It’s Halloween Season, and as I had promised last year, I have begun to review more movies. Here’s what I have reviewed so far:
1. [The Quatermass Xperiment](/2002/10/16/the-quatermass-xperiment/)
2. [Event Horizon](/2003/10/20/event-horizon/)
3. [Halloween 1](/2003/10/27/halloween-1/)
Don’t forget to read last year’s reviews for more Halloween goodness.
Finally, here we have a movie that’s much more appropriate to Halloween. Sure, it’s a science-fiction movie but that doesn’t really change anything. Event Horizon is a splatter-shocker-horror-movie, plain and simple.
Event Horizon stars Laurence Fishburne (in the role of the cool, calm and collected salvage ship captain) and Sam Neill as the scientist person that built the mysterious missing ship that gave the movie its title. When it first reached the big screen – received a mixed reaction at best. People told me that the movie starts off well enough but that it went downhill from there.
I try, of course, to not let such comments influence me overly. What I had read about the story itself sounded interesting enough: A research vessel disappeared without a trace several years ago. And now, totally unexpectedly, it re-appeared in an orbit around Neptune. Captain Miller and his crew are sent to investigate.
The movie certainly doesn’t waste any time in getting us down to the action. The voyage starts in a hurry, time for explanations is only taken upon arrival at Neptune. Looks like the research vessel Event Horizon wasn’t on such a routine mission afterall. It was testing a trans-dimensional drive that would propel it to the stars at speeds faster than light. Something went wrong… and now Miller and his crew have to explore the derelict vessel. And within minutes, the terror begins…
Event Horizon certainly keeps you on the edge of the seat. This isn’t so much because of the original story – far from it. From the very first moment you can identify various elements that were liberally borrowed from other movies. Take 2001, add a good deal of Aliens (the second movie), and replace the space alien with satanic/cabbalistic images and you’ve got Event Horizon. However, the fact that you know pretty much what is going to happen is building up quite a lot of tension. There’s also several scenes that should keep the friends of the more bloody sort of horror movie satisfied. I watched an uncut version of the movie (I presume), and some of the stuff really wasn’t pretty. I won’t give it away, but what happens to the doctor guy really wasn’t nice.
As for the end of the movie, I would agree with the people who criticized it. The movie does go downhill from about the mid-point, but it’s not nearly as bad as I had feared. It could have been done better, yes, but it really is more than adequate.
Event Horizon is nicely filmed. There are some really cool scenes and nice images in the movie. It does ignore some basic science, and blatantly so, but who cares, it’s not supposed to be scientifically accurate. There are good characters (I liked the salvage crew), the acting isn’t too bad, overall, Event Horizon makes for a rather decent evening of horror entertainment.
The DVD itself (I watched the German release) is sparse as most DVDs are these days. I guess the days of DVDs being released with many extras and produced with care and enthusiasm are over. We’re in the age of cheap mass-produced releases now. Besides a few languages it carries the theatrical trailer. Bah – What good is that? I really do not understand it, especially since for a modern movie like Event Horizont a lot of extra material probably already exists – Interviews, Making-Of, whatever.
**Bottom line**: Fun movie, disappointing DVD.
Here at the Kiosk at work they raised the price for a 0.3 litres bottle of coke. They expect you to pay 0.7 Euros. Seventy cents – for a third of a litre of coke? Hell no.
This will be the end drinking soft drinks at work for me.
There’s a new website about Frankfurt’s history during the Nazi years. It makes a decent impression, considering it’s heavily java-scripted.
It’s always good to know about the exile you have to live in.
When I went to the DVD fair with Olav, I bought only one DVD: The collector’s edition of “Close Encounters”, at an amazing price of merely 10 euros. It’s the 2 DVD version, too, and tonight I finally watched the thing.
I really don’t think I have to explain the story of the movie, it’s such a classic. Basically, UFOs come to Earth, causing all kinds of reactions from both random people and a government task force. It differs from the normal space alien flying saucer movie in that the aliens are friends – and not invaders.
I am pretty undecided about the movie. On the one hand it’s beautifully done; and if you’re younger then it can even be scary. But the aliens are cheesy and the “happy happy smiley aliens” idea makes me almost physically sick. Still, it’s such a classic that everybody really needs to see it… and when you do, you can just as well make up your own mind.
About this DVD edition: I am really sad that – like too many other DVDs – Close Encounters does not contain an audio commentary track. However, the DVD set makes more than up for it by providing a very lengthy “Making Of”, deleted scenes, a featurette, and trailers. So I am not too disappointed with the extras. The Making Of is especially interesting, because Close Encounters was done before computer animations invaded the movie industrie. Basically everything in the movie is real – visual effects, paintings, models, clever filming, it’s all combined to create a perfect illusion. I probably enjoyed the making of more than the movie itself.
If you haven’t seen this movie, go and see it. If you can get the DVD at a decent price, don’t hesitate. If you can get it at a normal price, still get it. It’s a really decent way to spend the evening.
630It’s October. The days are getting shorter and the evenings colder. What could be more obvious than spend the time with a few decent DVDs. Tonight’s movie is barely Halloween-themed, but I think it still works. There’s something about destroying Earth that always cheers me up.
**When Worlds Collide** (German Title: **”Der Jüngste Tag”**) is a classic tale of doomsday. When a couple of astronomers first discover an alien sun and its planet fast approaching on a collision course with Earth, no one believes them. Naturally. Their proposal to build a modern Noah’s Ark is turned down by the United Nations. Only a few industrialists heed the warning – some out of idealism, but at least one because he fears for his own life. With their money, the scientists begin building a rocket to save a handful of people.
Filmed in colour in 1951, When Worlds Collide must have been an expensive movie to make. While it is certainly antiquated, it’s interestingly executed. It’s a good mix between the human drama of the survivors, and the natural catastrophe. There are even some nice pictures – the sunken New York City, for example, doesn’t look too shabby.
The DVD I watched – German Edition – contains no particular specials. There’s the theatrical trailer, which is funny more than anything else, and various languages (English, French, Italian, Spanish). You’re buying this for the movie and I can tell you that if you like sci-fi or catastrophe flicks, you’ll enjoy this one. Yes it’s ancient. Yes you have to take all that into account. Still, it’ll entertain you. Just… brace yourself for the ending. It is truly horrible. And I do not mean that in a good way. I don’t think I am giving much away by telling you that of course there is a “happy endâ€. It’s basically a few people being happy in front of a landscape that is so obviously painted that it was a piece of crap when it was first designed. I guess the movie’s budget ran out right before the end. Still, watch this one.
My [Martian Movie Marathon](/2003/08/27/martian-movie-marathon/) is progressing. After I watched the quite crummy [original of Invasion from Mars](/2003/08/31/invasion-from-mars-1953/), I continued with the updated version. The story is basically the same: A spaceship from Mars lands behind the young guy David’s house and starts to take over people in the little town. After a lot of running and screaming, the USMC is brought in who save the day by shooting things and blowing stuff up.
As I had expected it was quite interesting to see the two movies side by side. Sure, the 1986 edition isn’t exactly hard sci-fi, but it manages to avoid the glaring mistakes of the original. The story is more tightly presented, with updated effects and sets and much, much better acting. It’s not exactly a piece of art, but it can be watched without one’s eyes starting to bleed.
There are even some inside jokes; for example, while searching the hill behind David’s house, the sheriff says “I haven’t been here since I was a kid”. The same guy plays David in the original movie, according to the DVD text. I also appreciated that the designers tried to keep some sets close to the original. David’s house and the hill behind it look a lot like their 1950s counterparts. It is really a remake, and not a new movie that pretends to be one.
Unfortunately, the DVD I watched only included the movie and only in German, and really nothing in the way of extras. A few trailers for different movies, but I would not call that “extras” – it’s advertisement.
If you like invasion sci-fi, 1950s sci-fi or b-movies, then you should probably get this movie for your collection. The contrast 1953 – 1986 is pretty cool, and the movie isn’t all too bad… but while I have seen worse, I also have seen better, and the weak presentation of this particular DVD edition isn’t helping. So-So.
Part Three of my [Martian Movie Marathon](/2003/08/27/martian-movie-marathon/) was Invasion from Mars – and to be precise, the version from 1953. What can I say – it’s a b-movie, and I do not mean this in any good way. Invasion from Mars is so bad, it isn’t even funny anymore. Terrible acting, terrible sets, terrible special effects and above all, terrible script and terrible dialogue. What can I say? The movie is, you guess it, terrible. Even when you consider its age. Want some examples?
> “Take the star Wolf 359 for example. It has its own sun…”
> Scientist guy shows random picture of space. “There are 22 planets in this picture alone.”
> “This [is a picture of] a martian landscape.” – “It has grass and rivers and lakes – so why not animals and people?”
I could go on, but I’d have to re-watch the movie to write down some verbatim quotes, and I really, REALLY do not want to do that. And then I haven’t even begun to mention stuff like the guys in bunny suits with the zippers showing.
The DVD I watched – a cheap production which only had a German voice track – lacked any kind of extra except a few text screens, and the picture and sound quality can only be described as poor.
If you really need me to repeat it: Avoid this movie. Watch the [remake from 1986](/2003/08/31/invasion-from-mars-1986/). I know that is what I will do now. Or be like me, watch both.
Finally, my [Martian Movie Marathon](/2003/08/27/martian-movie-marathon/) is coming to an end. And what better way to conclude this than with Tim Burton’s “Mars Attacks!”, the definite satire of the Mars Invasion sub-genre. Packed full of cool jokes, Mars Attacks! portrays what happens when Martians decide to kick around Earth, well, for fun, really. The dim-witted humans easily fall for the Martian’s sneaky plan, and the end of civilisation ensues. Well, almost.
There really isn’t much point to the story, though. The movie consists of a hundred minutes of computer animated Martians killing weak humans. It’s simple, it’s fun, and it’s well done.
Unfortunately the DVD is a bit of a disappointment. There’s really no bonus material except a little bit of text and some trailer. Too bad, because some decent bonus material would’ve really rounded off the DVD. Still, if you can appreciate comic-book action and satire of science fiction, you ought to watch this movie.
As you are probably aware if you know me or have been following my website for a while, I own an iBook G3/500 as a portable computer. And don’t get me wrong, I love this machine as I have really no computer for a long time. It’s got style, a great keyboard, and an operating system that I can get excited about. The sleek white curves of the iBook are downright sexy, and it’s a joy to type with this gorgeous keyboard.
But the machine does have some serious drawbacks. Now, after two years of pretty constant use, the batteries should really be replaced. They only get me about two hours of work time, maybe a tad more than this. The harddrive – at 20GB – is seriously under-sized for my needs. And forget about DivX video playback with the G3 processor at 500 MHz. Even if those things weren’t bad enough, I have yet to find a really good word processor for Mac OS X. The two main contenders – Microsoft Office v.X and Star office – both have their individual nags and issues. Right now I am using Star Office, and I am not yet quite happy with it. Microsoft Office v.X works well enough, but it has some performance and UI issues. Especially the performance, which is very poor.
I’d be seriously tempted to buy a Powerbook 12″, except for two things… I’d really prefer it in the white iBook design; and of course the price is just way too high.
I guess I shall have to live with what I have…