sargJaeger Reviews

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

one of the best horror/splatter movies in decades

[8/10 · 16 March 2005]

This movie really ranks in the top five of my all-time favorite horror movies. And i've seen dozens ( only counting the good ones). It has everything a good horror movie needs. It has suspense, atmosphere, shockers, gore and a great ending.

A big plus are its characters. They may seem a bit stereo and movie-typical, but somehow this absolutely doesn't matter. Yes, there's the smart, modest and sacrificing hero, but this just fits the genre and is made so pleasantly. Many bad horror movies try this recipe, and hopelessly fail.

I was actually surprised how gory this movie really was. Finally a big and successful movie with real gore. And WITHOUT annoying CGI. The zombies simply looked, moved and DIED great. This movie must've been made by people, who really love this genre.

The story really caught me, with many nice ideas and a very good pace. There is no moment of boredom nor does it ever feel hectically(well unless in scenes where a certain hecticness comes natural). It really really delivers the feeling of what happens in their world and let's you join the(ir) ride.

Troy (2004)

a great, enjoyable film

[8/10 · 15 March 2005]

i've waited quite a while, before I decided to watch this movie. this was due to some bad reviews, which kept me hesitating. today, I really was in the mood to give it a try, and me being a fan of epics such as "braveheart" , I thought I at least couldn't do too much wrong. I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw.

Yes, it may not be too close to the material it was INSPIRED by, but that's what's being inspired is all about, isn't it? It didn't claim to be historical accurate. Speaking of that, there could never be a historical correct movie about troy, as we rely on very vague, almost prose-like information.

I must admit, that I'm not deeply familiar with the material, this film builds up on. But you know what? I'm kind of glad about that. With me being disconnected, I enjoyed every second of this wonderfully crafted movie. I enjoyed the fighting scenes, even so some of them were cut pretty fast, letting you guess the action. I loved the dialogs, despite of them sometimes being a bit cheesy. It simply fit the characters, the time and the atmosphere. The acting was breath-taking at times. Peter O'Toole is a genius, Brad Pitt was cast perfectly as well as Sean Bean. Brian Cox gave a superb villain ( yes I know, it's unfair that Agamemnon was portrayed as an evil conquerer). Yes, Orlando Bloom probably isn't the best actor out there, but his performance was at least mediocre. It for sure couldn't ruin the overall impression concerning this movies acting.

I usually don't write reviews ( as you may have guessed by now :) ), especially not in English, but in this case I had to make an exception, given some of the bad reviews I read on IMDb before.

Something I enjoyed very much was the duality of emotions, I was confronted with. Excuse me, if this doesn't make any sense. I hope to clarify this in the following lines: I simply couldn't decide on who's side I should be on. It's hard to define Achilles role, and this gives this movie an extra edge, in my point of view. Many people resented the fact, that the movie "created" a black and white image, having the noble Priam on the one, and the purely evil Agamemnon on the other hand. And I understand that. But somehow, in the end it really didn't bother me. I love villains :)

If you have a chance to watch this film, don't hesitate. Even if you may not be overwhelmed by it, you will at least not waste your time. Tha, I can assure you!

Evil Remains (2004)

what a peace of *****

[3/10 · 1 January 2005]

just a bad movie....why? the acting is at best mediocre, mostly terrible. especially that brunette girl, by who's death i bet everyone in the audience would've been pleased, if that peace of c*** would've made it to theaters in Germany, that is. the plot is weird and senseless, supported by meaningless and full-of-clichés dialogs. you have the usual type of characters: a leader, a funny idiot ( who's not at all funny in this case ), a wise guy, and some chicks ( who in this movie are not hot nor well-acting ) its just another terrible new age horror-movie-wannabe clone. NOT scary, NOT thrilling, NOT GOOD!!!

a movie nobody needs to see...its like buying crap when your living in the sewers. thanks

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

interesting for kids with no movie xperience below 14

[5/10 · 20 December 2004]

well, actually i found this movie totally boring!

why?

some might say it was a homage....but this somehow didn't work out for me...it just seemed to suffer from the usual hollywoodesque "been there" disease. what i didn't like: - i love star wars & Indiana Jones! but i don't like movies that copy too heavily... this sky captain thingy was simply some Indiana and some star wars thrown in a pot, mixed with up some up to date cgi ( which seemed too computer-game-like to me ) and "thought-up-in-a-minute" dialogs - it just remembered me of the time, when i was a kid. i saw a movie and then, in my room, replayed a story, very much alike the movie i just saw...thats just what sky captain and its story seems like! no twists, no originality ( well except the retro'ish look which i digged ) - i mean everything just came in to easy: on each difficult occasion there was just the right solution JUST in time...but OK...thats Hollywood, thats entertainment...but this kind of "action" just stopped "entertaining" me about 8 years ago ( at the age of 15 that is ) --> it can be entertaining, if its presented well ( James bond for example, even so they all su*k since "golden eye" )...in sky captain this didn't happen, as far as i am concerned.

i mean, what a coincidence: i have a friend just in the neighborhood of that cute temple in Nepal... LOL.... oh wait: what a coincidence: i have a friend, who can supply us with fuel just en route to totenkopf ... but hey...why waste time on writing some plausible script, lets just engage him from there! there's actually no good reason at all to watch that movie, the more i think and write about it!

some minor mistakes: - the spoken German was terrible...but thats forgivable i guess...how many Americans ( or people from other countries for that matter) could differ. - WHY the heck cant they do proper MORSE-CODE in movies? i mean they don't have to Morse anything that makes sense, but they could at least TRY TO PRETEND...i cant help it, it just reminds me of KIDS trying to tell a story they've been shown on television! RIDDICK-olous

small digression: as most of you assumingly know: the symbols in Morse code are described by two types of signals ---> a long DAAAH and a short DIT... an "A" would be DIT DAAAH, and an "O" would be DAH DAH DAH, an "S" would be DIT DIT DIT ( making SOS= DIT DIT DIT DAH DAH DAH DIT DIT DIT )... that guy in SKATOT was simply DITTIN around like some guy who forgot to take his spasm-pills...darn

what i liked: - that running gag concerning the camera...actually i thought the end ( "lense cap" ) was the best part of the movie - the visuals...NOT the cgi, but the grayish look to it...that was fine - laughing about the effort, those obviously non German actors made to speak this admittedly difficult language :D

AT this point i want to apologize for my lacking expertise concerning the language I'm writing in.

i hope i was able to transport the message, thanks a lot for reading

lx

House of 1000 Corpses (2003)

simply bad?

[3/10 · 22 July 2003]

Hi Folks, i love horror, and i love splatter. but i dont like this movie. the reason is, there are no shocking elements whats forever, no suspense AT ALL...the gore is just not gory enough to compensate for the lack of intelligent story and good acting. in fact the acters, especially the villains, seemed merely ridiculous! one can see that the director tried to create sick and disturbing situations...maybe i am to sick or disturbed myself, but somehow he succeeded in ruining these scenes by playing unsuitable music or using color effects which just dont work...at least for me they didnt! dont get me wrong...i consider myself an open-minded person and apreciate the fact that directors try new ways of storytelling, but in this case its simply crap! one thing i liked about the movie, is the entire lack of computer generated special effects, but again, ive seen "lovelier" splatter in simply all of the oldschool-splatter-movies! anyway,´to me the movie seems like a rip-off of texas chainsaw massacre ( creepy family butchers stupid students, who probably deserve it! :) ).so if u have seen either TCM 1, or the sequel ( which i liked very much ), just dont waste ure time with this crap... dr. satan...omg how pathetic...