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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
Why Will Smith is a wise, wise man.
I’m catching up on a few of the big films I missed during 2016. But Roland Emmerich has a lot to answer for with this one. Twenty years after Independence Day smashed the summer box office of 1996, the aliens are back: bigger and badder than ever. Steven Hiller (Will Smith) is no longer on the scene but, to give Emmerich a little credit, he has gathered an impressive array of the original stars to return led by Hiller’s wife Jasmine (Vivica Fox), President Whitmore (Bill Pullman), Dr Okun (Brent Spiner), David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) and his dad (Judd Hirsch). The great Robert Loggia even turns up, who played the original General Grey, looking like he is about to expire (which unfortunately he did late last year, and the film is in memorial to him). All of them have weathered over the years apart from Judd Hirsch who must have a picture in his attic.
Playing the new generation (Hiller’s young son Dylan and the president’s daughter Patricia) are Jessie Usher and the comely Maika Monroe respectively, the latter having the pout of a young Jessica Alba and showing promise. Rounding off the young ‘uns, and playing an enormously irritating hunk/hero and his sidekick buddy are Jake (Liam Hemsworth – yes, younger brother of Chris) and Floyd (Nicolas Wright). And with the obvious needs of summer blockbusters to appeal to the ravenous Chinese market there is also Shanghai-born Angelababy as a young hotshot pilot and Chin Han as her uncle, moonbase commander Commander Jiang.
It’s hard to know where to start with criticism of this film. It’s like you’ve caught someone desecrating the grave of a dearly departed relative. The plot is ludicrous…. Uh oh…here comes another One Mann’s Movies Showcase Theatre….
The scene: onboard the alien craft high above central Asia
DRONE K’FAALL: “The use of the anti-gravity weapon worked a treat your Majesty. We have ripped up Shanghai and dumped in from a great height on London! Take that Queenie! All hail our weapons superiority! I take it we should just ‘rinse and repeat’ around the world to wipe them all out? ”
QUEEN ALIEN BEE: “No K’Fall. Let’s land in the Atlantic and then go fight them one-on-one with our little ships in the desert near Area 51.”
DRONE K’FALL: “B-b-b-but your Majesty, with our gravity weapon we could eliminate all threat, drill out the earth’s core and find what we came here for in perfect safety!”.
QUEEN ALIEN BEE: “No… that’s just what they’ll be expecting us to do…”
I thought the Oscar for the dumbest aliens of the year was a shoe-in for the ones who chose a similar tactic in “The 5th Wave” – but no… we have another contender for the crown. This ridiculous London-based CGI sequence – a virtual re-shoot of the ridiculous CGI sequence in Emmerich’s “2012” where John Cusack is fleeing by plane a collapsing Los Angeles – is mitigated only by Goldblum’s witty comment about them “Always going for the landmarks” – the best line in the film.
Elsewhere, the story and screenplay – by an army of writers (never a good sign) – is risible and an insult to intelligence, alien or otherwise. The ludicrous plot points go on and on…
Why on earth is the single landed alien craft from 1996 owned by an African warlord? If mankind have ‘benefited’ so much from the alien technology that must surely have been through the UN-dismantling of that ship?
There seems to be no logical connection between the “visions” (stolen from “Close Encounters”) and the alien craft. The visions might have well have been of the alien’s last shopping list (“six cans of Kraag beans; one bottle of Vollufi ale; … “);
The alien craft is big enough to span the WHOLE Atlantic when it lands, but – who would believe it? – comes to a stop with its edge in Washington JUST ENOUGH to dip the White House flag to a jaunty angle. #cringe;
The alien ship – apparently open to the elements – allows our heroic hunks to wander around without spacesuits;
Breathless… or not. Jessie T Usher and Liam Hemsworth (foreground) not dying of asphyxiation or cold.
At one point it looked like our curvaceous heroine was going to defeat the alien queen in good ol’ Wild West fashion armed only with a handgun (but no, my head could come out of my hands again);
And don’t even get me started on the opening “excitement” about propping up a collapsing supergun on the moon with a spaceship. Gerry Anderson would be spinning in his grave.
The dialogue is little better. The original “Independence Day” was probably most famous for two scenes: the impressive destruction of the White House and Bill Paxton’s ludicrously corny “We will not go quietly into the night” speech. Here trying to go one better we have not just one version of this but two with William Fichner’s General Adams chipping one in from the rough before Paxton delivers an impromptu hanger speech that is toe-curlingly excruciating.
Much of the acting is of the “I really don’t want to be here but it’s good for the pension” variety with Paxton and Goldblum going through the motions and Charlotte Gainsborough being horribly miscast as a French anthropologist running around the world on the trail of Pokemon Go characters… or symbols… or something. Only Brent Spiner and Judd Hirsch really get into their stride with likeably over-the-top performances.
Goldblum and Charlotte Gainsborough. A less likely historic romantic attachment its difficult to imagine.
If this was a standalone story it might scrape a double-Fad… but as it so horrendously sullies a classic movie experience it incurs my cinematic wrath. It might have made Roland Emmer-richer (sic)…. but my recommendation would be to get a big bag of popcorn, the original 1996 movie on DVD and enjoy. Avoid, avoid, avoid.
Playing the new generation (Hiller’s young son Dylan and the president’s daughter Patricia) are Jessie Usher and the comely Maika Monroe respectively, the latter having the pout of a young Jessica Alba and showing promise. Rounding off the young ‘uns, and playing an enormously irritating hunk/hero and his sidekick buddy are Jake (Liam Hemsworth – yes, younger brother of Chris) and Floyd (Nicolas Wright). And with the obvious needs of summer blockbusters to appeal to the ravenous Chinese market there is also Shanghai-born Angelababy as a young hotshot pilot and Chin Han as her uncle, moonbase commander Commander Jiang.
It’s hard to know where to start with criticism of this film. It’s like you’ve caught someone desecrating the grave of a dearly departed relative. The plot is ludicrous…. Uh oh…here comes another One Mann’s Movies Showcase Theatre….
The scene: onboard the alien craft high above central Asia
DRONE K’FAALL: “The use of the anti-gravity weapon worked a treat your Majesty. We have ripped up Shanghai and dumped in from a great height on London! Take that Queenie! All hail our weapons superiority! I take it we should just ‘rinse and repeat’ around the world to wipe them all out? ”
QUEEN ALIEN BEE: “No K’Fall. Let’s land in the Atlantic and then go fight them one-on-one with our little ships in the desert near Area 51.”
DRONE K’FALL: “B-b-b-but your Majesty, with our gravity weapon we could eliminate all threat, drill out the earth’s core and find what we came here for in perfect safety!”.
QUEEN ALIEN BEE: “No… that’s just what they’ll be expecting us to do…”
I thought the Oscar for the dumbest aliens of the year was a shoe-in for the ones who chose a similar tactic in “The 5th Wave” – but no… we have another contender for the crown. This ridiculous London-based CGI sequence – a virtual re-shoot of the ridiculous CGI sequence in Emmerich’s “2012” where John Cusack is fleeing by plane a collapsing Los Angeles – is mitigated only by Goldblum’s witty comment about them “Always going for the landmarks” – the best line in the film.
Elsewhere, the story and screenplay – by an army of writers (never a good sign) – is risible and an insult to intelligence, alien or otherwise. The ludicrous plot points go on and on…
Why on earth is the single landed alien craft from 1996 owned by an African warlord? If mankind have ‘benefited’ so much from the alien technology that must surely have been through the UN-dismantling of that ship?
There seems to be no logical connection between the “visions” (stolen from “Close Encounters”) and the alien craft. The visions might have well have been of the alien’s last shopping list (“six cans of Kraag beans; one bottle of Vollufi ale; … “);
The alien craft is big enough to span the WHOLE Atlantic when it lands, but – who would believe it? – comes to a stop with its edge in Washington JUST ENOUGH to dip the White House flag to a jaunty angle. #cringe;
The alien ship – apparently open to the elements – allows our heroic hunks to wander around without spacesuits;
Breathless… or not. Jessie T Usher and Liam Hemsworth (foreground) not dying of asphyxiation or cold.
At one point it looked like our curvaceous heroine was going to defeat the alien queen in good ol’ Wild West fashion armed only with a handgun (but no, my head could come out of my hands again);
And don’t even get me started on the opening “excitement” about propping up a collapsing supergun on the moon with a spaceship. Gerry Anderson would be spinning in his grave.
The dialogue is little better. The original “Independence Day” was probably most famous for two scenes: the impressive destruction of the White House and Bill Paxton’s ludicrously corny “We will not go quietly into the night” speech. Here trying to go one better we have not just one version of this but two with William Fichner’s General Adams chipping one in from the rough before Paxton delivers an impromptu hanger speech that is toe-curlingly excruciating.
Much of the acting is of the “I really don’t want to be here but it’s good for the pension” variety with Paxton and Goldblum going through the motions and Charlotte Gainsborough being horribly miscast as a French anthropologist running around the world on the trail of Pokemon Go characters… or symbols… or something. Only Brent Spiner and Judd Hirsch really get into their stride with likeably over-the-top performances.
Goldblum and Charlotte Gainsborough. A less likely historic romantic attachment its difficult to imagine.
If this was a standalone story it might scrape a double-Fad… but as it so horrendously sullies a classic movie experience it incurs my cinematic wrath. It might have made Roland Emmer-richer (sic)…. but my recommendation would be to get a big bag of popcorn, the original 1996 movie on DVD and enjoy. Avoid, avoid, avoid.
Andy K (10823 KP) rated Spaceballs (1987) in Movies
Dec 16, 2017
Dark Helmet (1 more)
Barf
Prince Valium (1 more)
Dot Matrix
Spaceballs is the most accessible of Mel Brooks' films as it seems to be the least dated as of today. Having rewatched it recently, it still holds up as a great parody of not only Star Wars, but Star Trek, Alien and Planet of the Apes as well.
I raised my 3 kids on the film, so we often will have Spaceballs "quote-a-thons" back and forth through text or message.
There is something in it for everyone; however, Dark Helmet is the greatest.
I raised my 3 kids on the film, so we often will have Spaceballs "quote-a-thons" back and forth through text or message.
There is something in it for everyone; however, Dark Helmet is the greatest.
Shaun Collins (3 KP) rated Doctor Who: The Justice of Jalxar in Books
Jan 12, 2018
Nice solid story with a lot of fun elements. The Doctor and Romana stop off in Victorian England and meet up with... Jago and Lightfoot, which EVERY Who story could use more of. The characterizations are wonderful and just as you remember, without all the prejudicial and racist overtones of Talons. The story may not be more than just standard adventure fare (alien tech falls to earth, gets misused) but a Judge Dredd style robot exercising justice based on how guilty you feel is a neat idea. For a full review, visit www.travelingthevortex.com.
Imagine knowing nothing of the outside world. From birth, all you know and have ever seen is all in one room. This book is powerful. I feel it gets most of its strength from the fact that everything is written from Jack's perspective. He is 5. If he doesn't know what something is, you don't either. Outside is completely alien to Jack. A little real life horror here.
A note about the movie: the only good parts in that movie happened in the first half hour. That movie DID NOT do justice to this book!
A note about the movie: the only good parts in that movie happened in the first half hour. That movie DID NOT do justice to this book!
Dork_knight74 (881 KP) rated The 5th wave (2016) in Movies
May 6, 2019
Ok
This movie had plenty of potential. But I think it did what so many movies do and didn't give it an actual ending. The acting was decent. The effects and action aren't too bad, either. The story was ok but had a lot of predictable parts and not much in the way of surprise twists. It tried but they didn't come of well. Over all this was not a terrible 'alien invasion' movie. But could've been much better. All in all it's worth a watch if you're bored.
Fred (860 KP) rated Attack the Block (2011) in Movies
May 10, 2019
Simple but satisfying
A simple story of an alien invasion fought within a city block. The movie is funny & action packed. The aliens are scary, but cool. The acting is fine too. I like the different characters. The one thing that's a little hard to get over, is the heroes of the film are a gang of muggers & thugs. We get the "We are all fighting against the same enemy" trope, but when you think about it, they're still criminals. I still enjoyed the movie very much & would watch it again.
Josh (12 KP) rated Alien Vs Predator: Extinction in Video Games
Jul 11, 2018
Classic RTS
This game was a dream come true for me. Take the RTS genre (think Command & Conquer, Warcraft, StarCraft, etc.) then combine it with a franchise that lent itself very well to that type of game. You could choose Marine, Alien, or Predator, each with their own unique troops and abilities. The game felt very well balanced, although the controls could be a bit clunky at times, as some commands had to be buried in pop-up menus due to a limitation of buttons on the PS2 controller. Overall though, a thoroughly enjoyable game.
David McK (3786 KP) rated Courageous (The Lost Fleet, #3) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
Having succesfully taken command of the Alliance fleet that has changed considerably since his time (in the first book), and having survived a near-mutiny (in the second book), the Alliance fleet continues to head for home in this, the third installment in Jack Campbell's 'The Lost Fleet' series.
Previously mentioned in the earlier books, the possibility of unknown alien intelligence becomes more pronounced in thsi one, particularly towards the end of the novel. It's becoming increasingly likely that Humans (spilt between the Syndicate Worlds and the Alliance) are not alone, after all ...
Previously mentioned in the earlier books, the possibility of unknown alien intelligence becomes more pronounced in thsi one, particularly towards the end of the novel. It's becoming increasingly likely that Humans (spilt between the Syndicate Worlds and the Alliance) are not alone, after all ...
Alexandria Walker (83 KP) rated A Quiet Place (2018) in Movies
Feb 26, 2020
Couldn't look away
Contains spoilers, click to show
I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, I love horrors and most of the time their cliche but this was epic, the music creating a dramatic atmosphere. The story of loss and life, the risks they took every day to survive.
The way to defeat the creatures was realised by the daughter and it was a truly mesmerising moment between mother and daughter.
I bet the second one they become one hell of a team to remove the rest of the alien creatures from earth.
The way to defeat the creatures was realised by the daughter and it was a truly mesmerising moment between mother and daughter.
I bet the second one they become one hell of a team to remove the rest of the alien creatures from earth.
Waiting for Kate Bush
Book
This is the b format version of the critically acclaimed book on the singer. In "Waiting for Kate...