dave-appleton-242-121346 Reviews

Prometheus (I) (2012)

A bloody awful movie!!

[1/10 · 4 June 2012]

Seriously I read some of the negative reviews of this movie and thought how can it be that bad? Ridley Scott will be returning to the Alien universe and all will be well! I couldn't have been more wrong!

Let me start by saying that this movies marketing campaign has sucked people in incredibly successfully and lead people to believe that they will be watching a suspense filled, dark and mysterious sci-fi horror which will be reminiscent of the original Alien movie we all know and love. Wrong!

Firstly the movie visually is stunning and Michael Fassbender performs well but honestly folks this is we're the positivity ends in spectacular fashion!!

The story starts out quite well and the shots of the spaceship the planet and Fassbender playing basketball, watching Peter O'Toole in Lawerence of Arabia and doing his hair and I thought well this will be interesting as a movie and have some depth. How wrong I was!!

Once the other character came out of hyper sleep the movie steadily went down hill. The dialogue between the actors mostly seemed unrealistic and forced with most of the characters being a complete waste of casting as they were irrelevant throughout the movie and had zero depth.

What really made me wince were the strange decision some of them made and the movies lack of explanation as to why they did the things they did. An example of this was when Milburn and Fifield get lost in the alien temple after becoming scared when seeing a decapitated Space Jockey and decide to go back to the ship. There is no explanation as to why they become lost and a complete lack of interest from the rest of the crew as to we're they are and their safety. Despite Captain Janek stating to them via radio that Alien life has been detected, he just tells them to go to sleep, very odd!

While still lost they go from being terrified to encountering a large snakelike alien and losing all their fear and start to pet it like a dog. Surprise surprise they both get killed. The whole thing was ridiculous.

These themes continue throughout the movie but to list them in detail would take a long time.

The movie was completely lacking in tension, suspense or scares that made Alien 1979 so gripping and believable. It also opens with a theme about how we as human being have been created and tries to debate the creationist theories against the Darwinist theories but soon unravels into a complete mess and standard slasher in space type movie.

The whole C-Section part of the movies was also pretty poor and was more amusing than scary and the laughable use of Guy Pearce as the old man Peter Weyland was B-Movie standard, I mean why didn't they just use an older actor instead of prosthetics. Terrible.

The dialogue was for the most part pretty dire and this made the characters almost comic book-like when compared to realism of Alien and Ridley Scott's other great movies. This was probably due to Lindlelof's writing but come on surely this had to get passed Scott? What is going on?

I also got the feeling that the movie was rushing along and that story lacked cohesion, jumping around from pillar to post and not giving the audience any time to relate to the characters. This made the film for me feel odd and mostly non-sensical. Scott stated that the movie was a tight cut but the movie was trying to cover too many bases and essentially it then had no identity and felt flat.

There was no explanation as to the motives of the Space Jockey race and their reasons to wanting to destroy Earth leaving the movie open to a sequel but seriously if it is as badly acted and disjointed as this I will not be watching on cinema. No chance!

I could list all the sequences I disliked in this movie but we would be here for some time and quite frankly I could not quite believe that this was made by Ridley Scott considering some of his great movies of the past. Maybe Hollywood these days has to much of a stranglehold on a directors artistic licences these days and will only produce CGI filled garbage that numbs the audiences brains into believing they are watching a quality product. Well in this movie they ain't and I wasn't fooled!!

All I can say is Ridley please give up the ghost and retire!! We can't have you destroying Bladerunner with a sequels like Prometheus.

RoboCop (1987)

Underrated satirical masterpiece!

[10/10 · 22 March 2012]

For starters Robocop is an underrated and misunderstood movie by many. Yet if you watch this movie and see passed the dark sense of humour and ultra violence there is a story which is reflective of our world today.

Robocop is a satire and a well thought out one at that. OCP represent the big corporations, Robocop/Murphy represents the human spirit and this is the irony of the movie that despite Murphy becoming almost entirely machine by the company they could not destroy his human side. Murphy did not become a mindless, emotionless product that is Robocop!!

His human emotional side was still too strong and Murphy's emotional journey as Robocop and losing his contact with his family give this movie depth which makes the original movie vastly superior to the hollow sequels that followed.

So the analogy here is business, power, money and technology attempt to dehumanise mankind but showing that eventually human spirit will win the day and essentially this aspect is most important in life. An increasing focus in today's society I believe. In the final sequence of the movie this is emphasised by the Old Man asking Robocop what his name is, to which he replies 'Murphy'!. He was no longer the machine he was Alex Murphy the man!

OK so I have now analysised this movie at its core but on a more superficial level this movie is fantastic action flick with humour added in bundles. It has some very violent scene which will stick in the memory especially the murder of Murphy.

The Robocop suit special effects are brilliant, with his machine pistol style handgun being iconic and symbolic of the Robocop character. The acting is very solid and believable. The stop motion effects of ED-209 are probably not up to today's standards but in my eyes give the movie an authentic 80's feel and add to its charm.

The action sequences are all great and no shot in the movie is wasted and all of it is relevant. The adverts in the movie and news sequences also adds to the satirical value of the movie and give the movie a dark humour.

This is a movie I would recommend to all sci-fi and action fans but I warn you this is not a movie for the faint hearted as it contains uncompromising violence and lots of foul language.

Most importantly though this is a movie that has more depth than meets the eye and is really giving a message to the more observant viewer but can also cater for the more shallow movie watcher. This is a shame because Robocop is much more than guns, blood and bad language. Its a satire of the modern world and I highly recommend it!!

Aliens (1986)

Incredible emotional journey!!!

[10/10 · 22 March 2012]

This movie is one of the greatest sequels of all time, a masterpiece of movie making and the perfect antidote to the haunting and equally masterful Alien.

Firstly this movie cranks the pace up 10 fold from the suspenseful slower pace of Alien, but it is still filled with suspense and tension. The acting in the movie is top notch and Sigorney Weaver is fantastic as Ripley. The action sequences are incredible and the even in 2012 this movie has hardly dated since 1986 and could stand up against the movies today.

Aliens is essentially a Vietnam War movies in space, the analogy is the same and I heard somewhere that this was intentional by James Cameron. The high tech and over confident soldiers with weapons and equipment are outwitted by their perceived inferior opponents (the aliens) by their resourcefulness.

Despite the movies name 'Aliens', I personally believe the creatures are the focal point for the audience only on a conscious level. On a subconscious level this movie is all about Ripley's emotional journey where she is propelled into a leading role to face her nightmares brought on by her first terrifying encounter in the original movie.

Aliens is a story of empowerment, whereas the original Alien was a helpless struggle against an invincible enemy.

This empowerment is amplified by Ripley eventually facing a bigger and more fearsome version of the creature, the Alien Queen and defeating her in a wrestling match using a hydraulic power loader and eventually blowing her out of an airlock, much like the first movie.

Another aspect of the movie is Ripley's acting as a mother role to the character Newt which is relevant to the start of the movie when Ripley finds out her daughter had died at the age of 66 after she had spent 57 years in hyper sleep. This also heightens the emotional journey and when both are seen in hyper sleep at the end of the movie it resembles an up lifting union as if Ripley is back with her daughter and peacefully sleeping by her without her nightmares. Very symbolic.

This is why I believe it works so well as a sequel and at many levels it is as sophisticated as the original movie which is regarded by many as the most artistic of the two.

Aliens is a rip roaring, hardcore action/sci fi/horror, with great acting, score and pace that only James Cameron could achieve but most importantly this is a fantastic emotional story and because of this it a massive success with depth and gives the audience a sense justice!

The Thing (I) (2011)

Hideous!!

[1/10 · 19 March 2012]

This movie sums up for me what Hollywood has become, all about selling a brand to the audience with cheap thrills and ultra low quality. Some of the people giving this movie a positive review in my opinion need their heads examining because it quite simply in the biggest load of tripe I have ever seen.

I love Carpenters 1982 movie with its unique dark brooding, tension building soundtrack, great visuals and top quality believable acting. The prequel on the other hand has become completely devoid of any of these qualities and as such has degenerated into a brain dead teeny slasher movie!

I mean seriously this is a joke of a movie and I am not exaggerating this is so poor it beggars belief. I mean the director claim to have been a massive fan of the 1982 movie and yet creates something which is laughable in the extreme.

Firstly the CGI monster is not remotely scary in comparison to the fantastic anamatronic version in the 82 version. Even though you knew the 82 version was a puppet, it was really there, it was tangible!

Secondly the monster now runs around on a killing spree, exposing itself! I mean come on Hollywood stop treating us like cattle who you enjoy taking our money from, at least give us a quality product that is faithful to the horror genre! The 82 version had the creature exposé itself in a strategic manner and to attack when necessary. This was the whole basis of the movie and this prequel destroys this unforgivably.

There are many other massive flaws in this movie but I would be writing a rather large list if I went into detail but I would like to point out the subconscious reason the 82 version worked so well. It was related to the underlying chess metaphor in the movie. Watch the movie and you will understand its a big game of chess between McReady and the creature, remember McReady plays chess at the beginning of the movie. This is why the prequel is hollow compared to the 82 version as there are no underlying depths to the movie that play on the audiences subconscious.

Alien³ (1992)

The Begininning of the End of the Great Saga

[1/10 · 27 January 2012]

For me this movie should never have been made. Firstly this movie lacked an emotional depth that both Alien and Aliens had and as such the journey of Ripley which in essence was her facing fears and growing into the powerful leader she was destined to become became muted.

There were many problems during the production of this movie and Fincher, who is an excellent movie director struggled to put forward a film which could carry the emotion of Ripley's journey and the mysteries of the alien creature and it's origins.

Alien played out our fears of loneliness in the vacuum of space and the played out a simple story in the most beautiful fashion that watching the movie can be the most unsettling experience but an unforgettable one.

Aliens expanded the story of Ripley and was the perfect antidote to the helpless loneliness of the first movie. Cameron didn't try to emulate to first movie but did what any good director would do and created something bigger and upped the tempo. Ripley played the parent role in her relation to Newt after finding out her daughter had died of old age while she was in hyper sleep which gave her that protective role and also gave the platform to face her fears of the original movie on a bigger scale.

Alien 3 would never have been able to top Aliens in terms of pace and action and going back to basics, which it did gave it direct comparison with the original Alien and it of course fails in its comparison.

Firstly the story is depressing as Newt, Hicks and Bishop are killed off, though Bishop does make an appearance. Ripley is doomed from the word go as she is impregnated with an alien queen so all her previous heroics were essentially for nothing and I felt a sense of loss in the saga. The characters bar Dance and Glover are pretty forgettable and despite the attempts to create an atmosphere like the original movie this just doesn't work and instead I felt disappointed. The CGI effects are also just abysmal, why did they do that? They look fake and spoil an already dour movie.

On a more positive note this movie in my eyes is a masterpiece when compared to the even more dreadful Alien Resurrection which is a cinematic disaster!!

My advice is keep away from this movie as its the beginning of the decline of the saga which was so brilliantly enjoyable with Alien and Aliens. Fingers crossed Ridley Scott's Prometheus is another epic to add to the saga. If anybody can pull it off though it's Ridley Scott.

Alien (1979)

One of the greatest movies of all time!!

[10/10 · 18 December 2011]

Now this is how a horror/monster movies should be done, all the new cgi filled rubbish that graces our screens these days are pale imitations of what is a movie of pure mystery, depth, tension, haunting imagery, horrifying score, incredible acting and a movie that is paced to perfection.

The whole feel of the movie is unmatched and leaves you with a cold sense of foreboding but at the same time has you transfixed at the pure mystery of the creature that is before your eyes.

The movies really is a cinematic masterpiece from start to finish. Starting with the opening credits the pace is slow but because of the masterful score by Jerry Goldsmith this only heightens the inevitable terror which is about to unfold.

It's incredible what has sadly happened to the Alien saga when you look back and see that this movies attention to detail from the claustrophobic set designs, a movie score which is unequalled in my opinion, brilliant acting by the whole cast and the most disturbing alien creature design in cinematic history. The creatures mystery has been somewhat destroyed by the Hollywood mess that is Alien vs Predator!

There have been many who tried to recreate the horror of Alien and have failed miserably. James Cameron did a fantastic job in creating the sequel Aliens because he knew not to try and imitate the unique atmosphere, tension and isolation created by Ridley Scott's original and produced another masterpiece in its own right.

Alien works because of its simplicity, it's a haunted house movie in space but the whole concept is so original and horrifying that this is the key to the movies and saga success!