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Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated Titanic (1997) in Movies
Jun 10, 2019 (Updated Jun 10, 2019)
Titanic was an absolute breakthrough for director James Cameron, swooping 11 Oscars at the 1998 awards. To this day, it remains the third highest grossing film of all time, recently pushed down from second by Avengers: Endgame. Starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, a lot has been said about the film’s over reliance on the central love triangle.
Watching it again over 20 years later still showcases Titanic’s incredible special effects, emotional plot and stunning cinematography and sound design. This disaster film is the biggest of all time and it’s easy to see why, despite the, at times, flabby story.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2019/06/08/films-set-at-sea-top-5/
Watching it again over 20 years later still showcases Titanic’s incredible special effects, emotional plot and stunning cinematography and sound design. This disaster film is the biggest of all time and it’s easy to see why, despite the, at times, flabby story.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2019/06/08/films-set-at-sea-top-5/
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
7.0
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In Mexico City, a newly modified liquid Terminator -- the Rev-9 model -- arrives from the future to...
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Avatar: The Way of Water (2021) in Movies
Jan 2, 2023
Strong Visuals - Weak Everything Else
See AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER on the biggest 3D Screen, with the best Sound System possible. It is a technical marvel…way ahead of anything that has, thus far, been seen on a movie screen.
It’s too bad the story (and characters) lag far behind.
Taking the audience back to the world of Pandora, AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER treads familiar territory as Director James Cameron returns us to this idyllic planet, with the natives living peacefully, in concert with the land, until the soldiers from Earth show up (again) to strip the planet of it’s native contents (again).
Cameron (TITANTIC) expands this 3D World, bringing the audience from the trees to the water - and what an expansion this is! It is a BEAUTIFUL film to watch and Cameron (as one would expect) expertly pushes the technological edges of the industry, bringing us stunning visuals underwater. It is this part of the more than 3 hour film that is worth the price of admission alone. It is a feast for the eyes.
But what Cameron (and his FOUR writers of the script - never a good sign) fail to do is to add interesting characters and stories to these amazing visuals. It is a pretty straight forward telling of Good (the native peoples) vs. Evil (the invading soldiers from Earth). There is no nuance or subtly whatsoever throughout this film.
Back from the first film are Sam Worthington (just as wooden and uninteresting), Zoe Saldana (just as underused) and Stephen Lang (just as one-note as the villain). Obviously, it is just their voices used - for they are all rendered as Pandorans via motion-capture - but they don’t have much to do except be one with the nature (the good guys) or destroy nature (the soldiers).
Joining the cast - and just as underused - are Cliff Curtis, CCH Pounder and, especially, Kate Winslet. Cameron brings in some really fine performers who have to spout wooden dialogue that would make George Lucas blush - all the while performing in motion capture suits. This movie could have been so much better had Cameron given these actors something better and more interesting to do.
The only exception to this is the young actress (so I thought) that portrayed Kiri - who is the daughter of the Sigourney Weaver character from the first film. This Pandoran was born under mysterious circumstances (Virgin birth? Do we have a Messiah?) and is more in tune with the nature of the world they live in. This young actress had the most interesting things to do and she absolutely nailed it, so I should not have been surprised to find out that this “young actress” was none other than - Sigourney Weaver.
Well done, Cameron and Weaver. You got me on this one.
This film (the second in what will be a trilogy - or maybe more) has a run time of over 3 hours - so be warned - but Cameron keeps things moving along at a sprightly pace, never lingering over the clunky dialogue, but stopping to watch the beautiful visuals along the way.
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER is worth watching for the water and the stunning visuals…but not for much else.
Letter Grade: B+ (10 for the visuals, 5 for the story)
7 1/2 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
It’s too bad the story (and characters) lag far behind.
Taking the audience back to the world of Pandora, AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER treads familiar territory as Director James Cameron returns us to this idyllic planet, with the natives living peacefully, in concert with the land, until the soldiers from Earth show up (again) to strip the planet of it’s native contents (again).
Cameron (TITANTIC) expands this 3D World, bringing the audience from the trees to the water - and what an expansion this is! It is a BEAUTIFUL film to watch and Cameron (as one would expect) expertly pushes the technological edges of the industry, bringing us stunning visuals underwater. It is this part of the more than 3 hour film that is worth the price of admission alone. It is a feast for the eyes.
But what Cameron (and his FOUR writers of the script - never a good sign) fail to do is to add interesting characters and stories to these amazing visuals. It is a pretty straight forward telling of Good (the native peoples) vs. Evil (the invading soldiers from Earth). There is no nuance or subtly whatsoever throughout this film.
Back from the first film are Sam Worthington (just as wooden and uninteresting), Zoe Saldana (just as underused) and Stephen Lang (just as one-note as the villain). Obviously, it is just their voices used - for they are all rendered as Pandorans via motion-capture - but they don’t have much to do except be one with the nature (the good guys) or destroy nature (the soldiers).
Joining the cast - and just as underused - are Cliff Curtis, CCH Pounder and, especially, Kate Winslet. Cameron brings in some really fine performers who have to spout wooden dialogue that would make George Lucas blush - all the while performing in motion capture suits. This movie could have been so much better had Cameron given these actors something better and more interesting to do.
The only exception to this is the young actress (so I thought) that portrayed Kiri - who is the daughter of the Sigourney Weaver character from the first film. This Pandoran was born under mysterious circumstances (Virgin birth? Do we have a Messiah?) and is more in tune with the nature of the world they live in. This young actress had the most interesting things to do and she absolutely nailed it, so I should not have been surprised to find out that this “young actress” was none other than - Sigourney Weaver.
Well done, Cameron and Weaver. You got me on this one.
This film (the second in what will be a trilogy - or maybe more) has a run time of over 3 hours - so be warned - but Cameron keeps things moving along at a sprightly pace, never lingering over the clunky dialogue, but stopping to watch the beautiful visuals along the way.
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER is worth watching for the water and the stunning visuals…but not for much else.
Letter Grade: B+ (10 for the visuals, 5 for the story)
7 1/2 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
David McK (3425 KP) rated True Lies (1994) in Movies
Mar 29, 2020 (Updated Apr 10, 2022)
The early to mid 90s were a great time for action movies.
Cliffhanger. Speed. And this.
Starring a pre-Governator Arnold Schwarzenneger, Jamie Lee Curtis, and a pre-TVs-Faith-from-Buffy Eliza Dushku, this basically posits the question "What if James Bond was a family man? And what if his wife doesn't know he's a spy?"
When he then discovers that said wife is - he thinks - having an affair (but is in reality falling victim to a scam artist), he then decides to 'give her a bit of excitement', which leads to her getting caught up in his 'real' job and finding out more about his life!
With a rarely-looking-hotter Tia Carrere, those tango scenes (and *that* striptease) alongside plenty of stunts and gunplay (and the Harrier jump jets) - and, of course, the one-liners! - this is a pretty enjoyable big budget action movie
(Edit: I've just discovered it's directed by a pre-Titanic James Cameron, which helps!)
Cliffhanger. Speed. And this.
Starring a pre-Governator Arnold Schwarzenneger, Jamie Lee Curtis, and a pre-TVs-Faith-from-Buffy Eliza Dushku, this basically posits the question "What if James Bond was a family man? And what if his wife doesn't know he's a spy?"
When he then discovers that said wife is - he thinks - having an affair (but is in reality falling victim to a scam artist), he then decides to 'give her a bit of excitement', which leads to her getting caught up in his 'real' job and finding out more about his life!
With a rarely-looking-hotter Tia Carrere, those tango scenes (and *that* striptease) alongside plenty of stunts and gunplay (and the Harrier jump jets) - and, of course, the one-liners! - this is a pretty enjoyable big budget action movie
(Edit: I've just discovered it's directed by a pre-Titanic James Cameron, which helps!)
Kevin Phillipson (10021 KP) rated Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) in Movies
Nov 7, 2019
Linda Hamilton (4 more)
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Natalie Reyes
Gabriel Luna
Mackenzie Davis
Finally a terminator sequel that's actually a good movie up there with T2 and the original after bad sequels I actually loved this movie the effects the stunts everything about this movie was what I wanted out of terminator movie with James Cameron on board I knew we would get a better sequel as T2 will always be my favourite of all the movies this one is really close to that one. Gabriel Luna as the new terminator is amazing shouldn't mention I've met him twice in the last two year's at conventions. Anyway good movie recommend to anyone to see the movie
True Blood - Season 3
7.0
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TV Season
Sookie Stackhouse and the townspeople of Bon Temps face a new calamity--ushered in by the Vampire...
Wish You Were Mine
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From the USA Today bestselling author of The Story of Us and Fisher's Light comes a new, standalone...
romance
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
7.4
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Set several centuries in the future, the abandoned Alita is found in the scrapyard of Iron City by...
Awix (3310 KP) rated Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) in Movies
Feb 13, 2018
Superior first-wave Star Wars cash-in from Roger Corman, recycling the plot of The Magnificent Seven (et al); writer John Sayles shows he knows his stuff by including all the requisite space battles and funny aliens, but also references to Kurosawa, whose films originally inspired George Lucas.
Peaceful alien yokels known as the Akira (told you so) are menaced by galactic despot on a tight timetable; farm boy is dispatched to recruit space mercenaries to help fend him off when he comes back. Ropy model-work courtesy of a young James Cameron is the film's biggest weakness (the best special effect is probably Sybil Danning's costume); rousing score from a young James Horner is a major plus. Robert Vaughn's performance here is just as good as the one in The Magnificent One - makes sense, as it's essentially the same one. Film has a lovely adventurous tone about it, isn't afraid to treat the audience with intelligence; much better than many other more prestigious sci-fi films of this period.
Peaceful alien yokels known as the Akira (told you so) are menaced by galactic despot on a tight timetable; farm boy is dispatched to recruit space mercenaries to help fend him off when he comes back. Ropy model-work courtesy of a young James Cameron is the film's biggest weakness (the best special effect is probably Sybil Danning's costume); rousing score from a young James Horner is a major plus. Robert Vaughn's performance here is just as good as the one in The Magnificent One - makes sense, as it's essentially the same one. Film has a lovely adventurous tone about it, isn't afraid to treat the audience with intelligence; much better than many other more prestigious sci-fi films of this period.
Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated The Abyss (1989) in Movies
Jun 10, 2019
James Cameron makes his second appearance on this list with 1989’s The Abyss. This terrifying film that gave countless children nightmares for months follows a civilian diving team as they are enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine. Unbeknownst to them, danger lurks in the deep when they encounter an alien aquatic species.
The special effects may look dated by today’s standards, but The Abyss is over 25 years old and still looks pretty darn good, even in 2019 when CGI has come on so far. Ed Harris puts in a fantastic performance and the eerie depths of the ocean are only matched by the blankness of space in modern-day sci-fi movies. Truly horrifying.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2019/06/08/films-set-at-sea-top-5/
The special effects may look dated by today’s standards, but The Abyss is over 25 years old and still looks pretty darn good, even in 2019 when CGI has come on so far. Ed Harris puts in a fantastic performance and the eerie depths of the ocean are only matched by the blankness of space in modern-day sci-fi movies. Truly horrifying.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2019/06/08/films-set-at-sea-top-5/