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Awix (3310 KP) rated Mortal Engines (2018) in Movies
Apr 5, 2019
Another lavish dystopian YA adaptation with first-class art direction but a really thin story and bland characterisation. In a strange (and somewhat improbable) future world, lack of resources has forced cities and towns to mobilise themselves and wander the landscape on wheels and caterpillar tracks, preying on smaller habitations. Someone has an evil plan to do something or other, but this bit is quite forgettable.
Probably the main problem with this film for me was that it put me in mind of many great, quirky SF and fantasy stories (Brazil, Cities in Flight, Inverted World) without having more than a fraction of their narrative boldness: good-looking but forgettable characters wander about going through the motions of hackneyed character arcs, while lots of boxes get ticked but hardly anything surprising happens. It's actually quite an achievement for a movie which opens with London pursuing a small German town across country to wind up being quite as forgettably boring as this one does. Not sure if the books are any better, but this certainly qualifies as a huge waste of potential.
Probably the main problem with this film for me was that it put me in mind of many great, quirky SF and fantasy stories (Brazil, Cities in Flight, Inverted World) without having more than a fraction of their narrative boldness: good-looking but forgettable characters wander about going through the motions of hackneyed character arcs, while lots of boxes get ticked but hardly anything surprising happens. It's actually quite an achievement for a movie which opens with London pursuing a small German town across country to wind up being quite as forgettably boring as this one does. Not sure if the books are any better, but this certainly qualifies as a huge waste of potential.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Le Dernier Combat (The Final Battle) (1983) in Movies
Apr 16, 2019 (Updated Apr 16, 2019)
Luc Besson's debut shows his interest in (fairly) high-concept SF and fantasy, ability to tell a story visually, and tendency towards startling excess (although not as much as in some later films). Civilisation has collapsed, the world has run out of colours (everything is in black and white), and some strange phenomenon has destroyed everyone's powers of speech. A wanderer (Jolivet) attempts to defend a hospital from the depredations of a brute (Reno) - given the premise of the film, it's hard to have a plot much more detailed than that.
Filmed on location in disused bits of Paris on a very low budget, the film clearly owes a debt to the likes of the Mad Max films, though it can't replicate their kinetic action. More of a curiosity than anything else, its message - we have to find a way to really communicate if we want to survive - may be a bit glib and simplistic, but this is Besson we're talking about, after all. Definitely stylish, and with enough unexpected touches to keep it quite watchable.
Filmed on location in disused bits of Paris on a very low budget, the film clearly owes a debt to the likes of the Mad Max films, though it can't replicate their kinetic action. More of a curiosity than anything else, its message - we have to find a way to really communicate if we want to survive - may be a bit glib and simplistic, but this is Besson we're talking about, after all. Definitely stylish, and with enough unexpected touches to keep it quite watchable.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) in Movies
Mar 3, 2018 (Updated Mar 3, 2018)
Weather Forecast says 'Sun Everywhere'
Apocalyptic British SF movie shows how this sort of thing should be done. Nuclear tests shift the Earth on its axis, send it closer to the sun: civilisation struggles to cope with the prospect of looming extinction. Story is told from the point of view of the journalists of the Daily Express (don't laugh, it was a newspaper back in the 60s).
Very similar in its downbeat tone to the Quatermass movies Val Guest had previously made for Hammer - no B-movie this, but a serious, hard-edged naturalistic drama. Personal story of romance between lead journo Edward Judd and met office secretary Janet Munro is woven into the main plot with considerable skill; scenes of devastated London are well-mounted. A bit dated in some of its attitudes, but its concerns with the disastrous effects of climate change and its political cynicism mean it still feels surprisingly relevant today. Much better than any of the Roland Emmerich movies which have arguably ripped it off.
Very similar in its downbeat tone to the Quatermass movies Val Guest had previously made for Hammer - no B-movie this, but a serious, hard-edged naturalistic drama. Personal story of romance between lead journo Edward Judd and met office secretary Janet Munro is woven into the main plot with considerable skill; scenes of devastated London are well-mounted. A bit dated in some of its attitudes, but its concerns with the disastrous effects of climate change and its political cynicism mean it still feels surprisingly relevant today. Much better than any of the Roland Emmerich movies which have arguably ripped it off.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Quatermass and the Pit (1967) in Movies
Feb 13, 2018
The best of the Quatermass films keeps all the unsettling ideas of Nigel Kneale's original TV scripts and adds Hammer's talent for coming up with smart casting and polished production values. Weird projectile turns up buried under London; the authorities initially assume it's an unexploded bomb from the Second World War, but the presence of fossil ape skeletons in and around the object indicates otherwise, as does a history of hauntings in the area going back hundreds of years. Professor Quatermass begins to suspect that this is a relic of a highly unusual alien invasion that happened before man had even evolved...
Pretty much a perfect fusion of horror and science fiction, giving a convincing extraterrestrial rationale for various paranormal and demonic phenomena; thoughtful and disturbing rather than actually scary. Andrew Keir rocks the joint as Professor Q but is well-supported by everyone else. The sequence in which London is transformed in the final reel is also very well done. Sets the standard for intelligent British SF movies; rather influential in its own way, too.
Pretty much a perfect fusion of horror and science fiction, giving a convincing extraterrestrial rationale for various paranormal and demonic phenomena; thoughtful and disturbing rather than actually scary. Andrew Keir rocks the joint as Professor Q but is well-supported by everyone else. The sequence in which London is transformed in the final reel is also very well done. Sets the standard for intelligent British SF movies; rather influential in its own way, too.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Astronaut's Wife (1999) in Movies
Feb 26, 2018
Turgid obstetric-horror SF movie from the days before Johnny Depp rode his Keith Richards impersonation to global superstardom. Depp goes off into space, comes back (maybe) possessed by aliens; on his return Theron is unsettled by his odd behaviour, especially when it turns out she has been impregnated by this guy.
Basically Quatermass meets Rosemary's Baby, only not as good as that sounds. Not very much happens for long periods of time, apart from regular close-ups of Theron's toes; vague atmosphere of stately menace doesn't make up for the lack of real scares, thrills, or ideas. Charlize Theron, at the age of 24, carries the movie as well as can be expected in the circumstances, Depp is all over the place. In the end the plot turns out to be a cigarette paper's width away from being total gibberish; the DVD has two alternate endings, neither of which is much cop. Gynaecologists with an interest in foot fetishism will probably love it - everyone else, not so much.
Basically Quatermass meets Rosemary's Baby, only not as good as that sounds. Not very much happens for long periods of time, apart from regular close-ups of Theron's toes; vague atmosphere of stately menace doesn't make up for the lack of real scares, thrills, or ideas. Charlize Theron, at the age of 24, carries the movie as well as can be expected in the circumstances, Depp is all over the place. In the end the plot turns out to be a cigarette paper's width away from being total gibberish; the DVD has two alternate endings, neither of which is much cop. Gynaecologists with an interest in foot fetishism will probably love it - everyone else, not so much.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Starship Troopers (1997) in Movies
Feb 22, 2018
Not so much an adaptation of Heinlein's novel as a parody of it, Verhoeven's SF spectacular works equally well as storming action movie and outrageous black satire. Johnny Rico (Van Dien) joins the army for the wrong reasons, finds himself rising through the ranks as Earth provokes a war with the invertebrate Arachnids and finds itself facing a much more dangerous opponent than expected.
Verhoeven displays his usual uncanny ability to turn a movie on a dime - one second this is a deliberately cheesy deadpan comedy about growing up in a fascist utopia, the next it's delivering a genuinely thrilling action sequence that pushes the boundaries of CGI. Much, much smarter than it initially appears - even the decision to cast good-looking but essentially wooden young people (e.g. Denise Richards) in the lead roles seems calculated to make a point. Michael Ironside is genuinely good as the grizzled old soldier; another belting score from Basil Poledouris. Also weirdly prescient of the way the US and its media reacted after 9/11. Thoroughly enjoyable on many levels.
Verhoeven displays his usual uncanny ability to turn a movie on a dime - one second this is a deliberately cheesy deadpan comedy about growing up in a fascist utopia, the next it's delivering a genuinely thrilling action sequence that pushes the boundaries of CGI. Much, much smarter than it initially appears - even the decision to cast good-looking but essentially wooden young people (e.g. Denise Richards) in the lead roles seems calculated to make a point. Michael Ironside is genuinely good as the grizzled old soldier; another belting score from Basil Poledouris. Also weirdly prescient of the way the US and its media reacted after 9/11. Thoroughly enjoyable on many levels.
Awix (3310 KP) rated They Came from Beyond Space (1967) in Movies
Jan 8, 2020
No they didn't, and don't be silly. Hugely derivative British pulp SF movie is unsuccessful in hiding any of its influences and just ends up looking like a random slap-together of bits from Gerry Anderson, Quatermass, Dr Who, The Avengers (the TV show), and much more. Aliens stage a stealthy (and cheap) invasion of England via meteorite, possess the boffins sent to investigate, and cause all sorts of trouble. Imported American boffin Robert Hutton proves immune due to the metal plate in his head and fights back. Michael Gough turns up briefly to chew the scenery as the Master of the Moon.
Almost entirely absurd, but rattles along and never actually gets dull. Performances are mostly lousy with the exception of Bernard Kay, who is actually not bad. Fun can always be had spotting the influences, the props recycled from Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD, and the sight of Zia Mohyeddin with an anti-mind control colander on his head. Daft, but fun, and certainly more entertaining than The Terrornauts (but then so is giving yourself a tonsilectomy).
Almost entirely absurd, but rattles along and never actually gets dull. Performances are mostly lousy with the exception of Bernard Kay, who is actually not bad. Fun can always be had spotting the influences, the props recycled from Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD, and the sight of Zia Mohyeddin with an anti-mind control colander on his head. Daft, but fun, and certainly more entertaining than The Terrornauts (but then so is giving yourself a tonsilectomy).
SW
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