Reviews

Words fail me on this movie.

Of course in some ways, it does not break new ground. Making movies that intentionally try to look like grade B drive in movies has been done.

Loading up a movie with stars and guest stars has been done as well, and this movie has plenty of that - it was not until the credits I realized an actor I did not recognize was Don Johnson. There's plenty of well known faces here.

I think of this movie as a synthesis of a lot of movie ideas. Somehow, it works. I got vibes of blaxpoitation films at times (the sex scenes,) a kind of pulp fiction vibe, a general B movie vibe, a modern action movie vibe, along with hint (maybe) of real political commentary (about immigrants.) It's quite violent. I don't care much for violent movies, but at times the violence is SO over the top I just could not take it seriously. Nor did I think I was supposed to.

If you dislike violence, don't see this. If you dislike gratuitous nudity, don't see this. If you dislike camp, don't see this. On the other hand, if you like a quirky, campy, violent movie, with a little T&A and a whole lot of attitude, this is the movie to see.

I was surprised to find I totally loved it, and almost wanted to give it a 10 out of 10, but that would have implied perfect execution of their concept, and I felt maybe a few things could have been better done - and it's not my new favorite movie, so that also makes it 9 / 10.

I feel this movie is a bit in the vein of Get Shorty.

It's a comic take on Hollywood and cop movies.

I feel it just falls short of being as great of a movie as Get Shorty.

For one thing, Harrison Ford's character is not that likable. His main schtick is trying to run real estate deals while solving a murder case. If we had some sympathy for him, this might work better.

His partner is slightly more interesting, but also falls a bit flat in his role as a yoga loving, womanizing wannabe actor.

That being said, the movie is good for some laughs. I found the interrogation scene pretty amusing. I found the final chase scene pretty amusing.

Failing to find a better comedy on cable, this might be a possible choice for some mindless viewing.

I should note that the plot is moderately complex, so you kind of have to pay attention at times IF you really want to understand the whole plot (I was surfing the internet while watching the movie, and missed some plot points.)

I realize some will disagree with 10/10.

Given that this is one of my very favorite comedies, I had to do it.

The best parts of this movie are the dialog and the mood.

A lot of the dialog is lifted from the novel if memory serves. It's intelligent and funny. Almost no dialog falls flat.

The mood, as I would call it is amazing. The jazz score sets a nice tone as does the overall style and the pace. It's cool, to use an overused term.

Chili Palmer amazingly played by Travolta reminds me a bit of Bugs Bunny. Totally in control at all times, with everyone else looking a bit silly. Like Bugs Bunny, it's the total fantasy of being totally in control. Probably one of the more appealing aspects.

The cast is full of stars who are given great lines to deliver as well.

The characters are all fun.

In short, I can't think of too many movies that are this enjoyable over the whole movie.

I own the book, and have read part of it (it's signed by the author.) The movie is so good, that the book never quite holds my attention long enough to read it. I think if I had read the book first, maybe I would feel differently.

Someone suggested watching Jackie Brown rather than this movie. They are both great, and totally different. I suggest seeing BOTH.

I see a bunch of recent bad reviews. So let's try to understand why people might not like this.

1) Adam Sandler annoys them - as we all know, not everyone will appreciate a comedian. Adam Sandler plays a very specific role. He's outrageous. He goes from this little voice, to this manic swearing out of control guy. 2) They don't appreciate dumb comedies - And this is a dumb comedy. It's written that way. 3) They are of the wrong generation - My dad hates many very funny movies. He's of the wrong generation. He thinks Bob Hope is funny. He prefers gentler humor. I hated Super Troopers, but kids love it. 4) They have no sense of humor - I have met these people. They should stay away from comedy movies. Their instinct seems to be to hate comedies until proved worthy of their refined tastes. I feel sad for them.

That out of the way, I give this 9/10. Do I like all dumb comedies, no. But this one is special, like Airplane, Caddy Shack, Stripes, etc.

First off, Sandler's rants slay me. "Don't you want to go home! Are you too good for your home??" His sudden violent impulses are just plain silly. They are meant to so outrageous as to be funny. He has funny lines, and delivers them with perfect timing. He's a born comedian, love or hate him, and this role perfectly suits him. And he's quite likable just like the Hansons' in the movie slap shot. I think because we all want to vent our rage sometimes. It's not like he's mean to people who are nice to him. Or rude. He just has a short temper.

Carl Weathers as Chubs is priceless. I think there's real talent in how he delivers his lines. He plays this passionate person who denied his own shot at fame, wants to make Happy great so he can feel part of greatness. His part is played almost totally straight. I almost wish he had more lines in the movie.

People have complained that the movie is basically a bunch of gags. What's wrong with that? Almost everyone I know loves Airplane, and it's just a bunch of gags. Almost everyone I know loves Caddy Shack. Even more so, a bunch of gags tied together by almost no plot.

Best scenes -

Bob Barker vs. Adam Sandler (The Price is WRONG B***!)

Adam Sandler asking the ball why it does not just go home (I love to golf, and who doesn't sometimes feel like the ball just does not want to go to it's home)

Richard Kiel wearing the T-Shirt, "Guns don't kill people, I kill people"

With talents like Kelsey Grammar and Rip Torn and a some funny lines, this is a great comedy for when you don't want to think.

Premise is a bit dumb. As Russia is selling Diesel boats to other nations, an admiral wants to know how well one would fare against modern subs.

Thankfully, with comedies of this sort, the plot is second nature to the dialog and comic acting. In this movies case, there's some pretty funny dialog, and some funny characters.

I especially like Grammar's understated comedic acting. He delivers funny lines pretty straight. His character assumes sort of a kind fatherly relationship with his command.

The "bad" guy is pretty well played. Nothing special, but solid.

The supporting cast is decent. I liked the radio guy who made connection using his own body. He was pretty funny. The fat cook was too cliché. The chick was pretty. And her role was OK, a bit more depth might have been welcome.

If you like your basic cliché comedy with some good lines now and again, and like Gammer and Torn, you will probably like this.

I like it so much I have seen it three times. Why? I find myself in need of a movie where I will laugh a few times, and never have to think. This is that movies.

So let's get the bad out of the way. Over the top acting at times. The worst side of football is portrayed in most cases (one assumes there are many professional players and staff who just go about their job every day.) But it's a MOVIE. Rejoice, if you can, in the clichés. The "modern" generation of football with players getting music videos. The bad language. The clichéd sports speeches. Drugs, corruption. Rejoice I say in things taken to their extreme.

And why the rancor against Dias? She's good, I think, as the mercenary owner who seems to only care about money and winning but not the game. Maybe she's a little too pretty at times, but she puts in a solid acting job.

Al Pacino is good. Predictable in some ways, as he sort of has this stock character. But he LOOKS like a worn out coach. And you kind of expect him to give the big speeches, and let's face it, he's good at it.

The race part is kind of dumb. By that, I mean, the movie pushing the racial equality thing. OK, so the NFL has had few black QBs. This has been discussed many times, I saw no reason to address it again. But it was not a big part of the movie, so no big deal.

Anyway, I did not take this movie seriously. Think of it as an amalagram of NFL stereotypes. The egos which are huge in some cases, the drugs, the excess, the corruption etc. These have all existed, just maybe not to this extent and at the same time on the same team. But it's not like players have not used drugs, or let their egos get the better of them, or play with injuries through painkillers, etc.

If you are going to take this movie as some sort of morality play, it's probably not worth your time, IMO. Just watch it and be entertained. I think the acting is good, the dialog is entertaining, and the pace keeps your interested. If you want to watch real football, you know where to find that too.

I like animation. I like racing. I can handle simplistic plots.

I could not really enjoy the movie for a number of reasons. I fully understand not everyone would agree, and that's OK.

* First and foremost, I was annoyed by the racing. I don't mind a bit of unrealistic racing. But time, and time and time again, cars would spin for no reason - apparently in this universe spinning 360 speeds you up. I just could not suspend my believe. I suggest anyone doing the movie in the future make the racing a little truer to reality. Just a little! * Graphics are too bright. Some will love this. I like bright video games. But this was too much at times * Graphics are too chaotic. Go look at the awesome animation in Kung Fu Panda. Beautiful. You have time to enjoy it. Even if the animation was cool in the movie from time to time it happened too fast. And why is everything so blurry looking.

I think my problem is I love real racing too much. On real tracks, not on tracks made from a light bright set. I am 100% sure this movie was just not for me. If you love real racing, you may find yourself annoyed at times.

So, when I watch movies, I don't look into their depths. I either enjoy them, or I don't.

The start of the movie really brought me into it. It was so over the top it was funny. You kept thinking his band was done with him, and he came back to attack them. Classic.

OK the story is totally unrealistic. Who cares. I laughed. That's all that matters.

You have to like rock and roll, rock and roll clichés, and you have to watch this with no serious intent. If you don't appreciate the rock and roll clichés or light humor, go watch something serious.

I realize some people complained that Wilson was channeling Jack Black a little. But I think he had a bit of his own thing too. Aging rocker trying to relive his youth. Those of us old enough to understand that get it. Some of you won't.

The cast who played the teenage kids did great. The "nerd" could have had a little more personality, but he did fine. The emo guy was great. The girl was great too.

I gave this a 6 out of 10 for being entertaining, which is more than many movies manage. I laughed out loud quite a few times which most movies can't manage.

I don't know why, but I kept watching the movie in spite of being bored.

The story was not compelling. Just a run of the mill detective story. A few murders, etc.

The main character was a bit dull. Not horrible, just a bit dull. Not very many good lines. He's not a bad actor. Just not a very compelling one.

The supporting characters were soap opera quality. It was a made for TV movie, so not surprising, I guess.

The plot moved slowly. It never really dragged me into it.

Like many detective stories, there were too many characters, in my opinion. Less characters with a bit more depth make for a better story.

If there had been anything else on I wanted to watch, I would have watched it :) There's worse movies. It was not horrible. Just...dull

Close to the worst movie I have ever seen, and the worst racing movie I have ever seen.

The plot was stupid. The acting was stupid. The dialog was stupid.

Only the cars were cool, and they could not make up for the movie.

You know how some movies are so bad they're good? This is not one of those movies, at least for me. I was too busy feeling sorry for myself for paying money for the DVD. OK, so it was a bargain bin DVD. For all I know it was $5. It was $5 too much.

The only good thing about the movie was it was so bad, it makes me feel better about my life just complaining on IMDb about how bad it is.

I am quite optimistic about movies and can sometimes find SOME reason to watch any particular one. Not this one. Don't waste your time. There are enough car movies that you can skip this one. Watch one of the four Fast and Furious movies. While some are not great, they are ALL better than this, no contest.

I am watching it at the moment off the Golden collection #2.

I love cars and auto racing, so I probably give it a higher score than someone who's not as in love with cars and auto racing as I am.

I dig scenes in car race movies with a villain I am not familiar with a lot of the celebrities represented. I did know some of the more famous ones, mentioned above.

You see so many gags over and over, some of the gags in this one are a bit unique. Porky hammering away, and then the car in front of him drives away, and you realize his engine is really small. Hilarious.

The artwork is simple at times, and great at other times. I loved a few shots of car engines with lots of valves opening and closing. The Laurel and Hardy scene with them pumping up a tire was cool. The actual racing looks cartoonish, but, well, you know, it IS a cartoon :)

I am not that into the black and white cartoons, but I liked this one. Porky was just along for the ride, so to speak, which was fine by me. I am not a big fan of him, for the most part.

It starts out feeling a lot like Revenge of the Nerds. The stereotypical marketer type and a lot of stereotypical nerds.

It improved, I thought. It's actually a longer than expected movie for a light genre movie. That gives them time for more character development, and a slower plot progression, which I was OK with.

What's to like - Andy is very likable. Maybe too nice a guy in some ways, but I was OK with that too. Every now and again, the lead character does not have to have one of those seemingly obligatory moments where he acts like a total jerk.

The technology was not totally unbelievable. It was plausible enough that I was able to accept it, in any case. For $99, maybe not, but hey, it's a movie, you have to have some suspension of disbelief.

The "bad guy" was almost too much of a jerk. I would have preferred they dialed him back just a bit - he felt like one of the perennial bad guys you have in a cartoon.

A lot of the supporting cast was pretty decent and funny.

While the plot did not break new ground, there were enough unique elements to hold my interest.

Mainly, I think the character interaction was what made it entertaining. While the dialog was not amazing or anything, I felt the cast did a fine job of delivering the dialog, and imbued the movie with a sense of fun.

I gave it a 6 out of 10; it was cute, and entertaining, and not totally insulting to my intelligence.

Not much to say here. So I will use my basic review style -

Why to watch it -

* Some OK fighting action * Howard played an interesting role in Harvey; I wanted to dislike him for the most part, but something was interesting about him; a bit quirky, like one of those people you never quite understand * I was never really sure HOW to feel about ANY of the characters; some may consider that a flaw, but for some reason, I found it mildly interesting watching a movie I could not quite come to terms with * I have seen worse acting;

Why not to watch it -

* The plot was about as one dimensional as they get * You may find yourself, like me, not really giving a damn about anyone, making it hard to care about the movie * A lack of humorous moments, or any real drama, and pretty basic fight scenes might make you wonder why you did not rent/buy/watch a better movie

Cheesy, yep. Good acting, now, for the most part. A bit nostalgic, yep.

I will admit my favorite part of the movie was realizing that Scott was played by a very young Michael J Fox. And he was good even back then.

Peewee Herman makes a very brief appearance as well.

Mindless entertainment, for the most part. Feels a bit like Revenge of the Nerds meets Gumball Rally or something.

Reasons to watch -

* Michael J Fox * Leon, he's pretty funny * Peewee Herman brief appearance * That late 70's low budget comedy feel

Reasons not to watch -

* Something better is on

I found the character a bit annoying. The voice and the over the top awkwardness mostly.

On the bright side, the story was cute. Basically, a super hero parody, but on the light side. An event in the awkward and geeky Darrel's (sp?) life made him want to make a difference in the world. A lab accident led to a formula which made him somewhat indestructible.

Where the movie shined, was in some pretty good comic moments. The rorshach test was funny. There was a scene I am pretty sure was stolen from Live and Let Die, where the voodoo guy comes out of the ground. Just to name some.

There are better superhero movies. Some of the humor falls flat, or is cliché. The movie lacks focus at times, as another reviewer pointed out.

But if you want a mindless tribute to Batman (the campy TV version,) and like movie on the light hearted side, you might like this one. Very little mean humor, swearing, adult and potty humor, which in itself, is refreshing (I like that stuff from time to time, but I also like it when a movie makes do without it for a change of pace.)

I rate this 10 out of 10. Why?

* It offers insight into something I barely understand - the surfers surf because it's all they want to do; Nothing else seems to matter as much to them as surfing; Nor is it a temporary thing - it's a lifetime for these guys * Buried in the movie is a great history of surfing; I have never surfed, but I love surfing movies, and have seen many. None taught me what this movie did * The movie was very well edited. It flowed well. The interviews were outstanding * It's interesting from start to finish

In summary, it's about as good as a documentary as I have seen, so I have to rate in terms of that. So 10/10

First off, I was sucked into the movie. I mention this, because so few movies grab my attention.

I think the acting was pretty good. Ever since Die Hard, I always liked the actor who played the father. The son was perfectly fine as well. I really liked City Hall, but the plot called for little of her. I think the mom could have shown a little more emotion, but otherwise solid. Really, I can't criticize the acting here.

The plot was not particularly innovative, but had a few interesting tweaks.

The camera work seemed pretty standard. I think the modern technique calls for a lot more camera movement, which I don't always care for.

Parts of the movie were a bit disturbing. That's a personal thing, and what I found disturbing, others may have found amusing.

My main complaint was that the movie seemed to shift a bit late in the movie. It felt like they ran out of time and had to cram a ton of stuff into the last 30 minutes. It wasn't that I was lost. I followed the story. But it was a bit unsatisfying. Had the final 30 minutes of the film been more solid, I think maybe I would have given it a 6 out of 10.

I am so impressed, really. I expected cheesy gamer humor and nothing else.

OK, there's a ton of pretty geeky humor. But the movie is so well done. The acting is quite good.

The dialog, while gamer cheesy at times, I guess to cater to the gamer crowd, is not bad at all. At times it's even, dare I say, great.

When the female gamer, who built this non traditional fighter type character rather then the usual (min/max) type gets all these additional attacks (seem right, I did not check the rules,) it was cool.

The sets are amazing for what must be a fairly low production movie.

The story moves right along. The transitions from game world to real world are well done. A male playing a female character would sometimes be played by a female, and sometimes by himself. Pretty clever, I thought.

The guy who decided to play a female, but kept forgetting he was female was good for a lot of laughs. He even said tag at one point, and the female walked on to play the role ( sorry, I did not look her name up, she did great though.) The guy always trying to "get some", got a bit tedious, but I guess that was more gamer humor.

There was just so much to like about the movie. Lighthearted. Fun! Very well done and I am saying that as a movie fan, not a gamer (and I am not a D&D player.) As I said I expected SO much less.

Movies often don't hold my attention, I end up listening to them while working on my computer. This one held my attention. I can't give a movie much higher praise.

I like heist movies. This one is a bit different.

I liked the style of the movie a lot. The music and the camera work were pretty interesting.

I noticed some reviewers were confused by the plot. It's the viewers job to fill in some blanks. Some people will dislike that, others will appreciate that their intelligence is not being insulted.

The movie consists of three main sections. The intro, the heist and the getaway. Goldie Hawn is adorable in the intro section. Beatty does a nice job during the heist section. The getaway is the weak part of the movie, if only because it challenges my ability to suspend my disbelief. Some parts of it were cool though.

I think Beatty was convincing both as a security expert and thief. Hawn, as mentioned above is adorable (I admit I have always found her attractive.) Reasons to watch the movie - you like Beatty, you like Hawn, you like heist movies (though there are better,) or you like quirky 70s movies. The last item should not be overlooked, because there's a distinctive style in certain 70s movies that's no longer seen - for example the implication that sex and drugs and alcohol is simply a lifestyle, rather than a problem that needs to be addressed.

Rarely do you see a breast exploit movie which also explores some of the deep questions. Why am I here? Is there a god? Oh my head, what the heck did I do last night? I am pretty sure, like the Matrix, the director tapped into philosophical and religious concepts. When that guy rips that girls shirt off as part of his foreplay, you really question concepts like whether the ends justify the means or whether you should pursue a hedonistic lifestyle, or connect to your fellow man by giving your time and money to social causes.

The music subtly explores themes as well. While listening to the background music while a poker game was being played, I could hear the composer asking, "should we have dropped those bombs on Japan?" I know most people will watch this for a little T&A thrill, and miss the symbology at every scene. I noticed a lot of circular shapes, for example. Tables, wheels, hoop earings. Was the film maker suggesting the life is circular? You be the judge.

OK, so the plot is formulaic. There is nothing new here, really. Or is there? I have seen this movie a few times, and always liked it. I think it's the acting and dialog.

The acting is a cut above what you would expect from the movie. The female lead is a prima donna. I felt like her complex human emotions at times were fairly believable. Sometimes she's bitchy. Sometimes confused. Sometimes you like her.

The male lead is perhaps not quite as good. But they did not fall into the pattern of simply making him another dumb jock. In a scene where they have both had too much to drink, I felt he reacted in a very realistic way. He delivers this great line in the movie to her after she insists he button the top button of his costume. Something to the effect of 'if buttoning that button made the difference between a long happy life and a painful death, he would not give her the satisfaction.' It was a perfectly acted scene, IMO.

The dialog was much better than expected in this type of movie. There's some pretty funny lines. And some generally great exchanged between the actors that are far less dull than you would expect. If I put this into the category of sports movies, I would say it really rates well partly due to dialog.

OK, so you can predict the plot. Obviously, it's a formulaic movie. But along the way, they throw in a few curves, and the characters react in many ways like normal humans would in the same situation, at least in my opinion.

If you like the love/hate romance movies, and triumphant sporting movies, I think this is up your alley.

p.s. chick flicks are not my favored genre, so the fact I liked this movie, says something I think (because it's a bit of a chick flick at times.)

I see where some people did not much care for this movie. That's the way it is with comedies. Not everyone has the same sense of humor.

I liked it.

I found Martin's character to be very entertaining. His constant stream of BS is very entertaining. I know it's comedy, so I am not like those people who felt a more traditional gangster actor would have been better. It's his very silly over the top style which I found endearing.

Moranis is OK. He's too typecast for me, always playing a similar role. I thought he was maybe funnier in ghost busters. I don't know. He's a decent actor. It's that whole square role he plays that gets to me a bit. He's supposed to be boring, obviously. But he's maybe too boring.

I found the female cop love interest for Martin to be great. She's cute and she's funny.

Joan Cusack...I have liked her better in other roles. She's hilarious in Grosse Pointe Blank. She's OK in this role.

I liked the silent film style "captions, or whatever you would call them a lot. They added humor to the movie.

In summary, I found the movie very light, very entertaining, and cute. I like that type of movie. If you want something that requires no thought, where your goal as a viewer is just to relax and be amused, this is perfect.

I looked forward a lot to seeing this movie. No one wanted to see it with me at the theater, so 3D was not an option. I am not sad about that, because I have seen 3D before. While cool, I don't think it's make or break.

What I liked about the movie. I saw it in Blu-ray. So the animation quality was impressive. It's not like it was a few years back when every CGI movie was improving noticeably. But every movie gets a bit better.

There is tons of impressive detail in the animation. The Golden Gate bridge scene was very cool with interesting perspectives.

The plot was pretty standard. I had envisioned it being just a bit different. But it worked. The evil alien reminded me a bit of Marvin the Martian. It would not surprise me if he had been a little bit of an inspiration.

I would have liked to see a bit more teamwork from the Monsters. There was some, but I would have liked more.

The role of the gigantic woman was OK. None of the monsters really stood out to me. But as a whole they worked OK. I have to admit my favorite was probably insectasaurus and he did not talk. Can't say why I liked him. He was just cool to me.

The president was a trip. I especially loved the scene where he played the Yamaha DX-7. I have always loved that synthesizer. Nice touch - I hear Yamaha helped to make it look authentic, and it did (except for the display which was pretty modern looking compared to what I remember from the DX-7.) Anyway, the president had some pretty funny moments.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. Could it have been better? Maybe. But I think they implemented the basic premise pretty well. Monsters take on an alien invasion. The key was that I enjoyed it more than most movies I have seen lately. So 7/10 for some cool animation, a few laughs, and an overall fun time.