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alienmojo
Reviews
Rising Sun (1993)
A disgrace to the book
If you read Crichton's book, which was fantastic by the way, then please do not see this movie. To take Smith's character and make him black for some ungodly reason is beyond me. Then to change the ending and just about everything else in the book is horrible. The most interesting thing about the book was seeing how the Japanese view us, how they view themselves, and the explanations for their actions was great. It is only touched lightly in the movie. If you have seen this movie and found yourself interested in the Japanese culture and how they view us Americans I highly recommend reading the book. You will get far more out of it than this movie did. I rate it a 3 and that is being nice.
Scarlett (1994)
Not your normal chick flick!
A letter to the guys. I tried guys, I really tried! I tried so hard not to watch this movie. I would leave the room when it was on or jump on the computer when the wife watched it. This is her second favorite movie, the Godfather being first (which I love).
I ended up catching little bits of this movie and finally after maybe a year I was actually sitting down watching it with her. I can't believe I am saying this, but I loved this movie. Dalton plays a great Rhett and has his cockiness down pat. Whalley plays a delightful Scarlett. Full of fire and brimstone and NOTHING is going to stop her.
My favorite scene is when she is overseas in (Ireland?) and the government is going to tear down a peasant's house because they are behind in the rent. Scarlett gets all mad at this and pays the entire debt, thus making a huge name for herself around this small town.
All I'm saying guys is you might want to try this movie... especially if you are a fan of Gone with the Wind. It does take a little bit to get used to the new actors, but I think you will find them refreshing.
Navy Seals (1990)
Very Similar to Real S.E.A.L.s I have known.
Someone commented that Charlie Sheen's character should be court martialed for doing whatever he wanted. You may be right, but that is how SEAL's truly are. I served for several months with a SEAL team out of Norfolk, VA. Actually, I should say they used our ship to deploy themselves around Europe for a couple of months. I was the postal clerk on board and everyday these guys would try to get their mail. Since only one person was allowed to pick up the mail each day we issued one pass to one person. Each day a different SEAL would come up pretending to be someone else. Well, after the third time I said no to them until I had proof who they were. They went NUTS!!! I thought they were gonna bust through my cage, gag me, and then steal the mail. Luckily I had not only the President on my side (The Navy), but the Federal Government (US Mail). That was the only time I saw the SEALs stopped from having whatever they wanted. They were allowed unlimited shore leave, where we had to be back on ship at a certain time. They killed and tortured a woman in France and the two SEAL's only got a 1 week detention on ship, whereas a Seamen was caught stealing a bottle of wine from a French wine shop and he got a court martial. Is it any wonder why the SEAL's retention rate is over 85%? As a SEAL you are god. So this movie does a pretty accurate job of portraying how a SEAL acts and thinks... unfortunately it is so unbelievable to normal people that it comes off as being fake.
AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)
Not as bad as I thought it would be.
Thankfully I read all of the bad comments on here before seeing it and expected the worst. I was happy to see the movie was better than I thought it would be. It suffered from the same thing as Alien 3 and that was character development. Too many characters that you felt very little for. I saw a chance for some cool characters... mainly that girl who has the pistol and talked to Lex about condoms in the beginning. It suffered a bit like Alien 4 in that it killed off its characters, and usually the good ones, too soon.
My view of the Alien films is such. Alien is still hands down the best of the series. Anyone who says ALIENS was the best doesn't understand good movie making... they just like action. Nothing wrong with that mind you, but for pure cinematography, character development, plot, and suspense... ALIEN is the best. Then I like ALIEN 3. Yes, I said ALIEN 3. I, like most Europeans, liked the darkness of it and the changing character of Ripley. I work night shift by myself and listen to cassette tapes of the movies, just the sound mind you, and I really enjoy the dialogue of 3. Then I like ALIENS for the action. Then AVP. Then ALIEN 4. ALIEN 4 was the most depressing. It had everything going for it! Great actors! ...and I mean great! ...well except for Whine ona Ryder. Great sets and dark story. Then it gets stupid and kills the best guys first!!! Oh if they just could have kept the black guy and killed the guy in the wheel chair, then I would have liked it more. ...and that STUPID alien!!! Oh don't let me go there. Then the final scene where the ship crashes into America and looks to take most of it out we hear Call say, "You saved the world.." Yeah! Right! So don't be too harsh on AVP. The only two things I hated were the two predators dying SO QUICKLY and at the end the predators NOT SEEING the alien in their fallen comrade...although he could see it in the human. Since the Predator was dead and emitting no heat it would have been easy to see the alien. Oh well... nothing can be as perfect as JAWS was.
Deep Rising (1998)
Don't let this one slip by you!
Although this movie did not make much money, it has turned into one of my favorites. Just like Alien, the characters are very interesting and the feeling of impending doom as the crew walk the seemingly empty vessel is wonderful. I especially love Treat Williams and feel badly that this movie never had a sequel...it should have! You will fall in love with these characters too.