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Phantoms, a review by Dragonfire

Phantoms

My Thoughts

I enjoy this movie overall, though the book it is based on is much better.  Too much has to be condensed or completely eliminated for the story to have the same feeling as the book.  The movie does have a creepy atmosphere and some decent action scenes.  The pace does move a little slower, which might bother some viewers.  There is more attention given to building suspense instead of just relying on special effects like some movies do.  The effects the are alright, though they aren't overly impressive, especially what is the major effect for the movie.  The plot is interesting even though it isn't as developed or strong as it was in the book.

I enjoy this movie even though the plot could have been stronger and more suspenseful.



I did get a review posted on Epinions if anyone wants to take a look.

Phantoms

(From Dragonfire's Halloween/Horror Marathon 2009 on October 2nd, 2009)

Supergirl , a review by Tom

Supergirl (1984/United Kingdom) IMDb | Wikipedia Anchor Bay Entertainment (United States) Director: Jeannot Szwarc Writing: David Odell (Screenwriter) Length: 138 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 1 Subtitles:

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Stars:
Faye Dunaway as Selena
Helen Slater as Supergirl/Linda Lee
Peter O'Toole as Zaltar
Mia Farrow as Alura
Brenda Vaccaro as Bianca

Plot:
When the planet Krypton was destroyed in a cosmic holocaust that claimed its great civilization, Kal-El (known to Earth as Superman) was believed to be the only survivor until now...

Safely hidden in the void of inner-space is the Kryptonian city of Argo -- saved by the scientist Zaltar (Peter O'Toole) and powered by the magical Omegahedron. But now the city's vital power source has been lost, and only one courageous person can retrieve it! Her name is Kara... on Earth she is known as Supergirl (Helen Slater). Standing in her way is the evil sorceress Selena (Faye Dunaway) who has taken control of the fantastic power source. With her now super-powered black magic, the villainess is bent upon nothing less than world-domination! Can Supergirl retrieve the Omegahedron before it is too late?

Supergirl features an all-star cast: Faye Dunaway, Peter O'Toole, Hart Bochner, Peter Cook, Mia Farrow, Brenda Vaccaro, Simon Ward, and Helen Slater as Supergirl.

This Director's Cut contains 24 minutes of long lost and recently rediscovered footage presented here for the very first time! Adventure soars higher than ever before!

Awards:
Nominated:

Golden Raspberry Awards (1984)		Worst Actor (Peter O'Toole)
Golden Raspberry Awards (1984)		Worst Actress (Faye Dunaway)
Saturn (1984)		Best Actress (Helen Slater)

Extras:

• Closed Captioned
• Scene Access

I haven't seen this movie for almost ten years. As I am currently doing a Superman marathon, I am watching it now after Superman III, which is when it was originally released.
I like Helen Slater is Supergirl very much. She is the only good thing in this movie. Herself a newcomer, she is the only one in this mess to give a good performance.
The story is bad, the direction even worse. The only scenes which I enjoyed are some of the Linda Lee scenes and Helen Slater as Supergirl.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on August 17th, 2011)

Smallville Marathon #2, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: By destroying Brainiac with the kryptonian knife, Clark opened the portal for Zod. Zod has taken over Lex's body and is now trying to conquer the world by removing its technology. And there's no one who can stop him, because Clark was banished to the Phantom Zone.

My Opinion: This was a great conclusion to the cliffhanger, although once again it could have lasted longer. I see the problem that if Clark would have remained longer in the Phantom Zone, Zod would have caused more havoc and probably more people would have seen him, which would be devastating for Lex. But still, two or three episodes would have been cool.
I find it funny that Aaron Ashmore is playing Jimmy Olsen, while his identical twin brother Shawn has been a recurring FotW in the early seasons, yet no one seems to see the resemblance.

Synopsis: Clark vigorously tries to repair the damage that has been caused by Zod. But even he gets exhausted at one point and his immune system was weakened due to his stay in the Phantom Zone. Clark has catched the "common" cold and now sneezes barn doors halfway across the county.
Meanhwile Lex gets abducted because some people want to find out how he has done the things he has done while he was being possessed by Zod.

My Opinion: They skipped that episode in the last season, probably because there aren't many abilities left and also probably because he has been human during a few episodes. When I first watched this episode I thought Oliver Queen would just be another adversary of Lex's, just as Victoria Hardwick or Jason Teague. How wrong I was.

BTW: When Justin Hartley (Oliver) smiles, don't you think that he has a striking resemblance to the young Ben Affleck?

Synopsis: Someone - or something - is killing a young woman near a make-out-zone and her friend has mysteriously vanished.  But then is found, but he dies at the hospital because a plant is growing out of his stomach. And this plant can hurt even Clark.

My Opinion: Instead of FotWs we will see beings from the Phantom Zone in this season. While I found this episode to be entertaining, I still think that Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan was the more interesting plant.

(From Smallville Marathon #2 on June 15th, 2008)