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The Transformers: The Movie, a review by Danae Cassandra

Film #1 of Scavenger Hunt #22
Task #2: Watch any film that has a sequel or remake/reboot scheduled for release during 2017



The Transformers: The Movie
Year of Release: 1986
Directed By: Nelson Shin
Starring: Judd Nelson, Lionel Stander, Orson Welles, Leonard Nimoy, Susan Blu, Eric Idle
Genre: Action, Science-Fiction, Animation

Overview:Citizen KaneThe Breakfast Club), Leonard Nimoy (Star Trek), Eric Idle (the Monty Python films) and Robert Stack (The Untouchables), brings this inimitable, explosively entertaining Autobot adventure to life.

My Thoughts:
Michael Bay has a 5th film in the live action Transformers franchise coming out in 2017, so I think this fits the bill well enough.

Transformers came out at the perfect time for me. I was 11, and it was the best film that came out that year. Oh, sure, Platoon won the Oscar, but if middle-schoolers could have voted, it would have been Transformers all the way. I must have seen it three or four times in the theatre. I remember getting my mom to drop me off there one day while she was in class and watching two showings of Transformers and one of Flight of the Navigator.

If you haven't figured this out by now, there is certainly quite a bit of nostalgia appeal here for me. It's a very 80's film, from the animation style, the color palette, down to the hair metal soundtrack. It's all the best parts of my post-Edmonson childhood, and these characters (and the cohorts on the Joe team and in TOS Star Trek) certainly gave me something to look forward to and hold on to in dark times, so I have a lot of very fond memories attached here.

It isn't just nostalgia though. This film holds up surprisingly well. There's a lot of darkness here that you don't expect in a kids film. Disney laid the blueprint for the animated kids film, and this isn't it. This is a war film, and a lot of beloved characters die here. Don't be fooled by them being robots - they're people, and kids know it. Starscream was my favorite as a kid, and his death just gutted me then. Yes, I know he's a villain, and it's okay to kill off villains in kids films, but the good guys die here too. Lots of them, and in merciless, cold-blooded fashion.

The animation looks tons better than a lot of 90's stuff, but that could be my child of the 80's glasses looking. There's a great cast here - Judd Nelson, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Idle, Orson Welles - and they give it their all. Yes, it is light on plot and heavy on action, and if you know the tropes you can predict how things will end, but it's a great ride along the way.

I haven't seen any of the Michael Bay films. I won't comment on this being better - only that I don't know how they could ever be as good. Unlike other things from my childhood, this still holds up as being a wonderful film, an immensely fun film, and one that still delights me every time I watch it.

Bechdel Test: Fail
Mako Mori Test: Fail

Overall: 4/5

(From Scavenger Hunt #22 on December 31st, 2016)

Miracle, a review by addicted2dvd

Miracle (2004/United States) Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Gavin O'Connor Writing: Eric Guggenheim (Writer) Length: 136 min. Video: Widescreen 2.40:1 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Portuguese: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Thai: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround Subtitles: Bahasa, Chinese, English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Other

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Stars:
Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks
Patricia Clarkson as Patti Brooks
Noah Emmerich as Craig Patrick
Sean McCann as Walter Bush
Kenneth Welsh as Doc Nagobads

Plot:Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Bonus Trailers
• Featurettes
• Outtakes/Bloopers
• D-BOX

This one is well worth the time put in to watch it. It is a good and inspirational film. A true underdog story.



(From July Movie Marathon: Based on a True Story on July 10th, 2017)

Supernatural Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

EPISODE 1: PILOT
"Take me home." Along a lonely California highway, a mysterious woman in white lures men to their deaths - a terrifying phenomenon that may be the brothers' first clue to their father's whereabouts.

Guest Stars:
Sarah Shahi as Constance Welch
Adrianne Palicki as Jessica Lee Moore
Samantha Smith as Mary Winchester
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as John Winchester

My Thoughts:
When this series was first announced I couldn't wait for the first episode to air. I really liked how this show introduces the characters. I also liked how this episode uses a well known urban legend to make a story about. Sure that may mean you know where the story is going... and that is true to a point... but they add enough to the story so it isn't predictable. They really did make a good ghost story out of this well known urban legend. I was thrilled the first time I seen this episode... and I enjoyed it just as much now (3rd or 4th time watching it) as I did the first time around.

My Rating:

(From Supernatural Marathon on December 21st, 2009)