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Reviews
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
"There's only a hundred of them." - says Thorin to Dwalin as the two of them face an army.
Is Jackson parodying his own fight scenes or what?
But anyway, The Battle Of The Five Armies is a film that mostly just suffers from being 2 hours of battle and half an hour of actual character scenes.
There's a very incompetent feel about the Hobbit as a whole. An Unexpected Journey had too much plot, The Desolation Of Smaug had plot, but that was bizarrely cut out for more fight scenes and the cheesy subplot and this one goes even further by being one huge battle with little plot pellets in-between.
To give Jackson credit, the movie still managed to entertain me a lot and there was much to love, like Alfrid, Thorin's development, Bilbo and Galadriel's standoff with Sauron. But those moments are few and in- between.
How come there's so much time and yet the film accomplishes so little? Why is the ending so rushed(though it is a wonderful ending)?
If I'd been Jackson, I would've padded out the second movie(so that people would want to see the third one) by lengthening the Mirkwood section. Remember the magical river, black squirrels, the starvation of the dwarfs and Bilbo's taking command? Had they turned the forest into a real threat, it could've easily filled out a large portion of the movie, plus the Dol Guldur subplot and maybe an early introduction for Bard on his own?
Have the movie end with them seeing the mountain, like the first one.
But no, all the padding is here. It is good padding, though as we see Thorin really well developed(though everyone else is just kinda there - like Radagast and Beorn and the rest of the Company) and the focus on the people of Laketown works great. Bard is also a charismatic character and then there's the wonderful Alfrid.
Whatever happened to the Master though? I kept expecting him to reappear as he was in the trailers. He would've made a great comparison to Thorin like he did in the books(he supposedly fled with a load of Erebor gold and died alone).
The highlight of the film for me was the Galadriel scene. Psychedelic(almost like a horror film) and scary as hell. She reminded me of the girl from The Ring in those scenes.
Overall, the film is extremely padded, but it's the good kind of padding.
The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue (1998)
Badly done, but entertaining
Basically all reviewers below me say that this is total garbage. Let me correct that: It is totally hilarious garbage.
The movie takes place a few years after the classic original and features Timothy(a minor character from the first film) going to Thorn Valley to learn how to be a hero from Justin and mr. Ages.
Skip to few years later, Justin takes Timothy out to collect the trash that people throw out and there, Timmy meets Jenny, a female mouse who reports that NIMH has restarted their old experiments and has captured Martin, Timmy's brother.
Timmy and Jenny go to save the mice from NIMH and along the way, meet up with Jeremy(who in direct contrast with the original, is now funny) and his caterpillar buddy Cecil.
Arriving in NIMH, they find that Martin has been driven into insanity by shock therapy and has somehow taken over the laboratory. He tries to corrupt Timothy, but the younger Brisby isn't budging. Ultimately, Martin is defeated(THEY THROW BOOKS ON HIM), the mice are saved and NIMH blows up.
Timothy's a hero now(actually, he's the only character who didn't do anything) and Martin's back to normal. Oh and mrs. Brisby was somewhere in here and they actually seemed to remember Nicodemus saying that the people with NIMH enhancements live longer(she looks old but everyone else still looks young) though I don't know how the Shrew still hangs onto life.
The movie has horrendous animation(especially if you consider the first one) with unfinished drawings and nonsensical movements(at one point, Timmy throws a key to Jenny who is untied. Suddenly, the key is in Timmy's hand again and Jenny is tied up.) The songs: Well, I love musical numbers and these are some pretty good ones. "Just Say Yes" and "Magic Mystery Show" are the most memorable ones. Also, there's a franchise out there where Wil Wheaton grows up to be Eric Idle. How rad is that?! I found the first film fantastic beyond meaning. This movie, however, is a guilty pleasure of mine.
You'll be happy, oh so happy if you watch this film.
Dune (1984)
Unappreciated masterpiece(big spoilers ahead)
Prologue: In the year 10191(not the Christian calender), the Padishah-Emperor grants House Atreides(the heroes) rulership over Arrakis(Dune), replacing their enemy, House Harkonnen(the bad guys). Arrakis is the only planet in the universe that contains the spice melange, a drug that the entire universe is addicted to due to the vitality it provides people and because the Spacing Guild need it to teleport their ships through space. The Guild, the Emperor and House Harkonnen plot the destruction of the Atreides(hence the Emperor's "generosity"). The Guild, having precognition due to spice view Duke Leto's son Paul as a threat. The Emperor views House Atreides as a threat due to their new Weirding Modules(sonic guns). The Harkonnens just hate them.
Story: A Guild Navigator arrives on Kaitain(the Emperor's homeworld) to ask for details of the Conspiracy. Using her telepathic powers, Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam(representative of a group of women who manipulated DNA through generations to create a male superbeing with the power to see the future) finds out that the Guild fear Paul so she goes to Caladan(the Atreides homeworld) to test him(with a pain box). Paul passes the test. Subsequently, House Atreides (which is led by Duke Leto, his concubine Jessica, their son Paul, the Mentat(human computer) Thufir Hawat, the Swordmaster Duncan Idaho, the Suk Doctor Wellington Yueh and the superloyal Gurney "Picard" Halleck) travels to Arrakis to take over from the Harkonnens. Meanwhile on Giedi Prime, the evil Mentat Piter De Vries(Grima Wormtongue) takes Leto's message to the psycho-Baron Vladimir Harkonnen who is not too happy and finalizes the Conspiracy. He orders Captain Nefud to summon Feyd-Rautha and Rabban(his nephews) and has Piter pound the importance of success in them (if the Landsraad, the union of Houses finds out about the Conspiracy, they're all screwed). The psycho-Baron also informs them that he has a spy in House Atreides. Back on Arrakis, Duke Leto meets with Duncan(who has been negotiating with the Fremen, a group of nomads living in the desert) who informs him that there might be a larger number of Fremen than originally thought. Being a paranoid perfectionist on defence, Thufir's in charge of the safety. When his people find one bomb after another easily, he becomes extremely concerned of how easy it is. Dr. Yueh is inspecting the Harkonnen corpses and finds a secret message in one that he doesn't want to Thufir to know of(the veteran must be blind not to notice Yueh move the X-Ray). Meanwhile, Duke Leto, Paul and Gurney go on a spice production tour with Dr. Kynes, the Imperial Planetologist who has secretly become a Fremen leader. The trip ends in a disaster but the Atreides make a good impression on Kynes. Back at the palace, Dr. Yueh and Jessica check the Fremen servants. Among them is the Shadout Mapes, a spy(for the Fremen, not the bad guys). In his room, Paul has a spice snack and nearly gets assassinated by a floating needle. Mapes informs him that there's a traitor amongst the Atreides. Another Harkonnen corpse is found with a needle controller. Soon, Dr. Yueh(the Harkonnen spy) neutralizes the shield protecting the palace, allowing the Harkonnen ships to attack it and also destroys the Weirding Modules, preventing the Atreides from effectively defending themselves from a combination of strong Harkonnen forces and the Imperial Sardaukar. Only a few escape with their lives. Yueh personally captures Duke Leto and explains that he's doing all this in order to assassinate the Baron(Who killed his wife) via the Duke and plants a tooth containing poison gas in his mouth. Duncan tries to save Paul and Jessica and gets killed in the process. Gurney escapes(with the Duke's dog). House Harkonnen wins. Paul and Jessica are sent to the desert to die but they escape the Harkonnen troops thanks to some help from Yueh's survival kit he planted there to redeem himself. The two of them meet and join the Fremen with the promise that they teach them how to use the Weirding Modules(that Yueh left the plans for). Meanwhile, Leto's assassination fails and he ends up killing Piter instead. Paul falls in love, Jessica becomes a Reverend Mother, Paul becomes a messiah, Gurney joins the Fremen, Kynes is abandoned in the desert by Rabban, Thufir becomes a demented Mentat for the Harkonnens. 2 YEARS LATER Using the tactics taught to him and the Weirding Modules, the Fremen effectively halt spice production. Fearing Paul, the Spacing Guild order the Emperor to return order to Arrakis. He decides to destroy all life there. To counter that, Paul uses the Water of Life(sandworm puke) to finally achieve his full potential(oh and he gets a sister). The Emperor arrives on Arrakis and starts by executing Rabban. The Baron isn't very pleased. Using atomics, Paul breaks into his old palace and conquers the Sardaukar. The Baron is killed by Paul's sister. In the finale, Paul declares himself Emperor(not corruption), takes complete control over the universe and kills Feyd-Rautha(the last Harkonnen). Thufir also commits suicide. AND THEN IT RAINS ON ARRAKIS FOR NO REASON.
Personal view: This movie is just awesome. But it failed due to the lack of time given to it. The movie mainly focuses on the first half of the novel and then turns the second part into a montage.
Dune (2000)
Great miniseries. Yet flawed.
Now I must say that both the 1984 and the 2000 versions have their flaws. I of course like the book best but I'll just review the 2000 interpretation.
Paul Atreides: I prefer him over the 1984 Paul, he is just far more relatable. The 1984 Paul was harsh and cold, he has emotion and just has a great look.
Duke Leto: Once again, he is preferable. He looks cooler, acts better, has far more screen time and is more meaningful to the story. He was one of my fav characters and his death scene was 100 times better than the crap I saw on the 1984 version. He has charisma and strength.
Thufir Hawat: WHAT?!! One of the best characters of the book has been totally ruined here!! He is terribly underused, he has no charisma(MASTER OF ASSASAINS) and he wears a ridicuolus top hat! I find myself missing Freddie Jones's fantastic performance.
Piter De Vries: Forgettable. That's the best way of saying it. Like Thufir, he wears a stupid hat. And he is just entirely forgettable. The contrast between him and Thufir that was so clear in the 1984 version is gone entirely and all I got was that he's an annoying adviser guy.
Baron Vladimir Harkonnen: Here is where things get interesting. McNeice was a frickin' masterpiece. Gone is the ugly psycho-Baron from 1984. McNeice followed the book to the letter and brought his own style to the role. I kept hoping to see Harkonnen scenes more than Atreides scenes.
Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen: My first reaction to him was: "Why isn't his hair ginger?". Looking back, I must say he makes a better Feyd than Sting did, he was just more... Feyd-ish. He was of course arrogant, but also had style, something that the 1984 Feyd(who wore the same suit for 2 years) lacked entirely.
Rabban Harkonnen: His first name is not Glossu. It was said in the original book by Gurney himself: "Rabban Harkonnen". Anyway, I liked him better here, he was intimidating and if you'd been his prisoner, you would know straight away you're doomed. The 1984 Rabban was a buffoon.
Duncan Idaho: While I enjoy Duncan having more screen time here, the 1984 Duncan was far better. This Duncan just wasn't... familiar. I dunno how to say it.
Gurney Halleck: I think this is one of the few characters whom I like equally in all versions. The 2000 Gurney is sort of a cross between the rough ugly Gurney from the book and the Captain Picard from 1984.
Lady Jessica: Like with Gurney, I like her equally in both versions. Of course, there's no denial that the 2000 Jessica is more beautiful.
Shaddam IV: Personally, I liked the 1984 one far more. He immediately gave away a feeling of justice and security. He was an Emperor whom you would want to join. The 2000 version just kept annoying me with his attitude(it is sad that the new Herbert/Anderson books depict this Shaddam). Frank's original Shaddam seemed to be a cross between the 1984 and 2000 ones.
Chani: Better here.
Liet-Kynes: While the 1984 version had much more charisma, he lacked four things. First of all, I never knew he was Liet. Secondly, I never knew he was Chani's father. Thirdly, he didn't have his *I am a desert creature* death scene. Fourthly, it was never mentioned that he was behind the ecological reformation of Arrakis.
Irulan: This Irulan was much better than the pointless 1984 Irulan. That's all I have to say.
Sorry if the comparison bored you.
I really liked this miniseries, it kept closer to the tone of the book. Unlike the 1984 version, it had warmth. The Fremen felt more adapted to the ways of the desert, the sandworms were clearly better.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Empire Strikes Back Reborn
After the wooden(but enjoyable) Episode I and the CGI love story(not enjoyable) Episode II, Episode III comes forth as probably the best SW movie. The dialogue has returned to original trilogy level, the CGI is better than ever and Ewan McGregor has finally finished his journey from wooden mannequin to awesome character. There are still about 3 awful Anakin/Padme scenes but once you get over that, it's great again. The performance of Ian McDiarmid was masterpiece, finally the dark Emperor from Episode VI returns. In a different makeup but still.
Now the bad parts: first of all, Dooku. He was the villain of Episode II and he just gets quickly killed off at the start of this movie(and Anakin quickly forgets murdering him unlike the wonderful book version). Of course it was fun to have a duel at the start, something that breaks the usual duel-at-the-end from every other SW movie but Christopher Lee deserved better.
Secondly, why is Mace Windu so mean? He's a Jedi, aren't they supposed to be friendly? Samuel L. Jackson clearly shouldn't be on the Jedi Council. He's just not the peaceful Council material and is largely what made Anakin go evil in the first place.
Thirdly, not enough Qui-Gon Jinn. He had one scene in this movie(where he talks with Yoda) but that was cut. I understand that it's impossible for him to return to main character status, but he was soooo great. I wish they would've added his conversation(once again, check the book version).
Btw, to ruin the day of the people who read this, Jar Jar Binks does appear in this movie and even gets a line. He appears amongst Senators shortly after Palpatine is rescued and says something like "sorry" to Mas Ameddaa(Palpatine's secretary guy). He also of course appeared on Padme's funeral, sad(Boss Nass and Bibble were there too btw).
Fourthly, the duel between Yoda and Palpatine needed a wee bit more lightsabers. And why the heck was Palpatine fighting with his big cloak on, won't that get in the way? Overall, GREAT MOVIE. 10/10.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
Great but flawed
This movie has its good and bad sides. The first thing that really annoyed me was the behavior of the battle droids. They're MACHINES for heaven's sake so who's idea was to have "eh... what was that again? JUST FIRE RIGHT THERE!!!"? Not that it was bad, no. I am a very, very acceptable person and I did really enjoy this movie and the comedy, but the behavior of the droids was just... illogical. Secondly, at the beginning of the movie, Obi-Wan and Anakin discuss how Anakin should put in a *something* for a new Padawan. What?! Jedi Knights choose their Padawans after long observation and consideration and meditation, they don't go shopping for them. And Ahsoka's personality did not fit her ENTIRE LIFE's training.
Well, another bad thing was the era. The Clone Wars have been done to death. If one would make a cartoon series, then I think a good place to start would be A - The time between Episodes I and II or before Episode I. B - The time after Episode VI(the Jedi Knight games' era).
But now that this has been said, let me say that there are a few things that I really did not like about this movie. 1. General Grievous only got a 3 second cameo. 2. Asajj Ventress. Again. While his interaction with Obi-Wan is fun in later CW seasons, I just don't like the idea of Sith Lords having Dark Jedi bodyguards at all. 3. The cover of the DVD has Yoda brandish a lightsaber. We never saw Yoda wield his lightsaber in the movie. 4. Chancellor Palpatine looked ugly. I mean, this is the character whose grandfatherly smile re-assured the entire Republic after all. 5. What are the chances of Ahsoka staying alive by the end of the Clone Wars? 3720 to 1. 6. Lack of proper traditional R2-D2 and C-3PO banter. 7. Obi-Wan gets underused in the second half of the movie. 8. Ziro speaks English(sorry I mean Basic)????????? 9. Lack of proper traditional badass villain(Dooku was not rly badass in this movie).
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
The only bad Star Wars movie.
It's worse than the Holiday Special. At least that had good characters and the life-saving cartoon.
Anyway, the movie starts up to the ship landing and oh god, EVERYTHING is CGI, I'm serious! R2 looks CGI, the platform is CGI! Oh god, and it just looks way too clear to be realistic. It has too much quality, unrealistic quality. There are few bits where the CGI is useful like Yoda(the Episode I puppet was awful). Then there are the characters. I rly liked the portrayal of Obi-Wan. His demeanor has clearly begun to change, he no longer acts like a background generic Jedi put to main character role for some reason, but he isn't completely relaxed yet either. That was good. And then comes(Dun Dun DUUUUUUN) the romance. AWFUL! I HATED EVERY MOMENT. It was soooo bad and annoying, it got way in the real plot! The only mercy was that Lucas deleted the scenes where Padme and Anakin go visit Padme's family, thank god. But it's still bad. And Anakin's portrayal is too whiny. I don't remember Luke being a quarter as whiny as Anakin. As for C-3PO and R2-D2, they get a few nice nostalgic moments. Jar Jar is pushed way back to minor yet important character(sigh) and Qui-Gon(my fav prequel guy) is demoted from main character to two words(Anakin! Anakin!) and a little conversation between Dooku and Obi-Wan. Now to Dooku: awesome villain. He lacks the action style of Darth Maul, but makes it up with an elegant style, showing far more control over the Force than Maul did and thus he's a greater threat(that's how he defeated Obi-Wan in 10 seconds). Christopher Lee is a great actor. And finally, Palpatine. He looks sick for being in this movie.
It's bad movie but has great moments. Unfortunately, it lacks the real Star Wars element that all the other episodes had.
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998)
Cool.
This is a fantastic sequel, just fantastic, but I'll start with the flaws. 1. Simba has become completely paranoid and that pisses me off. He's no longer cool until near the end of the movie. 2. Why isn't Nala helping? Her daughter is going through an IMMENSE emotional crisis in her first falling in love and her mother just isn't there? Not once in the movie(except the beginning and when Kovu shows up for the first time) does Nala comfort her daughter, especially when Kovu gets banished. Come on! She KNOWS that the two have fallen in love, but doesn't help for most of the movie. 3. Almost everyone are so ignorant of Kiara, including Nala. Can you please LISTEN to her for a second and stop being a jerk, Simba? 4. Shortly before the movie ends, Mufasa's ghost shows up to say "Well done, my son". ARE YOU SERIOUS? You say that to SIMBA who's been a jerk for most of the movie. Give your thanks to, I don't know, maybe KIARA.
Now let's get to the good parts.
1. Rafiki. One of the very few characters(no, actually the only character) who helps and understands Kiara. Friend of the family, indeed. Now if you could just hit Simba with your stick... 2. Timon and Pumbaa. Though they don't appear much, they're still the old comedy trio. Timon's fur appears darker. I guess they're getting older. 3. Vitani. I have a crush on her(when she's a cub). And that is not creepy, because she's an animated character and that doesn't count. 4. Zira. She gets a great villain song and is the best character here.
And the big question: WHERE DID THE OUTLANDERS COME FROM???
The Lion King (1994)
I have a crush on Shenzi...
This movie is just awesome. And yes, I have a crush on Shenzi(she's animated, it doesn't count as creepy). Why? Cos she's the prettiest looking animated character I have ever seen. And hyenas are also my favourite animals, btw. Ever since this movie. Great plot, fantastic characters(the hyenas, Timon and Pumbaa). Great, great, great, great. Also, one thing: Simba's just an ordinary lion cub so... HOW COME HE IS THE BEST SINGER I'VE EVER HEARD??!??!?!?
Scar's song was of course genius. The Hyena March was great to watch. Wish they'd added in the Be Prepared reprise. Simba is adorable of course. And Zazu got played by the ever-sarcastic Blackadder!! Or mr. Bean as he's also known.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
The Best Movie Of All Time
Best. The best. THE best. The masterpiece of Stanley Kubrick, this is a visionary movie.
Plot: In 1999, a group of scientists including Dr. Heywood Floyd finds a black monolith on the Moon that sends a signal to Jupiter. 2 years later in 2001, the USS Discovery heads to Jupiter with six crewmembers onboard. Three are in stasis(to save oxygen, food and the secret of the mission), 3 are awake. Of those 3 people, one is the H-A-L 9000 computer that manages the ship and the other two are Dr. Dave Bowman and Dr. Frank Poole. Everything goes alright, until the AE-35 unit(that is responsible for communication with Earth) breaks down and Frank is sent to repair it. Frank's pod then kills him, leading Dave to go get the corpse. Meanwhile, HAL(who is responsible for all of this)murders the hibernating crewmembers and refuses to allow Dave back in. Dave uses the emergency door, gets in and disconnects the malfunctioning computer. Some time later, Discovery arrives over Jupiter and Dave investigates another monolith that leads him into the Star Gate: a portal that transforms Dave into an ascended being of some sort.
This is truly a masterpiece.
Enterprise (2001)
Very awesome.
It wasn't bad, on the contrary, I actually really enjoyed this series and its characters. Archer, the enthusiastic but green captain. T'Pol, the critic but "friendly" science officer. Trip, the southern superhero chief engineer(easily the best along with Archer). Reed, the comical workaholic security officer. Phlox, the curious doctor with endless degrees in medical science. Hoshi, the Harry Kim-ish green communications officer. Mayweather, the heavily underused helmsman born on a space freighter. And of course Porthos, the first canine to go where no dog has gone before.
An awesome series, but it just doesn't feel like a prequel to TOS, more like a prequel to TNG-VOY. Why? Because it followed the same formula that TNG-VOY used. Everything was explained via science while in TOS, there were countless fantasy elements involved. The episodes were VERY unpredictable in plot and it didn't have the Weak Season 1 Syndrome. ENT had it(come on, you know it's a weak season if it has an episode about a crewmember forgetting his communicator on a planet.) ENT satisfied me, yet TOS contained this fantasy element that wasn't in here or in any other Trek show. Despite this, it got better and better and the characters were really fun to watch making humanity's first steps(Warp 5 barrier, phase pistol, unsafe transporters, grappler, polarized hull plating). The 22nd century Vulcans are represented as a paranoid race obsessed with spying on every species including Humans. The Andorians(glimpsed in TOS) are their archenemies yet prove to be surprisingly more cooperative with Humans(especially Archer). The Tellarite makeup is a lot better I must say.
The first two seasons focused on space exploration and was almost entirely episodic. Season 3 had the Enterprise recalled and set out to find the species constructing a weapon to annihilate Earth. Season 4 had the now experienced Enterprise crew handle diplomatic contacts with other species(it mainly contained two and three-parters with a few stand-alones thrown in). In my opinion, Enterprise should've continued with Seasons 5 and 6 focusing on the Romulan War which was clearly building up in Season 4.
One more thing: I REALLY liked the design of the NX-01.
Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy (2003)
Could've been a lot better, could've been a lot worse.
Well, certain things have been upgraded and a load of things have not. First of all, you have access to two lightsabers at the same time(notably used by Anakin in Episode II and by Boc in Jedi Knight 1) and the double lightsaber(used by Darth Maul in Episode I). Other than that, the levels are more varied. You take on the role of Jaden Korr, a normal human man(human man is canonical) from Coruscant who is on his way to the Jedi Academy to become a Jedi and "befriends" a fellow Initiate called Rosh Penin on the way. The journey to the temple isn't the best as the shuttle gets shot down and you have to fight a mysterious Dark Jedi. You are then given a set of five missions you must accomplish. The levels in this game follow this pattern: 2 story levels, 5 filler levels, 2 story levels, 5 fillers, 3 story levels, 5 fillers and 4 or 5 story levels. While there are a ton of new lightsaber moves you can do(I especially like the stab into the ground when the enemy is down), the levels are MUCH weaker. They are way shorter than Outcast ones and way easier and much less sophisticated. The enemies are not as hard as in Outcast(even the bosses). The story is also weaker. But I find it still fun and it's a must-play. Multiplayer on the other hand is VERY much better. You now have access to Power Duel(two on one) and Siege(can't really explain until you see it).
One thing I must note is that it constantly reminded me of Mysteries of the Sith. First of all, both of them have filler missions. Second of all, your character is an apprentice of Kyle. And so on. I think it's very worth buying.
Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Mysteries of the Sith (1998)
Voice actors??
Bad voice actors. BAD. Kyle didn't sound like Kyle, what happened to the sarcasm? He sounded like Luke would. Fortunately, he wasn't a bad voice actor and I was soon used to him. The plot itself is very simple and the only reason it's important is because it's vital to Jedi Knight 2 plot. *Spoiler Alert* The plot is that Kyle saves a Republic base and then goes off to a Sith temple. His apprentice Mara Jade(of whom I knew nothing about) goes through two filler plots and then goes to find Kyle, only to discover that he's been corrupted by the dark side(how come it happened in a random Sith temple and not the Valley of the Jedi?). She saves Kyle who decides to become a mercenary again. The end.
The game was unique in many ways, it offered some cool things JK1 could not. But I HATED the final level, it was way too hard. Also, I wish they could've bothered to add a little cutscene about Mara going to the dark side, not dropping to her death when she tries to go over to Kyle.
Also, I can understand that an expansion pack can't have new FMV cutscene, but come on, the game engine WASN'T designed to make cutscenes. It could've been quickly animated or sth.
But not too bad.
Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II (1997)
Awesome
Remember Kyle Katarn? You know, the guy from Dark Forces? Well, the hero who stole the Death Star plans single-handedly(and blew up some droid troopers or sth.) is BACK and this time he's Force-sensitive so watch out! Kyle returns, but this time he ain't working for the Rebels. Instead, Kyle and his trusty E-11 Blaster Rifle are out to avenge the death of Morgan Katarn, Kyle's dad who was murdered by seven Dark Jedi who seek the location of the Valley of the Jedi, a Force nexus. Kyle claims his inheritance, which is a lightsaber and the Valley itself and becomes a Mercenary/Jedi hybrid with every intent to stop the Dark Jedi.
This game is awesome. With this, you can easily forget that the original DF even existed. Kyle turns from a blank character into the Chuck Norris of Star Wars in a second! Now that's an achievement. The game looks good, has fantastic FMV cutscenes and gives you the right atmosphere of Star Wars right away.
10 out of 10
Oh, and if you like this game, then I suggest you also find Jedi Knight 2 where an older Kyle returns again to save Jan Ors from another Dark Jedi.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
A great adaptation
One of the most wonderful Harry Potter movies, it is excellent. Of course things have been cut out for time but the most important elements are here(unlike later movies). The cast was excellent, I was thrilled by Argus Filch who was kinda scary(unlike later movies) and his cat, Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore was also very book-like and nice to look and listen at. The movie has only one big flaw and that it's too close to the book. Columbus followed the book almost to the letter and didn't let his own imagination to spice the story up. The sets looked gorgeous. I am sad that some of the rooms in the end were cut. Hagrid had mentioned earlier that Snape had been one of the people who designed the protection of the stone yet his potion riddle was cut along with Quirrell's troll.