Rate the Last Movie You Watched

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Capt.Toilet

Good news everyone!
Feb 16, 2004
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Thanks god Battleship bombed its opening weekend domestically. Hey guys lets take a popular board game name and make it a generic hollywood alien boom boom smash affair, that will win audiences.
 

Manticore

Official BUF Angel of Death (also Birthdays)
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Nov 5, 2003
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Thanks god Battleship bombed its opening weekend domestically. Hey guys lets take a popular board game name and make it a generic hollywood alien boom boom smash affair, that will win audiences.

I nominate Monopoly..... block wars!

2011-08-30-fallout_monopoly_banner-533x386.jpg
 
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IronMonkey

Moi?
Apr 23, 2005
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The Alien Quadrilogy boxset is going fairly cheaply here on blue ray so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Not to take away from the films, but it is worth noting the video quality on these. For Alien and Aliens, the quality was outstanding. As a result, I was able to really appreciate the look of those two movies. In particular, the lighting and look was beautiful and the blue ray transfer really brought that out. Alien 3 was one of films that did not benefit from blue ray. Nothing terribly wrong but there was no detail there to appreciate and the deliberately grainy look didn't benefit from the blue ray. Alien Resurrection didn't really benefit all that much either.

Alien 9/10

Some of what takes place in Alien might seem commonplace these days but at the time it was a stunning revelation. It is hard to imagine a modern film being marketed as much for its art direction as plot, stars etc. I'm glad to report that it still looks as good as ever and surprisingly undated.

As noted above, some of the lighting in the earlier scenes is gorgeous.

Is it still scary? Yup. No two ways about it, this is a scary movie. It has, I think, the advantage of possessing the most deadly incarnation of the Alien. It is obvious as the series progresses that the Aliens are becoming less powerful, less deadly. It's sort of like the way weapon balance from earlier FPS games has been toned down in modern FPS games. It is necessary in order to give the red shirts more than 30s seconds of screen time but that doesn't mean I approve.

There really isn't much to fault. Special effects are fine (great for the time), the soundtrack is first class and, yes, I've just changed 8.5 in the score to 9.

Aliens 7/10

I hated this film first time round because of the very clumsy foreshadowing.

We learn early on that Ripley has a class 2 licence for the exo-skeleton and at that point one knows the Alien gets on the ship. The next hour and a half was a boring wait for that to happen.

This time around I was more forgiving and so was able to enjoy the undoubted pleasures of the film. There was a certain amount of deja vu all over again. Yet another Cameron film set in an isolated establishment with an uneasy mix of military and civilians!

That said, the action was great. More action than horror this time round but still a very good looking film. Less effective than the original but still a very good effort.

Alien 3 3/10

Oh dear! A buffed Charles Dance was unconvincing as a former convict, an implausible cast of grotesques and a romance that would not have been out of place in a Merchant-Ivory production killed the pacing for this outing. After about an hour or so things start to pick up a little but too little too late.

I read on the Wikipedia page about Alien 3 that production started without a completed script. That I can believe.

Watch this for completism but not for entertainment.

Alien Resurrection 6.5/10

After the previous outing, my expectations were not high. This surely would be dredging the depths of the franchise for those last few dollars. It was a pleasant surprise then to get a fairly decent action movie. The aliens were the least threatening in the entire series but there were a few shocks and thrills.

Decent and workmanlike rather than outstanding.

It was interesting in this to see elements that would eventually reappear in Firefly. The Betty is Firefly, the scraping a somewhat illegal living at the edge of the society, several crew members had direct analogues with the Firefly crew, USM is the Alliance etc.
 

NeoNite

Starsstream
Dec 10, 2000
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Actually, it would make more sense rating alien resurrection a 3. Especially because of weaver's meddling.. f.e. the mating scene. Not to mention the resulting catastrophy.
 

IronMonkey

Moi?
Apr 23, 2005
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Ahh! I forgot to mention Weedon's massively annoying inability to keep a consistent time/space/speed constant (true also of Firefly).

At the end, the ship is out beyond the "outer rim" and cryosleep is still needed for interstellar travel and yet it makes it back to its home location in less than three hours.
 
I'll be the first to admit that Alien 3 has its problems (bunch of bald british guys you can't tell apart who f-bomb every other word gets old real quick, but the film's great crime is that it simply isn't scary). But it's Citizen Kane compared to the abortion that was Alien Resurrection.
 

ambershee

Nimbusfish Rawks
Apr 18, 2006
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Iron Sky - 8/10

Definitely a 'big screen' film that probably wouldn't have the same impact at home. If you're expecting a ridiculously b-movie style romp, you'll probably be a little disappointed, as this is a politically charged comedy with extremely high production values and a versement in Internet humour. The cinema applauded when it was finished, and stayed to watch the entirety of credits - an extreme rarity.
 

Manticore

Official BUF Angel of Death (also Birthdays)
Staff member
Nov 5, 2003
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Iron Sky - 8/10

Definitely a 'big screen' film that probably wouldn't have the same impact at home. If you're expecting a ridiculously b-movie style romp, you'll probably be a little disappointed, as this is a politically charged comedy with extremely high production values and a versement in Internet humour. The cinema applauded when it was finished, and stayed to watch the entirety of credits - an extreme rarity.

Dang. I was intending to see this on DVD. I'd better see if it's still in cinemas here.
 

ambershee

Nimbusfish Rawks
Apr 18, 2006
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It was one day only here in the UK. The DVD release is in October :) - there is one available, but it's by Revolver who pretty much ripped these guys off, so they won't be getting any of my pennies. Plus the October release has loads of special features.
 

Capt.Toilet

Good news everyone!
Feb 16, 2004
5,826
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Ottawa, KS
Chernobyl Diaries - 6/10

Basically The Hills have Eyes set in Pripyat. The movie itself does have some spooky moments and most of the scares are the usual close up affair. Above average affair at best but certainly not the worst.
 

IronMonkey

Moi?
Apr 23, 2005
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I'll be the first to admit that Alien 3 has its problems (bunch of bald british guys you can't tell apart who f-bomb every other word gets old real quick, but the film's great crime is that it simply isn't scary).
I think you are being too generous to Alien 3. The whole doomed romance was seriously misjudged. Put Weaver and Dance in antebellum Edwardian costume, move it to Tuscany, give Ripley consumption rather than a chest burster and you wouldn't have to change any of the dialogue.

I can see that the romance has the potential to be interesting but not in the third instalment of a horror movie franchise. The wrong place and time to be trying to subvert expectations in that manner and a direct contributor to the lack of scary.

Living in the UK, it happens that I can tell the bald British guys apart but rest assured that the ability does not make Alien 3 any more enjoyable. :)

But it's Citizen Kane compared to the abortion that was Alien Resurrection.
LOL. Clearly my mileage has varied! :)
 

Tux Android

Voice Pack Penguin
May 19, 2011
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From Prada to Nada (2011)
Extensive style for the bi-cultural family over the spell of Latin Americans, but the film got the little tasteless humor and satire features.
Grade: C+

Safe (2012)
The film is pretty good for the action genre. Cheap skills and tactics with violence is worth well done. Jason Statham is quite fun. :)
Grade: B+
 
I think you are being too generous to Alien3

I do admit that I tend to defend it a bit. Yeah. It certainly is a flawed movie, but there are moments in there that stuck with me even if the whole picture kinda falls flat. To this day I still very much like the score and the representation of the alien. I also quite like the locations and the visual look to everything, very distinct. But as an aliens movie...the story ain't there and neither are the memorable characters or the spook factor.

In comparison, I simply hated most everything about Resurrection. The way everyone talks is...weird, the music sucks, there is simply no attempt at horror, and it's the first film in the series to lack any kind of visual signature. Just so generic. What baffles me is that there are a great many actors in this movie that I love. The special effects have also aged the worst in this one of all the main series entries.
 
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