On a desolate, storm-lashed planet called Morganthus, survivors of a crashed spaceship are attacked by their fears.
Director Bruce D. Clark offers a choppy edited and scripted affair. Nevertheless, there are some interesting kill scenes including a man fighting his doppelgänger, a woman being consumed by a giant maggot (Taaffe O'Connell's notorious death scene), another man being killed with a throwing star by his own severed arm. As with most Roger Corman productions there's plenty of imagination but low budget production values.
The cast are an assortment of familiar TV and film actors from Happy Days to V and a Nightmare on Elm St. who do their best with the script and ill-fitting costumes. There's Sid Haig, Robert Englund to name a few. There's some nice effects on display, along with matte paintings and sound effects. Interestingly as a precursor to bigger things, James Cameron serves as production designer and second unit director, there are reminiscent smidgens of The Terminator and Aliens visuals on display, even though not as well lit or executed.
Galaxy of Terror is unashamedly a series of kills strung together with gore moments and effects. But so were the majority of films in its genre at the time. Worth viewing if only out of interest for the practical effects work.
After getting in a car accident, a woman is held in a shelter with two men.
Director Dan Trachtenberg offers a well directed solid suspense thriller, that borrows from Stephen King's Misery, War of the Worlds and of course Cloverfield in the closing. 10 Cloverfield Lane's minimal main cast are on fantastic form, notable are Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Gallagher Jr. but it's John Goodman who steals the show and is given more depth than the other characters.
What starts out as a seemingly typical torture kidnap thriller turns into something quite different. With the claustrophobic location of an underground bunker complete with air shafts, which Winstead has to worm her way through, it does have it tense moments. Loyality and trust themes builds the tension throughout thanks to Goodman's questionable character Howard. He gives a stellar performance with Bear McCreary's score adding to the edgy proceedings. With fine effects and some tight writing from Josh Campbell, Matt Stuecken and Damien Chazelle it works as a stand alone film as well as a 'side-quel' to J.J Abrams earlier 2008 outing. Clearly the small cast and few locations transparently function to warrant and somewhat set up a big budget third instalment. But don't expect any alien action until the latter half.
It's fast pace, unconventional story telling holds interest and makes it worth while viewing alone. Cloverfield fans will be pleased but those who aren't aware of the Cloverfield link may get more satisfaction from the alien twist ending and Howard's real intentions.
A Dallas man is witness to the death of a cop and there's more to his story.
With a video cover in the vain of the Vindicator, echoing The Wraith, The Terminator, Mad Max and Robocop, this low budget tail end of the 80s is like none of the above.
Cullen Blaine's offering Robotic Officer Tactical Operation Research (R.O.T.O.R) has an informative title voice over, packed with exposition and flashback that adds very little to the proceedings. What it does have is a nostalgic soundtrack from synthesiser beats to some country music. It's also nicely framed.
There's a robot which looks its just rolled out of Buck Rogers, and R.O.TO.R, correctly dubbed "a tin marionette," is like a stop motion endoskeleton with daft Punk shades.
The dialogue is a pretentious and cheesy as it comes. Even when the motor bike patrol cops goes all Westworld/Hitcher stalker-ish it sadly remains one of the most uneventful films of 1987. Not even some toy robots or The Terminator P.O.V shots can help.
With Dallas' 80s fashion R.O.TO.R never lives up to or delivers on its premise of a directorate driven, judge and executioner super cop.
It picks up briefly in the last half hour as leather clad, moustache sporting, ChiPs sunglasses cop takes on some locals and later blows up when his arms and legs are tied up. There's a little shock killing that amounts to nothing, with a twist ending that won't make you spill you coffee.
Despite its faults it's better filmed than 90 percent of the DTV films produced these days. Worth watching for nostalgic value only.
Thirty years after the second Death Star's destruction, Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi, has vanished. An unlikely group get drawn into search for the Jedi before the First Order, a successor to the fallen Galactic Empire find him first.
J.J. Abrams flourishingly takes over the reins from George Lucas for Disney. The production values, effects and music are outstanding with writers Lawrence Kasdan, Abrams and Michael Arndt successfully handing over the baton to the new characters without leaving the beloved ones behind. John Boyega's Finn has depth and is very likable, as too is Daisy Ridley who is simply outstanding and steals the show as Rey. Oscar Isaac's X Wing pilot Poe Dameron is memorable and somehow manages to encapsulate the look, swagger and feel of the original Star Wars spirit.
If I were to nit-pick the Andy Serkis' Supreme Leader Snoke hologram and the monsters hiding and attacking the Millennium Falcon as it hums back to life CGI is not without its problems. That said, it's doesn't distract from the overall great quality of the effects throughout, from the impressive practical and visual effects right down to jolting storms troopers, desert creatures, spaceship base interiors, sweeping planet topography and beyond.
With droids housing information, space battles and giant weapons with weaknesses, yes, it's partly a rehash of the first film with a few welcomed twists and surprises but it's a really visual and emotional treat, with great sets, costumes, make-up and locations. The action set ups, shoot outs, spaceship dogfights and sabre duels are fantastically staged. There's plenty of Han Solo gunplay and humour on display.
The mix of new and old characters returning works and there's array of familiar faces and quality actors including Max von Sydow and a hidden Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma. Well loved characters, not just the likes of R2-D2, Han, Leia, Chewie and C-3PO but lesser known ones like Admiral Ackbar and Nien Nunb also return. As the rebels face another threat, bigger than the Deathstar it manages to remain engrossing and grittier than its predecessors.
There's the emotional loss of a main character and Mark Hamill's Luke screen time is fittingly limited which allows Ridley to shine throughout as she develops her skills along with droid BB-8. Adam Driver's misguided Vader obsessed Kylo Ren is interesting.
Overall, the young cast carry the beats you wanted and expected from a sequel to the original trilogy but it also excels as Abrams manages to fashion an atmosphere of his own while retaining the Star Wars feel and magic. The force is strong with this one. Highly recommended.
Released by:Scream Factory Release Date: August 19, 2014 Region Code: A Running Time: 1:38:00 Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 / English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Video: 1080p (2.35:1 Aspect Ratio) Subtitles: English
THE FILM:
On the dark and forbidding ocean floor, the crew of a deep-sea mission rig discovers a sunken freighter that harbors a deadly secret: a genetic experiment gone horribly wrong. With a storm raging on the surface and no hope of rescue, the captain and his team are propelled into a spine-tingling battle for survival against the ultimate foe - a hideous monster that cannot die... and lives to kill!
This film has to me, always felt like a hybrid of John Carpenter's "The Thing" and Ridley Scott's "Alien". It's not as good as either film, in my opinion, but it's still an enjoyable movie with a good cast and special effects.
"Leviathan" was directed by George P. Cosmatos (Tombstone) and stars Peter Weller (RoboCop), Richard Crenna (First Blood), Daniel Stern (Home Alone), Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters), Hector Elizondo (Chicago Hope), and Amanda Pays (The Kindred).
AUDIO:
"Leviathan" features two English audio tracks, a DTS-HD MA 2.0 and DTS-HD MA 5.1. The 5.1 track will make good use of your surround speakerss but you may want to lower their volume a little because they can be a little overwhelming at times in regards to your other speakers and dialogue. The 2.0 track, which I prefer, sounds fine and does an adequate job of putting you in the middle of the action.
VIDEO:
"Leviathan" comes to Blu-ray thanks to Scream Factory. The film is presented in 1080p with a 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio. Overall I found the Blu-ray to look very good. The film does not feature much in the way of colors, focusing more on black, white, gray and dark blues. Other colors may look a bit flat, but it seems fitting for this film. Black levels look very good. Fine detail looks quite good and I am surprised just how good, some shots appear. There is a fine layer of grain which looks natural and doesn't seem to have any clumping issues.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Along with the following, this Blu-ray also features a Chapter Selection Screen and English Subtitles. The cover art for this release is also reversible.
Leviathan - Monster Melting Pot (40:26) - This extra features interviews with Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis who works on the film as part of Stan Winston Studios. The pair discuss Stan Winston choosing to work on "Leviathan" as opposed to another undersea film. They talk a bit about issues working with Director George P. Cosmatos and their work on the film. A fairly informative set of interviews that fans will want to watch.
Dissecting Cobb with Hector Elizondo (12:35) - Mr. Elizondo discusses playing 'bad guys' and shares some advice he once received from Lee Marvin. Among other things, he also talks about the exosuits and a near accident while inside one of them.
Surviving Leviathan with Ernie Hudson (15:01) - Mr. Hudson expresses his displeasure about the demise of his character so close to the end of the film. He also speaks about his role in the film and some of the special effects used in the movie.
Theatrical Trailer (1:51)
More From Scream Factory (1:42)
IN CONCLUSION:
"Leviathan" should appeal to fans of "The Thing" or "Alien" at least to some degree. It's a decent movie that has a good amount of action, good special effects and great looking creature effects thanks to Stan Winston Studios. The Blu-ray is pretty good with above average audio and video quality as well as a few decent extras. If you're a fan of the film, you should definitely buy this release. If you're a sci-fi/horror/action film fan and have never seen "Leviathan", you owe it to yourself to check this one out.
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
