Reviews

This is probably one of the best movies by the legendary production company Hammer. It is a special one as well, this time Christopher Lee is casted as the hero, and he proves to be a terrific hero as well. So what about the villain? Charles Gray appears to be an excellent choice. The rest of the cast is alright, but nothing special really. The film has the typical atmosphere all Hammer films have, mainly thanks to its locations, director Terence Fisher and composer James Bernard. Most of Hammers best concerned classic monsters like Dracula or the Frankenstein monster or the Mummy, but this time the plot is more than just a monster story, the characters have to face devil worshipers and their diabolic rituals. Although the special effects are rather dated, they still have a massive impact. So in the end I can't come up with a negative point, which leaves me with only positive comments about this film.

I went to see this film with a couple of friends yesterday and I have to say I didn't really liked it, in fact I can't understand how people could like it. First of all this film creates a very wrong image of Europe and Europeans. The storyline is simplistic and the only thing that isn't predictable is how disgusting the next scene is going to be. It is also very unrealistic, many aspects just don't make sense (you won't run back into a horrible place after you escaped from it just because someone is screaming, would you.) Except for Jan Vlasák the acting was awfully weak, especially by the two Amererican lead actors (although they only have to be high or run around screaming.). I think director Eli Roth isn't really talented because the only thing he is able of is creating a claustrophobic atmosphere during the torture scenes. But I have to say that Nathan Barr his soundtrack was pretty good. And the film does show the darker side of the human being, but they could have done that with some good dialog and a little bit of gore and not the other way around, because now they kinda lost their believability. I only recommend this film to people who enjoy excessive gore and really don't care about an intelligent story.

Out of all the Bondfilms with Roger Moore as 007, Octopussy is the one with the most Cold War aspects, and yes, what a great atmosphere I experienced when I saw the scenes in East-Germany, truly magnificent. If you are talking about those Cold War aspects you should not forget to mention Steven Berkoff his performance of an insane Soviet general with a hunger for power. Wonderful. The other villains are memorable as well: Louis Jourdan with style and sophistication; Kabir Bedi as one of those invincible henchmen and David Meyer & Tony Meyer are deadly twin brothers with an advanced skill in the trowing of daggers. As for the girls this one features two Swedish ladies: Maud Adams and Kristina Wayborn. Both of them are very strong and they have both some lovely scenes. Vijay Amritraj is Bond his ally in India: worth watching. This is also the first of four films to feature Robert Brown as Bond his superior M. John Barry is once again present with a truly wonderful soundtrack. The film is really amusing and has a great atmosphere. Despite the claim of many critics, Roger Moore is still in good shape. The only scene that disappointed me was the one where 007 is disguised in a circus clown, that will be painful for Bondfans, but the rest of the film is great. Do not skip this one.

According to the budget most of the TV-films have, I should tell that Martin Hitchcock did some great work as production designer and Enrico Sabbatini created some convincing costumes. David Connell his cinematography is sometimes breathtaking, but in the scenes on water it sometimes looks very fake, a pity. The action has its moments, but don't expect to much of it, especially the special effects are quite weak. But that is not really a failure because they probably did not have enough money for spectacular battle scenes. The main character Cleopatra is portrayed by Leonor Varela, she isn't bad and performed some good dialogs, but she does have a few very mediocre appearances. The first half of the film focuses on the relationship of the Egyptian quine and Julius Caesar. Timothy Dalton is as usual impressing. And although he played better roles in his wonderful career he gives an interesting interpretation of the Roman conqueror. The second part concerns about Cleopatra her interferences in the Roman civil war between Marc Antony and Octavian, both strong performances by Billy Zane and Rupert Graves. The most interesting supporting roles were Olympos (Art Malik), Brutus (Sean Pertwee) and Rufo (John Bowe). They did some good work with those roles, but Kassandra Voyagis (as Arsinoe, sister of Cleopatra) is painful to watch, she is a disturbing factor, and the actors appear to act more relaxed and with more confidence when her character isn't around anymore. This production outreaches the standard quality of an OK TV-film. And although there are some disappointing shots I think it is worth to watch, just do not be in the mood for a great epic adventure with tons of spectacle. Remember it is made for television.

This is easily the worst Ridley Scott film. Ridley Scott is a wonderful director. But this film is a black mark on his career. Demi Moore and Viggo Mortensen, both totally miscast in an overaggressive film about a girl going to the army. Very stupid. And there is never one scene that is convincing in any way. It is really not difficult to make a film such as this. Everything the crew makes could have been an idea of just anybody. The writers didn't have much inspiration either; many foolish dialogs that made no sense at all; and some brainless action. I strongly recommend to stay away from this rubbish. I hope that the many talented persons involved in this project realize this type of film does not deserve their attention, and that in the future they will work on more honorable and more intelligent movies than this useless mess.

It is a pity this movie is so underrated, but I think the main reason for that is the fact that people judge the movie before seeing it, so they won't watch it objectively. Another reason perhaps is the adventurous style of the film, but it is acceptable because father Merrin is younger than in the original film. The best actor to portray a young father Merrin is certainly the wonderful Stellan Skarsgård, what a stylish performance, this superb actor gives such a perfect image of how the main character would have been at the moment in his life when he lost his faith. The two other most important roles by Izabella Scorupco and James D'Arcy are excellent, the best supporting role is performed by Alan Ford. The madness and the confusion in the final battle between the Turkana and the Brithish are convincingly brought to screen. As for the crew members, I was very impressed by Trevor Rabin his soundtrack, the production design of Stefano Maria Ortolani and the magnificent cinematography by Vittorio Storaro. Conclusion: if you watch this film objectively than you will probably enjoy it. All though sometimes over the top, Renny Harlin has made a good prequel to the original one, with some very memorable scenes.

This is without any doubt one of the best films ever made. An interesting look at a nation that is falling. Bruno Ganz does a wonderful job giving us the best interpretation the main character ever had, you will be able to see one of the most dangerous people ever lived in a way you never saw him before. As for the rest of the cast; no letdowns, I can start to sum op the cast, but I will not, because even the smallest roles were strong performances. One of the major advanteges of this film is that it is spoken in German. Watch this film in it's original language, otherwise it will lose its believability. The soundtrack is also first class; Stephan Zacharias composes some tunes that make some scenes even stronger than they already are. Oliver Hirschbiegel his masterpiece is a realistic, dramatic, touching and interesting movie, that no one should miss.

This somewhat unknown mummy movie starts excellent, with a great mysterious touch and some nice special effects. There is also some wonderful acting by Christopher Lee (as usual). But after the main titles (with a strong piece of music by Stefano Mainetti) this movie fails to maintain the great atmosphere. Some locations just aren't interesting. That is the biggest problem of the film. The rest of the cast isn't bad at all (Jack Davenport does a great job). Talos is not your usual mummy, but he's quiet original. The film has a great plot with some surprising moments. Do not confuse this with The Mummy (1999) by Stephen Sommers, while that one is more adventure than thriller, this one is more thriller than adventure. Overall an entertaining film, the prologue is really worth the effort. I strongly recommend this film to fans of the Hammer horror films.