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Sea of Storms: A History of Hurricanes in the Greater Caribbean from Columbus to Katrina
Book
The diverse cultures of the Caribbean have been shaped as much by hurricanes as they have by...
Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated Geostorm (2017) in Movies
Jun 10, 2019
The 90's are back
I’ve got to start by telling you I wasn’t holding out much hope for Geostorm and that’s for quite a few reasons. Firstly, Gerard Butler’s career has been on a bit of a slide recently.
Last year was particularly rough for the Scotsman, with London Has Fallen and Gods of Egypt receiving less than 2 stars here at Movie Metropolis. Secondly, Geostorm has had one of the most turbulent productions of any blockbuster in recent memory.
It actually completed main shooting in 2014 but after a negative audience reaction, it’s release date was pushed back numerous times and costly reshoots were drafted in to sort out the presumed mess. Now, in Autumn 2017 it’s arrived. But what’s it like?
After an unprecedented series of natural disasters, the world’s leaders banded together to create an intricate net of satellites to control the global climate and keep people safe. But now, something is wrong: the system built to protect the planet is attacking it, and it becomes a race against the clock to uncover the real threat before a worldwide geostorm wipes out everything and everyone along with it.
Sounding like something straight from the SyFy channel, Geostorm’s premise is utterly ridiculous but disaster movies have never been particularly well-known for their deep, meaningful and accurate storylines. In fact, some of the very best films in the genre, Deep Impact, Armageddon, Volcano wrestled with significant plot holes – audiences don’t care about that when they can watch the planet getting destroyed.
Morbid, right? Most definitely, but the same applies here. The special effects are so darn good, as a tidal wave obliterates Dubai, and the action interspersed at the right intervals, that the lack of cohesive plot and at times hideous and expositional dialogue really doesn’t matter.
The cinematography by director Dean Devlin (in his first feature film) is really rather good. It’s not ground-breaking but considering 95% of the movie is CGI, he works with green screen well and the script’s twists and turns make it a damn sight more interesting than the majority of 2017’s blockbusters.
“Geostorm channels those brilliantly camp disaster movies from the 80s and 90s beautifully.”
Gerard Butler is actually very decent, but there is a lot more talent on offer here than you would first expect. Ed Harris is always dependable and Andy Garcia plays a President similar to Morgan Freeman’s turn in 1998s Deep Impact. It’s cheesier than a Dairylea triangle, but that’s exactly how disaster films are meant to be.
Geostorm channels those brilliantly camp disaster movies from the 80s and 90s beautifully. Dante’s Peak, Earthquake and Volcano can all be felt here. It takes itself a lot less seriously than 2015’s San Andreas, and has a decent sense of humour to boot.
The scenes on-board the International Space Station are a little dull and to be fair, for a film titled Geostorm, there could be a little more ‘storming’ going on, but it’s a fun, throwaway film that requires nothing but your mind to switch off.
Overall, despite a ridiculously turbulent birth, Geostorm is an honest film. Sure, it’s premise is plagued by plot inconsistencies and the characters aren’t fleshed out enough for us to care about their fates, but it’s a rollercoaster ride of special effects and disaster, which I’m not ashamed to say, I really enjoyed.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2017/10/21/geostorm-review/
Last year was particularly rough for the Scotsman, with London Has Fallen and Gods of Egypt receiving less than 2 stars here at Movie Metropolis. Secondly, Geostorm has had one of the most turbulent productions of any blockbuster in recent memory.
It actually completed main shooting in 2014 but after a negative audience reaction, it’s release date was pushed back numerous times and costly reshoots were drafted in to sort out the presumed mess. Now, in Autumn 2017 it’s arrived. But what’s it like?
After an unprecedented series of natural disasters, the world’s leaders banded together to create an intricate net of satellites to control the global climate and keep people safe. But now, something is wrong: the system built to protect the planet is attacking it, and it becomes a race against the clock to uncover the real threat before a worldwide geostorm wipes out everything and everyone along with it.
Sounding like something straight from the SyFy channel, Geostorm’s premise is utterly ridiculous but disaster movies have never been particularly well-known for their deep, meaningful and accurate storylines. In fact, some of the very best films in the genre, Deep Impact, Armageddon, Volcano wrestled with significant plot holes – audiences don’t care about that when they can watch the planet getting destroyed.
Morbid, right? Most definitely, but the same applies here. The special effects are so darn good, as a tidal wave obliterates Dubai, and the action interspersed at the right intervals, that the lack of cohesive plot and at times hideous and expositional dialogue really doesn’t matter.
The cinematography by director Dean Devlin (in his first feature film) is really rather good. It’s not ground-breaking but considering 95% of the movie is CGI, he works with green screen well and the script’s twists and turns make it a damn sight more interesting than the majority of 2017’s blockbusters.
“Geostorm channels those brilliantly camp disaster movies from the 80s and 90s beautifully.”
Gerard Butler is actually very decent, but there is a lot more talent on offer here than you would first expect. Ed Harris is always dependable and Andy Garcia plays a President similar to Morgan Freeman’s turn in 1998s Deep Impact. It’s cheesier than a Dairylea triangle, but that’s exactly how disaster films are meant to be.
Geostorm channels those brilliantly camp disaster movies from the 80s and 90s beautifully. Dante’s Peak, Earthquake and Volcano can all be felt here. It takes itself a lot less seriously than 2015’s San Andreas, and has a decent sense of humour to boot.
The scenes on-board the International Space Station are a little dull and to be fair, for a film titled Geostorm, there could be a little more ‘storming’ going on, but it’s a fun, throwaway film that requires nothing but your mind to switch off.
Overall, despite a ridiculously turbulent birth, Geostorm is an honest film. Sure, it’s premise is plagued by plot inconsistencies and the characters aren’t fleshed out enough for us to care about their fates, but it’s a rollercoaster ride of special effects and disaster, which I’m not ashamed to say, I really enjoyed.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2017/10/21/geostorm-review/
DD
Dull Disasters?: How Planning Ahead Will Make a Difference
Daniel J. Clarke and Stefan Dercon
Book
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY 3.0 IGO licence. It is free to...
[Last Days of Last Island] by [Bill Dixon] shows that being rich doesn't always come with common sense. In the mid 1800 in America the rich were looking for new ways to enjoy their wealth. In Louisiana the plantation owners found a beautiful island off the coast. It had great views and fishing. Also the breezes were a nice change from the temperatures inland in the South.
The catch is this "island" was little more than a large sandbar. What we know as barrier islands. This did not deter them from building it up as a resort for the well to do. What could go wrong?
There was no weather forecasting as their is today and the Gulf Coast was as prone to hurricanes then as it is now. There also was no easy escape since the only way to the island was by boat.
[Dixon] tell the tragic story of life and death on Last Island during the Hurricane of 1856. The research is well done and the narrative makes the saga of the inhabitants real in this pre Civil War natural disaster. Although he does get quite repetitive with details it was still a very informative read.
The catch is this "island" was little more than a large sandbar. What we know as barrier islands. This did not deter them from building it up as a resort for the well to do. What could go wrong?
There was no weather forecasting as their is today and the Gulf Coast was as prone to hurricanes then as it is now. There also was no easy escape since the only way to the island was by boat.
[Dixon] tell the tragic story of life and death on Last Island during the Hurricane of 1856. The research is well done and the narrative makes the saga of the inhabitants real in this pre Civil War natural disaster. Although he does get quite repetitive with details it was still a very informative read.
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
10.0
Rate It
Book
The dust storms that terrorized the High Plains in the darkest years of the Depression were like...
Rivers: A Very Short Introduction
Book
Rivers have played an extraordinarily important role in creating the world in which we live. They...
Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was
Victoria Cribb and . Sjon
Book
Reykjavik, 1918. The eruptions of the Katla volcano darken the sky night and day. Yet despite the...
Kevin Wilson (179 KP) rated The Impossible (2012) in Movies
Aug 12, 2018
A true story (3 more)
Amazing cast, incredible performances
Fantastic writing
Great effects
Wow, such a powerful, intense movie!
Wow this is 1 of the most intense and powerful movies I've seen in such a long time.
I love disaster movies and the fact this is actually a true story adds so much to it. You can feel a lot more emotion throughout knowing this actually happened to someone and the characters are a real family that this actually happened to.
This is also thanks to such an incredible cast with amazing writing and acting. There is not 1 actor that is not phenomenal. Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and a young Tom Holland are all fantastic. Their chemistry is natural and believable and give so much intensity and emotion to all their performances.
The effects are fantastic. The tsunami and the injuries all look great and real. Has a great score and it all makes you think and wonder what it must have been like for the people actually involved.
Absolutely fantastic and can definitely recommend. I paid £1 for the blu ray and it's 1 I will not get rid of and will watch again. If you get chance, watch it.
I love disaster movies and the fact this is actually a true story adds so much to it. You can feel a lot more emotion throughout knowing this actually happened to someone and the characters are a real family that this actually happened to.
This is also thanks to such an incredible cast with amazing writing and acting. There is not 1 actor that is not phenomenal. Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and a young Tom Holland are all fantastic. Their chemistry is natural and believable and give so much intensity and emotion to all their performances.
The effects are fantastic. The tsunami and the injuries all look great and real. Has a great score and it all makes you think and wonder what it must have been like for the people actually involved.
Absolutely fantastic and can definitely recommend. I paid £1 for the blu ray and it's 1 I will not get rid of and will watch again. If you get chance, watch it.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Underwater (2020) in Movies
Feb 9, 2020
Solid (if slightly derivative) horror-SF movie with extra added treats for fans of classic weird fiction. Following a disaster at a deep-sea drilling site, the survivors must try to make their way to safety, contending with the collapsing installation and grotesque and hostile marine creatures. Who or what exactly have they woken up...? One of those movies where you can have fun spotting all the things it's ripping off (Alien, Gravity, The Abyss, numerous others) but none the worse for that: the movie plays with genre tropes intelligently even if some of the storytelling could have been tighter.
That said, I probably wouldn't have bothered to see this movie if a member of my RPG group hadn't spotted that it contains a fairly sizable easter egg of particular interest to us, so we trooped down en masse and mostly had a very enjoyable time. Fans of Providence's most famous writer of horror stories will probably also get a kick out of Underwater, although I would imagine this works equally well for the uninitiated. Solid production values, decent direction and performances from a good cast; I imagine this film will find a natural home in the 9pm slot on the Horror Channel and do very well for itself there.
That said, I probably wouldn't have bothered to see this movie if a member of my RPG group hadn't spotted that it contains a fairly sizable easter egg of particular interest to us, so we trooped down en masse and mostly had a very enjoyable time. Fans of Providence's most famous writer of horror stories will probably also get a kick out of Underwater, although I would imagine this works equally well for the uninitiated. Solid production values, decent direction and performances from a good cast; I imagine this film will find a natural home in the 9pm slot on the Horror Channel and do very well for itself there.
Migration Borders Freedom
Book
International borders have become deadly barriers of a proportion rivaled only by war or natural...