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EntropicDistortion53
Reviews
Kishin Heidan (1993)
Pretty neat
Thanks to a friend, I got my hands on a video tape that had a mix-and-match of subbed and dubbed episodes of the OVAs.
This series is set in an alternate WWII-era universe. The axis and allies are still there, but they are also fighting a race of amorphous white aliens that come from the sky.
In order to combat these alien nasties, the Allies made a team of giant robots. The baddies (Nazis and Japanese) are working on robots too, but their intentions seem to be more for mass destruction...
The robots themselves are really neat. They are very different from the mecha you normally see (Gundams, GunBusters, Evas, etc.). The mecha in this series fit the "steampunk" mold, containing giant gears/pistons/fuseboards.
The OVAs also have a very nice soundtrack. The opener is an epic orchestral piece that sorta sounds like a train or something (fitting, because the first episode opens on a train). The timpani part sells it, with a rousing "chugga-chugga-chugga" riff.
There were some other nice songs too. There was one where this female vocalist was singing about toy soldiers dying or something like that. I can't really remember much else (it may have came from a subbed or a dubbed ep, but it was lovely.
If you're into steampunk/mecha in general, you should definitely check this out.
House of the Dead (2003)
Eh......huh?
Today, I finally got to see "House of the Dead" on TV. Yep, TV, so no boobies.
Had I seen the uncensored version with the boobies, I might've given it a better score.
This movie is NOT GOOD. Please, don't watch it. I don't care how many times you've beaten the arcade game, just don't watch it. The movie has little to do with the game. Even the stupid flashes of game play footage in the movie don't help. In the game, you went to a house and killed zombies. Little storyline, lots of action, many quarters down the drain. The movie has some sort of a story line that's not worth remembering.
Bad things: The kids want to go to a rave. First of all, they are rich white kids (with a black girl, to be fair I guess) who have nothing better to do. I've never been to a rave, but I thought that people who went to raves were...well, ravers! These kids did NOT strike me as X popping' Techno heads.
The kids, ravers or not, sucked. The characters were so thin that I swear my corneas got paper cuts just by watching them. The acting was so bad, I was cheering when they got attacked by the zombies.
Why was the rave during DAYLIGHT HOURS!? I thought raves took place in dark locations, like abandoned warehouses. Then the flashing lights have more of a dramatic effect on your ecstasy-induced stupor. No, this rave took place in broad daylight. The attendees didn't look like ravers. In fact, they looked like random extras semi-dancing around (which is what they were). And, the techno music sucked.
Gotta love the gun play, really. The kids went from being whiny losers to gun-toting Special Forces operatives. Just like that. They were SO skilled, that they never reloaded their guns. The dude with the Desert Eagle? He shot that thing like 15 times in one scene! He's so 1337 that a 7 round magazine means nothing to him! Even more awesome? There was no noticeable recoil either! Even when that one chick used the shotgun? Her arms didn't jump. THAT's what I call real ultimate power.
And the zombies sucked too. The zombies were apparently Navy SEALs in a past life, because they knew how to swim. One thing bothers me, though: When they were swimming with their heads above the water, you could see their breath. Zombies are cold dead magically reanimated flesh. No WARM BREATH CLOUDS.
And some of the zombies...looked like extras wearing face paint. I mean really, couldn't Uwe afford to get REAL zombies? Pssh.
In the end, don't watch it. Unless you're drunk. It'll probably be funnier that way.