middle_earthfan454 Reviews

Cloverfield (2008)

Good...but not what I expected

[8/10 · 21 January 2008]

When I first saw the trailer, I was expecting a solid monster movie with an original but enjoyable and fair plot where the monster is eventually, destroyed, everyone celebrates, the day is saved, etc.

But instead, there is limited plot, only the characters get an actual backstory. Almost nothing is revealed about the monsters origin or purpose. In fact, only glimpses of the monster are shown until a clear shot of it is seen near the end of the film.

Finally, the ending (as well as the whole film) is quite dark themed and full of unknown, making it difficult to determine what happens at the end of the film.

However, there are some pretty good points that I enjoyed.

The shaky, realistic motion of the camera adds tension to the experience. It almost feels like your actually there.

There is no music, but the sheer amount of gripping sounds(explosions, screaming, the monsters roar) was enough for me and they are pretty realistic.

Finally, there is plenty of action and it is enjoyable to see the immense destruction the monster causes while fighting with the military.

I enjoyed this movie for the most part and it is one of the best modern monster flicks I've seen. But all too often, I prefer a movie that is a little less gloomy and with an original ending.

Supergator (2006 Video)

I've seen better

[5/10 · 18 July 2007]

I've seen a lot of B-movies and many of them sucked but this one is one of the few of them I have to consider OK but certainly NOT the best monster movie I've ever seen.

It starts out in Hawaii. A group of geologists are studying an active volcano while a scientist and her companion search for an alligator experiment gone wrong and somehow escaped from a research lab. After about 20 or so deaths, the monster is killed of course but before then, so many visible flaws are seen throughout the film. Here are a few of them.

To start, the monster is clearly CGI and it makes many sounds from other movies, including the velociraptor shriek and Spinosaurus roar from Jurassic Park; nothing new.

The monster seems more intent on simply killing every few minutes instead of eating like a normal Alligator that can go on without food for months but since it's not exactly an alligator, I can't quite confirm the monsters metabolism or compare this movie to reality.

The victims themselves sometimes die slowly, all the while screaming as the monster chews on them but the shots are too close up to see anything in particular so they aren't really enjoyable.

The guns that are used on the monster have little to no effect on it and seem to bounce off its scales as if they were metal but in reality, I doubt that even a prehistoric alligator can withstand bullets. However the guns don't seem to run out of ammo and one in particular, a 12 gauge shotgun is fired upon the monster from an impossible range.

A disappointing fact is that almost all of the characters die; even ones that I expected to survive but eventually got killed.

All in all, it's an OK movie but for those of you who prefer a realistic horror film instead of a cheap, CGI B-movie with mediocre acting and effects, I suggest you avoid this one.

Battlefield Earth (2000)

Worst alien movie of all time!

[1/10 · 22 February 2007]

Heed my words! "Battlefield Earth" is a cheap, poorly developed piece of crap that John Travolta should NEVER have considered taking part in.

The entire plot is waaaaay too warped to make any actual sense, the graphics and sound effects are poor, the dialogue is almost exaggerated and the characters don't fit their roles at all.

It takes place in the year 3000 and Earth has been conquered by a surprisingly arrogant and dim-witted race of aliens called the Psychlos, which is a very simple name, since it's just Psycho with an "L" before the "O". But that's just the tip of the iceberg!

Very few humans are still alive after the invasion, including one in particular named Jonnie (Barry Pepper) who rallies up a bunch of other humans to rebel against the Psychlo leader, Terl (John Travolta) who is far too proud to even consider the so-called Man-animals a threat even after seeing them behave quite intelligently on several, crystal clear occasions.

Along the way, the humans learn how to use jets, nuclear weapons and cumbersome alien technology within an impossibly short time of just a few days or weeks. In reality it takes months to learn even the basics of flying a jet and requires a solid education to understand the mechanics and physics of a nuclear bomb.

What's even more baffling is the fact that Terl is responsible for the human victory at the end of the film because he's the one who taught them how to speak the disgusting Psychlo language and fly their stupid space craft. His abysmal plan to collect gold and bribe his way off planet Earth backfires on him due to his reckless stupidity and ridiculously severe underestimation of the humans. He ends up behind bars.....but at least he gets his gold.

All in all, Battlefield Earth is just plain bad...and not in a good way like "Plan 9 from outer space". It's bad in a super-bad way!!!

Destroy All Humans! (2005 Video Game)

Best alien game ever made!!!

[10/10 · 21 September 2006]

For years I haven't played a game this good! "Destroy All Humans" is an explosively awesome, alien game with good graphics, hilarious voice overs, cool sound effects and fantastic game play! You will play as Cryptosporidium(Or Crypto for short), an alien clone sent to earth to collect DNA from human brain stems to save his kind. Throughout the game you will travel from the fields of Turnipseed Farm, to the busy streets of Capitol City to the scorching deserts of Area 42.

You will fight against different humans, ranging from dim-witted farmers to cocky secret agents. You'll also confront vehicles and artillery such as tanks, AA cannons, robots and Tesla coils.

You can fight with an armament of lethal, futuristic weapons including the zap-o matic, disintigrator gun and ion detonator.

You also have access to a flying saucer armed with more powerful weapons, such as the death ray, abducto beam and sonic boom.

If your weapons don't satisfy, then your telekinesis powers will! Crypto can levitate humans and smash them into the ground or send them flying through the air. As you progress you can purchase upgrades that allow you to throw cars and heavier objects, causing all kinds of mayhem! Overall, Destroy All Humans is a masterpiece and is worth trying for just about anyone.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force (2000–2023)

Adult Swim's best show!

[10/10 · 9 August 2006]

This is possibly the best show I've ever seen. Aqua Teen Hunger Force is full of awesome voice acting, great animation and outrageous scenes! You'll see how the selfish Master Shake, the dim-witted(but lovable) Meatwad and the reasonable genius, Frylock as they deal with everyday life, along with their short tempered neighbor, Carl (Who is human and not part of the force).

However there may be some excessively violent episodes that may be unpleasant or scary, others may have a lack of laughable parts that can be boring.

Nevertheless, Aqua Teen Hunger Force is a terrific show and a must see for Adult Swim fans!

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction (2005 Video Game)

Excellent!

[9/10 · 11 July 2006]

This without a doubt one of the best games I've ever played.

This game is not only full of explosive action but lots of opportunities. You can make money (which is deeply needed) in so many ways, you can destroy enemy vehicles, capture enemy key members, collect crates of nuclear codes or stolen treasures and take on jobs given by different factions.

You have a huge array of weapons and vehicles to use, including rocket launchers, tanks, machine guns and helicopters. You can also unleash powerful artillery or air-strikes such as bunker buster bombs, strategic missiles and even fuel air bombs.

Explore the cities, fields and hills of North and South Korea as you cruise along by land or air.

I can't see any cons, aside from the map sizes which may become frustrating when it comes to getting around without having to deal with mountains blocking shortcuts. Try this game, at least rent it and see what you may be missing as the best sandbox game of all time!

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)

Good, but not perfect

[7/10 · 11 July 2006]

I'm gonna be honest, I expected this movie to be more than it really was. I waited for months for it to come out and when I stumbled on it, I was very eager to watch it. Unfortunately, I overestimated this movie by a little.

First of all, the dialog sucks. Simple and fairly callous speech, doesn't matter if it's English or Japanese, it's sounds pretty lame.

Second, the plot is a bit messed up, the lack of specific dialouge (Save Rufus and Sephiroth) from the characters leaves us wondering what the hell is going on.

However the main pro is obviously the graphics. Never have I seen such life-like CGI. It's almost as good as real life under high tech lens, but technically I heard the back-rounds are from real life which is noticeable for some parts. Nevertheless, the graphics are unbeatable, only real life footage defeats the realistic graphics of this film.

Also the fighting scenes are pretty good, Tifa fighting with Loz in the church, the party reuniting to brawl with Sin Bauhmaut and Clouds showdown with Sephiroth, the famous one winged angel song adds more the tensity of the action.

Overall, it's a good movie, not quite what I expected, but worth checking out. I'm not quite a Final Fantasy fan but those who enjoyed the game, this is a must-see.

True Crime: New York City (2005 Video Game)

Above average

[6/10 · 11 July 2006]

I have this game right now from rent and to be honest, I think it's slightly better than the first. Here is the games description (From my POV) True Crime: Streets of NYC is based on a cop named Marcus Reed who is an ex-gang member and takes up a job as a cop in the big apple. Your job is obvious, kick or shoot the crap out of perps, gang members and other law breaking creeps.

You also take on missions that can either influence or injure your good cop/bad cop meter (This indicates the good/bad deeds you commit during the game). For example if you shoot a guy in the leg marked blue, its good but if you shoot him in the head marked red, it's bad. This can get very annoying as you may accidentally run over civilians which adds bad cop points, running over other cops is worth much more, ever perps count.

Making matters worse, the artificial intelligence so much as forces pedestrians to jump the into your driving path and with narrow streets and terrible break controls, it's difficult to avoid running over people.

Unlike Streets of LA, you can't learn new fighting moves but entire techniques such as karate and tai quan do (you start the game with brawling). You can also learn sword and bo staff skills but these are not all that necessary as you start the game with a knight stick which works just as well.

The map is Enormous! It's practically the entire city taken from real life and put into a game but not with particularly large buildings and historical monuments. You can enter some buildings but nothing too fancy, only night clubs, restaurants, laundromats, pawn shops and gun stores which all look the same.

You can make money from arresting perps or collecting evidence from crime scenes. Eventually you'll have bought everything you need in the game but all the money you'll be making will no longer be needed.

There is an unnecessarily large array of guns available, you can get them from gun shops or from perps. Some weapons deal the same amount of damage and hold just as many bullets so there is no actual point to buy a different gun with the same stats.

The glitches are easily noticed, the game freezes and skips certain stuff, I have myself stuck in a predicament in which the missions won't come up and all the objective screen says is solve city crime...I'VE CLEANED THE WHOLE DAMN CITY!!! All in all, Streets of New York is a good game, it has some cons that are pathetic or frustrating but the shootouts, endless crime chasing and money making parts may count as a bright side. I find it as a good game, just not the best or amongst the best.