Genres

Visitors Review

Scott LeBrun 2012-05-18 02:55:18

A cut above other movies of this type.

In an ancient time and place ("Minotaur" was filmed on location inLuxembourg, both interiors and exteriors), people that tended towards"hedonism and greed" needed a god that was somehow more tangible, oneof flesh. So they contrived one by impregnating their Queen, who givesbirth to this thing. Naturally, things get way out of control, and soona regular requirement of sacrifices of the young comes about to keepthe beast in check. One young man, Theo (Tom Hardy of "Layer Cake","RocknRolla", "Bronson", and "Inception", etc.) is led to believe thata lost love of his, a past sacrifice to this thing, is still alive sohe agrees to take on the challenge of determining if the Minotaur isreally so much of a "god" and can actually be killed. Normally, when wewatch stuff like this, we expect a lot of silliness and a lot of cheeseand know not to take it terribly seriously. "Minotaur", however, whichis inspired by Greek mythology, does go out of its way, for a while, tokeep these elements at bay and deliver a somber, moody, foreboding kindof tale - and it works pretty well. Granted, before too long, themostly inane characters cease to maintain any sort of interest and itbecomes tedious watching these people get picked off. The actors whocome off the best are Tony Todd (not surprisingly), who's magnetic asusual even if there's a definite feel of Candyman to his performance,and the absolutely luscious Michelle Van Der Water as the sister toTodd's character (one fun kinky touch is that Todd loves her more thanas just a sibling, which doesn't exactly sit well with her), who'stired of the senseless deaths and tries to defy him. The actors playingthe would be victims don't have enough to work with to register verystrongly, but there is the attraction of seeing some veterans in theform of Rutger Hauer (whose disappearance from the story is ratherdisappointing) and the legendary, sultry Ingrid Pitt, who's actuallyunrecognizable, buried under heavy makeup, as the cave dwelling Leper.The creature gets a reveal sooner than this viewer would have liked,but it's reasonably impressive - big, bad, and ugly, and done with bothdigital and practical effects. There's some nastiness for gore hounds,although a lack of real detail (there's too much stuff taking place offscreen, for one thing) will likely leave them less than satisfied. Notexactly that good, but not all that bad either; it may amuse the genrefan who doesn't demand too much from what they watch. Six out of 10.

bobwildhorror 2012-05-17 05:38:00

Pleasant Diversion

Welcome to the CITIZEN KANE of Sci-Fi Channel movies. Not that MINOTAURis faultless. It's just competent on so many more levels than youraverage Sci Fi-Schlock Fest that it appears great in comparison.We have some actual acting going on. Granted, there is some greatscenery chewing, but it's on a grand scale. There are some goodeffects. There are some epic looking landscapes and the occasional set.And the script and direction are actually acceptable.On the down side, there's the same CGI overkill that seems to hauntevery Sci Fi monster flick. Thankfully, this is kept to a minimum.We're also stuck in the same labyrinth/cave sets for way too long. Andevery so often I couldn't help feeling that plot points were beingcribbed from a Terry Jones film.But these are minor quibbles. There's some attempt here to breathe lifeinto the monster on the loose genre. Not bad at all.

buzzerbill 2012-05-13 22:43:38

Why is this a movie?

Let me start out by saying that (a) I like the SciFi channel, andfantasy and scifi in general (those reading my other reviews mightconclude that I only like French and Japanese films, and that is notthe case) and (b) I do not have any bias against TV movies.What I do have a bias against is flimsy and witless hack jobrearrangements of classics--including classic myth. There is a point ofview that every possible genre of literature was invented by the Greeksand we have just been ringing changes ever since; so there in nothingwrong with re-imagining the classics--Jean Cocteau's films, "Clueless"on Jane Austen, John Gardner's "Grendell", Kurosawa's "Ran" and "Throneof Blood", much of Roger Corman's work,and numerous others.But in this case, bad dialogue, bad acting (this film makes, say,"Conan the Barbarian" look like the Royal Shakespeare Company) and aplot that, charitably, has little to do with the original andeverything to do with being a framework for skimpy clothing and abucket or two of gore, matched with an excessive enthusiasm for pointof view camera work, all combine to make this a heap of (as a goodfriend of mine says) stinking poo.Go watch either Conan movie, or "Red Sonia", or "Hellboy" or a Hammerfilm. Don't waste your time and effort on this. Guys--recognize astinker when you see one.

Geoffrey Reemer 2012-05-13 13:51:17

For your lazy Saturday night

Ah, Minotaur... saw this movie in my TV-guide on a lazy Saturday night.The review that came with it wasn't that good, but I had nothing betterto do. So I just gave it a go.Surprisingly, the story kept me entertained for the whole 90 minutes.Tony Todd was a real treat and you could see the actors were reallytrying to make something out of it. Sure, it's a B-movie and sure, it'sgoing straight to DVD. But if you just watch it without too manyexpectations and without caring too much about plot holes, you'll havean entertaining night.Special effects weren't that good, but the ancient atmosphere andcamera work made up for that. Unfortunately, the Minotaur himself wastoo robotic for my taste. That took a little bit of the magic away.Conclusion: Minotaur is a very approachable myth/monster movie that youcan just pick up in the video store, or watch whenever it comes on TV.It's a fun way to spend a lazy Saturday night :).

lastliberal 2012-05-11 10:27:21

Not my Crete

I lived on Crete for two years so I am familiar with the story of theMinotaur and the Labyrynth. They took that story and made some monsterflick about how one dude (Tom Hardy from Layer Cake) found out hisgirlfriend was still alive in the maze and he set out to save her andthe village. I do have to say I was most impressed with th Temple andthe blood-drinking leader. I was even more impressed with QueenRaphaella - Michelle Van Der Water.Was it a complete waste? No, the special effects were good, the monsterwas ghastly, and the action was what you would expect from a sci-fifilm. Again, worth a look for Michelle Van Der Water.

2012-05-11 07:27:36

Done before

The story is some rewrite of an ancient greek story of the minotaur. The story is weak, the acting and character development is poor, and the special effects are ordinary.Give a miss

grizzly228 2012-05-09 11:56:46

Anybody know the origin of the making of this movie?

I saw this movie and was disappointed greatly, but more importantly I'mhere to see if anyone knows the origins of this movie.I wrote a similar script (though much better) and entered it into ascreen writing contest...I never heard back from them. Not long afterthat did I see production began on this movie and there are strikingsimilarities to my script and this movie...though this movie is muchlower quality and has less production value. But there are things inthis movie that I had created for my script and did not come from thestory of the Minotaur which made me suspicious. Of course it ispossible that I am not the only person in the world that wrote a scriptcontaining these similarities...but any information anyone could giveme to ease my suspicions would be appreciated.

2012-05-09 11:00:38

Minotaur Minimalism

This review is from: Minotaur (DVD) Peplum meets splatterpunk meets heroics from the early Iron Age. Our hero's name is Theo rather than Thesius in this film. But that's allright (Theo means "God" in Greek). Most of the time he is simply called "the Shepherd"! That may seem odd to moderns. "Weren't shepherds peaceful guys that just sat around all day and watched the sheep graze and copulate?" Au contraire Black Adder! The shepherd was the ancient equivalent to the cowboy of the Old West. Like the biblical David, he was a rugged outdoorsman, and a fierce fighter. Got a giant bovine/human mutant bull-monster that needs slaying? Call a shepherd, the original badass!

QinetiQ 2012-05-08 08:09:06

Not all that bad

I watched it on TV tonight, and I must say I watched it till the end,which is pretty rare for me when it comes to watching special-effectsmovies on TV (since I watch most 'good' SE movies in the theater).I didn't even mean to watch it, but I zapped passed it just when itstarted and bascily thats what kept me interested; the atmosphere,lighting etc was interesting. It starts of rather slow in my opinion,but it picks up speed half way through. I think the title is a bit misleading since it doesn't involve the realminotaur, but a creature that people in the movie believe it is theminotaur. It's entertaining, surely not a top movie but still theymanaged to make it interesting using the various characters. Theeffects are OK for a movie with this budget, I never thought it was toofake. Some stuff did bother me, as example, the gas; He can smell thegas when he sticks his head in the hole. In the end he managed to lightit, and it suddenly blows through the whole labyrinth, up to thepitholes in the palace. I am no chemist, but it doesn't make much sensewhy it would do that. The fire would just follow the gasstream, notcreate a massive stream on its own. If the gas was already streaming sobadly, no one would be able to live in the palace.Another thing that make me think, since the minotaur was actually justsome strange monstrous bull, how could they been feeding it forcenturies, or at least more than a human lifetime? Age affects everyliving being, even hideous bulls.Other than that, it was entertaining, the casting was well done, thegirls pretty, dialogs were OK, and effects pretty good for a lowerbudget movie.

Paul Andrews 2012-05-07 13:35:09

"You suck on her word like your mother's tit." Pretty good creature feature, better than expected.

Minotaur is set many 1000's of years ago in an age when the world wasruled by a dark empire from an island palace called Minos, these peopleworshipped the most powerful of all Gods the Bull. In a horrible act ofworship the Queen (Shiva Gholamianzedah) offers herself to the God & isimpregnated with a hideous Bull like creature called the Minotaur whichshe gives birth too, every 3 years 8 youths from the village of Thenaare taken to Minos to be sacrificed to the Minotaur & that time hascome once again. The ruler of Thena Cyran (Rutger Hauer) has a sonnamed Theo (Tom Hardy) whose girlfriend Ffion (Donata Janietz) wastaken 3 years ago, Theo hears that she may still be alive so in aneffort to find out he makes sure he is one of the 8 sacrifices who haveto face the horrors of the Minotaur & it's labyrinth...This English, German, Luxembourg, French & Spanish co-production wasco-produced & directed by Jonathan English & while it isn't going towin any awards Minotaur turned out to be a lot better than I hadoriginally anticipated. The script by Nick Green & Stephen McDool takesitself very seriously & even though it's based on the Greek legend ofTheseus & the Minotaur it actually bears little resemblance to it intruth, the film moves along at a nice enough pace, it never bores tothe extent where you feel like switching off, the character's arepretty good even if most of them don't do much, the dialogue is alright& the Minotaur itself is a pretty impressive beast. There's somenudity, there's some gore, there's lots of special effects & the storyisn't too bad either. Don't get me wrong, Minotaur isn't any sort ofmasterpiece, far from it in fact but it's a decent watchable & quitefun sci-fi horror film that overall impressed me more than I thought itwould. However I did feel a bit sorry for the Queen, I mean she letsherself get impregnated with a deformed bull creature & what thanksdoes she get? None, they cut it out of her with a knife & let it feedon her blood, now that's gratitude for you.Director English does OK, the MTV style quick cuts & shaky camcordersyndrome are thankfully absent here & you can actually see what's goingon at all times which is nice. The film has a decent enough atmosphereto it as it's shot in nice golden candle lit hues & tones while theperiod setting is well realised. The special effects are surprisinglyimpressive here, the CGI computer effects are excellent in fact & theMinotaur looks the absolute business even though those looking for afaithful representation of the half man/half Bull Greek myth may bedisappointed. The puppet effects are also very good, the two techniquesare used well together & compliment each other. There's some gore herebut not much, most of the gore consists of the Minotaur impaling peopleon it's horns although there's a fair amount of blood splatter as well.I was somewhat surprised to see this had a healthy sounding budget ofabout $7,000,000, I must admit that sounds like a lot of money for whatends up on screen impressive special effects apart. It's certainly wellmade with good production values but seven big ones? Not that you wouldknow but Minotaur was actually shot in Luxembourg. The acting is OK,genre favourite Tony Todd has put on some weight since his Candyman(1992) days, Rutger Hauer is here for rent money & Ingrid Pitt isunrecognisable under lots of warts & wrinkles playing an ugly old womanwhile babe Michelle Van Der Water provides the good looks.Minotaur is a decent creature feature with some nice gore & impressivespecial effects, it won't change your life but it's an entertaining wayto pass 90 odd minutes. Certainly better than I expected & better thanmost creature features such as Python (2000), Crocodile (2000) orCerberus (2005) to name but three...

Valery 2012-05-02 09:21:07

"movie for TV" doesn't mean "bad"

What do you usually expect from movie where Coward is looking for hiskidnapped girl. Sure, he'll turn into hero who will save the girl andbe honored by his co-villagers. Right? NOOOOO. Not in this case. theplot is real pleasure for the movie watchers who are ready to think alittle bit and don't count the budget of the movie instead of followingthe journey of the main character. because he's the real one whodeserves the greatest attention of the watcher. I was clicking' thechannels at the night, and actually wanted to go to bed, but this moviein few moments attracted my eye. Thanks to God director didn't try torestore the historical truth and didn't do the "Discovery movie" about"what they worn, what they ate" etc. This movie stays on the thin lineline of simplicity and effect. For me the greatest zest was thechanging of main character (Tom Hardy, marked him for my list of thebest actors), who for love, for his aim turns into brave, then into madand inhuman and reaches the despair. At the end the main character isnot the well known hero. He's the broken and lonely man, who'll searchin future only for silence and peace. MY Mark for "Minotaur" is 10.Thumbs up.

2012-05-01 23:45:19

The Bull, the Brother, and the Maze of Demise.

A city worships the visage of the bull until they decide to birth a living god for themselves. so they take a female and feed her to the desires of their self-made god, and out comes a beast that hungers and that needs. In order to sate their creation, people are forced into the lair of the beast in order to make sure it stays happy and doesn't have to turn to Hot Pockets. It also has a sadism to it, and this is reflected in the chase it gives as it takes its hatred out on the people that come in little chains of food. One person decides to challenge this, however, and enters the maze of the minotaur in order to both find his missing loved one and to slay the beast. And so the horror begins.First and foremost, if you watched this on television you have negated a lot of the movie. It becomes nothing but a chopped up variant of itself, and it will make you want to turn the channel. Next, forget for a second that there is a legend with a minotaur attached to it and that people know the name of the hero involved. Instead, look at this as a movie that embelishes and rewrites a things that never happened in the first place, and that makes a horrific thing live in a maze and consume people. Then envision the people and their fates and what great theatre that would make. That is how i see the city itself, with the fear it inflicts above reflected in the depths below. After that is done, imagine a thing that would be so horrid that you would be willing to take people and feed it whenever it hungers, knowing that it may get out of its maze and that it may come out and hunt yyour people. The concept is a terrible affair.While many people thought this movie was horrible, I liked it for a number of reasons. I left the knoowledge of the tales of yore at the doorstep, and I thought about the thing below. It was a horrible thing, too, and it had a stalking tendency that amounted to playing with its food. And why not - it is bigger than the bitten, more terrifying than anything people have ever seen, and it is tightly controlled by the sect that worships it to stay in power. This means that it would have amazing authority and that the name of the beast itself would evoke shutters in children and their older counterparts alike. Love is a strong thing, however, and love sends a person to challenge these assumptions about the thing that will not die. In this he assumes that it was born of man and that it can die as man, and so he enters the maze. And the drama that he saw above becomes a nightmare that he wasn't prepared for below.If you like B-movies and can overlook certaain things, then this might be your thing. I personally liked it quite a bit and do not understand all the negative reactions to it. I could IF people watched the cut versions, but the thing in the DVD was horrific to me. The writers went with a monster-god, too, and did challenge the old stories with a new tale. Still, it worked for me and it might work for you as well. Just keep an open mind, enjoy the blood and the agony, and think of the place you are entering. It would be terrible and then some, to say the least.

2012-04-30 01:27:26

Major disappointment

How could I resist a movie starring Rutger Hauer and Ingrid Pitt? And based on the Minotaur legend, it sounded very interesting. And it's obvious that a lot of money and effort has gone into making the scenery. Unfortunately, that's the only good thing that can be said about the movie. It's a mystery how anyone could greenlight such a bad, incoherent screenplay. It starts out okay but goes downhill very quickly and after less than half an hour you're just hoping the movie will end soon. And for Mr. Hauer and Ms. Pitt, they don't have more than a couple of minutes of screen time. "Minotaur" is definately not worth wasting time and money on.

Scarecrow-88 2012-04-29 11:42:02

Minotaur

A monstrous product of a queen and bullgod by a people who desiredamorous things, is fed the children of a nearby village(8 youths)everyso often. This massive bull, named the Minotaur, with a diseasedskeletal look, was caged within a cavernous labyrinthine pit underneaththe palace which is now ruled by King Deucalion(Tony Todd, chewing thescenery as the lecherous villain)and his sister Queen Raphaella.Sheepherder Theo(Tom Hardy)is being groomed by his father Cyrnan(RutgerHauer in a glorified cameo)to become leader of their little villagewhich is often raided by Deucalion of the youth. A wart-infested leperinforms Theo that his beloved Ffion(Donata Janietz), who was one ofthose chosen as meat for the Minotaur, is still alive and that he wasdestined to be the very man to kill the god. Their village worships theMinotaur as a deity, but Theo believes, thanks to this driven spiritand a strong love for his Ffion, he can kill the beast and will sneakamong the chosen to face the music. Among those from the village chosenare loud-mouth Vena(Fiona Maclaine), gruff & tough Tyro(LexShrapnel)who holds a grudge against Theo for "taking his girl Ffionaway from him", mute Morna(Maimie McCoy), Morna's love and Theo's closefriend Danu(Jonathan Readwin), Tyro's love interest Didi(Lucy Brown)andquiet Ziko(James Bradshaw)who keeps to himself mostly. These are theones who will be sent into the beast's lair maze to try and survive.Theo will have to somehow guide them through the most difficultsituation. In an interesting turn of events, Raphaella hopes that Theowill succeed and opposes her brother Deucalion who wishes for her tobare him a child. She, herself, will enter the monster's lair willingto face whatever obstacles come upon her as a sign of resistancetowards Deucalion and what he stands for. Meanwhile, Deucalion willplead with his sister to return even promising the bullgod statuesacrifices of the entire village and infants born for it.Okay little mythical monster movie set centuries ago..small scale andmostly takes place within the Minotaur's den. A slight bit of graphicviolence showing the Minotaur goring victims, but most of the deaths inthe film happen off screen. Nothing truly memorable about it, really.May work best for monster movie fans with a Saturday afternoon tospare.

innocuous 2012-04-27 22:00:15

Don't be fooled, it's JAPMTVM...

Just Another Poorly Made TV Movie.A combination of poor script, minimal SFX, and wild over-acting by Toddand company make this a pretty sad take on the well-known myth. Cornsyrup blood spews and there's a lot of noise. That's about it.I did derive a bit of pleasure from trying to sort out all thedifferent influences on Todd's portrayal of the "psycho" potentate.It's Frank Booth ("Blue Velvet") meets Thulsa Doom ("Conan theBarbarian"), with a bit of Jabba the Hutt thrown in for good measure.Until you've seen someone taking a "hit" off a cattle skull, youhaven't seen good cinema.There's some vague hope that things will pick up, until the victims aretossed into the labyrinth. From that point forward, it's a completewaste of time...typical monster-in-a-cave fare. You could probably makea drinking game out of it, though...everyone slams a shot whenever afoam rubber rock moves.Save your time and rent "Jason and the Golden Fleece" or some otherfilm that is at least a little entertaining.

pops-6 2012-04-27 11:04:17

I have come to expect better from Sci Fi

Other than not being remotely related to the actual mythology, havingabsolutely awful dialog and worse readings and being a collaborativeeffort of six countries, it wasn't too bad.Characters die after being gored (and lots of gore, at that). The plotdies after being bored. No, wait.Actually, my wife and I both like Sci Fi, are fans of Stargate (in bothincarnations) and Battlestar. We like those. We hated this. Completewaste of TiVo space.Think early Godzilla meets late Cujo for the beast effects. Think lotsof syrup for blood and gore. Think Grand Canyon for plot holes. Thiswould make a great movie for Mystery Science Theater.

clickvd 2012-04-22 22:44:36

Minotaur - never ever again

Minotaur - the word itself explains most of the entire movie.As it happened, my girlfriend bought the DVD-release at a localrental-store (used DVD), and thought it would be a good one. Sure, ithas a good looking cover-art, and a nice fancy title/logo, but the restjust lacks content.The introduction and start of the movie makes it feel like at least apartly good one, though during its continuation, it clearly shinesthrough as what it really is: A piece of utter wasted time and money.Do not buy or watch this movie, it's so bad you sit there thinking ifyou should have done the dishes or mopped the floor instead - as thatwould really give more excitement than this flop.To sum it up: if one could give a movie a dice-throw instead of the1-10 rating, I would not even have thrown the dice.Oh, good thing about the DVD-buy on our side: We got a spare DVD-coverfor something else - a bit expensive perhaps...

Dragoneyed363 2012-04-22 16:15:15

Cheesy And Bad, But Entertaining And Somewhat Enjoyable

Let me get off my chest first thing that you can tell when you firstsee this movie that it's no Oscar nominee film. The acting was quiteterrible and the story line was stupid and flawed. In the constructiondepartment I thought this film did terribly, but in the entertainingbecause of how cheesy it is, they were pretty successful in thatregion. I did watch this movie all the way through just to see how itwould turned out because it entertained, and since I was watching itall the way through, that must mean I thought it was enjoyable. Nowdon't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily calling it a good movie, but asfar as a OH MY GOD, STAY AWAY YOU MIGHT BURN YOUR EYES IF YOU WATCH IT,this film is not. I recommend it if you're into these stupid yetenjoyable B-Movies, but if you can't tolerate them, of course you needto stay away.

slayrrr666 2012-04-19 08:09:17

Surprisingly good Sci-Fi film

"Minotaur" at least tries new tricks to an old trade.**SPOILERS**As is usual during their time of the year, it's time for the sacrificesfor the Minotaur god, and Theo (Tom Hardy) isn't pleased, as they havetaken his girlfriend away. His father, Cyrnan, (Rutger Hauer) thevillage elder, doesn't approve and demands that he keep out of it whenthey arrive. He manages to get captured anyway, and his taken to thepalace of the king, Deucalion, (Tony Todd) who throws them into a pitwhere their God, the Minotaur, awaits. As Theo reveals that he has cometo kill the Minotaur instead of their other reasons, he sets out tostop the bull.The Good News: Among the usual stuff the Sci-Fi Channel puts out, thisis one of the more intelligent ones. By keeping the film set during thetime of the original myth about the Minotaur, it avoids the pitfall ofmany of the other ones they've done by using the original story andit's scares as the basis for this one. Most of the fear in that one wasattributed to the labyrinth, and the danger of not knowing which personwas next to go. Here, it works that way as well, but also for a just asexciting reason. The early scenes in the Minotaur lair are the film'screepiest moments, with the dead air, crazily designed maze, and ageneral sense of unease that they aren't that safe. It's the perfectsetting for this kind of film that is pretty straight forward with themyth of the creature, and it doesn't take too many liberties. Thecreature looks half-way decent, a step up from the usual work they'vedone before. The hell-spawned bull look works for the film, giving theMinotaur a more thrilling look and design that a lot of people wouldn'thave considered. There is some impressive kills as well, included theone that gets the biggest jump, where a character is giving a speechand the bull's horn impales them through the mouth. Several are goredupon it's horns or mauled savagely, leading to some impressiveset-pieces.The Bad News: The main thing I want to gripe about is that the greatTony Todd, who does have a great role here, isn't given that much todo. He basically just stands around, spouting pseudo-poetic lines whiletrying to be menacing, and it just doesn't work come off that greatfrom the actor. His role is important, but it shouldn't have been himin it, as we expect so much more from the man. Other than that, thereisn't much I want to complain about here, as this is one of the betterones from the Sci-Fi Channel.The Final Verdict: This is one of the Sci-Fi Channel's better films, asit tries a couple of new tricks in their usual repertoire and come outwith an average film among their other credits. All the Sci-Fi fanswill want to check it out, but fans of Tony will probably think twice,as he has been miscast in this one.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Nudity and hints of incest

2012-04-18 18:29:49

Has anyone here reviewing actually seen the DVD?

Amazon is not selling the movie as it was on TV, they are selling the DVD (which is R-rated). Nothing actually shown on Scify could get an R if it's life depended on it. SO, I'd love to see a review on the DVD itself and the film as on the DVD. But, I do not plan to be the first to buy it.Please resist reviewing DVD's based on the film as it showed on any station with advertisers.