Cyclops

I bought this with a bunch of other Sci-Fi movies that Anchor Bay had released under the "Alternate Realities" line-up. I initially thought this was a cheesy 80's movie which closely resembled Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans. Much to my disappointment this movie was more recent and from the opening scene my hopes for some good ol sci-fi cheese reminiscent of the 80s were quickly dashed.

The costumes seemed too bright thrown together. I felt as if at any moment I would look down and see one of them wearing sneakers. The actors throughout the film seemed out of place and much too "modern" as it were. The first characters we come across just seem to not be properly prepped for their rolls.. where was the makeup department on that one?

I didn't believe any of the actors portrayals in any of their rolls. Eric Roberts was just awful.. It felt like he checked out before filming ever began. Stapleton's character Marcus wasn't much better. Although he seemed to get progressively less crappy as the movie went on I can't say I was able to believe his role whatsoever. Mike Straub who played Gordian was by far the best throughout the film. He seemed to be the only actor taking his role seriously. The soldiers of Rome were pitiful as well. There weren't enough of them so their attempt at a Phalanx (the shield maneuver like in 300) fell short. They all looked like random kids they pulled off the street and once again it felt as if none of them played their roles with any kind of serious intention.

The visual effects were atrocious. For a movie that was made in 2008 the lacklustre CGI quality is quite disheartening. I have worked on a few low budget films and the CGI weren't astounding but the CGI in this film makes the projects I've worked on look like Avatar! For a movie like this that did have some production value (supposedly) you think they would strive to make it look a lot better than they did. Epic failure across the board in the CGI department.

This movie def. screams Cheese! Unfortunately it's not the good kind of cheesy that you enjoy watching again and laughing at, no it's the kind of cheesy that you are just happy to be done with once the movie has ended. I would feel embarrassed to have my name associated with this movie in any form. had a little more time, planning and research into the story been done I'm sure they would have had at least something that they wouldn't spend the rest of their lives trying to forget was ever made.

Yes, I said it's dumb. The quality of the acting is bad. The Cyclops is CG'ed and looks pretty badly done. A real live actor in a cyclops costume would fair better than the efforts of the CG team. The costumes look like they came from the local fabric store sales rack. Pretty low budget flick. OK for the younger kids, but there is a lot of fake blood and killing to be had. If they play video games, this will fall right into that category. The writing is pretty elementary. The use of cheap actor's to play secondary rolls is quite obvious. Some of the camera shots, POV, are poorly done. The use of a steady cam might have helped with some of the scenes in the courtyard shots. The better part of this being made for TV, will be the commercials between the program. Not for the intelligent viewer.

Needless to say that I had never actually heard about this 2008 TV movie titled "Cyclops" prior to stumbling upon it by random chance here in 2024. And being familiar with the mythological creature, the cyclops, of course I opted to watch the movie. Sure, I wasn't really expecting a whole lot from it, given the somewhat dubious cover.

And then I saw that it was starring Eric Roberts, and my expectations went from slim to none.

Writer Frances Doel put together a fair enough script. It was a pretty straight forward storyline and it actually made for adequate enough entertainment. Sure, it wasn't stellar entertainment, but it was sufficient enough for a single viewing if you enjoy fantasy movies.

The acting performances in "Cyclops" were good. I was only familiar with Eric Roberts in the movie, and you know what you get from his acting. While I wasn't familiar with the rest of the cast, I will say that there were some good performances that helped to carry the movie.

Something that worked out well in the movie was the sets, costumes and props. It definitely looked like a movie set in ancient rome, and the costumes were really great. However, while the costumes were great, they were all just a tad too new and in mint condition. I would assume that commoners and slaves would have worn weathered garments with wear and tear, but oddly enough, everyone in the movie wore costumes and clothes that looked like they were straight and fresh out of the factory. It was a shame, because it made the production feel a bit amateurish. Some dirt and some wear and tear on the costumes would have added a lot of authentism to the movie.

The CGI animated cyclops creature in the movie was atrocious to look at. It looked like rejected CGI graphics from a 1990s computer game. It was really horrible to look at. Sure, the intention was good, but the CGI budget could have benefitted from a more handsome handout, or perhaps more skilled people working on the graphics. The texture of the cyclops felt incomplete and too smooth and shiny.

Oddly enough, there was a surprising amount of visceral gore and mayhem in the movie. Which definitely surprised me, because I wasn't expecting that from a TV movie with Eric Roberts in it.

"Cyclops" is a movie that is suitable for a single viewing if you like cheesy fantasy movies.

Funny fact here, you could actually watch "Cyclops" with just one eye, limited attention span, on the screen and still keep up with the events and happenings on the screen.

My rating of director Declan O'Brien's 2008 TV movie "Cyclops" lands on a three out of ten stars.

How Eric Roberts can go from portraying Sal Maroni in The Dark Knight to this is beyond me. The production value, low budget or not, is horrific. The costumes look like they were stolen from a nearby Halloween shop and the CGI looks like an art student got drunk and submitted some stock CG to SciFi.

That, and the gross butchering of Roman culture. The Emperor of the the most powerful empire in history clearly only hires the dumbest and most inept soldier for the city guard elite. These guys make the Star Trek "Red shirts" look like Leonida's 300.

To sum up: Take Gladiator, add a crappy subplot about a Cyclops to make it more SciFi worthy, and then give the staff 1 good actor surrounded by many, many bad ones and a budget of a 5 grade video project, without mommy's help.

I shudder to think about the future of the SciFi channel after Battlestar Galactica is done. Whether you like it or not, you must admit, after viewing terrible stuff like this, it's all they have left.

Because I'm watching this travesty with BOTH eyes and my head is starting to hurt.

Before I wrote this, I checked a few other reviews and I have to ask myself if the cast and/or crew are writing their own critiques. Strong acting? Solid plot? Seriously? There IS a plot, but the only strength I find is in the stench. The directing, the camera angles, the inconsistencies... The director felt it necessary to randomly show weird actor facial expressions at useless times? A Syfy movie with no nudity, no worthy violence, horribly choreographed fight scenes and mediocre-at-best CGI.

This is the second horrible movie I've watched today... Now I know what the guys in Mystery Science 3000 must have gone through.