Friday, November 21, 2003
This is a copy of a write-up I did for english on the movie Forbidden Planet:
The movie Forbidden Planet is so obviously made in the 1950s. The special effects, and even more the sound effects, are so outdated that they are laughable. I’m sure that in the time that the movie was made, though, they were very special and added to the experience for the moviegoer. I think that it is a credit to the movie that viewing it almost fifty years later has not detracted from the moviegoer’s experience. Out of all of the adaptations of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, this one is the most deviant from the original material. I was able to pick out immediately the comparisons between Prospero and Morbius, and between Miranda and Altaira. Robby the Robot was also very amusing as the newer version of Ariel. What I found the most intriguing about this movie is the fact that it is so different from Shakespeare so that drawing comparisons between characters is much more fun and interesting.
The character portrayal that intrigued me the most was the nameless beast that was not revealed until the last ten minutes of the movie. This beast turned out to be simply the Id of Morbius. The suggestions that the movie make about Caliban and his relationship with Prospero in The Tempest are certainly thought-provoking. If the relationship between Prospero and Caliban is similar to that between Morbius and the beast, then the filmmakers are suggesting that Caliban is an extension of Prospero’s wishes through his subconscious. This grants Caliban even less status than he has in either The Tempest or A Tempest. In those books, Caliban is a slave that is held under almost complete check by his master, Prospero, but is at least recognized as an independent entity capable of thought and emotion. In this movie “Caliban” is only a piece of his master, incapable of functioning without the master. This is why at the end of the movie, when Morbius renounces the monster and realizes the destruction he has inflicted, the monster is destroyed.
I thought that the movie was well-made, considering the time period, and well acted. When I saw that Leslie Nielsen was in the movie, and that it was not a comedy, I had my doubts. I thought that he tackled the role of Commander Adams well, though, and breathed enough life into the part. I kept expecting Altaira to say “Surely you must know how to defeat this monster!” and Leslie Nielsen to respond with “Yes, I do. And don’t call me Shirley” but that never surfaced. That was the only disappointment in this movie that was kept at a fast pace and was a creative adaptation of The Tempest.
The movie Forbidden Planet is so obviously made in the 1950s. The special effects, and even more the sound effects, are so outdated that they are laughable. I’m sure that in the time that the movie was made, though, they were very special and added to the experience for the moviegoer. I think that it is a credit to the movie that viewing it almost fifty years later has not detracted from the moviegoer’s experience. Out of all of the adaptations of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, this one is the most deviant from the original material. I was able to pick out immediately the comparisons between Prospero and Morbius, and between Miranda and Altaira. Robby the Robot was also very amusing as the newer version of Ariel. What I found the most intriguing about this movie is the fact that it is so different from Shakespeare so that drawing comparisons between characters is much more fun and interesting.
The character portrayal that intrigued me the most was the nameless beast that was not revealed until the last ten minutes of the movie. This beast turned out to be simply the Id of Morbius. The suggestions that the movie make about Caliban and his relationship with Prospero in The Tempest are certainly thought-provoking. If the relationship between Prospero and Caliban is similar to that between Morbius and the beast, then the filmmakers are suggesting that Caliban is an extension of Prospero’s wishes through his subconscious. This grants Caliban even less status than he has in either The Tempest or A Tempest. In those books, Caliban is a slave that is held under almost complete check by his master, Prospero, but is at least recognized as an independent entity capable of thought and emotion. In this movie “Caliban” is only a piece of his master, incapable of functioning without the master. This is why at the end of the movie, when Morbius renounces the monster and realizes the destruction he has inflicted, the monster is destroyed.
I thought that the movie was well-made, considering the time period, and well acted. When I saw that Leslie Nielsen was in the movie, and that it was not a comedy, I had my doubts. I thought that he tackled the role of Commander Adams well, though, and breathed enough life into the part. I kept expecting Altaira to say “Surely you must know how to defeat this monster!” and Leslie Nielsen to respond with “Yes, I do. And don’t call me Shirley” but that never surfaced. That was the only disappointment in this movie that was kept at a fast pace and was a creative adaptation of The Tempest.
Thursday, November 06, 2003
I figure that a few minutes are warranted to review the movie Matrix Revolutions. I just recently got into the Matrix movies, watching the original about a month ago. I thought it was ok, nothing wonderful. The other day, I watched The Matrix Reloaded, the second movie in the trilogy. I thought that the movie was terrible, relying way too much on over-the-top special effects and too little on plot and character development. Then, I went to see Matrix Revolutions the first day that it came out. Words cannot do this movie justice. It was THAT awful. Out of every scenario that I could have dreamed up for a way to end the trilogy, none of them came even close to as horrible as this movie ended up. Every single aspect of the movie was just terrible. The special effects, which constituted just about the whole movie, were WAY WAY WAY too overdone. Example: the final fight scene between Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), which lasted 10 minutes and took place in, of course, a torrential downpour. There was one shot which was a slow-mo of Neo punching Agent Smith in the face that was completely random and painful to watch.
The main battle sequence in the movie, as the good guys battled to save Zion and the human race or something, lasted for about 45 minutes. I would have considered a battle sequence that lasted 10 minutes way too long, but this one lasted 45!! The only reason that I see for them doing this is to cover up the fact that this movie just had NO PLOT!! And for that fact, no character development.
I could go on and on about how much this movie sucked but I just want to leave you with one caveat: Don’t waste your time or money going to see The Matrix Revolutions, no matter how much of a hardcore Matrix fan you are (like the 13 year old girl doing her best to look like a complete freak in a Trinity outfit in the theater). You will be sorely disappointed.
This movie definitely ranks in my top 10 worst films that I have ever seen.
Scott’s Rating:
Matrix Revolutions: 0 stars
The main battle sequence in the movie, as the good guys battled to save Zion and the human race or something, lasted for about 45 minutes. I would have considered a battle sequence that lasted 10 minutes way too long, but this one lasted 45!! The only reason that I see for them doing this is to cover up the fact that this movie just had NO PLOT!! And for that fact, no character development.
I could go on and on about how much this movie sucked but I just want to leave you with one caveat: Don’t waste your time or money going to see The Matrix Revolutions, no matter how much of a hardcore Matrix fan you are (like the 13 year old girl doing her best to look like a complete freak in a Trinity outfit in the theater). You will be sorely disappointed.
This movie definitely ranks in my top 10 worst films that I have ever seen.
Scott’s Rating:
Matrix Revolutions: 0 stars
