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jonnyjones123
Reviews
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Amazing. Lucas is back on form...
What a great film. I was sure I'd be disappointed but this film had it all. Yes, even Yoda fighting. And he's really tough...
Basically, the plot of this film was better thought out and better paced than Episode One. While Episode One seemed to drag in parts, AOTC never loses the momentum it picks up from the very start. There is a lot less extraneous material, scenes are not just filler between action sequences.
I thought Hayden Christensen was excellent as Anakin, giving a great performance as someone who is not so much angry as frustrated. He plays the part of angst-ridden (Jedi) teenager very well.
The rest of the main cast turn in typically solid performances. Samuel Jackson is great as the pontificating Jedi Master and equally good as the galactic arse-kicker he becomes towards the end. Ian McDiarmid again pulls off the sinister Palpatine excellently.
Christopher Lee should be singled out for his performance. It's his best in years, imbuing Dooku with sinister overtones without the pantomime theatrics that he brought to Lord Of The Rings. He underplays it well until the final lightsabre fight in which he unleashes pretty well!
The effects were awesome. Loads of people are going to knock them because they are not totally photo perfect but thats just dim. The effects are neccesary to the film. Effects have never been photo real, and people who think the effects in the first trilogy are better are kidding themselves. I remember watching the Special Editions at the cinema and the effects are not a patch on what Lucas is doing now. The effects are not 100% perfect, but I'd rather that than have no films with effects.
Some of the best parts of the films were the links to the original film. The secret plans carried by Dooku are the plans to the Death Star. The Lars homestead is meticulously recreated on Tatooine.
So all in all I thought the film was amazing. Again miles better than Return Of The Jedi and in some ways approaching A New Hope. It has a similar down-beat-but-hopeful ending to Empire Strikes Back and is more similar to that film than any of the others. Lots of people won't like it simply because it's not a carbon copy of the original trilogy, but I think this film can stand alongside the others as a true action/adventure cinematic great.
The Last Castle (2001)
Flag waving ahoy!
I didn't want to see this film. I was expecting a 3rd rate 'Shawshank' rip-off. Unfortunately it fell far below that mark. After a promising start, the film gets locked into a cycle of 'Warden does something naughty, Redford frowns'. By the end of the film we have entered 'The A Team' territory with the finest homemade arsenal ever assembled being deployed against a whole lot of guns. Oh and a very dissapointing ending. All in all, not too good at all...
The Last Days of Disco (1998)
awful
This is possibly the worst film I have ever had the misfortune of watching. Utterly boring story-line and the most pedestrian direction I have seen outside a TV show. I cannot think of one good point about the film, even the performances were totally average. Total rubbish.
Les Maîtres du temps (1982)
What an ending...
A fairly average affair, with some slightly poor dubbing on the English version. The conclusion however is quite a jaw-dropper, beats anything M. Night Whatshisname will ever come up with, and is worth watching just for that...
Dune (2000)
Entertaining, simplified version of Herbert's classic
Though hugely criticized in most quarters, David Lynch's vision of Dune was magnificent and not nearly as confusing as most made it out to be. This miniseries of Dune has dispensed with the complexities and subtleties as described by Herbert and attempted by Lynch, and instead attempts a more straightforward narrative.
The miniseries reinstates several plot points missing from Lynch's theatrical cut (e.g.The battle with Jamis, The rescue by Duncan and Liet, Feyd's birthday, The death of Paul's son). These scenes are interesting enough but do not carry the same weight of meaning that the book had them carry. Inexplicably, important points such as the escape from the deaf pilot (where Paul masters the voice) and the sub plot involving Thufir's service to the Harkonnens are excised.
These little gripes aside, John Harrison has presented an entertaining take on Herbert's original, and is highly recommended...