Reviews & Ratings for
Last Lives More at IMDbPro »

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Could have been brilliant..., 28 May 2000

Author: Robert_W (ekhrikhor@hotmail.com) from Fayetteville, Arkansas

The concept surrounding this movie was/is unbelievable - that a bracelet of sorts could regenerate cells - ultimately bringing a dead person back to life...

This is all made possible by time-travel - a prisoner from the future manages to travel back in time with the aid of a scientist (Judge Reinhold)'s machine, looking for who he believes to be his soul-mate of sorts...

Unfortunately, Jennifer Rubin (who plays the soul-mate and wife to C. Thomas Howell) and her acting ability, coupled with the poor writing, in areas, really really destroyed the potential for this movie...

I have the utmost respect for C. Thomas Howell - I personally think he's one of the best actors around - and it's a shame to see him in a film that really could have been a success...

I feel that if a more talented director and more thoughtful screenwriters had entered this project, 'Last Lives' could have been brilliant...

[4/10]

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Campy, but not completely unfortunate due to the fine scenery...., 21 August 2007

Author: Heather Taylor (stampinqueen123@hotmail.com) from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

*** MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***

OK, I'll admit - had Billy Wirth not been cast as the bad boy for a good cause lead in this flick, I wouldn't even have bothered picking it up.

I thought C. Thomas Howell's acting was lackluster at best (check him out in every scene at some point sporting a pained face like he's constipated in a major way) and though I tend to enjoy Jennifer Rubin's work, she didn't show me much here. Judge Reinhold was non-convincing as the brainiac scientist from the planet Smartron (for obvious reasons - Lee Press-On mustache and using the same goofy delivery as when he had th brain of a preteen boy in Vice Versa). The plot? Well, let's just say I tend to agree with a previous review that questioned how Adrienne (Rubin) could possibly fight off Malacki's (Wirth) advances to get back to the loving arms of Aaron (Howell). I believe love is a powerful force, but ladies, have you SEEN the eyes on the "villain"? There just wouldn't have been any resistance from me, I'm afraid. I'd have flown the proverbial white flag, suffered through the "agony" of being Malacki's true love (and all that entails) and reflected fondly on the memory of my ex-fiancé once in a while. Once in a GREAT while.

This movie isn't THAT bad, but it wasn't in any danger of sweeping the Oscars, either. I'm not sorry I've added it to my collection, but it's not because of story line, direction or special effects. Sorry, guys - for me, this one is all about the eye candy. Period.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
An interesting twist.., 22 December 2005

Author: Tom DeFelice from Leominster Mass USA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

A terrorist from an alternate universe whose great love was killed, comes to this world to kidnap her counterpart in this universe. The counterpart is about to get married. The terrorist kills the entire wedding party during the kidnapping. A scientist from the alternate universe tries to stop him. That is the plot of "Last Lives", a low budget sci-fi thriller.

Basically, I really enjoyed this flawed film. For the money, the special effects are effective. We are all use to films where the antagonist keeps springing back to life after we think he has been killed. It's a very inventive twist when it is the hero who keeps coming back to life.

There is one major flaw with this film. The three leads, Jennifer Rubin ("Screamers"), C. Thomas Howell ("Soul Man"), and Judge Reinhold ("Fast Time At Ridgemont High"), have proved themselves very competent actors. The problem with the entire cast is that you soon realize each of them talk in a very wooden cadence. Since everyone does this, the fault must be that of the director, Worth Keeter. This coupled with some very bad background music detracts from the film.

That said, there is enough in the film for me to recommend it. A number of reviewers have savaged it. I feel it's a nice little film well worth a rental from Netflix. Rent it and decide for yourself.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Time Travel Hits A Wall, 11 July 2001

Author: maxie-14 (maxie@billywirthfanclub.com) from Florida

Being a time travel fan I was disappointed in this film for a few reasons. I think the director could have thought out his ideas a little more, and the script, I had a feeling some of it was lost along the way. The actors needed more direction and input than they got.

I liked the ideas of the bracelet bringing people back from the dead, the trouble was the wrong characters kept getting brought back.

Jennifer Rubin is a gifted actress and the director and the writer did not help her at all in this film. She seemed confused and lost in a hopeless plot.

Billy Wirth did what he could with what was given to him in the writing and direction. It would be hard for any actor to pull off more than he did with this script. I know many Billy Wirth fans and women in general are still wondering why any normal woman would have a problem deciding between Wirth and Howell???

For the most part I liked the special effects it was the writing and length that killed me, I wanted to stop the film cut the car chase by 30 minutes and move on. Someone had a good idea but it went very wrong somewhere along the way.

Not a bad popcorn movie, will probably end up on peoples "films we hate but want to watch".

2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Good idea ......., 13 February 2001

Author: rabishopp (rabishopp@compuserve.com)

They should remake this film, perhaps with a different cast, perhaps with the same one but at least another few million in the budget. The story is interesting enough to deserve a makeover. It's been done before - LA Takedown and Heat for example. I'd grade this a "C+" and a "could try harder".

Stupid as hell., 11 April 2011

Author: DigitalRevenantX7 from Australia

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

PLOT OUTLINE: Before he can marry his fiancé, Aaron is killed by a telepathic terrorist from a parallel dimension who then kidnaps his bride & heads for somewhere safe. Luckily for Aaron, he is resurrected by a scientist from that parallel world & given a series of life-restoring armbands which he must use to stop the terrorist & rescue his bride.

Last Lives is a B-grade sci-fi / action film that has stolen parts of its plot from the much better film 12 MONKEYS, particularly the part where the temporal traveller is a criminal who is chosen for the trip due to his fixation on a woman, who he then kidnaps.

As an action film, Last Lives is a competent effort. The pace is moderate & the film has some decent car chases & explosions, as well as a decent bodycount. But for a science fiction film, it fails, mainly due to the rather stupid gimmick of having the hero armed with a number of 'lifebands' that can help him cheat death. Okay, the actual idea is not too bad, but the way it is used here is poor – the film goes out of its way to kill C. Thomas Howell in a number of gory ways (singed in a car explosion, shot in the head as he tries to steal a police car, fallen off a second storey window, electrocuted, blown up & having his head bashed in) then reviving him, each occasion being even more absurd than the last.

The acting is patchy – Howell is okay as the hero, Judge Reinhold looks embarrassed (probably due to the bad dialogue he is forced to use) & Jennifer Rubin (who made a noteworthy performance in the cult sci-fi flick SCREAMERS) looks like she has ingested some serious tranquilisers. As the villain, Billy Wirth tries his best to make his character sympathetic, which he mostly succeeds (you'd have to feel sorry for the guy given his background) but doesn't realise that the role is too poorly written for it to entirely work.

Harsh reviews but really half decent movie(spoilers), 19 August 2007

Author: g f from Canada

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I fairly give it a 7 because of the novelty of this film.

What was the novelty?...well let me get philosophical here and tell you there were some deep and existential ideas to the films plot.

Have you ever played video games? Of course you have. Did you notice when you died, you got another life?...or a limited bunch of extra lives?...

Well THATS EXACTLY WHAT WE SAW FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER IN A MOVIE HERE. Maybe it has been done in some other ways in other films or shows...but this film literally made use of "bio-bands" or whatever they were called that restored a persons "life" if the person was blown up or injured. The heal devices were bracelets and with them, the main character had literally "nine lives" like the saying goes for cats who escape death...

And the kicker is in mythology we all know about "releasing the bonds of Orion" and perhaps you people may find interesting doing some investigation into the ancient mythological devices called "kesatot".

So, yes the movie needed "something" but I really couldn't figure out what...perhaps the direction was too "cheesy" or 80's movie-like (specifically the non-speaking goon helpers of Malakai)and needed a more mysterious flow/atmosphere...maybe more blinking lights...but, overall, all the acting was great (atleast good). I found the whole concept and plot of this movie satisfying and even romantic (lost loves through time).

Complete rubbish., 19 January 2003
Author: pat_blank (pat_blank@hotmail.com) from Michigan

Not much else to say of this science fiction/action wannabe. The story is poor, the acting is poor, and pretty much everything else about this movie is poor. The only intriguing aspect of the movie, the bracelets that can bring you back to life, is wasted in the pathetic plot of the film. Long story short, skip this film. [1/10]

Poor film, no point., 26 September 2000

Author: bert_treb from Toronto, Canada

Although the film has a good base of an idea, it has so many unrealized ideas that it is a pointless waste of time. There seem to be no redeeming features, and the relationships have no real emotion to them. The bad guy doesn't seem that bad, the good guy seems wishy-washy, and the only character that I liked was the cop. Disappointing.

1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Give a 9-year-old a word processor.... and tell him to write a screenplay, 2 June 2005

Author: Kokomo Jenkins from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I give this film a 4 but I think its rather generous since all 4 points are earned for humor value.

This film can be summed up as such : Judge Reinhold gives a masterful performance as Merkin, a trans-dimensional inventor / scientist of sorts who chases a homicidal lust-driven maniac through a space portal that goes to Earth. Maniac and his two cronies come to Earth to steal the girl. All three baddies are armed to the gills with devastating weaponry whose clips never run dry. Scientist gives girl's fiancée some bracelets that, if worn during death, will recreate organic tissue and bring the wearer back to life. Fortunately there are a bunch of these bracelets so the fiancée can die a bunch of times. Judge Reinhold dies in a fiery car explosion, bringing a tear to anyone's eye in his Oscar-worthy performance about "being a man who has no fear of death". In the end, the cronies die, the main baddie gets his just desserts, and the fiancée gets his girl back.

This movie is a bona fide turkey. If this film had hit the box office when I was 8 years old, all the boys in my 3rd Grade class probably would have loved it. Unfortunately I would not show this to any 8 year old, in fear that this priceless piece of Americana would leave my young impressionable friend with a jaded opinion of American cinema. I have three bits of advice regarding this film:

TO THE WRITER: Next script, write yourself and don't let your kid do all the work.

TO JUDGE REINHOLD: Stick to Beethoven flicks.

TO THE PROSPECTIVE AUDIENCE: Unless you're like me and find humor in all the movies your friends can't stand, leave this one on the shelf and rent something much better, like Weekend at Bernie's.

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