ChubbyChecker

As I write this there are currently 6 Scream files out there, with a 7th planned. That's not even taking into account the number of films that tried to imitate, or even parody, this film. I recently over the course of a few weeks watched all 6 Scream films. While it's fair to say that the quality of the films ebbed and flowed I think it's also fair to say that they were made based on the strength of this film.

It's worth remembering that when this film was released the horror film genre was stale and pretty stagnant. Scream not only parodied the genre as a whole, it also revitalised it and brought some much need ingenuity. As well as the historical importance of this film it still holds up today, especially for those who are new to the genre.

I don't have much more to say about Scream. If you've seen the film before you know why it's worth watching. If you haven't seen it before it's worth going in knowing as little as possible and just enjoy the ride.

I highly recommend Scream to any horror fans, especially fans of slasher flicks. Personally I am no horror fan, but I am definitely a Scream fan. It's that good.

This film is long, there's no denying that. However there's also no denying that it's 3 hours and 26 minutes well spent, especially if you have any interest at all surrounding the events of JFK's assassination.

Oliver Stone is clearly passionate about this subject and this is the reason he takes as long as he does to lay out the facts (as he sees them), as well as the many things we simply don't know about what transpired. It's a great insight into the machinations of government, the search for truth, and the simple fact that what is commonly thought to be what happened deserves closer scrutiny.

As expected the cast do a stellar job. Kevin Costner shines, though so do the likes of Gary Oldman, Joe Pesci and Tommy Lee Jones. Donald Sutherland also gives us a great monologue, though this is undoubtedly eclipsed by the half hour or so monologue from Costner at the culmination of the film. I won't mention any more actors, though there were certainly more stellar performances.

While the long running time and verbose script might make this film seem like a chore for some, if you concentrate on the story presented it's well worth the effort.

The thing about this show is that it starts off pretty weak, and that's being generous. I would say it's safe to ignore the reviews from people who only watched a few episodes and then gave up on it. While their reviews are probably accurate for what they saw they don't take into account that the people involved in the production really upped their game as the show progressed and made something which I at least found entertaining.

The acting is the most obvious flaw, at least for the first couple of episodes. A lot of the actors had little to no experience of appearing in a show and you can really tell. Thankfully the main cast grew into their roles as the show progressed, which is prevalent season after season. Some actors / characters were introduced later who added to the show positively. In my view as well some (though not all) of the more annoying characters were removed from the show as it went on.

It's not just the acting. The writers upped their game in terms of story telling and world building too. For me at least the world didn't really make much sense at first and there were a lot of hammy and cheesy aspects about it that were thankfully ironed out. The show really peaks in season 3 too, where a lot of the elements came together to make this low budget production a joy to watch. That's not to say that season 2 or the end of season 1 are poor, it just continued to get better.

Another great aspect about The Outpost is that it doesn't overstay its welcome. Not every show needs to be run into the ground over 8 seasons, and for whatever reason that didn't happen here. 4 seasons was enough to get the full story arc and end the show on a high.

Despite what I've said, beyond perseverance to sit through the rocky start you do still need to make some allowances for the fact that the budget simply isn't that big. Don't expect epic large scale battles and glorious special effects. Go in knowing this and in my opinion you'll have a good time with The Outpost, especially if you're a fan of fantasy.