Reviews

This film surprised me.

For a start it captured the 70's style and feel very, very well. The clothes, the swinging style, the machismo; and I'm not sure how they filmed the 'live on air' sections but it almost felt like the quality of picture was like we used to get with CRT telly's. Then the B&W footage gives it that raw doco feel, which is what they are wanting, because this is supposed to be a true story......it isn't

So with that, I was totally engaged with the story, and quite the story it is too.

But then after an hour or so, after so much build up, for me, it falls apart! The carefully crafted story telling disappears in favour of gore. What a waste of talent.

Until then, the almost believable (even though you know its not) story unfolds well, a good build up as events develop as you'd imagine they would on a live set, but it was like at that point they handed over the ending to the trainee who'd totally ignored the previous hour and lunges into completely different style.

Just one word - ruined. Which is such a shame as this could easily have been one of the best horror's in this decade.....instead it's become another yawn fest!

Watch, for sure, alone and in the dark, but don't worry you'll have no trouble going to bed after!

Liam Neeson plays the role of jaded killer brilliantly, and the supporting crew, Colm Meaney, Kerry Condon, Niamh Cusack make this film a bit of a gem in a wilderness of bland American smash and bash comic com trash.

Set in Ireland in the high of the troubles (1970's) the story is believable - if a little over played in places.

The scenery is almost as bleak and brooding as the story and matches the mood of the film, excellently.

All in all it's a good 2 hours that will hook you in and passes without too much "What! Really!!' And give you more "Yeah, good" moments.

Liam is on top form.

Don't let this one pass you by.

I would recommend the best to watch this film is with a bunch a friends, a lot of beer and the messiest pizza, (lots of tomato sauce).

This film, (if you can call it that), is light on plot, light on acting, light on (good) CGI and heavy on gore....hence the messy pizza......there's no way you can watch this film without the aid of liberal alcohol either.

No spoilers here, but this isn't Jaws.....in fact it's not even as good as Jaws 4.....and that should tell you everything you need to know.

But having said that, I enjoyed it. It was certainly silly enough to make me laugh out loud, there was the music enhanced shocks that made me jump in my seat and enough Paris sites to make me fell cultured.

If you go at this film with low exceptions then you'll be fine, hence my recommendation, friends, booze and food and leave it at that.

Take one human interest story, a bunch of brilliant actors in their twilight years, (no offence intended), add some light direction and locations that speak for itself, stir gently and let brew for 90 minutes. The result, a minor classic (to be), that only the BBC/Pathe seem able to do these days.

Explosions come via dialogue, not CGI or TNT.

Sex comes via a heart felt embrace that feels more real than any hot sweaty athletic romp that in real life is impossible to all other than the superhuman.

Story trumps loud music, or mumbling interactions.

Glamour comes via knowing this really happened, and these people really did what it 'says on the tin', give their all so you and i can enjoy today in freedom.

Will it be in the Oscar's, narh.....should it be? I'll leave that up to you, but i do recommend you go and see it - and take a hankie....you just might need it occasionally.

RIP Glenda Jackson. A great film to leave us by.

I saw this movie in the cinema when it first came out way way back in the early eighties and I recently re-watched it again, first time in 40 odd years and it doesn't stand the test of time.

I remember thinking it had a great story (no spoilers) and it does but by today's standards it's poorly done.

Kris Kristofferson was probably at his best back then, and he takes a great part, much to his credit; but Treat Williams.....OMG , terrible. So much angst, so much 'oooh look at me'.

Should this movie ever be remade, hell yes. It's still a good story but when you judge it by todays standards it's really become a afternoon's re-run.

There once was a time that the name Clint Eastwood on any film meant that it was going to be good, if not bloody good, if not excellent. I am very sad to report that this film has broken that mantra. It is dull, it is dire, it is thoroughly unentertaining. Clint Eastwood is a shadow of his former self, sad to say, and whilst he portrays an old cowboy in this film his age really does show through. For me I just felt embarrassed for him for the entire length of this very poorly told story. This is a film he should've made 20 years ago but he didn't and the film suffers because of it. Not worth the watch.

For me I took the wrong approach to this film for the first 15 minutes and was almost at the point of getting up and leaving when I thought hang on a minute this is just a popcorn film and when you look at it like that it's one hell of a popcorn film. It has Jason Stratham, it has three large sharks, a giant octopus, baddie, goodies and a bunch of references to the proper shark film 'jaws'. (see how many you can count). There is nothing about this film could remotely be factual so don't assess it is so, just sit down immerse yourself in the silly world of prehistoric sharks and enjoy the popcorn.

Well, what could possibly go wrong with a film that actually has a reasonable story, a bunch of good actors, and involves christmas?

Apparently a heck of a lot!

Where to start. Well for me the first thing was it was obvioulsy filmed during summer, a northern hemisphere summer when christmas is still another 6 or so months away. From that moment on it just kept on getting worse.

Virtually everyone played their role with tongues well and truely cheeks.

I'm guessing the pay cheques were big enough to turn a blind eye to the dredfully direction.

This is THE WORSE christmas film ......... ever!

This film keppt me at the edge of my seat. The action scenes were relentless and had me hollering for the "goodies' and 'baddie's' and ever so grateful that i never had to go to war like all those Hanks portrays.

The battle of the atlantic is a more or less downplayed battle when compared to those on land, but in a lot of ways it was a lot worse. Your enemy close at hand or miles away, you'd never know until thay cry, "Torpedo".

Hanks brings over the sheer hell of fighting a war on water and also shows sympathy to the other side, it was hell for them also.

There is no glory to this war film, just guts.

What saves this picture from being another well meaning pseudo doc/drama is a riveting performance from Guy Pearce as Han Van Meegrern and Claes Bang as Joseph Piller.

This is a story I hadn't heard about, (no spoilers here), about one of the worlds greatest forgers, and how he pulled the wool over not only the art world, with it's 'up them selves', I know better than you attitude, and the head of the Nazi regime.

It's a fantastical story made all the more watchable by the roles of Guy Pearce and Class Bang). You have to keep reminding yourself that, it's real, it really happened, it's not Hollywood.

There's no doubt that Guy Pearce's plays his role so well that I actually thought to myself at one point why would you go to all the effort they did to save this man......he's insufferable to the point of self destruction. But it the space of just a few minutes he does a full 180 and demonstrates why he'd acted the way he did. I'm not sure how true to life that was, but if it was as acted then that surely must have been the best day ever in any court.

It was mid afternoon on school holidays and the cinema had a smattering of kids with parents....and i thought to myself, oh no this is going to be dreadful, talkative kids, distracted, or even bored......BUT NO. For three hours the only noise's were gasps when there should be gasps, laughter when there should be laughter.

The storyline is right up there for being topical, the scene settins stunning, the stunts scary and edge of your seat stuff.

There's no mistake this is one of 2023's best so far. For me Tom Cruse is one of the best action actors, ever!

I can't recommend this film highly enough.

They did a lot of good things back in the 50's and one of them was paranoid sci-fi. End of the world stuff, or the white heat of the then new nuclear age gone wrong. Them follows the latter.

Without giving too much away this film moves along at a pace, right from the start. They had 90 minutes to get across their message of meddle with science and suffer the consequences at your own peril.

With the CGI of today the 'effects' may look clumsy to say the least, but they stand the test of time in terms of shocking.

The story is a good one and it's well told, as 50's films go this is one to watch.

I so wanted to love this film, after all look who's in it, so many names and a wealth of acting history. And it's about the NHS, a nations greatest achievement bar none, currently being dismantled bit by bit by bit. And yet this film misfires on just about every level.

David Bradley's, Judi Dench's and Jenifer Saunders roles are top notch, but Bally Gill's is superb.

But what got me, was almost quarter way through the entire film hits a bump in the road, changes direction, hits you square on in the face and then somehow, looses it's way again and finds the road it was on. What the heck happened there? For me it ruined the film. It should have either stuck with the one or the other

There was plenty of potential here, and the cast to take it into the realms of awards, but sadly I think it will disappear into the margin bin of your local video shop - if they still existed.

Now without Colman this film would have passed in obscurity, but her performance not only saves the film, it makes it worth seeing.

As someone who was in their formative early twenties when this film is set I am somewhat disappointed at its portrayal of what was an exciting and disturbing time. It's either that or it wasn't the time I remember.

The scene dressing is lacking, little about it says early eights other than movie titles. But set that aside for a moment, as the story just doesn't set the world alight either, What does is Coleman's performance. She is electric. She dominates the screen in every scene she's in. It's either moving, or frustrating, or at times it even feels like we're invading private moments of her troubled life.

Toby Jones is much under used, sadly, but where he does appear he comes through as a very believable character.

Colin Firth sparks well with Colman but is also under used.

The end result is a ,little over long with a very contrived ending. It ought to have ended at the closing of the door in the last scene with Toby Jones; leaving questions unanswered. But the perceived need to tie up all the loose ends, to my viewing, made the film a bit of a disappointment.

So worth seeing for one person only, Coleman. Someone give that woman an award, please.

I so wanted to love this as much as i loved Avatar. I so wanted to want to see this film twice at the pictures......and i guess you've worked out that when i finally left, after 3 and a quater hours, my bubble of deisire had well and truely been popped!

Look, this film is good, and without a doubt the graphics are 'out of this world', but if the film is so long that when you start thinking to yourself, "These seats are really comfy", and "I wonder what sound system they use here" then the film isn't that good. It's about an hour too long. The middle sags, heavily, and there are story holes so large an universe could fall into them......sorry to say, this isn't Avatar.

As New Zealand films go this is something of a stand out. It could just as well been titled 'Once were warriors, the prequel'! (if you've seen that film then you'll know what to expect).

It's violent, very violent, it's bloody, very bloody, it's an effort to watch, (because their entire mindset seems to be kill and wait to be killed.); and it's completely in Maori, so subtitled, start to finish.

Ultimately it is worth the effort and it is an effort but it's not an easy watch and definately not for the squeemish.

So settle yourself down, and immerse yourself into pre european history of New Zealand.

Not sure why this film is not promoted more it's certainly deserves to be.

For a start the scenery is absolutely stunning and provides a backdrop to a very sombre and dark tail.

The acting is superb, top notch, by some great actors and they tell the tale so well.

The cinematography is as exciting as the rugged foreshore and sea.

The story takes place around the midpoint of the First World War in a remote settlement as far away from the front lines as possible. However it is not a war film. It's a film about how a community comes together under difficult times, and how a family struggles in the bleakest of existences.

Without spoilers I will see there are a few hooks in this film that will certainly rock rock in your seat.

Definitely well worth watching.

I am of the generation where we actually knew someone who was in the 'great war'.

As time moves on memories fade, stories get re-told with new embellishments and facts removed or distorted. Before you know it the event becomes something that it never was.

Much like the day to day dreariness and drudgery of trench warfare. We all seem to think that it was all running at each other's machinegun emplacements being cut to peices every day. It wasn't. Yes there were many such attacks but on the whole it was a mixture of fear, some excitment and boredom.

And that was for BOTH sides!

It's easy to forget that for the Germans it was just the same. Same idiotic generals, same nationalistic fever, same youth being wiped out, and same dreams being smothered in a muddy puddle by a young man who is as scared and frightened as you are.

This film protrays the storys those people who actually fought in the 'Great war' told me before they died......Watch it and remember them ALL.

You know what, from the shorts i thought this film was going to be a riot, sadly though for me it wasn't.

I'm not sure if it was down to the direction, or the production, or even ther story telling or what! But the one minute it's a slapstick comedy, then the next it's a serious socal issues film and then it's inwardly naval gazing self awareness film.

It's such a shame because there is a bucket load of tallent there, and it's a good story, i just wish it chose a route and stuck to it.

But as they say you pays your money and you take your choice. I found it disapointing, whereas my partner, she loved it!

The shorts for this film promised a lot, it's s shame to say that the film didn't live up to its potential. The masses of talent that line this cast are wasted on a film that is neither a comedy or a (real) who-done-it.

At one point i was more intested in working out the sometimes very clever hidden references, (to other films and Agatha Christie characters), than watching the plot unfold.

I have no doubt that some will love the style of this film, but not me, and i'm guessing nor poor old Agatha were she still here to witness it.

I did how ever love the scene settings and the period feel, that was well done.

For me it's not so much 'Who done it"? It's more "Why did they do it?"

Is it a horror? Well loud music that singpost where you should jump and overly dark pictures don't make a good horror Is it a drama? Well poor story telling and a dull script that lacks any style don't make a good drama.

Is it a thriller? Well, well worn set peices poorly signposted don't make a good thriller.

Is it a horror? Well loud music that signpost's where you should jump and overly dark exposures doesn't make for a good horror

Is it a drama? Well, poor story telling and a dull script that lacks any style doesn't make for a good drama.

Is it a thriller? Well, well worn set pieces poorly signposted doesn't make for a good thriller.

All in all it's irksome, tired and even boring........There's little to see and even less to engage the viewer.

No doubt the teenagers will like the 'Hunger Games' style and its popcorn entertainment style, but it will fall into the forgotten bin not soon enough for me. If it were a video it would be in the margin bin within a month.

Loved this film. Over the top fun filled with characters that are just too unbelievable which make the film. From the first punch to the last explosion this is a film that grabs you by the throat, flings you across the room, smashes you into the ground and will probabily throw you out the window as well. It's not Marvel type crash bang, it's more Guy Richie character type based. I was rivited from start to finish......make this a must see.

What makes this film is that it really happened! It's the little man takes on ??? The sort of thing that gets written about a lot but is usally makebelieve .... however this time it's not, it's real.

Quality acting, no CGI to speak of, just a great cast telling a great story.

When you're done of cartoon's, smash bash Americian box office super screen, mega box office stuff, then this is the film for you.

You know the film is a bloody good one when you see its 2 and a half hours long and it goes in a blink!

I loved everything about this film; the actors - great casting, the story, the telling of that story and the soundtrack, (not all Elvis either).

This film was like a shot in the arm from the summer season epic's out at the moment.

I highly recommend it to all.

I'll keep this short, it lacks the excitement and thrill of the original, but don't let that stop you from watching. There's pleanty of thrills, a fair bit of impressive flying and lots of testosterone.

What it lacks is the rawness of the original, that 'devil may care attitude', that 'youth' that made top gun......and sadly there was something else that was missing, (for me at least), that pounding soundtrack that just swept you up along with the speed of the film......where is the 2022 version of Kenny Loggins 'Danger Zone'?