Aliens (1986)

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henrikson, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein, William Hope

Certificate: 18

Genre: Action, Sci Fi, Horror

Awards: Best visual effects, Best sound effects

Aliens is set 57 years after the original Alien. Ellen Ripley (Weaver) has been in stasis for the whole time. When she wakes up, she learns that the planet they found the xenomorph on has now been colonised and  the company has now lost contact with the colony. Oh dear...

Ripley and a group of marines then enter the colony to see what's up. The battle between Alien and human then begins.

Aliens is a very different pace compared to Alien. Aliens is a war film and is more about facing the aliens than the actual horror. It is still quite intense however, such as when Ripley and Newt (Henn) are locked in a room with face huggers. It's more action packed. I personally prefer Alien but both are exceptionally good.


*****Brilliant

Aliens Trailer

Alien (1979)

Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holme, Yaphet Kotto
Certificate: 15
Genre: Horror, Sci Fi
Awards: Best Effects

As Prometheus is coming out soon, this week I am going to review the first two alien films starting with the classic Alien...

The classic horror in space has not lost any of it's touch over the past three decades and will still make you gasp and jump. Alien takes place in space where a mining ship pick up a distress signal on an unexplored planet. The ships crew go in search for the lifeforms in need of help and accidentally let an Alien into their ship.  The crew start to be picked off one by one as they try to kill it.

Alien is a masterpiece of horror and Science Fiction. The xenomorph (the Alien) is now one of the most iconic creatures of film industry, the actors are brilliant as the range of characters and the effects are gruesomely awesome (The chestburster is still one of my favourite scenes in a film). The fact that we wait such a long time for something to happen only increases the terror. You feel like one of the characters; waiting for the alien to strike at his next victim. This is a must see film for absolutely anyone who knows what a good film is.

*****Brilliant

Alien Trailer

Memento (2000)

Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Guy Pearce, Carry-Ann Moss, Joe Pantoliano
Certificate: 15
Genre: Thriller, drama
Awards: None

Memento was the film that put Christopher Nolan on the map and it's obvious why. The film is shown completely backwards - The end scene to the beginning- and follows Leonard Shelby (Pearce), a man with  short term memory loss, who is trying to track down the people who killed his wife and gave him his condition. On his way to revenge, he meets a number of characters who he is not sure he can trust.

The unique way the story is told really creates this film. You don't know what is going on until right at the very end. This is definitely a film you have to concentrate on. Guy Pearce is a brilliant amnesiac who's story is so sad you can't help but root for him. Although film is incredibly clever, I feel that it is still weak compared to Nolan's other stories such as The Prestige and Inception.

****Good

Memento Trailer

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Director: John Sturges
Starring: Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Eli Wallach, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, James Coburn, Horst Buchholz
Certificate: U
Genre: Western
Awards: none

The Magnificent Seven is a western version of the samurai film Seven Samurai. Seven of the best killers sign up to protect a small village from a gang of mexican bandits.

The film is a brilliant example of how to make all your characters stand out and seem different to each other. This makes you care more about what is going to happen to them. The shootouts are great and you can see when an important character dies - which doesn't happen in every film. The music - although not as good as the spaghetti western's - is very memorable and perfect for this film. The cast are all exceptional in their own ways. This is a really good ensemble film.

****Good

The Magnificent Seven Trailer

Some Like It Hot (1959)

Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe
Certificate: PG
Genre: Comedy
Awards: Best costumes

Some Like It Hot follows two musicians who accidentally walk into a massacre by a gang. With the gang wanting them silenced, they escape with a female band. The catch is they have to disguise themselves as women to get in the band. There they meet the singer Sugar Kane Kowalczyk (Monroe). They fall for her and try different ways to get to know her. Meanwhile, the gangsters seem to be going to the same place as them for a meeting...

Some Like It Hot is a funny and heart warming film. The two musicians are witty and crazy enough for the humour to work. This is a classic that still stands tall today.

****Good

Some like it hot trailer

Shutter Island (2010)

Director: Martin Scorcese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams
Certificate: 15
Genre: Thriller
Awards: None

Shutter island starts with two US marshals arriving on an island with a facility that holds the criminally insane. The next two hours are full of suspense and mystery leading to a brilliant and awesome ending.  Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Ruffalo) are looking for an escaped patient. The strange thing is she escaped from a room locked from the outside. As the Marshals start to question the staff, they realise all is not what it seems.

Shutter Island is a great atmospheric film. It has a creepy feeling from the beginning and doesn't let up. DiCaprio, Ruffalo and Kingsley show some fine acting and the story keeps you guessing.

I was told the ending of this film but I was still surprised at how it turned out. This is definitely one to watch.

*****Brilliant

Shutter Island Trailer

Defiance (2008)

Director: Edward Zwick
Starring: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell
Certificate: 12
Genre: Action, war, drama
Awards: None

Defiance is the tale of four jewish brothers in nazi occupied france as they flee from the nazis and build their own village. Soon, the brothers start to fight and then the civilisation they have created either stay or join the russian resistance.

What I like about Defiance is the way it makes a lot of the characters unique. It's very easy to focus on one or two characters and let the rest just seem like a crowd of people. Defiance however, develops characters that may not add to the story as much. It does make you care more about them. This is definitely more realistic than Inglorius Basterds. It's more about how people can cope than actually gunfights. Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber are brilliant as the two leaders and the others are a good supporting ensemble.

****Good

Defiance Trailer

The Avengers (2012)

Director: Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johanson, Samuel L Jackson, Clark Greg
Certificate: 12
Genre: Superhero, Action
Awards: None

The Avengers is an ensemble of Marvel's most iconic superheroes. Iron Man (Downey Jr), The Hulk (Ruffalo), Thor (Hemsworth) and Captain America (Evans). Together with some lesser known heroes, they must stop the Norse god Loki (Hiddleston) from enslaving the earth.

The film was slow to begin with, the introduction of the villain and then each cast member seperatly could have been a little shorter. Then, when the characters meet, it starts to get better. They don't seem to get along at first and there is a lot of confrontation. It's funny as well.

All of the cast are good actors and play their parts well. I would have liked to see Nick Fury (L Jackson) get into some of the action as he is mainly just hanging around. When he is in a fight, he just uses a gun. It would be nice to see him in close combat.

This film is an enjoyable action flick with a sense of humour. It drags on for a bit but it's worth watching - even for people who haven't seen Captain America or Thor  like me.

****Good

The Avengers Trailer

Natural Born Killers (1994)

Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Juliet Lewis, Robert Downey Jr, Tommy Lee Jones
Certificate: 18
Genre: Crime
Awards: None

Natural Born Killers was based off the screenplay by Quentin Tarantino. I had read the screenplay before I had seen the film and so thought I knew what I was going to get. I stand corrected. The film follows two psychopathic killers who are madly in love - Mickey and Mallory Knox (Harrelson and Lewis).  They then become celebrities that everybody wants to be.

Oliver Stone seems to have forgotten that he has an audience when he was making this film. The film is filled with symbols and effects that just get in the way of the plot. The laugh track during a traumatic scene and random dream sequences of turtles and rabbits just irritate me. Also, in the script, the black and white scenes only come up when it is in the point of view of the camera the on-film film crew use. In the film, the scene changes to black and white randomly.

My opinion may be biased on this film as I am a Tarantino fanboy, but it really was not enjoyable for me. Although it was well acted.

**Pretty Bad

Natural Born Killers Trailer

Battle Royale (2000)

Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto, Takeshi Kitano, Masanobo Ando
Certificare: 18
Genre: Action, Thriller,
Awards: None

Battle Royale is a Japanese film set in the future where once a year, a class is sent to an island and the students are forced to kill each other until only one is left. This is the tale of one of these classes. Along with these, there are two transfer students who seem to be a bit dangerous.

Battle Royale pulls off the classmate on classmate formula really well. Some characters you feel sorry for and some you want to just die. All the stereotypical student types are there. One character that really stood out is the silent transfer student. His menace and skill makes him a deadly and interesting person to watch.

The film however, could have been better. I don't know if it's the translation, but some of the lines are really silly. After the island part of the film, it falls to pieces. The ending is really confusing and not really explained. The plot also has gaping holes in it such as "What does this accomplish". The answer, nothing.
It is explained that the Japanese no longer trust the youth and so send a class to Battle Royale each year, but it is secret so it doesn't strike fear into the country and keep them in check. It also trains the surviver to be a master at killing. This does not solve the countries problems. If the film had fixed these problems, it would have been an outstanding film. However, it is still really enjoyable.

****Good

Battle Royale Trailer