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Reviews
Akira (1988)
Akira, I give it a 5
This movie is not in the same league with PRINCESS MONONOKE. I tried it based on the high rating given by the viewers, but was very disappointed. I am an older man and must have an aversion to heroes who are uneducated slacker bike gangers that the new generation doesn't. If I can't identify with the hero the movie is a bust with me. The story is supposed to start 31 years after WW III, in a city called Neo-Tokyo. The city is in a decline and its easy to see why with the police unable to stop biker gangs, and the high schools not teaching the students. Also there is terrorist activity to overthrow the government. I gave it 5/10 in deference to its technical brilliance. Try Princess Mononoke for a 10/10 experience.
The Master of Disguise (2002)
No way is this worthy of being in bottom 100
I am surprised by the vitriol this movie is getting. It was very humorous to me. The people giving it 1's to 4's just don't know what truly bad is. I am 48 so I can say I've probably seen a lot more bad movies than most and this does not deserve that label. Sure the direction and plot could have been better, but I could say that about a lot of movies. I have had my cable disconnected for about 8 years so I did not know Jennifer Esposito before seeing her in this movie. I liked her so much I looked her up in IMDB to see what else she had done. I got the DVD(after the price was reduced) and learned that they had thought of making "The Cuteness" the grandfather in disguise. I am glad that impossible nonsense was cut, It would have cut my rating by 2 points. My rating 7.
Death Race 2000 (1975)
A Classic to view often
This movie is a classic that I enjoy every time. It is so hilarious. Wonderful premise with nudity and cartoony violence. The filmmakers did a great job of entertaining me with a minuscule budget. Many movies with 20 times the budget are complete throw-aways and busts as entertainment. In my opinion this movie misses a 10 rating by a hair because of a few continuity errors and point total addition errors. I love the crosswalk light that flashes RUN!! when the cars start racing. My rating 9.
The Feminist and the Fuzz (1971)
Better than average TV movie
I saw this movie when it first came out on TV. As a 16 year old I really appreciated the sight of Barbara Eden in a Bunny suit. It has many familiar faces and a pleasant story line. Nothing objectionable and good for the whole family. I give it an 8 and would certainly buy it on DVD if it becomes available.
The Foreigner (2003)
Seagal no longer means action
This film has Seagal at his heaviest so his action moves were poorly done. The plot is incomprehensible and the bad guys are idiots. For professional assassins they all talk too much to Seagal so he can turn the tales on them. Also Seagal was held too much at gunpoint to make it believable that he could have ever lived to be his age. On small package in a train station blows up a huge building while looking like many large bombs exploding in sequence. There was too much gratuitous violence and not enough "socially redeeming value". This earns a 5/10 from me.
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Better than given credit for
I think this movie is dismissed too easily by some of the reviewers. Moore is my favorite bond although Brosnan is good. How can people say this is the worst Bond Movie when you have DR.No and Thunderball. Everyone mentions the ruined car jump scene with the comic whistle and they are right. That decision should have lost someone their job. This does not distract from the movie as much as the tarantula on a glass sheet in DR.No. Tarantulas are not dangerous so Connery could have let it be on him instead of the cheesy special effect. However most people don't like Sheriff Pepper, I loved it. Britt Ekland was a weak bond girl but she filled the bikini nicely. All in all this is an enjoyable movie that can be watched many times. I give it 8/10.
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
Maybe the best western ever
An earlier critic said this was pure fantasy. Maybe in the characters personalities if they are historical like "Bloody Bill" Anderson. But this movie was accurate in the guns used in the Civil War. Perhaps the blackpowder guns did not smoke as much as they should and they never jammed due to a cap getting caught in the works. Josey always had plenty of shooting irons like the border raiders would in case of malfunction and the complicated reloading with cap and ball pistols. This may be the best ever western with only a few in the same league. (Ride the High Country,The Professionals,The Wild Bunch,The Tall Men & Big Jake & The Shootist) come to mind without too much thought. Anyway, for the acting,story,casting I give this 9/10, and wonder if it should be a 10.
Home Alone (1990)
laugh out loud funny
This movie got me laughing. The boy really messes up the burglars. The sequel Home Alone 2 is much worse because the tricks he uses there would kill the bandits in real life, so I did not enjoy it. Anyway this one gets my vote as 8/10.
The Angry Red Planet (1959)
There's lots worse out there
I saw this movie in the theater when I was 5 years old and it stayed in my memory all these years. By today's standards it comes up short, but I've seen movies with hundreds of times the budget that were a lot worse. Sure the acting is bad, but anything John Wayne did before 1939 could not be called good acting either. This movie does have some positives working for it. The female among the 4 astronauts is a biologist/zoologist and is not just window-dressing. The martian monsters and landscape/city are imaginative. They had some kind of 1g drive that allowed their rather capacious spacecraft to not need zero gravity effects, although they could have showed the turnover at the halfway point. All in all this is not the stinker some other viewers have labeled it. My score 6/10.
Resurrection (1999)
very good
I saw this on TV about 4 years ago and really liked it. It inspired me to buy the movie version on VHS with Burstyn. The other version is good also, but not in my memory as good as this one. Either one is a movie that will move you. Highly recommended.
Congo (1995)
lighten up
I just watched the DVD version of this movie years after I first saw this movie at the theater. I liked it better with the second viewing. While it is true that most books are better than the movie it is not always so. This book and Sphere were both rotten in my opinion and the movie "Sphere" would get a 5/10 from me. However this movie was entertaining and not boring so it gets a 7/10. I don't understand how anyone can justify giving any serious movie a 1 or 2 rating unless they are trying to pull the rating down so one of their favorites is higher rated. I do not agree with a lot of the reviews posted here. Amy never annoyed me and the special effects were not bad. Even the acting was not so bad. Lighten up everybody and enjoy the movie.
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
A thought provoking time travel film
I did not see this film when it came out. I should have because it is a solidly acted and entertaining movie. Turner was great, but I have to say that Nicolas Cage's voice was kind of irritating. I let my annoyance go and thought his self-absorbed teenager act was OK. This movie had a lot of good quotes and the one I liked is--- Peggy Sue(while sneaking a drink of her father's liquor): Hell, I'm probably dead anyway.
This movie asks the question what would you change if you had knowledge of the future. A solid 7/10 that might get higher on repeated viewings.
Sign of the Pagan (1954)
Entertaining
This movie can no more be taken as history than Gladiator, but it is entertaining. You can take it as a might of been as it sets the scene in the Roman Empire as Attila the Hun was menacing invasion. Jack Palance does a fine job as Attila. By the way his name is pronounced At-ill-a not A-Till-a. I gave it a 7/10.
Black Moon Rising (1986)
good action/stunts
I must have been one of the only people to watch this when it first came out. I liked it and give it 7/10. A movie with Tommy Lee Jones and Linda Hamilton can't be too bad. They did a good acting job and made a believable couple. There's a whole lot of worse movies out there.
Soldier (1998)
Very good
I watched this at the theater and on dvd. I enjoyed it very much and the only quibble I have is that Kurt seems to have killed more enemy soldiers than there were against him. I enjoyed the commentary track also. I only give a movie a rating above 7 if I can watch it multiple times, this one got a 9.