brock-121-640273 Reviews

Moon Zero Two (1969)

Confused and dated, but fun

[5/10 · 12 September 2011]

What happens when you combine go-go girls, disco music, spaghetti westerns, and 60s sci-fi? "Moon Zero Two" happens, that's what.

The storyline reads like an after-school special, without much character development; but the parts are all well-acted. The miniatures and set designs are well-done, but true to the time; the costumes are mostly vibrant colors and PVC. There are honest efforts made to maintain credibility, such as the lack of noise in a vacuum, and no 'magic gravity' in space. The science is actually quite believable, especially in comparison to other 60s sci-fi.

There are elements ("Moonopoly", six-shooters holstered in PVC gun-belts outside space suits, the moon saloon) of this movie that make it painfully cheesy at times, but not the same "so bad that it's good" cheese one would expect. It's more of a "I'm embarrassed to remember when those things were cool" kind of cheesy.

Overall, an enjoyable watch (depending on your tolerance for '60s kitch) - 6 out of 10.

The Green Slime (1968)

Must-see "Godzilla" style 60s space romp

[4 September 2011]

If you are looking for complex character development, scientific realism, or top-notch special effects, leave now (why on earth would you look for these things in a movie titled "The Green Slime" anyway?).

If, however, you want a fun hour or so with some popcorn watching people shoot monsters with ray guns, you can do much worse than "The Green Slime".

Some movies are just "so bad it's good"; stilted acting, amateurish writing, and bad sets make them funny in spite of themselves. This isn't one of those. This is a fun concept, with limited and dated effects, that is made enjoyable by some good actors and decent screen writing.

Those reviewers who have likened this to Godzilla movies were dead-on: campy, fun, well-acted, and with no shortage of miniatures or rubber-suit monsters.

Grab the kids, pop some popcorn, and enjoy this one on a Sunday afternoon. 8 out of 10 stars.

Warbirds (2008 TV Movie)

Great premise, not-so-great execution - watchable

[3/10 · 31 July 2011]

The Good: dinosaurs and Japanese Zeros in air-to-air combat! The Bad: SyFy Channel 'zero budget movie-of-the-week'. The Ugly: Bad writing even for SyFy Channel, supporting cast.

The concept is great for an afternoon popcorn flick, and the storyline *in general* didn't require too much suspension of disbelief (no impossible physics, or blatant violations of common-sense science that seem all-too-common in recent movies). However, steps taken to get from plot-point A to plot-point B often made no sense at all. It's as if the script were outlined by a decent writer, then fleshed-out by a 12 year-old.

It's no mega-budget blockbuster, but the effects were actually very good for the budget level. *Everything* was done using cgi and green screens though, including anything with a plane in the shot. The picture is good enough, but the not-quite-right flight physics make the effects rather noticeable (look away from any landings, trust me). It works well for the creatures, not so much for airplanes. 10 minutes of stock footage of WWII planes in flight would have made this film much more enjoyable to watch.

The male and female leads do a good job with what they were given, which wasn't much (some of the dialog was just painful to sit through). Some of the supporting cast, however, made me cringe whenever they had speaking parts. In their defense, they were trying to overcome a script that was even worse than the usual SyFy weekly offering.

Overall, the effects were good for the budget, but not enough to make up for the poor writing or mediocre acting. A tolerable 'fix' for those who crave sci-fi, but a disappointing take on an interesting premise.