Genres

Visitors Review

2013-05-19 00:43:28

Not what I expected

This review is from: Sands of Oblivion (DVD) The plot of the was good. The actors were not bad either, but I can honestly say if I were able to preview this movie I would not have bought it.

pandax 2013-05-18 18:15:02

Starts out promising then goes nowhere

Watching the first 30 minutes of Sands of Oblivion gave me high hopes.It seemed I was in for a cheaper version of the Mummy. The setup waspromising, in the 1920's Cecil B. Demille makes his opus of the TenCommandments. It seems in using real Egyptian artifacts for the movieset they unleashed an ancient and terrible evil (don't they always?).Aware of what had been unleashed DeMille orders the entire set buriedinstead of the usual practice of tearing it down. Hopefully the evilwill be buried with it for all time. Then we switch to present daywhere a team is attempting to excavate the site (the movie's firstmistake, but hey those period costumes are expensive and this is aSci-Fi channel movie). The first sightings we get of the Anubis monsterare well done and it's a costume that they put some effort into and notthe usual cheesy CG effect. Then the body counts starts. This is werethe movie went south for me. The reactions to the fact that people aredying in gruesome and strange ways gets a strangely subdued reaction.Once they realize that the ancient evil has again been unleashed and ison a killing spree what do the stock issue leading man and lady do?They make the usual stop to the "guy who knows the truth but never toldanyone". After getting that vital information do they share it with thecomrades at the dig site? No, they stop off at a hotel for a refreshingshower and some pleasant small talk. Really I'm not the most motivatedperson but if I knew a demon from ancient Egypt was on the loose andkilling everyone in sight and would be coming after me I'd put a littlehustle in my step to solve the problem. After this overlong andpointless middle section they get around to destroying the Anubismonster in the usual way, by racing around in dune buggies and shootingit with a rocket launcher while it's standing by a pile of phosphorousgrenades. For a Sci-Fi movie it was above the usual crap they put out,which isn't saying much at all. What disappoints me is this could havebeen a lot more if someone had wrote a decent script for it.

2013-05-17 15:58:23

Ugh

One of the worst movies I've seen in some time. Interesting premise ruined by hokey CG effects, bad acting and terrible story. Skip this one.

2013-05-17 04:39:52

Good idea, bad follow through

I watched this movie knowing that it was a low budget film but I never knew it would be this bad. The whole movie wasn't a complete waste of time. For starters the idea and the plot were all there and were good but everything around that was lacking severely.The acting was horrible. Absolutely horrible, it was like a bunch of high school students got together to do the acting, they were either trying to hard to make what they were doing look good or just didn't care. The dialog could also contribute to the acting but that was horrible too. There was never anything really interesting being said and what was being said was plain boring. The CGI was the worst that I have ever seen. Everything looked super fake. I understand that this is a low budget film but I believe that a junior in college could of done better and they would of worked for ten times less than what a grad would work for. The death scenes that were portrayed in the movie were just as bad as the CGI. It was almost like they were trying to make a gory movie and got lost in the way. Last but not least was the monster. The costume could of been ten times better yet, instead it looked like a deformed wookie.The movie wasn't a complete waste of time to watch but it was definitely close. If you are looking for a good idea behind a movie but lacking everywhere else this would be a good movie. That or if you are really bored and just looking for something to do. I would definitely recommend this movie to someone who is looking at going into anything to do with movie production and see where the producers made the mistakes and try to not make them as well.

2013-05-13 19:30:35

SUB PAR C MOVIE

This review is from: Sands of Oblivion (DVD) I can only be harsh to this. The plot stinks. The over-acting stinks and the special effects stinks. It deserve 15 Rassies

takeru51 2013-05-13 02:22:35

Wasn't as bad as I'd hoped...

I make a point out of watching bad movies frequently, and the sci-fichannel original movies tend to be one of the best sources for thesemovies you can find. As such, I'm sure you can imagine mydisappointment when I saw Sands of oblivion. The acting wasuncharacteristically sub-par, as opposed to the woefully disgracefuldisplay sci-fi usually has in store for us. There are a few cameos madeby people you'd most likely recognize, although you may not know theirnames by heart. The CGI special effects are minimal, and as such, oneof the largest sources of comedy in a sci-fi feature is lacking. Sure,there are some funny moments like when a guy gets beheaded by abulldozer, or when the main character leaves his friend to die in orderto save a girl he's known for a couple of days, but overall, it ends upjust not having you rolling on the floor with laughter, and I considerthat a major disappointment.If I was rating it on a 10 star scale made specifically to judgemade-for TV movies, I'd probably give it a 4, maybe even a 5. A realshame that I may have to wait 'till the next sci-fi original movie toget a good laugh, and I really hope that this movie isn't part of someoverall quality increase in sci-fi original movies.

galahad58-1 2013-05-09 19:59:53

Oblivious

Worse than the rating it has been given. This is a typical SciFi movienowadays: bad to awful acting, a script that is poorly written, andshoddy direction. From the opening scene where DeMille is burying hisset to the end, this movie is terrible. In the beginning scenes thismovie has Moses (which was Charlton Heston in the DeMille film),Pharoah (Yul Brynner) and Nefretiri (Anne Baxtor) overlooking a boyburying a box in the sand. The characters that were to represent thethree aforementioned icons were awful and had to resemblance to thepeople they were to "supposedly" be. The fact that this is in thedesert away from civilization is hilarious when someone is hurt andthey are all yelling for an ambulance. The screenwriter obviously isoblivious to the fact that there are no ambulances in the middle of thedesert. I was sorely disappointed that Morena Baccarin decided to do afilm of such low quality.

2013-05-09 13:06:42

New Age Mythology

A fun spin on Egyptian and American Mythology. Fun story with great acting and a steller cast. one of the few good sci-fi channel originals.The story is That during the Filming of the Film Classic "The Ten Commandments" that some of the props were actual cursed artifacts that released a avenging spirit many years later after the site is uncovered by acheologists studing the films artifacts. The avanging Spirit is explained to be the Hand OF Set, The god of Desert and Infertility who in battle with Horus gouched out his left eye that was them created into an amulet against set's evil plans. Back to the plot. The avenger quickly starts to thin the ranks of the group in strange "accidents". The leader of the group (who is also going through a tough divorce to another acheologist) finds help in a Former Army soldier home from Iraq. they quickley put together the pieces with the help of the husband. the race begins to find a way to stop the avenger before it destroys the amulet and releases set into the modern world. The husband soon goes insame after being "Mind-swiped" by the creature and begins to worship it as his master, this of course is bad for mr. soldier and mrs. crazy-man. He kidnaps his wife and holds her hostage in exchange for the amulet which we wants to destroy to please his master. The wife escapes and her and the soldier run to the safty and the husband is killed by an unhappy avenger, at a holy place the wife and soldier kill the creature with a rocket launcher and a explosive that burns so hot it turns the creature(did i mention its made of sand) into glass that is them shattered. yaythe script was not perfect but the plot was amazingly original and has not been done before. It creates a similar feel to films like Stargate.

SeriousJest 2013-05-02 21:56:49

Squandered concept

Ancient Egyptian mythology, archaeologists, Iraq War Veterans, variousweapons, and dune buggies. Sounds like a recipe for a cool IndianaJones movie, right? Negative. 15 minutes in, I was wondering how I wasgoing to make it through the rest of this movie. First off, the monsterwas ridiculous, but not even in a campy, funny way. The script wasunnatural, cliché, and generally awful. The story/plot, or what triedto pass for one, was terrible, with no real set up for the puzzle thatultimately needed to be solved to beat the monster. While this movietried to be exciting by employing military weapons and characters, thestunts and fight scenes involving them were simple and fake-looking.Further, the movie tried to seem knowledgeable about the military byhaving Webster indignantly explain to Baccarin the difference between a"jarhead" and a "soldier," but in the same breath, the former logisticssoldier referred to himself as a "grunt," which is not an Army-specificterm, but instead refers to infantrymen, which he was not. The onlybright spots in this film were the dune buggy stunts, the Ancient Egyptscene in the beginning, a small cameo by Richard Kind, and a funny-while-convincing performance by Charles Lister as weirdoVet-turned-gun- runner Buford. You could watch this for free at IMDbthrough Hulu, but I think it's better suited for tying down your worstenemy Clockwork- Orange-style and making him/her watch it.

A.J. 2013-05-02 02:28:09

Tragically Bad

This is a bad movie. I caught it on Sci-Fi recently and I think I switched it off once before and now I know why. It's just a bad movie with bad acting, listless storyline and what was the point of having George Kennedy in there with his full-blown Parkinson's disease.

2013-04-26 14:36:55

Almost got there in the first half, but fails in the second.

Sands of Oblivion (David Flores, 2007)Oh, wow. There's a scene in Sands of Oblivion that actually made me gasp. There's a decapitation scene, with the usual tremendously bad special effects you expect in any Sci-FI Channel Original Movie (and, for that matter, any movie written by Kevin Van Hook). Business as usual. Until the camera focuses for a few seconds on the decapitated head. I actually said out loud (in an empty house), "my god, am I really seeing that?" SO I hit rewind and watched it again, and I really was seeing it. The head had Xs for eyes, just like in Looney Tunes. I couldn't help it--I burst out laughing. It does me good to know that sometimes, the people making these movies take them about as seriously as the people who will ultimately end up watching them.Plot: Cecil B. DeMille's filming of The Ten Commandments is plagued by problems caused by bootleg Egyptian artifacts, one of which houses a nasty spirit. After the filming is over, the crew bury the set in the desert. Eighty years later, an archaeological crew uncover the set and release the beast, which starts killing them off while looking for an Eye of Horus necklace that can protect against it.For the first half of the movie, aside from an opening scene set in 1923 with a painfully bad depiction of Cecil B. DeMille, it actually manages to be almost not-stupid. Which for any script written by Kevin Van Hook is a giant step forward. That, however, makes the second half of the film, which devolves into the usual idiocy one expects from a Kevin Van Hook joint, all the more disappointing. The first half has some half-decent acting and does its best to build suspense, but then we get right down into the effects-heavy unnecessary-plot-twists kind of thing that Van Hook does so well (or so badly, depending on your point of view). And, well, there you go, another Sci-FI Channel Original Movie that's a Sci-Fi Channel Original Movie for a reason. **

RickSkyboy 2013-04-25 22:41:28

Silly Tripe

I found "Sands of Oblivion" to be passable entertainment, which I keptwatching for the joy of seeing Jayne and Inara together again. The evilentity was pretty lame....what was its goals? Take over the world, orjust kill people because he/it was angry about something? The effortsof the hero and heroine were all aimed at saving themselves, whichdidn't seem to be worth documenting.I liked the hero, Jayne and Inara did well, the special effects wereOK, there was good comic relief with the Buford character, and a reallygood shock early on in the show. I didn't miss the two hours I spent onthis show. For those reasons, I give it a six out of ten.

2013-04-25 08:30:01

better than the usual Sci-fi Channel movie

This review is from: Sands of Oblivion (DVD) While this movie suffers from the usual low budget for visual effects that plagues most of the movies offered by the Sci-fi channel, the story is actually fairly well-written and interesting, although it has a lot in common with the "Mummy" movies. The big bonus of this film is that we get to see Adam Baldwin amd Morena Baccarin playing husband and wife - a really strange pairing, for fans of Firefly, but one that works surprisingly well. Actually, it's worth buying the movie just to see them working together again - and getting along with each other about as "well" as they did on Firefly. This movie probably isn't for everybody, but if you love Jayne and Inara, it's a must have.

2013-04-25 04:40:27

GOOD STORY PLOT

I am not a harsh person in regards to others work when it comes to making a movie. I see a lot of BOZO'S who like giving movies a one star rating or quotes like "IF THEY HAD A FIVE NO STAR RATING I WOULD." People like this to me are despots, angry people who have anger and self-esteem problems and enjoy tearing down other people and the work they have created. For me to give a movie a one star rating, it would have to been made by Five people in their back yard, or a complete rip-off from another movie hit with the same story line and script. Hey people, look at all the credits at the end of movies, and see what it actually takes to put a movie together. How many of you ONE STAR DESPOTS have produced YOUR OWN MOVIE? Until you have, don't be so critical of others.

Josue M 2013-04-18 12:39:16

Egypt in California!

For a sci-fi movie, this was OK. There are several other movies on the SciFi channel that come out worse than this. However, what made this movie stand out was that they filmed it around the area where I grew up! Furthermore, I think they made good photography and they made the place (scenery) look really beautiful! For this, I give it an A+ overall!

TheLittleSongbird 2013-04-18 07:09:16

A wonderful idea that sadly fizzles out

Sands of Oblivion is not a bad movie, it's just that it is not aparticularly good one either. It did have potential to be though, withone of the best ideas SyFy ever had. The acting while not great ispretty decent, the dune buggy chase is exciting, the film isphotographed quite nicely in more places than not and there is somestriking scenery. However, the special effects are uneven, none of themare as bad as the ones(for example) for Titanic II but while some areserviceable, others are on the cheap side. The script is rather lazyand never consistent in tone, the story lacks thrills, a genuine senseof adventure and suspense for a movie typical of this genre and isnever sure of what it wants to be and the characters are underdevelopedand clichéd(not just genre clichés but SyFy clichés too). Inconclusion, lacklustre, had a wonderful idea and started offpromisingly but fizzled out. 4/10 Bethany Cox

2013-04-15 23:12:12

It's So Bad It's Funny

SciFi Channel movie. It's what you'd expect. Only worse. The "monster" is hilariously low-budget and the "romantic tension" is laughable.

2013-04-15 15:13:27

So bad it's good?

Morena Baccarin and Adam Baldwin, yay! Um... wait.... that CGI is really terrible. Whoa, Egyptian curse! But the CGI is just TERRIBLE. And the sets are awful. And it's all low-budget, but well-lit. That's a bad, bad combo. Deliberately bad? I mean, honestly, this is soooo awful, why on earth would anyone make it this way unless it was on *purpose*? This movie is frankly terrible beyond words. On the other hand, it's chock full of cliches and Hollywood mythology and looks like it was excellent fun to make. This might be the sort of bad little gem that actors put on at parties to laugh over; it looks like something deliberately done for schlock effect. I kind of like it. I know! It sucks. But... I still sort of like it anyways.

2013-04-12 06:08:27

Ho Hum

This review is from: Sands of Oblivion (DVD) This could have been such a better movie with my direction.It was really not very good. The premise sounded promising, but the film didn't measure up.

2013-04-11 15:24:10

It cannot get worse than this!

This review is from: Sands of Oblivion (DVD) I rented this movie via Amazon download because I was looking for some entertainment since I was not tired enough to go to bed. The reviews of this movie were on average not bad. So, based upon the reviews I rented and watched the movie. Well, I did not think it was possible for a number of people to participate in a gag, but you got me in this case. I am not afraid to admit I was taken and accordingly I warn other potential viewers of this film that it maybe the worst movie I have ever seen. I cannot decide which was worse, the story or the acting. Either way, both contributed to this heap of nonsense that may have had some appeal to viewers who were seven years old or intellectually under that age. I have to assume that viewers who wrote a review were doing so in jest because I cannot believe any adult who is not institutionalized could rate this film above 1 star. I say this because I do not believe there is a rating less than that in the Amazon system. I am assuming that the reviews of this film were joking because otherwise, my beliefs about the standards of American society will not accept the alternative. This review might be insulting to some of those who actually rated this film above 1 star. I hope it is not and that your reviews have enabled you to get a good laugh at my expense. That's OK. I can take a joke. I only hope that you were really joking.