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  #351  
Old 8th September 2022, 06:19 PM
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A classic and still the best, a starship crash lands on a planet which is populated by intelligent apes who think of humans little more than animals . Mind you do think that Chuck should released earlier were he is as the monkeys speak English. Still one of most shocking endings.




A favourite since the first time I watched it, it was a bit of a flop at the time but is now a cult classic . The film was ahead of its time and the effects still stand up today and eclipse some CGI.

Now watching. Why this has never had a blu ray release is beyond me, unless it's because of the effects.


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  #352  
Old 8th September 2022, 07:39 PM
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A while since I've seen this but it's still a highly enjoyable bit of sci-fi, while the water special effects haven't aged that well we still have some impressive scenes.

A nuclear sub is in need of rescue and a special drilling platform and it's crew are the only ones who can help, but this is the least of there problems , the world is on the brink of war, aliens seem responsible for the sub accident and Kyle Reece has a nuclear warhead and has lost his marbels.

This film is crying out blu ray release let alone a 4k release.


Now watching


Last edited by trebor8273; 8th September 2022 at 08:03 PM.
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  #353  
Old 8th September 2022, 09:07 PM
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Monsters (2010)

An excellent science fiction drama that takes place in the near future in the wake of an alien infestation that has made the US / Mexico border a no-go area.

Scoot McNairy plays a photographer enlisted by a rich businessman to bring his daughter (Whitney Able) back across the border from Mexico to the United States.

As much a character study as it is sci-fi and notable in that first time director Gareth Edwards cleverly utilises his modest budget to make the viewer believe that giant squid like alien creatures are actually walking the earth - an earth patrolled by fighter jets, warships and sectioned off by a huge wall which runs for miles. Monsters blends it's genres beautifully as road movie, romance and creature feature come together to produce something both suspenseful and involving with two leads that have genuine chemistry.
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  #354  
Old 9th September 2022, 01:55 PM
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Default 2010: The Year We Make Contact

2010

“My God! It’s full of stars!”

2010 opens by announcing exactly what it has over 2001. Actors! Celebrities! We got Bob Balaban, Helen Mirren, John Lithgow, returnee Keir Dullea, and God among performers, Roy Scheider. Not to crap over the cast of 2001, but 2010 runs out the gate swinging.

It probably goes without saying that Peter Hyams’s sequel lacks the poetic grace of Kubrick’s efforts. Where 2001 was content in allowing the viewer to come to their conclusions, Hyams’s film insists on providing answers. Why did HAL go mad? 2010 has the answer! Was the Monolith a visual metaphor to explain leaps in mankind’s progress? No! 2010 says otherwise. What actually happened to Bowman? 2010 gives us the deets! Why Jupiter and not Saturn? Never fear! 2010 is here!

Okay, jokes aside, 2010 is much like Psycho II, in that you’re almost shocked that they made a sequel to a classic film by a revered filmmaker, and that it’s actually bloody good. It’s a shame that 2010 is almost buried. I only heard about it through a snarky “unnecessary sequels” piece in Empire magazine, that said you could probably find it in its rightful place in the bottom of a bargain bin. Methinks the writer hadn’t even bothered watching it.

Set nine years after the first film, 2010 follows the disgraced Heywood Floyd (Scheider, replacing William Sylvester) joining a Russian team in trying to unravel what happened to the Discovery outside Jupiter. Complicating matters is a on-Earth conflict between Russia and the USA, and a certain distrust of the Discovery’s computer system. And that’s before they see what’s happening on Jupiter.

2010 is not 2001. Hyams is not Kubrick, and to his credit, he doesn’t even try to ape Kubrick. Kubrick always used film as a gateway to explore human psychology. Hyams is interested in story. His characters are well-defined, and their goals are clearly established. The plot is never up in the air. If 2001’s abstract nature turned you off, then 2010 might be your cup of tea.

2010 also possess it’s own visual aesthetic. Hyams acts as his own cinematographer, and gives the film a dirty, lived-in feel that feels closer to Ridley Scott than Kubrick. Hyams’s photography is rich with shadows and striking compositions. It, and the droning sound design, give the film a sinister atmosphere that always hints at something bad is about to happen. While it never reaches the moments of pure terror that 2001 did, 2010 carries it’s chilling atmosphere throughout the Jupiter mission.

I must stress, I do like this film a lot. I’d even go as far as to say I loved it. However, I cannot deny that it goes against everything 2001 does. 2001 left questions unanswered because Kubrick really wanted us to think about our own morality and mortality. 2010 gives us easy answers, and never asks us to consider. When the finale happens, it feels trite. A simple way of explaining away everything, and giving Cold War audiences an out. It is a betrayal of 2001’s goals.

But be that it may, 2010 is a fantastic film in its own right. It is brilliantly acted, intelligently directed, written with a respect to the audience, and beautifully shot. I cannot trash the film for not being another film. So if you haven’t seen it already, prepare to make contact with 2010.
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  #355  
Old 9th September 2022, 09:12 PM
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Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

A sci-fi comedy in which John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson and Clark Duke travel back in time to 1986 via a hot tub at Kodiak Valley Ski Resort where three of the guys had one hell of a time in their teens, however despite all the so awesome 80's ness they must find a way to return to 2010, helped along the way by a mysterious repairman (Chevy Chase).

Although not as crude as so many teen comedies of the period, this actually came out at the arse end of that genre in the 00's there's still a lot going for Hot Tub Time Machine. As with all this stuff not all the jokes work but quite a few do including a running gag about Crispin Glover losing his arm. there's enough about the plot and it's various sub plots. Meanwhile it's always a joy to see Chevy Chase in cameo roles as though he's a father figure to the genre, which i suppose he is. The fact that John Cusack is the star gives it a bit more kudos in the acting stakes than most films of this ilk.

If you like 80's rock then the soundtrack is a killer featuring the likes of INXS, Public Enemy, Scritti Politti, Bowie and Echo and the Bunnymen, however it's Poison, (2 songs) who perform live at the resort, and Motley Crue (3 songs) who are the musical stars of the film with Corddry's metal dude (He wears an Iron Maiden Killers t-shirt for the bulk of the film) giving his all to Home Sweet Home both in his car at the start and as a brilliant parody music video where he replaces regular singer Vince Neil as the end credits roll.

I've seen this a few times over the last decade and always enjoy it.
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  #356  
Old 10th September 2022, 09:17 PM
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The Sender (1998)

Starring Michael Madsen...no wait come back... i quite enjoyed this daft sci-fi action romp about Madsen's former air force pilot, his daughter who has 'sending' powers (No, no idea either to be honest other than she can concoct balls of green light in her hands) an alien angel and R Lee Ermey's despot army colonel out to stop them. Throw in Robert Vaughn, shoot out's at Griffith Park Observatory, some wild freeway action sequences, even more wilder flying sequences and you've got a movie that's nonsensical but still enjoyable fun.

Think Starman with loads of shit blowing up and you have The Sender.

Watched this from a ten movie box set picked up years ago from Boulevard Entertainment. For direct to dvd tat it looked f*cking awesome upscaled on my Blu-ray player.
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  #357  
Old 11th September 2022, 03:22 PM
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WATERWORLD


A world drowned. People struggle to survive, and pass the time being hostile to each other. Rumours abound about a better world, but it seems out of reach. No hope. No future. Welcome to Hull!

It doesn’t sound so strange these days to admit that you like Waterworld. The film has a strong cult following, and is a dependable seller on home video. On release, Waterworld was the recipient of extremely negative press and reviews. Siskel and Ebert labelled it as one of the dogs of 1995. Journalists had trashed it before release, and reacted with glee at the film’s underperformance.

Underperformance is the key word here. Contrary to common consensus, Waterworld was not a flop. Universal Studios had expected the ocean-shot film to go wildly over-budget (Universal experienced the same with Jaws 20 years earlier), and were willing to play the waiting game. Producer Charles Gordon said that through licencing and pre-sales, Waterworld had already become profitable before the healthy home video sales.

“But what about the film itself? Is it any good?” Well… Yeah! Easily. Waterworld has issues. Even some major ones. The plot is a series of contrivances. Rescue just always happens to come the right time. The whole macguffin being a map with a massive arrow tattooed on a girl’s back is astonishingly bad. Jeanne Tripplehorn is rather annoying. It’s an overlong rip-off of Mad Max 2.

If you were to review Waterworld as a story, then you would slap it with a D-. If you were being charitable. However, Waterworld is a film, and film is a visual medium. And it excels.

Waterworld is sumptuous. The sets are massive and extraordinary. And when you realise that they actually built these sets on the ocean, you can’t help but appreciate their lunacy. There is some dodgy CGI, but it’s very minor, and it was 1995. The costumes and make-up sell the post-apocalypse, and the rousing score by James Newton-Howard boosts the terrific action sequences. Sets are blown to pieces. Stuntmen and jet-skis fly through the air while on fire. Corpses explode from every corner. It is PG-13, but there is brutality there that modern PG-13 films try to cover up. I suspect the film originally landed an R rating, and some careful editing and cutaways were employed.

But it’s the smaller scenes that propel Waterworld above other expensive sci-fi action. Dennis Hopper is tremendous, obviously, but what’s interesting is that he doesn’t play the Deacon as a scenery chewing villain, but as a childish, forgetful brat. He’s somebody that never evolved beyond eight years old, and displays an extreme pettiness towards everybody. Now, I am a Kevin Costner fan, so take that however you want, but I think he’s superb in this. He’s way better than the critics would have you believe. His Mariner has some depth for him to chew on, believably crossing from sociopathic arsehole to concerned hero. It’s the little moments that has Costner being silent, conveying emotion with his stare that sell this. He is being helped by the music, which adopts a haunting new-age melody during these scenes.

I always have a blast with Waterworld. It combines Mad Max with Errol Flynn, and it never fails to be fun. Sure, it’s flawed, but it is a film of its era. When films were designed with satisfying the audience with stunts and spectacle. When they wrote them with an ending in mind, and worried about the sequel later. When they built the sets, the props, the costumes, and carefully lit them all on location, and not just glue a bunch of golf balls onto Mark Ruffalo’s spandex suit and throw him into a green shed. Waterworld fails to make me worry about the future, but it makes me miss the past.
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  #358  
Old 11th September 2022, 05:21 PM
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Excellent write up, Mac.
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  #359  
Old 11th September 2022, 07:17 PM
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Escape from New York (1981)

Kurt Russell plays antihero Snake Plissken for the first time in this classic sci-fi thriller. In 1997 Snake is sent to the walled off ruins of Manhattan island in a race against time to rescue the President - "Who's President" asks Plissken - from what is now a high security prison populated by the scum of the Earth.

John Carpenter gives this a fun but tense atmosphere in an expertly directed film well ahead of it's time so much so that it's a film that has been frequently ripped off in the years since.

The Eastwood-esq Russell is joined by Lee Van Cleef, Donald Pleasence, Adrienne Barbeau, Harry Dean Stanton, Tom Atkins, Isaac Hayes and Ernest Borgnine in what remains Carpenter's greatest cast list.

A genuine science fiction classic that to this viewer has endless re-watch value.
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  #360  
Old 11th September 2022, 07:29 PM
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Have to say this just looks and sounds phenomenal one of the best looking 4k discs I own. A fantastic Atmos soundtrack and outstanding picture quality and detail . There are a impressive number of extras more with the collectors edition which includes the special longer edition which only ever had limited release here on VHS.



Paramount wanting a more action based movie than motion picture we got this , Kirk faces one of his greatest enemies in a fight for life and death and the fate of the galaxy , but more well know for the death of Spock which caused a big up roar at the time, no matter how many times I watch it I still get a tear in my eye. A lot of people enjoyed this more than the first but now I'm leaning more towards motion picture.



You just knew from the ending of wrath of khan, that Spock wasn't truly dead so his friends set out too get him back along the way having to deal with the loss of the enterprise and Christopher Lloyds deranged Klingon another enjoyable entry . Though they didn't need too travel half way around the galaxy to find Spock as he was behind the camera!

Now watching which is easily my favourite Star Trek movie.




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