Now I have read some of the reviews posted here about 10.5 Apocalypse and feel that I need to try and restore some point of order. I haven't seen it's prequel, and am not in a huge rush, as it appears to be more of the same. However, I caught most of the mini-series, and to be honest I enjoyed it in a not-having-to-think kind of way. As TV movies/mini-series go, it passed a few hours and was decent eye candy.
To rate the movie as a 1 or a 2 is just subjective and close-minded of the viewer who has probably not watched the whole thing, and certainly can't have seen such dross as "Freddie Got Fingered", "From Kelly To Justin" or "Kung Pow" - they deserve 1 and 2 - this doesn't.
Now to discuss its weak points...when you get such a large cast on a presumably tight budget (we aren't talking LOTR funding here), it is inevitable that the actors are not going to be academy award winners. Dean Cain is not a good actor, neither is Oliver Hudson. Beau Bridges does a decent attempt (although, rather too Dubya for my liking) and only Frank Langella comes out with any credit.... however my second criticism is the Langella character - he is the quintessential stereotype of intellectual hero - leads people to safety from the tower and then leads the race to come up with a solution (let's mix in a little Dustin Hoffman from Outbreak, plus Gene Hackman from Poseidon Adventure, a sprinkle of Sean Connery from Meteor).... in fact the characters are, to a large extent, stereotypes - we have the religious Latino, the scared paramedic, the maverick rescue guys, the beautiful boffin, the jap/Chinese boffin, the rescue boss who takes advice from a by-the-book number two and ignores it... need I go on?.... oh and the reconciliation between father and daughter is a bit erm sickly.
So, yes, the acting is dire, the direction is mediocre...
But now... the positives... For a start, the CGI is actually quite impressive. Not ground breaking (wonderful pun), but it more than adequately does what is required. The action is well paced and generally well shot. The effects inside the collapsing tower is actually pretty exciting, and it is to the film's benefit that it is willing to kill off quite important characters (shock factor). Probably the best part of the film is the surprise ending where the fault does split the country in two. It would have been expected for the boffins to set off the charges by the nuclear plant and stop the fault just in time (as in James Bond)... however the fact that the film shows science failing and the most powerful country in the world unable to defeat what is essentially mother nature at her most destructive is very praiseworthy. Okay, so you might have wanted a happy ending - in which case get lost over to the religious loonies at ChildCare Action Project and find a pathetic piece of claptrap. This is a DISASTER movie, and as long as you don't want a fake oh so happy ending, then this ending is spot on.
As mini-series go, it is poorly acted and has more clichés than you can poke with a cattle-prod, but the CGI, pace and unexpected ending makes it more than worthwhile.
To rate the movie as a 1 or a 2 is just subjective and close-minded of the viewer who has probably not watched the whole thing, and certainly can't have seen such dross as "Freddie Got Fingered", "From Kelly To Justin" or "Kung Pow" - they deserve 1 and 2 - this doesn't.
Now to discuss its weak points...when you get such a large cast on a presumably tight budget (we aren't talking LOTR funding here), it is inevitable that the actors are not going to be academy award winners. Dean Cain is not a good actor, neither is Oliver Hudson. Beau Bridges does a decent attempt (although, rather too Dubya for my liking) and only Frank Langella comes out with any credit.... however my second criticism is the Langella character - he is the quintessential stereotype of intellectual hero - leads people to safety from the tower and then leads the race to come up with a solution (let's mix in a little Dustin Hoffman from Outbreak, plus Gene Hackman from Poseidon Adventure, a sprinkle of Sean Connery from Meteor).... in fact the characters are, to a large extent, stereotypes - we have the religious Latino, the scared paramedic, the maverick rescue guys, the beautiful boffin, the jap/Chinese boffin, the rescue boss who takes advice from a by-the-book number two and ignores it... need I go on?.... oh and the reconciliation between father and daughter is a bit erm sickly.
So, yes, the acting is dire, the direction is mediocre...
But now... the positives... For a start, the CGI is actually quite impressive. Not ground breaking (wonderful pun), but it more than adequately does what is required. The action is well paced and generally well shot. The effects inside the collapsing tower is actually pretty exciting, and it is to the film's benefit that it is willing to kill off quite important characters (shock factor). Probably the best part of the film is the surprise ending where the fault does split the country in two. It would have been expected for the boffins to set off the charges by the nuclear plant and stop the fault just in time (as in James Bond)... however the fact that the film shows science failing and the most powerful country in the world unable to defeat what is essentially mother nature at her most destructive is very praiseworthy. Okay, so you might have wanted a happy ending - in which case get lost over to the religious loonies at ChildCare Action Project and find a pathetic piece of claptrap. This is a DISASTER movie, and as long as you don't want a fake oh so happy ending, then this ending is spot on.
As mini-series go, it is poorly acted and has more clichés than you can poke with a cattle-prod, but the CGI, pace and unexpected ending makes it more than worthwhile.