Back on the crusade to bring more giant robots to the site and my choice this time is another blast from the past. Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs was along with Macron-1 and Robotech, a staple of my early morning viewing when I was a child.
The show is your basic futuristic western. The Star Sheriffs protect the New Frontier from Outriders, vapour beings from another dimension. Because they turn into a puddle of vapour when shot, there’s a lot of killing of bad guys which wasn’t something you’d see in many other shows of the time. Their boss Nemesis even goes as far as getting his forces to kidnap all the Wilderbeasts (think buffalo) just because he thought it would amuse him. How can you not love a bad guy with so much power he invades another dimension and kidnaps an entire species just for fun (oh and he’s voice by Peter G1 Optimus Prime Cullen).
After what seems like a very long wait Iron Man 2 is finally out. I was very surprised with the first film. If there are two things I have never really got they are Robert Downey Jr and Iron Man.
I don’t know what it is that has never really worked for Downey, but is has certainly re-established himself since Iron Man came out. He can carry off the narcissistic Tony Stark like no one else, and is definitely fun to watch.
The concept of Iron Man itself is one of those comics that passed me by. Of course I know of Iron Man, and a basic understanding of the story but beyond that I really don’t know how Iron Man fits into the Marvel universe. Some of that history is coming out in this film, along with references to other films in production. I counted three, but I might have missed something.
So how does this one stand-up? In short it has its moments, but overall it does not have the same feel or impact of the first.
Finally got the chance to see Kick-Ass and I was not disappointed. I have had my eye on this for a long time, ever since it was initially announced and was uncertain who would actually pick it up and run with it.
There is no doubt it would take a brave producer to pick up this film. It could go either way, and if it did go bad it would go very bad. Fortunatly this film does not go bad, it actually brings something new to the ‘Superhero’ genre that I really enjoyed.
This is a bleak film, and the middle is actually very hard to watch. It deals with how hard it would be to just be an average person who stands up and says they will not take it any more. (more…)
It’s funny how some things work out. I was battered into buying Dragon Age Origins by multiple friends telling me I’d love it. Turns out my friends know me too well. I’ve spent longer playing it than most of them and only Disgaea 3 has cost me more of my life (well apart from when I was young and games didn’t track how long you played them).
Anyway, the first thing about Dragon age: Origins is the choices available. You have the usual choice between 3 races, humans, elves and Dwarves and 3 classes, Warriors, Rogues and Mages (unless you’re a Dwarf) and there’s plenty of customization to be done once you pick.
Initially you play through one of 6 different origins stories depending on your race and class. From here on the real choices that affect the whole Dragon Age world begin.
Computer animation must be a very hard field to be in. There is one company that dominates it and everything you do will be held up in comparison and rejected as not being good enough. Not because your work is bad, it is probably amazing. But compared to what Pixar do, it’s worthless.
Out now is “Cloudy with a chance of meatballs”, the latest home release from Dreamworks Sony/Columbia. Their work keeps getting better and better, the last film (Monsters vs Aliens) is probably the best they have done. But there very best just does not compare to the standard set. Gaff-tastic: My fault! I even laughed out loud when they showed the classic Columbia title screen that has brought me so much joy over the years, should have remembered that.
Cloudy is a great film, we all laughed out loud at various bits. The voice acting is top notch, the story is a lot of fun, the animation is excellent. But somehow its missing something… (more…)
Up until two weeks ago my favourite game of 2009 was definitely, and without doubt Batman: Arkham Asylum. This is the Batman game I have been waiting twenty years to play. It has absolutely everything you can want in a Batman game and the best production of a game you can hope for. All of the artistic elements are there that make Batman a thoughtful super hero, as well as some of the best voice acting I have ever heard in a game. All that before we even get onto the game play and story.
All of these things should make this the best games? Until two weeks ago you were right and I was ready to fight to preserve it as the best game I played all year. But all that has changed. While it is still the high point for me in terms of stealth/action/super hero games there is now one game that does all of that, but only much better. (more…)
This film can really only be described as a master piece of film making that it seems only a few directors are able to pull off.
Lets not mince words here, Avatar is a brilliant film! There, it is said! This is an epic film in every way, from the grand story to the amazing vistas, right through to the stunning technology they have used to create this marvel. The majority of this film is computer generated but in such a life like and detailed way it is hard to see where the computer generation ends and the real people begin. I was very impressed with the similarity between the real actors and their avatars. It just leant a little more to the life like quality of the animation work.
This is a long film (3 hours) but not only does it not feel that long, there isn’t really any fluff that can be trimmed away. Every scene has something it needs to get across to you and where there was a chance to remove a scene it was taken. As a result the film is long but moves at a good pace all the way through. In fact there were a number of scenes where I wanted it to slow a little so I could take in the stunning backgrounds and the details of the world. This will be a very rewarding film to watch at home, not only will you get to hear James Cameron’s take on it, but you will get to really take in the details. I get the feeling the directors cut (if there is one) will be longer.
A lot has been made about this films eco ethics, to be honest I did not feel it. I can see why people would say it has an eco message to tell you, but I never felt it was rammed down my throat. It was more realistic than that. A planet has a mineral people want, they turn up and want to destroy the planet and its people because they don’t give a toss. Any corporation would do that, especially if that planet is six years into deep space.
Confession
I did not see this film in 3D, I wish I had. Even though it has been out for two weeks the 3D showing was completely full (I have never seen that before). There is a very good chance I will be going back just so I can see it in 3D. There are various parts of the film that will really reward you for it, and there was only one moment where I thought it was gratuitously used but you have to forgive every 3D film at least one cheap shot.
Conclusion
Go and see this film, it is as amazing as you have been lead to believe!
One of the first robot anime I ever saw was Macron 1, shown rediculously early (5am) on the Super Channel back in the 80s. Of course I didn’t know it was an anime then. To me it was a cartoon with fighter jets that combined into a robot or more often, just docked into the legs and chest of an even larger super robot MacStar (GoShogun) that fired beams from its eyes, had a Photon Battle Axe, and Sword and a gigantic Bazooka that fired a huge energy beam, not to mention it’s trademark lazer bombardment (GoFlasher).
Accompanying the awesomeness of being one of the first super robot shows I saw, it was given a soundtrack comprised of covers of then contemporary music. To this day I still hear the voices of Kathy and Jason as they shoot robotic skeleton warriors whenever I hear “Hit me with your best shot”. Other 80s songs covered included Beat It, The Reflex, Electric Avenue and more.
At this point I will admit that Goshogun isn’t particularly well loved in Japan but they had had Mazinger Z and countless other super robot shows. Us UK cable TV viewers had Transformers, Voltron, Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, Macron-1 and Robotech and I’m not sure that some of those weren’t after Macron-1 (my memory sucked when I was 7 too). Anyway, I loved and still love robot shows and being one of so few I saw in my highly impressionable youth definitely helped make this all the more memorable.
I entirely missed the first installment of this series. I have never been a great fan of the “Call of Duty” games, I always preferred the “Battlefield” series. I have always preferred the more open aspect of that series over the tightly scripted world of COD. I have also never been a huge fan of WWII games, they are interesting but I get the feeling they are unnecessarily limited (hence my enjoyment of jumping into a tank in Battlefield).
But I was in a supermarket, there was the last copy of the game in the shop and it was cheap, so I picked it up. Nikobe is always telling me what a great game it is. I liked the idea of the various perks in the game, not only the ones like the gunship but the ones that beef-up the useless players in the game seeing as that is the area I live in.
I know this is not going to win me any friends (and maybe the ire of the fan boys) but I can’t say I am impressed. (more…)
Over the weekend I got the chance to see “District 9” but what I can’t tell you is whether I enjoyed it?
This is technically a very good film, the CG work is outstanding and the plot is good. The film is shot like a documentary at the start, talking about various events like the arrival of the ship 20 years earlier, and how once we eventually got inside they found it filled with aliens. A camp is created, and the aliens are basically left there. Coming back to the present the camp is almost a prison, squalid and over run with crime.
Various groups are exploiting the aliens for their own ends and we are introduced to Wikus, a mostly useless middle manager for the company in charge of looking after the aliens. The style continues as we follow him around the camp doing the dirty work of the corporation.
Thoughts
This is a very good film, I would recommend you go and see it. Did I really enjoy it.. I don’t know, it was not bad. I can see how it could become an important film in this genre. It did manage the most important thing which is to make you think, and discuss what you have seen.
I will see it again, but I don’t feel the need to to go the cinema to do it.
If there is one anime I want to be released on blu-ray that won’t be in the UK or US for a long time if ever, it is 2008′s Macross Frontier, my next choice would be the 2009 remake of Mazinger Z.
Mazinger Z is the original, big giant robot piloted by a human. A world without Mazinger Z is unimaginable. And now, the king of big giant robots is back in this hi-def re-telling and it is seriously awesome. From the adrenalin pumping intro you know you are in for a treat and it does not disappoint in the action stakes.
The first episode blew me away, it dumps you straight in the middle of the fight to end all fights. I have to admit, I haven’t seen all of the original Mazinger Z and while I marked out like mad as everyone I recognized appeared in the first episode, I still didn’t know everyone and was left thinking there is no way anyone could just pick this up. Then the episode ended, without finishing the epic battle and without telling us how we got to this point. I was hooked, I wanted more, much more. (more…)
Just released on XBox live is “Trials HD” a very well done motorbike trials game. After getting the demo I was hooked on this game. Its instant fun factor is evident from the start, and while it initially appears very simple it is actually surprisingly hard to master.
But this game threw me back to one of my most favorite games of all time, and game I played when often over 15 years ago on my ZX Spectrum. That classic game was called Kikstart, and it has more than a passing resemblance to this new title on the XBox.
With a pedigree like that, how could I resist buying it? (more…)
On Sideswipes recommendation, and to celebrate nikobe’s birthday we saw G.I. Joe. We all agreed Sideswipe was right, as long as you don’t think too hard its a great action-fest that is definitely worth checking out.
But if there is one thing better than that, its the Ballard of G.I. Joe
The premise for the film is quiet simple. Set in a dystopia future a mystery disease has killed the majority of the population. All looked lost for humanity until “Gene Co” offers a solution, they will replace your organs and save your life… for a fee. But there is no problem if you can’t pay now, you can pay on credit. Through the intro to the film it explains the company forced through new laws that made it possible to repossess the organs if the borrower could no longer pay.
I have to admit the opening to this film made me smile, largely because I can see how it would be entirely feasible for this to happen, big business is in the habit of making laws that are not good for the populous, so why not take back their organs? they don’t own them?
This film had a lot of promise, but staring Paris Hilton can it really work? She is not renowned for her glittering acting skill. (more…)
The official poster for G.I. Joe does the job but I'd have had Baroness and Scarlett much more prominent...
G.I. Joe, or Action Force and then G.I. Joe the Action Force as it was known in the UK back in the day has it’s first film out and it’s suffered a lot of negative press and I have to set the record straight here.
It is an excellent popcorn film
You read that right. This film is not without its faults and I’ll get on to those later but first and foremost, this is a fun film. Well paced action that really deserves to have a sequel (which is cleverly set up at the end). Seriously, that Transformers Revenge of the Fallen is one of the top 10 movies of all time and this has been somewhat a failure is a mystery of the highest level.
The Machine Girl. A film you sould probably see.. but I don't know why
I was lucky enough to be given this film for a birthday present by BGR’s very own Sideswipe. I have just finished watching it, and I feel that I must immediately blog about it.
Now I love B-movies, I can enjoy a good gore film (if it has a purpose), I relish in a totally surreal adventure. But when you read on the front of the box “A film so incredibly outrageous that it couldn’t possibly exist…” I start to get a little worried. I have the distinct feeling there is so little content for the marketing guys to talk about they have to resort to making claims. (more…)
Just out (in the UK at least) is Watchmen on Blu-Ray. It is shameful to admit but I have never read the comic and I missed the film at the cinema (double shame.. I’m sorry) but I have been waiting for the release on Blu-Ray and I can tell you my wait was not in vein.
I’m not going to review the film, there are plenty of other sites out there who have done a great job. They know the story a lot better than me, so I will let them do it. All I will say is this is a great film, subtle and nuanced, that is more to do with the source than it is the quality of the production, but that is not a let down either. All in all a great film, very well done.
I wanted to look at the technical side of the release. What is included and how does the disk stack up in our new HD world. (more…)
Street Fighter: The Legend of Fail, I mean Chun Li
The second official live action film based on the Street Fighter video games is possibly the most mediocre action film I have ever seen.
That said, I will buy it on blu-ray just for the awesomeness of Balrog.
There’s an awful lot wrong with this film from a Street Fighter fan’s point of view but as a stand alone film it’s not bad, just average, from the competant but not great fights to the glory of Balrog and an RPG which really sums up a lot about this film, it shouldn’t really have been called Street Fighter at all really.
Of course there’s also the question, how does it compare to the original live action film?
Due to friends with good contacts and one of the best Transformer websites http://www.transformertoys.co.uk I was privileged to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen at a special FDA screening at the Odeon cinema in Leicester Square on Friday 12th June. I would have reviewed it sooner but this was an invite only screening and there was a blackout on mentioning it in public until today.
The film was more of the same, the stuff that made the first film awesome is all here and the weak points from the first film are all still here. I’m not going to go into much detail here but there will be some mild spoilers but nothing you probably couldn’t have guessed but don’t read on if you really don’t wanna know.
I finished reading Bret Hitman Hart’s autobiography today. As expected of The Excellence of Execution, it was excellent. This book is full of so many great little stories that seem crazy but somehow all too believable. I’m probably too biased in favour of Bret to know if it’s him hyping himself when he talks of other wrestlers congratulating him on his work as a wrestler but from what I saw in my youth and in his DVD boxset, I can’t see why they wouldn’t. I really recommend it to anyone interested in what life at the bottom and at the top of Wrestling used to be like. His tours of all over the world make for excellent reading in a similar way to Chris Jericho’s book which may be more entertaining than this but lacked the amazing drama that went on during Bret’s career (no offense Chris, you are still my favourite wrestler of this generation and wrote a great book). Anyway, you should know that this book is Highly recommended for anyone that grew up watching wrestling in the 80s or 90s.
As a child of the 80s, it was an amazing read for me as Bret was always one of my favourites. (more…)
I have been a fan of Luc Besson for a long time now, ever since I first saw “Léon” so many years a go. He is also responsible for the best value I have ever had at the cinema, watching “The Fifth Element” for just £1 can not be beaten in my view (as well as it being one of my favorite Sci-Fi films).
Unfortunately I have managed to miss all three “Transporter” films at the cinema, but I have certainly enjoyed them at home. I was initially sceptical about Jason Statham in this role having only previously seen him in “Lock, Stock, and two smoking barrels”. But how wrong can you be? he has proved himself again and again (especially in “Crank” that I have only just seen, but will be seeing the next one when its released). He combines excellent skill, with humor and fantastic acting. Making him always a joy to watch. So the stage is set. You have some great cast, a great writer/director team, and an established character that is quiet flexible in what can be done. Does he manage to pull it off?
To me it was a cartoon with fighter jets that combined into a robot or more often, just docked into the legs and chest of an even larger super robot MacStar (GoShogun) that fired beams from its eyes, had a Photon Battle Axe, and Sword and a gigantic Bazooka that fired a huge energy beam, not to mention it’s trademark lazer bombardment (GoFlasher).
If there is one anime I want to be released on blu-ray that won’t be in the UK or US for a long time if ever, it is 2008′s Macross Frontier, my next choice would be the 2009 remake of Mazinger Z.
I finished reading Bret Hitman Hart’s autobiography today. As expected of The Excellence of Execution, it was excellent. This book is full of so many great little stories that seem crazy but somehow all too believable. I’m probably too biased in favour of Bret to know if it’s him hyping himself when he talks of other wrestlers congratulating him on his work as a wrestler but from what I saw in my youth and in his DVD boxset, I can’t see why they wouldn’t. I really recommend it to anyone interested in what life at the bottom and at the top of Wrestling used to be like. His tours of all over the world make for excellent reading in a similar way to Chris Jericho’s book which may be more entertaining than this but lacked the amazing drama that went on during Bret’s career (no offense Chris, you are still my favourite wrestler of this generation and wrote a great book). Anyway, you should know that this book is Highly recommended for anyone that grew up watching wrestling in the 80s or 90s.