Post by EvilNerfherder on Jul 22, 2005 23:59:43 GMT
I finally got round to seeing this thing in full. Lot going on, yadda yadda.
So.. what did I think?
Well.. I'll just pick out a few things as the film review thing on this one has been done to death, probably.
Overall, I didn't think it was quite as bad as I expected it to be.
It was overlong by at least an hour. In fact, it was a bit of a slog towards the end. But, I actually found myself smiling in parts. Perhaps not for the right reasons, but I enjoyed some of it, nonetheless.
I thought the whole thing had a certain naive charm. I liked it but I'm not quite sure why.
I liked Anthony Piana.. he had a bit of impishness about him (the breakfast winking still makes me smile). His moustache would make Super Mario jealous but I did notice that, despite not seeing a razor for days, not a single bit of stubble troubled his face the whole movie.
Jack Clay as Ogilvy was actually quite good.. until the Horsell Common parts, that is. The over-stated arm waving and staggering around in front of the cylinder made him look like a slightly demented lovechild of Andrew Marr and a muppet. I guess he's normally a stage actor and it shows. Perhaps a bit more direction from Tim Hines there would have calmed him down and made his performance less exaggerated.
I still think Miss Elphinstone is a babe.. but her performance was .. odd.
The Scottish/Irish soldier guy reminded me of the much missed James Doohan.. He even had a red jersey on (not a good choice of attire in perilous situations, Star Trek fans will know that he was doomed
).
The FX. Hmm..
The worst by far was obviously the 'Thunderchild' battle. The CGI 'ship' was travelling both forwards and SIDEWAYS at times. That's obviously due to the sea background that was shot, but it got a bit of a guffaw from me. And what was with that one, solitary CGI man (too big for the ship, I might add) slipping, very slowly, down the deck as Thunderchild sank?
Not only that but the endless shots of the four occupants of the 'packed' steamer gawking at the battle (and who can blame them.. I was gawking at it in places) were pretty unnecessary.
The flying Clock Tower was also noted, as was the bridge (seemingly surfaced with chipboard.. or MDF, I'm no expert) that it crashed into... ending the life of a few people who were hiding behind a cardboard cut out of a car. Oh the (CGI) humanity!
I also gazed in wonder upon the CGI soldiers and horses running on the spot (in slow motion) in the distance and the Martians that were too big for the Cylinder.
The Flying Machine I liked. More of that would have been nice.
I didn't find the tripods as chicken-like as I thought when I'd seen them in stills.. The 'heads' were too small though, but the legs were good.
I won't go into the breakdancing skeletons.
Despite all that, I actually thought it really wasn't that bad, as movie experiences go.. I've seen better but not done with such earnestness.
I would be interested to see how the proposed re-edit and cleanup improves the film.
A shorter, punchier edit might actually elevate this from 'a bit of a laugh' (my current feeling on it) to a 'half decent stab at the story'.
So.. what did I think?
Well.. I'll just pick out a few things as the film review thing on this one has been done to death, probably.
Overall, I didn't think it was quite as bad as I expected it to be.
It was overlong by at least an hour. In fact, it was a bit of a slog towards the end. But, I actually found myself smiling in parts. Perhaps not for the right reasons, but I enjoyed some of it, nonetheless.
I thought the whole thing had a certain naive charm. I liked it but I'm not quite sure why.
I liked Anthony Piana.. he had a bit of impishness about him (the breakfast winking still makes me smile). His moustache would make Super Mario jealous but I did notice that, despite not seeing a razor for days, not a single bit of stubble troubled his face the whole movie.
Jack Clay as Ogilvy was actually quite good.. until the Horsell Common parts, that is. The over-stated arm waving and staggering around in front of the cylinder made him look like a slightly demented lovechild of Andrew Marr and a muppet. I guess he's normally a stage actor and it shows. Perhaps a bit more direction from Tim Hines there would have calmed him down and made his performance less exaggerated.
I still think Miss Elphinstone is a babe.. but her performance was .. odd.
The Scottish/Irish soldier guy reminded me of the much missed James Doohan.. He even had a red jersey on (not a good choice of attire in perilous situations, Star Trek fans will know that he was doomed
). The FX. Hmm..
The worst by far was obviously the 'Thunderchild' battle. The CGI 'ship' was travelling both forwards and SIDEWAYS at times. That's obviously due to the sea background that was shot, but it got a bit of a guffaw from me. And what was with that one, solitary CGI man (too big for the ship, I might add) slipping, very slowly, down the deck as Thunderchild sank?
Not only that but the endless shots of the four occupants of the 'packed' steamer gawking at the battle (and who can blame them.. I was gawking at it in places) were pretty unnecessary.
The flying Clock Tower was also noted, as was the bridge (seemingly surfaced with chipboard.. or MDF, I'm no expert) that it crashed into... ending the life of a few people who were hiding behind a cardboard cut out of a car. Oh the (CGI) humanity!
I also gazed in wonder upon the CGI soldiers and horses running on the spot (in slow motion) in the distance and the Martians that were too big for the Cylinder.
The Flying Machine I liked. More of that would have been nice.
I didn't find the tripods as chicken-like as I thought when I'd seen them in stills.. The 'heads' were too small though, but the legs were good.
I won't go into the breakdancing skeletons.
Despite all that, I actually thought it really wasn't that bad, as movie experiences go.. I've seen better but not done with such earnestness.
I would be interested to see how the proposed re-edit and cleanup improves the film.
A shorter, punchier edit might actually elevate this from 'a bit of a laugh' (my current feeling on it) to a 'half decent stab at the story'.
