, it was painful to watch... 1. The plan from the beginning was to blow up the asteroid, which is totally moronic, and could never work. Deflection would be the only solution. when they did blow it in half, the pieces left still would have destroyed Earth. Not magically passed by. 2. They just happened to have 2 super shuttles waiting in the wings, along with 2 drilling vehicles that wouldn't serve any function in real drilling. Dumb 3. Expecting us to believe it's easier to train oil rig workers to be astronauts that to train astronauts to run a drilling rig. especially undisciplined idiots like them. Moronic 4. Elevators on the shuttle? Too much excess weight. (giant SUV's, too) 5. Bad (no) research, and bad acting, even from good actors.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

Best and Worst

[14 October 2003]

I was initially disappointed in this one. A film shouldn't be about special effects, but if done poorly, they tend to pull you out of the movie as you watch it. I agree that William Shatner probably let his ego get away from him, i.e. Full size mock-ups like the hanger bay and new observation deck with telemotor (cool, though), and the opening of him on El Capitan.

However, ST5 has some of the best moments in it, particularly when Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are camping. Those scenes are not only fun, but provide a lot of incite into the 3 of them and their relationship to each other. I also liked when Kirk explains why he needs his pain. VERY powerful stuff.

Had the effects not been distractingly bad, this would have been one of the best in the series.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

what is SHOULD have been

[3 July 2003]

They should have set it in the totally in the 'Future war" showing all the events that led to what we already saw, but that they only hinted at before.

Finding the Time Machine, realizing the Terminator was sent back (a tense moment). Sending Reese back, then realizing it didn't work, because nothing changes.

Lots of good action and battles, as well as tense sneaking around the Terminator Factory and Skynet. The we'd see them find the Rows of Terminators and reprogramming the one we saw in T2. As they work, and get the time machine started again, all the T-101's (Arnold and the Exo-skeletons) wake up and start closing in on John Conner and his group.

Just as the terminators move in, the reprogrammed T 101 disappears in time (the point where we see him appear in T2), and the corner of the 18 wheeler trailer appears in the bubble. (cool) Nothing changes again, and John and his group, battle worn, sigh and give one last yell and unload weapons on the approaching terminators. With John still yelling,the terminators pounce. As they do, though, time catches up, and a blinding flash of light appears. The flash then fades to the scene originally shot for T2, with John and Sarah in the park with John's daughter. All is well....

End

The Matrix (1999)

Stop ripping it off

[20 April 2003]

I wish other filmakers would stop using Matrix style moves in their films.

They must be morons, since they clearly didn't understand that people could do those things because they aren't real.

Charlies Angels are supposed to be real people, but are shown doing unreal moves. Lame

Jurassic Park III (2001)

Fast and Fun

[23 March 2003]

This was much better than Lost World.

A: They didn't attempt to outwrite Michael Crichton

B: They included many elements missing form the original that appeared in the novel, helping to complete the original story.

C: People take movies way TOO seriously, and therefore can't enjoy them.

Not only should movies be different from one another, offering a variety, but should especially do so among series films. JP1 was the introduction, and statement on messing with nature. JP2 tried to be more sophisticated, further exploring that world. Failed. JP3 was a pure rollercoaster ride. Fun.