Movies you've just watched

[BIL]

Bemused to see my Roland Emmerich detector still works. Sounds fun, might give it a watch for old times' sake. ("old times" meaning Godzilla '98 )

[Herr Schatten]

Godzilla '98

The big Lizard in that movie is not Godzilla.

[BIL]

It sure got fucked up good by the real thing in Final Wars.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

The Warrior - I liked this one. It’s about brothers that both fight in MMA. They have a really messed up family. Even worse than mine. I couldn’t believe it.

Geronimo - Wes Studi is an awesome actor and is probably one of my all time favorite actors. He always does an amazing job in every single movie that he’s in. It’s phenomenal really. But this movie just doesn’t have much else going for it. Jason Patrick does a decent job here too. Not enough to save this one.

Taxi Driver - Don’t think I’ve ever seen this one all the way through before. Has some interesting shots in it. But does it really need to be two hours long? Takes too long to reach the conclusion. I’m sure it’s a significant movie or whatever…

Donnie Brasco - It was ok not much going on. No where near being my favorite gangster movie. Watchable but definitely bottom of the barrel for gangster movies.

Batman Begins - I forgot how good this movie was. Probably the best Batman movie. Really close to being the perfect superhero movie. Everyone’s performance is really on point. Except for Katie Holmes. I have no idea why she is in this and her performance really drags this movie down. I guess Tom Cruise got her in this? It’s really weird and strange to me that she was even cast in this.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Yes, Madam! (1985) - 7,5/10
Weird mix of absolute top shelf kung fu & stunt action in the beginning and end and an overabundance of retarded comedy in between involving Tsui Hark of all things. Michelle Yeoh is in top form. Was surprised to see how fucking hard everybody in this film hits, the filming must have been hell.

Royal Warriors (1986) - 8/10
Cons: an annoying Michael Wong. Pros: that asshole dies and then it's revenge time. Michelle Yeoh driving a tank and fighting a baddy with a chainsaw. A lot more action than in In the Line of Duty 1/ Yes, Madam!.

In the Line of Duty III (1988) - 7/10
Cynthia Khan takes over from Michelle Yeoh and does a pretty decent job. Has fewer action scenes than Royal Warriors, but still enough, and Dick Wei is a delight as usual.

Night of the Demons (1987) - 6/10
Some nice special/ gore effects (and some mediocre ones), some T&A, great sets, moody lighting with lots of blacks. Unfortunately, the story is paper thin, the characters are mostly obnoxious, and the film is quite boring. Totally undeserved cult status, if you ask me.

[emphatic]

Yes, Madam! (1985) - 7,5/10
Weird mix of absolute top shelf kung fu & stunt action in the beginning and end and an overabundance of retarded comedy in between involving Tsui Hark of all things. Michelle Yeoh is in top form. Was surprised to see how fucking hard everybody in this film hits, the filming must have been hell.

Royal Warriors (1986) - 8/10
Cons: an annoying Michael Wong. Pros: that asshole dies and then it's revenge time. Michelle Yeoh driving a tank and fighting a baddy with a chainsaw. A lot more action than in In the Line of Duty 1/ Yes, Madam!.

In the Line of Duty III (1988) - 7/10
Cynthia Khan takes over from Michelle Yeoh and does a pretty decent job. Has fewer action scenes than Royal Warriors, but still enough, and Dick Wei is a delight as usual.

Sounds like great fun, thanks for the tip.

[drauch]

Round it out with In the Line of Duty IV, cause that movie is sick as well.

[xxx1993]

Fistful of Vengeance. How fitting this Netflix movie comes out the same day as The King of Fighters XV. It’s also a sequel to Wu Assassins.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Dune (Part One/2021)

My local cinema dropped this to a graveyard slot very quickly (half 8 on a school night for a 2.5 hour film?!) so picked up the home release.

Absolutely loved it. I wasn't sure about dropping the opening from Lynch's Dune with the Emperor and the Navigator, because of how well it set up a) the film and b) the visual design. However it works, with the Emperor's motivations being hinted at - along with everyone else's being hinted at too. The Bene Gesserit, Atreides and Harkonnen all have hints of varying subtlety as to their ultimate objectives. Whilst Feyd is absent, there's a nod to him from the Bene Gesserit so hoping he gets some deserved build-up in the sequel

As I mentioned previously, this film covers the bit which Lynch's Dune did largely very well. It expands on all the right areas, most importantly on the Bene Gesserit and the Atreides maybe not being outright good guys but also giving Duncan something to do other than say hello to Paul.

While the Baron's portrayal in Lynch's Dune is obviously problematic, the scene with the servant boy and the heart plug really hammered home how cruel and sadistic the Baron was - I kind of miss it here.

I really liked:
More Duncan. This really goes to town on Duncan, more interaction with Paul, actually showing him as an elite soldier (including as a pilot and not going out like a chump), and nice call back to his death in Lynch's Dune with him facing a slow-down bullet
The visuals. Slow and deliberate, really takes in the scale of the whole affair
Paul being frightened by his premonitions as a religious figure in a holy war
Rabban being a brutal butcher, not a pigshit-thick fat idiot
Exposition being added as a wonderfully tired-voiced educational film, instead of narration and internal monologue
Lady Jessica's portrayal

I didn't like:
De Vries just kind of standing around looking evil
No mention of Dr. Yueh's conditioning
Dr. Kynes being made more mysterious - is she Chani's mother? Is she really a Fremen? Why does she take forever to show up?
Lack of the Spacing Guild and their motivations
Spice and its importance is massively downplayed
I'm not sure about Zendaya's portrayal of Chani. She doesn't have much to do but seems rather flat and empty when she does

Though I expect part two may address some of the above.

On the whole, excellent and thoroughly engaging. I guess the story stopped at the time skip so only natural I have to wait it out for part two!

[emphatic]

Round it out with In the Line of Duty IV, cause that movie is sick as well.

Sir, yes sir!

[Ixmucane2]

Uncharted

Young amateur treasure hunter Nathan Drake is contacted by "professional" treasure hunter Sully to work on an old project Drake and his brother have been studying for a long time: the gold Magellan purportedly collected in his world circumnavigation trip. Although (surprisingly) not recovering Drake's missing brother, they find and lose the treasure, establishing a promising friendship as their getaway helicopter flies into the sunset.

The plot has strange defects (for example, the bad guys have an unmotivated inclination for unnecessary murder and nobody seems capable of organizing a proper expedition), serious weaknesses (mutual betrayal and stealing seems to be the normal ethical standard for treasure hunters, ensuring that every character is psychologically limited and implausible) and terrible holes (for example, how the gold is "hidden" where random tourists would be likely to find it).
There are preposterous but in a way well-scripted action scenes pìled on top of each other. Special mention: Drake is hit by a car in free fall. It happens in a flash-forward at the very beginning, which turns out to be close to the end of the adventure (just before successfully competing with Fast & Furious by making good use of SPOILER, SPOILER and even SPOILER in a fight between two SPOILER attached to SPOILER).
On the good side, the large segment set in Barcelona (where Magellan's crew returned) appropriates and repurposes many popular locations in appropriate and funny ways.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Yes, Madam! (1985) - 7,5/10
Weird mix of absolute top shelf kung fu & stunt action in the beginning and end and an overabundance of retarded comedy in between involving Tsui Hark of all things. Michelle Yeoh is in top form. Was surprised to see how fucking hard everybody in this film hits, the filming must have been hell.

Royal Warriors (1986) - 8/10
Cons: an annoying Michael Wong. Pros: that asshole dies and then it's revenge time. Michelle Yeoh driving a tank and fighting a baddy with a chainsaw. A lot more action than in In the Line of Duty 1/ Yes, Madam!.

In the Line of Duty III (1988) - 7/10
Cynthia Khan takes over from Michelle Yeoh and does a pretty decent job. Has fewer action scenes than Royal Warriors, but still enough, and Dick Wei is a delight as usual.

Sounds like great fun, thanks for the tip.

Round it out with In the Line of Duty IV, cause that movie is sick as well.

Mate, you'll never guess which movie is lined up to be watched next... the answer might surprise you...

[xxx1993]

Just saw Uncharted. It was pretty good.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

White Ghost 6,5/10
Decent jungle fightin flick. Has only very little Reb Brown, but apart from that has quite many action scenes and explosions, some of which aren't that shabby at all. And let's be honest, the guy playing the main character was a much better actor than Reb Brown.

Strikeforce/ Cobra Force - 5/10
Another atrocity by Bruno Mattei. Was looking forward to Reb Brown screaming and shooting stuff, which is what you get, but not much more (among else, there was never any blood whenever people were shot. So they blew all the budget on pyrotechnics or what). Annoying synth score. Lots of dumb shit in this film, might work as a party flick for some folks.

[Stevens]

The Paper Tigers

This came out of nowhere for me. I've seen it about three times so far. Great kung fu movie that is more old school Jackie Chan than The Raid. A few more action scenes would be nice, but yeah pretty good.

[Vexorg]

Snake Eyes: *1/2

Completely forgettable generic action movie (Ninja flavor), full of characters nobody under the age of 35 has ever heard of, generic fight scenes that mostly look like somebody spilled a bucket of Technicolor on the screen, and lots of world building for one of those cinematic universes that will probably now never happen because the first movie bombed so hard (see also: The Tom Cruise version of The Mummy.) About the only part of this movie that's memorable at all is the ending credits, and that's only because they're some of the most obnoxious end credits I've ever seen.

[xxx1993]

Restless, pretty decent cop thriller on Netflix.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

In the Line of Duty IV - 7/10
Lots of fights, most of which are decently choreographed, but since it has such an excellent reputation, I was a little underwhelmed. Some good stunts - Cynthia Khan is game!

The Inspector Wears Skirts - 6,5/10
All-star female cast, Cynthia Rothrock kicks lots of butt, but suffers from typical HK weaknesses: has a great action scene at the beginning, followed by an hour of infantile clowning around, then there's a great finale - involving a Gwailo fighting monkey style kung fu. WHat the hell...

[drauch]

Sad you didn't like Strike Commando . But that's okay! Reb's screams will live on.

If you thought that way about The Inspector Wears Skirts, don't watch the other three, lol. They don't improve.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Raid 2 - Read that this is supposed to be a modern martial arts masterpiece. I just couldn’t get into it. I get what the genre is and everything. But does the entire movie have to be nothing but fighting? There is practically no story here. I didn’t finish it. Definitely has some really brutal fight scenes for sure. Worth checking out. It’s just not really my thing anymore.

Sucker Punch - This was just straight up bad. What a crap movie. How this got green lit I have no idea.

The Book of Eli - This is pretty much Fallout the movie. I guess it was okish.

[drauch]

does the entire movie have to be nothing but fighting?

YES.

[BIL]

AFAIK, it's the first Raid (aka The Raid: Redemption) that's considered a modern benchmark. In terms of plot it's basically Donkey Kong, inoffensively videogamey. Badass SWAT guy must scale a nightmarish high-rise full of AK47-wielding crackheads to defeat their boss at the top. In true videogame fashion, the plot surfaces only briefly in the form of an incredibly retarded cutscene, but it's all good otherwise.

The sequel has even better choreography, but loses the woodchipper efficiency and is ultimately less memorable, despite the outstanding fights and a long highlight reel of SUPERKILLS (that dude who gets a full magdump square in the eyes, and his comrade who gets his face cooked off, to name a couple ).

I woulda set most of it in the prison, but I'm a fan of Dungeon Crawl movies like its predecessor (see also [REC] and Neko z Alenky). You might end up liking the first one, if you've not seen it.

Obligatory mention of Safe Haven, a short by the same director included in the found footage horror anthology V/H/S 2. Even if the phrase "found footage anthology" makes you grimace in disgust - - fans of punishing carnage and surrealistic cultic horror might dig it. I don't rate the rest of the anthology very highly (I'm struggling to remember most of either's, outside of a couple...) but Safe Haven's the exception, absolutely incandescent ultraviolent horror. Actually I recall VHS2's framing device being kinda creepy.

[drauch]

Yeah, The Raid kinda blew everybody's mind not obsessed with action movies. Not to disservice it--it fawkin' rules! The Raid 2 definitely has some pacing issues. Action movies should not be 2.5 hours long; or, if they are, at least tell a memorable story. Which kinda contradicts Action Law #375/3: the plot doesn't matter--most of the time! If you're going to have a movie that long, then yeah, it should probably matter. Instead it's the same ol' story of good guy goes undercover to take the gang at its heart, etc. Not a bad one, no! But no need for the marathon runtime. That's why the first is infinitely a better movie, although when I think of anything The Raid, it's a standout scene in 2 where a motorcycle rider gets a full clip in the face and then gets ran over by a car. Or the guy getting his face burned on the stove! Ah, classic brutality. (edit: LOL, didn't realize BIL wrote like the exact same two scenes. Lovely chap!)

Always have to remind myself of the godsent time where we got two killer tower-ascending violent action movies around the same time: Dredd and The Raid! During such an action dryspell, too. Shame there's to be no additional content from either now. It just ain't fair.

[BIL]

(edit: LOL, didn't realize BIL wrote like the exact same two scenes. Lovely chap!)

^_~ Ultra Violent Action Fan X!

Moto chap basically fulfilled something I'd wanted to see since I were a wee tyke: the "Ahnuld dumps his AR into T1000 at pointblank" from T2, on a non-invulnerable target. Only way to be sure. I'd forgotten about him getting ran over on top of that, holy fuck that guy took possibly the most overkill of any action movie zako EDIT: actually, upon rewatching imma promote him to midboss, homie was persistent

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Sad you didn't like Strike Commando . But that's okay! Reb's screams will live on.

If you thought that way about The Inspector Wears Skirts, don't watch the other three, lol. They don't improve.

Reb definitely has the most iconic screaming of any action hero. I remember early on in Strike Commando where he jumps into a river, screaming, and I completely lost it. Have you seen Space Mutiny? We watched the MSTK3K-version of it recently, and it fucking ruled.

Thanks for the heads up about the Inspector sequels... I'll probably watch them anyway due to a misguided urge to complete the series...

[drauch]

I have! One of my good buds was in town for a bit and we went on a big Reb marathon with Cage 1 & 2, Space Mutiny, and Robowar . The Cage series is especially crazy, since Lou Ferrigno gets shot in the head and becomes mentally-handicapped, so Reb has to read him Bambi and Bedtime Stories (seriously). He still lifts weights, though. Then he gets drafted into an underground fighting ring. It's so great.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

I have! One of my good buds was in town for a bit and we went on a big Reb marathon with Cage 1 & 2, Space Mutiny, and Robowar . The Cage series is especially crazy, since Lou Ferrigno gets shot in the head and becomes mentally-handicapped, so Reb has to read him Bambi and Bedtime Stories (seriously). He still lifts weights, though. Then he gets drafted into an underground fighting ring. It's so great.

Ok, I got to see this nonsense...

[Mischief Maker]

"Nobody" aka. "What if John Wick was unambiguously the bad guy?"

...the action is not as good as John Wick proper.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

I've only seen the first John Wick film because people kept pestering me about it, but I have no idea how those films have become kind of cult action films recently. It never feels like John Wick is in any danger, which makes the film rather boring to watch. He keeps shooting people point blank (lots of shitty digital blood effects in the fim, too), the action choreography is totally unbelievable, stylistically the film's bland. I won't tell people what they can or can't enjoy, but IMHO there's no comparing John Wick to true classics of the genre like Hard Boiled.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Story of Ricky - 8/10
Holy fuck, I'd forgotten how much gore and far out retarded bullshit is in this movie. An absolute classic.

Midnight Eye Goku - 6,5/10
Anime Cyberpunk Noir by the dude who made Cyber City Oedo. Plenty of cool ideas, but everything was done a hundred times better in CCO.

Wishmaster - 7/10
Solid story, the Djinn is interesting and you're always looking forward to how he twists people's wishes around so that they get fucked. Many nicely done, hand made gore effects, and some hilariously godawful digital ones, but IMO they enhance the 90s flair. Also, cameos by Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, and Tony Todd.

Righting Wrongs - 7,5/10
Yuen Biao plays a state prosecutor who takes the law into his own hands. Plenty of well-done kung fu fights, good stunts, and an insane sequence at the end where Yuen Biao is dangling at the end of a rope tied to a (flying) plane.