Red Dawn Film Review

Initial Thoughts

            When I first looked at the back of the DVD cover, I thought that it looked like a winner, you got Chris Hemsworth from Thor, Josh Hutcherson from The Hunger Games, and Isabel Lucas from immortals. Lots of famous stars, from many different successful film franchises. But unfortunately what we got was a poorly written, plot hole infested, jumble of clichéd dialogue and scenes, as well as mindless violence.

            This is just as bad as any other terrible action film I have reviewed on this show. And all I have to do is say the main premise of the film, and all of you will see why this doesn't work. North Korea invades (and takes over half of) the United States.

Storyline: 5 out of 25

            This films storyline is a classic among action/war films. a foreign country invades the land of the free and its up to one marine and a bunch of un-trained riff raff to stop them. And usually I wouldn't have a problem with that, what I do have a problem with is the fact that the story and plot are both torn apart by non logical situations, and tons of plot holes. Basically every plot device that is introduced either spontaneously appears without any background, or isn't explained nearly enough for it to be used effectively. Without any spoilers, there is a plot device that is brought up in literally the last 10-15 minutes of the film, and it is essential to the plot, we never hear anything about the technology involved prior to that scene, and it is never really explained after wards so it literally pops out of nowhere.

            Many, Many plot holes all throughout the entire film, and the logistics for basic physics and real life reactions to the given circumstances are thrown out the window. the story would have been half decent however there are just way to many plot holes and issues with the very basic concepts of the storyline.

Characters: 5 out of 25

            It most action films, you would have one action scene right out of the gates, and then wait for 30-40 minutes building character, establishing setting, and other essential aspects. In this film, the characters are thrown into the action 10 minutes in and it never stops. sure it will try and add some development here and there, but the characters are in the main action now, they should be well developed before entering the main conflict because if one of them die, we would have an emotional bond to that character, thus getting us more engrossed in the situation. However the characters get barley any worth while development and the development they do get is so clichéd, and so lazy, it doesn't really count for much.

            Most of the characters (Protagonist's and Antagonists alike) are complete idiots, a few characters in particular do exceptionally stupid stuff that make you want to smack them upside the head every time they do something idiotic. The character Matt Eckert (played by Josh Peck) is probably the worst culprit for this, having every word that comes out of his mouth being either a complaint or suggesting something stupid.

RANTING SECTION - logistics

            Okay first off, North Korea could never invade the United States. First off geographically it is impossible to get to the united states without being spotted by the united states, as it is explained that they invaded at Washington first, which is on the other side of the country, if they attempted to fly over, they would be shot out of the sky. And I don't care what kind of electronic bomb they had, they wouldn't have enough to disable the entire country, and why would they anyways? they would most likely only strike at strategically essential positions, so this bull that they disabled all of the USA is totally pointless. 

            But okay, lets assume they were able to get across the entire country without anyone noticing. What about Canada or Mexico? they still have radar and stuff, The film says nothing about them being bombed as well, so why doesn't either Canada or Mexico inform the UN or something? And in fact, why doesn't Britain know without the help of North American countries we have the  technology to know what's going on this exact moment in other countries. So why isn't Britain doing anything?

            And lastly, North Korea doesn't have  the military power to take over the United States, they couldn't even take over South Korea for crying out loud! and the only reason they themselves weren't taken over by south Korea is because china dumped a bunch of troops on North Korea, but there's no evidence on that happening here, the only outside help we here about is literally one guy from Russia, that's it. And even if North Korea could out gun the United States, the speed at which the do it is un-reasonable, they take over half within a month! and taking the size of the United States, that's quite the ways to do within a month, would the troops get tired and need a break?

            Okay, know that that's out of the way, lets continue.

Acting Quality: 3 out of 25

            Many of the actors never break an octave and don't show any emotion and when they do its so over the top and so silly that it can't really be taken seriously. In addition apparently non of the actors can play an emotional scene because every time one shows up it looks like they literally splashed some liquid on their face.

Special Effects: 10 out of 25

            While the special effects are defiantly better then that of Battleship: the movie, the action scenes themselves seem to just a complication of things blowing up. No real order, just explosions, and while that might look cool (and don't get me wrong, I love seeing explosions) but when the deaths of many people seems out of context and kind of random, it sort of turns me off to that fact.

And so the final verdict for the movie Red Dawn is a

23/100

Blood Boiling

When I first saw this movie, I was ranting for almost an hour about it, and by the time I was finished, I could feel my heart rate increasing and my blood pressure rising. But who could blame me? The story is terrible, the plot's even worse, the characters have no development, and the actors who play them do a pretty bad job (which is surprising because some of the major stars like Chris Hemsworth are actually good actors).

Stay away from this film, at all costs, avoid it like the plague.

  

             

The Last Stand Film Review

Initial Thoughts

            The minute I saw that this was an Arnold Schwarzenegger film, I got very excited! who cares if he is one of the worst actors in history, that doesn't stop him from being my favorite! with that epic accent, knack for blowing things up, and the king of one liners. seeing how it has been a while since we have seen an independent Arnold film this will truly be something to remember.

Storyline: 10 out of 25

            Okay lets be very honest here, storylines are not Arnold's strong suit. and in fact, that's part of the fun, especially for us men, seeing the same destructive storyline over and over just never seems to get old for some reason (when it comes to action or sci-fi films). So yeah, this film will not be any different from every other Arnold or Stallone movie ever. The government is searching for an escaped convict and he just happens to be going through a town with an old retired guy who is able to completely destroy hundreds of well trained men, after of course loosing another main character to the same men.

Special Effects: 22 out of 25

            I don't if you guys have surround sound or not, but if you don't, you are missing out, and that certainly comes through this film. With surround sound every gunshot literally rocks the room a bit. Fast cuts and multiple camera angles during fight scenes adds to the confusion and awesomeness of the scene. combine that with huge trucks smashing little cars into dust and you have some very sweet CGI.

            Sure some of the physics in the fight scenes don't make any sense, but after some of the emotional trauma that our characters have gone through already. The final battle scene between Arnold and the drug lord kingpin is extremely satisfying; due to the over use of blood, explosions, and over kills.

Characters: 20 out of 25

            Just like the story, this section is really irrelevant during an Arnold flick. You got your old retired cop, or military guy, then the nice clean shaven handsome man who is kind to everyone but dies early on, and then the girlfriend who wants to avenge him, and the guy friend(s) who also want to avenge him. However the reason this gets a 20 is because I actually felt sorry for the characters (protagonists) who died, I felt pity for them and felt great joy over the antagonists who had their brains splattered by Schwarzenegger.

Which is another thing Arnold is not very good at, making people feel emotional, so in this case, nice job Arnold.

Atmosphere: 25 out of 25

            Usually in an Arnold film (Action film) you will have a certain feel throughout most of the movie, and that feel usually seems to make its way into most of Arnolds movies. The "Arnold Feel" as I have come accustomed to calling it, is usually a wash of excitement and adrenaline as he beats the living tar out of a numerous amount of bad guys. Films like this usually don't focus on storyline or plot and in some cases not even special effects, it simply comes down to "how many people can die within an hour and a half". And the rest (usually) takes care of itself, This is similar to how girls love to see people either fall in love or have their relationship totally crumble and fall apart. it simply comes down to gender in the end of it, and while for the majority of films try to entertain both, there are those who are specifically designed for one or the other, and this my friends is for guys.

And so, the final verdict for Arnold Schwarzenegger's new film The Last Stand is

77/100

"Fan Boy"

*Sigh* yup, that is really the only way I can describe this film. After I finished watching this movie I was stumbling around the room mumbling nonsense about how amazing the Arnold Schwarzenegger is. Even though basically every aspect of the film has been done before, and lets face it, that makes it pretty silly (for the most part) but that's all part of the fun. I think I speak for every guy when i say that during every fight scene we will be on the edge of our seats screaming "YEAH!"

  And ladies, I would not suggest that you go and see this film (and you probably wouldn't want to anyways) but defiantly consider this film for your boyfriends birthday, Christmas present or just to give him an awesome night with some friends. 

Blade Runner Film Review

Initial Thoughts

            When we first sat down to watch this in film class, I had no idea that it was directed by the famous Ridley Scott back in 1982, nor that it stared the fantastically dull Harrison Ford. All that we were told is that it was in a futuristic world with robot human look a likes attempting to extend their life spans.

            But I don't want to give to much away, lets talk about Ridley Scott's Blade Runner!

Storyline: 23 out of 25

            Yes I realize that the concept has been done a ton of times, in fact this film was made right a round the time that robots vs humans were all the rage. But this film's storyline has a few major differences between itself and other sci-fi thrillers like; Terminator, etc. For one, it has the machines going after something intelligent, instead of them just wanting to kill someone for pleasure or that they were programmed to kill. The machines have seeked out their creator in order to extend their lives, as they only have a 4 year lifespan. it is actually very intriguing to see machines, things that aren't even real, attempt to prolong their non-excitant life. I suppose that there's a life lesson to be learned here, as many people, especially now a days, are trying to live longer, or look younger, and without giving away the ending, lets just say, it simply can't be done.

Action/Special Effects: 25 out of 25

            These special effects will grab you attention, especially for the early 1980's. they are simply gorgeous. allot of the fighting takes place in dark environments (which is honestly everywhere, its sort of the setting of the film) which makes the flashy gun shots and loud fighting noises much more effective and suspenseful then if you were on a star wars set.

            Another thing is that many (if not all) of the death scenes are shot in slow mo, and I don't know how you guys feel about slow mo, but it really adds to horror/suspense of every death scene. And especially when the antagonists reasoning for killing all of these people is warranted and even backup by many plot devices. this is truly one of those films where you can't really decide whose the protagonist(good guy) and whose the antagonist(bad guy).

Characters: 25 out of 25

            Once again this film does something right with the characters and acting quality. I think that the machines will be the most interesting characters in this film, simply because of their motives and relationships between one another, and more importantly between everybody else. With the alluded time for the movie, they put in just the right amount of characters, in order to get sufficient character development. They even kill off a few of the lesser main characters, in order to focus more on the characters who are more essential to the plot. And even though the machines show the horrible crimes they are capable of, their true motives and real thoughts and feelings are consistently being shown through Fords encounters and through that magnificent twist at the very end.

           

Acting Quality: 19 out of 25

            And yeah, remember what I said about fantastic acting quality, that can be said for every actor except one (and be honest you probably know who I am going to say) that actor is Harrison Ford. now you may hate me for this, but he is a terrible actor, in fact he is just as dull as Shaquille O'Neal. barley ever lifting an octave and giving the "I don't really give a crap" attitude throughout the majority of the film, once in a while you will get an intimate scene and then it will be okay, but for the most part, its just crap.    

And so the final verdict for Ridley Scott's Blade Runner is!

92/100

Fantastic

With a solid storyline, amazing and suspenseful action, a dark and depressing atmosphere and ground breaking characters, this sci-fi film is by far my favorite sci-fi i have ever scene period. So what Harrison Ford is ridiculously dull? what the film gets right, it gets right.

Now, as I am sure that all of you sci-fi fans have seen this film already, and you know what, why don't you give it another watch! And for everyone else, why don't you watch it as well, it is one blast from the past (which ironically takes place in the future) that you won't soon be forgetting!  

Movie Line Up: Friday Nov/22, Nov/25, Nov/29, Dec/2

Here is the movie line up for the next 4 weeks. I will be posting the next movie line up probably on December 2 or anytime that week.

November 22: Blade Runner (1982)
November 25: The Last Stand (2012) 
November 29: Red Dawn (2012)
December 2: The Cold Light of Day (2011) 

If you have any suggestions of movies I should review, feel free to leave suggestions and ideas in the comments below! 

Get Smart Telivision Show Review Part 2

Initial Thoughts

            In part one of this two part review, I covered the Storylines and Plot Devices of the original Television Show Get Smart. And so in part 2, we will be covering the other to aspects of the show, the overall comedy aspects, and the characters (recurring characters).

            So lets not waste any time, lets dive right into part 2 of the Get Smart Television Show!

Overall Comedy Aspects: 18 out of 25

            As I mentioned in part 1 the basically everything changed after season 2 completed, with the loose of Buck Henry, and one of the components of the show that changed the most is probably the comedy. To begin let us list the differences between seasons 1-2 and seasons 3-5.

Season 1-2: When the show first started out it really locked in well with the overall feel of the show at the time. The comedy was mostly verbal, and the focus was obviously Maxwell Smart, and how people react to his awkward mannerisms. however what separates the first two seasons from the rest is one simple fact. He was less clumsy in the first two seasons then he is in the rest, oh don't get me wrong, he still spills stuff makes a mess etc, however when he is in a life or death situation he can still shoot to kill, he can still save his own life and he can still protect himself. This really establishes the mood for the humor throughout most of the early episodes, and creates more interesting (and original) humor. by showing verbal humor it shows the writer thought about his jokes, and played them through in his mind. While physical humor still gets a laugh, it does get older after a while (which is why the shows rating began to drop in the 4th and 5th seasons) and is much harder to make new every time you do another episode.

Season 3-5: I am including season three in this section because basically immediately after Buck Henry left, the comedy aspect changed. As i have already stated, the later seasons focus primarily on the physical humor side, which is fine for the most part except for the fact that original verbal humor was dropped almost entirely. What's more is that the comedy focus shifted from Max, and ended up concentrating on 99 and The Chief. The problem arises when the physical humor used changes the character's personality and life stile, which will alienate fans of the show. For example, in the first 2 seasons of Get Smart, Max was the stupid but loveable spy, 99 was the girl that always fixed his social mistakes, and The Chief was like the father of them both. However when the later seasons began Max Became like that irritating guy that sits at the back of a class room, 99 became the main comical focus, basically taking on every personality trait of Max, and The Chief became like an old man with no backbone.

            Basically, physical humor can be done, and it can be done well. However if the physical comedy (and lets face it the comedy in general) gets in the way of the character traits and starts confusing and alienating fans, then it should not be done.    

Characters: 17 out of 25

            The three main characters in the show are Max, 99, and The Chief. But unfortunately like many of the other problems with the show, it goes down hill in the last 2 seasons. Another thing is the fact that its a parody, which means that many characters will be ripped off from the original source material. that material being the original James bond.

Maxwell Smart: In the first two seasons of the show he portrays a silly James Bond very well, Being smooth and cool physically (most of the time), Claiming that he is a "Chick Magnet" whilst being the complete opposite, and basically turning the character into a socially inacceptable relatively clumsy person. With the fantastic acting of Don Adams, his character is established in literally the first episode, you can tell all of these attributes and more before he has even said a word, which is essentially what should happens. In addition like Bond he is able to discover the most difficult puzzles by himself and showing everyone else the way to do it. However everything dramatically changes in the last seasons, instead of him being a socially inacceptable person, he ends up being a socially inacceptable, completely clumsy, stupid and brainless spy who is almost incapable of solving the most mundane of tasks. Veterans of the early seasons will find this quite frustrating as his character had already been established, we already knew who he was, this total 180* change in character makes no sense and quite frankly makes me feel awkward and discriminated.    

Agent 99: Again, in the first episode her character was established: Strong, capable, and loves Max enough to put up with his shenanigans. She was sort of like the good side of Maxwell Smart, when ever he said something stupid and began to walk away, she would be the one to quietly whisper to the person the reason for his nonsense. She obviously played the many female sidekicks that James Bond had, and sort of takes a different turn on it. whilst she usually can't figure out Chaos puzzles as well as Max can, she is far more superior than Max in the Social department; this was Obviously do to the Women's Rights Movement that was beginning to occur at the time. which made her a very likable character, and because of her kind nature, got her attached to the audience emotionally. However, before the show was through, Agent 99 had gone from all of that goodness, to being dumbed down to the same level as Max, stupid, brainless, socially AND physically awkward, and almost all the time in the 5th season she has to be mentored by Max. Her role and reason to be in the show was completely destroyed by the end of this series.

The Chief: And finally The Chief, the father of both Max and 99 in the first 2 seasons. The Chief was usually the one who saved 99 and Max from whatever pearl they had gotten themselves into, he was professional, rarely got into Maxes personal life in the first 2 seasons and whenever he did enter his apartment it was 99% of the time meant for business. But by the time the 5th season came around, he was in their house almost every episode for supper, always mentoring Max and 99 about how to live their lives, and was overall just un-interesting. As he was always seriously worrying about Max's current state. all of these things are incredibly frustrating as, once again, his character had already been established as a caring, yet business like, father. Sure he didn't want to see Max and 99 hurt, and would come and save them lots of the time, But the difference hear is that The Chief is worrying about them from the second they leave his office, The Chief doesn't even give them a chance to get their assignment started before he goes out looking for them. because of this one fact, The Chief goes from being a respected man, to being simply a bother. 

And so the final Verdict for the sitcom Get Smart is

74/100

Good! However...

I love Get Smart, which is why it pains me to see the show severally decline over the years it was running. From season 4 to season 5, every level of the show bombed. Every Level. It was a great show in first few seasons, which is the only reason it got the score it did, it had well thought out comedy, a convincing storyline, and Fantastic characters and acting quality. But because of the decline in quality and enjoyment for the majority of the audience, as much as I would like to, I simply cannot suggest this show to everyone. If you are interested in seeing the show, Buy the first season FIRST, and then go in order if its the show for you. The last two seasons of the sires should be for hardcore Get Smart fans only such as myself.

In short, it had potential to be the best sitcom of the oldies, however it just simply failed to deliver to the majority of the audience.  

  

Get Smart television Show Review Part 1

Initial Thoughts

            Having grown up surrounded with many nostalgic and very old items, many of which media items. it was no surprise that I fell in love with this 1960's T.V. show staring Edward Platt, Barbra Feldon, and Don Adams. This television sitcom won many awards and is probably the best James Bond knock off to date.

            Having seen every episode over the span of 5 seasons, and because I own all of the seasons as well, i felt that it was high time i reviewed my first Television Show. (Hence the late review). So does the James Bond knock off deserve all of the praise? Lets find out! this is the award winning T.V. Sitcom Get Smart!

Story: 14 out of 25

            This TV show did not change as much as other shows did, however it did have major writing shifts (especially during the transition between seasons 2 and 4), at the end of season 2 the writing Buck Henry quit the show, saying that "I believe I have run out of ideas for the show". After that the writers weren't all that consistent, changing allot more than it had been.

            Buck Henry

                        Buck Henry's writing style really differed from the writing styles of the later seasons. Buck Henry made the parody seem more serious, whilst keeping the humor and making fun of the original James Bond. He made Maxwell Smart seem allot more trained and sophisticated, still stupid but his attitude was allot more "down to business" than it is in the later seasons (especially season 5).

            Post-Henry

                        After Buck Henry left at the end of season 2, the style of the sitcom changed dramatically; the atmosphere became lighter, and made the situations seem less important and really emphasized the physical humor aspects that had been slightly established in the first 2 seasons.

            What does all this have to do with the story? Well, in this show the characters and situations contributed greatly to the overall story of an episode. In the first two seasons, the storyline of an episode would be liner and easy to follow, it would bring back the nostalgic values of the James Bond movies, yet make fun of them at the same time. However in seasons 4 and 5, the storyline and throwback to the original source material is put to the side, and physical comedy as well as stupidity comedy are the main focus. While this makes episodes more enjoyable and get more laughs, the storyline does suffer because of this tactic.

            Season 3 is less important in this aspect due to the fact that it included some styles of Buck Henry, yet the changes were beginning to emerge at that time.

  

            In short...

Seasons 1-2: More serious, Included a more strict comparison to the original James Bond (Its original base material). Instead of using lots of physical comedy, they used simple small changes in main character comparisons to get laughs.

Season 3: James Bond throw backs were still made however they were less frequent, and were more loosely adapted to the show. More bizarre and complex situations and plot devices were beginning to be introduced.

Seasons 4-5: Many Storyline and seriousness of the original James Bond has been dropped, many changes to the first two seasons of the show have been made, including (SPOILERS) Max and 99 being married, and having children. Many new plot devices have been introduced in numerous episodes. In addition many have been dropped, including the branch of Control known as the "Spies Behind The Iron Curtain" some of whom included Agent 44 (Season 1) and Agent 13 (Season 2-4).

Plot Devices: 25 out of 25

            This is one area that Get Smart does very well in, every episode has many different, and interesting plot devices, so many in fact that I just had to make an entirely separate section just to talk about them.

            For starters, the Plot Devices, like the Story, changed greatly after Buck Henry left the scene. And as I already mentioned, he focused more on story elements, than anything else. Once he left, the Plot Devices (while at the expensive of the story) was able to thrive in the 4th and 5th seasons of the show.

            In the 1st and 2nd season of the show, the plot devices that were introduced were more liner, and re-occurred in more episodes, Making for more room for the story. They also tied in more with the original James Bond movies, ripping off some iconic James Bond plot devices. In the 3rd season, it was Luke warm (for every aspect really) and so it is the season that really brings out the best of the entire series. and in the 4th and 5th season, the plot devices were very large and very different, in fact many of the devices established in the 1st and 2nd season were dropped completely, such as (SPOILERS) Agent 13 (He was in one episode in season 5) Agent 44, Fang, many elements of the apartment, And even Hymie the control robot was dropped in the final season of the show. Dropping these Devices left room to add many other *new* plot devices to make the show more *Hip* and *Refurbished*.

            Why all of the changes in the final seasons? well, it has greatly to do with the shows popularity. By this time, the James Bond knock off had been going for a steady 5 years, and coming up with new and interesting ideas to link back to the original source material was becoming very difficult. They hopped changing some of the elements of the show, and cutting the ties to its *Bond* background, perhaps the audience would take it to be its own show, rather than just a parody.

The final season was the season that really generated the best Plot Devices. This was the season that Really Tried to define the sitcom as its own show rather than just a knock-off. in this season we saw many different and quite interesting plot devices emerge, Probably the most significant one being (SPOILERS) Max and 99 having twins. However as i said before, there were some very interesting ideas that emerged in every episode so trying to list them all would take up allot of time and pages. However to sum them all up i can say that they have nothing to do with each other, they all are able to further push the story, and most importantly, generate many laughs.   

So this marks the half way point in my first ever T.V. show review, and the score so far is a...

39/50

Good

Without saying very much I can tell that over what we have covered, this show has lots to offer. And can pretty much please any audience depending on which seasons you purchase. If the story is most important to you, than you will want to buy the first 2 seasons of the sitcom, however if interesting ideas and comedy is what tickles your fancy, than the final seasons 4 and 5 are the way to go. But if you like both, no problem! just get the third season! it combines the best of them all!

Come back next time to catch the second part of this 2 part review of my Personal      Favorite Television Show!