Eragon (2006) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Honestly, I wanted to cry as I sat there in the theater watching this movie. What a waste of ten bucks. If you have read the books, and excitedly waited out the release of the movie, you are undoubtably as disappointed as I am. The books had such scope, like a Lord of the Rings junior. There was no way to get everything important shoved into an hour and a half movie. Why not go ahead and make a 2 and a half hour epic? I'd have watched it!!
Here is what you'll miss in the movie:
-The relationship between Brom and Eragon is very underdeveloped, so much so that when Brom dies, you're like, whoopdeedoo.
-Saphira ages from a tiny dragon into just about full grown in one ridiculous moment.
-Eragon's journey with Murtagh is like, 5 seconds long. No Hadrac desert, no bonding. Again, you could care less about Murtagh in the movie.
-The Dwarven kingdom was UNBELIEVABLY disappointing. If you read the book, you probably had quite a vision workded up in your head, with the Star Rose and all. The movie pretty much annihilates all that. And the dwarves themselves are stupid-looking. You can't slap some armor on a guy with a beard and call them a dwarf.
-Arya is an ELF. Did they really go over on the budget that they couldn't even give her POINTED EARS???
-The battle between Eragon and the Shade is like nothing. I was so bored.
Over all, this movie takes a perfectly paced book and puts it into hyperdrive, taking all the wonder and fun right out of it. You'll sit down to watch this movie and all you'll be able to do is watch in horror as they slaughter it. It is a terrible shame. Had they had a larger CGI budget, blatantly copied some LOTR stuff, and had Mr. Paolini perhaps overseen the novel-to-script process, well, maybe he did, but they just shoved some more money at him and he said, "Whatever, I'm alright with you destroying my cool book. Go for it."
Now, if I were to choose one or two things from the movie that didn't totally and completely suck, I will say this:
Saphira, for the amount of CGI that was spent on her, is perfect. She was totally real. The voice of Rachel Weisz is perfect as well. Eragon, Edward Speelers, he was great too. Too bad he had to over-act in order to compensate for the crappy, crappy dialogue and lack of character development.
If they happen to make a sequel, Lord help us. The second book is even more complex and wide-scoped than the first. It will not translate well based on it's predecessor. I say they scrap the first movie, and make it all over, with a bigger budget, and the fans of the book get all editing priveledges. Then we'd have our Eragon come to life, rather than this horrible, mess of a mutilated movie!!


Click Here to see more reviews about: Eragon (2006)

In his homeland of Alagaesia, a farm boy happens upon a dragon's egg -- a discovery that leads him on a predestined journey where he realized he's the one person who can defend his home against an evil king.

Get 36% OFF

Click here for more information about Eragon (2006)

Read More...

The Neverending Story (1984) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)In 1994, Wolfgang Petersen directed the film adaptation of the German novel "Die Unendliche Geschichte", which was written by Michael Ende (1929-1995). The film/novel is better known in the U.S. with its English title of "The Neverending Story". It was also the first film that Wolfgang Petersen filmed in English. The story begins with a troubled boy named Bastian (Barret Oliver), who is being raised by his father (Gerald McRaney). An avid reader with an active imagination, Bastian walks into a used bookstore owned by Mr. Koreander (Thomas Hill) and finds a mysterious book that captures his curiosity. Mr. Koreander seemingly doesn't want to sell the book to him, but Bastian manages to run from the store with book in hand. Bastian takes the book to school with him, where he is tormented by three bullies (Drum Garrett, Darryl Cooksey & Nicholas Gilbert). To avoid the bullies, Bastian finds refuge in a rarely-used attic within the school and begins to read from the book about a magical land called Fantasia. Fantasia is a wonderful place with many unusual characters and is ruled by the Childlike Princess (Tami Stronach), but something terrible is happening to Fantasia as parts of it are disappearing by an unknown force referred to only as "the nothing". The Childlike Princess calls upon the strongest warrior to find a human child to stop "the nothing". The warrior, a boy named Atreyu (Noah Hathaway) of a tribe similar to Native Americans, takes the protective signet that the Childlike Princess gives to him and sets off to find a human child, which can only be found beyond the bounds of Fantasia. To his astonishment, as Bastian reads the book and the many adventures, challenges and dangers and Atreyu faces, Bastian slowly begins to realize whom Atreyu and the Childlike Princess are actually seeking.
With imaginative characters, good cinematography & special effects and an endearing & well-written story, "The Neverending Story" is a wonderful and engaging film that not only captures Bastian's imagination in the story, but the audience's imagination as well. Other memorable characters in the film include Teeny Weeny (Deep Roy), Night Hob (Tilo Pruckner), Cairon (Moses Gunn), Engywook (Sydney Bromley), Urgl (Patricia Hayes), Falkor (voice of Alan Oppenheimer), Rock Biter, the Racing Snail and the Bat. Overall, I rate "The Neverending Story" with 5 out of 5 stars and very highly recommend it to both young & old alike. It's a wonderful film that can be watched time and again without becoming tiresome. Sadly, the film's two sequels (produced in 1990 & 1994) were far less memorable. Other films directed by Wolfgang Petersen include "Das Boot" (1981), "Enemy Mine" (1985), "The Perfect Storm" (2000) and "Troy" (2004).

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Neverending Story (1984)

JOIN THE YOUNG ATREYU AND THE FAITH OF A YOUNG BOY, BASTIAN, AS THEY BATTLE THE UNKNOWN OF THE NOTHING TO SAVE THE CREATURES OF FANTASIA AND THEIR CHILDLIKE EMPRESS.

Get 7% OFF

Click here for more information about The Neverending Story (1984)

Read More...

First Knight (1995) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I am 15 years old, and I just love this movie. "First Knight" ranks up on the list with the musical "Camelot" and Disney's "The Sword and the Stone" as a magnificent telling of the Camelot legend, and may in fact surpass these other two movies in excellance. Creative license was taken so that the "accurate" legend is not portrayed, but the charcters stay true to the story and the affect is nothing short of amazing. Lady Guinevere of Leonesse (sic?) is on her way to marry King Arthur of Camelot when she inadvertantly meets Lancelot, a very cocky mersonary whose arrogant ways hide a dark childhood. Although attempting to stay loyal to her King, Guinevere is twice saved by Lancelot (although she did a good deal of the work to escape herself) and finds herself falling in love with him. To complicate the problem, the evil Prince Malagant is determined to take over both Leonesse and Camelot. Tension builds to a stunning climax, a shocking ending, and a glorious conclusion. ----- This movie is filled with both heart-pounding action cues of suspense and heart-rending conversations of real people. Richard Gere portrays Lancelot beautifully, giving him a self-assured pride and arrogance that later reveal to be merely a cover-up to the pain he experienced as a child. Although I have heard complaints that Gere is too American for the part, he added a dimension to Lancelot's personality that few others could top. There is a chiling reason for his cockiness, and it makes him seem more human. Julia Ormond gives Guinevere beauty, but also independance. She is quite able to handle herself, and is one of the few "damsels-in-distress" that haven't gotten on my nerves by their helplessness. Because this Guinevere is anything but helpless! Guinevere is torn apart by her love for two men, and Ormond portrays it excellently, allowing you to see into Guinevere's soul and find the pain she is going through. Ben Cross as the terrible Malagant is perfect. He is wicked, cruel, selfish, and disgusting; the perfect villian! Not every actor/actress can play a villian so well. Great job! And what can I say about Sean Connery as King Arthur? This was the first movie I saw him in after I saw the film "DragonHeart", in which Connery played the voice of the dragon. Perfectly cast in that movie, perfectly cast in this, Connery gives King Arthur boundless dignity, wisdom, and heart, but he also gives him a human side; vulnerable and not always quite sure what to do next. This is probably the most realistic portrayal of Arthur, and you can't help but have your heart go out to him. ----- The music, the diolodge, and the wonderful acting make "First Knight" such a great movie. For anyone who loves the Arthurian Legend, or simply a story of regular people with lots of heart, see this movie. As the song goes, "It will not be forgot that once there was a spot for once brief, shining moment that was known as Camelot!"

Click Here to see more reviews about: First Knight (1995)

New, in original shrink wrap!

Get 45% OFF

Click here for more information about First Knight (1995)

Read More...

Manticore (2005) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)While the SciFi channel shovels out stinkers by the dozen, from Species 3 (and Species 2 clearly earned a grade of Z-, so why they'd make another one....) to that movie with the cloned dragon with Dean Cain, Megasnake with the winner of the superhero competition, Basilisk and let's not forget those amazingly awful and absurd Sabretooth slasher type movies (I liked how the fetus had sabreteeth - cats of course don't grow teeth until after they're born, just like humans) which somehow managed to cast John Rhys Davies and Venessa Angel (hmmm, lots of mythological creatures from the commodore 64 game Archon when you think about it - perhaps we can expect a banshee, golem or shapeshifter movie to come - hopefully not a unicorn movie) to every manner of hokey disaster flick, this one stands out as an exception, despite the fact that its plot SOUNDS like a clone of all the others, which themselves contain nothing new or creative and are therefore pointless. I assure you, this is much, much better, and much more poignant. It's not mindless violence, it's mindFUL violence!
I was so impressed that I was actually waiting all through 2005 and 2006, checking video stores every week, to try to buy it on DVD and finally gave up and recorded it and edited out the commercials for my own collection when I saw it was on one last time, and I guess I should have just waited a little bit longer since now on inspiration I looked it up and sure enough it was released on DVD in 2007. It has several familiar faces, most notably the man who played Chekotay from Star Trek Voyager (and longer back, a main character from the movie Night of the Comet). It amazingly performs a striking political commentary on the whole 'weapons of mass destruction' fiasco in Iraq, as a small group of religious eccentrics in Iraq resurrect a creature of legend to rekindle THEIR national spirit behind a real, living, breathing weapon of mass destruction, in the face of a military invasion of dubious justification. Of course, the Manticore is just SO powerful and nearly uncontrollable (a standard creation turning on its master sort of story you might say), and practically immortal, so it of course gets a bit out of hand (I thought the manticore was kind of cute though, especially that long spiky tail - and they got the legend just right on the physical characteristics of the Manticore, by the way). So how do you stop the invincible manticore? In the final confrontation, they do their best to scrap together legend and modern technology, so watch the movie and see what they come up with. You won't be disappointed with the resolution. Well, unless you were rooting for the manticore to destroy western civilization or become someone's pet, you won't be disappointed.
As another reviewer pointed out, if they couldn't make the manticore a little less flagrantly computer animated, they should have shown him a bit less. His first appearance was such a brief glimpse, you don't get a good look at him, and that was pretty good - too bad they didn't continue like that all the way through, that would have even better than 'a claw here, a talon there'. Oh well, so it's not perfect. But as a low budget movie goes, I'm sure it was a million dollars well spent. Hollywood can shovel out garbage at 5 times the rate of the Sci-Fi channel and 500 times the price, so this is a testament to how good even a small investment can be if it's only done right. And that manticore was totally badazzzz.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Manticore (2005)

In war-torn Iraq, rugged Army soldiers learn that the battles they face every day have only been a warm-up to the unspeakable terror awaiting them. Dispatched to find a missing news crew, the squad finds itself facing an ancient, evil, a mythical clawed-and-winged beast known as the Manticore, now unleashed by villainous opponents to keep the land under their control. Starring Robert Beltran (Star Trek: Voyager), Jeff Fahey (Grindhouse), Chase Masterson (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), and Heather Donahue (The Blair Witch Project), this gritty, powerhouse collision of brutal combat and monster-packed action will thrill you with every explosive minute!

Get 34% OFF

Click here for more information about Manticore (2005)

Read More...