Dune (1984)

 

In the distant future, a man appears who may be the prophet that a long-suffering galaxy has been waiting for.

Visually compelling and with imaginative styling as you'd expect from the director, the plot has been overloaded so that the sci-fi epic seems more summarized than actually adapted.

On re-watching: Still good to look at, but the narrative is simply not convincing nor much coherent either.

Halliwell (no star): "A basically simple space fiction plot is immensely complicated by a welter of characters who are not properly introduced and who indeed are mostly irrelevant. The result, which cost nearly 50 million dollars, is inaudible, invisible (because of dim lighting) and unentertaining: a disaster of the very first order."

Maltin*1/2: "Elephantine adaptation...You know you're in trouble when film's opening narration...is completely incomprehensible! Visually imaginative, well cast, but joyless and oppressive - not to mention long. For devotees of Herbert's novel only." 

 

Conan the Barbarian (1982)

 

A young boy, Conan, becomes a slave after his parents are killed and tribe destroyed by a savage warlord and sorcerer, Thulsa Doom. When he grows up he becomes a fearless, invincible fighter. Set free, he plots revenge against Thulsa Doom.

Primitive, violent fantasy tale clearly celebrates its hero's barbarism - his unnerving and risible stupidity included; needless to say, Schwarzenegger perfectly fulfills the script's requirements for the character.

Halliwell (no star): "Intolerably doomladen, slow-moving and mainly unintelligible rubbish which failed to put a lift into the long-announced sword-and-sorcery cycle."

Maltin**1/2: "Ron Cobb's spectacular production design and Basil Poledouris' vibrant score help make this superior to the many low-grade imitations it spawned." 

What Dreams May Come (1998)

 

Chris Neilson finds himself in Heaven after his death. However, when his inconsolable wife commits suicide and goes to Hell, he decides to risk his eternal soul to search for her spirit.

Basically a big sobby tearjerker, this movie presents some fascinating and spectacular, and at times cheesy, depictions of heaven and hell, albeit with a lot of half-baked theology.

Halliwell (no star): "Hollywood's brand of warm, huggy theology gets ever stranger: heaven here is a gooey oil painting, psychobabble is the angelic language, there's no deity in view, and the occupants can't wait to leave the place and get back to Earth. The mind boggles."

Maltin BOMB: "Off-putting gobbledygook...Despite its pedigree (a novel by Richard Matheson, a good director and cast), this film fails to evoke any tangible emotions. It just doesn't work. Its elaborate (in fact, overelaborate) special effects won an Oscar." 

En passion (1969)

 

 

A recently divorced man meets an emotionally devastated widow and they begin a love affair.

 

A typically bleak Bergman drama explores once again the impossibility of true relationships and offers superb performances and excellent cinematography, but this time around the story seems construed and is quite heavy-going in execution.

Maltin***1/2: "Stark drama, beautifully acted...Superior cinematography by Sven Nykvist." 

 

 

Kursk (2018)

The film follows the 2000 K-141 Kursk submarine disaster and the governmental negligence that followed. As the sailors fight for survival, their families desperately battle political obstacles and impossible odds to save them.

Fairly solid dramatization of the actual catastrophe with good production value and a capable cast is more focused on the personal tragedies and less on the political scandal, dubiously omitting Vladimir Putin's role in it completely.

Hurricane (1979)

The desperate love affair between a young Samoan chief and an American painter, against the will of her father, but amid this man-made tension comes a hurricane so devastating, the lives of the lovers and the entire island are imperiled.

From memory: Pretty bad catastrophe movie with very poor special effetcs and the star cast laid to waste.

Halliwell (no star): "A remake of the 1937 film, lacking the style, the innocence, and even the technical splendor."

Maltin BOMB: "Look what just blew in: a $22 million remake of the 1937 classic that may well put you to sleep!"

A Kiss Before Dying (1991)

A determined student murders his pregnant secret girlfriend and moves onto her twin sister who gradually becomes suspicious of her new lover.

Moderately entertaining, but quite unoriginal Hitchcock-like thriller.

Halliwell*: "Moderately effective thriller, though it offers a considerable simplification of the novel on which it is based."

Maltin*1/2: "Almost completely ineffectual thriller..."

La Mort en direct (1980)

In a future where dying of illness is exceedingly rare, a terminally ill woman becomes a celebrity and a man with camera implants goes to secretly record her for a morbid TV show.

Unusual, but awkward sci-fi satire is right on with its social predictions, but the plot treads along somewhat haphazardly, and there are some memorable scenes of over-acting along the way.

Halliwell**: "Grim fable of media manipulation and sensationalist pressures on popular entertainment that retains its resonance."

Maltin***: "Intelligent sci-fi drama...A biting commentary on media abuse and manipulation, with solid performances, direction."

Three Days of the Condor (1975)

A bookish CIA researcher finds all his co-workers dead, and must outwit those responsible until he figures out who he can really trust.

First-rate 70s political thriller feeding on its time's fear of overpowering conspiracies, intelligently directed and well cast.

Halliwell**: "Entertaining New York-based thriller which shamelessly follows most of the twists of  The 39 Steps. It is just possible to follow its complexities, and the dialogue is smart."

Maltin***: "Dunaway is excellent as innocent woman who shelters him. Good suspense yarn."

Skammen (1968)

In the midst of a civil war, former violinists, who have a tempestuous marriage, run a farm on a rural island, and in spite of their best efforts to escape their homeland, the war impinges on every aspect of their lives.

Highly intense study of what war does to human beings; the setting is incredibly bleak and apocalyptic, and the director doesn't spare the audience from some harrowing moments; the performances are excellent, of course.

Maltin****: "Powerful, brilliantly acted drama...One of Bergman's best."

Flash Gordon (1980)

A football player and his friends travel to the planet Mongo and find themselves fighting the tyranny of Ming the Merciless to save Earth.

Well produced and nicely designed attempt to make a campy version of the Flash Gordon saga; the intention is much too in-your-face, and the makers seem to ignore the fact that the original was more camp than they could ever achieve.

Halliwell (no star): "Lively comic strip addition to the increasing numbers of such things being restaged at enormous expense fifty years after their prime."

Maltin***: "Updated version of comic strip is better than expected, thanks to eye-filling production/costume design by Danilo Donati, amusing rock score by Queen. Jones and Anderson are liabilities..., but Muti's evil Princess Aura...leads a strong supporting cast."

Psychotronic/Michael Weldon: "Despite a repetitious rock score by Queen and a terrible campy attitude, this Flash Gordon...is often visually impressive, and Max von Sydow does a good Charles Middleton impression. Basically it's as good as Battlestar Galactica. Sam Jones is a pretty bad hero...His lines had to be dubbed over by another actor!"

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

Three decades after the defeat of the Galactic Empire, a new threat arises as the First Order attempts to rule the galaxy and only a ragtag group of heroes can stop them, along with the help of the Resistance.

Successful rejuvenation of the Star Wars saga marrying its original antics with a modern view and a great, likable cast of new young heroes.

The Exorcist (1973)

When a teenage girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.

It's effective as a horror movie (although it takes an hour to build up the thrills) and counts as a classic of the genre, but the idea is still as silly as it was in the 70s; unfortunately, it inspired a whole series of likewise irrational movies loosely based on Christian themes.

Halliwell*: "Spectacularly ludicrous mishmash with unconfortable attention to physical detail and no talent for narrative or verisimilitude. Its sensational aspects, together with a sudden worldwide need for the supernatural, assured its enormous commercial success."

Maltin***1/2: "Intense, well-mounted adaptation of William Peter Blatty's best-seller, calculated to keep your stomach in knots from start to finish."