With Raiders of the Lost Ark an instant classic and probably the defining film of Harrison Ford's career, it's hardly surprising that a sequel was on the cards, to test whether Steven Spielberg and George Lucas could make that particular brand of lightning strike twice. Since going darker had worked such wonders for The Empire Strikes Back, it was decided that the same strategy … [Read more...]
Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
9 years after the release of the Oscar winning conclusion to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King, director Peter Jackson returns to Middle Earth in the first part of a new trilogy that adapts JRR Tolkien's first novel in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. On the day of Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) 111th birthday, he is caught by his nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood) … [Read more...]
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) review by The Filmologist
The inexorable grating of world weary cynicism and the ponderous march of logical progress can erode even the most active imagination. Where once flights of fantasy were; now are empirical marvels, as concept cars and far off nebulas replace myth, fable and Max's Midnight Kitchen as objects of awe and wonderment. With reality granting us this tainted escapism grounded in an oft … [Read more...]
Review: Eragon (2006)
The success The Lord of the Rings created a boom in fantasy film-making, with some very good stuff resulting, but with every boom must come a bust, and thus here we have Eragon. A failure on almost every possible level, I can't even recommend it as an unintentional comedy; and when a bad fantasy film cannot even be that, it's a sure sign of how utterly wretched it is. The … [Read more...]
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) review by That Film Guy
Bringing the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy to a close is Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Once again directed by Gore Verbinski and starring the original, returning cast At World's Endties up the stories from the previous films. Upon release, it took a staggering $963m from a budget of $300m, making it one of the highest-grossing films of all times. … [Read more...]
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) review by That Film Guy
After the staggering and somewhat unexpected success of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, two sequels were immediately green-lit to complete a trilogy. The first of them, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was released in 2006 and reunited the original cast with director Gore Verbinski and become one of the highest-grossing films of all time. … [Read more...]
Back to the Future Part III (1990) review by That Film Guy
Completing the trilogy, Back to the Future Part III was filmed back-to-back with its predecessor Back to the Future Part II and shifts the action 70 years in the past in 1885. While intrinsically linked to the previous two films, Back to the Future Part III sits slightly apart because of the Western-themed atmosphere. Commercially it made $70m less than the middle film of the … [Read more...]
Back to the Future Part II (1989) review by That Film Guy
Following the commercial and critical success of Back to the Future, director Robert Zemeckis and producer Steven Spielberg began working on two sequels that would be filmed back-to-back. Back to the Future Part II which follows on directly from the original sees Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) back in 1985 when the Doc (Christopher Lloyd) returns from the future with a warning … [Read more...]
Back to the Future (1985) review by That Film Guy
It's hard to imagine a film world without Back to the Future, a film so delightfully playful, wistfully nostalgic and utterly enjoyable that it shaped the childhoods of an entire generation. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg, Back to the Future had a powerhouse production team who later became used to creating generation-defining films. It became a … [Read more...]
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) review by That Film Guy
In the late 1970s and early 1980s there was none more celebrated producers and directors than Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. One had created the 'Summer Blockbuster' with release of Jaws, the other had created Star Wars, a franchise so popular that it is still on peoples favourite films list to this day. In 1981, shortly after the release of Spielberg's biggest box office … [Read more...]