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Reviews
Deathlands (2003)
This Movie Absolutely Sucked
Being an avid Deathlands (book series) reader as well as Outlanders (follow-up series) for weeks I looked forward to seeing this movie when I heard it was coming out on the Sci-Fi Channel.
I was sadly disappointed in not only the acting, but the details of the characters, environment, and such low budget it made Mad Max look like an Emmy winner.
Let me say I am a detail-oriented person, and I realize Hollywood takes certain liberties, and or can re-write stories that ruin them, but this is not that, it is fully down to people who have no business making movies.
I'll list my complaints : 1) The Book Becomes A Movie : they based this movie off of isn't even the 1st in the series, if memory serves, it was the 5th book in the series, so starting out on the wrong foot altogether. Probably to drastically reduce their budget. But a quality company would've found a real budget and made it into a blockbuster starting with the 1st book in the series and made 3, 5, even 10 movies out of the book series.
2) The Characters : Spano did an okay job as Ryan Cawdor, his acting though is reminiscent of the early days of William Shatner, which SUCKED.
I'm not going to go into detail about all of the actors as it's not their fault.
But there are two characters which conflict with their book description, "character" of personality, and or totally are wrong.
2b) John Barrymore "J.B." Dix : It's like the script writer and or actor didn't bother reading the book series, because there are numerous complaints on this one.
J.B. is not a heavyset and or dumpy man, he's lean, mean, and ready to rock, according to the book series.
Neither is he a whiny snotty person, the portrayal makes this man seem a wimp.
J.B. is an armorer, a guy who can do almost anything with a gun.
And his persona is one of almost total confidence only 2nd to Ryan Cawdor, and he's a very quiet man, too much dialogue for him.
Wikipedia : J.B. Dix - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathlands#Main_characters
"John Barrymore Dix: J.B. Dix, also known as The Armorer, has been Ryan Cawdor's closest friend and travelling companion since both men worked for and travelled with the Trader. He is a thin, wiry, tough man who wears wire rimmed spectacles and a brown fedora. He is very quiet, never using four words when three will do. He is a living encyclopedia on weapons from pistols to tanks to missiles. He is also an explosives expert and good hand to hand combatant, although only an average shot. He carries a large canvas satchel containing his explosives and other weapons at all times." (Wikipedia's typos aren't my fault, copied and pasted directly)
2c) Jak Lauren : He's even leaner than Dix to the point of being like a "wolf", they even describe him like that in the books, and his glasses were overdone to be totally stupid, not to mention the actor was too old.
"An albino distinguished in the books by his unusual syntax when speaking. Jak was introduced in the third book, Neutron Solstice. He is a young man, in his late teens, and is an extremely capable hunter and warrior. His signature weapon are his leaf bladed throwing knives, of which he has between 8 and 12 hidden on him at all times, and often uses them as thrown weapons or for melee when guns are inappropriate. He comes from the suburb of West Lowellton in Lafayette, Louisiana, where the group first meet him. At the time,he is leading a group of rebels against an extremely sadistic baron known as Tourment. When Ryan and the other's first met him, and saw just how skillful of a fighter and leader he is, they are surprised to find he is only 14 years old."
I'm going to stop there as even talking about how bad this movie was makes me want to puke.
If the writers, directors, and or anyone connected to this movie had read the books, or hired an enthusiast, or a consultant who knew the book series inside out, it MIGHT have been high enough to grade as a B movie.
If they had even read the basic Wikipedia on it, it might have been better.
Not to mention they actually forgot a character.
I'll leave his name out so if you do your own basic research you will see for yourself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathlands
Unfortunately, it doesn't even rate a B rating, and that's bad.