Reviews

The first question you need to ask is "Why the hell bother?". Sherlock Holmes has been done to death and with Jeremy Brett, reached the apex of plausibility. The Basil Rathbones are good fun and there's been numerous feature film attempts, some of which are excellent and some of which should be forever stricken from the records. Unfortunately these Hallmark efforts fit into the latter category.

I've always enjoyed Matt Frewer's acting and he certainly has the perfect face for Holmes but the quality of acting is abysmal. It's like a 1960's Disney animated version of Holmes, cod Cock-er-knee accents and Sherlock has become some sort of pantomime version of himself, complete with stupid fake upper class accent and ability to annoy practically everyone. This results in all dramatic suspense being lost as we're expected to accept this Holmes as a comic geek.

The few Hallmark episodes that have been produced are all stinkers and have been made purely for the US market that still believes that Victorian England was a perfect chocolate box representation.

I have a sneaky suspicion that director Rodney Gibbons is the main culprit and the cause of the rampant artificiality of these terrible additions to the cult of Holmes.

If you like amateur dramatics then you'll love these. If you love the density of Holmes' Victorian world you'd be better off with the many Jeremy Brett episodes.

I saw this film at the Berlinale last week and I was very, very surprised. The publicity led me to believe that this would be a typical Asian actioner, and indeed at the start it looked as though this was going to be the case but as the story unfolded it became apparent that this was a lot more than that. At it's core it's a Roshomon-type whodunnit but the moral of the story along with the amazing photography and stellar acting lifts it up to the level of a true big-budget world film. The four main leads are excellent and thoroughly believable. The "what really happened?" style of story telling keeps you engaged throughout and the denoument is very moving without being patronising.

If you get the chance to see this film I fully recommend it. You too should be surprised.

I saw this at the Berlinale. The first scenes made me sit up and I thought that everything was set for a great film. Excellent kinetic camera work, brilliant production design, stunning fight choreography and an interesting story to boot. But why did they allow the film to go on and on and on and on and on. It became really obvious to me that the director had lost control of the story by the mid-way point and as a result I lost all interest in the characters. Christophe Gans undoubtedly has promise and will probably make his way to Hollywood (which shouldn't be a bad thing, at least they'll teach him how to be economic)but he really needs to know where to draw the line. I'm sure they'll be some French nationals who'll disagree with me here but see it for yourself and ask yourself is really as good as everyone is making out?

I can't remember how long ago it was when I first saw this film but my most vivid memory of it is when I was alone one xmas day and I sat watching it after a couple of pipes. The segment of the film that deals with the actual taking of the hill is one of the most emotionally draining battle sequences ever filmed. The despair of the soldiers is palpable and the sound effects have you ducking for cover yourself. It so real that you can't help but feel frustration at not being able to help the men you see die in front of you.

This film is, I believe based around some of the events listed in the book "The 13th Valley" by Mark Del Vecchio. If you get the chance you should read that too.

A neglected film that deserves more credit than Oliver Stone's awful "Platoon"

I didn't really know what to expect with BOTD but the intensity of the opening sequence grabbed me and didn't let go until the end. At it's peak had an almost "Apocalypse Now" / "Catch 22" feel to it with the madness of Cage's character's situation really penetrating your mind.

The way that the film treated death was a scarily realistic one that also carried a truly spiritual edge to it (Scorcese's experience with "Kundun" must have helped him out here as it does seem to have a Buddhistic attitude.)

The cast were magnificent with Rhames coming out on top. The camera work and Schoonmaker's outstanding editing resulted in some incredible and awe inspiring imagery. I don't ever recall seeing such a beautifully shot close-up of a person's face.

This film is draining but it pays back in spades what you as the viewer invests.

See it and be amazed by one of the only truly great filmakers of our time.

Firstly, it's a great film. Secondly, I find it quite scary that a film can mirror the reality I was living in between 1991-98. I have met pretty much every character in this film in real life and to be able to capture them and put them on film without any loss of personality is a feat in itself.

Stand-out moments? The flash-back to clubbing in the summer of 1991, the nutters that the younger brother goes off with at the end of the night, the blunted "out there" conversations, the two rushin' guys at the club bar, the tip'o the hat to Big Bill Hicks and Howard Marks' spliff politics.

It's a hoot. Watch it and then go clubbing (course it's not like it used to be though ;)

All of the characters are strokes of genius. This is without doubt one of the most character rich films since the days of Bogart, Cagney and Grant.

The Coen brothers are two of the finest minds working in film today. They can scare the S*%t out of you one minute and then have you holding on to your sides with chronic belly laughs.

See this film before you die and the world will seem a slightly more human place to be. ;) Oh, and vote for it. Let's get that rating up!

I saw this when I was a kid around the same time I saw Planet of The Apes, Logan's Run and The Omega Man. I love this kind of stuff. Yul Brynner was always a cool actor and he's very cool in this piece of dystopian sci-fi. It also has Max Von Sydow in it who's always good value for money.

The amazing thing about this film (well ok it's not that amazing, more sort of interesting) is how the plot is so similar to Mad Max. There really was a preponderance of this sort of movie in the early seventies, enough to cover the writing of thesis me thinks.

Anyway if you have a spare evening and no idea what to watch why not check Yul in full flow.

Well, this film had aroused more curiosity in me than nearly every film released in the UK so far (including SWTPM but not including Eyes Wide Shut). A bit of background: I am an admitted Sci-Fi nut. I love the genre as a whole and I'm always interested in seeing original new movies in this genre. I must admit I was expecting a lot more from this film. The reviews all claimed that The Matrix was an intelligently scripted story with gob-smacking effects to boot. Surely a combination that has studios falling over themselves to produce? The end result? Well, what you got here is certainly an effects leaden movie with A script. Is it as intelligent as we're being led to believe? NO WAY! This is a Marvel comic book brought to life - not surprising when you discover that the brothers Warchovsky actually worked as comic book script writers first and that The Matrix started out as a plot for a comic book series.

The plot is a great concept and one that is currently very in vogue with Hollywood (see eXiTenZ, Dark City, The 13th Floor etc) but there's nothing in script that would tax your average 13 yr old kid.

In a nutshell it's a sci-fi King-Fu movie. Films like Starship Troopers, Bladerunner and Alien are all head-and-shoulders above this kind of High Concept porridge. When will we ever see the likes of a Bladerunner again I wonder? Probably never, as big bangs now equal big bucks in Hollywood.

Ridley! We need you man.

I can't believe so many people have given this film better than average reviews. There's not one original idea in the whole film and I'm talking about absolutely everything covered in this dire flick, from the background props to the script and the set-piece action sequences.

I can even name the films it steals (inconvincingly) from; Alien (massively - even down to the obligatory English crew members), Aliens, The Shining (although nowhere near as much as people claim), Hellraiser, Black Hole, Sphere etc etc etc.

It's so obviously a case of an inexperienced director given far more money than he should ever have been given. He uses the film as an excuse to try out sequences that have been filmed before so that he can add them to his repertoire.

This film should never have been released as it's not a film for audiences it's purely for the director's own gratification.

The only other director I've seen that can present an image as crisp and as involving as this is Stanley Kubrick. The tale that unfolds is a masterpiece of minimalistic story telling. All of the characters are engaging and the music only adds to the timeless feel of the whole film. I see it is a study of parental loss. Whether this is through age, death, mistreatment. The imagery is out of this world. I get a huge satisfaction from films that do not insult my intelligence. Leaves you drained.