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Reviews
Within the Rock (1996)
Entertainment
I can't judge this film using normal reviewing techniques, because it's not a big budget, Armageddon type film that will comepletely blow you away. What it is is a mildley entertaining, fun-for-anyone-after-a-completely-undemanding-film-sort-of movie. Given millions of dollars and time, this would have been a spectacular, if completely un-original, dim-bulb film. But it's not. It was probably filmed over a month or less, for about a million dollars. For that, it's pretty damn good! It had a good script, with only one scene of bad dialogue towards the end (just think the worst, oldest cliche). Just goes to show that all you need is one talented person to start a film (I mean this films Writer/Director, who obviously knew what he was doing) and you'll end up with something respectable. 6/10 or ***/*****
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
No Nonsense=great movie
Dismissing four dreaded halloween sequals, this wonderfully entertaining movie comes out, picking up where Halloween 2 left off, and surprises most who see it, even those who haven't seen any of the others. This films main strength comes in its 'no-nonsense' way of doing things. In many movies you sit there while watching idiotic people who aren't using the obvious solution i.e. "Just hit him over the head with a rock", "why don't you call the cops?", "don't go inside, go around the neighbors house". In this movie they do. Top marks to writer Robert Zappia and Director Steve Miner, who both do fantastic jobs in their respective areas. The former in characterization and in the penning of the ultimate show down between Laurie Strode and Michael Meyers, and the latter in creating atmosphere and realising the great script with lots of suitably fast spaced action and chase scenes Direction: 10 script: 10 acting 8 Cinematography: 9 Editing: 9 Music: 9 (although alot of the music sounded as if it was taken straight out of "MIMIC") Overall: 9/10
Armageddon (1998)
Wow! What a movie!
What a treat it is to watch this. For starters, it has a massive amount of character development, which is odd for this genre. I've actually read about people saying this movie forgot about characters and simply went for action. What are you on about. The first hour of the movie is almost pure character development. It's also got some of the best action sequences I've ever seen. Being a massive fan of sci-fi, it's great fun to watch space shuttles mauevering around, dodging debris. Its hunour element is great, actually making some application to genuine wit instead of stupid throw-away one-liners.
Seriously, this movie nearly made me cry. Bruce Willis is such a good actor, you can't help but give in to the sadness of the end. It's all a result of the afore-mentioned character development. Trevor Rabins surprisingly emotional score also helps with the emotional quality of this movie. In one word, this movie is HEROIC. Everything about it is about being a hero. So see it, if you haven't already. It's not the most realistic movie of all time, It's no 'Saving Private Ryan', but it is a great movie(What else would you expect from Michael Bay and Jerry Brucheimer). 9/10
The Haunting (1999)
A well crafted film!
A very well done movie. I can't understand people who bash movies for having bad dialogue and bad plot, when it's only as bad as every other movie.
Jan De Bont is a very talented director. He handles the atmosphere very well. In fact, I would go as far as saying that this movie has the best atmosphere I've seen since Poltergiest. Jerry Goldsmith's score, the massive, thoughtful and "Haunting" production design and the very creepy sound effects add to this. I was afriad of this movie being crud, De Bont being an action-man and not a horror movie veteran, But I found myself watching a nicely crafted film. Wes Craven couldn't have done better. It does have its flaws. It's a bit anti-climactic at times, and it does get a bit boring, but it is generally a very good movie. So, why didn't it do well at the box office, and why didn't anyone like it. Simply because it was a $100 million dollar film, the previews made it look scarier and more action packed. So, when people saw it, they were expecting a different movie and they were disappointed. It's not supposed to be a fully fledged gore fest, but a thoughtful and entertaining peice of film. It has the good old things, like the rattling chains, gothic wall sculptures and massive blowing curtains, which means that this movie doesn't takeitself too seriously, either. 8/10.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Brilliant... but there's just some small bad things
First of all, I love this movie, it's my favourite. Being a true a bomafied fan of the trilogy, i couldn't help but be caught up in Phantom fever.
However, this is not as good as many say it is. Sure, it's my favourite movie, but that doesn't mean to say there's nothing wrong with it. Firstly, despite what other IMDb users say, Jake Lloyd is terrible. I can't understand how Robin Gurland (Casting Director)and Lucas himself could interview more than three thousand Anakins, and end up with him.
But this is not the main problem. George Lucas, that man, that wonderful man that created a whole galaxy, paid very little attention to the actual filming. It was a rushed process, and you can see this on film.
Even with all of the absolutely amazing effects and visuals, these cannot be relied upon to make a great movie. Actors will always dominate movies, and if you don't pay enough attention to them, then you end up with problems. The actors have taken it upon themselves to do some acting. Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor are good. They are both extremely good actors, but they don't seem to give their best here. Natalie Portman is more than just a pretty face. The fact that she doesn't look like a barbie doll certainly helps her role. She turns in a good performance, and has some good scenes.
But in my opinion, Ian McDiarmid turns in the best performance(s). He is certainly a very good actor, and is one of my favourite bad guys.
The dialogue is another of the annoying things. Although there are some really good moments in it, half of it is just there to fill in the gaps. I think Lucas simply needs to hire an additional script writer, as he did on Return of the Jedi. The story is very good. An intelligent story of good vs evil that has you sucked in from the beginning. And John Williams. What can I say. My favourite score ever. Overall, this is a great movie, the best IMHO. But there are too many 'small things' that make this movie an 8/10. Which, in an official review, would be four stars. Don't look at this movie and love it, and then say how good everything was, just love it say how good the good things were. There's *almost* as many!