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dukeb0y
Bradenton,Fl
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The Blues Brothers (1980)
We're on a mission
Way back when this first came out in 1980. I lived in a trailer park across from Ringling School of Art. This is where us art students mixed with retirees. And actually it was a pretty good time.
So anyway one of the art students had a bumper sticker on her car. The Blues Brothers. It was white with two faces and it said "" we're on a mission from God "".
And there was a nice married couple in the park named Mr and Mrs W. So Mrs W looks at the car, and then looks at the bumper sticker and she says to me, "" She must be very religious "".
Well I didn't say much back to her because I really like the folks in this trailer park but that was quite funny.
The Siege of Pinchgut (1959)
Nicely filmed and I'll talk about that.
Spoilers, but it's interesting spoilers. There's a lot of tension in the beginning. We have these guys escaping by ambulance. And actually they get stopped to pick up somebody else. And they have to go to the hospital. And now we wonder how they're going to get out of this mess.
That was really very good part you couldn't film it any better. Also I didn't know it was an Australian film until I saw the right hand drive. They were driving mostly big Fords or something like that.
So it is very nicely filled around Sydney Australia.
And it's true we don't find out if the bad guys are innocent or guilty. That's something you will have to decide.
PS, we have snipers on top of a bridge. Do you think that could even be filmed today? Probably not. Which is one of the nice features of this film.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: The Last Battle (1965)
As another reviewer said, it's hard to rate.
But I will say it starts off good. We're looking at and early 1960s airliner. Now here's an interesting part and here's a spoiler, is the stewardess in on it? Because she wants Admiral Nelson to have food even though he's not hungry. But later when the hijacking goes on, she tries to stop it.
And if you watch it the guy sitting next to Nelson put something in his drink. Actually Nelson does it. However then we get to the Island full of Nazis and Hitler's speech. Which I could do without.
This would probably be never be made today. Chock full of swastikas.
Irwin Allen certainly borrowed quite a bit on this one cuz he had a nice outside set. I'm watching it again right now.
Dune: Part Two (2024)
8.8? What a jumbled mess
Spoilers! Lots of them.
Let's take the following ideas.
Star Wars,
American Civil War,
The Bible,
The Quran,
Tremors the movie,
Star Gate,
Gladiator movies,
And more...
And mixed them together and you get this movie.
First I find it interesting to use American slang, in this movie on a distant planet 10,000 years from now. Also, is the temperature in Fahrenheit or Celsius and who cares.
Has a normal sword fighting but hey we got laser guns too but we just won't use them all the time.
And rocket launchers, flame throwers, but no pistols.
Plenty of killings if that's your thing.
So what do we get from the bible? First of all your demons and possession. Along with The Living Water or it could be deadly water depending on your face. Gee where do we get that?
If you run out of original ideas, use the Bible.
Who can't forget the Quran because, all the southerners are praying like Muslims. Talk like them too, look like them too, right out of the desert.
Now we got these sand creatures that live under the sand. Tremors but hey at least a special effects were better. Star Wars Return of the Jedi had a creature that just like to suck people down. Man where has originality gone?
Yeah we got the North and the South just like the Civil War. The Northerners have the water and Southerners have the desert. Kind of like our civil war, Northerners had the industry and Southerners had the cotton.
Just like the Roman Colosseum we got Gladiator action. That is just so original.
Of course we've got Stargate with a symbiote or the baby or whatever you want to call it. Kind of like a baby that thinks ahead of time.
And the lady carrying her baby, it's just like Stargate she changes her voice to an evil one. Or you can get that out of the Bible.
Well I'm waiting for the thumbs down and that's okay. If anybody is interested, Avalon Hill game company made a game based on this story. I highly recommend getting it if you can find it.
PS, thank goodness they have 94 Atomic weapons stored away to even the score.
Bionic Woman (2007)
Why is it?
Why is it that remakes are so bad? Even was good actors and actresses, just can't pull this thing together.
My absolute main pet peeve besides the story, is the extremely poor camera work. Let's just shake the camera in a normal scene like in the bookstore. Hey how about putting it on a rail. Looks like it was filmed with a low budget if you know what I mean. What was the cameraman doing his first job?
Now here's a few plots with and some spoilers. Actually it had a good subplot. There was a second Bionic Woman. That was actually one of the excellent plot twists right there. That could have been really really good. Katie Sackhoff.
Also, The Bionic Woman rescues somebody who's going to jump off a building. So they had some good stories.
But poor camera work, and should have flowed better. But I'm going to watch all eight episodes.
David and Goliath (2016)
Very bad
I really enjoy bible stories put on film. As long as they keep to the story. This one is so far off. I'd like to know who wrote it, who filmed it just horrible. I'd like to take him out to the Woodshed for ruining such a good story.
However I'll give it a brownie point for the outfits and swords, how few there were, but hey it was realistic.
Well that's about it for this review. There's not much else to say. Not worth a watch really. Unless you got maybe 8-year-olds or something. Also they did have a couple seconds of special effects that actually weren't bad. For example when he uses a sling to put a rock into Goliath's forehead well we have a little bright light moving it along. Which is cement God was helping kill Goliath.
Union Bound (2016)
Unrated, but here's some spoilers
. As others have said, the uniforms and guns and things like that were very realistic. Which is a nice touch. Probably had reenactors. And very good ones. But I'm going to really nitpick it a couple of parts.
Number one, they shoot an escaping Union soldier. Now right then and there instead of just marching off. They would have gone and picked up the body and buried it cuz that's what they usually did. Ask the reenactors they know all about the history.
Unrealistic moment number two, they get into a situation where they get caught by a single owner. Who's coming to get back his slave. However they knock him down. And this is my big pet peeve. They leave the gun. Now if two Union Soldiers had knocked down a guy the first thing they would have done is pick up that spare rifle.
I will say some of the filming is absolutely beautiful.
Double Jeopardy (1999)
As others have said
Interesting story. Clumsy Direction. I actually really enjoyed this movie. But the plot holes or unbelievability. Starting from the first scene on the boat. She's holding the knife and right away the Coast Guard Cutter comes up. Would have been more realistic if she was on the radio asking for help. Just not a good part when it just shows up at the right time..
Then she goes on trial. Now any murderer would have thrown the knife overboard into 500 ft of water. Funny how that didn't come out at the trial.
Then they're on a ferry. Too bad about that Ford. Anyway she tries to knock the door handle off. Which actually was a pretty good scene but I guarantee you as soon as she hit the first car the crew man would have been alert. As she swimming away nobody spots her. Sure bud that's going to happen but it makes for a good story.
Now she's on The Wanted list. But she just happens to get on the airplane and fly to New Orleans. Like nobody's checking.
Well that's about it I did watch it I'm going to leave it unrated but I got a kick out of it. A better director this could have been eight stars all the way. Tommy Lee Jones did very well. So did Ashley Judd.
Warlords of Atlantis (1978)
Should have been better
This is one of these movies with an interesting plot. Hey don't we all like to land on a foreign strange Island. But the direction, the camera work, is all just fair.
I think with a better director, and better camera work it could have been an easy seven. Kind of an adventure for kids and teenagers and hey me and I'm adult I got a kick out of it also.
And actually the floating diving bell was pretty good. No CGI so we get rubber type dinosaurs and such. A good B movie. But again with better camera work and Direction and maybe a little better storyline this could have easily been a seven or eight.
Mannix: Walk on the Blind Side (1974)
Well had some good parts
And the best part was Peggy getting kidnapped in a mysterious way. So here's the spoiler. Mannix shares a cab, with a lady on the run. She just happens to get in the cab. The bad guys are getting another cab and follow her and Mannix.
They have a pretty good car chase. And Mannix cleverly says to the cabbie," I'll give you a 20 if you can lose him".
I want to point out they got some pretty good car chases and they're really bang the old Chrysler's up. I actually got all four wheels off the ground.
Peggy is still kidnapped but trying to talk her way out of it. And I want to say something Gail Fisher is absolutely gorgeous and I wish she was around today. What an absolutely beautiful woman.
Harry's War (1981)
Saw it in the theater.
Back when this movie came out, I would take my girlfriend at the time to various movies. And I was kind of picky on the movies because it was so many lame movies.
Because I have a sense of humor. First we went to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and I just absolutely laughed my tail off.
So another week I thought I'd try Harry's War. Although it's a very serious movie in a way especially with everything going on today. At the time it was filmed as a comedy.
He had a working half track and he was about Crank It Up and I remember thinking this movie is great and the humor in it I just laughed and laughed. I think my girlfriend looked at me and thought gee she was just happy that I was laughing.
I suppose I should go find it on a DVD or maybe Netflix is another reviewer said. Anyway worth a watch definitely.
Porky's (1981)
Saw it in the theater
I had absolutely no idea about this movie until I went in there and saw it. A buddy of mine wanted to see it so off we go. I had no idea cuz I'm kind of naive, I didn't know for example what Michael Hunt what it meant. I sure do now haha.
Definitely a product of my twenties. Because I'm 66 now. My wife rented the movie and it just wasn't that funny anymore. However at the time and I gave it Nine Stars I laughed and laughed. I just couldn't believe the humor in this really dumb movie.
Can we say tallywacker? I mean that was outrageously funny. Anyway a product of the time. A product for 20 year olds. But not for me at age 66. Kind of like hot rod cars. Fun in your twenties not so much in your 60s.
Giugno '44 - Sbarcheremo in Normandia (1968)
Pretty bad, but
Pretty bad but it could have been good. Similar to The Dirty Dozen but was a lower budget.
First of all I saw it for free on Roku. Maybe one of the channels, who knows. But hey with Michael Rennie why not.
The quality was poor. For example they shoot in battles but there's no bullets flying off the wall. So that was kind of a low budget or bad director.
Some of the action wasn't bad. The internet bunker Hill your hand in hand combat but man the filming is just so so.
And Michael Rennie was way too old to be an act of soldier but hey it's a paycheck. The tanks attack later and they do have a nice bazooka shot.
Four or five stars is about it for this movie. I sure wouldn't see it again. I'll say it again though it sure needed some better directing and camera angles.
PS, hardly any German equipment to be seen mostly American trucks and American tanks painted over.
Patton (1970)
I saw this when I was 12.
Back when we could all go to the movies as kids. I saw this. So me and my friends actually would all talk about the guy who got run over by the tank. Does everybody remember that scene? Well now that I'm 66 and I read about movies. That was purely accidental. It was literally a miracle that he wasn't crushed.
And really it's a story about Patton along with a war movie. But I want to add something about the scene in Tunisia. According to Omar Bradley's book, it was actually about six or eight officers sitting in the headquarters.
3 seconds after British Vice Marshall Cunningham said ""You will see no more German planes"". General Bradley wrote in his book, almost on que, three German Focke-Wulf190a started strafing Sfax, Tunisia. A bomb went off nearby and the door did not open as in the movie. However Patton did not go out and shoot at them with his pistol
After the German planes left one of the officers (it might have been Spatz, not sure), said to Patton. "" George how in the hell did you manage the stage that ""?
And Patton answered, "" I'll be damned if I know, but you find a Nazi SOB's flying those airplanes I'll mail them each a medal "".
Now I need to read read the book a general's life about Omar Bradley.
Mannix: To Save a Dead Man (1971)
Well this one had some twists.
You know something about Mannix. The cars, acting, the fist fights, the car chases.
This is really a whodunit. And it's a darn good one cuz I didn't see it coming. So Mannix does his usual detective work as a man confessed to a crime, to a nun in a church.
However this case was closed years ago. So manix as a favor to the nun does a little investigating and that's where the plot gets thick. Who did what and who is who? Quite clever.
Also, he pops the hood to find Dynamite, but cleverly I notice his 383 in the Barracuda does not have any air conditioning. Maybe that's why the convertible top is always down.
We get some nice action in this Barracuda driving off the road and taking a rough and tumble. Who would have thunk these cars are worth 50 Grand?
I suppose you could conclude with, the love of money is a root of all evil and it certainly shows up here.
Intramuros (1964)
Free on YouTube
Although this is really not the best movie, it has some good points. First is filmed on location. In the Philippines so that's a nice touch instead of being filmed on some Backlot in Hollywood. So we have the actual Fort it seems called Intramonus or something like that in the Philippines.
The second nice feature is actual American equipment used. For example they have a BAE, which is a Browning Automatic Rifle.
Blasting away at the enemy. Unfortunately the copy I saw on YouTube was kind of unrestored if you know what I mean. If this movie had been restored and maybe a different director it could have been very much better. Even though it's worth a watch just for the accurate equipment. And filmed in the Philippines.
The Bionic Woman: Deadly Ringer (1977)
Unrealistic but cute and interesting.
Just so you know I have to put spoilers in here. So anyway they operate on a lady, to make her look like Jamie Sommers. To make her look like a twin.
The twin gets her superpower, from some kind of chemical but it's temporary. So in other words the twin can Crush cans and all that kind of stuff. As long as she's takes the medicine ahead of time. I know it's unrealistic but it sure is fun.
So the twin takes Jamie's place and Jamie's put in jail. And Jamie is drugged so she can't use her Bionic power.
The fun part of this episode is how does the twin Jamie, fool everybody. And how does the real Jamie get out of prison.
And it's a two-part episode so it's kind of neat. Highly recommended.
12 O'Clock High: Interlude (1964)
The first reviewer was correct.
This could have been a two-part episode it was so good. Plus Quinn Martin Productions really put the money into the budget. For example we're on a dock with a full size boat. Also the train station. And the sets were nice along with the acting and the background actors. For example plenty of Wrens that's the British equivalent of the American WACs. British Sailors in uniform. I have a lot of respect for the producers. Who can gather all the stuff together.
And unlike most 12:00 High, it's a love story but it's a good one it's done nicely. I almost thought it could have been filmed in England.
This story was so nice it could have been remade today. That's it for this review.
Osvobozhdenie: Posledniy shturm (1971)
A series of films made by Mosfilm.
Overall this is a excellent series of motion pictures. There are five movies to the series. Since I just watched The Final Battle for Berlin, and I've also seen all the others.
As far as historical equipment it's very well done including the tanks half tracks and all of that. Do you uniforms are also well done and the battle scenes are excellent.
This is one of Russia's absolutely best film series ever made. There are some background Side Stories. For example the flooding of the subway. I didn't even know about that during World War II.
If you get a chance to see this, do watch it and I watched it on YouTube.
The Bionic Woman: Claws (1976)
A little slow but cute.
In this episode, Jamie Summers, The Bionic Woman is playing a school teacher. Now my main reason for this review, and I know all the kids are actors, but they bring in a real lion to the classroom. Now this line must have been very well trained.
Seriously do you think you'd have a real lion today? They probably have a digital CGI lion.
These shows were relatively clean and suitable for all ages. Jamie does her usual jumping, and that type of thing. But the lion in this show they think it's eating some livestock so that's what the whole plot's about. If you like animals you could watch this with your kids. That's it for this simple review.
The Outer Limits: The Premonition (1965)
Another good episode but I'm going to leave a spoiler
This is written by IB Melchior who did a lot of sci-fi. And as a side note, if you can find his book, Case by Case, it's excellent.
Now the reason for the spoiler, is a little girl is on her bicycle heading for a truck. And now they're in the fourth dimension of time so everything is at a standstill. For example it takes an hour for a second to move by. So they've got an hour to figure out what to do.
However the two people are not trapped in this time. So my first thought was to stop the bicycle, well you got your purse shove it in between the spokes.
Well that was my first thought anyway. This is also similar to a Star Trek episode where everybody was moving fast. But in this one everybody's moving slow. Really good science fiction.
A few more thoughts? The sets were actually pretty good for a low budget. Better than Lost in Space which was actually a favorite and more popular TV show. The X-15, that was a pretty good prop.
The Fugitive: The 2130 (1966)
I must agree.
Reviewer schappe1, really had the best review. They could have made four or five or six stories out of this one episode. When I think of The Fugitive movie that came out about 20 years ago or so, it just doesn't measure up to the good script writing these old TV shows had.
And it's also a good look at life in the 1960s. For example the fruit Pickers were many normal everyday Americans not just immigrants. People needed jobs back then.
Not everybody had a car so it was many buses running. Much more popular back then.
I do have a question if anybody can answer it. In one of the last scenes, he's riding with a bunch of Pickers. He pays a man 10 cents for the newspaper, and The Fugitive jumps out the back of the truck .
Does anybody know who the black actor is, who The Fugitive got the newspaper from? It's a speaking part but not listed in the credits. Thank you, John.
Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (1975)
Excellent
This is much better than Mississippi Burning. This is a true story about the three civil rights workers who were murdered. Now what makes it interesting is, the FBI is interviewing Witnesses.
As they interview the witnesses, it's told in flashbacks. So one witness will say well we drove right and did this. So it's filmed in a flashback. But then the next witness says no we drove left. And that is filmed in a flashback.
So the FBI is trying to figure out who's telling the truth. So in a way it's a whodunit. I haven't seen this in years but I remember it being very very interesting.
I sure would like Quinn Martin to release some of his better stuff on DVDs in a Blu-ray. It would make a fascinating viewing.
China Gate (1957)
A Sam Fuller film. Interesting but?
Well first the good. Filmed and glorious black and white, and on YouTube where I watch it it was pretty darn crystal clear. This is about the French and Indochina.
Nat King Cole's singing in a few scenes adds to the movie which really added to the movie. That part was actually perfect.
The sets, we're pretty good and the rear-projection on some of the scenes were pretty good. Most of the battles were filmed on sets and it was not bad. Some of the low budget showed but it was still pretty good.
Angie Dickinson can act very nicely. She's got two boyfriends in this movie on each side. Both love her. But she's fighting to get her son to America.
It had an absolutely surprise ending that I didn't see coming. Not at all. So it's worth a watch just for the scenery. And is another mentioned, this takes place and filmed in the 1950s and Ho Chi Minh is mentioned.
Well that's it for this short review. Not going to rate it because it had so much good and bad in it. The directing is so so but it is interesting.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Plot holes.
Of course it's full of spoilers. First of all the computer generated images and the storyline is passable. The CGI is very good.
Spoiler number one, Caesar is watching out a window. Because he lives upstairs. Now we never did explain how he uses the bathroom but that's about it. However he's looking out and the old man gets in the wrong car.
Now as we all know you certainly can't move a car today without the right key but of course he starts it up and starts banging other cars. The owner of the car gets out all upset. And today we'd probably call the police and be calmer but hey we got to throw in all this anger just to stir the pot .
Caesar sees this and jumps out to the rescue I mean come on guys this is kind of lame.
Well I watch about half the movie and I'll sit to the other half. Maybe I need some ice cream to go with it.
However there is playing homage to the original movie. By calling the ape Bright Eyes. And saying it's a madhouse when all the monkeys are in a zoo. That was kind of a neat touch.