DSL's Movie/TV Reviews and Discussion

[WingsFan]

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[AlabamAlum]

It’s funny about Mel Gibson. He was in the best film of all time (Braveheart) and the worst (Signs).

[WingsFan]

Signs was bad

[Dr. Strangelove]

So yeah I also recently watched a pair of boring-as-fuck TV movies starring Captain America. CBS produced these as an attempt to jump start a series that never materialized. The failure is just unfathomable. These are

CAPTAIN AMERICA (1979)
d. Rod Holcomb
Starring: Reb Brown, Len Birman, Heather Menzies, Steve Forrest

CAPTAIN AMERICA II: DEATH TOO SOON (1979)
d. Ivan Nagy
Starring: Reb Brown, Christopher Lee, Connie Sellecca, Len Birman

The first one is basically this universe's Captain America origin story and let me tell you this...it sucks. Steve Rogers is basically a mopey boardwalk artist who lives in a Scooby-Doo Van until one day a guy who knew his father gets murdered and another guy who knew his father tells him he needs to help them solve the mystery. Along the way some guys building a neutron bomb try to kill him but his life is saved thanks to a miraculous serum which makes him slightly stronger than before.

It is aggressively boring and meant to fill a two hour block of tv so...yeah. I believe this was one of Reb Brown's first roles and while he is no great actor, he usually brings way more energy than on display here. He is in full-on mellow 70's dude mode. Hey man, I just wanna cruise the coast in my van and sketch some seagulls man, like, you dig?

His Captain American uniform is laughably bad at first and then upgraded to tolerably bad. They did supe up his van so that his motorcycle explodes out of the back doors.

They tried to sell this turkey a second time and give them credit, the sequel is unquestionably better. For one, they somehow got Christopher Lee to star in this (as master terrorist "Miguel") in what must have been one of the darkest times of his life. He's planning to spray Portland, Oregon with an aging formula unless the govt pays him ONE BILLION DOLLARS. Hence the "Death Too Soon". Reb Brown is better in the second one too. But it's certainly nothing very enjoyable and the action is still comparable to a mid-tier Rockford Files episode.

Maybe check them out if someone wants to see literally every Marvel thing ever shat out. They're kind of a curiosity. But otherwise, don't bother.

These two clips give you a pretty good idea of the quality storytelling on display here

[Mike]

Reports of Tanya Roberts’ death were greatly exaggerated.

[AlabamAlum]

Yeah, the Tanya Roberts thing is very weird.

[THE_WIZARD_]

It’s funny about Mel Gibson. He was in the best film of all time (Braveheart) and the worst (Signs).

Braveheart was an embellished attempt at Scottish pride but in reality was just another Rocky type flic that ended up being an embarrassment to most Scots...present company excluded obviously...

[Dr. Strangelove]

AA, please refer to the Wizard's post above for an adequate summary of Braveheart: A Warrior's Tale. He is the Gene Shalit of the DSL thread.

[THE_WIZARD_]

EFZ

[AlabamAlum]

Kidding aside, I thought Braveheart was fun. They went so far over the top making Edward I and England the heavy that it was perfect. The battles, the conflicts, the politics, the heroes and villains were all murky to wrong in depiction, even RtB’s early cowardice. That said, it had some great lines, some good action, some drama, some comedy... it was a fun piece. The biggest problem I have with it is that so many people who don’t know history think they know what really happened at Falkirk, or Stirling Bridge and they get riled up about Wallace’s wife and prima nocta or whatever and, well, it’s kinda like getting your WWII history from Inglourious Basterds.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Inglourious Basterds isn't factual? Whaaaat?

[Hannibal]

I like Braveheart because the good guys win in the end and the bad guys lose, unlike Avatar.

[froot loops]

There was a guy on the Tiger forum who always ripped on Gladiator because he said they already made that film and it was Braveheart. I never agreed with the premise but if I did Gladiator is the better movie.

[Cody_Russell]

The “Congo” review... well done.

The plot of “Braveheart” and “Gladiator” are nothing alike. Poor comparison. If you want to compare Braveheart to something, it’s “The Patriot.” The Patriot is just a poor man’s Roland Emmerich version.
...

Saw a couple films recently:
“Soul.” Lives of to the standards of high end Pixar films. Brought me to tears at the end. Perhaps the most grownup Pixar movie yet.

“Casablanca.” It’s excellent. I’ll never watch it again, but was impressed with the film given the year it was released. Love the ending... unexpected.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Greatest scene in film history. This is how you talk to fucking attorneys