Reviews

There be spoilers.

In the beginning there was Navy SEALs with Charlie Sheen, were SEAL operators are shown as cowboys who blast their way around. Those were the Top Gun days and action movies were like this. Then Act of Valor set a new standard showing how professional these soldiers are. Calculating and precise. This movie is more like the first one. In Act of Valor they rescue a hostage in almost absolute silence so the enemies have no chance to execute her. In ST 8 they start of in a daylight raid with a Reaper drone blasting the hell out of the camp. Usually these are armed with 4 Hellfire missiles but in this movie it was a little more. Then the SEALS go in and it's almost embarrassing to see how a guy pins them down at a corner and all they have to do is walk around the building to kill the guy. Yet it takes them about 2 minutes to think of this? After a 10 minute shootout they manage to rescue the hostage but no SEAL team would go in hot like Rambo if they could avoid this and only shoot like hell once the hostage is safe. Also taking cover seems not the be a part of the ST 8 training. They stand in open terrain while the enemy is able to shoot from uphill. Also the totally unbelievable water-boat chase was cool back in the 80's but not anymore now. At the end one of them faces a whole city and hardly takes cover, like some one playing Battlefield with godmode on. He managed to shoot everyone with his pistol, yet no one hits him while he is walking around like a tourist. Like Arnie walks around in Commando through the end of the movie. The plot is over-complicated, acting is poor at best and as for tactics and realism, I guess they hired some 12 year old to handle those parts of the story. Only watch it when you are a 80's action fan. Else go watch Act of Valor again and skip this atrocity!

The reason I give this movie one star is because of the nice alien vessels. They deserve (with the CGI) like 4-5 stars, but the plot, plot holes and inaccuracy are so overwhelmingly, they drag the number of stars down. Yes, the script was written by a bunch of kids who were promised a copy of Halo if they wrote a script about 'aliens come to earth to destroy' movie.

I watched this movie and I was asking myself a lot of questions during the 2 hour watch. Like: why have 3 stations send a signal to the relay satellite, and what is up with the visual beams and such? One would do really. Why all the fancy lights on the relay-satellite? Was some one bored at the CGI company? Are these aliens blind? They travel to Earth with super-duper technology yet crash into a satellite. Why do they build vehicles that hop on the water? Were are the death-rays? Their arsenal is rather limited compared to their 90 mile high shield. These aliens (who's CGI heads are laughably bad animated) are plain stupid. Even ALF would do better trying to take over the planet. They attack a naval base. Okay, good one. Then they attack a traffic-jam and the roads. All the time you see that these cars and concrete blocks are marked red, so need to be taken out. Yet they don't think 2-3 armed-to- the-teeth warships are a hazard to them (they are green if they turn away). Yeah, just imagine the awesome firepower of 1000 cars in a traffic-jam... During the day the aliens let the destroyer get away (while being able to destroy it a 1000 times over but rather defending the shield-generator) but at night they are looking around for the ship? And why these aliens don't have something like radar to see the destroyer from a huge distance is weird. It's like a lot of things in this movie happen because it's a good thing for the humans. Like the computer-nerd breaking in the building and getting caught. Of course, he turns green for the alien. I mean, come one! They kill people for just being in a traffic jam yet breaking into the compound were their most important asset (the uplinkdish) is, is noting to worry about?

Then the plot holes. Why is Earth saved if we stop them from transmitting a signal to their planet? Are these the kind of aliens that only send a scouting-party and if they don't hear from them again they won't check us out again? If NASA/Pentagon know they will be using this satellite, why not try to control it and disable it or steer it away? The Pentagon want's the admiral to send in attacks thru the shield, the admiral does not want to sacrifice any planes. Why is he admiral forgetting he has hundreds Tomahawk missiles at his disposal? Are there no submarines present at the largest naval exercise in 100 years? Maybe a sub can get under the shield, worth a try.

Then the inaccuracy. They claim the Missouri has the old fire mechanisms still. This is not the case. These controls were modernized in the Reagan era. Then a 45.000 ton battleship does not turn like a car throwing the anchor out. Either the anchor-chain will snap or it will destroy the front of the ship. At a certain point the Japanese captain asks for the radar (Aegis) system to be taken offline. There is a protest, yet the enemy is totally invisible by radar. So there is no reason to protest turning off the radar since it won't be of use anyway. Why they send a high ranking officer and the weapons controller from the destroyer to inspect the aliens ship? The script is totally laughable and there is no way some one with a functioning brain looked at it before hitting the screen. Or maybe it were the writers that did write the scripts for episodes of ALF also wrote this hogwash called a blockbuster...

I did see 2 versions of this movie, the normal one and the extended version, I rated the normal version a 10. The extended version deserves an 11 even.

I would recommend everyone who did not see this version to quickly grab a copy and watch it. There are some cool scenes added.

Spoiler here:

When the drop-plane crashes they manage to salvage some guns and boxes. In the original there is little attention to some of the boxes, but they contain 4 automated guns. They are employed in the building to help defending 2 tunnels. When the aliens attack these guns rock and the scene were they monitor these guns is just amazing! Why these scenes were not in the original version is beyond me since it also shows the sheer numbers they have to fight and how determined the aliens are to kill of anything that is not them.

Make sure you see this extended version!

I did see this movie on German TV, which aired a lot of HK movies, including the part II of this movie. I went to get this movie on VHS and later on on DVD. It is still as impressive as back then. First I must say the effects look cheesy compared to what is possible today, but then again this movie is 25 years old now and on a tight budget compared to Hollywood. As mentioned by some one else, yes there is a cheap beard sticked to Wu Ma (the taoist monk). Yet this is a more of comedy reference to the older HK movies (this movie is a remake of a Shaw Brothers movie from the 60's named The Enchanting Shadow).

This is one of the best Wuxia movies out there, tons of swordplay and magic. Thrown in is a tale of romance, some horror, taoism and Buddhism, comedy and the main character Ning Choi-san (played by Cheung) sings a song too. The story tells of a young tax-collector who can't get his job done. Thrown in the violent reality of rural China, he seeks a free sleeping place. He is told of an old temple but what he does not know is that it is haunted. When he arrives a sword fight is taking place between an old taoist monk and a younger swordsman that wants to prove himself. The monk tells Ning Choi-san to go somewhere else to sleep. Ning Choi-san decides to stay at the temple and he meets up with a young woman (Nip Siu-sin) while the younger swordsman, who lost the sword fight, meets up with a demon after being tempted by Nip Siu-sin. Ning Choi-san falls in love with Nip Siu-sin but he finds out she is not alive anymore, but a ghost. Nip Siu-sin and her sister died and now are slaves of a demon that is using the Nip Siu-sin to lure men so they can be devoured by the demon. Ning Choi-san wants to free her and asks the monk for his help.

He is were a lot of people fail to read between the lines and see this movie as something told in western tales a 1000 times before. Thing is western tales always have a happy ending. Guy battles demons, rescues girl, girl is no longer a ghost and they live happily ever after. Not here. This is HK cinema.

The main character is facing a dilemma. He can be with Siu-sin at night and live out their romance, during the day she needs to return to her urn. Or he can save her soul and she will reincarnate (yes this is about Buddhism) but they will never meet again. Will he choose for love or her freedom?

But before the can think about what to do he first needs to rescue Siu- sin from the Dark Lord. The monk decides to help him and they go on to battle the demons that stand in their way.

For the fans, there is a 2011 version now. It was re-released (digitaly remastered) after Leslie Cheung died. Also there is a 2011 remake but it seems nowhere as good as this one (I did not see it yet).

This movie leaves off were part I stops. Ning Choi-san roams rural China seeing still a lot of chaos. In this chaos he is locked up in prison with an old scholar. The scholar helps him escape and gives him a pendant. He meets up with a young Taoist monk and they are attack by a gang led by two sisters who want to lay a trap to rescue their father who is seems as a traitor to the emperor. One of the sisters looks perfectly like Sui-sin, the girl he lost in the first movie. He falls in love and wants to help her rescue her father.

Things take a turn as they battle the soldiers that take her father to court. There is a demonic presence too and they battle it together with Fu, a swordsman that escorts the father (he has awesome moves!). The battle ends when a high priest passes through and promises the sisters to help out with the case when it comes to court. The high priest is a demon however, corrupting the court and country. In the meantime, Choi- san asks his old friend Yin to help again.

Together they fight the false priest, who turns out to be a demon. The swordplay is fantastic again and there is more humor thrown in this movie. Not as good as the first movie, yet still a great movie to watch if you liked the first installment.

I watched this movie for the first time after a friend of mine rented it at the cult cinema. The movie simply blasts you away! Okay the story/plot are not that great, but hey, it's an action movie.

Chow Yun Fat plays a hard-boiled maverick cop named Tequila. He is not into arresting people, shooting them is less paper work I guess. The movie basically has 3 gunfights. Well, they last about 75% of the movie! It sets off in a fast pace introducing Tequila as the cop that would make Dirty Harry look like a rookie! In the 2nd shooting scene he discovers he is not alone in hunting a bunch of gun-runners. But the biggest thrill is the last action scene (it seems like it lasts half the movie hehe). It also involves one of the coolest bad guys ever, and a scene lasting 2 and a half minute recorded with 1 camera in one take were the good guys and the bad guy shoot and jump around like crazy. Unbelievable action takes place there! This makes movies like 'Rambo' or 'Die Hard' looks like kids stuff! This is one of the best heroic bloodshed movies, together with 'The Killer' and 'A better Tomorrow 1/2'.

Me and my date wanted to see a movie. Sadly Public Enemies was sold out so we went to this movie. I have to say it was quite a cool movie, had a few good laughs too. Typical 80's cartoon revival movie: great CGI, crappy story. As a kid I was a big fan of the comics and cartoons, so that sets some expectations.

I understand making a movie you have to change stuff in the original story. But I wonder if Mr Bay or any of the writers even bothered to check any of the old comics? Jetfire for instance, it's not an ancient Autobot, but a non-living jet-fighter build on Earth by the Decepticons. Later on the Autobots gave it life-force and he joined up with them. I know it's a detail but hey could just make up a new Transformer to account for that part instead of using Jetfire.

Also the story is kinda flawed. I mean 'it takes a Prime to kill a Prime'? Ow com'on! And don't get me started on the twin Autobots, they were just too irritating. Why does Bay insists on using such characters to add a comical side after the huge failure of that crappy Phantom Menace Jar-Jar goof? But still this is a very entertaining movie. Bay promised part 3 he would not crap around like this, so I am waiting for that one!

Now I am a fan of the comic and watched all of the animated series when I was a kid. So making a movie about it added a new dimension. Too bad it's one of the worst movies ever.

I mean yeah there are some nice special effect. But they are so over the top it's just too much. The storyline is a complete disaster too. I won't comment on the acting since that is not that important to most action movies, but it's not even the worst on this movie.

Things happen that are just too dumb to describe even. For instance, there is this case in which 4 missiles are stored. The bad guy activates a device in it to track the HQ of GI Joe and attacks it. After the attack some of the Joe's are walking down a corridor and one of them all of the sudden says: 'Mc Mullen activated the code to track us down'. I mean come on! The writers were just too lazy to think of something else.

Talking about bad writing, like half the movie is a family-reunion. Okay subplot with the two ninja's on opposite sides is cool, but the part were the evil doctor unveils he is Rex, brother of the Baroness (ex-lover from Duke) is just too much.

And why they even bother acquiring these warheads? Yeah they are powerful, but the bad guys have weapons that are even more powerful then any mega-bazooka or missile in the world! The Baroness (the only reason I gave the movie 2 stars!) fires a handgun and it takes apart half a roof. Why not just build a cannon-version of these guns? Ow wait they did but they attached it to their over-the-top base underwater so it's not the useful for world-domination purposes.

There is a lot of CGI and it shows. Half of it looks made by some kids testing 3D Studio in a basement somewhere, while some other parts look quite nice, like the take off of the Night Raven jet at the Polarbase.

Overall it's just too much over the top. I understand it's an action movie but the writers over do it. Could it be to impress the Transformers? Only one thing is sure, I was not impressed in any way...

The story is simple. Zombies flood a holiday isle. A group of people are trapped in a bar were a band plays. Lots of people get eaten.

This is a zombie-humor flick. But some of the humor is quite childish, some is brilliant.

This is a UK movie, and sometimes they still mention the war. So a few zombies are German and they invade the beach and take all the seats. For US viewers that may be nothing comical, but I think most Europeans get that joke.

Also there is a lot of political correctness in the UK within the police force. They also make fun of that in the movie. Most people would fire away at zombies, not the police there. They want to arrest the zombies and be almost polite to them. Also the zombies protesting for their rights are funny, as is Zombie TV! The movie is not great or that bad, just some good laughs if you are in a good mood. The acting is not bad actually, the quality of filming is good too.

Note: watch the scrolling text at the new bulletins, some great stuff is being typed there (experts agree that taking sleeping pills and laxatives at the same time is not a good idea...)

The 4 stars I give to this movie are only for the fun factor as we had a great time watching it and making fun of it. The mistakes are too much to mention, the plot, dialog and characters are laughable and some scenes are just to bad to be funny, rather annoying. Some scenes are really over the top.

I would like to mention the scene were the giant piranha's attack the US. The grow and grow and are as big as a submarine. They survive a nuclear explosion yet the hero and his SEAL buddies want to take them on using underwater guns that are build to shoot submarines??? Somehow this rocket-science idea fails and the hero (who only speaks monotone) goes to Miami to battle them at the beach. There they see the giant fish jumping out of the water wanting to eat a whole building and suiciding themselves. Sure...

But at the beach he is attacked by some piranha's as big as small sharks. As the Van Damme clone he is he kicks them while sitting on the ground. Not one, but a dozen. After he kicks off the piranhasoccerteam, he keeps sitting on the beach talking with his back turned to the water as if there was not a chance he will be attacked.

I also would like to mention the many movie mistakes, like the Venzuelan army flying US choppers, the US sub that in the next shot turns into a Russian sub, the US destroyer that is first showed as stock footage of the landing ship and then turns into an Iowa battleship. The car chase that features 2 groups of people that seem to be changing cars during the middle of the chase. The hero drives 3 different cars and the bad guys first drive a brand new SUV then the next shot it turns 10 years old.

In short order, a real Syfy-channel classic!

I really wanted to like this movie. However it becomes boring and annoying to keep trying to make sense of stuff.

The movie starts out dark and gloomy. You really want to know what is happening. Problem is, it takes ages before answers come. With ages I mean the last 10 minutes of the movie. Until that time it crawls along at a mindboggering speed. I wished I fast-forwarded this movie, actually it is possible since there is almost no dialog! After a long watch looking at more and more darkness and the guy passing out a couple of times, I lost interest in this movie. They try to regain that by some weird rape-scene. Why? No one knows.

At the end the situation becomes clearer, but you get the sense this is all just too vague. The movies fails at keeping the audience interested so most people can't really care about the tree and the story around it. They are just glad it's over. I know I was!

This movie is basically about a guy who doesn't want to be a warrior but is more or less forced to become one. Later on he even makes it to a leader. How and why? I have no clue. Problem is things move so unbelievably slow that you simply cannot be bothered to keep track of the story. At least if there was one to begin with. At a certain moment there seems to be one about a tribe of cursed people connected to wolves. At that moment I hoped for some reconnection to the movie and main character, but scene after scene it keeps dragging along going nowhere really as he starts to rape a woman that claimed to be doomed. I almost never turn off a movie, but I stopped watching it after like 30 minutes of rape and more boredom.

The only good thing I can mention about this movie are the scenery, some shots are breathtaking. But if I wanted that I could pop in a DVD with landscapes, which is actually less boring then this movie as I come to think of it.

The trailer shows attacks of ghost wolves and some action, maybe it's packed at the last 15 minutes or something, but to get there is just a waste of time.