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Michael Crichton has been hailed as one of the best science fiction writers on the late 20th century, and he racked up classic after classic with the likes of “Jurassic Park” and “The Andromeda Strain” to his name. Not to many folks realize Crichton has had a modest career as a film maker, where he wrote and directed some of the 1970's better sci-fi films. Saddly forgotten to time is the 1973 sci-fi thriller “Westworld” featuring Yul Brynner and James Brolin.

I really Miss those groovy old 1970's Movie posters

Westworld takes place at a decadent (and expensive) theme park in the near future, where though the use of sophisticated androids guests can experience medieval times, a pre-christian Rome, or the wild west. The high tech computer controlled park boasts that everything is made to run perfectly, but near the beginning we hear a technician warn that no one truly knows how the Androids work as they were designed and built by computers, but in typical sci-fi fashion he's soon dismissed. Inevitably, the robots go haywire (betcha saw that coming) and our heroes Peter and John, two hapless schmucks just out for a relaxing vacation, find themselves fighting for their lives as the epitomes “Gunslinger” played by the immortal Yul Brynner begins tracking them down.
One can't help but see similarities between this film and Crichton's later bestseller “Jurassic Park” and wonder if he had some kind of traumatic experience at a theme park. Still, the similarities are ultimately superficial, as Jurassic Park is more a story about the dangers of science gone to far and “Westworld” is more just about action. Crichton directed this movie with a spectacular flair, taking advantage of all the meager but impressive special effects of the day, along with crisp and effective scene setting. Yul Brynner as the Gunslinger is a highlight here, playing the part of an unstoppable, merciless machine comes naturally to Brynner, who plays the roll so convincingly you genuinely fear him despite the fact the costumer recycled Brynner's outfit from “The Magnificent Seven

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Willow (1988) reveiw

August 25th 2010 17:17

George Lucas is perhaps one of the most well known and successful filmmakers in recent history, in the 80's he was the go-to man for imaginative

If I ever get a van I'm getting this painted on the side,

film making. In the mid-80's he was on top of the world, his Star Wars trilogy had made history, and Indiana Jones was doing just as well with moviegoers worldwide. Rolling in dough and having the movie industry by the scruff of the neck, he had his choice of movies to make next. He'd already made sci-fi film history, and he'd already had some success with Labyrinth in 1986, so why not conquer the world of Fantasy film making?
Willow was a project Lucan had toyed with for years, and once he secured the participation of well known director Ron Howard and talented (but very young) leading man Warwick Davis, as well as his legendary special effects team at ILM it looked like Lucas had another blockbuster ready to be unleashed.
The story was an original story, the evil Queen Bavmorda had conquered most of the known world, but there was a prophesy that a child would be born, Elora Dannan who would be the empress of the kingdom of Tir Asleen and bring down the evil queen. However the queen was ready for this little wrinkle, and ordered all the expecting women in the realm imprisoned, and their newborns inspected for the mark that will identify the infant empress. As the Child is finaly born her mother, through a bit of skullduggery, escapes with the child and set her afloat down a river, where it is eventually found by Willow Ufgood, the star of the film. From there, poor Willow is separated from his family, as he must return the child to the outside world that his people rarely interacts with. His adventure is a deep and engrossing fantasy, a deeper story than one usually finds in Hollywood fantasy efforts

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Waterworld (1995) Reveiw

June 10th 2010 04:21

“Waterworld” was the most expensive movie of all time by far when it was made at over 170 million dollars. It was only later surpassed by James Cameron's Titanic in 1998. Combine the Hollywood clout of superstar Kevin Costner and director Kevin Reynolds and you pretty much get a blank check from any producer.

Kevin Costner may have gotten some bad press about his performance, but he did a good job here.

Waterworld almost seems like a attempt at spending as much money as possible, the concept alone screams “expensive”. In a Nutshell, Waterworld is like “The Road Warrior” without roads, or land to put the road on, a world without land. Meaning that not only the entire production was one big outdoor location shot. Keep in mind this is before the days where CGI could easily scrub out bits of land that get caught in the shot, every last set had to be built from scratch, and able to float freely in the open sea.
As summarized in the opening crawl, the polar icecaps have melted, and the world is now one enormous ocean. People eke out a living on artificial islands called “Atols” or drifters that live on rotting old fishing boats, and live a life of trade and fishing for sustenance. A third group on this bleak backdrop is the Smokers, a cabal of jet-ski riding pirates who slaughter drifters and attack atols for supplies. Against this bleak backdrop, we meet an unnamed drifter who seems to have strange abilities, like staying underwater for longer than any man should be able to. He drifts to an atol in search of supplies, to find that like most atols they have almost nothing to offer him, being that they are slowly dieing. This Atol however has something special, a little girl with a mysterious tattoo on her back, that a few of the locals believe is the way to a mythical “Dry Land” the last bit of land in the world.
The story is hardly important, this is an action sci-fi film about cool stunts and explosions right? Well, sort of, the goofy and scientifically ridiculous concept is pretty hard to ignore. While the movie is exciting, and the story is compelling, you'll constantly find yourself questions as your watching it. How do the pirates refine oil? Where do they get bullets? Wouldn't all the wood and metal be rotted away after a few decades? Could the polar ice caps melting even really cover every bit of land? However, if you manage to turn your brain off for a while and just accept the concept, you'll find a very well made movie. Kevin Costner did an excellent job in the movie, playing the mysterious, stoic hero but even his performance pales in comparison to the late great Dennis Hopper who played the evil “Deacon” who rules over the Smokers with the ruthlessness of a dictator and the twisted charisma of a televangelist. The Deacon's demented speeches are delivered flawlessly by Hopper, one of Hollywood's most underrated supporting actors

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The Warriors (1979) Review

April 5th 2010 21:01

Thier all bad news, but you can't help but to cheer for them.

We all love the anti-hero, the underdog who breaks all the rules to get the job done. The bad guy you can cheer for, the lovable rogue. In Hollywood nowadays the anti-hero has almost become cliché, but when the Warriors was made, film was just emerging from the age of square-jawed heroes and damsels in distress, Dirty Harry had taught us being bad was good, but was the world ready for a brutal uncompromising film like “The Warriors”?
Put simply, this is a film without good guys. The heroes of the film are a gang of street toughs from Coney island, five chosen out of a much larger gang to represent “The Warriors” At a large meeting in the Bronx, where the Charismatic gang leader Cyrus encourages the gangs to unite to conquer New York, but he's murdered in the middle of his speech, and the Warriors are framed, sending all of New York's many gangs after them. What follows is one of the most amazing adventures ever filmed, as the outnumbered Warriors, stuck behind 25 miles of enemy territory fight their way back to Coney island. The Movie takes place in a stylized reality, reminiscent of a comic book with colorful costumes and settings, but underlying a gritty, realistic depiction of New York's gangs. The iconic imagery of imaginative Games like the Baseball Furies, The Rifs, the Rogues and the High Hats made this movie very memorable, and an almost instant cult-classic.
Walter Hill was still a young director when he made “The Warriors” and backers were scarce. The film was made on a shoestring budget, using unknown actors and borrowed equipment. The production was riddled with setbacks, the original actor to play Cyrus who was really involved with New York gangs disappeared before filming started. The real street gang in the charge of the Coney Island area, “The Homicides” threatened the actors wearing the Warriors costumes claiming they were gang colors on their turf. Actors received threats and had to remove their costumes right after scenes were filmed. Other gangs were angry about not being cast as extras, one tore

Movie poster, warrirors of the night, warrirors

Before people even saw the movie, this poster stirred up controversy all by itself!

through the set during a lunch break stealing thousands of dollars worth of equipment. After that a real New York gang called “The Mongrels” were hired for security. The Film was shot at night, on location, in the freezing rain, guerrilla film making at it's purest. Even after release, the film met with controversy and violence, many people protested the film and tried to have it banned. The gritty, realistic fight scenes often caused real fights to break out at screenings and many theaters canceled the film, fearing further violence

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