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David McK (3562 KP) rated The Last of the Mohicans (1992) in Movies
Jul 24, 2022
Early 90s Daniel-Day Lewis starring Romantic Drama, set during the French and Indian War of 1754-'63, with Day Lewis as the adopted son of a dying native American tribe - the Mohicans of the title.
Lots of weeping panoramic shots throughout, with a rousing (and now - over three decades later - quite famous) musical score, but the film does seem to jump around quite a bit, with little really in the way of character development and, well, things just seemingly happening for no discernible reason at all!
Lots of weeping panoramic shots throughout, with a rousing (and now - over three decades later - quite famous) musical score, but the film does seem to jump around quite a bit, with little really in the way of character development and, well, things just seemingly happening for no discernible reason at all!
David McK (3562 KP) rated The Samaritan (2022) in Movies
Sep 11, 2022
Sylvester Stallone starring superheroics - his first since Judge Dredd? (not counting cameo in GotG vol 2) - - in which he plays the part of a recluse, who a young boy next door believes to be thought-to-be-dead superhero Samaritan, who supposedly died following a confrontation with his equally superpowered twin brother Nemesis twenty years earlier,
So it's immediately apparent where this one is going.
It's not bad, actually: just not brilliant. Think 90s style superhero films, before the MCU came to be.
Set your expectation accordingly.
So it's immediately apparent where this one is going.
It's not bad, actually: just not brilliant. Think 90s style superhero films, before the MCU came to be.
Set your expectation accordingly.
David McK (3562 KP) rated The Incredibles (2004) in Movies
Dec 28, 2024
This, I feel, was when Pixar was at the height of their game.
So late 90s, leading into (here) early Oughties
(and, as an aside, I'm really not keen on that phrase)
Anyway, this posits a world where Superheroes are both real, and have been driven underground by a public tired of the collateral damage caused, before the Parr family are forced into action to (yep, you guessed it) save the world once more.
As a Pixar film, animation is top-notch.
Edna Mode steals the show.
So late 90s, leading into (here) early Oughties
(and, as an aside, I'm really not keen on that phrase)
Anyway, this posits a world where Superheroes are both real, and have been driven underground by a public tired of the collateral damage caused, before the Parr family are forced into action to (yep, you guessed it) save the world once more.
As a Pixar film, animation is top-notch.
Edna Mode steals the show.
Craig David recommended track Murder She Wrote by Chaka Demus in Bam Bam it's Murder by Chaka Demus in Music (curated)
7.0
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla II (1993) in Movies
Mar 11, 2018 (Updated Mar 11, 2018)
Old-school Toho monster mash follows the trend of early-90s Godzilla movies by reinventing popular characters from 60s and 70s films. Kind of suffers from the same problem as superhero films with multiple villains (cf Spider-Man 3 or Batman Forever), in that contriving a way for all the monsters to appear and interact requires some outlandish plotting and a good deal of hand-waving of implausibilities (not to mention indulgence from the audience).
In addition to Godzilla, in this film you get Mechagodzilla (well, duh), and also giant pterodactyl Rodan and Minilla (aka Baby Godzilla). The monster battles are pretty good, though there's a slight tendency towards the combatants just standing there and zapping each other with breath-rays, and the monster suits are excellent (the Rodan puppet is particularly impressive). Set against this we must place the fact that the movie doesn't actually have a plot, as such - things just happen one after the other with no sense of theme or structure. Most of the human characters are slightly annoying too. A step down from the previous few films, but still better than much of what was to follow in the late 90s and early 2000s.
In addition to Godzilla, in this film you get Mechagodzilla (well, duh), and also giant pterodactyl Rodan and Minilla (aka Baby Godzilla). The monster battles are pretty good, though there's a slight tendency towards the combatants just standing there and zapping each other with breath-rays, and the monster suits are excellent (the Rodan puppet is particularly impressive). Set against this we must place the fact that the movie doesn't actually have a plot, as such - things just happen one after the other with no sense of theme or structure. Most of the human characters are slightly annoying too. A step down from the previous few films, but still better than much of what was to follow in the late 90s and early 2000s.
BF
Bactracking: for Speedway Fans of the 70s, 80s and 90s: Volume 2
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BACTRACKING: For Speedway fans of the 70s, 80s and 90s: Volume 2 SECOND in our new book series...
Adam Lambert recommended track Zombie by The Cranberries in Something Else by The Cranberries in Music (curated)
6.0
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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Species (1995) in Movies
Sep 18, 2020
Ahh Species. A film I loved to watch when I was a young teen for...research purposes...
It's a bit rubbish really though isn't it? Watching it again now, it's pretty much a bunch of characters talking their way through a manhunt, strung together by regular moments of nudity.
It's suitably corny, boasts some terrible CGI (effects that may have been good back in the 90s, I honestly don't really remember) but in spite of all this, it's still pretty entertaining.
It's cast boasts the likes of Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, Marg Helgenberger, Forest Whitaker, Michael Madsen, even a young Michelle Williams...it's pretty stacked. Natasha Henstridge of course plays the creature, and gives the role a sense of empowerment rather than exploitation.
The rubber suit aesthetic of the alien is pretty awesome (in the parts where it's not haunting CGI) and it has a pretty decent music score.
I fully see why a lot of people consider Species to be trashy, but honestly, it's a fun slice of 90s (as fuck) sci-fi horror. Enjoy it for what it is and just pretend the sequels don't exist.
It's a bit rubbish really though isn't it? Watching it again now, it's pretty much a bunch of characters talking their way through a manhunt, strung together by regular moments of nudity.
It's suitably corny, boasts some terrible CGI (effects that may have been good back in the 90s, I honestly don't really remember) but in spite of all this, it's still pretty entertaining.
It's cast boasts the likes of Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, Marg Helgenberger, Forest Whitaker, Michael Madsen, even a young Michelle Williams...it's pretty stacked. Natasha Henstridge of course plays the creature, and gives the role a sense of empowerment rather than exploitation.
The rubber suit aesthetic of the alien is pretty awesome (in the parts where it's not haunting CGI) and it has a pretty decent music score.
I fully see why a lot of people consider Species to be trashy, but honestly, it's a fun slice of 90s (as fuck) sci-fi horror. Enjoy it for what it is and just pretend the sequels don't exist.
David McK (3562 KP) rated Ransom (1996) in Movies
Nov 7, 2021
Mid-90s thriller, starring Mel Gibson (back when he was still at the height of his career, before going completely loco IRL and getting himself into all sorts of trouble) as a wealthy airline owner whose son is kidnapped, and who must pay a ransom in order to get the kid back.
However, for 'reasons', and following a botched attempt to do so which the FBI crash, he decides instead to offer the ransom as a bounty on the kidnappers instead - kidnappers which the film has no qualms whatsoever about revealing from pretty much the get go.
That would have been a great twist (offering the ransom as a bounty, I mean) had the marketing for the movie not relied so heavily on it.
There's also surprisingly little made of it in the movie proper, save for one or two throwaway lines by interviewed citizens on the street.
As such, the film really relies on the 'star power' of Gibson himself and his co-star Rene Russo, alongside a strong turn by FBI agent Delroy Lindo and Gary Sinise.
The result is one of Gibson's more forgettable mid-90s thrillers, I feel.
However, for 'reasons', and following a botched attempt to do so which the FBI crash, he decides instead to offer the ransom as a bounty on the kidnappers instead - kidnappers which the film has no qualms whatsoever about revealing from pretty much the get go.
That would have been a great twist (offering the ransom as a bounty, I mean) had the marketing for the movie not relied so heavily on it.
There's also surprisingly little made of it in the movie proper, save for one or two throwaway lines by interviewed citizens on the street.
As such, the film really relies on the 'star power' of Gibson himself and his co-star Rene Russo, alongside a strong turn by FBI agent Delroy Lindo and Gary Sinise.
The result is one of Gibson's more forgettable mid-90s thrillers, I feel.