phillewis-42679 Reviews

He Who Dares: Downing Street Siege (2014)

One star is too flattering for this rubbish

[1/10 · 18 August 2019]

It looks as though the 'script writers' of this film simply took the script of the film "White House Down", which was released the year before, and rehashed it by setting it in Downing Street rather than the White House. Mind you, to describe the writing team responsible for this rubbish as 'script writers' is far too flattering a description. I would strongly advise you not to waste your time watching this film; unless, of course, you are fascinated by very poor acting out of a very weak script all presented by appalling cinematography

Fargo (2014–2024)

Poor!

[3/10 · 25 August 2017]

Like many of the reviewers I thoroughly enjoyed the first two series and was anticipating another epic when season three came out.

What a let down! I struggled through to the bitter end, just to see what the result would be. That, in itself, was a fiasco. It is still unclear to me what the final outcome was.

Quite frankly I was bored after the second episode and only continued because of the "I've started so I'll finish" mentality that I have when it comes to books and TV series!

It is a shame because the cast was good, the scenery was good; it's a pity that the script didn't allow the cast to do it justice.

Quite frankly I do not understand how this series received so many high scores from reviewers. Maybe their TVs were receiving signals from a parallel universe, one in which the story-line, the acting and the script is always perfect.

Son of the Morning Star (1991)

By Far the Best Custer Movie

[8/10 · 6 May 2017]

I have visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield about half-a- dozen times and have read many of the books regarding this epic confrontation. Unfortunately I have also seen some of the Hollywood movies that, supposedly, depict the Last Stand either as part of a much larger story or intending to depict the fight as its entire plot. After seeing a few of these movies I have tended to avoid other attempts since none of those that I saw come close to telling the full story, as I understand it. So, after reading several positive reviews of "Son of the Morning Star", I decided to chance it! I'm so glad that I did! OK, it's not perfect but it is infinitely better than any other offering. Parts of it, I think, would be rather confusing if you didn't have reasonable knowledge of Custer's life between the civil war and his final battle. For example the fate of Major Elliot's detachment, at the Battle of Washita, was glossed over; yet this event created a deep resentment within the ranks of the 7th Cavalry which may have had a bearing on events at the Little BigHorn. It's difficult to know how much of the Washington background to include, much of it is essential to understanding Custer's behavior in the build-up to that Sunday in Montana. As another reviewer has stated, it would be great if Hollywood were to produce a movie which actually stuck to the facts, as opposed to a two part mini-series. If this were to happen then maybe all copies of that fiasco called "Custer of the West" could be incinerated! The Battle on The Little Bighorn is an important fight. The defeat of the 7th is the least of it! It also marks the start of the downfall of the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne. The army was not about to sit back and let the Indians get away with that victory! As such the Battle deserves a realistic attempt to portray it on the big screen. I thoroughly recommend it!

Custer of the West (1967)

How bad is this!?

[1/10 · 7 July 2016]

I saw this movie way back when it was first released. I thought it was bad then! Since that time I have visited the Battle Field at the Little Big Horn on at least five occasions. I have also read many of the list of books that are highly recommended for those people with more than a passing interest in the Battle and the main characters involved. So, I thought I would watch this movie again just to see how bad it really is; and was it really as bad as I thought it was when I first saw it all those years ago? Well, I have to say that it was a lot worse than I remembered it to be. I don't think that the script writers could have done any research into Custer, the 7th Cavalry or the Battle itself. There is very very little of this long long film that actually has any resemblance to what happened, except of course Custer getting killed and his immediate command being wiped out. The script is awful and the majority of the acting (if you can call it that} leaves a great deal to be desired. Robert Ryan's small cameo appearance is by far the best bit of acting in the film! I still believe that the Little Big Horn Battle would make a very good movie. Of course far greater attention would have to be paid to the finer details of the fight that would include much more detail on the role played by both Reno and Benteen's columns in the final outcome. And, of course, would it be too much to ask for the script writers to do some research and maybe even visit the Battlfield first!

Independents' Day (2016 Video)

Do Not Bother!

[1/10 · 16 June 2016]

I shall be brief! This has to be one of the worst, if not the worst, film I have seen! The acting is........well I am giving it a complement by crediting it as acting.....terrible! Where do these 'actors' come from? The script is pretty dire which doesn't help the actor's cause, but even so the finished product must have had the "ok we've got a shot there" by someone! I just wonder how many 'takes' it took to get something so bad! It might be quite amusing actually to see a DVD of the 'out-takes'. A complete waste of time! Do not even think that it is the sequel to Independence Day, it is nowhere near the quality of that movie. Awful! Awful! Awful!

Dad's Army (2016)

Why, oh why?

[3/10 · 3 June 2016]

I'm sorry, but with the best will in the world I wanted to like this movie. I've probably watched all the original series when they were first televised and thought that they were so, so funny. I watched the DVD's of the series several years ago and still found them highly amusing, not as funny as when I originally saw them but that, to a certain extent, is understandable. However, this remake!! It is so not funny! The dialogue and interaction between the characters is woefully weak. If I were to see that sort of interaction in a school play rehearsal I would seriously consider canceling the show! Why do producers think it is good value to remake classics without the original actors? Could you imagine a remake of Steptoe and Son without Wilfred Brambell and Harry H Corbett? Perish the thought! Sorry, but this movie is a no-no for me and I would advise anyone who has a 'soft spot' for the original 'Army' to stick to your good memories of that show and not to spoil those memories with this poor attempt at an alternative version.