DVD Collectors Online

Mars Attacks!, a review by Jon

Mars Attacks!
3 out of 5

In a parody of classic 50s sci-fi, Tim Burton directs a stellar cast in a cartoony story of invaders from Mars.

Somewhere in the middle of this eccentric, wonderful mess from the back-to-front imagination of Tim Burton, there is Jack Nicholson giving a performance I think better than his Joker. No-one ever says so of course because it doesn't matter how brilliant someone is if it's lost in noise. And this film is noisy, incoherent, and yet, strangely flat. Still it holds together well enough to give us some outstanding moments and the storyline is as wacky as you could hope it to be. I love his martians!

The cast is huge and maybe that's one of the problems. Too many recognisable faces. I can't think of anyone letting the side down, but none of them have enough time to make a real mark. Alongside Nicholson, Rod Steiger, Annette Bening and Glenn Close are fantastic, while the kids (Lukas Haas and Natalie Portman) do fine with the most normal characters (and therefore the weakest).

Holds up just as well as Independence Day which came out the same year, simply because it knows how daft it is from the outset. The resolution actually makes more sense than Emmerich's all too serious version.

(From Jon's Random Reviews on January 30th, 2009)

Dead Above Ground , a review by addicted2dvd

Dead Above Ground (2002/United States) Lions Gate Home Entertainment Director: Chuck Bowman Writing: Stephen J. Cannell (Writer) Length: 90 min. Rating: Rated R : Violence and Language Video: Widescreen 1.78:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: None

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Stars:
Corbin Bernsen as Mark Mallory
Stephen J. Cannell as Mr. Hadden
Robert Conrad as Reed Wilson
Adria Dawn as Zara
Tony Denman as Bobby Monster Moley
Adam Frost as Chip Palmer

Plot:Extras:

• Scene Access
• Closed Captioned

This is one of the movies that was recently given to me. It is one I never even heard of before getting it. Going by the cover I didn't have to high expectations for it... but before popping the movie in I decided to check Youtube for the trailer. The trailer gave me some hope that I would enjoy it. But I was still a little cautious. I didn't really care for the opening effects. They just seemed a cheesy to me. But then the movie itself did a lot to be desired. I have seen worse horror movies... but this one has some pretty bad acting.... a bit over the top. The only one in the cast that even did a half way decent job is Corbin Bernsen... but he was only in the first 10 minutes of the movie! Really... this is nothing more then an average horror movie. At least I wasn't expecting much... so not really disappointed.




(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Unseen Horrors on July 22nd, 2011)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

Blackadder's Christmas Carol ()
Writer: Richard Curtis (Writer), Ben Elton (Writer)
Director: Richard Boden
Cast: Rowan Atkinson (Blackadders), Tony Robinson (Baldricks), Miranda Richardson (Queen Elizabeth I/Asphyxia XIX), Stephen Fry (Lord Melchett/Frondo), Hugh Laurie (Prince Regent/Pigmont), Robbie Coltrane (Spirit of Christmas), Miriam Margolyes (Queen Victoria), Jim Broadbent (Prince Albert), Patsy Byrne (Nursie/Bernard), Denis Lill (Beadle), Pauline Melville (Mrs Scratchit), Philip Pope (Lord Nelson), Nicola Bryant (Millicent), Ramsay Gilderdale (Ralph), David Barber (Enormous Orphan), Erkan Mustafa (Enormous Orphan), David Nunn (Enormous Orphan)

For the christmas marathon:
In this twist on the Christmas Carol tale, a good-hearted descendant of Blackadder learns the advantages of being evil by seeing flashbacks of his ancenstors. Through these we get to meet the characters of Blackadder 2 and 3.
Although not as good as the episodes of the series itself, it is quite entertaining.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on December 6th, 2008)