AJCrowley Reviews

9 Miles Down (2009)

Excellent, much more than i was expecting.

[9/10 · 18 January 2013]

OK, i admit, that with Adrian Paul being the star i wasn't expecting much, but i finished this being really quite impressed. it doesn't end up being a rework of traditional horror films, and has quite an intelligent feel to it.

i think to compare it to much bigger and slicker films would be a mistake, which is why i'm rating it high, the interior sets were good, and the exterior filming was very god indeed, i felt the first third had some really spooky feeling engendered by the exterior dark environment. Adrian Paul i think has aged better, and he looks nice and rugged now, and comes across much more interesting than his highlander days.

the only downsides were the slightly contrived sexual tension going on, which i found a little detracting from the main story, and by the last third the overall flow could have been smoother. the production values were good, with little need for visual effects. i really enjoyed this film, which i saw on Netflix almost on a whim, really good stuff.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2002–2005)

Brilliant

[3 February 2006]

I'd been looking at the DVDs for a while, but the different titles on amazon confused me, so a complete boxed set of season 1 was excellent.

I'm a major fan of the movie, and i saw innocence recently, which was stunningly animated, even if it occasionally went up it's own backside with the philosophy side of things.

The series and the movies need to be treated as separate entities, both tell similar stories, but they were produced for different contexts. the animation in the series isn't as polished as the movie, but why would it be? there's an overarching storyline, but it doesn't get in the way of the standalone episodes which have their own separate stories. a few are a bit "huh, what?", but most are nice, compact and exciting, and work their way into the whole nicely. as to one of the other comments here, anyone who looks at it as Anime for teen boys is missing the point, there's a real plot here, and real characters who work in a team dynamic, you need to watch again.....

Phantom Force (2004 TV Movie)

Quite a nice little one-off

[7/10 · 25 January 2006]

OK, it was a quite night on the satellite, so with my lack of attention span, i surfed past the Sci-fi channel.

The start was rocky, it had obvious made-for-TV movie production values, and the acting and combat was sub x-files to say the least, however, the actual concept wasn't bad, and there were some technical accuracy you don't get in most action films.

Grieco really needs to be told to speak clearly, i mean, the Guttural Whisper thing is a tad tacky and gets boring after hearing him mumble his way through a sentence, and this film won't be winning him any Oscars, but overall, he fit into the big hero-shaped hole in the film.

It felt very much like someone had been playing Doom recently, the plot stank of the current occult-terror video games out these days, but as a whole, the Plot hung together, but there was a hell of a lot the directors didn't take advantage of and could have done so much more with. effects ranged from the bland to the quite nice, but the inconsistency didn't help matters.

Worth a watch, just for a one-off, shame it wasn't made into a series, after a false start it could have been polished up a bit.

The Negotiator (1994 TV Movie)

Slick, but what was the point?

[9/10 · 14 February 2005]

I really enjoyed "The Negotiator", but what IMDb hasn't mentioned, is that it was a pilot for a TV series which never materialised, which is a real shame, as i think Cox would have made a really good lead for what looked to be a mix of intrigue/thriller/terrorist series, which has returned recently in things like "The Grid".

The plot is relatively simple, following a drug deal gone sideways, through some of the Scots underworld, culminating in some rather grim dealings, and then Cox's Character's heart attack. it has some cool characters, and is in places quite grim, but that's Scotland for you.

well worth a look, if only for curiosity value.

Equilibrium (2002)

Wholly Underrated and overlooked.

[10/10 · 14 November 2003]

So, every insists it rips off Matrix, well, the action scenes do seem very reminiscent, and Matrix's success through it's complex spectacular action obviously meant that this was a selling point.

But Equilibrium manages to say so much more than Matrix and it's sequels, after watching Matrix, i was like "yeah, virtual reality, we could be there now man, woah." but after watching equilibrium recently, i found i was actually thinking about it a lot more than the action fest that was The Matrix.

The understated acting and dialogue is fantastic, as is the minimalistic setting, and although the "Gun Kata" is a little Cheesy, it comes across as far more brutal, and thus enhances the rest of the films atmosphere.

Equilibrium is a good watch, anyone who can't see the deeper text can go and watch Matrix, and good riddance.

The Nature of the Beast (1995)

another 50-50 movie? surely not...

[29 May 2003]

well, despite some scathing reviews on here, i loved it. it's got some glorious tension building, and although the ending is scrappy, the exploration of morality between the two characters, and what their lives are built on gives a lot of energy to that tension, and to the ending. some bits could have been handled better, but the portrayal of Henriksen as the "loser" character (was that paunch fake anyone know?) is wonderful, a real Homer. right up til the end.

watching it for the second time to re-evaluate the relationship between the two bears up too, now you know what they and you know.

watch it, it's worth it. Henriksen at a high point.

Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)

oh yes, tacky, trashy, but can i watch it again please ?

[20 January 2003]

I first saw this around 84/85 when it was put on to replace the cricket that had been cancelled. show you what channel 4 must have been thinking about it at the time.

saying that, it's cheese, on toast, with extra cheese, bad acting, dodgy effects, and yes, a valkyrie with big breasts, (to match the hero's ship no doubt) some wierd guys in white, and a nutter who tries other people's arms on for size.

but i can't not watch it if it's on. one of those films i guess which no-one wants to say is good, but which they'll watch over and over.

now, where's that DVD then.....

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Had to add

[10/10 · 11 April 2002]

I watched this film on a whim when round the video store, on the basis that it sounded wierd, and it had Johnny Depp in it.

i think it's one of the best decisions i ever made, this is a stunning film, very in the spirit of the book (which i only read a year after seeing the film) and relly bringing the feelings of the lost and directionless US in the early 70s, the conformists and the anarchists.

Gilliam was perfect, and there is not *one* bad thing i can say about this film.

Blade II (2002)

Enjoyable Action Fare, shame about the plot...

[9/10 · 8 April 2002]

OK, so the headline derides the plot, but that's not to say there isn't one, and just when you start liking one of the characters, they go and turn into a bad guy, hell, they always do that don't they...

I agree with one of the earlier reviews, there are 2 major combat scenes where they decided to do Blade using CGI, and they suck, in such a big way it leaves me speechless. these scenes should have been done in slo-mo matrix style and would have looked soooooooo much better.

hard to believe Luke Goss used to be one third of a dodgy 80s pop band, but his turn as Nomak is stunning, and is absolutely perfect for the role.

another surprise was Danny John Jules, while not in it for long, you couldn't possibly place him as the Cat in this one.

plot holes, and some unconvincing battle scenes in the Sewers aren't nearly enough to cripple this film, it was very enjoyable, and the setting in the crumbling eastern block was nicely Dark for the subject matter, and led to a darker more grisly feel than the first film.

overall, damn good saturday night fare ;-)

24 (2001–2010)

not bad, not bad at all...

[13 March 2002]

Smart, well filmed, very niec direction, and the split screen is nice to watch, and not over used, which would have detracted from the series quite badly...

BBC 2 has had a history of Cult series (X-Files first aired on BBC 2) and this fits in quite nicely, if it had aired on BBC1 or ITV a lot more would have been expected of it, possibly too much.

i think this series will work better once it's over, in that each episode can't overdo it too much for "an hour in the life of a conspiracy", there is only so much you can squeeze in, so once the hwole thing has aired and i have it on the vid, i can watch it back to back, and properly enjoy it ;-)

Beowulf (1999)

It Sucked....

[1/10 · 25 October 2001]

never in my film watching existence have i seen such a load of old toss.

Lambert should be ashamed of this one, with such obvious body doubles doing the acrobatics in his place it looked totally awful.

some really good ideas at the start, regressive future earth, steam punk style, but after that it just degenerated into dross.

nothing redeeming about this film whatsoever.

Nemesis (1992)

not bad stuff, cool ideas, but slightly dodgy on the old acting...

[10/10 · 25 October 2001]

B-Movie: check cheesy moves: check some dodgy hammy acting: check the odd bad stop motion effect: check more bad hairdos on a leading star than a french poodle in beverly hills: check

but *apart* from that, it was a good action film, Gruner is pretty good apart from the hairdos, and Tim Thomerson was great as the bad guy. some very dubious actresses doing very bad jobs of being weird, but some good effects/pyrotechnics, and what was actually a fairly good plot.