CaressofSteel75
Joined Dec 2013
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CaressofSteel75's rating
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CaressofSteel75's rating
Young Peter Graves plays Dr. Doug Martin, an army scientist working on the A-Bomb. After disappearing in a fighter plane crash, he staggers in to town with no memory of the event and a strange surgical scar on his chest. An interrogation with truth serum brings back his memory of being kidnapped by aliens who plan to destroy humanity and rebuild the Earth with their own civilization.
The aliens have the standard alien invasion motivation- their sun is dying out, and they have no choice but to conquer Earth and destroy the human population.
It's cut rate '50s sci-fi all the way, full of great stock footage of A-bombs exploding and Saber Jets roaring into the sky. The aliens and their technology look absolutely third rate, and their giant mutations of insects and reptiles for use in their attack on Earth are a colossal special effects failure. Still, it would've been a great feature at the drive in in 1954. Don't miss the shots of the hospital waiting room with the cigarette machine in it. Classic 1950s.
The aliens have the standard alien invasion motivation- their sun is dying out, and they have no choice but to conquer Earth and destroy the human population.
It's cut rate '50s sci-fi all the way, full of great stock footage of A-bombs exploding and Saber Jets roaring into the sky. The aliens and their technology look absolutely third rate, and their giant mutations of insects and reptiles for use in their attack on Earth are a colossal special effects failure. Still, it would've been a great feature at the drive in in 1954. Don't miss the shots of the hospital waiting room with the cigarette machine in it. Classic 1950s.
Kingdom of Heaven was the type of movie that I had been wanting to see for a long time- a well thought out epic that does a good job covering a fascinating era of history, even if it is an obscure era for a lot of people. That's not to say this movie doesn't have its problems. Orlando Bloom has never been a compelling leading man, so a lot of this is more than he can carry by himself. The preferred director's cut is very long with a lot of down time in between key scenes.
Balian de Ibelan, played by Orlando Bloom, joins the Crusades in Jerusalem. He becomes instrumental in the regime of King Baldwin IV, the leper king, excellently played by Edward Norton. Although the history isn't 100% spot on, it gives a fairly detailed account of the Christian Crusaders holding Jerusalem against Saladin until the inevitable Muslim takeover in 1187.
All of the major players in this movie are real historical figures. The most fascinating has to be King Baldwin IV, who suffered from leprosy and ruled Jerusalem until his death at age 24. Ed Norton plays the character with a high degree of political ethics and spirituality. He might be the best character in the whole movie. The Muslims, including Saladin himself, played by Ghassan Massoud, are also portrayed as ethical warriors. In fact, the only character I didn't like in this was the Bishop, played by Bill Paterson. He was a smaller character who I think wound up on the cutting room floor in the theatrical version, but in the director's cut he's seen as a typical craven and hypocritical religious figure. That's really getting to be a cliche. The Knights Templar seem to get a bad wrap in this as well. They're positioned as just some evil henchmen. I'm not an expert on the era of Baldwin IV, but I don't think they fell out of favor until Pope Clement V, who came along much later.
Based on the numerous suggestions here on IMDB and elsewhere, I went right to the director's cut and ignored the much shorter theatrical version. I therefore can't compare the two directly, but it seems to me that if they cut an hour out of this for the theater, the shorter version would have a lot of problems. So, enjoy a good movie about the Great Crusades and the controversy of Jerusalem, and be sure to see the director's cut. God wills it!
Balian de Ibelan, played by Orlando Bloom, joins the Crusades in Jerusalem. He becomes instrumental in the regime of King Baldwin IV, the leper king, excellently played by Edward Norton. Although the history isn't 100% spot on, it gives a fairly detailed account of the Christian Crusaders holding Jerusalem against Saladin until the inevitable Muslim takeover in 1187.
All of the major players in this movie are real historical figures. The most fascinating has to be King Baldwin IV, who suffered from leprosy and ruled Jerusalem until his death at age 24. Ed Norton plays the character with a high degree of political ethics and spirituality. He might be the best character in the whole movie. The Muslims, including Saladin himself, played by Ghassan Massoud, are also portrayed as ethical warriors. In fact, the only character I didn't like in this was the Bishop, played by Bill Paterson. He was a smaller character who I think wound up on the cutting room floor in the theatrical version, but in the director's cut he's seen as a typical craven and hypocritical religious figure. That's really getting to be a cliche. The Knights Templar seem to get a bad wrap in this as well. They're positioned as just some evil henchmen. I'm not an expert on the era of Baldwin IV, but I don't think they fell out of favor until Pope Clement V, who came along much later.
Based on the numerous suggestions here on IMDB and elsewhere, I went right to the director's cut and ignored the much shorter theatrical version. I therefore can't compare the two directly, but it seems to me that if they cut an hour out of this for the theater, the shorter version would have a lot of problems. So, enjoy a good movie about the Great Crusades and the controversy of Jerusalem, and be sure to see the director's cut. God wills it!
I thought I had seen them all, but I managed to completely miss Grave of the Vampire until very recently. That's how obscure this one is.
It's ultra low budget horror with Big Bill Smith starring as the son of vampire Caleb Croft. He was conceived as the result of the sexual assault of his mother. The half man/half vampire grows up and finally tries to settle the score with his father, who is still on a bloody rampage all those years later.
Bill Smith still looks very youthful in this, although he was already closing in on forty when this film was made. By 1980 he did look middle aged. Michael Pataki gets a good part as the vampire, Caleb Croft. He was always a skilled actor, and the miniscule budget they had to work with here didn't slow him down.
This movie touches on the the difficult subject of sexual assault which was still very controversial and not often seen in films of that era. That was back when we still had some moral fiber, even when it came to drive-in horror movies. If you're a B movie horror fan, you'll find that this one isn't too bad.
It's ultra low budget horror with Big Bill Smith starring as the son of vampire Caleb Croft. He was conceived as the result of the sexual assault of his mother. The half man/half vampire grows up and finally tries to settle the score with his father, who is still on a bloody rampage all those years later.
Bill Smith still looks very youthful in this, although he was already closing in on forty when this film was made. By 1980 he did look middle aged. Michael Pataki gets a good part as the vampire, Caleb Croft. He was always a skilled actor, and the miniscule budget they had to work with here didn't slow him down.
This movie touches on the the difficult subject of sexual assault which was still very controversial and not often seen in films of that era. That was back when we still had some moral fiber, even when it came to drive-in horror movies. If you're a B movie horror fan, you'll find that this one isn't too bad.
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