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Reviews
Shichinin no samurai (1954)
Perfect ? No. Good ? Yes. (Spoilers)
Seven Samurai is an over-hyped film that doesn't deserve to be in the top 10 IMDb movies. I'm astounded by the number of people voting 10 ?!
That aside, I can certainly recommend it for viewers interested in historical battles, eastern culture and Hollywood free entertainment. I can't agree with other reviewers that it's an action movie, it's more of an adventure with action sequences.
The strong points of the movie include great cinematography, good casting, nice locations. Everything looks authentic and real. The main story is interesting as well, although this brings me to the execution of the main idea, the biggest weakness of the movie: the script.
In the script, logic is often sacrificed for style:
- not all samurai have convincing motivations for joining the quest (Gorobei and especially Kyuzo)
- the bandits should have withdrawn after incurring heavy casualties, but that of course doesn't make a great dramatic ending...
- none of the bandits kill anyone with a sword which is strange, but could be an underlying message ?
- too quick reload times for a medieval gun
Editing issues:
- Gorobei's death isn't shown
- the pacing is sometimes slow, many scenes could have been shortened, some cut (eg. farmer scenes in the town at the beginning, Shino-Katsushiro scenes)
Technical issues:
- it is painfully obvious that no one is really ever stabbed or cut
- most peasants wore headpieces instead of actually shaving
Miscellaneous issues include occasional overacting, eastern-style juvenile attempts at humor (like in most kung fu films).
All in all an enjoyable adventure that tries just a bit too hard to be an epic of some sorts.
7/10
Memento (2000)
* Spoilers * Entertainment yes, revelation no
* Spoilers * I've seen many positive comments about this movie from people who were happy they "got it". For me the film didn't tell anything new. Basically we live in the world we want to live in. Welcome to life. I didn't have any sympathy for the guy from the start. Anyone who thinks revenge, and especially murder solves anything deserve what they get. And Nolan made it obvious that Lenny made mistakes - not being consistent, not writing down stuff - this told me he wasn't a hero searching for the truth but someone running from it.
The interesting part is how captivating the description of this guy's condition is. Nolan could really make it believable and had me scribbling stuff on paper just for fun after the film.
So apart from some starting boring moments, an entertaining film, but it doesn't deserve 14000 10 votes from people who have just discovered that there are movies other than the action flick of the week.
6/10
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Most unimpressive
Disclaimer: I'm not part of the target audience of the film
The Good: more action than TPM, a new Sith lord with a brain, some nice new costumes and designs, memorable love theme, some nice settings, the Anakin-Shmi scene is moving, enjoyable acting from McGregor and Lee.
The Bad: disastrous dialogue especially in the first half, inconsistent characters - or not enough character development, many plot holes, indulging in unnecessary CGI, noticeable changed and overdubbed lines, weak CGI characters ( this includes Yoda - although he was done with great detail, he was not consistent with Episode V ), unnecessary "comedic relief" from R2 and C3P0, amateur acting from Portman and Christensen - part of the blame goes naturally to Lucas who's posing as a director again.
The Ugly: seems that lot of stuff ended up on the cutting floor that would have made this movie more fluid and consistent. Having read the preliminary scripts, I see that Lucas traded off conflict and depth for action and CGI scenery. As if he is ashamed to make a nice movie - and part of me can understand him when seeing the reactions from the average fan. These people want action and toys, as if there isn't a new action movie released every week.
To summarize:
What I wanted from the movie: to tell how Anakin's most important moments in life changed his character pushing him towards the "Dark Side", and actually see those mysterious clone wars.
What I got: CGI w***fest, implausible "convenient" plot, an uninspired forgettable action flick for toy collecting 9 year olds. The PG rating seems to apply to Lucas' filmmaking skills as well.
The DVD release might remedy many of the problems I listed, I'm curious how it will turn out.
Archiv des Todes (1980)
Suspenseful
Watched it as a kid, those trapdoor scenes were very eerie. The series had its boring moments (like watching previous happenings at the start of each part), but on average quite watchable. The same crew/cast made other similar series as well, but I cannot recommend those.
T.J. Hooker (1982)
Shatner the Superman (yellow spoiler alert)
I recommend this series to everyone who would like to see an aging and not-quite-slim cop outrun his 20 years younger partner and criminals of all ages. Of course this cop is also Mr. Morality who knows what's best for everybody. His lectures are accompanied with that overacted dramatic Shatner look.
Also, you will find that cars run on nitroglycerin, the smallest accident makes them blow up - of course right after T.J. pulls the driver into safety.
So there are some fun moments, but quite dull most of the time.