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Lone Survivor (2013)
Restores Faith in Film
I recently caught a viewing of this on FX, although I'd already seen it and in fact own it. I stayed on the channel simply to see what it would be like to watch this film on a normal station, with commercials in between, censorship of violence and, more importantly, censorship for language. This is not a film to watch in this fashion.
Director: Peter Berg Writers: Marcus Luttrell(book), Patrick Robinson
**Spoilers**
Lone Survivor is an unforgiving, brutal war film; it is the definition of visceral. It does not compromise for a toned down and user friendly outing. It's "R" rating is well earned. However the fact that a watered down television version of this film just does not work, there is simply no denying the spellbinding quality of this vicious war film, especially given that it is a true story. At the beginning we are introduced to Marcus Luttrell and his three Navy SEAL teammates, who are prepping for their mission, "Operation Red Wings", in Afghanistan. The viewer is immediately immersed in this fascinating, isolated mission very far from home. We are then taken to a rocky mountain top as the four-man SEAL team are sent to gain reconnaissance on notorious Taliban leader, Ahmad Shaw. The mission runs smoothly, albeit with communications being off and on from the surrounding high peaks, until a sound from a bush is heard to the SEALS' horror, it is not an animal but a local goat herder and two boys. The SEALS are faced with the decision of what to do next, with so many confining problems and without sufficient comms. What comes next, I won't reveal, although it should be obvious that it does not go well. The next 35-45 minutes the audience is treated to one of the most phenomenal pieces of film ever put together, as we follow the four men as they attempt to push back and fend off 60-80 plus Taliban soldiers. We then follow them as they jump off a deep gorge in order to save themselves, with their already bleeding bodies banging and smashing again limbs, rocks, etc. The Four SEALS display an incredible professionalism as they calmly and carefully hold their own against the chaos, even as their conditions rapidly decline. We are then taken with them through another fall down the cliff, this time even more hard to watch as the men practically break their backs just to escape the enemy gunfire. One of their teammates, shot several times, begins to lose consciousness, babbling about his mother and admiring the "vivid reds" that his missing fingers are sporting...this is not just a film, it IS war. What is so exceptional about this film is that it caters well to the average movie goer(action action action) with the breathtaking scenes of war and gun fighting, yet it manages to be such an intense and emotional experience that you can't help not be moved by it, at least somewhat. During adverts for the film I was simply rolling my eyes(a bad, first judgment habit I have) and my low expectations of this made my viewing even more special, as I was incredibly drawn into this simply stellar war film. A common critique is of two natures: 1. The film has no depth and 2. It is a highly political movie. I will start off by saying that second complaint is highly untrue; this is not a political film, which is the beauty in it. It is simply a telling of a story. A true war story which real people were involved in. There is no need for political debate or arguing whether or not we should have been there etc., etc., that is a moot point. The fact is, this was something that people were involved in, were needed for the job. I have a much more immense respect for the Military and the ordinary people who decide to make that their career, upon viewing this film. The first critique is of a somewhat true nature. Yes, the film doesn't have a great amount of depth; and again that's what makes it work so well. We are shown that these are youngish and mostly engaged men who are simply living their careers and paying their bills. Every exasperated "F*** you" and "mother f**ker" is so rightfully felt, as these extraordinary young soldiers who have become involved in an extraordinary and tragic operation battle for their lives. We as an audience are taken with these men through their valiant battle to survive, and the only thing we as an audience can do is watch in awe, amazement and respect. For me, "Lone Survivor" conjures up a great mixture of feelings, the simple awe factor that something like this truly unfolded in real life, and the restoration of faith in me that film industry, with all of it's overwhelming shortcomings, can still be a powerful, driving bullet of force. No pun intended.
Doragon Bôru Zetto Ryû-Ken Bakuhatsu!! Gokû ga Yaraneba Dare ga Yaru (1995)
Brilliant story with beautiful animation, Awesome Dbz movie
Beware of Spoilers!
This is a review for the recently released Funimation version. Although the Japanese version is very good. I had to say "wow" when I finished watching it. It has such a great story, and is much more deep than the other movie stories. I was amazed that it was packed into 55 minutes. There are so many great qualities about this final Dbz movie. Great story, Great animation, some character development. The story is thus, Two warriors, Tapion and his young brother, Minosha, destroyed a beast named Hildegarn(Hirudegarn in English version)1000 years ago with magic whistles and contained the whistles along with their bodies inside Music boxes so he could never be released again, and freed their planet from destruction. Hoy, the strange alien who used his powers to bring Hirudegarn to life comes to earth to find a warrior who can open his music box(which contains Tapion) so he can release Hirudegarn again to do his bidding. He acts as if he is innocent, and the z-warriors use the dragonballs to open the box. Later on, Hoy finally manages to release Hirudegarn(I won't tell how) and the Z-warriors come to the scene. Also, the movie tells the story of how Trunk's got his sword, which I think is very cool. Overall, the story is very complex, I had to watch it twice to fully understand it. The final battle sequence is fast, thrilling, and action packed and very satisfying. We get to see most of the Z-warriors fight but Piccolo does not return for this final Dbz film, which sucks. We get to see some Fusion, and SS3. One thing that sucks is Funimation changed some major names like "Dragon Fist" which is changed to "Dragon Fire" which is stupid and pointless. Also there is crappy Gt music in it which does not make it anymore exiting in the battle sequences. Funimation doesn't use bands for the music anymore but they could have used the music similar to what they used in Fusion Reborn. Which was fast paced metal which was pretty awesome. I wouldn't say this is the best Dbz movie though, which a lot of people say, I think The History of Trunks is the best Dbz movie. To conclude, This Dbz film is great in Dub and Japanese and is a great conclusion to the Dbz movies.
Beyond Jurassic Park (2001)
Pretty cool...but not worth to buy the whole trilogy set for
I was very excited when I found only one copy on ebay and fortunately I won it. Which since I am a big Jurassic park fan I couldn't wait. I noticed the small 3.9 rating on IMDb and thought, "why would people give it such a bad rating?" I didn't care and still got it. I was very Excited to see the Jurassic Park features and they were very interesting with some real in depth stuff. But the bad part is that they are very short. The original featurette on the making of the film was only about 5 mins long. It left me wanting more. Now the Lost world features were pretty cool and had a pretty good length to them and I was quite satisfied with them(except for some of the pointless stuff they had on there e.g. scenes shown without the cgi dinosaurs, an unnecessary addition). Now to the Jurassic Park 3 features. I will just plain out say they are pretty boring, just a few featurettes on the cgi and what not. That's all I have to say about the JP3 section. Also, on the back of the DVD case it claims that there are deleted scenes, which there weren't, which left me disappointed. Anyway, it might not be worth the money but I'm glad I have it. If you are getting the Jurassic park trilogy boxset you will still be glad you have it.
Jaws Unleashed (2006)
Think of it as Grand theft auto in water...
I highly anticipated this game because I am a pretty big fan of the Jaws movies. But you really don't need to like the movies to like the game. This game is so gnarly it hurts. It literally is Grand Theft Auto with a shark. You can do anything you want, from attacking and killing over 100 species of sea-life underwater, or going to the surface to cause some mayhem. You can attack people from their boats(Many different ones), attack swimmers on the beach, rip them to shreds. And when I say rip them to shreds I mean it. You can rip people up anyway you can think of. tear off their legs, heads, arms, rip them in half. Or you can just put them in your mouth and bite down to turn them into flesh chunks. Of course, there is story to the game all based around the town of Amity. There are story missions in the game you play to progress. Plus there are over 30 side missions to do. And the shark is pretty damn smart, can almost do anything. But that's part of the reason it's so much fun. They also add a small Rpg part in the game where you can upgrade health, hunger(meter), power, etc. You also learn new attacks and skills along the way. I can't say much more though, since I only bought the game a day after it released. Also the graphics are pretty good. 8/10. I must say the graphics on the shark are spectacular. The only reason I gave it a "8" is because the people are animated pretty badly. Anyway, I personally love this game and highly recommend this game to Jaws fans and Gta fans.
Dragon Ball Z: Fukkatsu no Fusion!! Gokuu to Vegeta (1995)
One of the best! In Japanese and in English
I see nobody has added a comment who has seen the 2006 release by Funimation. This movie was great in Japanese and awesome in English. With a great soundtrack to it. The story you'll see from the other comments. I also recommend the English. The movie finally has Goku after a long period of three movies, so finally you get to see Goku kicking ass again. Also this is the first movie you will see Super saiyan 3. Another great feature from this movie is you'll get to see Vegeta and Goku working together again, not since movie 6. The ending and how Goku and Vegeta figure out what to do to take Janemba down is perfect for the movie. The only reason I give this movie a 9 out of 10 is because it is very trippy, if you will. The basic plot of this movie is the should cleanser tanks for hell have exploded, leaving years of soul waste puring out everywhere, turning a young worker in to a fat tub of lard known as Janempa. It also changes the other world around in which there are jellybean looking barriers everywhere, and part of the reason I say it's trippy is because to break the barrier, you have to throw harsh words at it, not attacks. I found that pretty bizarre...Plus Janemba/Janempa is just another Kid Buu basically because he has pretty much no personality and he doesn't even talk. I like when the enemies actually have character. When the Soul cleansing machine explodes, all hell breaks lose, literally. Anyone from the other world can come down to earth and anyone living can go to the other world. Of course Frieza comes back with other saga enemies and some old movie characters. Also, Hitler and his army come back, which I found pretty funny. Of course Gohan, Videl, Trunks, and Goten all come to the scene, with not much of a challenge. Another thing that disappointed me was you don't get to see any other old enemies fighting. It's hard to say the time when this movie took place. It's obviously not in the 7 years apart because Goku says he has already fought Buu and Vegeta is dead. So I don't really think about the time it took place. Since a lot of the movies don't fit. Overall this movie is still really good and has great animation. I recommend you buy it 99.9%
Dragon Ball Z: Ginga Giri-Giri!! Butchigiri no Sugoi Yatsu (1993)
Kick a** DBZ movie!
This DBZ movie is a must buy! One of the classic DBZ movies. This movie finally takes place in the right place, about 1 year after destroying cell. This movie might no have Goku fighting in it, but it is still extremely good. A tournament is held from people across the the galaxy.(Including Bojack and his henchman) and after they kill the other fighters in the final tournament, Gohan, Future Trunks, krillin,tien,Yamcha,Piccolo,and Vegeta all come to the scene. Another thing is that Tien and Yamcha actually fight again(Since DBZ movie 3) even though they last about 30 seconds at fighting bojacks henchman. The animation is great. The battle scenes are awesome. The enemy is actually cool. The only thing its lacking is good metal/rock music to add to it. In English anyway. One other thing that I don't like to much about is Hercule. As usual he's a little idiot who is afraid to fight and somehow he is a worldhero again for what Gohan did. Also it finally features gohan going SPOILER------------------SSJ2. This is a must have DBZ collection item.
Doragon Bôru Zetto Zetsubô e no Hankô!! Nokosareta Chô-Senshi Gohan to Torankusu (1993)
With out a doubt my favorite Dragonballz movie.
This may be one of the T.V specials, but it is definitely one of the better Dragonballz movies. They really catch the emotion of Trunk's and how he feels about the androids terroizing the earth. The movie is basically that Trunks and gohan are the only surviving z-fighters from the androids(Since Goku died) and they are trying to defeat the androids to save the future. Also the battle sequences are put together really well. Such as the battle with the androids after Gohan loses his left arm and he is kicking the androids a** with his anger. Also the soundtrack is really good. There is pretty much a little of everything, Rock, techno, hip-hop,and acoustic. It may sound weird to have hip-hop or techno in the movie, but the music actually fits very well.This is the first DBZ movie I got and the best one I have got. I recommend this movie 100% and I give it four stars.Make this DBZ movie one of your first.