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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2021 11:00:36 GMT
Supergirl (1984) I thoroughly enjoyed this for the first time in a while. Helen Slater is hands down the best actress to play a female superhero. She's so charismatic and lovely. I also love Faye Dunaway as the evil sorceress. Jerry Goldsmith's score is fantastic too, if not as iconic as John Williams' stuff for Superman. The visual effects are surprisingly good especially the flying sequences. I'd argue that the effects in this are better than in Superman II and IV. It has that mid 80s charm and I like how it doesn't take itself too seriously. It has fun with the nonsensical elements of the film and a lot of the actors in the film are camping it up. It's a charming spectacle with fantasy elements thrown in which, in a big way, help distinguish the film from the Reeve Superman flicks. I like it a lot. 7.5/10 God, she's so gorgeous! Can't wait to watch her again when I sit down and watch Secret of my Success.
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Post by iank on Aug 21, 2021 21:30:21 GMT
Miracle Mile. A young man (Anthony Edwards) finally meets his dream girl and after spending the day together, arranges to meet her after her work shift at 12:15am, only to fall asleep and end up very, very late. Arriving at the all-night diner where she works, he makes the mistake of picking up a ringing phone only to overhear a garbled message from a frantic soldier - who thinks he's calling his dad - that nuclear war is coming and the missiles will be there within the hour. Edwards tries to find his girl and somehow get out of the city, but as word spreads chaos erupts all over, with no one even sure if the call was real or just a sick joke. This paranoid late 80s thriller remains very effective, having the feel of a nightmare that the main character is trapped within.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2021 22:03:28 GMT
Going to watch Labyrinth tomorrow (I was planning to watch it tonight but I'm too sleepy). I've only ever seen it once, but I liked it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2021 16:13:44 GMT
Going to watch Labyrinth tomorrow (I was planning to watch it tonight but I'm too sleepy). I've only ever seen it once, but I liked it. I've always found the Doctor's lack of involvement in that film to be, well, a problem. It's a very violent film too and I don't like that. I know it's only a U, but I don't think I would let anyone under the age of fifteen watch it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2021 16:19:36 GMT
Going to watch Labyrinth tomorrow (I was planning to watch it tonight but I'm too sleepy). I've only ever seen it once, but I liked it. I've always found the Doctor's lack of involvement in that film to be, well, a problem. It's a very violent film too and I don't like that. I know it's only a U, but I don't think I would let anyone under the age of fifteen watch it. You mean you took time out of watching Warriors of the Deep on a continuous loop and actually watched something else? I'm sorry, I just don't believe you.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2021 10:43:31 GMT
Superman II (1980) I enjoyed this although I'm still not convinced it's the best Superman sequel or that it's better than the original film. The film opens well with an exciting recap of the events of the first outing. We then get a tense and well filmed sequence on the Eiffel Tower where Superman saves a bomb from going of. Unfortunately, when he throws it into space he inadvertently releases three criminal Kryptonians from their imprisonment in the Phantom Zone. The villains themselves are very memorable and powerful with the sexy Sarah Douglas being my absolute favourite out of the bunch (sorry Terence Stamp!). I also enjoy the return of the excellent Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor as well his cronies Otis and Miss Teschmacher. There's also the continuation of love story between Superman and Lois which ultimately results in Superman giving up his powers to be with her forever. As this happens Zod and his followers invade Earth, taking over the White House in the process. I've always found the action sequences in this film to be quite mixed. The special effects and flying sequences aren't as spectacular as they were in the original film. I do however like when they take on the army in the small town. The bit with the helicopter crashing into the barn is pretty cool too. Eventually Superman gets his powers back and takes on the three villains in a memorable battle in the city of Metropolis. It's primitive, but it's exciting too. There's a lot of creativity in the battle too; it's not just people punching each other again and again. Superman eventually lures the villains back to the Fortress and manages to rid them all of their special powers. He realizes that he can't be with Lois now and gives her the famous and controversial amnesia kiss (something that has never really bothered me) to make her forget about the events of the movie. Superman II is a film that almost succeeds in effectively juggling humour, suspense, action, adventure and romance. Though this sometimes leads to many scenes having an uneven tone, I still think they work. I don't think this is the perfect Superman adventure. There's a lot of stuff that I thought could have been better. The back and forth between Lester's direction and Donner's is jarring and sometimes the film feels cheap compared to the original. The story is interesting though and there is plenty of eye candy on screen (mmmm Ursa) to distract from the things that don't work. It's a product of its time and while some of it doesn't hold up that well I still think it's a decent instalment in the series and better than a lot of other superhero movies. 7/10
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2021 12:38:58 GMT
Superman Returns (2006)
Superman Returns is one of two great nostalgia movies from 2006, the other of course being Rocky Balboa. This is the only Superman movie I've seen at the cinema and as a kid I was blown away by it. Fifteen years on, I still like Superman Returns despite the dour tone and the fact that it's at least twenty minutes too long. It's not perfect nor is it the cinematic abomination fans will have you believe. It ends up being a satisfactory take on the Man of Steel by bringing him into the modern world while still honouring the classic Donner/Lester films. It feels structurally similar to the original film and it's the only sequel that really matches it in terms of scope and scale. The last hour is full of iconic action sequences. Superman saves multiple people in Metropolis before heading out to sea to save Lois and her son from drowning in Luthor's yacht. It's very tense and exciting, perhaps more so than the memorable plane sequence at the beginning of the film. Routh, Spacey and Bosworth do a good job in the roles of Superman, Lex and Lois and do the original actors proud. The score by John Ottman is also one of my favourites from the series. There are a few faults with the film, though. Sometimes it feels quite gloomy and miserable although not to the extent of Man of Steel or the other modern takes on Superman. It does have humour to liven things up a bit which is always nice. Its heart is generally in the right place and it's emotionally investing. I do feel that the last thirty minutes or so are stretched out. I started checking the time at points wondering how long was actually left as it seemed to go on for ages. Overall, it's one of the more successful offerings from the series. It's not as good as the original or III, but I slightly prefer it over II and obviously it's a better movie than IV. In the end, as much as I would have loved to see a sequel, I'm glad they ended the series here. Superman comes full circle and even has a kid of his own to follow his lead now. Underrated stuff.
7.5/10
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Post by Bernard Marx on Aug 26, 2021 18:18:59 GMT
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) I realize now that this movie is pretty shit, especially compared to the earlier instalments in the franchise. Is there a director's cut of the film out there somewhere? I've heard from the odd source here and there that there might be. Oh- and yeah, Superman IV is rubbish.
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Post by Brian MK.II on Aug 26, 2021 18:34:40 GMT
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) I realize now that this movie is pretty shit, especially compared to the earlier instalments in the franchise. I like Lacy a lot and the music is great, but the plot, tone, structure, acting, cinematography, direction, set design and pretty much everything else is lousy to the extreme. I did have a lot of affection for this film, but I'm afraid it died an agonising death over the course of this rewatch. Cannon really screwed up and the editor who decided to cut out forty five minutes worth of scenes out of the movie, some of which were essential to the plot, deserves a slap. It looks horrendous at times and it lacks of the spark of the first three films as well as the wonder and magic of Supergirl. The Salkinds should never have given the rights to Cannon in the first place. Thankfully, Superman Returns redeemed the series in 2006. 2/10 Who are you and what have you done with the real Maxil?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2021 21:25:39 GMT
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) I realize now that this movie is pretty shit, especially compared to the earlier instalments in the franchise. Is there a director's cut of the film out there somewhere? I've heard from the odd source here and there that there might be. Oh- and yeah, Superman IV is rubbish. There's a 135 minute cut in the vaults somewhere. 45 minutes were cut out of it including scenes with the first Nuclear Man, the Metro Club date, extended fight sequences and a scene where Nuclear Man turns himself into a bomb and heads for the Soviet Union. A lot of these scenes would have made the movie much better because it feels quite thin at just under 90 minutes long.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2021 12:52:23 GMT
Superman: the Movie (1978)
An absolute masterpiece as far as I'm concerned. Although III is my favourite of the series, the original is clearly the best of the bunch with an epic story which takes the viewer from the planet of Krypton to the streets of Metropolis in an interesting way. Donner obviously respects the lure of the character and makes sure he tells the audience the fascinating origin story in a captivating and charming way. This, in my opinion, makes the movie slightly better than Tim Burton's Batman. It just feels so much bigger and the action sequences are done with so much care and creativity that they still thrill today. The visual effects and well as the flying scenes are absolutely breath-taking especially for a movie from over forty years ago. John Williams provides his best work to date and Christopher Reeve and Gene Hackman give brilliant, memorable performances as Superman and Lex respectively. Lex himself is one of my favourite villains and I rate his version of Lex as my absolute favourite. I love his followers too. It's a splendid superhero film with plenty of heart and spectacle. I'm going to give it a 9.5 instead of a 10 because Gus Gorman isn't in it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2021 16:18:37 GMT
Neverending Story II: the next chapter (1990) A mixed bag really. Some stunning cinematography and great set design, but the story isn't as involving as the original's plot. The music and performance aren't as good either. None of the replacement actors match the original ones and Fantasia feels a bit off and a lot less magical. However, the film is moderately entertaining thanks to Clarissa Burt as Xayide. She's hot and she's having a lot of fun,which is always good. The film does have some emotional scenes like Atreyu's death and Bastian losing the final memory of his mother. The end credit songs are pretty good too. Overall, not great but not a bad way to spend an hour and a half. I much prefer III over this. 6/10 I'm going to regrade the film to a 7/10. I was reflecting on it earlier and to be honest there were more pros than than were cons. The kids, although not as good as the original lot, weren't terrible and I like the score and the movie songs (Dreams we Dream is actually a better song than Limahl's Neverending Story). I also like how the father finds out about the book in this one and follows his son's adventure in Fantasia. Set design and cinematography are great and the film covers the second half of the book nicely. Xayide is still my favourite thing about it, though. She's absolutely gorgeous as well. It's easy to see why Bastian is so conflicted when he meets her. It deserves more than 5.2 on IMDB. That site really is screwed. Even Superman III is lower than this with a 5.0/10. Realistically they should both be in the 6s.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2021 21:16:34 GMT
Superman III (1983)
I saved my favourite until last. This holds up significantly better than people say it does. Richard Lester also gets to show that he's a good director too. It's probably the best looking of the Christopher Reeve films with excellent special effects, epic action sequences and the gorgeous Annette O'Toole and Pamela Stephenson. Stephenson plays a dumb blonde who is really quite smart, but she hides it from her boss Ross Webster. Webster is played by Robert Vaughan and he's a decent substitute for Lex. The real star of the show however isn't him or even Superman, but the loveable computer hacker Gus Gorman whose exploits in the film inspired the film Office Space. Pryor is a funny guy and I love the charisma he's got. Superman III is really the story of how his character Gus goes from rags to riches by unfortunately being forced into a conspiracy to do away with the man of steel. The villains create a Kryptonite which when exposed to Superman causes him to turn into a sleaze. He bangs Pamela (who wouldn't?) and causes all sorts of trouble notably when he straightens the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Things eventually come to ahead when he splits into two and battles his alter ego, Clark Kent, in a vicious duel in a deserted junkyard. It's a dated battle, but the idea behind it is fantastic and honestly they did a good job with the technology they had. The most exciting action scene though is when Superman has to dodgy about fifty missiles in mid-air and then take on a super computer with a mind of it's own. He even battles a cyborg woman briefly. This movie is insane, but I like it that way. Even the romance between Lana and Clark in Smallville is very pleasant and entertaining, more so than the Lois and Superman arc from the first two movies. I think it's great fun personally. I'm sick to death of the hate this movie gets. It doesn't deserve it, not in the least. It's a superb 80s sequel. They even say it's underrated in Office Space itself.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2021 22:15:59 GMT
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) I realize now that this movie is pretty shit, especially compared to the earlier instalments in the franchise. I like Lacy a lot and the music is great, but the plot, tone, structure, acting, cinematography, direction, set design and pretty much everything else is lousy to the extreme. I did have a lot of affection for this film, but I'm afraid it died an agonising death over the course of this rewatch. Cannon really screwed up and the editor who decided to cut out forty five minutes worth of scenes out of the movie, some of which were essential to the plot, deserves a slap. It looks horrendous at times and it lacks of the spark of the first three films as well as the wonder and magic of Supergirl. The Salkinds should never have given the rights to Cannon in the first place. Thankfully, Superman Returns redeemed the series in 2006. 2/10 Who are you and what have you done with the real Maxil? I was perhaps too harsh on it. Maybe it was a bad viewing or something. I like it most times that I watch it. I feel bad actually for trashing it like that which is why I deleted the review. It was a heat of the moment type of thing. I can't really hate a movie that has the dreamy Mariel Hemingway in it or Christopher Reeve as Superman. I'll take a break from it and watch it again in a few years and hopefully my enthusiasm for it comes back.
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Post by Brian MK.II on Aug 28, 2021 11:46:36 GMT
Managed to catch The World Is Not Enough on ITV4 last night and to be honest, having re-watched Tomorrow Never Dies a few months back, I might be mellowing towards it and the era slightly. It's still not a particular good film and has many many foibles, namely the inconsistent tone, dreary visual style and dull last act and one of the dullest Bond girls that makes the likes of Goodnight and Rosie bleeding Carver look like well rounded classic characters in comparison. But I'll say it's better than TND in that it has a good central idea and Brosnan is better here and not doing an Moore lite, as are Sophie Macaerua and although he's slightly wasted towards the end, Robert Carlyle's Renard is better than Elliot Carver. David Arnold's score is great and I've always liked Garbage's theme for it. I'd push it to a 5.5/10 as it's still filled with flaws and plot holes that you could drive a T55 through but I appreciate it at least trying to go into new territory and shake things up a bit.
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