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Falling Skies (2011)
Season 3 - Season premiere episode
I realise there are many reviews for the whole series but I really wanted to focus on the first episode of the 3rd season. Just because its done in such an unprofessional way. Clearly there has been cast updates etc but the first 15 minutes of the episode is a complete amateur mess, poorly done and just throws the new cast at you it just motivates you to switch off. The feel of the episode is nothing like the first 2 seasons and just came across as complete rubbish. It's like lots of things have changed during the gap between the two seasons but surely the 3rd season should be a continuation of the last season. It's almost like there was a season 2.5 that was never aired where lots of other stuff and adventures happened. Falling Skies is a very hit and miss show in my opinion. Sometimes it works quite well and other times gaping holes in the script just throw you out of believing it. It can be very silly at times. I've rated the series overall as 5, right in the middle which I think is fair.
If your a scifi fan its worth watching but you feel like it could have achieved far more as a series.
However still good fun but a beer might help to drop your IQ a bit to cope with the very silly scenes or the scenes that were poorly edited and amateur.
Dark Matter (2015)
I was actually a bit disappointed with this
Surprised by the high review scores however I'll admit I'm only 3 episodes in but so far it has seemed quite weak whereas other's have rated these early episodes quite highly. While the actors do a solid job I find the issue is there is little imagination in these characters, no one is particularly interesting. The ship and the universe itself is very dull with absolutely no feeling that you are visiting alien worlds or seeing anything new. When they went down to the mining colony I couldn't have been less impressed to be honest. There has been a few plot twists of worth but generally find it a by the numbers production. The music and title sequence is rubbish too. I'm definitely out of sync with the general reviews here but if you watch it and 'meh' comes to mind you are not alone. It reminded me of Stargate Universe except I actually thought that was better despite those rubbish body swap sequences. Hopefully my opinion will change as I watch more episodes.
The 5th Wave (2016)
To me much better than the average score here delivering a ok to good film experience
I actually thought the film started off very well with some sharp directing and good scenes that explained the beginning of the story well. I was pretty much engrossed and enjoying it. As the film went on it became a bit weaker with less interesting scenes apart from one or two. At the end I would say it was quite poor. I'm a fan of this type of film so admit I can be quite forgiving of this genre and I rate it a 7/10. It could have been 8 or 9 out of 10 if the story was better in the last third but sadly the end was poorly conceived. I enjoyed it but doubt I'll watch it again. Set your expectations fairly low to prevent disappointment and if you don't like the alien invasion genre then probably don't bother.
Beyond Skyline (2017)
Great production values, mediocre acting, silly story
I enjoyed the first skyline and so looked forward to this when I discovered it. The beginning of the movie was utterly dull almost to the point I was going to switch off but kept going and then it started rapidly improving and my attention was grabbed but the last 3rd of the movie was all downhill for me and just felt like the story was too ridiculous and then I stopped caring. What the whole film had was some very good production values and effects for what I assume is a fairly low budget movie. It's worth watching if you like cheesy scifi and would be even better with a few beers to dull your intellect a bit. The annoying thing is the film could have been so much more with a better script and story. The actors are fit for purpose the effects people certainly know what they are doing. It just becomes a stupid mess at the end reminding me of the reenactment of pearl harbour from monty python rather than a serious battle as per the real pearl harbour of ww2.
Early Man (2018)
Probably better if you like football
It's a very enjoyable film that doesn't quite meet the same standards as the earlier aardman films. I think I would have enjoyed the film more if the story wasn't based around football. I'm not a great football fan and don't watch it normally so much of the humour and the parody of football didn't really work that well for me. It's a fun film though with great characters and voice acting. The animation is excellent and a pleasant change from computer generated animation. As ever with aardman the film has lots of charm and gives you a warm feeling and generally the jokes work but I was a bit disconnected with the story. I'm certainly glad I watched it though which isn't true of most films I see nowadays which often feel like I've wasted hours of my life. I watch films infrequently and can go many months without watching a film but this film basically appealed to me because of how much I've enjoyed the earlier aardman films.
Passengers (2016)
The Andy Garcia Movie!
After watching the truly abysmal but highly rated Arrival I wasn't expecting much for this lower rated movie but was actually surprised how good it is.
The production values are simply superb and acting top notch especially the huge climax at the end with Andy Garcia that makes the movie. It provides a small amount of tension waiting for Andy's appearance. You are constantly asking yourself when will he appear?
The story is a good one, not overly complicated but one that rings true based on the circumstances. No weird twists or surprises really but still satisfying.
It's a nice journey with some inventive ideas shown for what the future will be like. The romance is well done. Seems like a film that has enough of interest for both male and female viewers and its easy to follow so OK to view with a beer each.
Arrival (2016)
I thought it was great until the end
The acting and production values of this were excellent. You follow the process of trying to interpret the alien language so questions can be asked like why they are here.
The aliens themselves don't disappoint. They do indeed look like aliens and not like that 'Contact' movie huge anti-climax where you wanted to punch the TV in.
Ultimately the film ends in a spiritual type way and has the aliens outside normal time. This to be honest really got on my nerves and destroyed the whole film for me. If you have any grounding at all in science or logic then you may find this annoying. If you are pretty much accepting of any strange endings of films and do no real logical analysis but take it for what it is then you should be fine and I guess the majority think this way.
I feel like the investment in time in this film I made was destroyed by the end of it.
In the end I felt the director did his job well but the underlying script and material was a bit rubbish but he made the best of it for sure.
For me this is a film I will never watch again. I really can't see anything in it that would merit a repeat viewing.
Red Planet Mars (1952)
Beyond terrible
I'm a fan of cheesy old 50's scifi and this was what I was expecting from this film. Sadly its not scifi at all. It's really more pro Christian and anti-communist propaganda and not much else.
It's a film that is hard to just watch without either laughing or simply questioning the competence of the director and production team.
However I do suggest people watch it interested in how movies have evolved. It's whole premise is quite strange and could never be made in recent times its just too ridiculous.
It probably ranks up there with 'Glen or Glenda' in suspect movies that don't actually work and just come across as a bit embarrassing and amateur.
There is some very competent actors delivering some amazingly un- inspired lines that often extremely cringe worthy.
The film is available on youtube for free to watch and even at that price I feel slightly scammed.
It feels like a film that should be watched by a film history class at college and then discussed at length because it throws up so many questions especially who signed the cheque and why.
Star Trek (2009)
Generally Excellent.
Like many I really enjoyed this movie. The pacing is fantastic. Its rare where you get a moment where you start thinking about something else. Its a captivating film for sure. The performances were excellent as were the effects.
I do have a criticism though and thats the enemy. Its sooooo tired. Another bitter angry man who is obsessed with destruction. My real criticism here is the man bit. I am so tired of seeing men in space with stupid colour schemes, enlarged foreheads, weird hairstyles etc. With all those amazing effects I would have liked to have seen an actual alien enemy. Considering the film doesn't even give that much air time to the enemy anyway surely they could have costed some interesting cgi for an enemy. The enemy craft design was rubbish. The enemy themselves were pretty rubbish. Totally disappointed with this element of the story. Also inside the craft it was just dark with lots of wires and stuff and looked so studio'ish.
The idea that every intelligent lifeform has to have evolved from an ape and ends looking almost identical across the universe is so dated its unbelievable. It was understandable in the past where effects were limited but we still seem to be in that mode now. It would have been nice if this film could have broken out of that mindset which was cast from limited budgets and effects possibilities.
So really thats my real complaint about the film I would of preferred it to have tried to move the star trek franchise away from the old rules to a more logical view of alien creatures.
We know how life has evolved and changed with the changing conditions of earth. How gravity, heat, radiation, the chemicals around us and the chemicals we eat can change life. How creatures change with natural selection. I'm sure most people would accept that using those rules will not equal near identical humans out in space with big eyebrows and funny haircuts.
Thats why as enjoyable as this film is it belongs in the same class as an old black and white flash gordon episode.
When science fiction starts portraying humans as the only humanoid type life in space and other species as massively different we will be on the right course. Personally I think that makes more interesting science fiction. The chances of man first stepping foot on some alien world and having sex with some alluring alien goddess are annoyingly slim.
Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
Superb game but not perfect
I just wanted to add that as great as Halo is there is a big part of the game where you keep going into very similar surroundings over and over again. As a single player experience I would guesstimate about 30% is very samey and it can be a bit boring going through these levels. However the majority of the game is great fun and some brilliant level designs but there is some padding of the levels to make the game last longer. This is not a perfect game but its still fantastic. Graphically it is wonderful. Sound is superb. Its fairly smooth with only occasional slowdown. Handling and control is very good. The story while simple is enough to keep you interested. There is a lot of variety in the gameplay generally.
The Core (2003)
I enjoyed it so much I bought the DVD
I never really understand why people complain about the science in science fiction films. The majority of science fiction is totally flawed when it comes to the science. Most of the time we don't care and enjoy it on the fantasy level which is what I'm sure the producers and director intended. I have to say I really enjoyed the Core. I first watched it as a naughty internet download and then bought it on DVD as I liked it so much. I've now watched that DVD three times and have always enjoyed it. A few of the effects are a bit weak, one or two lines could be better but I see nothing to hate here. I found Armageddon a weaker film with a higher amount of dull moments and a lot of irritating dialogue. I had less feeling for the characters in that film. I prefer Day after tomorrow though. Its definitely worth watching once in your life.
War of the Worlds (2005)
Better than expected
I gave this an 8 because although I generally very much enjoyed the film, it was well acted and nicely directed overall I have a couple of things to moan about. Firstly the beginning was slow. I realise introducing the characters in a film is hard to make interesting but the first 10 minutes were pretty awful. They did set up the characters well but at the expense of being 10 minutes of dull viewing. The other point I can't really explain very well as it would be a spoiler but suffice to say instead of meteors simply coming down in some freak meteor storm they have taken a different approach. This approach to me is completely rubbish. It makes no sense and I found it spoilt the film for me. I don't know who came up with this alternate idea but it really sucks. I can only guess it was Spielberg or Cruise.
Still a very enjoyable film with some good performances. I felt it was overall very true to the book and far superior to the Gene Barry version which was only very loosely based on the book. I also felt Spielbergs directing apart from the slow start was nicely done.
White Man's Burden (1995)
Very simplistic moral tale
I found this to be a very strange film. The story is incredibly simplistic and there is a real amateur feel to it but Travolta to his credit produces an excellent performance that lifts the film up considerably. Frankly the acting of everyone else with the exception of his wife in the film was dire. Basically the film is about injustice but in order for it to progress a lot of logical behaviour is removed. Surely there was a legal case to be answered when he was unfairly sacked?
I believe if this film hadn't starred Travolta it would have been unbearably bad because every scene without him almost without exception is terrible.
However the scene where the white children came on stage at the fashion show did provoke a strong reaction and really hit home. If there really is a white fashion show that has a moment to celebrate money raised for black children and brings black children on stage to applaud, that most definitely is wrong. Generally a poorly thought out film that needed far more work on the script and the characterisation.
Van Helsing (2004)
Its watchable I'll give it that.
Basically disappointing though. I didn't think the Dracula character was very well done. I don't know if this film is meant to be scary but I'm fairly easy to scare and yet nothing here is remotely scary in the least. Its just an action flic involving vampires. Hugh Jackman comes off well. He makes a good solid hero and Kate Beckinsale is decent eye candy who speaks her lines well. I didn't think her running was very photogenic at the beginning though. The film feels like LXG with its combining of fictional characters into one single plot. The film starts with much better character development but at the end is a mess just like LXG to be honest. Its good for one watch during your lifetime but I certainly wouldn't want to buy the DVD. Once is enough for me. The CGI was also hit and miss. Generally a lot more hit than miss but a few times it was pretty rough.
Shrek 2 (2004)
Those Eyes!
The best thing for me in the film was the eyes of puss in boots. Cute or what? I don't think the film generally is quite as good as the first. The humour is more forced and in your face. The story is told in a faster less relaxed way which somehow loses some of the charm. I still very much enjoyed the film and have no complaints about the performances at all. It does almost seem like a straight to DVD sequel. In that many of the scenes are more related to serving up a joke than continuing the story. Still an excellent film that is a pretty darn good sequel by any standard. I look forward to getting the DVD. I'm a bit worried about there being a Shrek 3 though as personally I think that could end up being a very average movie and spoil the excellent reputation of the first.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Still can't make my mind up.
When I came out of the cinema after watching this with a friend all I can remember us talking about was how bad it was. Of the two of us I most disliked it. Some of the acting was weak, uhura's dance was truly appalling (not her personally) but the idea of her doing that was completely wrong. Many of the iines were delivered badly and the effects seemed to be a retro step backwards. I'd really enjoyed Star Trek 4 and it was with some anticipation that I went to see 5. Its a shame really as much of the film is good. There's some great lines and I personally feel the story is a good one. What I hated most about the film is much of it seemed stolen. The beginning looked like Lawrence of Arabia. There was a bit that reminded me of Alien. Mad Max also seemed to have an influence. There were a lot of scenes that looked like scenes from other movies.
I actually think the story is better than Star Trek 4. As much as I like 4 the idea of going into the past to get whales to speak to aliens is clearly stupid and unlikely even for science fiction. However the characters in this story are brilliantly implemented and there are some wonderful scenes. Star Trek 5 does less with its better story about a powerful being imprisoned and pretending to be god.
It has to be said Bill's directing is shaky but there are some good performances to be had especially David Warner who was very believable in his role. The Klingon didn't say a lot in his company and the romulan was just a bit irritating.
I've grown to like this movie over time. Its hit and miss but I think there's more hits than misses. I just wish Leonard Nimoy had directed this film and removed some of the weaker lines.
I'd give the film 4 out of 10.
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Great effects
A great technical achievement but I most admit I have no interest in the characters or story at all. I find the movie incredibly boring except for the amazing effects scenes. Everytime a human face appeared i was disappointed. Too many sub plots and a total lack of innovation in the story. There is some good acting in it but the actual dialogue is mostly rubbish. I've completely lost interest in the star wars franchise now. The original star wars was story led. Empire had the great snowspeeder battle scenes and still a pretty good story line. Return of the Jedi again was a little bit worse for story at least and really now the story is just poor padding between the effects.