This was a highly anticipated movie for me, if only because I love the genre and I'm hoping for a reprise. It feels like an eternity since the 'sword and sandal' fantasy epic graced our screens. I'm not counting the likes of Troy because there's little 'fantasy' involved.
Having said that, and the fact that it IS a low budget TV movie, I had low expectations. It starts just fine and looks very promising. Benson is holding it together well enough, although she looks uncomfortable with the dialog and the chain-mail (fake or otherwise). You could be forgiven for thinking Larry Drake is hamming it up but, IMO he's simply 'IN IT', the genre I mean. He goes for it and kudos to him for that. Same goes for Sarah Douglas, although she's a long way from Falcon's Crest. I liked Johnathan LaPaglia in The District, he was good because he was clearly comfortable in the role. In this movie, he looked completely out of place; his delivery was straight out of modern TV and at two or 3 points I got the distinct impression he just didn't know how or what to do. He was in a completely different movie to everyone else. Andrew Pleavin was particularly compelling, he obviously threw himself into it and came over very well considering most of his scenes were with LaPaglia. I imagine it can't have been easy staying focused while your partner is struggling to cope with the premise. I can't tell you how disappointed I was to see the Gryphon for the first time. My god, where did the money go? I've seen more realistic monsters in cartoons. Doug Roberts was another who shone for me, he obviously knows the style and had a convincing character. The story is one we all know, no surprises really, pretty predictable fare. Overall, in terms of the direction, it looks like it was rushed but I can't blame Prowse for that, he's always impressed before. From what I can tell, with 'Time equaling Money' and all, these low budget movies have little chance of really being impressive. I imagine Prowse was against the wall and making compromises most days. I have a great deal of respect for artists who can accomplish anything under those conditions.
Anyway, taking all of the budget and time constraints into account, the mismatched cast, the SFX demands of spoiled people in this day and age; it really wasn't that bad. 'Thumbs up' - Drake, Pleavin, Douglas, Roberts. 'So-So' - Benson, LaPaglia, Thumbs Down- The Gryphon
Having said that, and the fact that it IS a low budget TV movie, I had low expectations. It starts just fine and looks very promising. Benson is holding it together well enough, although she looks uncomfortable with the dialog and the chain-mail (fake or otherwise). You could be forgiven for thinking Larry Drake is hamming it up but, IMO he's simply 'IN IT', the genre I mean. He goes for it and kudos to him for that. Same goes for Sarah Douglas, although she's a long way from Falcon's Crest. I liked Johnathan LaPaglia in The District, he was good because he was clearly comfortable in the role. In this movie, he looked completely out of place; his delivery was straight out of modern TV and at two or 3 points I got the distinct impression he just didn't know how or what to do. He was in a completely different movie to everyone else. Andrew Pleavin was particularly compelling, he obviously threw himself into it and came over very well considering most of his scenes were with LaPaglia. I imagine it can't have been easy staying focused while your partner is struggling to cope with the premise. I can't tell you how disappointed I was to see the Gryphon for the first time. My god, where did the money go? I've seen more realistic monsters in cartoons. Doug Roberts was another who shone for me, he obviously knows the style and had a convincing character. The story is one we all know, no surprises really, pretty predictable fare. Overall, in terms of the direction, it looks like it was rushed but I can't blame Prowse for that, he's always impressed before. From what I can tell, with 'Time equaling Money' and all, these low budget movies have little chance of really being impressive. I imagine Prowse was against the wall and making compromises most days. I have a great deal of respect for artists who can accomplish anything under those conditions.
Anyway, taking all of the budget and time constraints into account, the mismatched cast, the SFX demands of spoiled people in this day and age; it really wasn't that bad. 'Thumbs up' - Drake, Pleavin, Douglas, Roberts. 'So-So' - Benson, LaPaglia, Thumbs Down- The Gryphon