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FlyByNight32
Reviews
Phantasm (1979)
THE Family film of 1979
I found this a nice, heartwarming tale about how family and friends can overcome sibling rivalry, age differences and so forth.
How they could bond and come together over guns, knives, guitars, muscle cars and ice cream to deal with superstrong unkillable funeral directors, stab-happy sex-starved women, killer dwarves, flying death balls and other examples of life's little adversities.
Sure, now and then someone got stabbed or killed by a flying death ball or turned into a killer dwarf after being stabbed or killed by a flying death ball, but think of all the life lessons they learned. I'm sure it brought them all a lot closer together in the end. Except for the ones who got killed, of course.
Star Trek: The Alternative Factor (1967)
A Third-Season episode that ran in the First
Given the meager quality of a good part of the third season, that's what this feels like.
I can live with a dimension-crossing paranoid maniac. I can live with him being a threat to the immediate area, several solar systems, maybe even the galaxy.
But the universe?
I don't even want to talk about the basic flaws in the whole matter-antimatter plot point, but 150-200 lbs of matter and antimatter wouldn't take out the universe.
The dilithium bit I can live with. They were still getting their feet wet on the technology, deciding what exactly this and that could and couldn't do. I just grind my teeth a little during those scenes.
The thing I just absolutely can't buy is the solution. Toss Laz A in with Laz B and let them duke it out for eternity?
The ship has phasers. Take out his ship. No ship, no doorway. And if you're afraid he might build another one, you have two choices.
#1 - Lock him up for the rest of his natural life, doped out on thorazine to the gills. #2 - You've got a phaser in your hand, he doesn't, and what happens on Planet Vegas stays on Planet Vegas.
Still, though, not as bad as Spock's Brain. Or Wink of an Eye. Or Spectre of the Gun. Or.... well, you get the idea.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Too many plot flaws to be good.
The first Terminator had good special effects and a good plot. The second had really good effects and a decent plot. The third had great effects and a weak plot.
The explanation at the end is what really bugs me about this movie. They claim that they couldn't shut down the machine brain because it wasn't just in one place, but existed spread out in servers all across the country.
The thing is, that's stupid. If that were the case, then the artificial intelligence would have died shortly after it launched the nukes, because all those servers would have been destroyed. It would have been like taking a large knife, trying to remove your nose by jamming the blade straight into your skull. Sure, you'd get rid of the nose, but it wouldn't help your brain much.
Also, the idea that the Terminator had killed Conner in the future and was sent by his wife is flawed. Way back in the first film, we learn from Kyle that the human revolt against the machines had been successful, they had already won. Sending the Terminators back was a last-ditch effort to prevent that defeat. Therefore, there should have been no Terminator sent after John years after the machines were defeated.
Also, in the first movie Kyle says that the time displacement equipment was to be destroyed after he went thru. From T2, it's obvious that they sent the second one after he went. However, it's hardly likely that they would change their minds and not destroy the time machine after that; they already knew what a problem they were facing with just the two Terminators that had gone through already.
Also, if John's learning that he's going to get killed by a Terminator in the future (which he was told), then he should be able to avoid it.
Not to mention that a nuclear-safe bunker set up for VIPs wouldn't have obsolete computers, radios and other equipment; restocking and updating it would be a periodic activity.
There are so many basic plot flaws in this movie, the only value it has left is the special effects.
Sleepwalkers (1992)
Another "Could-have-been" movie
This is another one of those movies that could have been great. The basic premise is good - immortal cat people who kill to live, etc. - sort of a variation on the vampire concept.
The thing that makes it all fall apart is the total recklessness of the main characters. Even sociopaths know that you need to keep a low profile if you want to survive - look how long it took to catch the Unibomber, and that was because a family member figured it out.
By contrast, the kid (and to a lesser extent, the mom) behave as though they're untouchable. The kid kills without a thought for not leaving evidence or a trail or a living witness. How these people managed to stay alive and undiscovered for a month is unbelievable, let alone decades or centuries.
It's really a shame - this could have been so much more if it had been written plausibly, i.e., giving the main characters the level of common sense they would have needed to get by for so long.
Other than that, not a bad showing. I loved the bit at the end where every cat in town converges on the house - every time I put out food on the porch and see our cats suddenly rush in from wherever they were before, I think of that scene.
Kopfschuß (1981)
Absolutely sucked
I rented it when I was in high school, and brought it home, expecting a faithful rendition of Asimov's short story.
It turned out to be the worst piece of drek ever to make its way to our TV - and we'd seen "The Brady Bunch Special" and part of a "Knight Rider."
I sincerely doubt anyone would waste a disk making this available, but if you ever see it, just walk right on by and pick up something better.
Of course, that shouldn't be hard - even the last Pink Panther movie (the one made after Peter Sellers had been dead a few years) would still be more enjoyable.