Thunderbirds Review (Updated)

Thunderbirds




Release Date: September 16th 2004 - Australia


Production Companies
Working Title Films (presents)
Studio Canal (presents)
Tracy Films (Uncredited)


Genre: Action

Rating: PG

Runtime: 95 minutes


Budget: $57,000,000

Box Office Gross: $28,283,637
(Worldwide)


Plot Summary
When dangerous situations
exceed the limitations or
ordinary military and
international security forces,
the world calls upon the high
-tech assistance of
International Rescue--a
mysterious band of fearless
adventurers and their fleet of
awesome, imaginatively
engineered vehicles known as:
Thunderbirds! Hidden from the
world, Tracy Island, a lush patch
of land situated in the remote
waters of the South Pacific, is
home to brilliant entrepreneur
and former astronaut Jeff Tracy
and his five sons. It is also the
headquarters of Tracy's top-
secret organization, International
Rescue - and it is under siege.
Master criminal The Hood has
breached island security, intent
on commandeering
International Rescue's fleet of five
highly advanced rescue vehicles,
each designed to accomplish a
specific task. Deploying Jeff and
his four eldest sons on a mission,
The Hood find his plans obstructed
by Jeff's youngest son Alan, who
will do anything to save the Tracy
family and the Thunderbirds.


Cast
Brady Corbet - Alan Tracy
Bill Paxton - Jeff Tracy
Vanessa Hudgens - Tintin
Anthony Edwards - Ray "Brains"
Hackenbacker
Ben Kingsley - The Hood
Sophia Myles - Lady Penelope
Phillip Winchester - Scott Tracy
Lex Shrapnel - John Tracy
Dominic Colenso - Virgil Tracy
Ben Togersen - Gordon Tracy
Soren Fulton - Fermat Hackenbacker
Rose Keegan - Transom
Ron Cook - Parker
Bhasker Patel - Kyrano

Crew
Director - Jonathan Frakes
Based on TV Series - Gerry & Sylvia Anderson
Story/Screenplay - William Osborne
Story - Peter Hewitt
Screenplay - Michael McCullers
Producers - Tim Bevan, Eric
Fellner & Mark Huffam
Production Designer - John Beard
Cinematography - Brendan Galvin
Special Vehicle Supervisor - Graham Kelly
Vehicle Designer - Mike Trim
Visual Effects Supervisors - Mike McGee
& Mark Nelmes
Film Editor - Martin Walsh
Music - Ramin Djawadi & Hans Zimmer



Review
I watched a few episodes of Gerry Anderson's classic Supermarionation TV series of THUNDERBIRDS as well as the first movie, but the live-action adaptation by director Jonathan Frakes did not live up to my expectations. I felt the movie adaptation was a bit silly but a lousy attempt to rip-off SPY KIDS since it only focuses on the younger cast members Alan, Tin-Tin and Fermat instead of the 5 Tracy brothers and worst of all is changing the Thunderbirds nemesis The Hood from a master of disguise to having strange powers. The only positive things that I find good are Sophia Myles performance as Lady Penelope and the emergency tea-pot.

THUNDERBIRDS is a no-go for the fans and might appeal to those who were unfamiliar with the original classic show but could have been a more faithful live-action film adaptation that might include a better story-line.

Star rating: (3/5) Average

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Review (Updated)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal 
Skull




Release Date: May 22nd 2008 - Australia


Production Companies
Paramount Pictures
Lucasfilm Ltd

Distribution 
Paramount Pictures Australia


Genre: Action/Adventure

Rating: M


Runtime: 122 minutes


Budget: $185,000,000

Box Office Gross: $786,636,033
(Worldwide)




Plot Summary
Famed archaeologist/adventurer
Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones is
called back into action when he
becomes entangled in a Soviet
plot to uncover the secret
behind mysterious artifacts known
as the Crystal Skulls.



Cast
Harrison Ford - Indiana Jones
Shia LaBeouf - Mutt Williams
Cate Blanchett - Irina Spalko
Karen Allen - Marion Ravenwood
Ray Winstone - George "Mac" McHale
John Hurt - Harold "Ox" Oxley
Jim Broadbent - Dean Charles Stanforth

Crew
Director - Steven Spielberg
Based on Characters/Story/Executive
Producer - George Lucas
Based on Characters - Philip
Kaufman
Story - Jeff Nathanson
Screenplay - David Koepp
Producer - Frank Marshall
Production Designer - Guy Hendrix
Dyas
Costume Designer - Mary Zophres
Director of Photography - Janusz
Kaminski
Whip Trainer - Anthony De Longis
Stunt Coordinator - Gary Powell
Film Editor - Michael Kahn
Visual Effects Supervisor/Aerial Unit Director -
Pablo Helman
Supervising Sound Editor/Designer - Ben
Burtt
Music - John Williams


Review
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL may have brought back the archaeologist hero to the big screen but unfortunately it feels like sci-fi and so does the ending which takes away the mystical concept that the 3 previous Indiana Jones movies had. I find the scene where Indiana hides in a fridge to escape from a nuclear blast to be quite impossible but funny and I loved the funniest scene where he refuses to grab the rat-snake while he's sinking in dry-sand. The acting was great especially Harrison Ford who still did a splendid job for playing the title character that he has returned to do since THE LAST CRUSADE (click here) and even newcomers such as Shia LaBeouf and Cate Blanchett. For those who have seen the Indiana Jones films will find the latest to be the weakest link of the series at least it still has terrific action and a little bit of the trilogy's flavor.


Star rating: (3/5) Average

Official Website

Click Review

Click




Release Date: June 22nd 2006 - Australia


Production Companies

Columbia Pictures Corporation (presents)

Revolution Studios (presents)

Happy Madison Productions

Original Film

Distribution

Sony Pictures Australia

Genre: Comedy

Rating: M

Runtime: 97 minutes

                100 minutes (extended version)

Budget: $82,500,000

Box Office Gross: $237,681,299

(Worldwide)

Plot Summary

The architect Michael Newman

has a typical middle-class family

with his lovely and gorgeous wife

Donna and their son Ben and

daughter Samantha, and a

constant visit of his parents.

However, Michael is workaholic
and under stress, trying to satisfy
his boss with overwork and get

a partnership in his company,

giving priority to his work and

neglecting the family issues.

When the tired Michael goes to

a department store to buy an

universal remote control, he

rests on a bed and he meets

the weird salesman Morty that

offers him a remote control

capable of controlling his own

universe. Michael uses too much

and loses the control of the device,

having his own life controlled by

the remote control. Then Michael

sees the worthwhile parts of his

personal life he missed while

working, and in the end of his life

he lately concludes that the family
comes first.


Cast
Adam Sandler - Michael Newman
Kate Beckinsale - Donna Newman
Christopher Walken - Morty

David Hasselhoff - John Ammer

Henry Winkler - Ted Newman

Julie Kavner - Trudy Newman
Sean Astin - Bill

Joseph Castanon - Ben Newman

Tatum McCann - Samantha Newman
Jonah Hill - Teenage Ben
Lorraine Nicholson - Teenage Samantha
Jake Hoffman - Adult Ben

Katie Cassidy - Adult Samantha

Cameron Monaghan - Kevin O'Doyle

Rob Schieder - Prince Habeeeboo

(Cameo) (Uncredited)

James Earl Jones - Narrator/Himself
(Cameo) (Uncredited)

Crew

Director - Frank Coraci
Writers/Producers - Steve Koren &

Mark O'Keefe

Producers - Adam Sandler, Jack

Giarraputo & Neal H. Moritz

Co-Producer - Tania Landau

Production Designer - Perry Andelin

Blake

Special Make-Up Effects - Rick Baker

Director of Photography - Dean Semler

Film Editor - Jeff Gourson

Music - Rupert Gregson-Williams

Review
CLICK can be quite a funny movie from Adam Sandler but it also contains scenes which can bring a tear to your eye. There are humorous parts of the film which includes Sandler's character mistakenly congratulates the wrong kid instead of his own son. I kinda liked imaging the concept of what life would be like if you had the power of an universal remote to rewind, fast forward, pause, mute and slo-mo time. Oh my, what fun you could have! CLICK is such a enjoyable movie, one filled with constant laughs and postive energy from all actors.


Star rating: (5/5) Great Movie

Starchaser: The Legend of Orin Review (Updated)

Starchaser: The Legend of Orin




Release Date: August 21st 1986 - Australia




Production Companies
Young Sung Production Co.


Distribution
Filmways Australasian Distributors




Genre: Animation

Rating: M

Runtime: 107 minutes


Box Office Gross: $3,360,800 (Domestic)




Plot Summary
Set on the subterranean Mine-
World, a band of human workers
are treated like slaves under
the power of the evil overlord
Zygon until one, Orin, unearths
the hilt of a mythical sword that
only he can master. Escaping the
planet, he runs into the rogue
smuggler Dagg and a pair of helpful
droids and the princess, who all
team up to return to the Mine-
World with a plan to defeat Zygon
and free Orin's enslaved people.




Voice Cast
Joe Colligan - Orin
Carmen Argenziano - Dagg Dibrimi
Anthony De Longis - Zygon/Nexus
Noelle North - Elan/Aviana
Les Tremayne - Arthur
Daryl Bartley - Kallie
Tyke Caravelli - Silica
Tina Romanus - Aunt Bella


Crew
Producer/Director - Steven Hahn
Writer - Jeffrey Scott
Computer Animation Graphics - Patricia
Capozzi & Edith Fandrey
Film Editor/Sound Designer - Donald W.
Ernst
Electronic/Synthesized Sound Effects - Stan
Levine
Music - Andrew Belling



Review
STARCHASER: THE LEGEND OF ORIN is surprisingly yet one of the earliest animated features to use computer animation and the first to be shown in 3D. The first half of the film and the female android character was decent but I'm pretty disappointed that it rip-offed the Star Wars movies and had most of its elements such as a dark lord, a smuggler and even a princess. For those who haven't seen the movie will be better off watching Star Wars or other animated sci-fi-efforts such as TITAN A.E (click here), TREASURE PLANET (click here) and WALL.E (click here).

Star rating: (3/5) Average

Waterworld Review (Updated)

Waterworld


Release Date: September 14th 1995 - Australia




Production Companies
Universal Pictures (presents)
Gordon Company
Davis Entertainment
Licht/Mueller Film Corporation


Genre: Sci-Fi

Rating: M


Runtime: 135 minutes
                176 minutes (director's cut)


Budget: $175,000,000

Box Office Gross: $264,218,220
(Worldwide)


Plot Summary
In a future where Earth is
covered with water, the
human race struggles to
survive on dilapidated boats
and makeshift floating cities
called atolls. But some still
cling to legends of a
mythical place called "Dry-
land."Seeking clues to
its whereabouts, the evil
Deacon attacks the atoll
which houses young Enola
and her adoptive mother
Helen. When a mysterious
drifter/adventurer known as
the Mariner is caught up in
their struggle, he finds himself
catapulted into an explosive
war of good vs. evil with the
open sea as his battlefield.
Only later will he discover
Enola's wondrous secret
- a revelation that may
change the destiny of all
mankind.


Cast
Kevin Costner - The Mariner
Dennis Hopper - Deacon
Tina Majorino - Enola
Jeanne Tripplehorn - Helen
Michael Jeter - Old Gregor
Gerard Murphy - The Nord

Crew
Director - Kevin Reynolds
Writers - Peter Rader & Davod Twohy
Producers - Charles & Lawrence
Gordon, John Davis & Kevin Costner
Production Designer - Dennis Gassner
Costume Designer - John Bloomfield
Director of Photography - Dean Semler
Film Editor - Peter Boyle
Visual Effects Supervisor - Michael J.
McAlister
Digital Effects Supervisor: Boss Film
Studios - Sean Phillips
Music - James Newton Howard


Review
WATER-WORLD or as you might call it MAD MAX on water had a really good concept of Earth getting covered in water but there's one problem on the movie is that the story-line suffering from unexplained answers and even loose ends including the ending. The sets, action scenes and music score by James Newton Howard are all tremendous but Kevin Costner's performance as The Mariner was a fine job. I find the part where Costner's character turns his wee to drinking water to be very interesting and I should have known that Jack Black had a small role in the film. WATER-WORLD is not a bad movie, just horribly-edited which is why it wasn't as successful as could have been but it is enjoyable. The fans of WATER-WORLD will have to wait for the questions to be answered in the extended cut of the film.

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie

John Carter Review (Updated)

John Carter




Release Date: March 8th 2012 - Australia


Production Companies
Walt Disney Pictures (presents)

Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures Australia


Genre: Sci-Fi

Rating: M

Runtime: 132 minutes




Budget: $250,000,000

Box Office Gross: $282,778,100
(Worldwide)




Plot Summary
John Carter is transported from
19th century America to Mars
"Barsoom" to its residents
where he becomes embroiled
in a brutal civil war.


Cast
Taylor Kitsch - John Carter
Lynn Collins - Dejah Thoris
Samantha Morton - Sola
Willem Dafoe - Tars Tarkas
Thomas Haden Church - Tal Hajus
Mark Strong - Matai Shang
Ciaran Hinds - Tardos Mars
Dominic West - Sab Than
James Purefoy - Kantos Kan
Bryan Cranston - Colonel Powell
Polly Walker - Sarkoja
Daryl Sabara - Edgar Rice Burroughs

Crew
Screenplay/Director - Andrew Stanton
Based on Novel "A Princess of
Mars" - Edgar Rice Burroughs
Screenplay - Mark Andrews &
Michael Chabon
Producers - Lindsey Collins,
Jim Morris & Colin Wilson
Alien Language Developer -
Paul R. Frommer
Production Designer - Nathan Crowley
Costume Designer - Mates C. Rubeo
Director of Photography - Daniel Mindel
Visual Effects Supervisor - Peter Chiang
Character Design Supervisor -
John Rosengrant
Film Editor - Eric Zumbrunnen
Music - Michael Giacchino




Review
I never knew that JOHN CARTER could be quite a visual spectacle, now I realize it's a good sci-fi movie with plenty of visual effects. I certainly give thanks to its director Andrew Stanton who finally brought Edgar Rice Burroughs' first novel of the series to the big screen to what others failed to do in 81 years. The JOHN CARTER books influenced such filmmakers as George Lucas and James Cameron into making sci-fi features as the STAR WARS trilogy and AVATAR (click here). The film's 3D aspect is really something but I would say that the acting performances including Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Mark Strong and others are terrific. It's pretty bad that JOHN CARTER bombed at the box office and it is such a fine film, it really deserves a cult following right now from those who have read the books of CARTER and get a chance to see the movie.

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie

Official Website

Mission Impossible Review (Updated)

Mission Impossible

Release Date: June 26th 1996 - Australia

Production Companies

Paramount Pictures (presents)

Cruise/Wagner Productions

Distribution

Paramount Pictures Australia

Genre: Action

Rating: M

Runtime: 110 minutes

Budget: $80,000,000

Box Office Gross: $457,696,359

(Worldwide)

Plot Summary

Based on the hit T.V. series.

Jim Phelps was sent to

Prague for a mission to

prevent the theft of classified

material. His wife Claire and

trusted partner Ethan Hunt

were members of Phelps'

team. Unfortunately,

something went horribly

wrong and the mission failed,

leaving Ethan Hunt the lone

survivor. After he reported

the failed mission, Kettridge

the head if the agency

suspects Ethan of being the

culprit for the failed mission.

Now, Ethan uses unorthodox

methods (Which includes the

aid of an arms dealer going

by the name "Max") to try to

find who set him up and to

clear his name.

Cast

Tom Cruise - Ethan Hunt

Jon Voight - Jim Phelps

Emmanuelle Beart - Claire Phelps

Henry Czerny - Eugene Kittridge

Jean Reno - Franz Krieger

Ving Rhames - Luther Stickell

Kristin Scott Thomas - Sarah Davies

Vanessa Redgrave - Max

Ingeborga Dapkunaite - Hannah Williams

Karel Dobry - Matthias

Dale Dye - Frank Barnes

Emilo Estevez - Jack Harnon

(Uncredited)

Crew
Director - Brian de Palma

Based on Television Series - Bruce

Geller

Story/Screenplay - David Koepp

Story - Steven Zallian

Screenplay - Robert Towne

Producers - Tom Cruise & Paula

Wagner

Production Designer - Norman

Reynolds

Director of Photography - Stephen

H. Burum

Film Editor - Paul Hirsch

Visual Effects Supervisor - John Knoll

& Richard Yuricich

Writer: Theme from Mission Impossible

- Lalo Schifrin

Perfomers/Producers: Theme from

Mission Impossible - Larry Mullen Jr. &

Adam Clayton

Music - Danny Elfman

Review
Although the first of the four movies MISSION IMPOSSIBLE is a unforgettable spy movie that has a really clever if not deceptive story-line. It is a blend of spy stylised espionage action mixed with humour and romance and is brilliantly directed by Brian de Palma. I can say that there are things of the movie I praise is the acting of Tom Cruise and Jon Voight who both delivered their roles with such conviction and enthusiasm and the final but fantastic action sequence which involves a chopper and a train. M:I1 was a great movie but not as good as the recent Mission Impossible movie GHOST PROTOCOL (click here) they are in talks of making a fifth Impossible movie which would star Cruise and Simon Pegg and Brad Bird might not be directing it.

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie

In Memory of Ralph McQuarrie 1929-2012

Ralph McQuarrie (1929-2012)



Hey this is Film Guru Lad here I've got some sad
news for Star Wars fans they might want to hear,
Ralph McQuarrie the man responsible for doing
the concept illustrations of the original trilogy of
Star Wars as well as designing the characters of
Darth Vader, C3PO, R2-D2, Boba Fett and
Chewbacca has passed away at the age of 82.
He was born on Gary, Indiana, US and then moved
to California during the 60s. He once worked as a
technical illustrator for Boeing as well designing
film posters and others. In 1975 he was
commissioned by Director George Lucas to
illustrate the scenes as well as doing the characters
for the first STAR WARS movie A NEW HOPE
which leads right up to two sequels THE EMPIRE
STRIKES BACK and RETURN OF THE JEDI.
McQuarrie also did the concept art for other movies
such as CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD
KIND, E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL,
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, COCOON
(Which won him an Oscar for Best Visual Effects)
and others. He also did the illustration on the original
TV series of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. He
retired doing his concept design and his artwork can
been seen through art exhibitions or even his official
website CLICK HERE.

Grown-Ups Review (Updated)

Grown-Ups 

Release Date: June 24th 2010 - Australia

Production Companies

Happy Madison Productions

Relativity Media

Distribution

Sony Pictures Australia

Genre: Comedy

Rating: M

Runtime: 102 minutes

Budget: $70-80,000,000

Box Office Gross: $271,430,189

(Worldwide)

Plot Summary

In 1978, five 12-year-olds win a

CYO basketball championship.

Thirty years later, they gather

with their families for their
coach's funeral and a weekend
at a house on a lake where
they used to party. By now,
each is a grownup with
problems and challenges:
Marcus is alone and drinks
too much. Rob, with three
daughters he rarely sees, is
always deeply in love until 

he turns on his next ex-wife.
Eric is overweight and out of
work. Kurt is a househusband,
henpecked by wife and mother
-in-law. Lenny is a successful
Hollywood agent married to a
fashion designer; their kids
take privilege for granted.
Can the outdoors help these
grownups rediscover
connections or is this chaos
in the making?

Cast

Adam Sandler - Lenny "Hollywood" Feder
Salma Hayek - Roxanne Chase-Feder

Jake Goldberg - Greg Feder

Cameron Boyce - Keithie Feder

Alexys Nycole Sanchez - Becky Feder

Kevin James - Eric Lamonsoff

Maria Bello - Sally Lamonsoff

Ada-Nicole Sanger - Donna Lamonsoff
Frank & Morgan Gingerich - Bean
Lamonsoff

Chris Rock - Kurt McKenzie

Maya Rudolph - Deanne McKenzie

Nadji Jeter - Andre McKenzie

China Anne McClain - Charlotte Mc

Kenzie

Ebony Jo-Ann - Mama Ronzoni

Rob Schneider - Rob Hillard

Joyce Van Patten - Gloria Hillard

Madison Riley - Jasmine Hillard

Jamie Chung - Amber Hillard

Ashley Loren - Bridget Hillard

David Spade - Marcus "Higgy" Higgins

Blake Clark - Coach

Colin Quinn - Dickie Bailey

Steve Buscemi - Wiley

Crew

Director - Dennis Dugan

Writer/Producer - Adam Sandler

Writer - Fred Wolf

Producer - Jack Giarraputo

Cinematography - Theo van de Sande

Film Editor - Tom Costain

Music - Rupert-Gregson Williams

Review
GROWN-UPS is such a absolute fantastic movie that is packed with laughter scene after scene. No wonder it pulled in lot of comedic stars such as Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Rob Scheider, Chris Rock, David Spade and most importantly Steve Buscemi. The famous crew are well renown for their work with their films of Happy Madison and I heard about TV Tropes that GROWN-UPS is basically the comedy version of THE EXPENDABLES which somewhat amazes me. I loved the two amusing parts that were included in GROWN-UPS which is the little girl wants to get chocolate wasted and the muscle man at the water-park who has a really funny voice.

It may not be like the other Adam Sandler movies or compared to HAPPY GILMORE (click here) but this has been his finest work for quite some time and it's still my favorite.

Star rating: (5/5) Best Movie Ever

Vuk: The Little Fox Review (Updated)

Vuk: The Little Fox




Release Date: December 10th 1981 - Hungary

Production Companies

Pannonia Filmstudio

Genre: Animation/Family

Rating: G

Runtime: 76 minutes




Plot Summary
Vuk (Vic in the English
Version), the little fox
lives happily among his
many siblings in their
parents' home. As he
is livelier and snappier
than the others, one day
he wanders into the forest
alone. As soon as he arrives
home, he discovers that his
whole family has
disappeared. Only later,
he comes to know that
the responsible are the
feared humans, the
hunters (called among
animals the bare-skins').

But luckily for Vuk, his
old uncle Karak starts
to patronize him, and the
seasoned elder brings
Vuk up to be the most
cunning and successful fox
in the forest.

Voice Cast: English Version

Nancy Cartwright - Young Vuk
Steven R. Weber - Adult Vuk

John Bellucci - Kug/Narrator

Anne Costello - Iny/Additional
Voices

Tony Pope - Karak
Tara Strong - Foxy
George Gonneau - Hunter

Crew

Screenplay/Character Designer/

Director - Attila Dargay

Based on Novel - Istvan Fekete

Screenplay/Production Leader -

Istvan Imre

Screenplay - Ede Tarbay

Cinematography - Iren Henrik

Film Editors - Janos Czipauer &

Magda Hap

Music - Peter Wolf


Review
The animation of VUK: THE LITTLE FOX was a bit like anime but the only thing that lives up to this Hungarian movie is the story. The film does have a lot of sad and funny moments such as where Vuk finds out that his family is dead and the two drunk geese. I'm very surprised that VUK came out in the same year as the another fox cartoon made by Disney THE FOX AND THE HOUND which fortunately doesn't include any similarities to it. Unfortunately this is a very hard movie to track down due to it being a foreign film but for those keen to watch it, you can find it on YouTube (click here).

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie