dunxy Reviews

Parer's War (2014 TV Movie)

Compelling Viewing

[9/10 · 29 April 2014]

Totally stumbled upon this,slow day at the office today saw me reaching for the mouse and navigating to iview (for the non Aussies, that's our local ABC television stations streaming service) and this featured prominently on the main page.Got me right away.I am a bit biased, my father worked for the ABC for nearly all his life and I have more than a passing interest in local film as well as film making, I instantly recognized the Bell and Howell clockwork 16mm camera he carried through nearly the entire film.

Truly wonderfully shot,directed,edited and for the most part acted.Not knowing much about the real story(other than obviously being familiar with a lot of Parer's legendary work)I can only speculate how much "artistic license" has been used to inject drama into this movie.

Yes the soldiers did often look a little too clean and healthy and I could have done without much of the love story as that really doesn't do much for me in a film of this style.

I was however able to easily forgive those shortcoming and enjoy what is without a doubt a jewel in the more often than not crap that is Aussie cinema.

Beautiful,compelling and emotional.A great piece of work doing homage to a true HERO of Australia.Will no doubt end up in my top 10 of all current releases I watch this year.I would like to say more but can't without spoiling.

A must watch.Get it on iview before its gone or any other way you can, this one is not to be missed.

Doomsday (I) (2008)

Enjoyable

[8/10 · 7 April 2014]

I really liked this film.

It gets bashed (on here at least) for being un-original, almost everything borrows from something if you dig deep enough! Good story and acting coupled with GREAT sets,props and make-up make this a must-watch for anybody who has any interest in this genre what so ever.

I really enjoyed the fact that they integrated steam power into the film as this is something that would, in this scenario, be something that would be used due to the lack of fossil fuels around.Also the scenes in the bunker hidden in the mountain are fantastic!

Severely under rated on here.

Final Prayer (2013)

Not Particularly Interesting...

[3/10 · 7 April 2014]

I normally place a fair bit of faith in the IMDb rating, pretty safe bet the film will be decent (as long as the subject matter/genre interests you)if it ranks above 5, hell I've even watched stuff ranking sub 4 that, because of the subject matter I have enjoyed.This is NOT one of those movies.

Maybe I'm the odd person out, but this film is mediocre at best.Generic run of the mill random stuff moving falling of walls and/or making sounds rubbish.Oh, don't forget the almost required for this type of film the whole "found" footage scenario.

Please, enough of these movies already! It may have made the makers of that god awful Blair Witch rubbish rich, but enough is enough.

If you like this found footage rubbish combined with shaky cam , generic scares and a very un-inspiring story that has little substance by all means give this a go, otherwise don't waste your time.

I gave it a 3, but even that is generous.Ignore the high rating on here, its obviously shilled up by the makers/crew.I have seen many films (I watch over 1000 per year, this will be in the bottom 10 FOR SURE) rating well below this that are 100 times better.

Angry Planet (2009 Video)

Painfully Bad

[1/10 · 26 March 2014]

One of the worst movies I have watched in my entire life. Story makes no sense, acting is very wooden and whole movie appears to have been shot with a dreadful yellow filter. Special effects are so bad it's hard to put in words.

I didn't have high hopes for this straight to video turd but was still horribly disappointed, fell asleep watching multiple times, was very hard to get through the entire movie, maybe impossible in one sitting!

The IMDb rating is dreadfully flawed, not even close to a 4.8, struggles to make a 2, I gave it a 1. Don't waste your time on this one.

Maximum Overdrive (1986)

So bad its good.

[5/10 · 18 July 2009]

Firstly everyone should stop bagging SK, he wrote the story and directed it, that's it! The story by itself is great,what fails is the screenplay and the acting.

It may not be brilliant but it is strangely addictive.Most of the special effects are very bad, even for the 80's, some of the make-up however is pretty good.I couldn't stand the acting because for the most part it was even below par for a B grade movie.There is some good part's i enjoyed some of the shots of vehicles moving with nobody at controls,especially the airplane.The coke machine,steam roller and video game kill scenes are very good.I do also love the fact that the sleazy truck stop owner just happens to have a massive weapons cache,what B grade horror flick would be complete without one?

Overall it is so-bad-its-good and is worth a watch,i think its average rating on this site is about what its good for.It will live on as a B grade classic for ever.

Day of the Dead (2008 Video)

Bad on so many levels...

[3/10 · 17 October 2008]

Well i must say that the original day is one of my all time favourite movies of all time, i never thought this current "re-hash" was ever going to come close, just as i didn't expect the recent dawn re-make to be up to scratch, it was however infinitely better than this.

I truly found myself coming very close to using the FF button during this movie as i found it that boring and poorly made. To summarize.

1.The spider man like behavior of many of the zombies, plain retarded.

2.The instant a person enters the "zombie state" they look like they they have been dead and decomposing for weeks, this happens in mere frames! 3.Overuse of very poor quality CGI.

4.None of the gun sounds are close to realistic,i don't know if they are using uber low charge blanks or what, but all the weapons sound like cap guns.

5.Un-millitary like behavior from supposed soldiers.

6.Un realistic weapon physics,most notably full automatic firing of an ak-47 like gun (pilfered from gun store) with one hand fully out stretched arm, try that in real life... Of note do they even sell fully automatic rifles like this in gun stores int he USA? They also managed to get an UZI from same gun store, i don't live in the USA but I'm pretty sure they are not sold in gun stores.

7.I have to mention the lack of ANY visible substance coming from the "missle engines" after they break the ends off, i think somebody forgot to add these effects in.Rapid release of any highly compressed gas will be visible.Nore is there any audible sound again WRONG.

Even a very poorly made re-make of the original movie, or the original full script (which i hoped is what this movie would have been) would have been a whole lot better.I cant think of anything positive at all about it.

Top Gear Australia (2008–2012)

Lots of room for improvement yes, it takes time.

[6/10 · 14 October 2008]

Im glad there is some people sticking up for this show here.

At the same time i am saddened by all the bashing and comparison to TG UK by these "armchair" critics.

Do you have any comprehension if the budget per EP for TG UK? Its either 1 or 2 MILLION UKP per ep! I doubt you will find ANY Australian show with such a budget, especially not on a channel like SBS! On the same note, the amount of footage that ends up on the cutting room floor for TG UK is as astronomical as the budget, its like 100 or 200:1 For those that do not understand that means for every one minute of footage aired there is over 100 minutes shot, this all costs money and is HUGELY relevant to the quality of the show.

To put it simply SBS do not, and most likely never will have the time,money or resources to so what the BBC do for TG UK, so to compare the two is HUGELY unfair.

I agree our Top Gear is not anything flash just yet, but i have seen a lot worse shows on Aussie TV. Im sure given some time for the cast,crew and writers to all get used to the job it will improve, and hopefully some advertising income will increase production values.

I have no doubt the vast majority of the current budget is being spent just to secure the rights to use the name.

Lots of room for improvement yes, but please don't bash it so much and give it a chance. And as hard as it is don's try to put it up against the mega budget UK incarnation, its just not fair.

Underbelly (2008–2013)

Chances with guns.....

[2/10 · 15 February 2008]

Maybe i had set expectations to high before watching the 1st ep.I was hoping for something that would maybe stack up against the likes of "Blue Murder" but from the 1st ep,I really am not holding my breath.

The acting is sub par for the most part, really i thought i was watching Neighbours one half of the time and Stingers(more Aussie crap) the other half.The writing doesn't seem to be much better.The camera work is atrocious, a lot of the hand held "move the camera excessively and abuse the crapola outta the zoom" nypdpoo style going on.I guess they do it to try and make uninteresting scenes more interesting,sadly it fails all of the time and just annoys.

I'm sure this mediocre tripe will do OK rating wise because of all the hype surrounding it and the ban etc.But it really is nothing special, not so far at least.....

UPDATE:People were quick to judge and say how can you rate something on the 1st 2 eps,well after having seen all the eps, it only got worse,MUCH worse.

Far to much T&A (don't get me wrong, I'm no prude, just its mindless filler...)Its obvious which demographic they were hoping to get in the viewing audience...

From the NSW number plates on the vehicles to all the breathing dead people, this show is just rubbish!I've seen films made by high school kids that are better than this. See revised (lower) rating....

This may well be the best show channel 9 has ever aired, but thats not saying anything,they love to show unwatchable tripe,underbelly is just the lesser of evils.

Anybody remember Chances? Underbelly is like Chances with guns!

Threads (1984 TV Movie)

Leaves you in a state of shock.

[10/10 · 2 March 2006]

This is one very frighteningly realistic depiction of the likely outcome of a global nuclear exchange.There is very little duologue, but its not needed, there's is very little gore, again its not needed.You follow a few characters from before first attack until around 10 years after, all the settings are extremely realistic,the destroyed cities really look the part.Allthought there is not a whole lot of gore what there is, is sheer brilliance, very realistic burning corpses all over the place.It really is frightening watching this movie as you come to realize what a nightmare it would be if this ever happened, from eating such wholesome things as raw lamb and rats to mutant babies being born this movie has it all.

Go out of your way to watch it.

Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

Extremely powerful film!

[9/10 · 22 February 2006]

I decided i had to see this film after reading all the reviews here,and to be honest i didn't have high hopes for anything more than some hardcore gore, boy was i wrong!The whole story was great and i loved the way it is done in a documentary kind of way,it really helps you get "into" the film.I can easily see why he was called into court to prove that the actors were in fact not killed during the making (other than the stock footage and animal killings),i don't think i have seen more realistic fake deaths in ANY movie, even in todays wonder age of CGI. The acting wasn't brilliant but the characters came across very well.The cinematography and editing were both top notch, much better than expected for such a gory movie.I found the music a little annoying,I'm sure it would go down better in the '80s, but does seem dated now.I did find i had to look away at times during the animal killings,i didn't find the turtle scene as shocking as i found the cries of the little rat thing they kill very early in the film,i didn't watch any of that scene, the sounds of the poor little critter was more than enough to send a shiver up my spine! So if you are a animal lover like me just get the version sans the animal killings, i knew i wasn't going to like them but like them or not, they are part of the power of this film.I don't think i have seen anything that really freaked me as much as this movie, yes i frequent such wholesome places as rotten,ogrish etc and have also seen the faces of death series, paramedics etc and yet none of the real images/movies i have seen have the power of this film.

This really is one shocking powerful film,not for the faint hearted, but if you think you can handle it, grab the DVD now.

Buffalo Soldiers (2001)

Great movie

[8/10 · 18 February 2006]

I had not even heard of this movie until my girlfriend came home with the DVD tonight. Having just seen "Walk The Line" recently and was very impressed with Jaquin Phoenix in that i whacked the DVD on straight away! What a hoot, this movie is seriously funny as well as packing in some great action and a interesting story that kept me guessing the whole way through.All the acting was brilliant as was the cinematography and special effects, some really great explosions!The stoned tank crew at the beginning running over the VW and taking out the gas station and the drugged out knife fight near the end had me in stitches. Well worth the watch.

Zombie (1979)

Slow to get going, highly overrated movie but watchable

[2/10 · 18 February 2006]

A huge fan of pretty well any Zombie movie i can get my hands on i was really looking foreward to getting a copy of this. From the majority of reviews here you would easily believe this movie to be up there with such brilliant films as Night,Dawn and Day Of The Dead, bud sadly there is lot lacking. The cinematography was horrid,i would do a better job directing and shooting this movie myself, and thats not to say the movie would be a whole lot better, just that Lucio is not very good! Seems a lot of people claim the "Shark" scene to be one of the movie highlights as well as being very well shot, its is none of that. Now don't for a minute think i look for things like brilliant acting,storyline,effects and make up in Zombie movies, they are far deeper than that, this movie however is very shallow, the acting is horrid (although the fact that its dubbed doesn't help it there, I'm sure it would improve when watched in its original language, sadly i don't speak Italian) The story line is so thin that it really does make you go for the FF button. I managed to watch it all the way through, although its not a movie i will go out of my way to watch again. Only bother if you are a hardcore zombie fan, it is worth it to see the gore, which is good for the budget but I'm sorry, not a patch on TS's work.

Dead Life (2005 Video)

Don't bother

[1/10 · 5 February 2006]

This is without a doubt the worst zombie movie i have ever seen! There really isn't anything good to say about it at all.I read some of the comments made by the films makers ETC, claim this was professionally transferred to video BAHHHHHH.No way known this was done on a real Telecine, I'm with the handy cam filming the image projected onto a wall.For gods sake WHY they bothered shooting it on 8mm is beyond me, but they could have at least had it professionally transferred. I have seen enough professionally transfered films, mostly 16mm but some 8, to know this Isn't one, my father was a Telecine operator for 30+ years for a local TV station.

Day of the Dead 2: Contagium (2005 Video)

No GAR film but worth the watch anyway

[5/10 · 5 February 2006]

If you just read the majority of reviews here you would think this movie was complete tripe,sure its not as good as the classic movie in it name, but if muzzle flashes is what you care about in zombie movies maybe you should switch to action movies instead.I thought it was pretty well shot and the post production was very good, I saw it on DVD and as far as i could tell it looks to be shot on 35mm.As for others complaining about the image quality,maybe you downloaded a poor rip from the net, hardly just cause to rip on the makers of the film.(If you want to complain about crappy image quality go rip on Dead Life 2005, now that IS real tripe!) The acting was pretty good and the story itself,although a bit thin was a nice change from your run of the mill zombie flick.

Out of all the recent Zombie flicks to have come out in the last 5 years i think this is only 2nd to Land of the dead. If you are a TRUE zombie fan you will see past the lack of muzzle flashes and enjoy this movie.