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Reviews
Battleship (2012)
IMDb review system sucks
I wrote a comparison of Battleship with American Battleship for a length of 12 lines, but first IMDb erased the second half of my comments, and then erased the first half.
Unable to recover my brilliant analysis, I decided to write a critique of IMDb software.
Obviously, IMDb has spared no cash to purchase the best software or hire anyone who knows programming, so their critique software sucks.
Sorry, it is difficult to write anything succinct for 10 lines, but that is the idiotic requirement of IMDb software.
REPEAT: I wrote a comparison of Battleship with American Battleship for a length of 12 lines, but first IMDb erased the second half of my comments, and then erased the first half.
Unable to recover my brilliant analysis, I decided to write a critique of IMDb software.
Obviously, IMDb has spared no cash to purchase the best software or hire anyone who knows programming, so their critique software sucks.
Sorry, it is difficult to write anything succinct for 10 lines, but that is the idiotic requirement of IMDb software.
Kentucky Rifle (1955)
KY Rifles can't shoot blanks
Filmed at Vasquez rocks and on a sound stage - obviously two different places as the by play shifts from scene to scene. Different scenes; wagon train, axle building, sound stage and location shots all have a different color quality, as if different brands of film were used at each location.
The best actors are in the roles of sidekick, Preacher and wagon master, while the lead actor seems to be asleep and the Indians a far from fierce...
TV shows of the time had better action and stage sets... Wagon Train, with Ward Bond had better sets, action and acting.
Chill Wills and Henry Hull should have thrown the script back in writer's face...
Strangely enough, some of the best scenes are the wood work and minor blacksmithing required to put the axle on the wagon.
I suspect those scenes were borrowed from another movie, just as some of the wagon train scenes were borrowed.
13 (2010)
Strange movie
Lucian got his odds backwards - for the first round, the odds were 83% in favor of each man's survival. Plus there is a complication based on the number of players. Say 17 players at a nominal 83% survival rate man per man. With some ingenuity, odds could be worked out, as if it was a dice game, where the odds are the same for every throw of the die...
However, for the second round, 67% chance of losing per man, third round 50%, fourth round 33%...
However, I will agree that it seemed to be a movie about gratuitous violence, except for the fact that such 'games' are occasionally reported in the news...
Season of the Witch (2011)
A DVD that keeps you watching
I bought the DVD in a local market about a week ago (19 March 2011 - Asia) and finally got a chance to watch it.
I was fascinated... The sword play is quite good, the story is improbable, but fit with the times. Guys in war make strong friends and joke about death, so that seemed realistic.
Nicholas Cage seemed interested in the girl's plight and saddened by his past experiences. Through much of the movie we are kept guessing who is on the side of good or evil... Plus there were a few unanticipated twists.
The CGI in a dark old abbey was very convincing and the adversary familiar...
Four Rode Out (1969)
Interesting movie
The movie is slow paced, but for the most part, flows smoothly. Anyone who has traveled the desert, on foot, will surely sympathize with the characters and feel right at home with the slow pace.
I felt the problems were more with the indoor scenes, at the beginning, than in the later outdoor scenes. Much of the indoor filming is jerky and poorly framed. The scenes in the rooms had the camera in the actor's faces and should have been farther back, giving the actors the room needed to move around and express themselves. This would be easy on a sound stage, so I suspect the scenes were filmed in actual rooms, where space is limited.
Likewise, the 60's music detracts from the film - dating it, when, if it had used a more traditional style of music, it could have been a timeless classic...
The acting on the whole is good and the characters fill out as the movie progresses.
There are a few annoying audio blips, as if some of the dialog was cut or bleeped.
Uncommon Valor (1983)
Comments and Corrections
Comments:
In my opinion, this is an excellent movie, primarily because it shows the camaraderie and exactly why such teams are so close knit. The scenes in Thailand (Laos) are excellent. Very reminiscent of the back country anywhere in South East Asia. The cast was well selected and worked very well together. I particularly enjoy the part where Sailor is asked about his money, as there are many, manydistractions in places like Saigon, Phnom Penh and Bangkok, as any veteran can tell you...LOL
Corrections: Gene Hackman plays the part of a Marine Colonel, not an Army Colonel.
In many Armies, a Full Colonel is considered equivalent to a General. Meaning that a civilian calling a Colonel a General may be a mistake and may not.
For example, in the Thai Army & Air Force, there are Colonels and there are Senior Colonels. The Senior Colonel is considered the equivalent of a General 'select', but may hold that position for years until there is an opening. To treat him as less than a General would be an affront of great magnitude...
Custer of the West (1967)
Cheesy, Unrealistic and completely UNBELIEVABLE..!!
I originally saw this rather boring movie years ago on TV - watching as I read a book - only to come up out of my seat - surprised to find Robert Ryan playing the extremely minor part of Sgt Mulligan...
I have to give performance credit to Robert Ryan, Jeffrey Hunter and Ty Hardin (in that order) for their attempts to raise the movie out of mediocrity... However, the movie remains forgettable except for Robert Ryan's part as Sergeant Mulligan.
I purchased the DVD only so that I could have a copy of Robert Ryan's performance.
I am puzzled by all the attention given to the very minor character of Sergeant Buckley, played by Robert Hall. A few parts of the movie were filmed around his character, but without a strong connection to other parts of the movie...
If the story had stayed closer to history, and someone more likely had played Colonel Custer (he was reduced to the Permanemt Rank of Lt Col at the end of the Civil War). For example - using the same players;Ty Hardin as Colonel Custer , with Robert Ryan as Sgt Buckley, and perhaps Jeffrey Hunter as Major Reno and Robert Shaw as Captain Benteen, then this movie might have been worthwhile...
The Creation of the Humanoids (1962)
An excellent film, despite the drawbacks
I haven't seen anyone comment on the similarity to Carel Kapek's play R.U.R. (Roslem's Universal Robots), or the obvious connection between 'Clicker' and a very negative term for Americans of African descent, or the use of the Confederate Uniform or to Hitler's Brown Shirts and the way Jews were treated by the Germans...
The entire film was designed to make us look deeply within ourselves.
This film opened my eyes when I was a kid and again every time I watch it.
This film makes early 'Star Trek' look second rate and is more fun to watch than 'I Robot' with Will Smith, because it requires the audience to think. No Hollywood blockbuster has ever asked the audience to think...
Surf Ninjas (1993)
First movie to have a video game created from the movie
The summary says it all. Surf Ninjas was the first movie to have a video game developed based on the movie, characters and plot....
However, it is interesting that so many talents were brought together to create a 'fun' kids movie; Leslie Nielsen, Rob Schneider, Kelly Hu, Neal Israel, Tone Loc, Keone Young, plus Ernie Reyes Jr. & Sr., being a significant boost to the movie careers of both Rob Schneider and Kelly Hu. ._
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Lawman (1958)
Excellent series lost by Warner Brothers
It is a shame that this series hasn't been remastered and produced on video by Warner or some other professional movie house.
Copies of most episodes are available, but are usually of poor quality, being copies of copies of copies.
As I understand it, 92 episodes were produced during its run, but only 15 are noted here.
Some of the series writers, such as Richard Matheson, went on to become noted authors.
Excellent series, well written, well staged and well produced.
Michael Weldon,
Udon Thani, Thailand
Zero Hour (1998)
Excellent low budget film
This movie is an excellent example of what ingenuity and intellect can do to overcome the extremes of the movie industry.
Sterling Zelinski wrote, produced and filmed this movie while attending college in San Francisco.
I saw this movie at an investor's meeting with Sterling and his father. I was 'totally blown away' at the result. It was a 'no brainer' to invest in this project.
Sterling Zelinski is a film-making genius. The movie industry could learn much from his methods.
Sterling has a very bright future as a director.