Reviews

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier has a few things en masse -- and one of those things is certainly ambition. Shatner's original story was epic in scope and concept, and I think a good amount of it winds up on the screen. The off-camera problems, however, drag this film down to mere-average standards. The injection of humor gets old and stale after a while, even with a few good bits in there, and the ending is a bit of a letdown after all the buildup. Of course, the effects are not really up to snuff, either, which also doesn't help the ending. And whomever wrote the Uhura fan dance sequence needs to be forced to watch that sequence until their eyes bleed.

But there is a lot of subtle good hiding amongst the more obvious bad. The interplay and relationship between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy is delightful to watch, even if a bit neutered from Shatner's original vision. The campfire scenes, especially, I feel have been unfairly slammed over the years. I remember seeing the trailer for this film when I was a child, and getting the impression from the title as well as the story conceit, that this was to be the last film, the true FINAL Frontier. Examined in this light, the campfire scenes are warm and touching tributes to the characters who's adventures we have followed for so long. Its an utterly humanistic touch which helps hammer home the point that a lot of us have known all along -- that ST has always been more about the people than anything else.

Sybok is complex and robust villain, worthy of the best of the original series. He's not motivated sheerly by revenge or malice, like it seems all of the villains in the TNG films are, but instead is filled with faith about the righteousness of his cause. This lends him to be a much more interesting and magnetic character than countless other bloodthirsty bad guys. Shatner's direction is not nearly as poor as a lot of people like to think; his work is nothing spectacular but clever shots abound -- the prologue, Sybok taking the pain of McCoy and Spock, and even the Enterprise-shuttle-BOP interaction (despite the subpar effects).

I enjoyed watching this film, much more than I thought I would. Its not perfect, or even great, but I found it to be a diverting way to spend an evening, especially if you are a Trek fan. It may not make you question your place in the cosmic order, nor will it ever top Khan or TMP, but its still an enjoyable romp for Kirk and company.

A very good Bond film filled with action, locales, and fun, but unfortunately sorely lacking in certain areas. Like many Bond films, Die Another Day has its good points and its bad points -- and also like the rest of the series, the things that a good are very good, and the things that are bad are -very- bad.

First the good. The plot is excellent and worthy to the globe-hopping tradition established in the last 35 years of 007 films. Brosnan is still excellent when given good material to work with: he has really come into his own as Bond and seems to find an excellent balance between the hard-edged literary Bond and the more playful cinematic character. Graves makes a for a decent villain (even if he sometimes comes off as a weaker copy of supreme psychopath Max Zorin), and Zao is suitably menacing despite his "expensive acne." The action scenes, though overblown, are typically well done and exciting -- with the swordfight between Bond and Graves the obvious standout highlight.

Now the bad. First off, the actual script tries much too hard to be hip and trendy while still "true" to the Bondian heritage. The sexual innuendo in this film is so forced and so poor that it makes me cringe just to think about it, let alone hear it. Some of the interplay works -- mostly between Bond and Graves as well as Bond and M -- but mostly the dialogue is trite and uninteresting. The CGI effects in Die Another Day are amateurish at best, and make me long for the days of modelwork -- and competence. The shot of Jinx diving off the cliff is so poorly constructed I damn near gagged on my soda when I saw it for the first time.

Last and certainly least is Halle Berry's character of Jinx. An uninteresting, overhyped loudmouth of a character, Jinx is little more than an amalgam of other Bond girls (Major Amassova, Holly Goodhead, Wai Lin, etc.) who is given to a Flavor of the Month actress in a chance to catch lightning in a bottle. It doesn't work. She has zero charisma and almost as little depth; it takes more to be a successful character than simply posturing and shouting "Yo' momma!" and "Bitch!" at opportune moments. The fact that MGM initially wanted to spin her off into her own film is not only alien to the entire Bondian conceit (IE, the Bond girl, as well as all other Bondian trappings, exists only within the Bond film since they represent their own little world), but simply a bad, bad idea -- and I thank the cinema gods that they decided to nix that idea. The obvious ego which Ms. Berry brings to the screen kills practically any scene she is the focus of, as if you can see her holding her nose up, saying to herself, "I won an Academy Award!" Also grating is her delivery -- its just as stiff and unnatural here as it is in the two X-Men films, and that is saying something.

Now, don't be mislead. Jinx is bad enough to nearly ruin Die Another Day -- nearly. The strengths of the film are very, very strong. I don't think most Bond fans will be disappointed -- even diehards like myself. So, if you are a fan of Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, or just like a good, international espionage-cum-action film, definitely check out Die Another Day.

Above-average police procedural based on the excellent novel by Lawrence Sanders. The Chairman of the Board delivers a powerful performance as Sgt. Detective Edward X. Delany, and David Dukes's Daniel Blank is suitably psychotic (if a bit tamer than in the novel). Plays somewhat fast and loose with the adaption, but still does the book justice. Like the book, this is somewhat slow paced and character-driven, but Sinatra does such a good job at making Delany human and making the audience emote for him that the shortcomings seem minimal. If you are a fan of Sanders, police procedurals, or Frank Sinatra, then this film is certainly worth checking out.

The subject line says it all: this is a B-Movie about, well, bees. Sorry about the pun! Despite the big budget and big cast, this essentially is an old 1950's style B-Movie, and in that way it works very well as a guilty pleasure. Mixing together the cliched concepts of both a creature feature with a 70's disaster epic, what The Swarm ends up as is not quite exactly either one, but certainly a good part of both. The effects are good but not great, some of the performances are pretty good (Richard Widmark I thought played Slater very well), and it kept my interest for its entire (extended) running time. This one is worth checking out if you are a fan of Irwin Allen, bug movies, or 70s-style monster movies.

The Core is a well constructed piece of escapism entertainment which had me engaged for its entire running time. Oh sure, its not going to dethrone The Godfather or anything, but as a popcorn-muncher it is admirable. The science is murky and questionable, sure, but I didn't even find myself thinking about that until after the film was over. The effects are pretty good, though the model work is far superior to the CGI. Acting is nothing special, but workable enough considering the material and the film's focus. The overall feeling I got was just one of fun -- I thoroughly enjoyed watching this film and now eagerly await its release on DVD. Worth catching if you enjoy entertaining cinema without having to think too much about it.

The earlier reviewer who said that Starflight (or as my video copy is titled, Starflight One) should have been called Airport '83 hit the nail on the head. This is very much an Airport style disaster movie, albeit one with pretty decent effects (for a TV movie from 1983!) and a very original storyline. Its not great by any stretch of the imagination, but I found it to be a diverting way to spend 2 hours, and that is all I asked from it. I liked Lee Majors, and Hal Linden, but the rest of the cast was lacking. Dykstra's effects are very good for the most part, and I really enjoyed his model work and motion control shots -- very nice especially considering they were crafted for the small screen. If you like Airport and its sequels (as I do), then this hard to find TV movie is worth checking out.

The Scorpion King is a throwback of sorts to the Big Loud Action Movies of the 80s; specifically, the Big Loud Sword & Sorcery Movies of the 80s. While this may sound like damning it with faint praise, I find this to be a good thing -- its a solid action film which doesn't try to be more than it is. This is not like the Mega-Macho late 90s Bruckheimer action movies (such as The Rock, Con Air, et al.) in so far as this one takes itself somewhat seriously and is not constantly winking at the audience in a bout of severe irony. The film is enjoyable and fun, with tons of (mostly) bloodless action, some funny moments, and a decent story for this kind of entertainment. The Rock plays the hero very well and has all the makings of an action star if he ever wanted to do this full time.

Think of this as an update to Conan The Destroyer. If you liked that little gem, you should check this one out!

Airport is an excellent film, and it helped launch a very memorable genre -- the 70s Disaster Film. Though some might see it as tame (which it is in retrospect, but only because the proverbial envelope had to continually be pushed) or quaint (one contemporary reviewer called it "the best film of 1944"), I find Airport to be entertaining throughout, with its attention to detail and its glimpse into the inner workings of a metropolitan airport is downright fascinating. If you enjoy this film, I heartily recommend Arthur Hailey's novel -- while the film is very accurate in certain respects, there are some whole subplots removed, including more on the suburban protesters, and Mel's brother, a suicidal air traffic controller (a plot point which resurfaced in Airport 1975). This is not some Ooooh And Ahhhh 90s action explosion film -- it requires you to stick with it and learn about the characters before they are put into peril. Like its brethren among the great Disaster films -- The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, and Earthquake -- Airport has stood the test of time admirably and is quality entertainment.

I think the summary hits the nail on the head here -- Earthquake is a good film, a very good disaster film, and a really fun movie to watch. The cast is excellent, the effects pretty darn cool considering when it was made, and the drama never too over-the-top for its own good. Not exactly groundbreaking cinema (except, I suppose, if you have a home version of Sensurround hooked up!), but a real enjoyable way to kick back and have fun for 2 hours. Oh, and the elevator scene is a riot!

I read a lot of the comments for Zombi 2, and I get fairly confused. Not once have I thought that this film was slow, or nonsensical, or disjointed. In fact, of all of Fulci's zombi films, this one holds together the best! It's moody, creepy, gory, and downright scary at some parts. Its not Dawn Of The Dead, but then again, neither is Day Of The Dead, and this is infinitely better than Day, as well as tons of other Italian gut-munchers which Fangoria puts over all the time. If you like zombi films, you will like this one. An eye-piercing good time!

I don't really understand why everyone seems to have such malice for TDHTL. I really enjoyed this movie. Is it Zombi 2, or The Beyond? No. Its not even House By The Cemetery. But it sure as hell is more fun to watch than City Of The Living Dead, or Demoni, or Demoni 2, or Blade In The Dark (whole other can of worms...), or Day Of The Dead. I didn't expect much from it, and you know what? I was pleasantly surprised. This is a "Rent before you buy" kind of thing, so check it out at your local video store, and you might be pleasantly surprised, too.