Science Movie Reviews

The first one gets far more of the praise than the second one. It all begins with Agent J being recruited into a top secret organization that deals with alien life forms visiting or dwelling on Earth. They must now save the world from a menacing giant cockroach bug who is bent on getting a special jewel called Orion's Belt. This movie I think broke ground with its twisted humor and it's alien menaces throughout the movie. I almost think of it as a comedic counterpart to the far more dramatic Independence Day.

The second Men In Black movie while not as strong as the first, the second MIB movie deserves more praise than what it has gotten. In this sequel, J and K now come face to face with a nefarious female alien named Serleena who is after The Light Of Zartha and threatens to use it to destroy Earth.

Both of these movies are great and this is a great movie combo set!

One of the funniest scenes in the movie occur when J finds K running a small post office. You get to see the inside workings of the post office and it just made me laugh out loud.

Laura Flynn Boyle is the "bad guy" in this flick and she finds out something I've always suspected - you _could_ rule the world if you look like a "Victoria's Secret" model.

The extras on the dvd show how various creatures were made, deleted scenes and of course, various bloopers. This movie is not going to make you think harder about life but it is an enjoyable way to spend an evening. If you looking for great fun and you enjoyed the first "Men in Black", this is an excellent choice for you. Watch and laugh - laughter is supposed to be the best medicine.

"2019: After the Fall of New York" begins with a voice over. According to this monologue, New York along with the rest of the country fell into nuclear chaos some twenty years before 2019. As the camera pans over a ravaged New York, we discover that the Euracs now occupy New York City and other regions of the former United States. These Euracs (an abbreviation referring to a confederation between Europe, Africa, and Asia) now roam through the blasted streets of New York City in search of the only fertile woman left on the planet. The Euracs need this woman in order to perpetuate their iron rule over this conquered territory. Moreover, the power to have children will also allow the Eurac confederation to finally vanquish any smoldering remnants of the PAN, the good guys of a Pacific-American orientation. The Euracs aren't completely sure PAN survives, but that's because they cannot see into the frigid realms of Alaska where PAN has its secret base. In the meantime, the Euracs spend their time riding around the ruins of New York on horses and attacking the local population with flamethrowers (always a good sign for this viewer) and weird laser guns shaped like cheesy crossbows. These thugs even dress in black capes complete with helmets that look a lot like catcher's masks. Those Euracs are nasty people!

Fortunately, the future of humanity has a hero in the form of Parsifal, played with iron-faced solidity by Michael Sopkiw. An American male model who only made four low budget films in his career, Sopkiw is sort of a hero to certain segments of the B movie fan base. Notice I say CERTAIN elements of the fan base because most people watching this film will roar with laughter over Sopkiw's acting skills. I know I did. This guy makes Joe Dallesandro look like Robin Williams. The good thing about saving the future, however, is that you do not need to be a good actor. When we first meet up with Parsifal, he's earning bucks and babes by taking part in a smash 'em up car derby somewhere out in Nevada. After winning this race by killing several opponents, Parsifal soon finds himself transported to PAN headquarters in Alaska, where the president of PAN (played by Edmund Purdom! What the heck is he doing in THIS?!?) informs our hero about a mission to rescue the last fertile woman. If Parsifal accomplishes this mission, he gets to take the girl and blast off the ruined earth in a hidden rocket ship. To help him on his assignment, the president sends a whopping back up force of two men along with Parsifal.

At this point, the movie really begins to pick up. Martino treats us to endless battle scenes as Parsifal and gang move through the streets of New York in search of the woman with the golden womb. The three heroes encounter street gangs, Eurac soldiers, a group of midgets, and a band of half man/half ape creatures during their quest. The whole thing is completely ridiculous, of course, and only gets more so as the picture progresses. In fact, you will be amazed at the imaginative leaps you will make just to keep up with the unfolding plot. The final segments of the film where Parsifal and the gang ride through a tunnel on the way out of the city should win an award for the hokiest action sequence ever filmed in motion picture history. There is some underlying message about hope for humanity throughout the film, but it is buried under layers of bad acting, metacheesy special effects, bad editing, and a lame script. The only thing that really appeals is the gore, with exploding heads and gunshot wounds aplenty in nearly every scene.

I find it difficult to condemn this movie, though, because it's too much fun to watch it. Especially amusing is George Eastman, an actor better known from such films as "Anthropophagus," in the role of Big Ape, the leader of the carnival gang. At one point in the film, you will hear the following line, "I'm from the stick people. You're Big Ape, right?" Need I say more? With lines like that, who needs big budget Hollywood productions? Amazingly, when you get done with the movie, you can look through the extras on this Media Blasters DVD. Extras? For a film of this caliber? You bet! Interviews with Sergio Martino, George Eastman, and Al Yamanouchi all appear on the disc, along with a short introduction to the film by an aging Michael Sopkiw. You simply cannot believe how cheesy this movie is, so only diehard B movie fans should spend time with this one.

Small Private Island + Wacky Scientists + Gorgeous Blonde Daughter + Handsome Sea Captain + Jealous Drunkard + Hurricane, PLUS...SEVERAL MUTANT GIANT POISONOUS BONE KNAWING SHREWS...Equal one heck of a disaster flick!

Pretty remarkable for 1959.

=^..^=

Of course, the two Discs are not bad, but where's the rest ??

"The X-Files" is also out there, but why not "The Outer Limits" ?

However, I'll buy the Original Soundtrack - that's enough for the moment.

And let us hope that at least the two DVDs will also come out in our language.

Mike

In the mid-1990s the show idea was renewed on SHOWTIME. Being on SHOWTIME meant that the writers did not have to worry about censors. So, what resulted was a science fiction show with a nice blend of eroticism. The current DVD is 4 of the top episodes from the seasons on cable.

3 of the 4 stories deal with the concept of artificial intelligence, which is a "biggie" at this juncture as we stand right on the threshold of making AI a reality. The fourth story is the most "pure" science fiction story as it takes place almost entirely in outer space.

From the eroticism side of the house, it is good to see that the nudity / sensuality is not contrived in the stories. Rather, it follows along naturally w/the storyline. For me that is the whole KEY to making eroticism "work."

The biggest names in the casting are Alyssa Milano, Natasha Henstridge and the voice of Malcom MacDowell. The sultry Milano does a nude scene which is likely enough to entice a great many people to purchase the DVD. Milano does a memorable job of going from the innocent girl-next-door to seductive vixen in World Record speed.

Although I have never been a huge fan of behind the scenes material on DVD, this does offer a decent package of the thoughts and perspectives of the creation of the storylines. It also gives us some insight from one of the makers of the original OL.

If you like science fiction movies and short stories, you will like this movie. If you like erotic movies, you will like this DVD. If you like science fiction movies AND erotic films, you will LOVE this one!

Swamp Girl is a really fun movie with great characters and even greater locations. Although the print is a bit scratchy at times, the shots of the swamp are magnificent, and you actually feel like you're there in a hostile but beautiful environment, a sense that you don't get with the occassional helicopter shots of the outskirts of swamps you sometimes see in big budget pictures. No, these movies take place in wild, untamed regions. I don't want to spoil the fun of learning how the Swamp Girl wound up being raised in the swamp, or give away any of the fun twists, but you will get to see her go up against nature, progress, rednecks, and an escaped female prisoner and her boyfriend while making use of the swamp environment.

Swamp Country is about a man wrongfully accused of a murder escaping into the swamp until he can clear up his name (there's also a brief subplot about a musician being kidnapped, and a love quadrangle). This film also has some great shots of the swamp and great characters, and is filled with some excellent, catchy tunes (very Johnny Cash). Unforturnately it is longer than it should be and drags in places, otherwise I'd give it a higher rating, but it is still worthwhile viewing for fans of old B movies (it was made around 1971, but has the feeling of a low budget crime short from the 1940s).

Swamp Virgin is an old short from the 1940s using the story of a love triangle as an excuse to show extremely interesting footage of one method used to catch alligators (have a young boy tied to a rope swim out into the swamp in order to attract them (he must be a good swimmer), pull him back to shore before he can be harmed, then shoot the alligator). Swamp Virgin is filled with excellent underwater photography and may have had a good budget for its time. Plus there is a swamp buggy race (very interesting contraptions, and each looks completely different) and trailers to such swamp-related classics as "Attack of the Giant Leeches" and "The Alligator People" from the days when they knew how to make fun trailers.

Don't expect any true masterpieces, but you do get over 3 1/2 hours of films filled with quicksand, snakes, alligators, bears, wild cats, mobsters, rednecks, music, southern accents and all sorts of other fun stuff.

The mosquitoes try to feast on the normal collection of doomed souls who are a bit slow to figure out that these are monster mosquitoes and not funny looking birds and you will not care a whit who survives and who does not. Gunnar Hansen (who also gets a script credit) is Earl the Bank robber, Ron Asheton is Hendricks the Park Ranger, Rachel Loiselle is Megan the new Park Ranger, Tim Lovelace is her boyfriend Ray, and Steve Dixon is Parks, who chases meteors for the U.S. Air Force. However, this film is redeemed by one great moment where the character played by Gunnar Hansen, the original Leatherface in Tobe Hooper's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and declares "I haven't handled one of these things in 20 years....feels good." Of course, it had been two decades since the release of that classic horror flick. I do not know how "MST3K" missed this one, or how I missed that they did not miss it. But if you like to ridicule bad movies in the privacy of your own home, "Mosquito" is a great choice. Why, one liners should be popping into your head as you read this and you have not even seen the film yet...

When dealing with this film, one shouldn't make a mistake and think that they're dealing with something that isn't going to be cheesy. Big Bug movies always turn out that way, always having some strange sideplot to go along with the main flow of monstrosity, and the doom they offer is always campy. So, instead of going in expecting anything, you should think of your atypical bad acting, death, some gore effects to take the place of a plot, and a nice laughtrack to make the day go along better. And, if that sounds good, then Mosquito would be a tale for you.

Personally, the "who is going to live, who is going to die" tales always make me happy and I've always loved Mosquito. Within its brand of sordid humor, nobody is truly safe from the touch and the feel of the threat, with most of the people met along the way succumbing to the alluring beasts and their thirst. Its comedy, only nobody gets to stand up in the end and tell jokes (unless you count Gunnar Hansen - The original Leatherface). And that's what I like about it, truth be told. Every movie and social stereotype mastered by the mosquito.

It uses what look like real images such as waterfalls, etc, and then layers computerized textures on them and around them, bending the images, etc.

Unfortunately, everytime it gets good, a bunch of cryptic symbols begin popping up everywhere. I'm not sure if they actually mean anything or not, but they make the whole thing seem pretentious and repetitive. And some of the segments begin by displaying their titles on the screen, which unnecessarily fragments the disc, so this is even worse if you're a DJ planning on showing this as continuous wallpaper in a club. And everything happens very slow.

But if you're just getting it for relaxation it might be good, especially the loops. It would be nice if this type of animation were used for a future disc, without all the symbols and unnecessary titling.

The overall quality is excellent, keeping in mind the source material is not digitally remastered. There are but a few trailers that are really lacking in picture and sound quality, but the contents of this DVD are priceless! B-movie fans and Godzilla/Kaiju enthusiasts are in for a real treat!

OPERATION PLUMBOB could have been omitted from this collection... Unless one was a student learning about nuclear energy back in the 1950's, one may find this short film rather boring. It could have been replaced by perhaps two or three more theatrical trailers, such as the one for FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD. Now there's a movie that should be put on DVD! Or perhaps the trailer for VALLEY OF THE DRAGONS, which contains the classic line, "Shoot anything with hair on it that moves!"

All in all, ALL MONSTERS ATTACK! is quite enjoyable. Recommended!

Fifty creature feature trailers will keep you occupied for awhile. Among the highlights: KING KONG, SON OF KONG, THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, MOTHRA, IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, THEM, DESTROY ALL MONSTERS, THE BLOB, THE KILLER SHREWS (darn funny trailer). Many, many more, including the wonderful Sinbad films.

As you might expect, the quality of the clips varies greatly. Overall, the picture and sound quality is acceptable. The 1950's nuclear safety film is a hoot!

If you like these kind of films, you really should add this one to your collection. Even if you could never sit through some of cheesy flicks represented here, the trailer compilation is a fun party disc. Recommended.