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Reviews
John Carter (2012)
Not What I Expected!
I grew up reading all of the John Carter books. When I heard that this was being made into a movie I was determined to see it. Then I started to read all the negative reviews and the Disney responses to their failure at the box office.
Last week I finally decided to rent a copy from the local video store. Although the special effects were great I found the rest of the movie to be a huge letdown. The personalities of the Tharks were not what I expected and the plot left a lot to be desired. There were some strong points that made the movie tolerable but I was glad when it was over.
Normally I watch a rented movie at least twice but this one went right back to the video store after the first viewing. I couldn't bear to watch it again. Now I know why this movie lost over 200 million.
My guess is that those who rave about this movie either have a financial stake in it or simply loved the special effects as most young people do. Anyone seeing this movie will like it or not based on what they expected to see in it. That is how I judged it!
AVPR: Aliens vs Predator - Requiem (2007)
Another Poorly Written Script!
After the disappointment of AVP I had hoped that this sequel would be made by someone with a brain. It was a fool's dream as this one had an even weaker plot than the first. If the first one had been honestly promoted as an initiation of young Preds I would have walked away satisfied with the movie but....!
AVP-R had far more action than AVP but without an intelligent script it looses too much. The fans blamed Paul Anderson for making the first one suck but unless he wrote the promos it wasn't totally his fault.
AVP was supposed to be a war between Aliens and Predators and this is where the disappointment lay. We went to see a war and only saw an initiation. AVP-R was supposed to be about another war between Aliens and Predators and again the promoters fooled us!
What happened to the good old days when the script contained information that explained what the movie was about. These AVP scripts have more holes in them than a swiss cheese. Why can't the writers explain what is going on and why! This is a movie I would like to see again if only to see if I can find "clues" to the plot. Otherwise I just give it a 5 out of 10. Five points for action. No points for storyline.
I have read a large number of IMDb revues and I am wondering if I am the only one who noticed that the dead Predator from AVP was no longer on the original ship. When the Predators claimed their fallen comrad we saw hundreds of Predators on a huge ship. At the start of AVP-R the dead Predator seems to be on a smaller ship manned by only 2 Predators. Was this dead Predator really placed on a smaller ship or did the hybrid wipe out the entire army of Predators that watched the initiation in AVP?
Hopefully if they make a third film they will give the project to someone who isn't afraid to show 2 Predators (or hopefully more) in full blown-out battle with Aliens. Why don't they copy the battle methods of the Lord of The Rings. Those battles were huge!
I guess what really bothers me is how modern day film makers insult the intelligence of the fans. They know we are waiting for the film's release but feel they have to "trick" us with phony advertising. Welcome to the modern world of movie making!
I will probably see this movie again but in reality I see it more as a scripted video game than a film. Perhaps that was the producers intent.
The Glory Stompers (1967)
A Motorcycle Saga of Courage and Loyalty!
Excellent riding sequences and plenty of action made this a great movie to watch. You won't see the excessive carnage that I saw in "The Savage Seven" and "The Losers" but this movie has more than enough brutality to qualify it as a violent biker film.
The Glory Stompers starts off by introducing you to the two basic types of bikers. Those who ride for pleasure and those who look for trouble. The Glory Stompers believe in fun and friendship while the Black Souls behave like opportunistic predators.
The plot is rather simple yet engrossing. The Black Souls ambush a lone Glory Stomper, Darryl (Jody McCrea), and leave him for dead. The only witness is the Stomper's girlfriend, Chris (Chris Noel), so the Black Souls decide to silence her and cash in on her misfortune by selling her to some Mexican criminals. When Darryl regains consciousness he sets out alone after the Black Souls.
The Black Souls make up an interesting group of villains. Dennis Hopper is brilliant as Chino the tough and ruthless leader. Chino's lady, Jo Ann (Sondra Gayle), can best be described as a knife-happy psycho. Paul (Jim Reader) seems to be too civilized to ride with the Black Souls until we learn that he is Chino's younger brother and that they have no other family. Magoo (Robert Tessier) is the largest and most sadistic member of this group. Mouth (Casey Kasem) and Monk (Lindsay Crosby) are the comic relief of the Black Souls as they spend most of their time just clowning around together.
While Darryl is following the Black Souls he runs into Smiley (Jock Mahoney) who used to be a vice president of the Glory Stompers. Now older and wiser Smiley becomes Darryl's mentor and joins him on his pursuit of the Black Souls. They are eventually joined by Darryl's best friend and fellow Stomper, Pony (Gary Wood), and Pony's new bride Doreen (Astrid Warner). This posse of Stompers pursues the Black Souls into the desert where the Black Souls are waiting in a ghost town to sell their captive to the Mexican criminals. This sets up the final showdown.
During my teens this film was one of my personal favorites. If you like "Good versus Evil" and "Damsel in Distress" movies, set to a motorcycle theme, then you should find this one entertaining.
On researching this movie I found some interesting trivia about three of the actors who played Black Souls. Casey Kasem was inducted into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1995. Casey was also the voice of "Shaggy" in the Scooby Doo cartoons. Robert Tessier shed his hair and went on to play bald-headed, tough guys most notably in "Hard Times" with Charles Bronson and "The Longest Yard" with Burt Reynolds. Lindsay Crosby's father was none other than the legendary singer/actor Bing Crosby.
By: Ron Forestieri