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The gold standard for open-world action games is back, this time in the fascinating city of New...
RəX Regent (349 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983) in Movies
Mar 7, 2019
The weakest...
Contains spoilers, click to show
This is often thought of as the weakest of the original trilogy, and whilst I would agree with that, that's not to say that it is bad. The phenomenon which had begun with"Star Wars", six years earlier was about to conclude, or so we thought, with Jedi.
The first film had pioneered the technology and concepts of which to present and achieve such a franchise in the 1970′s and '80′s, and "The Empire Strikes Back" is still the benchmark for part twos, but where this film falls down is that it has sacrificed narrative quality for Lucas' realisation that he could finally do what he wanted, without any hindrance from studios or production limitations.
He had the best of best in visual effects with his Industrial Light and Magic, and he had a vision which had remained unrealised in the previous two films, such as the so called failed Cantina scene in "Star Wars", which is presented here, only this time in the walls of Jabba's palace.
The first half I believe, is George Lucas' real film. Monsters and Muppets, pure fantasy as our heroes wrap up the events of the previous film, and make their daring escape from Jabba the Hutt. The second part is almost a separate film, focusing quite rightly on the Empire and the destruction of the second Death Star. But this plot is very matter of fact, and has no real charm or heart, just epic visuals and a theatrical sense.
Meanwhile, Han Solo and Princess Leia are leading a rebel assault on the forest moon of Endor, populated by the most annoying Muppets of all the dreaded Ewoks! The Ewoks must be one of cinema's greatest misjudgments, the first real misstep in Lucas' handling of the "Star Wars Saga"; but with the prequels and the constant tinkering with the originals, this was to be the thin end of the wedge.
Don't get me wrong, there are plot elements revolving around the Muppets which I liked, such as the nature vs. technology metaphor, but that doesn't excuse the Ewoks and nothing ever will! But elements such as the Speedbike chase and the final battle, all of it, the final Vader/Luke dual, the assault of the Death Star itself, and even the ludicrous Ewok assault, are excellent, visually stunning and exiting and it is enough to save this film from being bogged down by the bad.
And like I said, the money grabbing, almost narratively illiterate George Lucas has damaged and defamed his franchise with his constant tinkering, firstly with the Special Edition in 1997, and then with his Enhanced Special Edition in 2004 for the DVD release.
Lucas is a visionary and has done so much for the film industry and we should be grateful but in the end, he needs to stop milking this franchise, stop pretending that it is never finished, when he has finished it THREE times now and realise that the best of the original trilogy was directed and written by other people, all of which display more talent. Lucas is not a good director but he is a good producer and he has brought this franchise to the screen and the movie industry is better for it. But the Special Editions bring nothing important to the mix, with the exception of the finale, which does carry more scope that 1983 original.
Overall, the weakest of the "Star Wars Trilogy" is a fair assessment and at its worst, it's still leagues above any entry in the prequels, even the Episode III, which is the closest to this high standards of this series.
The first film had pioneered the technology and concepts of which to present and achieve such a franchise in the 1970′s and '80′s, and "The Empire Strikes Back" is still the benchmark for part twos, but where this film falls down is that it has sacrificed narrative quality for Lucas' realisation that he could finally do what he wanted, without any hindrance from studios or production limitations.
He had the best of best in visual effects with his Industrial Light and Magic, and he had a vision which had remained unrealised in the previous two films, such as the so called failed Cantina scene in "Star Wars", which is presented here, only this time in the walls of Jabba's palace.
The first half I believe, is George Lucas' real film. Monsters and Muppets, pure fantasy as our heroes wrap up the events of the previous film, and make their daring escape from Jabba the Hutt. The second part is almost a separate film, focusing quite rightly on the Empire and the destruction of the second Death Star. But this plot is very matter of fact, and has no real charm or heart, just epic visuals and a theatrical sense.
Meanwhile, Han Solo and Princess Leia are leading a rebel assault on the forest moon of Endor, populated by the most annoying Muppets of all the dreaded Ewoks! The Ewoks must be one of cinema's greatest misjudgments, the first real misstep in Lucas' handling of the "Star Wars Saga"; but with the prequels and the constant tinkering with the originals, this was to be the thin end of the wedge.
Don't get me wrong, there are plot elements revolving around the Muppets which I liked, such as the nature vs. technology metaphor, but that doesn't excuse the Ewoks and nothing ever will! But elements such as the Speedbike chase and the final battle, all of it, the final Vader/Luke dual, the assault of the Death Star itself, and even the ludicrous Ewok assault, are excellent, visually stunning and exiting and it is enough to save this film from being bogged down by the bad.
And like I said, the money grabbing, almost narratively illiterate George Lucas has damaged and defamed his franchise with his constant tinkering, firstly with the Special Edition in 1997, and then with his Enhanced Special Edition in 2004 for the DVD release.
Lucas is a visionary and has done so much for the film industry and we should be grateful but in the end, he needs to stop milking this franchise, stop pretending that it is never finished, when he has finished it THREE times now and realise that the best of the original trilogy was directed and written by other people, all of which display more talent. Lucas is not a good director but he is a good producer and he has brought this franchise to the screen and the movie industry is better for it. But the Special Editions bring nothing important to the mix, with the exception of the finale, which does carry more scope that 1983 original.
Overall, the weakest of the "Star Wars Trilogy" is a fair assessment and at its worst, it's still leagues above any entry in the prequels, even the Episode III, which is the closest to this high standards of this series.
Awix (3310 KP) rated At the Earth's Core (1976) in Movies
Nov 10, 2018 (Updated Nov 10, 2018)
Second in Amicus's series of Burroughs-inspired pulp adventures with Doug McClure. Adventurers seeking to drill through the mountains from England to Wales take a wrong turn and end up in a terrifying wasteland dominated by sub-human beasts; it takes them a while to figure out their mistake. It turns out the Earth's core is ruled by evil giant pterodactyls with hypnotic powers - having taken a fancy to the local princess (Munro), the beefier of the visitors (McClure) resolves to sort the situation out.
One of the final examples of the kind of cheap and cheerful genre movie that the success of Star Wars the following year was to transform utterly. This one is notable for some of the worst man-in-a-suit monster effects ever seen outside Japan, the closest thing to a bad performance ever given by Peter Cushing, and an oddly inconsistent tone - much of it is rather juvenile, but some of the violence is a bit heavy for what often feels like a knockabout kid's film (the Earth's core is a wholly abstinent place - there isn't even the suggestion of funny business between McClure and Munro). The Iron Mole model is actually not bad, and the prog rock soundtrack certainly makes it distinctive. Kind of fun, in the end. Contains the line 'You can't mesmerise me, I'm British!'
One of the final examples of the kind of cheap and cheerful genre movie that the success of Star Wars the following year was to transform utterly. This one is notable for some of the worst man-in-a-suit monster effects ever seen outside Japan, the closest thing to a bad performance ever given by Peter Cushing, and an oddly inconsistent tone - much of it is rather juvenile, but some of the violence is a bit heavy for what often feels like a knockabout kid's film (the Earth's core is a wholly abstinent place - there isn't even the suggestion of funny business between McClure and Munro). The Iron Mole model is actually not bad, and the prog rock soundtrack certainly makes it distinctive. Kind of fun, in the end. Contains the line 'You can't mesmerise me, I'm British!'
David McK (3248 KP) rated Wraith Squadron (Star Wars: X-Wing, #5) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
How best to describe 'X-Wing: Wraith Squadron', the fifth book in the Star Wars series of books (loosely) based on the old video-games? I think the following exchange from the early part of the novel sums it up best (with Wedge speaking):
' " .. I'd originally thought that Rogue Squadron would be used opportunistically: a strike mission would reveal a ground-based weakness, and we'd have the training and supplies ot go down and perform the necessary ground mission. The way it turned out, we keep landing full-fledged commando missions. So I think we need another Commando X-Wing squadron, one where we choose pilots so as to have a full range of intrusion and subversion skills. Rogue Sqaudron was designed as a fighter unit first, commando unit second; this time, I want to go the other way around."
...
"I want pilots no one else want. Washouts. Pilots staring court-martials in the face. Trouble-makers and screw-ups." '
The rest of the novel deals, primarily, with the formation of that unit and their first mission, concentrating in particular on two members of that unit and their own internal battle against themselves.
While not the strongest of spin-off novels (and, maybe, slightly longer than it needs to be), this is still an enjoyable enough diversion for a couple of days light reading.
' " .. I'd originally thought that Rogue Squadron would be used opportunistically: a strike mission would reveal a ground-based weakness, and we'd have the training and supplies ot go down and perform the necessary ground mission. The way it turned out, we keep landing full-fledged commando missions. So I think we need another Commando X-Wing squadron, one where we choose pilots so as to have a full range of intrusion and subversion skills. Rogue Sqaudron was designed as a fighter unit first, commando unit second; this time, I want to go the other way around."
...
"I want pilots no one else want. Washouts. Pilots staring court-martials in the face. Trouble-makers and screw-ups." '
The rest of the novel deals, primarily, with the formation of that unit and their first mission, concentrating in particular on two members of that unit and their own internal battle against themselves.
While not the strongest of spin-off novels (and, maybe, slightly longer than it needs to be), this is still an enjoyable enough diversion for a couple of days light reading.
David McK (3248 KP) rated A Princess of Mars (Barsoom, #1) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
To most people, if you mention the name Edgar Rice Burroughs the first thing that they will think of, in all likelihood, is his creation of the character Tarzan. Alongside this, however, he also wrote the <i>Barsoom</i> series of books, of which this is the first (published in 1912).
Commonly regarded as classics of the Pulp Sci-Fi genre of books, and with the new Disney movie <i>John Carter of Mars</i> recently released (even if it is getting a panning from the critics), and finally with <i>The John Carter collection</i> (consisting of <i>A Princess of Mars</i>, <i>The Gods of Mars</i>, <i>The Warlord of Mars</i>, <i>Thuvia, Maid of Mars</i> and <i>The Chessmen of Mars</i>) available on Apple's ibooks stores for 99p, how could I resist picking them up?
Having now read the first book, it's easy to see the influence these particular novels had on later writings and popular culture. James Cameron is on record as stating this particular work as an influence on his movie <i>Avatar</i>, while it is also possible to trace elements of <i>Star Wars</i> (inspired by <i>Flash Gordon</i>, itself inspired by this) back to this work.
In short: this is pretty much a prime example of early pulp SF!
Commonly regarded as classics of the Pulp Sci-Fi genre of books, and with the new Disney movie <i>John Carter of Mars</i> recently released (even if it is getting a panning from the critics), and finally with <i>The John Carter collection</i> (consisting of <i>A Princess of Mars</i>, <i>The Gods of Mars</i>, <i>The Warlord of Mars</i>, <i>Thuvia, Maid of Mars</i> and <i>The Chessmen of Mars</i>) available on Apple's ibooks stores for 99p, how could I resist picking them up?
Having now read the first book, it's easy to see the influence these particular novels had on later writings and popular culture. James Cameron is on record as stating this particular work as an influence on his movie <i>Avatar</i>, while it is also possible to trace elements of <i>Star Wars</i> (inspired by <i>Flash Gordon</i>, itself inspired by this) back to this work.
In short: this is pretty much a prime example of early pulp SF!
David McK (3248 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019) in Movies
Dec 23, 2019 (Updated Apr 28, 2020)
Let's face it: no matter what JJ Abrams did, he was never going to please everyone.
Personally, I feel he wasn't helped by the fact that there was no clear over-arching strand to the sequel trilogy; no guiding hand (as it were) such as with Kevin Feige's role in the MCU, leaving each director free to do their own thing, to ignore what had went before or (as in this case) to blatantly attempt to fix what many see as the flaws of the previous film.
Set up as both the capper to this particular trilogy, and to the 9-movie Skywalker saga as a whole, Abrams was definitely NOT in an enviable position ...
It's hard to talk about this movie without giving too much of the plot away: I think it's fairly safe to say that Palpatine returns (he's in the trailers) for reasons, that the issue of Reys parentage is - again - brought up, and that this was intended to be Leia's movie (before Carrie Fisher passed away) in much the same way as The Force Awakens was Hans and that The Last Jedi was Luke's.
It also very much has a 'Return of the Jedi' feel to it, and seemingly lifts from the 'Legends' series of no-longer-canon Star Wars spin-offs, with the inclusion of the Katana fleet in all but name.
Personally, I feel he wasn't helped by the fact that there was no clear over-arching strand to the sequel trilogy; no guiding hand (as it were) such as with Kevin Feige's role in the MCU, leaving each director free to do their own thing, to ignore what had went before or (as in this case) to blatantly attempt to fix what many see as the flaws of the previous film.
Set up as both the capper to this particular trilogy, and to the 9-movie Skywalker saga as a whole, Abrams was definitely NOT in an enviable position ...
It's hard to talk about this movie without giving too much of the plot away: I think it's fairly safe to say that Palpatine returns (he's in the trailers) for reasons, that the issue of Reys parentage is - again - brought up, and that this was intended to be Leia's movie (before Carrie Fisher passed away) in much the same way as The Force Awakens was Hans and that The Last Jedi was Luke's.
It also very much has a 'Return of the Jedi' feel to it, and seemingly lifts from the 'Legends' series of no-longer-canon Star Wars spin-offs, with the inclusion of the Katana fleet in all but name.
Barry Newman (204 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019) in Movies
Jan 11, 2020
Contains spoilers, click to show
Well JJ Abrams certainly had a helluva job to do here, wrapping up a 42 year saga whilst addressing the criticisms made of episode 8 and creating an entertaining movie. Whilst this isn't a complete disaster like the 'Game Of Thrones' ending I still couldn't help but come out of this feeling underwhelmed and disappointed. I wanted wow instead it was just ok and completely lacking in the magic and memorable moments we have come to expect from the series. The first half of the film felt very muddled and disjointed, it did get better in the second half but overall the storytelling felt very safe. I think that was particularly reflected in the decision to resurrect Emperor Palpatine which personally I didn't like. Whilst certainly the weakest of the new trilogy it's not boring, it's a fast paced adventure that does answer some unanswered questions and there's still plenty of fun to be had seeing all the spectacular effects millions of Disney dollars can buy. Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley also continue to turn in decent performances as Rey and Kylo Ren (shame the same can't really be said for the rest of the cast). So as the finale to the 9 film Star Wars saga it's sorely lacking but as a bog standard action blockbuster it's reasonably entertaining.
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