Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-25 18:20:40

A waste of time and talent.

This review is from: Lost City Raiders (DVD) In a word - woeful. How James Brolin and Ian Somerhalder took on this project is beyond me. A waste of their talent. The script is very poor and the special effects are just terrible. Sound is front centered - not 5.1 as advertised. Rental only!

Thomas Hillebrandt 2012-05-25 06:34:35

Inconsistent, unbelievable, and just bad.

I'll make this pretty short, as other reviewers have already pointedout most of this..This movie (which is titled "The End of the World" in my country, forreasons no one knows) is among the worst I have seen.. And I've watchedthrough all of "Pterodactyl" as well as "Santa Claus Conquers theMartians"..The acting is dubious at its very best. Brolin takes the prize with hisslow, unconvincing reads, but the others aren't doing a lot better.The setting - a future where the world is partially submerged due toglobal warming - is believable, but the environment and geography isfar from it (going from L.A. to Rome in a trawler, anyone?). Thepremise seems to shift during the film, and one key element of thestory changes its method radically, to the point where it isridiculous.All in all, I'm glad I borrowed this movie from a friend, so I didn'tspend any money on it. I'd like my hour-and-a-half back, please.. Atleast the other two movies, mentioned above, - though bad - are so badthey're funny.. This is just excruciating!

tharun mohan 2012-05-25 07:41:21

Well Not that bad for TV ... But Still bad

I saw this on the Tele few Days ago ... Iam Somerhalder was in it fromthe Lost Fame.. That didn't stop me from watching it, The Theme is OldFashioned. the Research is dump. and the whole story line is stupid.don't know why they made this. but in terms of production they did afair deal, In terms of television standards this wasn't bad. Thecastwasn't so bad the lead was good, but not enough emotions every oneseems so unrealistic with the never say die attitude as if thy wereover paid for the job. the special effects were upto TV standards. TheDirector Jean de Segonzac have done few thrillers including CSI and law& Order and I believe he did his best to show justice and so did thecast but the Story line was Weak very weak indeed. It's not worth awatch but still try it.

nose_smasher 2012-05-24 17:46:47

not bad at all

Saw this little movie two days ago, on cable and in Full HD. Call mecrazy, but I liked it. The plot is so common for B-movies: some guysare searching and competing for an ancient artifact. Half of them arethe "good guys", the other half are led by a ruthless super-rich manwho wants the artifact only for him, ...to rule the whole world, ofcourse. The action is set in the near future, when the level of theplanetary ocean raised dramatically. The coast zones ,and not only, arenow submerged. The New-Vatican wants the artifact (a scepter fromMiddle-Ages)hoping, based on old Biblical legends, to lower the levelof waters. The bad guy, who lost millions per day with his submergedreal estate wants exactly the opposite: to raise the level even more,because he now develops floating communities. He want the whole worldto become dependent of his projects, then to lower the level to regainland and sell more, once again, to those who wants to live on solidground.As you see, it's a simple plot, used oh so many times before, fromIndiana Jones to super-cheap and easy-to-forget other B-movies. Well,in my opinion, this one is able to stay in the upper first half. Youwon't find Oscar-winning acting here, just enough action to keep youentertained.The CGI is surprisingly good for a TV movie.The scenes with the halfsubmerged Dresden and Rome are done great. An underwater explosion and,later, CGI flowing water are rendered very realistic. However, thesubmerged structures are more poorly done."Lost City Raiders" is a family-friendly movie, so you can watch itwith your kids. Not a lot of talk, talk, talk, the plot is simple tofollow, some lines are funny, the acting can be found sometimes alittle bit silly, but nothing unbearable. It's 20% comedy, 40% action,40% adventure. Recommended.

MACCAroxsoxOFF 2012-05-23 13:37:13

Global warming has melted the ice caps and the sea level has risen covering much of the earth with water, and it keeps rising.

I thought it was an adequate movie. Not the best, but certainly not theworst. I had a good time watching and I think I would even watch itagain. I love that it has to with global warming as I think everyoneshould be more aware of it. The sea level rising and land disappearingbecause of it are very real possibilities although how far into thefuture I do not know. I thought the actors were great also! It's wortha look. I always say don't listen to anyone else's opinion, even aprofessional critic. The Critics put down Wild Wild West and I hadpeople who would not see it with me just because of that. I saw itanyway, and I loved it, it had it all. Action, comedy, creepy villains,crazy contraptions. Same goes with this movie, don't let someone elsedecide whether you see it. See it for yourself and make your owndecision. :DP.S. I can appreciate the bathtub analogy someone was giving up theretho. It's an interesting way to look at it, although it would havenever crossed my mind to compare it like that.

jamase83 2012-05-22 21:52:18

Awesomely Bad....

This movie was awesomely bad. Bad by normal standards, but better thanmost sci-fi crap. It had horrible effects, the actors would often overact and the plot was kind of ridiculous but I LOVED it. Surprisinglythe worst acting for me came from James Brolin. The movie is comparedto Water World and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Water World I can see,Raiders of the Lost ark a little bit, with a splash of Angels andDemons. I didn't really feel like I wasted my time. It's bad, but agood bad. Great for people who enjoy cheesy movies. Ian Somerhalder isnice to look at, and at the end I found myself hoping for a sequel. Iown the DVD and I would watch it again.

2012-05-19 18:09:28

Please let us have the HD Widescreen version

I bought this from Germany, Region 2 in order to get an English version that was HD and Widescreen.The description on this one says narrow screen and standard definition.A huge shame since it was originally filmed in HD and was a very attractive movie to watch... saw it on the SciFi channel (oops I mean the ScyFy channel).Good picture, but standard / narrow would pretty much ruin it.

2012-05-19 15:29:07

Lost City Raiders

This review is from: Lost City Raiders (DVD) I love Ian Somerhalder. This movie was worth buying the DVD for my collection.

2012-05-15 09:41:10

Different

This review is from: Lost City Raiders (DVD) A little different angle on the Doomsday scenario. A little slower this time but still effective. Combines mythology with religion, bad guys, fanatics and some rather impressive visuals for the good guys to win out in the end. No earth shattering cryptic messages here, just put up with a bowl of popcorn and some beverages to be distracted for an hour or so with this entry in the "end of the world" genre of movies.

kelleri 2012-05-14 21:40:41

worst movie so far for me...

Will keep that review brief as watching that movie was already a muchto big waste of time.Bad:-acting: well maybe that was really "mission impossible", the dialogsand script being what they are. But I must say, I felt the all movielong that what the actors do here is a kind of professional suicide.-CGI: just not even decent, I could do better given some hours to learnto use the appropriate programs. -Scenario: well well well, do not use your brain cells on this one, itjust doesn't make ANY sense. Nothing is surprising, ever, charactermotivations are just plain ridiculous,"science" is the worst pseudoscience gibberish I have ever heard in my all life! If only it would beto be taken as a parody, but ...no...they are kind of serious aboutthis mess! (Do not even start me on the diving sequences, already thefirst minutes are a total unrealistic, idiotic, nonsense that even a 5yold would find suspiciously ridiculous) -I could go on, but it just isn't worth it. (special mention to thesettings, some are worst I have ever seen) Good:-You can skip this movie and, see, your life just got practically 90minlonger....Conclusion:-Only watch this movie if you want to redefine your representation ofwhat "pathetic" means. (for some reason that adjective just kept comingto my mind every second watching this "movie") Otherwise, believe me,no pleasure, no thrills, nothing, not even 2d degree fun is to beexpected...PS: this movie didn't get a 1 for the sole reason that it isn't shotwith the family's camcorder, so IQ is indeed technically decent as longas no CGI is involved. Aaah, and there are few moments where boobs arethe eye catcher, so that brings us to a generous 2. (special warningfor "most" guys, hey I like boobs too, but believe me, no way thatthese few moments are worth watching the rest of this, just believe meon that one...)

Liam Murphy 2012-05-13 12:04:44

Not bad...Not Great....Just Meh.

40 years in the future Global Warming has submerged most of the Earthunderwater and a Father (James Brolin) and his two Sons (IanSolmerhalder & Jamie Thomas King) salvage treasures from sunkenbuildings for a living when they are given an important assignment fromthe Vatican to uncover an historical artifact which can lower the seasmoses-style - or some such nonsense. The budget as this is a SyfyChannel Production is Low (looks a lot lower than the $6.4M quotedhere) and it shows rather badly at times, especially as buildings inthe far distance look like paintings, but the acting isn't too bad andthere is enough action to keep you interested if not glued to thescreen.A German made production Filmed entirely in South Africa and Directedby Jean De Segonzac, who has been in the Director's chair on many a TVSeries and several forgettable DTV Movies.

2012-05-13 00:32:56

The Scepter of Sobek

Lost City Raiders brings to the screen the story of a father and his two sons who make a living by salvaging treasures from sunken buildings in a post-apocalyptic era. In the year 2048 most of the world has been submerged under water as the ice caps melted and the sea levels rose. The New Vatican, located in New Rome, is searching for a legendary Egyptian artifact said to have the power to control Earth's seas: the Scepter of Sobek.There are slight hints of the Fifth Element and even the Lord of the Rings, and strong/obvious elements of the DaVinci Code, Tomb Raider, National Treasure, Indiana Jones, and Waterworld. Ian Somerhalder (from Lost!), Ben Cross, and the rest of the cast do a poor job in their respective roles. The major setback is in relation to the acting (or lack of it); that is to say that the cast are badly in need of acting lessons (even Ian Somerhalder was pathetic)! The acting-oh my- the acting is beyond words... School plays (and pre-school for that matter) have better actors! It is truly sad...Another weakness is in relation to the very poor dialogues and the weak plot/storyline, which could have been so much better and for which the writers and director are to blame.In essence, the film definitely had potential if only the writers/director had the ability to... write and direct! A shame really... In a nutshell, you might find it amusing if you're under 13 and/or are heavily intoxicated, and that's about it. Rent or buy at your own risk. You have been warned! 2.2 Stars.

rsternesq 2012-05-09 21:34:52

Finally! A Winner in the Worst Ever Category

Can't add a spoiler alert because I couldn't stick it out. Truly, Itried but this is the winner in my personal worst movie ever contest.Absolutely the worst, worst, dumbest movie ever in my humble (well, OK,not so humble) opinion. Makes Waterworld look like Shakespeare. I admitit. I can't think of anything else to say but burn the film, disablethe projector, pull the plug. Kill it before it airs again. SciFi myfoot. JUNKY STUPID! Yes, I'm shouting it to the rooftops. Saveyourself! Send this Brolin back to the fetid arms of his beloved. YUCK!Not enough words? Well try this for an ender: WARNING! WATCHING THISMESS WILL REDUCE YOUR IQ AND YOUR LIFE SPAN! You cannot afford the timeto check out this tripe. Medieval dentistry would be preferable. YUCK.YUCK. A thousand times dreck!

2012-05-09 10:26:39

It's NOT the acting.....it's the WRITING

This review is from: Lost City Raiders (DVD) This movie came from a small budget, eventually shown on our Sci Fi Channel. If you like Ian Somerhalder, as I do, anything with him is worth the price. The acting is not bad, it is what they were given to say that is bad. Evidently some 'reviewers' don't know the difference between bad writing and bad acting.

sheenafilm 2012-05-03 17:21:48

We all live in a bathtub

I think everybody should watch this movie, not as a serious actionmovie, but simply for being incredible and hilariously funny. Basicallyconstructed as a cheaper TV imitation of familiar mega productions(Tomb Raider, Indiana Jones, Waterworld etc.), "Lost City Raiders"presents the ultimate explanation for the climate catastrophe: we alllive in a gigantic bathtub, and every few thousand years, someone needsto pull the plug to lower the water level. Moses did it once, and ourheroes just need to find his scepter to repeat the trick. Mind you,this is not a parody, it's intended to be convincing and scientific.When I read the summary on the back of the DVD cover, I desperatelywanted to see the movie because I found it hard to believe until I sawit with my own eyes. How does one sell a story like this to a producer?It sounds like a lunatic Troma project, but actually is aninternational co-production, quite big by TV standards. Apart from thecrazy outline, the script is pretty well constructed though: BettinaZimmermann's character signing a deal with the wrong team, a lot aboutJames Brolin's character only being revealed afterwards etc. - andfinally, I liked the design of the cave, archaic and futuristic at thesame time.

2012-05-03 01:46:17

98 minutes of my life that I will never get back.

The plot was needlessly convoluted and noticeably contrived, the dialog poor, & the casting seems to have boiled down to "who will work for scale?" Not one single actor was believably cast in this movie, save for the extras. I put no fault on the actors, as they seemed to be trying their best with the (very) little they had. The only (and I do mean "only") good thing I can say about this is that it was "pretty". And it may fill a notch in your "gotta have every crappy disaster movie ever made" collection. And for reviewing this "film" as "Waterworld meets Raiders of the Lost Ark", whoever this Marshall Fine at Star Magazine is, he ought to be tossed off a bridge followed by a box of ticker tape confetti comprised of his past reviews and all traces of anything else he managed to get into print. Marshall!, you cost me $11.99 and 98 minutes of my life with your lies! (Raiders indeed - Blasphemer!)Would that I could, I would give this movie a star rating so low that it would suck the stars from nearby products.

dommiz-1 2012-04-30 01:28:12

What were they thinking?

Surely, about 2 hours into pre-production they must have suddenlyrealised that this was an absurd concept. Perhaps that is why theycould only get such bad actors? But can we blame the actors when thescript and direction were so dire? It seems that they took the most risible bits of 'Da Vinci Code',stirred in some Tomb Raider, stole a few set pieces from 'Indiana Jonesand the Last Crusade', and then set the whole thing to, stay with me:Waterworld. Best bit: when the Cardinal portentously reveals the Triptych, and wesee that when Moses parted the Red Sea he was wielding the Sceptre ofOsiris or some such baloney. So it follows that whomsoever finds thescepter can reverse the rising waters! But not if the real estatemagnate who is going to corner the market in floating houses gets therefirst! Because, of course, when only 10% of the earth's landmass isleft, society will be completely unchanged, and curiously, New Romewill be populated entirely by Americans and stereotypical drunkenIrishmen. My idea of Dystopia is a world in which these sorts of films get made.In the words of the mighty Kermode: all those involved should bethoroughly ashamed of themselves.

MartianOctocretr5 2012-04-29 12:11:31

Indy Jones and the Temple of Waterworld

The world is soggy. Everybody has a sinking feeling. Global warming,resulting from too much cell phone texting or something, has begunmelting polar ice caps, increasing sea level, and turning cities intogiant swimming pools. Fortune hunters James Brolin and two other guysplaying his sons, roam around looking for artifacts and trouble. Theywear wet suits and scuba equipment. One of the sons tries to get eatenby a shark about 30 seconds into the film. Brolin exits the film soonafter; must not have been paid much. He delivers his few lines well,and he's buddies with a Vatican cardinal.Rich megalomaniac Ben Cross pays off a girl who talks like ArnoldScharzeneggar; she used to date the guy who wanted to get eaten by ashark. Legend has it that there's a scepter that just may end the waterproblem, and so everybody goes after it, even some rogue priest. Thereare a few good underwater temple scenes, and some fun action, and thestory line works. Although it's obviously copying Indy Jones, it atleast offers some new ideas to the formula. The conflicts to get thescepter and its immense power keep you involved, and the cast make themost of what they're given. The temple scrawling of how the sceptermachine works made me laugh. It looked like the schematic for one ofthose old transistor radios from the '50's. Hastilly put together with limited resources, but somehow this filmgets away with it. For a SyFy freebie, it's really not bad.

reimi070 2012-04-28 15:37:21

The weird stuff in the film.

i almost wanted to vote "Your Vote" cos it was lower than 1(Awful)anyways. what i find strange is that the film starts off with astoryteller. who later turns out to be the dad of the "main guys" andthat's fair enough, till about 30 min in the film where he dies.. andthat just kept me wondering "who will tell the story now?" which soonled to other questions like "why am i watching" and "why is it so muchfocus on Christianity?" and if u are thinking of watching this film,just letting u know you'll enjoy it just as much as sitting in abathtub hitting yourself in the head with the bible. so in the end itsa nice way to waste money if that's what gives you your ticks,otherwise don't bother.

dpvog 2012-04-28 12:58:58

Bad Enough to Be Funny...

Story lines and scripts aside, movies are so well made these days thatyou don't often get to see a movie take a thirty foot plunge off acliff and end with a belly flop. Sometimes, something that isexceptionally bad can be bad enough to be worthwhile. Case in point:Lost City Raiders. To be fair, from the start, Lost City Raiders makesno promises and creates no false expectations. This in not Inception,where the cast, budget, and other bonafides give you false hope. Whenyou watch this movie, with its six million dollar budget, you expect ananonymous cast, flat acting, a clumsy story line, sloppy direction,weak sound track, and paper thin production value and special effects.The only happy surprises came in the last two categories. Consideringthe budget they were working with, the sets were impressive and thespecial effects weren't bad at all. Everything else was far worse thanyou could possibly hope for. So stock up on Ben & Jerry's, make somepopcorn, fill a bunch of tall glasses with ice, and clear 90 minutes ofyour evening. This is a two joint movie. Warning: If you don't smokepot or if you don't have any handy, don't even think about watchingLost City Raiders. This is a film you have to be well and truly stonedto appreciate.