- because the Alien franchise already has a large and established fanbase, there are already a lot of articles pointing out its uncleverness. I will not write them out here as there are too many of them and they have already been covered.
As an Alien fan I was extremely disappointed. Even as a stand-alone movie it's terrible. It's an expensive movie that barely works as a "B" grade horror. I paid money to see this in the theatre and I wish I could get my money back. Don't pay money to see this movie.
Friday, July 6, 2012
The Hurt Locker (2008, directed by Kathryn Bigelow)
- the beginning sequence shows a bomb disposal team sending in a robot on wheels to deliver explosives to an IED so that they can detonate it. However the robot breaks down. A wheel or axle breaks or something. So the leader puts on an armored bomb disposal suit and walks out toward the bomb to manually place the explosives. Lo and behold the IED is triggered the the leader dies. When the robot broke down, why didn't they just pull it back using its tether, fix the wheel and then try sending it out again? Or send another robot? It was really dumb of the leader to try and do it manually instead of trying to use the thousand times less risky robot alternative.
- in the middle of the movie the team gets pinned down by some snipers when they meet a mercenary group. A lot of the mercenaries get shot and so the team takes their .50 calibre sniper rifle. Now this is a big gun. I'm pretty sure it takes specialized training, skill and many hours of extra training time in order for one to be capable of hitting anything that far away using that weapon. I don't think it's plausible that anyone on the disposal team would have enough skill to use it as was shown in the movie.
- also, the .50 calibre rifle jammed because there was blood on the ammunition? That's pretty lame if someone's design for a weapon could withstand having some blood on it... I mean especially since it will be used on a battlefield... where there's lots of blood.
This was a pretty good movie. I'd pay a rental fee to watch it.
- in the middle of the movie the team gets pinned down by some snipers when they meet a mercenary group. A lot of the mercenaries get shot and so the team takes their .50 calibre sniper rifle. Now this is a big gun. I'm pretty sure it takes specialized training, skill and many hours of extra training time in order for one to be capable of hitting anything that far away using that weapon. I don't think it's plausible that anyone on the disposal team would have enough skill to use it as was shown in the movie.
- also, the .50 calibre rifle jammed because there was blood on the ammunition? That's pretty lame if someone's design for a weapon could withstand having some blood on it... I mean especially since it will be used on a battlefield... where there's lots of blood.
This was a pretty good movie. I'd pay a rental fee to watch it.
The Eagle (2011, directed by Kevin Macdonald)
- so the Commander's plan to save his patrol from being killed was to walk out of the fort with a platoon of legionaires, form a turtle, fight off the barbarians, rescue his patrol by forming a circle around them and then walk back to the fort? Even if that did succeed in getting some of the patrol rescued, you'd probably lose just as many, or more men in the effort to save them. The cost/benefit analysis shows negative and such a lame attempt should not have been made.
- in continuing with this... didn't the Romans have bows & arrows? (they clearly did in Gladiator if that's any indication) Shouldn't there be some archers covering the turtle's advance and soften up the enemy?
- while looking for clues as to the whereabouts of the eagle, Marcus and Esca are riding their horses through the highlands minding their own business when suddenly they're attacked! They're able to overpower their attacker and then they find out the attacker is a legionaire from the lost legion. And so the legionaire doesn't want to get involved or give out much information. He has a life in Scotland now with presumably a wife and two kids. So why did the legionaire attack Marcus and Esca in the first place? Why didn't he just hide or stay home?
- so when the painted Scottish people finally catch up to Marcus and Esca, the leader of the painted people show Marcus and Esca what happens to betrayers. The leader drags the young boy that Esca talked to back at the village when they first left to escape. The leader kills the young boy. So the painted people have chased Marcus and Esca for a couple of days on foot. Hardly any sleep (if any at all), hardly any food (if any)... and I'm supposed to believe that the young boy traveled with them all throughout the chase? Not bloody likely. The boy would not have been able to keep up.
- after the fight with the painted people they make a funeral pyre and burn the body of the fallen legionaire. Where did they get any dry wood to make the pyre. It rained throughout the entire last act of the movie.
- why does the music score sound like Scottish music? I realize that the story takes place in Northern Britain aka present-day Scotland, but aren't the Scottish the bad guys in this movie? Sure you have Scottish music when the painted people are on the screen to queue the audience, but why do other parts sound Scottish. The music at the end credits goes into a jig. The score should sound Roman to highlight the Roman hero of this movie.
It was an OK movie but I wouldn't pay money to see it.
- in continuing with this... didn't the Romans have bows & arrows? (they clearly did in Gladiator if that's any indication) Shouldn't there be some archers covering the turtle's advance and soften up the enemy?
- while looking for clues as to the whereabouts of the eagle, Marcus and Esca are riding their horses through the highlands minding their own business when suddenly they're attacked! They're able to overpower their attacker and then they find out the attacker is a legionaire from the lost legion. And so the legionaire doesn't want to get involved or give out much information. He has a life in Scotland now with presumably a wife and two kids. So why did the legionaire attack Marcus and Esca in the first place? Why didn't he just hide or stay home?
- so when the painted Scottish people finally catch up to Marcus and Esca, the leader of the painted people show Marcus and Esca what happens to betrayers. The leader drags the young boy that Esca talked to back at the village when they first left to escape. The leader kills the young boy. So the painted people have chased Marcus and Esca for a couple of days on foot. Hardly any sleep (if any at all), hardly any food (if any)... and I'm supposed to believe that the young boy traveled with them all throughout the chase? Not bloody likely. The boy would not have been able to keep up.
- after the fight with the painted people they make a funeral pyre and burn the body of the fallen legionaire. Where did they get any dry wood to make the pyre. It rained throughout the entire last act of the movie.
- why does the music score sound like Scottish music? I realize that the story takes place in Northern Britain aka present-day Scotland, but aren't the Scottish the bad guys in this movie? Sure you have Scottish music when the painted people are on the screen to queue the audience, but why do other parts sound Scottish. The music at the end credits goes into a jig. The score should sound Roman to highlight the Roman hero of this movie.
It was an OK movie but I wouldn't pay money to see it.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Dead Man Walking (1995, directed by Tim Robbins)
- Matt, the Death Row inmate, his hair was perfect throughout the movie; the hair on his head as well as his facial mustache and goatee. Does the prison allow him to have and use his own scissors (ie sharp objects) to trim his hair? Due to security reasons he's probably not allowed access to any form of knife, blade, scissors or any metal object that could be formed into such. So the prison barber trims it everyday for him?
This movie was pretty good and I would pay money to watch it.
This movie was pretty good and I would pay money to watch it.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Apocalypto (2006, directed by Mel Gibson)
- they should rename this movie Deus Ex Machinapocalypto. Jaguar's Paw (the hero of the movie) is saved once by an eclipse and then again by the sight of the arrival of Europeans on the beach. How lazy and lame for a scriptwriter. Jaguar's Paw didn't have to do anything. He could've just sat down and played in the mud and the scriptwriters would've had aliens from outer-space come down and save him
- after the eclipse the captives are to be "disposed" of so they use them for sport. So do they not need any more human sacrifices? Ever? Was that it? And then afterwards when the hero gets away, the rest of the movie is basically an extended chase sequence. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The Road Warrior and Terminators 1 and 2 end in chases. But those chases had more at stake (such as helping a whole group of people to escape and saving the earth from a robot apocalypse). This was just one person (and his wife and kids I guess). Not that I'm saying the just one person doesn't matter but it was really inconsequential if Jaguar's Paw lived or not on the grand scale of things. Maybe if he went back to rescue his people, or not just his, all the people, it would be more interesting.
I wouldn't pay any money to watch this movie.
- after the eclipse the captives are to be "disposed" of so they use them for sport. So do they not need any more human sacrifices? Ever? Was that it? And then afterwards when the hero gets away, the rest of the movie is basically an extended chase sequence. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The Road Warrior and Terminators 1 and 2 end in chases. But those chases had more at stake (such as helping a whole group of people to escape and saving the earth from a robot apocalypse). This was just one person (and his wife and kids I guess). Not that I'm saying the just one person doesn't matter but it was really inconsequential if Jaguar's Paw lived or not on the grand scale of things. Maybe if he went back to rescue his people, or not just his, all the people, it would be more interesting.
I wouldn't pay any money to watch this movie.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Insomnia (2002, directed by Christopher Nolan)
- how many cabins does that author (Robin Williams) have? He has an apartment in the city, but he also has two other cabins? The one cabin at the beginning of the film by the beach where he killed the girl, and then another cabin at the end of the movie where he keeps his stuff? I don't think he made a lot of money from sales of his books so I guess cabins are really cheap in Alaska.
- this movie has an underwater action sequence. While chasing the suspect, the main character gets caught under some logs in the water. He was under water for a couple of minutes, does a lot of physical activity trying to surface and yet still had enough air and energy to find his way out of the water and all this while wearing a suit jacket and tie and his shoes and being in near arctic cold water.
- earlier in the film the police talk about what sidearms they carry. This includes their primary as well as their backup weapons. But at the end of the movie during the shootout, neither of the police officers have a backup weapon.
- why did the hotel that the LA Police officers stay in have decent drapes? I've only stayed in hotels in cities where the sun does not stay up for 24 hours but they still had pretty good drapes that blocked out the light in the morning when the sun did rise. Why didn't that Alaska hotel have those drapes? (Yes, I know the point of the movie is to not allow Al Pacino to sleep...)
This movie was pretty good. I wouldn't mind paying for it as a rental DVD.
- this movie has an underwater action sequence. While chasing the suspect, the main character gets caught under some logs in the water. He was under water for a couple of minutes, does a lot of physical activity trying to surface and yet still had enough air and energy to find his way out of the water and all this while wearing a suit jacket and tie and his shoes and being in near arctic cold water.
- earlier in the film the police talk about what sidearms they carry. This includes their primary as well as their backup weapons. But at the end of the movie during the shootout, neither of the police officers have a backup weapon.
- why did the hotel that the LA Police officers stay in have decent drapes? I've only stayed in hotels in cities where the sun does not stay up for 24 hours but they still had pretty good drapes that blocked out the light in the morning when the sun did rise. Why didn't that Alaska hotel have those drapes? (Yes, I know the point of the movie is to not allow Al Pacino to sleep...)
This movie was pretty good. I wouldn't mind paying for it as a rental DVD.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
The Postman (1997, directed by Kevin Costner)
- so the bad general drafted Shakespeare/The Postman. The general gave lectures to the postman and even invited him to his office to talk about stuff. Smart stuff too, not just about the weather but how smart each of them was. Then later in the movie, when the postman goes to negotiate with the general to not raze the town, the general doesn't recognise him? Granted that the postman shaved his beard and mustache, but still, the general didn't recognise him? That's lame.
- Shakespeare, before becoming the Postman, is running away from the bad guys in the rain, slips, and then he finds himself inside a US Postal Service truck. The driver is long dead and mummified. Shakespeare rummages through the corpse's clothes and find a lighter. And the lighter still works? It's been years since the lighter was last refilled with lighter fluid. After all those years the lighter fluid would have long evaporated/dried out. I don't think the lighter would work. But this point doesn't affect the plot at all though so I'll let it go.
Don't pay money to watch this movie.
- Shakespeare, before becoming the Postman, is running away from the bad guys in the rain, slips, and then he finds himself inside a US Postal Service truck. The driver is long dead and mummified. Shakespeare rummages through the corpse's clothes and find a lighter. And the lighter still works? It's been years since the lighter was last refilled with lighter fluid. After all those years the lighter fluid would have long evaporated/dried out. I don't think the lighter would work. But this point doesn't affect the plot at all though so I'll let it go.
Don't pay money to watch this movie.
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