Landslide (2005 TV Movie) User Reviews

Even worse special effects

[drchazan · 1/10 · 17 January 2007]

If I may be so bold as to add to heatherbennett from Canada's review, regarding the acting, I thought I should warn people about the special effects here.

The special effects on this movie looked so fake that I was sure this movie was a minimum of 30 years old. I was incredulous when I saw that it was done in 2004. This is 21st century special effects? Oy Vey! Nothing looked real, no one reacted realistically, and what really got me was that some of the areas nearest to the landslide didn't even feel the ground shaking, but others who were supposed to be farther away looked like they were put into a blender! Of course, this was hardly the worst part. I'm trying to figure out how two kids on bicycles could (almost) out race the landslide when a bunch of cars didn't have a chance in hell. Or how is it that the dust clouds look painted on? Oh, yeah, I guess they were painted on.

Then there's the bit where the dirt pushes one house over by 90 degrees but the couple inside are holding onto their furniture for dear life. Yes, their furniture! Why? Because it was attached to the floors! Now, if these people thought enough of the dangers of where they were living to nail their furniture down so strong that even a landslide wouldn't budge it, don't you think they might have decided AGAINST living there? But the best bit is how the lady gets out of her car after its been hit by the landslide and - oh, thank heavens - her cell phone is only two feet away from her, lying safely, right on top of all the dirt and is just a little bit dusty. I didn't know that cell phones could float on dirt. And apparently her son's disk-man has the same dirt-floating ability, since otherwise her husband wouldn't have been able to find him under the slide. How lucky and convenient.

No, there are NO spoilers in this comment - I'm only talking about what happens in the first 15 minutes of this movie. And since it isn't worth anyone watching any further, I think I'll stop here.

Don't bother - this movie is AWFUL!

Beware the Diamondbacks of Vermont!

[CelluloiDiva · 1/10 · 23 April 2007]

Truly terrible. A movie populated by the kind of actors that prompt an "Oh, it's that guy!" recognition - you know you know the face, but heck if you can recall the actor's name! Any hope of investment in a plot evaporated when we noticed that the license plates all said "Vermont" and not, say, Colorado or Arizona, which actually have Diamondback Rattlers within their borders. The "twist" was too incredible - as in, NOT credible - to bear support. "Landslide" kinda went downhill from there, ortortort.

The big event happens within the first minutes of the movie: the remainder of our time is spent wondering how those trapped will escape and will they do it in time to avoid the dastardly plot of the Bad Guy, in this case the eely Stuart. Apparently, massive landslides that take out power towers are minor disturbances in bucolic Vermont - or perhaps the developers' privacy takes precedence in an emergency. In either event, the landslide occurred, condos were buried and nary a cop nor firefighter nor EMT guy was to be seen until the very tail end of the movie. Are these guys all powerful or what? Of course, there's little edge and the plot is your generic, paint-by-numbers, connect-the-dots formula requiring only adequate suspension of belief to be moderately enjoyable. If you're the least thoughtful of viewers, you'll enjoy this for its MST3K potential. In fact, it's about the only fun we had with this one.

Bury This Poop

[Squishy-12 · 1/10 · 29 April 2006]

Low-budget Porchlight Studios regulars Neil Kinsella and Peter Beckwith both worked on "Trapped: Buried Alive," in which a condo is buried by an avalanche caused by an evil corporate developer who attempts to stymie rescue efforts to cover up his wrongdoing.

By replacing snow with dirt, they coughed up "Landslide," in which a condo is buried by a landslide caused by an evil corporate developer who attempts to stymie rescue efforts to cover up his wrongdoing.

In both movies, a dysfunctional family is made whole again by the ordeal, a new life is brought into the world, dark secrets are revealed, blah blah bling bling blah. Some details change, but otherwise Porchlight's disaster movies might as well be rolled off an assembly line. (It's telling that "Landslide" is currently available on DVD under the title "Buried Alive." Why they didn't just call it "Trapped: Buried Alive 2" is beyond me.) The titular disaster strikes early in the picture; the effects are moderately snappy for a no-budget video, but never once achieve realism. In fact, watching what appears to be a mudflow and duststorm chase two bikers through the trees--trees that aren't knocked over by the slide--will be the comedy highlight of the picture.

After that, it's stumbling around in dirt and wrecked sets. Some rattlesnakes slither around for twenty minutes without getting out of position, and a firefighter torches and blows up a car for...well, for SOME reason, but aside from that, everyone trapped waits to be rescued, engaging in long stretches of soap-opera dialog about life, and "funny" bits that will make you wince.

Meanwhile, outside, the evil corporate developer does his best imitation of Robert Wagner from "The Concorde--Airport '79" doing HIS best imitation of Snidley Whiplash, preparing to set off another slide to bury everyone who knows his guilt.

...Well, except that's not true. Several people safe aboveground know what he's done, and he's VERY aware of this because they keep telling him that they know (*cough*). He ignores them but remains determined to go through with his evil plan, because, you know--he's eeeeeeeeeeevil.

He gives a little speech near the "climax" about how he'll tell everyone he "did the best he could with the information he was given," and how he'll discredit one (of many) witness to his crimes by portraying her as "a grieving widow driven insane by her loss." When it hits you that this is supposed to represent George W. Bush and Cindy Sheehan, you may burst into laughter or vomit on the carpet, but you won't be admiring the writer's talent, regardless of your politics.

And when everyone's standing around running their yaps while a character they supposedly all care about lies suffering from snakebite--EVEN WHEN AN AMBULANCE IS WAITING TO TAKE HIM AWAY FOR TREATMENT--well...shoot. I'm running out of ways to say this movie stinks.

The two characters involved in the "pregnancy" subplot might as well be edited in from another movie. One of them (literally) runs into the hero at the beginning, and then they're isolated for the rest of the picture. Their rescue attempt is even left off-screen.

MST3K fans might recognize Peter Beckwith's name from "Time Chasers." Since then, he has produced a string of derivative embarrassments including "Radical Jack," "Avalanche Run," "Lightning: Fire From The Sky," "Psyclops," "Frozen Impact," "Arachnia," "Killer Flood," "Ice Queen," the aforementioned "Trapped: Buried Alive," and this mess.

Someone has to sit him down and tell him to stop.

Shame on Lions Gate for renaming "Landslide" to "Buried Alive"

[comet123 · 1/10 · 4 May 2007]

There already is a TV series called "Buried Alive" directed by Patrick Cowap:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421302/

Based on the DVD cover, my girlfriend bought the Lions Gate DVD thinking it was an interesting science fiction movie.

This movie is really just about a man made "Landslide" hitting a condominium complex.

There is no science fiction, terrible special effects and a predictable plot.

Save your money and watch something else.

Really Bad Acting

[heatherbennett · 1/10 · 23 April 2006]

I was so bored one night, I ordered this flick off a pay per view at home. It sounded good, a landslide, terror, a fear of snakes, etc., the whole underhanded land developer scheme. The acting, it was so bad, I laughed at half the comments the actors made to each other while they were buried under the landslide. The birth scene was laughable at most, ridiculous comments from the woman in labour and her friend.. " I hate you!" "You can't hate me, I organized your baby shower for you!" " That's why I hate you!" -pregnant woman to her friend while she gave birth under a pile of rubble after attending her own baby shower.

I can't believe that the actors carried on filming the movie. A boy gets bit by a snake, and the Dad, a fireman from New York, somehow gets the boy to walk. When the boy loses consciousness and his Dad "blows" in his mouth to give him CPR, (I'm not kidding here) the boy opens his eyes and says something like " am I sounding OK?" Dad, calm as ever says yes.... It was embarrassing. It almost made my teeth fall out.

Good

[jrw_2009 · 7/10 · 31 August 2006]

This was a good movie from what I saw even if some of the drama was cheesy. The suspense was good and I liked the characters. I think its a movie worth watching if you feel like movie that has conflict, suspense, and drama. The fact that the son wanted to spend more time with his dad was good. Also the son being bitten added suspense and brought the father and son closer together. I do think some of the problems were a bit cheesy and too classic (the woman being pregnant and happening to have her baby on that occasion)Overall though it was good. I think it is more suitable for a person who likes movies that have classic morals and simple plots.

Run, yes run away away from this movie!

[tware-3 · 1/10 · 5 May 2006]

This was horrible! Millions of people? The earth opens up? This movie description was so misleading and untrue. I expected a truly grand scale disaster, man against nature perhaps, with only brilliant and heroic ways to save the victims. Sand? How scary can sand be? Woohoo. I wasted two hours I can never get back. Cheap special effects, errors in editing, bad acting, poor sets, costume errors, and a cheesy, flawed storyline. Characters were superficial with little depth and finally a sudden family bond and understanding develops in a Disney like fairytale ending. This is so bad, even for a made for TV production. Just a suggestion to run away to all those who are interested in this movie.

bad. bad. bad.

[SmashMonkey · 1/10 · 2 February 2007]

i love disaster movies; the carnage, the struggle for survival, the bonding between victims, all of it. however, the biggest disaster with this film is that it got made. the plot is completely predictable after the first five minutes, the acting is hammier than a pig farm, and there is nothing special about the special effects. any shots of destruction look like they were filmed using a set made of Lego. i can't possibly say just how bad this film is, because a word has not been invented yet to do the job. if you have nothing to do for 2 hours, read a book, go for a walk, organise your shoe collection, anything. just don't watch this film. life is too short to waste a second on this garbage.

unttitled

[keith_xyz · 2/10 · 15 December 2007]

I am actually watching this garbage on MyNetworkTV on a Sat. night. Yep, that's what we Bakersfield viewers got stiffed with with our ex-UPN affiliate; the cable-only WB affiliate became CW. "Landslide" looks to be as memorable as "10.5" or "10.5: Apocalypse." I should point out that there's only one major landslide; the rest is pretty much a imitation of "The Posideon Adventure" except w/ soil. & I wasn't paying 2 much attention, but did the trapped guys have enough oxygen to survive during the film? There's only one notable washed-up thespian on this movie, nee Alexandra Paul, the most streamlined female lifeguard on "Baywatch." Damn, I wish I coulda been a screenwriter for a natural disaster TV pick. I'd b stinkin' rich! (sort of) As of now, it's 9:32, so about ¾'s of the movie have passed, & those damn guys are still trapped. & there's a guy preparing some TNT or whatever. I think he's preparing another landslide or something. Also I've got the TV on mute since I don't like listening to the dialogue. & I didn't even know there was a inside joke about Cindy Sheehan in "Landslide"; guess the writers managed to read a newspaper while preparing this crap.