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THRILLER
I have placed "sizzler
ratings" next to movies to give you an idea of
how good they are
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DARK
CITY (1998) |
Starring: Rufus Sewell,
Kiefer Sutherland, William Hurt
The plot: A man wakes
up naked and with no memory in a seedy hotel bathroom. Bit
by bit, he begins to piece together the tattered clues of
his life. However, as he does this, he becomes witness to
events that defy explanation. Why does the city's occupants
become motionless at midnight? Why does the sun never rise?
How come he can't get on the express train to his childhood
beach?
Comment: The movie starts
off dark and full of suspense. As the plot develops, it becomes
more of a mystery which unfortunately devolves into a rather
weak ending. However, the moody atmosphere of the movie is
liable to linger in your subconscious for a few days afterwards...
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RED
PLANET (2000) |
Starring:
Val Kilmer, Simon Baker, Carrie-Anne Moss, Terence
Stamp, Benjamin Bratt
The plot:
By 2050, the Earth's resources are depleted and the
last hope is pinned upon terraforming which began on Mars
in 2025. However, just as soon as it looks like oxygen is
accumulating in the atmosphere, when it suddenly disappears.
As a last resort, a team of humans is sent to Mars to find
out why the oxygen is mysteriously disappearing.
Comment:
Firstly, let me say they marketed this movie wrong! To see
the shorts is to think you are settling for a nice B-grade
horror-SF flick. Wrong! The subject matter is actually quite
intelligent and vaguely believable (if you don't let science
get in the way). It doesn't matter that the plot has all
the strength of a piece of gossamer in gale force winds,
the pace of this movie more than makes up for it, with some
genuine 'nail-biting-on-the-edge-of-your-seat action scenes.'
And if all that fails, there is always the agonizing wait
throughout the entire film to see if Val Kilmer breaks down
and becomes 'true to life' (if the rumors are to be believed)
and turns into the baddy...
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GATTACA
(1997) |
Starring:
Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman
The plot:
Vincent wants to go into space, but he's genetically
imperfect with a 90% chance of death by a heart attack by
30. So, Vincent assumes the identity of Jerome, a genetically
perfect individual who had an unfortunate accident while
on holiday. With his new genetic identity, Vincent gets
assigned to a mission going to Titan. Complications arise
when the Mission Director is found brutally murdered, and
genetic forensics of an eyelash at the scene of the crime
points to Vincent.
Comment:
The detail of this faultless script makes this terrible
future where discrimination is genetic not racial, seem
very believable. Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman bring additional
life to the movie where the blandness of the setting could
have made this a B-grade dud. However, its not a dud - it's
a very interesting, intellectual movie.
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THE
X-FILES - FIGHTING THE FUTURE (1998) |
Starring:
David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Martin Landau,
Mitch Pileggi
The plot: Mulder and Skully
are fighting the return to 'normality' after the X-Files were
closed at the end of the 1998/1997 TV series. While doing
mundane FBI work, Mulder smells something dodgy and before
you know it, the two are off chasing more clues in the quest
for the truth about government conspiracies and alien invasions.
Comment: Chris Carter
succeeds in making a stand alone movie which people who are
ignorant of the TV show (like, who?) are able to watch and
be thrilled as the plot gets increasingly convoluted. For
true X-Files devotees though, the movie deteriorated as it
went along, and I defy anyone to say that the Lone Gunman
shouldn't have had a bigger part rather than that pathetic
token gesture!
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[
TOP ]
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An
absolute sizzler of a movie - A must see! |
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A
scorcher of a good movie; still capable of riveting you
to your seat |
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Low
flame burner; a pleasant piece of mindless brain candy |
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A
fizzler of a movie which will have you counting zzzzzz's... |
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