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We came, we saw - we kicked it's ASS! Ah yes, it felt so accomplished that I did such a feat yesterday when I watched the entire Star Wars saga back to back to back. My initial planning came about this when I heard of the prequels coming about years ago, and with each commentary on the DVD it could be heard in Lucas' voice on how he someday hopeed fans would appreciate all six of the films out. Cause he accredits it as not being six tiny lil films, but one really big film. It's all about the rise, fall and redemption of Anakin Skywalker and his quest for power and what consequences came with it to have his soul saved But the films also have this similar touch of 'timeless storytelling" by borrowing aspects/stories and events all throughtou history, legends/myths, literature and film; Lucas took the films and serials that he loved as a kid and applied every sorta lil hint to all of the Star Wars films. Hardcore fans will notice all of the cross genres of other films and literature in the Saga, from Akira Kurosawa's samurai films, The Wizard of Oz, Pirate movies, Faust, Frankenstein 
So my judgement call Were all of the films together one giant "Star Wars" film? In my humble dork opinion - I'd say def not. I'm prob the biggest Star Wars geek that I know, and despite the fact that I watched each one of these films one after the other (excluding an hour and half break I took between Ep. II and III when I hadda get my car at Magnus', run to the post office and wait on the longest line and then dash home to make some spaghettios. But despite the fact that I watched them all one after another, I'd have to say that they are 2 Different Trilogies that together make up one story and both take place in the same galaxy, but I felt that I-III were that different feeling of IV-VI.
I guess the one main decision factor to make my choice was the Digital Age. 
Aside from the digital age, the other major changing factor that I couldn't get over between the two sets was the actors and the acting. Okay, so Lucas just HAD TO direct all of his prequels, so that means the more classic films had better and different techniques to get out of their actors during Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. SO I've really been feeling Hayden Christiansen's over the top acting as of late, Samuel L and his purple lightsaber, the very sexy Natalie and the very cool Ewan McGregor
But overall, I did really enjoy my dorky expereince. It started at 6:20 yesterday morning and I ended it at 9:30 last night. I've got my dork bragging rights, but I have no prob admitting to you how physically drained I was after just sitting on the couch all of that time analyzing and watching the films - nitpicking and examining every aspect to see if they would def look as one big film (which I believe is what the LOTR have absolutly no prob doing) two sets of three films or six tiny 2 hour films. I collected all of my mental data and I've give you all my theory/opinion at the top of the blog. But here is all of my supporting evidence (to primarily go along with the Digital Age/Different Acting Groups differential that I was speaking about)
A)Mr. Lucas has done everything that he could do that when he was making his prequels that he could to get them "hooked up" with his classical trilogy he'd made some generation earlier. I'd say his primary cause was inserting witty dialogue, sayings/suggestions and occurances that would trickle themselves all throughout the trilogy. Some people may accuse his actions of being cheap and reusing the same bits/techniques he'd done so well with 20 years ago. But we all know how he is trying to milk us dorks for every nickel and dime we got. So he threw in a lot of lil inside jokes to say and some things that the real fans would get and appreciate to help tie up all of the films for us. I'd primarily seen this by having one character say something in the prequels, which another character would same the thing int he sequels. He admits sometimes doing it for a joke and sometimes it makes a universal flow of continiity between all of the films that kinda makes this universal trickling flow of time through it all and still has that sense of 'timeless storytelling".There are also two common elements in each of the films: We'll always have someone to say, "I've got a bad feeling about this," and each film opens up with a space ship flying across the screen directly after the crawling Star Wars chapter text.; But;here is a list of those other occurances that I can think of off the top of my head:
I-
1)Qui Gon Jin
2)Anakin racing during the pod race of Boonta's Eve races through Beggar's Canyon. During Episode IV, Luke is in the war room and sitting next to Wedge whom complains about hitting the target on the Death Star is too small. Luke replies, "I used to hit Womp Rats in Beggar's Canyon in my T-16 back home - they can't be no more than five meters wide."
3)The Tusken Raider atop on the ledge trying to shoot any passing by pod racers and shooting at them, well that's the first thing we see of the Tusken Raiders in Episode IV when they're trying to shoot Luke as he's traveling by in his landspeeder in the Jundland Wastes.
4) When the boys first arrive in Mos Eisley, Qui Gon gives the similar speech that Obi-Wan gives Luke when they first arrive in Episode IV and say "Mos Eisley space port - you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."
5)Even though it's a cut scene, a very young Greedo is suppossed to have a cameo int he film.; Anakin crosses him and basically warns him of his dirty deeds and to foreshadow him being greased by Han Solo at the Cantina in Episode IV.
6)C-3P0 mutters something about space travel about how he's never done it before, but in all of the other films he's always complaining about it.
7)Guerrilla Gungan Warfare is just hwo the Ewoks beat the baddies in part VI.
II-
1)The scene at the bar has a few connections: We first off have Obi-Wan pulling the mind trick on the guy trying to sell him Star Wars cigarettes.We also have his quick Saber slinging skills that he does against Ponda Baba
2) How Anakin loses his right hand because of his hot headed stubborness is just how Luke loses his right hand when not listening to Obi-Wan and Yoda's pleas during Episode V when he dashes off to face Vader. And it comes back again when he's fighting Vader during part VI and sees Vaders' right hand chopped off again and sees the smoldering wires. He knows he's a step closer to the dark side with each piece of humantiy he loses off of him.
3)Foreshadowing of Anakin turning into machine as his right hand is sealed inside the metal plate at the Geonosis droid makign factory.
4)On Kamino as the Fetts are trying to fly away, Jango runs into the back of the ship as the door of the Slave I is closing in on him. Well, Jango hits his head on the top and continues to run in. This was purposely done because there is a scene in Episode IV when a bunch of stormtroopers are trying to enter the room on the Death Star that the droids had selaed themselves off in. Well, one of the stormtroopers hits his head as the door is opening because he is too tall. And this scene has become such a cult hit, that through the various re-releases, they have now accented that sound effect when he hits his head on the door. And of course we all know that storm troopers are clones of Jango Fett and apparently there is a door hitting gene in him that Lucas had to do lol. Yes I know how extremely dorky this is, but you gotta ask yourself - "who's more the dorkier, the dork or the dork who insists a scene be created based on a film blooper his extra did 20 years ago"
5)Jet packing into trouble. A malfunctioning back pack gets Jango into trouble twice during this film once on Kamino and the other when the rhino creature runs him over on Geonosis. The malfunctioning back pack of Boba Fett when Han Solo accidentally hits it with a staff during part VI on Jabba's skiff in the Dune Sea is why he falls to his death into the Sarlacc monster where "he'll surely be digested over a 1,000 years"
6)Fetts are being pursued by Ob-Wan in the asteroid field and they think they killed off Obi-Wan, but he really parked his Jedi Starfighter on the back of an asteroid. This same bit is done in Empire Strikes Back when Solo parks the Millenium Falcon on the back of the Star Destroyer. When the Destroyer dumps all of it's garbage prior to light speed, Solo floats away with the trash. Boba Fett is able to hunt him down and follow him to Bespin only because he'd seen this trick before with his father.
7)Count Dooku
8)Thank the Maker! C-3P0 always says this in the classic trilogy, but it's not until we see Anakin and 3P0 see one anotehr for the first time again when they're reunited on Tatooine. 3P0 says, "The Maker!" so for now one whenever we hear the droid proclain his maker's greatness, he's unknownilgly blessing Darth Vader ;)
9)The Lars estate set was reconstructed for this film. We have the dining/kitchen area that we see in Part IV (along with Aunt Beru's blue milk) and we also see the garage area where Luke first discover's the holographic Leia message inside of R2.
10)Yet again 3P0 mutters something about space travel, but funny how much he hates it by the classic trilogy even though he had his mind erased by the end of III ;)
11)When Anakin and Obi-Wan enter the bar on Coruscant, Obi asks him, "why do I have the feeling you'll be the death of me?" Which is true when Anakin chops down in the old bastard in part IV.
12)Amidala's hair do at the fireplace in her bondage outfit his reminsicent to her daughter's in part IV.
13)The Clone's walkers are synominious with more advanced AT-AT's in Empire. The same goes for the Star Destroyers that you see fly off are just the lesser advanced Star Destroyers and Super Star Destroyers in the other classic trilogy.
III
1)"Your father was the best space pilot..." Obi Wan telling Luke about hsi father's actions during the Clone Wars in part IV are clearly seen right at the beg of this film;
2)Reconstruction of the Emporer's throne room in Part VI is seen where Palpatine is held captive on Grievious' ship. Palpatine is even sitting in the same chair as he slowly spins around to see Anakin adn Obi.
3)Palpatine tells Anakin to kill Dooku just like the Emporer urges Luke to "strike him down" in part VI.
4)Grievious breathing is just like how Vader breathes with his new appartus in the classic trilogy
5)Even though it was all cut, there was a whole sub plot about the Rebellion being born the same time that the Empire was. Mon Mothma 
6)When Palpatine first tells Anakin of his knowledge of the dark side, he senses how much Anakin wants to kill him. This is just how Palpatine treats Luke aboard his throne room in Part VI.
7)When Mace Windu is shocked and you can briefly see his skeleton, well that's the same of Vader getting shocked on part VI and you see his skeleton by the Emporer as well.
8)Amidala says, "I shouldn't have come," Luke says the same thing in part VI while he rides the Shuttle Tyderian with his friends and says, "I shouldn't have come, I'm endangering the mission."
9)As Amidala is dying, she mutters to Obi Wan "there is still good in him," again Luke says this line a few times to both Vader and Leia along the lines of "there's still good in you, I can sense the conflict."
10)Even though it was cut, there was suppossed to show a scene of Yoda escaping to Dagobah in his lil shuttle.
11)Reconstruction of the Tantive IV set - the rebel blokade runner is used by Bail Organa in this film, but it's Leia's ship at the beginning of part IV when it gets raided by Vader and "Vader's Fist" as they're searching for the death star plans.
12)Bail giving the droids over to Captain Antilles which is why c-3P0 talks about, "I don't know what he's talking about Master Luke, our last master was Captain Antilles," Which I can totally understand as far as the movies go but this whole thing would prob throw out the entire Droids animated series out of the window. THe droids cartoon was all about the adventures of C-3P0 and R2, 15 years before part IV. So unless they're saying they were giving to Captain Antilles, then 5 years later went from one various master to the next only to arrive back to Captain Antilles where they were mind wiped again?! Rubbish I say.
13)When Obi-Wan first appears on Grievious and crew at Utapau he says, "hello there," this goes along with Obi Wan first seeing R2 in the Jundland Wastes during part IV and he says, "Hello there, come here my little friend...oh he'll be alright."
14)When Obi-Wan gets done shooting Grievious to death he says, "how uncivilized," that's because he is trying to explain to Luke during part IV when he talks about the lightsaber being meant for a more civilized age.
15)Vader chopping off Mace Windu's hand at Palpatine's place is just like Luke lossing his hand at Bespin in Part V.
16)When Yoda is grabbing his chest feeling all of the Jedi die is just what Obi Wan does after Alderann blows up in Part IV and he says, "it's as if a hunderd voice cried out in terror and were suddenly ceased."
17)Reconstuction of the Star Destroyer set at the end of this film, this is pretty much the same set you'll see in part V which Vader likes to cruise around in called "the Executor" ;)
18)Cameo by Grand Moff Tarkin, at the end of the film - Palpatine and Vader are looking over the progress of teh Death Star. A funny looking guy walks over to them, and walks away. In part IV, Tarkin plays the quintessintial bad guy in the film who is all about harassing Leia and and just itching to blew up something with his new toy. Which Leia responds "Moff Tarkin, I thought I noticed your foul stench when I was brought aboard."
19)THe main ships that the Jedi and Clones primarily fly around in will eventually evolve into T.I.E fighters and X-Wings into the classic trilogy.
20)The Wookies swinging on vines and yelling like Tarzan on Kashyyk is the same thing that Chewbacca does during the Battle of Endor in part VI.
21)Obi storing himself aboard Amidala's ship is the same idea he has getting himself smuggled aboard on the Millenium Falcon in Part IV just before the ship is tractor beamed inside the Death Star. "They are alternatives to fighting"
22)Anakin proposes to Padme about conjoining themselves to rule the galaxy with his newfound power. Anakin does the same thing to Luke during episode V when he says, "we can rule the galaxy as father and son and end this bitter conflict."
23)Padme's hair right at the beginning of the film is again is a direct tribute to the Leia bun's in part IV.
IF ANYONE ELSE CAN THINK OF ANY OTHER OCCURANCES, PLEASE LET ME KNOW SO THAT THEY CAN BE POSTED HERE!
B)Mr. Lucas then had to adjust everything he did with the prequels to better meet up with his sequels that he made originally. SO on top of just re-editing and releasing the Special Editions to the original trilogy during the late 90's - he again changed around some things in his films to match up better with things he was saying in the prequels. But there are things that not even the special editing programs can fix, plot holes to say that no matter how you look at them - there's something fishy here. My theory is that Lucas never had this whole story planned out. I think he just wanted to milk us (the fans) even more by creating the prequels. Granted, I'm very thankful to get an insight into a time even "longer" ago to see the times of the old Republic and the ways of the Jedi, but I think this whole Anakin transcendance thing is full of shit. I'd heard rumors during while they made Empire Strikes Back, that the man inside the Vader costume (David Prowse) initially told Luke that "Ben is your father!" Not Vader, and it was still Luke's expression captured on film. But there is no clear written evidence, even in the initial shootting script for Empire, this whole piece of dialogue is omitted for secrecy purposes. Makign Vader the father makes it more gripping, but I just don't think Lucas had this all laid out like he says; I've read his original Star Wars script (and it was even a few drafts before final final completion) and there is def some dif things going on in here that don't match up with his story.
So it's these lil plot holes that all he can connect to is that when Luke accuses Ben to lying to him during part VI, Obi just says, "well, from a certain point of view." He totally changes the subject and tries to lay out what he can for us.I believe it's all consiparcy if you ask me.So that when we were treated to Episode I, more questions popped up.Why does Obi tell Luke to find Yoda, "he was the Jedi master who trained me," whereas it was really Qui-Gon? Well Lucas covered his tracks there to say Yoda trained everyone. But if Qui-Gon had found the secret of immortatlity, why couldn't he just train Luke as a ghost like he trained Obi-Wan to also find the secret of immortality betwen Episodes III and IV?! Or how's about when Luke asks about his father initially, Obi tells him that "when I first met your father, he was a space freighter," or something like that. Why not just say, well he was a lil kid my master wanted to train. Is that also from a certain point of view?! And now I have my new droid rant, like Lucas just HAD TO throw that in that 3P0 needs his mind wiped. So that should prob throw the animated series out the window as well. 
Well, now that my rant is done with that, let us focus now on the numerous adjustments that Lucas had to pull off during his DVD release of the classic trilogy which would link up with his sequels and have a closer "visual" connecting piece (and sometimes that the computer technology of the later 90's couldn't have done what they do now) between all of them now:
IV
1)Jabba has been re-reanimted much better than his first special edition relase and now looks closer to a blend between the Jabba we see during Episode I and the Jabba we see in Episode VI.
2)The Lightsabers have been re-fixed,shaped and re-lit a bit better to look closer to the original lightsabers in the prequels.
3)The animation of Luke's landspeeder with the crew riding back enters a lot better now into Mos Eisley.
4)Okay Han Solo vs. Greedo
i)In 1977, Greedo confronts Han and Han shoots him first. Which sets Solo up for a dirty ice pirate and has no problem being treacherous and immoral. Which makes him all the more better at the end of the film because he cares for Luke enough to forget the bounty on his head, and save his freind from peril.
ii)In the 1997 Special Edition release, even though Greedo's gun is directly pointed at Solo he fires his gun FIRST which bounces off at an angle. Then they use some shotty special effects at the time to computer-wise shift Han's head off to the right and then fire SECOND at Greedo. Now we no longer have that aspect of Han being dirty, but lucky (cause in my expereience there's no such thing as luck)
iii)FINALLY at the DVD release of the Special Edition, Greedo now fires just a HAIR BEFORE Han and again Han shoots SECOND. But now they've changed the unnaturual head nudge away from a laser shot, and they digitally shift his whole upper body away from the blast instead.
5)When Obi Wan is de-activating the tractor beam on the Death Star, it used to say the words "Power" and "Tractor Beam" on the label and it was the only time you could see English in the Star Wars films. But they don't use English in this Galaxy, so the proper Star Wars language (which is called Aurebesh)was put in it's place.
6)The Dianogah (yeah, that slippery tentacle thing in the garbage compactor on the Death Star) well it doesn't so much look like just a persecope with an eye attached on the front, but more like a quick moving sleak beast now.
7)Obi imitating the dreaded Krayt Dragon (you hardcore dorks will notice the skeleton of one when C-3P0 and R2 are shuffling out of their esacpe pod through the desert. Now, they have re-dubbed Obi imitating the dragon because the other recordigns sounded too much like a Dewback (those lizard things the stormtroopers rode on to look for the droids, y'know "Look sir, droids." )
V
1)When Vader initially wants to talk to the Emporer via the hologram, there's this really cheesy looking Emporer with a lot of plastic on his eyes and sounds like a voice actor of Scrapper (Clive Revell)from the Transformers. The original was played by a woman,
2)All of Boba Fett's lines (which were initially supplied by Jason Wingreen) are now re-dubbed by Temeura Morrison to match up with Jango Fett's and have a constant flow of continuity between them. Personally, I prefered Boba's old kinda raspy and dying voice better
3)Luke no longer screams as he plummets down through the middle of Bespin. He does scream when he gets his hand cut off, but now he plummets with dignity into the bottomless abyss of Bespin and away from Vader.
4)At the end of the film when Vader is meeting up with his Imperial dignitaries, in all previous versions their insignias where on the wrong side of their unifroms. Well, now THANK GOD that Lucas adjusted to better fit our continuity problems - geez
VI-
1)Sebastian Shaw, who plays the much older Anakin when Vader requests to see Luke "with my own eyes," Sebastian looks much more pale and his eyebrows have been digitally erased since Anakin turned into a blackened marshmellow by the time of Episode III ended. They also digitally colored Shaw's eyes to match up with Hayden's.
2) In the Special Edition, they got rid of the hilarious Ewok song and now it's a more peaceful kinda. There are various shots across the universe of everyone celebrating the death of the emporer. The new one added to tie in with the prequels was Naboo, and you can hear a gunga (possiably Jar Jar?) saying "weesa free!"
3)When Luke sees the astral force forms of the old Masters Yoda and Obi Wan, actor Shaw is suppossed to appear as well. But he's now been replaced by Hayden just before his fight with Obi-Wan took place. Which makes sense that he should be honored before he went to the Dark Side, but whose to say Luke has ANY idea who that is next to Obi- Wan lol.
4)Also during the celebration of the planets, the shots of Coruscant had been re-edited to now feature the Galatic Senate and Jedi Temple buildings in the background of shots.
And so, that is it for me. I'd like to give a very special thanks to my friends and family that tried to stick it out with me throughout the marathon. Especially to my sister Jolene whom not only told me that Return of the Jedi was her favorite, but she only didn't sit through Empire or the first 30 min's of Jedi - so Kudos to you Jolene!
And if you think this is the end, then you are wrong folks. I will be doing this agian, but more planned and with more people. I will also be inserting the Clone Wars animated series (because it too has lines and visuals that play throughout the saga), the animated piece of the Star Wars holiday special when Luke and the gang first meet Boba Fett and perhaps even the Ewoks films: Caravan of Courage and The Battle Of Endor
Thanks to everyone for participating, and May the Force be with you all -
Always.......
Your Dork Knight,
Bo
James "Bo" Gorcesky
Judge Dredd movie review
December 22, 2007
The Most Underrated Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi/Comic Book Film
Of All Time: Judge Dredd
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Why Judge Dredd is considered such an underrated cult comic book film to me? Well, first off let me stack it up against other cult comic book inspired films out there that can come to my mind: Flash Gordon, Conan the Barbarian, Daredevil, The Fantastic Four (the unreleased 1994 version), Howard the Duck, Superman III – what is one thing they all have in common? They primarily all had mixed reviews by the critics and the common fan base, they all had fairly weak box office sales, but most importantly, there were just a small element or two that caused the true die hard fans to create a cult following of that film. I am surprised to talk to some fans and would dare to utter such words as, "Oh c'mon, Daredevil wasn't that bad." Or, "Man, I can't wait for the unrated special collector's edition of Howard the Duck on high-def DVD!" But as these fans grow older, they are gathering in numbers on the internet and creating petitions to get their favorite films back out of film limbo, or are actually making the decisions in ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />
With that being said, and some of our other favorite cult films out of the way, I'd like the rest of this article to focus on the 1995's Judge Dredd directed by Danny Cannon and starring Sylvester Stallone, Diane Lane, Rob Schnieder and the legendary Max "please stop calling me Ming the Merciless" Von Sydow. Considering that this film was released by Walt Disney pictures, and was rated R (for what I am guessing is extremely ridiculous scenes of violence,) which probably hurt it's initial release. More often than not, you try to find a happy medium with the comic book fans with a PG-13 rating, so that way you can have some sexy stuff and some violence, but with some fun stuff for the kiddies as well. But Dredd, much like it's action packed Von Sydow predecessor Conan the Barbarian (which was also rated R and also brought to the screen thanks to Edward R. Pressman) will doom it's box office sales as too risqué.
The film did stir up enough excitement and reviews amongst the Sci-Fi fan base, as it was nominated for several Saturn Awards for it's excellent costume and makeup work. Which, I must say, I really like comic book films that make it look like they took a panel from a book and made it come to life like an Alex Ross painting. The Judge Dredd costume looks highly authentic to the pictures in the books, and you could almost feel the cheesy plastic on their helmets. But only using some eye catchy makeup and costume design work (that sometimes makes some of the costumes look like it came out of Masters of the Universe mixed with a Imperial Storm trooper) does not gratify enough success. Some might feel a similar connection to another cult Von Sydow film, Flash Gordon which was also praised for it's set and costume design, but hugely failed in the writing and acting department. But aside from the eye candy featurettes, the post apocalyptic city is just enough to get a few ooh's and aah's out of people and will shortly thereafter begin to chuckle at Stallone's cheesy one liners (I knew you'd say dat.)
Ah yes, Stallone. How fitting that the crooked lipped action hero should play a cop in the future – he has played a cop in nearly every other genre so far. How many films can you think of where Stallone has played a cop? I'll give you a few seconds then I'll just shoot off from memory………
Nighthawks
Demolition Man
Tango & Cash
Cobra
D-Tox
Daylight
Stop! Or my mom will shoot
Talk about being type cast right? Actually, Stallone's acting and tight lipped one liners and total devoid of humanity in his role as Judge Dredd earned him a Razzi Award for worst actor (a rather prestigious account since he was simultaneously nominated for worst actor in Assassins for the same year). But where Stallone fails, he has his much more sympathetic partner and romance Judge Hershey (played by
Now that the acting is out of the way, let us try to focus on the story. The film itself underwent several changes. Stallone was such a spoiled little brat that kept demanding changes; supposedly the original shooting script and the finished product are two entirely separate entities. But to get to his roots, Judge Dredd is based on a late 70's action hero that was initially published in
SO that is the world as to what the comic book showcases, and the film is pretty close adaptation to it as well. The film is also pretty accurate on visualizing a 3-D world that is based from a 2-D medium. Many of the supporting characters have been brought to the screen, and I personally feel that the art department did an OUTSTANDING job of bringing some of those things to life to look just like the comic book. I feel that too often when there is a film adaptation of a comic book, costume designers and the rest of the art department try to go for this plush leather or art nouveux look (think of your initial response to the costume work in X-Men).
But what they did do successfully adapting was the visuals, but not the methodology of the world or the personalities of many of the characters. For example, in the comic book, Judge Dredd has only removed his helmet twice (within thirty years of comic book continuity), and in the book, his face is still censored. And from the look of people that see "old stony face's" appearance, are normally appalled with disgust. In the film, we see Dredd's face for a huge chunk of the film. Which is a constant dispute and cause of disruptions in
Secondly, it is FORBIDDEN for Judges to embrace a romantic relationship. Figure, this way they could focus solely on their work, not on the lives of others. Judges are also conditioned to be devoid of romance at an early age and also of corruption. Which also helps to play into the universal irony on our own government which the Dredd books frequently poke at. Yes, there is a lot of ironic humor abound in the Dredd books, and if you are a political weirdo, then it may be the book for you. So, when Dredd starts up with this lovely relationship with Hershey, they again break the rules of the Dredd mythos. What he shoulda done after he saved her was pull a lil Jack Burton on her and ride off into the sunset.
Well, I guess I have nothing else to offer for this film review. Again, like I said, I feel that Judge Dredd is an under rated action/sci-fi/comic book film. There have been a LOT worse (cough cough, the Hulk cough cough Fantastic Four series) but don't let Stallone's tight faced expressions and cheesy one liners bring ya down – embrace them! "I knew you'd say dat" Stallone is pretty bad ass in this movie, and it is probably my favorite of his cop portrayals. And just imagine if we could all ban together, we could get a petition together and get a special edition of this DVD out to the world of the underground cult comic book fans! So…who's with me?!
1981's Raiders of the Lost Art so an introduction to the Indy character. A proposed adventure story that was the joint brain child of
The film takes place in 1936 and it is primarily an homage to the action/adventurer serials of the 30's. We are also introduced to the elements of Indy: A previous relationship with the drunkard/daughter of Indy's mentor: Maryann Ravenwood, Indy has a fear of snakes, the film opens with a action packed couple scene, Indy fights an indestructible opponent who dies terribly and numerous chase scenes. In the end of the film, Indy's treasure of the
1984's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is actually produced second in the series, but is technically a prequel since it takes place in 1935. The film is different from it's predecessors since there are no Nazi's but the film is riddled with some graphic violence, creepy crawlies, great comedy relief from the little Asian sidekick "Short round," a whiney damsel in distress (who will eventually marry Steven Spiellberg), and some gore and imagery that would even appease a hardcore horror fan like a heart being ripped out of a man's chest (which helped land the film as being the very first film to be rated PG-13).
Indy travels from
The film has some great chase scenes, especially in some mine carts in a crazy looking Disney ride. It has some of the grossest scenes from a dinner ensemble where you are served: Beatles on a half shell, Chilled Monkey Brains, Eyeball Soup and Snake Surprise. Or how about walking through a tunnel of bugs that crawl all over you. Definitely the creepy crawlies is a staple of the Indy series. Finally there is a bit more of a romantic side story that shows off this arrogant romantic side of Dr. Jones as he is trying to seduce Willy, but at the same time acting like the ward of the Robin-esque Short Round (P.S. if you like Goonies, Data plays the role of his qwarky little kid and anything he says is funny) "No time fow wuv Docta Jones" Ahh, racial stereotypes – where have you gone?
1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade goes back to the elements of Raiders with Nazi's, relics, chases, the occult, adventure, comedy, romance and it also has this element of a great father/son relationship between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery. The filmmakers though, well, James Bond was an initial inspiration for the Indy character, why not just hire the man who helped bring it about. Sean Connery plays Henry Jones Sr. and truly makes this film very memorable. I mean, how many times are you gonna see Indy get slapped for saying "Jesus Christ," "That's for blasphemy Junior!" Hehehe, classic.
This film is set in 1938 and Spielberg comments on it as "making up to Lucas for what they did to
Personally, this is my favorite in the series just solely based on the father/son dynamic, the return of the Nazi's as antagonists, returning John Rhys-Davies as Salla and even bringing in the dim-witted Marcus Brody for the adventure.
Indy is eventually able to find the Holy Grail, and like the film's predecessors of Indy being exposed to the religions of Hebrew, then Hindu – it is now a focus on Christianity. Using his father's notes, a lure of all of his teachings and studies – he is able to find the Grail and save his father with it. Unfortunately the Grail falls into a chasm and the Indy character is still obsessed with finding and obtaining the relic. But it takes of all people, Henry Sr., to tell Indy "Junior – let it go." A great film and a lot of fun, and in my opinion it should be the end of the series. I mean once you get the Holy Grail – how can you go any further?
And now, without further ado…….
2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull returns Indy to the screen after a near 20 year hiatus from the cinema. Like I said before, the film takes place in 1957 – which would make the Indy character 58 years old but is played by Harrison Ford who is 65. Now, I have a
1) An atomic bomb goes off in a town, Indy climbs into a lead lined fridge, which flies high up into the sky, rolls and crashes into the desert landscape and Indy rolls out. 2) While in a high speed chase through the Amazon, people swashbuckler on top of their cars. 3) Commanding an army of monkeys that swing through the Amazon and attack the Communists. 4) Finally and most sad, is seeing this rather old Indy doing things he did years ago. And I love Harrison Ford, and growing up I think he was just a hero for a lot of kids during that era – but seeing him now, I felt like "Hey Indy, I think it's time to hang up the fedora and whip."
There were some other scenes that were just a little hard to swallow, but I'd have to say the film overall was quite enjoyable. A brief plot: Filling in the role that the Nazi's had, we now have "the Reds" hunting down some infamous crystal skulls that can help fill you up with unlimited knowledge. The film opens up at Area 51 and we see there is a connection with
Indy is criticized for helping the Commies, and loses his job as a professor at his college. He befriends a young greaser - Mutt (played by Transformers Shia Lebouf) – yeah I know? Mutt?! But why now, Indy was also named after a dog. So, Mutt needs Indy's help to help rescue Indy's former classmate /archeologist "Ox" who knows of the current whereabouts of the greatest of the Crystal Skulls.
Mutt and Indy hunt down the whereabouts of Ox and an infamous Conquistador who found
Mutt very well be the predecessor of the series as Lucas is already starting a rumor mill for a fifth film where Indy would play the sidekick and Mutt would be the main action star. It is the end of the era already seeing Indy going out there, but now I feel like where the third film had the father son dynamic, this film has the roles reversed. In fact, there is even ANOTHER scene on a motorcycle where Mutt evades the Commies and smiles – but Indy scowls at him. Very similar to when Henry Sr. and Jr. are escaping
Finally, if you are an Indy completist – such as myself, you should check this picture out. Again, there are some elements that are a little hard to swallow – but Indy is such a great character. I think if you enjoy the elements of Batman and/or James Bond, or even some action/adventure/sci-fi fan, you will enjoy this film. I also recommend you go out and buy the the Adventures of Young Indiana Jones to see where Indy came from before his cinematic adventures, it is a great show and very educational. Check it out, it is the first great film of the summer season.
Okay so my fiancée and I went to go to see The Dark Knight last night and I was QUITE satisfied and my expectations were met. Y'know, I have only seen about three new movies this summer, but this one definitely takes the cake as far as the acting, the action, the explosions, the story and maintaining the Batman mythos. Before I go on any further, I will end up talking a little bit about the earlier Batman films over the years, some of the comics that drew inspiration in the Dark Knight and the spoilers in the film. So you have been warned Batfans – I will spoil this film for you if you keep on reading……
So as some of you might already know, this film is a sequel to Batman Begins which is a reboot of the Batman franchise and pretty much throws out the previous "classic Batman films" that were predominate in the 90's including Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. Whereas the classic films were just ridiculed for the most part as getting progressively campy and silly and at sometimes totally ridiculous (like Penguins with rocket launchers), the Nolan brothers' films continue to show this gritty dark side to Batman that he deserves and they have created this universe where having a "Batman" looks like it could happen. They don't throw any "well he does it because he's a supervillian," schtick that you would find in comics in the old days, now they practically provide a science and/or methodology on how or why certain things happen in these films. What I like about these newer films is the believability this is represented in a comic book film. Instead of me getting lost into my criticizing tirades as I have traditionally done in the past, I will instead list my pro's and con's in a detailed and bulleted list that way you can just jump to the info that you would like to see. BUT, what I can tell you is that you need to watch this film, but be prepared to take out a good chunk of your day out to view it, as it is 2 ½ hours long.
What I liked about in this movie:
What I didn't like in this movie:
bumps into her dad Sherrif Brackett who is investigating the fact that the local halloween store was broken into and someone just stole a mask and such - pay no heed to foreshadowing folks. The girls go about and continue getting ready for the night to get wasted or babysit or whatever.
