Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 1st, 2007
The Lost Room was a Sci-Fi Channel 3 part mini-series. There are actually 6 separate segments on the DVD. We are quickly introduced to a special old style motel key. Yes, before we all got those slide cards. This key is apparently quite valuable, as it is the subject of an underground meet to purchase it. The deal looks like one of those Hollywood drug buys we’re used to seeing, and like those plays, this one goes horribly awry. Enter Detective Joe Miller (Krause), assigned to deal with the aftermath of this meet. ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 28th, 2007
Synopsis
Video game movies tend to fall into two groups; those that are based on video games (The Tomb Raiders, the Resident Evils) and those that follow video games and usually speaks on how it affects a person, driving their addiction. Often the latter pick it as a device of social commentary. Some do it in humor (Grandma's Boy) but more often than not they manipulate it as something that will take over your brain and kill you. Enter in Gamebox 1.0. Gamebox 1.0 is the story of a video ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 20th, 2007
As I watched the DVD for Deja Vu I had this uncanny feeling that I’d seen it all somewhere before. Suddenly it hit me. I had seen it all before. It was a darkened multi-plex last Thanksgiving weekend. That’s when I saw the film for the first time and was somewhat intrigued by the originality of the story. I have to say that watching it again on DVD, I think I liked it more the second time around. The basic concept is perhaps not original at all. It is the framework of the idea that I found refreshing. The film also...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 2nd, 2007
Godzilla and Anguirus are discovered duking it out on a deserted island by two pilots working for a fishing fleet. Before long, the brawl makes its way to Osaka, devastating the city.
And that, as they say, is just about that, as far as plot goes. There's a fair bit of business about our heroes' friendship, and references to their private lives, but nothing that really has much of an impact on the plot, which remains one of the most basic in the entire Godzilla series.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 2nd, 2007
A ferocious typhoon washes up a giant egg on Japan's coast. Unscrupulous entrepreneurs lay claim to it, planning to exploit it as a tourist attraction. The egg in fact belongs to Mothra, now nearing the end of her life cycle, and the twin fairies from Infant Island come to Japan in the hopes of having the egg returned. No such luck, but when Godzilla returns and begins another rampage, this time it is the inhabitants of Infant Island who are turned to for help in the hopes that Mothra will come to Japan's aid.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 24th, 2007
Children are the future. They're why we strive to make the world a better place, or at least to maintain the world we've got. But what happens when there are no more children, when there is no future?
That's the context for Children of Men, the latest film from director phenom Alfonso Cuarén (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). Based on the novel by P.D. James, Children of Men is set in 2027, our near future. There are no flying cars, or space-suit clothes. In fact, the world appears pretty rundown, and the reason for its shabby state is the most striking difference between our present and the film's - humankind is infertile.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 21st, 2007
Eragon is based upon the best selling book, which was written by then nineteen-year-old Christopher Paolini. This film was met with much hype, but initially to me seemed to be another generic Lord of the Rings type rip-off, with the addition of a dragon. Not usually my type of movie, but The Lord of the Rings trilogy did more that just amaze me maybe Eragon has a trick or two up its sleeve.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 27th, 2007
There's definitely no doubt in my mind that the Superman films, particularly the first two, will always be remembered as excellent pieces of film not only because they introduced the world to the late, great Christopher Reeve but also because they're simply great films. When word first came around that Superman director Richard Donner had filmed an ENTIRE version of the 2nd film only to have it scrapped at the last second, the interest of fans immediately piqued. What was so risqué about the Donner cut that made Warner Brothers basically shelve the film for some 20+ years? Well thanks to renewed interest in the Superman stories via Superman Returns, Warner has finally decided to let fans see for themselves what Donner's visionary ideas were all about by showing us his cut of Superman II.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 13th, 2006
The 1978 Superman film set the standard for what a quality comic hero film should be. The tagline promise: “You will believe a man can fly” was kept. All future comic films would be judged by this standard. Superman II had its faults. Certainly it was not the modern classic like the first film. The plot was bogged down with a rather silly love story that broke down the barriers of the Kent/Superman identity for Lois Lane. Luthor, while played again with style by Gene Hackman, is reduced to a comedic backseat to the real villains.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 22nd, 2006
Few science fiction films of the 1950’s left as much of an impact as Forbidden Planet. Gene Roddenberry often cited the film as the birth of Star Trek. It is in this film that he took away the interactions of an interstellar craft’s bridge crew. Even the United Planets organization in Forbidden Planet heralds Trek’s United Federation of Planets. Robby the Robot would become a science fiction icon and lead to a great number of copycats, most notably the Lost In Space robot. Robby even made a cameo on that show. MGM ...