What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

[saltysam]

The Expendables 2.5/5

Not getting worried yet

Rambo 2/5

Rambo blu-ray 3/5

The correct rating for Rambo is 4.5/5, of course.

.

Aren't i allowed,on a second viewing to upgrade/downgrade a rating then? i've done that many times, Ip Man comes to mind recently. Expendables is decent,i'll get the blu-ray but there's something missing....namely it's a bit...average.

[HungFist]

The Expendables 2.5/5

Not getting worried yet

Rambo 2/5

Rambo blu-ray 3/5

The correct rating for Rambo is 4.5/5, of course.

.

Aren't i allowed,on a second viewing to upgrade/downgrade a rating then? i've done that many times, Ip Man comes to mind recently. Expendables is decent,i'll get the blu-ray but there's something missing....namely it's a bit...average.

Of course you are. That wasn't my point. My point was that the 2.5/5 rating for The Expendables came from someone who also gave the same rating for Rambo. I believe most people here rated Rambo 4/5 or 4.5/5.

[Yi-Long]

Yeah, I'd rate Rambo about 4/5, although obviously purely in the category of pure hardcore actionflick. I'm not saying it's a 'great movie', but it IS a great 'action movie'. If that makes sense.

[Markgway]

Yeah, I'd rate Rambo about 4/5, although obviously purely in the category of pure hardcore actionflick. I'm not saying it's a 'great movie', but it IS a great 'action movie'. If that makes sense.

Surprisingly it does.

[bradavon]

Perfect sense. You need to categorise action movies differently. I'd never use the word masterpiece for one though because for me the word just doesn't fit and is also really overused as it is.

[romerojpg]

Perfect sense. You need to categorise action movies differently. I'd never use the word masterpiece for one though because for me the word just doesn't fit and is also really overused as it is.

Depends on how many films you think are a masterpiece only a few for me, so a I don't use it very often not this year so far that's for sure, nothing close to that good.


Still I can see Expendables for what it is, stupid, dumb and fluff, I was in the mood for it and allowed it to wash over me mind you I would only give it 3.5 out of 5, but hell it did the job.

It made me order some oldies I aint seen for a while, like Dolph Lundgren's classic Dark Angel for £3 I have never got round to buying that, cannot wait to see it after 15 years I think! I think I am on a classy old fun dvd buy now.

[HungFist]

Perfect sense. You need to categorise action movies differently.

Rubbish and genre racism. Action movies can easly be brilliant movies.

Besides, how can you then tell which movie is better if you rate two movies 4/5 and one is scored on normal movie scale and the other on who knows what scale?

For me, it's the same scale for all movies. I can have some understanding for your idea though. With my Nikkatsu roman porno list showing an average rating of 1.9/5 (and I do try to pick up movies that show promise) I sometimes wonder if it's fair to score these movies on the same scale as the other films. But then, there's movies on that list that deserve a 4.5/5 rating by any scale (Love Hotel being a good example. Roman Porno it may be, but the cinematography is stunning, the actors are excellent and the screenplay is absolutely magnificent...). So it wouldn't make any sense if I gave some crappy sex film 4.5/5 just because it's a pink film, and then what should I give to Love Hotel which is same genre but true cinematic excellence.

[HungFist]

The Atlantis Interceptors (Italy, 1983) – 4/5
The mythical Atlantis rises from the sea and its people return to the world… and they drive motorcycles. Cannibal Holocaust director Ruggero Deodato’s post apocalypse sci-fi action is one of the holy grails of Italian genre cinema. A small group of Vietnam veterans and scientists fight for their existence when the ancient civilization attempts to restore their glory. Why do the people of Atlantis have machine guns, motorcycles, punk hair, and generally look like runaways from Walter Hill’s The Warriors is beyond anyone’s guess. More brain puzzles are served on the way (approximately 217 shots of a helicopter flying around a boat in one scene), as well as relatively successful albeit completely nonsensical mystery and adventure storyline that no doubt was inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark. Problems are solved with much higher caliber tools, though, with the protagonist’s assault rifle, seemingly blessed with unlimited ammo, being a standout. Despite the small budget Deodato has managed an impressive amount of action, with the last 35 minutes being almost non-stop shoot outs and helicopter vs. bus battles.


(sorry for pic flood, these are just such fucking cool movies I can't help myself)

[romerojpg]

The Atlantis Interceptors sounds pretty fun to me, trash and we know but, but fun trash. Dont think I have seen too many Ruggero Deodato films, I think I only own one, but you know what you are gonna get

[bradavon]

Rubbish and genre racism. Action movies can easly be brilliant movies.

Racism? Learn what the word means. A film isn't a race. No one said action films cannot be brilliant but they virtually never go to the heightened levels most other genres do in acting, intelligence, characterisation etc... Note I said virtually never. Dark Knight gets close but even then I can name countless drama films that have far more of the above.

esides, how can you then tell which movie is better if you rate two movies 4/5 and one is scored on normal movie scale and the other on who knows what scale?

I use the same rating scale but assume people will realise this is an action film and not some Oscar worthy drama. Not that Oscar is a particularly great award but you know what I mean when I use it. Not that I like 5 star ratings, it's far too small a scale.

Parts of Sex and Fury look fantastic. I definitely rate it's cinematography but as a film it's pretty rubbish. The acting is rubbish, the plot very flimsy etc...

[HungFist]

Haha, Romero, you do know the best known edition of Atlantis Interceptors is a Swedish VHS, right? I can imagine your eyes exploding just from the thought of it...

You kids should watch more VHS transfers to get your values right

Brad, as for Sex and Fury I think you should give it the rating you think it deserves as compared to Oscar winners. I rate it 4.5/5 and yes, I really can't think of many Oscar winners that are as good movies as Sex and Fury. But you know all this already. Each to his own.

[romerojpg]

Ahh shame no DVD is out there of The Atlantis Interceptors I have not fired up my VHS player for quite a few years now, still you would expect most films to be out on DVD somewhere in the world, especially a fairly notorious and fairly well known director like him.

[Yi-Long]

To Kill a Mockingbird 4/5

Just watched this old classic for the very first time. Had heard good things about it and had planned on watching it sooner, but never had the chance before (a couple of weeks it was scheduled to be on TV but they somehow didn't broadcast it, so they aired it tonight)

Didn't really know what to expect going in, having never read the book and all, so I was pleasantly surprised. gregory Peck probably plays the role of his lifetime, the kids were good, as were the rest of the supporting cast. It was also mature enough to go for the now well-known 'Hollywood' ending, instead having a nice bitter-sweet one instead, which makes it all the more powerfull for it and still leaves you with some questions.

Everything was pretty damn near perfect. Nice pacing, good editing, good cinematography, nice 'scary' scenes, and obviously a good story. Well worth a watch for anyone who hasn't yet seen it.

[Markgway]

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

More enjoyable than I expected, but still frantic and overblown.
Some clever scripting, but purists will balk at the reinventions.
Flawed, but worth a watch.

[grim_tales]

I enjoyed it, it was good fun

[romerojpg]

It was SHIT. Dire plot, cast and action.

[Markgway]

The Expendables **

Disappointed is the word.
Let's see... atrocious dialogue (much of it inaudible due to mumbling, thick accents, and poor sound mixing)
Wooden acting (Stallone can't even move his facial muscles anymore)
Action sequences ruined by shaky CLOSE UP camerawork and inept framing
CGI Blood (STOP with this shit!!)
Lack of nudity (two attractive women and neither gets their baps out)
Absence of plot (you know how they joke about scripts being written on the back of beer mats.... I think this one actually was)
Wasting of valuable cast members (Jet Li is too good a performer to be stuck as B-list sidekick)
Planet Hollywoood reunion (what a bust - looks like it was shot in 10 mins during someone's coffee break)
Also it was LOUD. Incredibly. Fucking. LOUD. Like someone holding a cordless drill to your ear for 2 hrs.
The violence was sooooooo over-the-top as to be like that in a video game (genuine 80s movies were NOT like this). This maybe the most mindlessly, graphically violent action film I've ever seen with a '15' certificate. What insaniac thought this WASN'T a clear '18'?
They say they don't make 'em like they used to. They were right.

[romerojpg]

I didnt even think it was that violent at all.

Well maybe that was because of the awful editing just blending all them shots into one another they were pretty much insert shots done by second unit, in other words shots which they could have took out and made a nice clean PG13

[grim_tales]

I wanted to see it

[saltysam]

I wanted to see it

What's stopping you?

[gasteropod]

Also it was LOUD. Incredibly. Fucking. LOUD.

Yeah, the gunshots went right through me.

[romerojpg]

I wanted to see it

What's stopping you?

You beat me to it

If you care what people say that much, you would never go out the house

[Markgway]

I didnt even think it was that violent at all.

Right from the opening there's graphic R-rated bloodshed.
Thinking of the "warning shot" (actually the funniest bit in the movie)?
Most of the carnage is contained in the last half hour which is just wall-to-wall blood and bone-crunching brutality.
The gore content wasn't a million miles off Rambo (IV).
Limbs are hacked off with knives; *throats are stabbed and slashed; there's Terry Crews' supergun which literally blows henchman apart - in loving detail; arms and legs are smashed, necks are snapped, crushed.... everything else is blown up.
Really took me by surprise - with Rambo I expected it.

[bradavon]

The Expendables **

Surely you can say something similar about a lot of your points, that make The Expendables poor though?

Also it was LOUD. Incredibly. Fucking. LOUD. Like someone holding a cordless drill to your ear for 2 hrs.

Funnily enough. A mate said exactly the same thing.

[Markgway]

*throats are stabbed and slashed

Forgot to add this:

*The BBFC cut obviously occurs when Stallone stabs the rapist in the throat (after hacking off his hand). You can actually see the splice line.

Quite why those two secs were deemed beyond the pale I've no idea.... They could have made a hundred similar cuts.