Films You Have Watched

[Neon Ignition]

Final Destination 5
Didn't remember a lot of this one bar the opening and ending, though the impression I had going in held up. It's the best sequel since FD2, not quite as smart as the first two but it has its own clear idea and solid delivery.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Mad Max (George Miller, 1979)

Yet another that I thought I watched years and years ago but actually hadn't.

On one hand, I'm honestly impressed that Miller was able to put this together on a budget that was clearly less than shoestring for its time (approx. $2.3m AUS in today's money) - the actual road scenes/stuntwork and the score composed by Brian May (not that one) almost go way too hard.

On the other hand, the budget paucity also shows up in the dystopian but-not-quite dystopian setting, some pretty bad acting and abundant pacing issues with the overall film as it spends the first three-quarters setting the story up at a sedate (to put it kindly) pace only to have a very frantic last quarter that quickly ends the story while there are plot holes all over the place throughout.

Ultimately, a perfectly adequate B-movie that does a solid (for the most part) job of establishing the general framework of the titular character and what he is to become in the subsequent sequels.

[Baseley09]

I like that about the OG mad max that it's not explicitly the end times but more teetering with societal decline.

[Nu-Eclipse]

I like that about the OG mad max that it's not explicitly the end times but more teetering with societal decline.

I do get that - pre-apocalyptic, as opposed to post-apocalyptic from The Road Warrior onwards, but it still comes across as cheap and not really in keeping with the tone even when the (lack of) budget is accounted for.

[Neon Ignition]

Poltergiest
The 2015 remake, there are one or two elements I like more than the original but for the vast majority of the runtime it's the weaker film.

Final Destination: Bloodlines
The new entry and a return to trying to play with the rules rather than pure cookie cutter sequelling. It's easily the best entry since the first two that connects itself in a light but decent way and serves as a nice final send off for Tony Todd too.

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
I'd be interested to know the making of story for this one. There hasn't been a 'bad' entry, this doesn't really change that but I needn't hesitate to say MI4-7 are all easily superior entries and I might add some more onto that too. I was ready to run with the fun, people seemed too down on the last entry because of the daft AI stuff. This one though is long and as well as being held up by the very same issue, is much less fun, less fleshed out and weirdly has possibly the least action of the entire franchise - which considering it's the full stop point, is a critical mistake as the sequences aren't even near the series best either. By no means a disaster or anything but it would have worked better if Dead Reckoning had been 20 minutes longer and just wrapped up its plot.

Jaws 5
Aka Cruel Jaws, a 90's era film that stole footage and plot from the franchise and other shark films with the added audacity to name itself this in some countries. It's as awful as you'd expect.

[Baseley09]

Went to see Final Destination Bloodlines last night, fan of the admittedly uneven series. Worthwhile entry for sure, slightly more meat on its bones and of course some fun deaths. Probably place it in the middle of the series ratings wise.

[Nu-Eclipse]

I haven't watched a Final Destination film since FD2. It always felt to me like 3-5 had a straight-to-DVD quality about them, so nice to see FDB being something of a return to form (albeit saddened by the death of Tony Todd).

Will look to watch the first two again (and the others) at some point for sure.

[Finsbury Girl]

My favourite was the one that pretty much everyone else in my group felt was the weakest: 2. The John Woo one for me was the one that had the most flavour and the most fun.

[Nu-Eclipse]

The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984)

Was in the mood to rewatch this so did exactly that last night.

I know the HD remastering has had its critics over the years (although the most recent 4K remastering appears to have gone down very well), but I was surprised by how crisp, clean and clear it looked in full 1080p (full disclosure: I downloaded it to watch on Amazon Prime Video).

The special effects and make-up that looked state-of-the-art for the mid-1980's obviously and hilariously show their age today (see the Terminator motel self-repair scene, for instance), but what hasn't changed is how brilliantly the sci-fi/thriller/horror/action aspects all combine in such a tight and focused package, with the tension and drama elements basically being inch-perfect from start to end. (Brad Fiedel's iconic score contributing a hell of a lot to that).

We all obviously know about what was to come seven years later (greatest film sequel of all-time?), but its almost forgotten just how high a bar the original set in the first place and just how much of an outlier it is in the franchise as a whole.

Four decades on and STILL undoubtedly one of Cameron's finest.

[Neon Ignition]

The Avengers: Infinity War
Probably the first time I've seen it since Endgame was due to be released. Considering it's the culmination point it was interesting that for most of its runtime the kids struggled to hold their interest in it, they fared better with Black Panther which is easily the slower film. It holds up, though, really well. We've got a few to go before Endgame and that one will be interesting as I haven't rewatched that one in seven years

[Neon Ignition]

Once Upon a Deadpool
Aka the watered down version of the film so younger audiences can watch it, though that remains boderline depending on ages as a reasonable amount of content remains. It's fine, a solid reworking of the original and still much better than the extended cut though theatrical remains king for DP2.

Fear Street IV: Prom Queen
It's been a long wait for this and its generally fine. It starts very weak, finds its feet half-way through and then the back half hour is solid enough if you know what bar to expect from the franchise.

[Finsbury Girl]

Altered Carbon: Resleeved. Somehow this got middling reviews. I on the other hand found it to be great and it really fit into the Altered Carbon universe (that I can remember, it's been ages since I read the books, and dropped off the tv show before the end, which I will now revisit). Anyway some cool yakuza, ninja and sci-fi action. It was sweet.

[Neon Ignition]

Ant Man and the Wasp
Only the second time I've seen it, odd how fast the years have gone. It was a better watch that I remember it being

Until Dawn
It's a low budget and hokey affair, so kind of fitting with the tone of the games. To be honest, it wasn't as bad a time as I expected it to be.

[charlesr]

The Electric State - Nice GFX. Terrible plot.

[Neon Ignition]

Heart Eyes
Billed as a horror, it's not really. It's more... romcom with a serial killer. You have to bear with the opening, it's badly acted and comes across very awkward and cheap but then the rest of the film kicks in and whilst there are no scares there's a great little sense of humour running throughout the characters and their interactions.