Reviews

Mesoamerica the age of Hunac Ceel a Mayan tyrant who seeks to conquer all other tribes in Mexico. Young king Balam takes his people across the gulf of Mexico to lead his people away from the danger , however upon arrival in what will become North America they are confronted by hostile native Americans who do not want intruders in their land. A lost gem of a movie it features outstanding acting , sets and costumes and the soundtrack is pure genius by Elmer Bernstien. Yul Brynner offers excellent charisma in the role of Chief Black Eagle however for me the real show stealer has to be George Chakiris as king Balam , young and handsome with great charisma and great hair he suits the role of the king perfectly and Shirley Anne Field as his beloved also gives a shining performance. One of the best epics if not the best , right up there with Spartacus and Cleopatra and a great film in general.

This 1960 retelling of the novel has many good points and far more bad points. The characters are more or less the same just updated in social class and occupation to suit the modern setting. All the explorers led by Challenger visit a plateau that Challenger claims to be inhabited by prehistoric monsters. They end up having their helicopter smashed by a brontosaurus (in reality a monitor lizard with a large frill and Godzilla style spikes on it's back ) so they have to find a way out of the mountain. Along the way the encounter natives more dinosaurs which include the creature that destroyed their helicopter , a baby alligator and another monitor lizard all of which have fins glued on. The acting isn't great but it certainly isn't bad just fairly average , the dinosaurs are goofy but they do look quite cool and sometimes fierce like during the fight between two of them , they are lizards but it is kind of fun to watch. I wouldn't recommend it but i wouldn't prohibit it either , it's a Marmite movie you love it or hate it. The only thing i'm not happy with is certain scenes of animal cruelty involving the lizards.

The main issue i have with this film is that 98% of the film has nothing to do with D-DAY , it's about two officers on a boat talking about their romance with a woman. If the film had suggested that this would be the story that would have made it much better like if the title had been say "Two soldiers and a lady" that would have been good but calling it D-day the sixth of June is just totally wrong. It's like calling Manhunter the life of Hannibal Lector (for those of you who didn't get that joke Hannibal only shows up for about five minutes in Manhunter). Aside from the title being wrong the story is really uninteresting mainly because you want the film to show you you the bits with D-day in them because that's what the film has promised in the title but it never bloody shows them. If you want a really boring melodrama about love then yeah it's for you but other wise don't watch it and ignore the title completely.

When you have a film as good as Grease it is hard to make a sequel that will please fans and the major problem with this film is that it didn't (and some on the songs are bad) but looking at it as a film on it's own it is OK but it has a different feel to it. Instead of the T-birds being the central characters we a have a charming British boy called Micheal who falls for Pink Ladies leader Stephanie who does not notice him because he is not a hard core rider. Plot is pretty good, the T-birds look amazing on their bikes however the things that let the film down are some of the songs (Reproduction) and the rest of the pink ladies are really stupid. Not the best sequel but not terrible.

Like many third movies this film is un-necessary and stupid. A 747 with a group of rich idiots is hijacked and then ( because the hijackers are fools ) crashes into the Bermuda triangle where it sinks to the bottom. For a start if this did happen the plane would snap in two and everyone would die. If this didn't happen then the pressure would destroy the plane and everyone would drown. The plane is now sitting st the bottom of the ocean and the crew and passengers must find a way to escape and survive. The acting is dreadful even with actors like Lee Grant ,Christopher Lee and Jack Lemmon. The story is so far fetched that it might as well be an episode of a cartoon show. Don't watch it !

After escaping death at the hands of two teenagers from the last film Jason changes his clothes , kills more teenagers and picks up his hockey mask up on the way. A simple story and pretty much a rehash of the previous film but with more gore and more entertaining characters who you half will to survive unlike the last film where they are all annoying and stupid and you wish Jason killed everyone of them. I should also mention all of the girls are very attractive without exception which is a nice change from the last film. Jason gets his infamous hockey mask here and that is pretty much the only thing new in this film but still perfectly watchable and this is the last good film in the series so enjoy it!

Moose Malloy is out of the slammer and already looking for his Velma. He hires P.I Phillip Marlowe to find her as he hasn't spoken to her in 7 years however his search comes to a dead end and he decides to turn his attention to another case to which he is assigned by the seductive Charlotte Rampling but are these two cases really as different as they seem? This adaptation of the novel by Raymond Chandler is one of the best movies depicting Phillip Marlowe. Robert Mitchum fills the shoes of the private eye better even then Elliot Gould. The film captures the sense of sleazy , damp and somewhat depressing age of 1940's L.A with great performances from all the cast and the mystery within the film is cleaver and will leave you guessing until the last second. A must see along with The Long Goodbye.

The German battleship Bismarck has set sail for the high seas, sank the HMS Hood and has broken out into the north Atlantic. The powerful force of the Nazi navy seems unstoppable but the Royal Navy will stop at nothing to strike down the floating monstrosity, Winston Churchill orders the brave seamen to SINK THE BISMARCK! A fantastic piece of British cinema showing a realistic and exciting portrayal of one of history's defining battles at sea with amazing performances from Kenneth More and Dana Wynter. The battle scenes at sea between the ships and the air raid from the swordfish bi-planes are all breathtaking scenes and hold up well today. A great war film and a must see 8/10

A mid-air collision leaves a 747 without a pilot. Charlton Heston, Karen Black and George Kennedy star in this campy far fetched adventure. Acting is wooden and unconvincing and the plot ranges from strange to absurd but the air sequences are by far the best in any air disaster film and well worth a look. It is a typical disaster film for it's time but is thankfully one of the good ones unlike The Concorde or The Swarm. People give it a hard time claiming it to be one of the worst films ever made but it obviously isn't as there are many millions of mainstream films worse than this and many worse disaster movies if you want proof watch any of Irwin Allen's late 70's productions.

Mosquito pilots must destroy a big house where the Germans are meant to be developing the v3 rocket ( wonder what that would have looked like ) and considering how effective the v1 and v2 rockets are the v3 must not reach production so the squadron use bouncing bombs to destroy the house. Sounds quite imaginative if not a tad bit stupid but it comes off as a big pile of junk with unconvincing dog fights and action with the exception of the last part of the film. There are Ed Wood style goofs like a planes shadow on the backdrop and planes wobbling in the air as they fly but it does have a good feel to it just try not to take it to seriously watch Dam Busters or 633 Squadron instead.

The federation needs you to defend human kind against the bugs ! And so begins one of the best action science fiction films ever. It is pure fun but it also shows a very good look at the way the army manipulates young people to join by disguising war as something patriotic and something to be proud of. The real gems in this movie are the action scenes and the aliens themselves. The battle scenes capture a sense of epic scale ( the siege on the outpost will instantly make you think of Zulu ). Through the course of the human-arachnid war we see the relationships of the soldiers develop into brotherhood and how they all end up staying close together through the conflict. Rico's ( Casper Van Dein) courage and skills as a leader develop which is unique in a film like this. An excellent film and a must see !

This film obviously takes a leaf out of Dawn of the Dead but only as fa as the gore is concerned. In the Romero film the zombies mainly look like people with really pale skin but the makeup artists have made a big effort so the zombies look like rotting corpses ( and bloody frightening!) The plot is unique as it goes back to a more conventional zombie tale regarding and island and voodooism. The final showdown is very good as it reminds us of an Italian western film ( with zombies). This film is quite decent despite the acting and the dumb but effective and creepy music so check it out unless you want a masterpiece or if you don't like the sight of blood.A must have for all horror fans!

A German panzer brigade is smashed to bits by Americans ( who are wearing stupid Nazi helmets , what ? ) but one crew survive and must repair their m47 Patton , sorry , tiger in order to get back to their own lines before being captured or killed. The plot sounds interesting but when the film gets started it delivers bad acting , poor action scenes and an array of weapons that are from the 1960's , come on every war film still manages to get the correct uniform and weapons ( besides tanks ). Don't even watch this film sober otherwise you will go to a neighbouring farm and shoot yourself with the farmers shotgun. A poor movie in every aspect and i am shocked that TCM were the ones who showed this on TV.

British forces must destroy gun emplacements in Tobruk. Richard Burton once again gives n outstanding performance as Alex Foster who must destroy the German guns. This movie is a mixture of the guns of Naverone and battle of the bulge as you have American tanks m41 walker bulldogs and m48 Patton as German Panzers ( all of which is footage lifted from Tobruk ) similar to the bulge film. You have Burton exactly copying the actions of Peppard to fit the stock footage of Tobruk into the action scenes of this film. However this is what lets the film down as it doesn't use any new footage as far as battle scenes are concerned it is like watching Tobruk again but just with different actors. Still worth a watch as it is exciting and well acted

This film should be classed as an awful adaptation to the screen like street fighter. This features ancient clichés and very very poor dialogue ( unless you consider the word spartan being repeated at least 290 times good writing)although i can see why it is popular as the CGI is impressive as are the fight scenes but for me it was a brain-out movie that made me virtually brain-dead. The costumes are very very homo-erotic despite it being a masculine based film ( tight leather thongs and guys with big abs , come on ! ). What really gets on my nerves is when people say "its all true 100%" firstly it's based on a bloody comic book and do you idiots really think the Persian Empire had huge, mutated giants ? Watch the the 1962 film instead as it's better portrayed and does show the impressive ACCURATE battle.

The life of a young soldier in Vietnam as he encounters the violence and brutality of war at it's worst. Featuring moving and horrific scenes that move you to tears due to the graphic nature but what really hits the nerves is that it is all true. Charlie Sheen gives a memorable performance as Chris with excellent supporting performances from Tom Beringer and Willem Defoe. Action scenes are done very well as the come across as convincing and shocking. This film reminds us that war is not full of men delivering witty one liners and shooting all the bad guys but that is a de-humanising and painful experience. The best film around about Vietnam and a must see for anyone.

Before i begin my summary of the film i wish to say that if anyone you know has told you the film is poor because it's inaccurate DON'T LISTEN TO THEM this film is well shot , well acted and exciting. If you watch this film to get information for some history coursework then it won't do any good but despite it's anachronisms it is still very good. The tanks used in the film are m-47 Patton tanks and m-24 Chaffee tanks and for people who pan the film for this every war film uses British , Russian or American tanks to represent German tanks because there are none that still work. I liked the fact that the German tiger II's were portrayed as unstoppable forces of destruction it made the Germans a much more frightening enemy on screen. The producers of this film made a good job of getting the scale of the battle scenes large enough and the performances from Shaw and Fonda and pretty much all the cast are excellent. Check it out !

1879 the British army suffer a crushing defeat at Islandlwana where 1200 hundred men are virtually destroyed at the hands of 40,000 Zulu warriors. The same day The Welsh regiment stationed at Rorkes Drift of only 100 soldiers must face the horrific might of the Zulu hordes. By all means a classic with incredible scenery , acting and action scenes giving the audience the sense of the overwhelming odds that the British soldiers faced. A must see for anyone who loves history or war films featuring outstanding performances from Stanly Baker and Micheal Cane. The prequel made in 1979 100 years after the actual event ) Zulu Dawn is worth a look as well however is not a patch on the 1964 original.

Bronson is back and this time he is in L.A he has a beautiful girlfriend ( Jill Ireland , Bronson's then wife ) nothing could go wrong. Well unfortunately something does his daughter is raped ( for the second time , unlucky ! ) then killed. Now he is out for the killers and he will stop at nothing , blow all cars up , unload countless rounds out of his gun until he kills his daughters murderers. A change from the first film , more blood and Rambo style action , worth a look for action fans but won't suit all. The music by Jimmy Page is perfect for the setting and dark gritty style of this film. However if you are hoping for something along the lines of the first film then you will be out of luck . For action and Bronson fans only.

In the 1930's and 40's it was the classic 1933 black and white Dracula that was seen as the supreme vampire film however in 1958 hammer films released Horror of Dracula. This showed a more gory and frightening take on the count than any other film and is arguably the first example of full on , gory , nerve shattering terror on film . Christopher Lee is by far the best Dracula and possibly the most memorable. It takes certain liberties with the novel but for the better delivering a much stronger and darker story. If you enjoy horror films then this is a must see. Peter Cushing is incredible as Van Helsing and the final scene is possibly one of the best climaxes in any film.