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Rambo V Going Sci-Fi?

David Halpert — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:23:14 +0000

For the last couple of weeks rumors have been circulating on the net that not only is there a fifth Rambo movie on the horizon but that it will likely involve many science fiction elements as well. The fifth installment in the franchise (which has been called “Rambo V: The Savage Hunt”) will be a departure from the previous films. While John Rambo will be returning to his roots in the Pacific Northwest, much of the plot will surround a US military installation experimenting on its soldiers in an attempt to create a more powerful elite race of super soldiers. Obviously, things don’t go exactly as planned and Rambo as part of a special Black-Op team is sent to eliminate the threat.

Now I don’t mind them creating another sequel to this franchise. They did it last year ago with Rambo which was an amazing blend of action and ultra-violence, and three years ago with Rocky Balboa. For Stallone, who keep in mind is now 63, I can only say I can’t wait to see this film.

Now if you’re part of my generation (Gen-Y) and have only experienced Rambo by what you’ve heard and not actually seen the first film, you might be pleasantly surprised. Basically, the film starts out with John Rambo, a drifter and war veteran, passing through some nondescript American town, when he suddenly gets picked up by the cops for no reason refusing to leave the small town. After asking nicely for a sandwich and a motel to sleep at for the night, the battle begins between John Rambo and the law as he hightails it into the forest, eventually taking on the army commando-style. The film amounts to a pissing contest between the police chief and Rambo with both refusing to back down. Remember, don’t bring a gun to a knife fight, unless you’re facing John Rambo in which case your gun is pretty much worthless.

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Final Destination IV Trailer

David Halpert — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:52:30 +0000

Remember when you first saw the film Final Destination and for the first twenty minutes of the film you experienced the terror as you witnessed first-hand the destruction inside a Boeing 747 as it was occurring in real-time. While it comes as no surprise that New Line Cinema decided to make a sequel (as it fared decently at the box office). What was a surprise was that they would create three more sequels in the years to come.

This newest addition to the franchise (if you can call it a franchise) takes place at a race track where like in previous installments of the film one of the main characters envisions the terrible events as they’re about to happen—wherein race cars crash sending heaps of debris into the stands, only to have the stands collapse as well. However, Nick O’Bannons manage to save his friends just before it occurs. But like all good things, the fun times end shortly after and slowly but surely death picks them off one at a time.

I don’t know about you but after the first movie, the methods of execution for each of the characters just got more and more hilarious. So much so that each preceding movie in the franchise became a parody of the previous installment. Nevertheless, the film is set for release on August 28, 2009 (entitled The Final Destination or Final Destination IV) and will be the first of the series to be shot in 3D. If you like this type of demented humor go see it, otherwise save your money.

Click Here to View the Films of the Final Destination Series on Amazon
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New Moon Trailer or the Greatest Band-Aid Commercial Ever?

David Halpert — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:04:28 +0000

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This week, the release of the New New Moon trailer was released to audiences waiting eagerly for a taste of what they can expect for the sequel to Twilight. Now people who frequent my blog know that I really don’t care for the Twilight series, much less the movies, but my own personal biases aside, there is a large contingent of Twilight fans that really love the books but can’t stand the movie.

Now with a first film in a franchise you’re allowed to make mistakes, whether it be with the writing, directing, special effects, etc. as long as you improve on the sequel. For a while there seemed no shortage of complaints among fans with these issues that the first film didn’t measure up.

My first impressions of the trailer are there doesn’t seem to be much improvement from its predecessor. If it isn’t the over-the-top melodramatic acting we see here, it’s a script that tries too hard to turn a paper cut into a full-out family brawl. Trust me guys, the best thing you can do for your girlfriend if she’s being hunted by vampires is to leave her alone and let her be, just in time for some werewolf to pick here up.

Star Trek Takes in $76.5 million in its First Weekend

David Halpert — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:56:34 +0000

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Now for me this is kind of a surprise seeing it’s a Star Trek movie, but this weekend proved that a relaunching of the Star Trek franchise was a great movie decision for the studios as Abrams’ Star Trek for the May 8th weekend box office made up an estimated $76.5 million according to the Associate Press. This includes an extra $4 million from preview screenings on Thursday night as well.

What do I attribute its success to? Firstly, J.J. Abrams as director, I think there’s enough fans of Lost, Fringe, and Cloverfield to put asses in the seats. Second, there’s more than enough Star Trek fans to fill the other half of the theatre. But honestly, I mostly attributed its success to a well though-out marketing campaign that never pushed the hype barrier in the way Watchmen did. And of course the positive reviews and a great script didn’t hurt either.

The timing was also perfect, a week after Wolverine: X-men Origins and two weeks before Terminator Salvation. You couldn’t ask more better timing. The movie’s budget was an estimated $140 million to produce and if early numbers are any indication it should far exceed its budget during its theatrical run.

What’s the irony of this whole piece? I still haven’t seen it yet. LOL!

Dragonball Opens to a Dismal 8th Place in Theatres

David Halpert — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:59:54 +0000

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Now this is just sad. For some reason I thought the live-action adaptation of the hit television show Dragonball had some real promise. Then again, I never was a fan of the show nor did I ever see an episode. I supposed I was being a bit naïve and short-sighted. Nevertheless, I still think there was some potential there, but instead it appears that Dragonball Evolution is well on the road to being one of the biggest box-office failures in recent history.

The movie opened this week in 8th place—yes 8th place!—with an estimated total of $4.7 million in box office revenue according to The Hollywood Reporter. To put things in perspective a little, think about this. Knowing in its fourth week dropped to fifth place but still managed to beat out Dragonball with just $6.7 million (that’s in addition to the $68 million it has already grossed—a fucking Nicholas Cage film!).

Now I remember seeing this trailer a couple of months ago and thinking, “Okay, I see what they’re trying to do here.” But since then I don’t think I’ve seen a trailer or poster for the movie since, not to mention nobody had any idea it was opening this weekend in the first place. While I might be naïve about the franchise, I blame a complete lack of promotion and marketing on the part of the studio, I mean it’s a fucking PG-rated movie for kids for Christ sake!

Monsters vs. Aliens by comparison managed to bring in $22.6 million in its third weekend of release which has since brought that total to a ballpark of $141 million in profit. For this and many other reasons I give Dragonall Evolution an epic fail.

5 Reasons Why the Star Trek Trailer Doesn’t Live Up to the Franchise

David Halpert — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:05:55 +0000

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Click Here to View Star Trek Products at Amazon

For anyone who has even a marginal interest in science fiction or movie entertainment, no doubt you’ve been closely following the latest trailers that have been cropping up on the internet for the new Star Trek film. Now this is probably one of the most anticipated films this year (next to the Watchmen of course) but I’m sure I’m not the only Trekker—or Trekkie—that cringed while watching some of these trailers. Will it be a success? Let’s just say it’ll be hard not to be when you’re working on the heels of a 40 year old franchise. But what’s also amazing is how quickly a two-minute trailer can leave you baffled. That being said, here are 5 reasons why the star trek trailer doesn’t live up to the original franchise.

5) J.J. Abrams – It’s like Lost only with a story

This is probably the most far-reaching of my reasons for why the trailer doesn’t live up to the franchise, but I’m sure there was more than a collective sigh in theatres when they saw that J.J. Abrams was set to direct this feature. Now I love Lost, and furthermore, I love Cloverfield. However, J.J. Abrams is a director that holds true to the adage ‘less is more’ when it comes to story and character development and ‘more is more’ when it comes to effects (taking into account his propensity for destruction). While the studios, writers, and producers claim the new Star Trek film will hold true to the franchise, the very sight of Abrams name evokes a wide range of feelings, from skepticism to the rage of an outright bastardization of a treasured franchise.

4) San Francisco (Circa mid-23nd century)

This was actually redirected from a post on the SFsignal.com but it still makes a valid point. In one of the trailers we are given a one-second screenshot of the San Francisco Bay Area roughly two-hundred and fifty years in the future. In it we see epic buildings taking up most of the land as well as what looks like smog covering much of the skyscape. One YouTuber (click here) noted that these buildings would never be built in a place like San Francisco citing that not only would they be a blight to the urban landscape and cause a lot of pollution, but also that activism from the environmental right would never allow these buildings to be built in the first place. A decent argument. He also goes back to historical pictures of San Francisco and argues there’s no way urbanization would occur this quickly even if it is more than two-hundred centuries in the future.

3) Why is Spock So Angry?

There’s a moment in the first trailer of a half-second snapshot where a young Spock jumps in the air, cocking his arm back ready to throw what looks like the biggest punch of his life. Added to this his face is scrunched in fuming rage as he quickly goes to assault his attacker. Now anyone who knows Vulcans knows that they are essentially emotionless and I can only think of four instances where they actually show emotions. (i) If they are too immature (young) or too senile (old) (ii) if they are being tortured (iii) if they have some type of brain defect causing them to have emotions (iv) or if they are engaging in the ponn far, a Vulcan tradition where their hormones spike off the charts every seven years in which allows them to find a mate. For anyone who’s a fan of Star Trek this one was the first image that caused many to be weary. And for good reason. I wonder how they’re going to explain this one?

2) Star Trek 90210

This is the biggest reason surrounding much of the dislike in the science fiction forums. Frankly, the cast is too young. Now I’m all for revitalizing a franchise but if you see some of the screenshots for this film with all of the cast members together on the bridge of the USS enterprise you’d think they were plucked right out of the Academy with no experience to show for it. For a second you might think you’re watching Logan’s Run, then you remember it’s a Star Trek film. Maybe I’m being contentious here but if this complaint is recirculating throughout the SF blogosphere then I can’t be the only one thinking this.

1) How does Kirk ever become captain?

In the trailer’s opening scene we see a prepubescent Kirk driving what I presume to be a stolen Corvette jutting through the desert being pursued by the robotic authorities. Just as the car is about the drive off a cliff he leaps out, narrowly escaping death. The trailer than flashes forward fifteen years to Kirk getting in a bar fight and as he’s at the hospital licking his wounds he is practically handed over the command of a starship. Now I’m no psychiatrist but I would think that the requirements for Starfleet Academy would be a little more stringent than this. Don’t they usually give the captain’s chair to someone, well, older, more experienced? Forget giving Kirk the enterprise. Hell, you put me in command of one of those ships and I’ll start a war with every race in the universe. We all know that Kirk is one badass mother fucker but how they are going to explain this one is beyond me. Frankly, I’m not buying it.

Despite this article I’m definitely going to see this film but it’s clear from the trailer that they’ve got a lot of explaining to do.