Cimmerian_Dragon

This is the real deal. A group of musicians that don't have to skate by on voice-enhancement gimmicks and worthless attempts to be "trendy". Heaven and Hell (or Black Sabbath Mk. 2 if you prefer) have presented us with an epic collection of the purest heavy metal on earth, and I thank them for it. They don't use speed and volume to sound hardcore, they use impeccable songwriting, expert vocals, and a smooth and confident command of their instruments attained through years of honing. Forget all of that insipid nu-metal and rap-core drivel that dominates the airwaves today, pick up this film and remember just how powerful music can be.

Ryuhei Kitamura's films seem to be built entirely on the strength of his visual style. Unfortunately, neither I, nor anyone I know, find that style all that interesting. His fight scenes always manage to look stiff and artificial (not fantastic, just artificial), yet he always shoves them in front of plot. I figured I'd had enough after checking out Versus, Alive, and Azumi, ready to write Kitamura off as a perpetual B-Movie factory.

Just by chance I happened upon a cheap copy of Sky High at the local FYE, and the synopsis piqued my interest. I'm glad I picked it up, because it corrects a lot of the problems that have continuously plagued the director's work. He restrains himself from the campy action scenes of the aforementioned films, instead presenting competently staged fights that didn't entirely leap beyond plausibility. Best of all, the movie actually has a complete plot, and not one that seems regurgitated from a 70s martial arts exploitation flick. For the first time, I found his story to be engrossing and actually cared about his characters.

This film has bought Ryuhei Kitamura a new respect in my eyes, because I know now that he can make a real film. I hope he continues on in the direction displayed here, and resists relapsing into cliché.

I picked this flick up on a whim when I found it in the video store. I'd never heard of it, but the synopsis seemed interesting. When I started the movie I was expecting a sort-of serious-minded Kelly's Heroes meets Saving Private Ryan type of flick. I was rather surprised to find a reasonably well written film, with a cast of distinct, likable characters more akin to Hollywood westerns than the current crop of hyper-grim war movies. The script turned out to be more of a black comedy than anything else, with a clever, sandpaper-dry wit of the kind that brings out a few real laughs and plenty of chuckles. This underlying irreverent vibe, coupled with relatively gore-less combat (I can't believe the film got an "R" for violence) gives the proceedings a definite Retro feel, much like the military adventure films of the 50's and 60's. If you enjoy that type of movie, then give this little gem a try, you won't be disappointed.