Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Just A Bit Of Fun For 2 Hours.. Nothing More Or Less., 23 Jun 2008
I'll be honest - I didn't think this was too bad. Ok, so it shamelessly rips off the million times better LOTR movies, but it was fairly enjoyable! I grew up in the time of Hawk The Slayer, Beastmaster, Sword And The Sorceror, Dragonslayer, Krull etc. Trust me, some of these were no Lord Of The Rings either! For every Conan the Barbarian, Excalibur or Dragonslayer (classics!) there was The Iron Master, The Sword Of The Barbarians & Ator The Fighting Eagle!!! Red Sonja and Willow were a bit iffy too, to say nothing of Sword Of The Valiant...
At least, this is innocent of any movie or album's cardinal sin, in that it is never boring! There's plenty of action, the CG is decent in most places - there's some reasonably impressive 'Marching Army' visuals, and the battle choreography is ok, apart from some kung fu elements which are misplaced. Have to say that the 'evil' army, a beast like race known as The Krug are basically a rip off of The Orcs, right down to the subterranean caverns that they live in! The Krug make up & costumes are a bit shoddy and won't give Weta Workshop any sleepless nights!
At least, the armour & costumes are more impressive for the 'good' army!
It's not as dark as The Rings epics and certainly suitable for younger viewers - there's no sex or strong violence, the battle scenes are relativeley bloodless. The film is often light hearted, and after a bit of a shaky start, improves considerably with time
It's basically like a pantomime - lot's of well known faces turn up, in something that is just out to entertain!
Jason Statham; unusually cast but more than ok as the hero, Burt Reynolds; improves as the story evolves, John Rhys-Davies; always good in any movie!
Kristanna Loken; as gorgeous as in Terminator 3.
Ray Liotta; have to say totally miscast as the evil sorceror!(a REALLY poor villain), Matthew Lillard; as entertaining as a bout of dermatitis!
It's not Return Of The King, It's not Troy, BUT if you can happily watch Hercules: The Legendary Journeys or Xena:The Warrior Princess, then there's a fair chance you'll enjoy it.
I know this movie has been really slated, and I can't disagree with a lot of the bad press, BUT come on, how many of us happily sit through Warlords Of Atlantis on Channel 5 or Land That Time Forgot on BBC2 ?? The FX in those films were awlful, even for the 1970's BUT we enjoyed them, we suspended disbelief!
There's a few decent extras on the disc, it hardly costs the earth, so if you like your fantasy, and are a bit forgiving, then at least rent it. It's more than passable entertainment for 2 hours. If you hate it, then dig out the old 'uns like Jason And The Argonauts or The Seventh Voyage Of Sinbad...
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
One of the better High Fantasy offerings, 26 May 2008
In the world of heroic fantasy there are very few really good movies outside of the LOTR franchise. We watched this movie in a double bill along side 10000BC and to be 100% honest there was no one there who felt this was the weaker of the two!
The cast is good, the story though not groundbreaking does career along at a good pace with enogh going on that I did not become disengaged.
In short if you like your high fantasy then you will probably like this.
If you take the rather sad but not uncommon approach that all fantasy is by default rather rubbish and only something spectacularly good is comparable to mediocre offerings in other genres then this is probably not hte movie for you.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Lord of The Rings Starring Jason Statham??!!, 28 Jan 2009
Lord love us! The unstoppable Uwe Boll Clagg Bandwagon rolls on! Total Film described this theatrical menace as the `Ed Wood of unwanted video game adaptations' and I cannot fail to agree.
The action opens with a sweeping CGI shot of a gleaming white palace carved into the chalk base of a glorious mountain, then cuts to a simple `farmer' earnestly tending his cabbage patch in a quiet little hamlet accompanied by idyllic music. The farmer's trusted gardener rolls up and comments on the nature of a good crop. Meanwhile The Dark Lord Balian (Ray Liotta) broods in his underground fiery pit overseeing the creation of an abominable ungodly army of salivating beasts fiercely loyal to him. He despatches his hoard to ransack small coastal townships and settlements on his way to overthrowing the King. A small `Fellowship' of heroes, headed by (ahem!) Jason Statham bands together to travel into the pit of darkness to defeat the Dark Lord. On route they stumble through an enchanted forest and are accosted by the elvish-like inhabitants whom dwell in the melodious tree-tops! Does this description remind you of anything? The blatant plagiarism of The Lord of The Rings Trilogy is stark, and immediately evident within the first 3 minutes. You will be sitting aghast at the audacity of Uwe Boll to shamelessly copy Peter Jackson's enduring masterpiece. But this is nowhere near those great works. This is a $70 million abomination with the veneer of a $10 million picture that cannot even equal the standard of an episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - a Battle Re-enactment Society's reconstruction of choice moments from the Lord of The Rings, but done very badly!
Uwe Boll's movies have always been rubbish, and while there is a measure of silly fun to be had, it is still a horrendous backward step for a Director who recently claimed to be improving. Jason Statham is a good performer and definitely looks the part when the action kicks off, but he seems to wear an embarrassed expression on his face throughout, no doubt fearing that friends of his may watch this movie and laugh really hard at him! He is joined by an equally embarrassed cast of quality supporting actors who also realise the monstrosity they have signed up for. If you listen closely during some of the quieter scenes, you can hear the sound of agents getting fired! Ron Perlman(Hellboy), Ray Liotta(Goodfellas), Burt Reynolds and even LOTR alumnus John Rhys-Davis all shuffle unhappily from one scene to the next. There is also a problem with Statham's acting; he simply cannot muster the emotion required when he is supposed to be communicating extreme emotional distress. He shrugs off the death of his son with nary a tear before picking up his scimitar and somersaulting off to the next action set piece. And for a mythical pre-historical epic you'd think he would not be showing off his freshly shaved buzz-cut. He just seems incredibly out of place. Only Claire Forliani (a great undiscovered talent) manages to convey any sense of genuine feeling. Although during the making-of featurette she seems just as baffled as the rest of the cast as to just exactly what she has agreed to star in, and indeed what the film is about.
The film is badly edited, with some scenes continuing for far too long. The battle-scenes last far beyond their welcome and are bookended by badly acted slapstick stupidity by Matthew Lillard, who plays the King's treacherous nephew. And don't get me started on the kung-fu fighting black ninjas (yes you heard that correctly!) and the method of communication that Balian (Ray Liotta) uses to communicate with his `Black Riders' - its exactly the same as the Mouth of Sauron from the finale of Return of The King. The special effects however are passable and are probably the film's best moments. The whole farrago finishes with an admittedly exciting scene where Statham pulls a few tricks with his fancy sword. It's no surprise that he does manage to defeat Balian though, as at one point Ray Liotta tries to kill Jason Statham with a swirling mass of....err...books! Yes, that's right..Books! They were probably old copies of Tolkien's works! Brainless fun yes, but utterly insulting in its plagiarism.
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