Reviews

I'm sorry to say this, but this is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Nothing about it makes sense. The plot is silly, the script seems hacked together, the acting is wooden. It's not scary, it's not romantic. The FX look nice, but aren't used effectively. Same for the sets. I guess the clothes are nice. The whole movie comes across as the plot for a puzzle style video game. It was successful in giving my wife and I something talk about all night, though we had not much nice to say about it.

It's really hard to pin point what went wrong when really nothing in the film works. I guess it's biggest flaw is that it's incredibly dull. I have no idea how a supernatural love story could be so dull.

Before I get carried away, I must make sure I mention the one highlight. The dog. There is a papillon featured in the movie. A wonderful breed. A terrible choice for a horror movie. The dog wound up being more charismatic than the human actors. And, being such a peppy dog, it really made light of situations that I'm sure we're intended to be suspenseful.

It's a shame to review this movie so terribly, because there are things about the film that were done quite nice: the artistic direction, from the costume, the animated creatures, the digital mattes. All quite superb. But, the script is so bad that none of that can be overlooked while trying to enjoy the picture. The original 1981 film didn't have a fabulous script either, but it was head and shoulders above this. And the effects in that film, even by Ray Harryhousen's standards, were a bit rough. But it made for a much more enjoyable evening. I don't think the actors can be judged, because the lines they were given no one could deliver. It does all come down to the script. Or some over zealous producer demanding scenes and plots get added. If anyone has ever seen Kevin Smith's story about working on a script for Superman and the producer kept saying, "yeah, cool. But, can we add a giant spider in there somehow?". That's what I was reminded of the whole time watching this. Terrible.

This movie definitely belongs in the, "it's so bad it's good" category. However, the more times I see it, I'm thinking it's more like, "It's so bad, it's GREAT"! A good movie is in some ways is like a great plate of Italian food. It needs a firm base, some zesty sauce, and just the right amount of cheese.

I first heard about this movie when I was in high school. Everyone around me was catching it on cable except me. Everyone seemed to have the same opinion of the movie, "man, it's so weird". When I finally got to see the movie, we were over at a party at a practical strangers house in a town far from our own at 3 in the morning; an uncomfortable situation. But, when this movie came on, for some reason it made everything alright. I saw it years later in a bargain bin VHS rack and I had to get it. It was by far the best $5 I've ever spent. This is one of those movies that is great to watch late at night with a good buzz on. I'm sure it annoys the hell out of my wife, but this movie makes me laugh like a little kid.

Filmwise, the movie is terribly made (or, if you're a Ken Russel fan, wonderfully made). There's holes in the script, the acting is bad, the props even worse; but there are so many insanely bad puns in this movie that it gets more entertaining each time you see it.

I know I haven't said too much about the movie, but perhaps that's for the best. To sum it all up, it's a great flick if you're in the mood for a real cheesy B grade movie.

Kubrick ventured into the realm of warfare three time in his film career, Full Metal Jacket, Dr Strangelove, and, in 1957, Paths of Glory. Paths of Glory definitely stand out as one of the best war movies ever made.

Paths of Glory tells the story of the French armies attack on the German held "anthill" during WW 1. The story focuses on the self serving and often ludicrous orders of the high ranking officer class and the attempts of Douglas's character to fight his superiors while at the same time fighting a war. when the attack is unsuccessful, several soldiers are picked at random for execution for cowardice in the face of the enemy. The second half of the movie focuses on the legal proceedings of a court martial trial of several soldiers of the attacking regiment.

The action sequences are very well done, especially for the era. The scenery and filming locations and cinematography are top notch. The dialogue is well written and read (perhaps Kirk Douglas's best acting performance ever). If you look back on movies contemporary with this one, Paths Of Glory definitely sticks out of the crowd for it's seriousness of the subject matter. The only other war movies that match it would be Kubrick's own Full Metal jacket, Platoon and, of course, Saving Private Ryan that blew everyone else out of the water. Like Full Metal Jacket, SK begins a story and delivers a side of it seldom told and tells it well.

Battlefield Earth wasn't the worst movie of the year 2000, Charlie's Angels was. Badly acted, badly written, badly directed. I can't imagine anyone older than 14 enjoying this movie. This movie was truly painful to sit through.