Reviews

This movie was definitely enjoyable, it is a very lighthearted happily ever after movie. It is fast paced, and generally well-acted. However, there are so many fairy tale aspects to it that I couldn't take it anything more than feelgood but forgettable. Among the things that stretches credulity: the Indian family was supposed to have lost everything, but seems to have plenty of money to travel around in France and buy property. The romance between Hassan and Margeurite is so forced as to be laughable, especially an attractive French girl being single, unattached, almost virginal throughout the movie (never does she have a male companion until Hassan comes & then she's all over him!) Also, let's be realistic, this is 2014, Indian spices and cooking is not that exotic in Europe, and just the addition of spices won't make someone a top chef in record time. So yes, there are a lot of areas which are fairy-tale like, but still there's a lighthearted charm that kept me watching the whole movie without feeling it was too shallow.

This is a better 50s sci-fi movie, interesting plot, fast-paced and well-acted. The science is very questionable, especially the function of silicon in the human body (which is none), but in the 50s a lot of such theories were thrown around. Now the setting might be conventional, an isolated desert town, but the threat is different from most other sci-fi. I would have liked to see the crystals have some consciousness, after all they are called monsters, but that's a minor issue. I liked the way scientists, police and journalists worked together without stereotyping. Lola Albright is gorgeous. In the first scenes she wore pants, unusual for 50s movies!

The explosion of call centers in India is an intriguing topic for a documentary, & I had heard a lot about this movie. Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me. The characters were just not that engaging, & in no case it went really deep into the call center life. In one case, a woman spends a lot of time explaining she is a natural blond. Now that's typical in an Indian call center! I would have liked to know more about where these people come from. What's their education. Their family. I also think it was centered on one city, and on sales only, whereas call centers also have tech support, customer service, market research & a whole lot of other activities. There were these shots of Mumbai that seemed to scream "look at me, I'm so artsy!" Further, overall the drudgery of call centers didn't really some through. Also, I would have liked to see the management side, how they react to the callers. I would have liked to see someone who got burnt-out (which is very common in call centers). There were some sequences that were very competent, but overall it felt it just didn't form a satisfying story, which is what a documentary should be.

I liked this movie, OK it is absurd but somehow it managed to keep my interest alive. The scene in which the temple rises out of the earth is simply superb. The characters are believable and the acting is reasonably good. I don't expect George Lucas, Stanley Kubrick or even Wes Craven on most SyFy Saturday night movies, I wanted a movie that wasn't completely stupid (OK, not completely SERIOUSLY stupid, it was absurd & knew it, & had fun with it) and with a nice interesting pace, & this movie was surely it. Of course I wouldn't dream of spending money to see it! Overall, better than most cheapo sci-fi movies, fair to good acting (I think the lead character plays Castiel on Supernatural).

I just couldn't relate to this film-everything is over-the-top & cliché-ridden. Particularly the American part is filled with the stereotypical distorted view of America many Indians have-street crime committed by minorities, homosexuals, constant drinking & throwing up, gun-toting cops shooting a fleeing suspect & the racist, homophobic Bengali-turned ugly American. And of course the Bengali girl who becomes a slutty American teenager. I doubt any American successful businessman, no matter what his real feelings are, would openly spout such racist & homophobic nonsense in this day and age. The Kolkata part wasn't that much better either, it sure gives the feeling all older generation Bengalis are losers & younger generation are all aping the West, again stereotypical characterizations. Andy-the paragon of idealism-comes off as a mixture of an idiot and a snob. One other thing. I doubt Rahul's girlfriend Sheela-with her obvious Westernized ways, would be so averse to going to America. The less said about Hasan the better. The one character I liked was Rakesh...the mixture of neither feeling he belongs in America fully, but at the same time knowing he cant go back, and dealing with both realizations is indeed something many expats go through (altho' I haven't heard the term second class citizen too many times these days). While one may forgive Andy's naiveté at thinking Kolkata is still the Baul music city of his dreams, his lecturing to people right & left about how to live comes off as annoyingly snobbish rather than an artist reaching out.

I enjoyed it. Don't know why some people are complaining - interesting aliens, a fast-paced story, plot twists. Acting wasn't too bad either. And for once, the hero wasn't like a regular guy who all of a sudden becomes superman squared. One could relate to or at least understand the characters, even the 'dumb' ones!! Aliens had their vulnerabilities too. Adding Area 51 added a neat plot depth. I would like to see sequel. Compared to a whole lot of stuff I have seen on Sci-Fi (including one they send a demolition man to repair the moon-HA!) this was a well-written, well-acted movie that held my attention. Where there weaknesses? Sure, but I wasn't expecting Oscar-quality. Not bad for a Saturday evening.

I liked this movie quite a lot except the last fight sequence - it went on & on & became idiotic. But what makes this so interesting is that it is more multidimensional than Robocop - the first movie was better, but it focused mainly on crime & corporate corruption. This movie deals with those, but also free will vs indoctrination, the drug culture, corporate as well as political corruption, the arrogance of academic types, & how a powerful man can become an idiot when he gets sex from a younger women. The other impressive aspect of the movie was showing how corporate America can gradually increase their control over our lives. I did wonder why they didn't show more of Robocop's wife & son, but still can stand up to the original.

I saw this movie many years ago, have tried to locate it but perhaps understandably it is nowhere to be found. It was so esoteric, & yet one of a handful of movies that remains with you for a long time. I am still not sure what the reality of the movie is, and perhaps, like the Uncertainty Principle, the obscurity is the definite thing. Acting is superb, the atmosphere is always filled with a sense of foreboding, an overall melancholiness permeates, & yet, it is hard not to be absorbed in the story. I rented it thinking it was science fiction (it was in the sci-fi section with some totally misleading blurb), but quite clearly it is not. Or horror, or even suspense. In fact, one feels thankful the director took the courage to make a movie like this, for which obviously there is no solid audience. I know some people have complained about Klaus Kinski's short role, but I think it is very appropriate - his limited exposure is critical to the formation of the mystery of this movie.

I liked the film overall. OK, I admit the acting (except for Lee Ermey at the end) was uniformly bad. The idea of a land ledge deep down in the ocean was pretty neat. Sure there were stupid mistakes, but hey this is a movie. Look, late at night I prefer mindless monster movies. Another good thing was they didn't try to make Jack Scalia too much of a macho hero. And they didn't make too much romance. When you're facing unheard-of-before monsters who has time to say silly romantic lines we see in so many other movies? There was some smartness in the plot, although I would have liked some more genetics mumbo-jumbo. The starfish monster was pretty good. I'd give it 5/10.