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Visitors Review

papatoliosthomas 2012-05-25 04:48:04

Not challenging and historical errors

The scenario lacks imagination and creativity. Although it tries togive some alternative base explanation for the black plague which wouldserve as a platform of the movie, historical unreliability andirrelevant witch story intermissions demotes the scenario to an obscureMiddle ages mix-up. The battles of Tripoli, Artah and Imbros celebratedin the beginning of the film are announced in 1332-1334 while theiractual dates were around 1100 in the first crusade, while the BlackDeath is put rightly on the 14th century. Yet the historically educatedis met by a disappointment in the very beginning. Nicolas Cagestruggles to animate old clichés and partially succeeding in that isthe only one who keeps the movie alive. Conclusion: Uninteresting.Better wait to rent the DVD.

PWNYCNY 2012-05-24 15:02:06

Not a bad movie.

This is not a bad movie. Neither is it great, but nevertheless it iswatchable. It has a story. It has a plot. The acting is good. NicholasCage and Ron Perlman give credible performances. It is true that thestory is far-fetched and challenges plausibility, but it deals with thesupernatural, so that is only to be expected. Soemn of the specialeffects are cheesy, but so what? It's the story that counts and herethe story is what drives this movie. Once again, there is a frail,young woman who causes so much havoc, yet at first glance she seems soharmless. This theme, of the helpless young girl as both victim andharpy, is continued in this movie, with good results. Far from beinghokey, the story contains enough dramatic material to keep theaudience's interest. There are those who may lambast this movie,dismiss it as just another Hollywood potboiler, and they may be right.Nevertheless, the movie does present a story and does not purport to besomething that it is not, which affords the movie a modicum ofintegrity.

2012-05-23 21:11:53

This is worth a look

When I seen this movie I passes thinking it looked cheesy and looked like another miss for mr. cage. But then I rented it thinking I got some time to kill....Well to me it was well worth it and I now regret not seeing this in the theater.The Entertainment value of this movie was awesome.The story was very intresting and you get caught up in it real quick.I could of used alot more blood and guts for this type of movie but it was still realy good.This is not a typical Sword and sorcery movie it has its twist and turns.I realy enjoyed this movie and thought it was done very well.

Steve Hevener 2012-05-23 16:39:55

Left Me Feeling Violated and Unclean

I didn't realize that Nicolas Cage could perform at such a low level...I felt very depressed, violated, and generally unclean as I walked out of the theater.....

MYeah_Gorlomi 2012-05-22 00:10:48

What hath Nic Cage wrought? What hath the studio cursed upon us like a plague?

Some movies are better left unseen. So let's talk about Season of theWitch for a minute.Nicolas Cage and his haircut star as a knight in the 14th century,followed by his trusty companion (Hellboy, himself. Ron Perlman). Thetwo of them are recruited for a mission to transport a suspected witchto a monk sanctuary. The witch in question is believed to be the causeof the dreadful Black Plague (A very real disease so poorly brought tolife in this movie, it would make... well, Uwe Boll is still prettyhorrid). They embark on a perilous journey against deceiving darkcaves, unstable bridges, and packs of wolves.In every level you can imagine, Season of the Witch is a failure. It'dbe all too easy to mock Nicolas Cage for his tiring, "Oh God! Not theBees!" bankruptcy pay off roles that he so shamelessly keeps accepting.Yes, he's quite terrible in this movie, as is every other member of thecast, but even the more competent Cage would have trouble carrying thismovie.Every piece of writing is inconsistent and sloppy. The characters arehardly developed, but that term is a stretch, because they're hardlycharacters at all. The direction lacks proper cohesion, and is aimless,sluggish and duller than a wooden spoon. Even visual eye candy isridiculous. Everything about this movie is garish, ugly, and cheaptrying to look expensive. Battlefield Earth, anyone? I'm leaving my final rating at half a star out of ****.I'd give it zero if not for a few things. Even as unintentional comedy,it lacks any entertainment value. So far, it's the worst movie I'veseen all year. And I've seen Sucker Punch and Red Riding Hood, mindyou.

dmcmillan01 2012-05-21 11:45:41

Welcome to a whole lot of nothing

There is one really good thing about this movie. There are a lot ofextremely nice shots of parts of both Austria and Croatia. Wild raggedmountains, desolate forests bathed in fog, and dying castles.Otherwise, use your time to do something worthwhile.I only paid five bucks to see this movie at our cheapie movie theaterso I guess I got my money's worth by looking at all the good shots ofscenery. Costumes were way over done, but then aren't they always inthis kind of film. The movie 300 did it the best way, with a cape andnot much more. And of course it had Gerard Butler wearing nothing atall in one scene. I was happy to spend a little more money just to seethat.DottyinCA

madmax 2012-05-20 19:46:39

shockingly scarry!!!

Season of the witch was a well written movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Cages performance was uplifting he plays a great hero!!! Action from begining to end I enjoyed the setting of this film and cannot wait until the next nick cage movie.

hojin0417 2012-05-20 01:29:25

Season of the Witch(2011) - Mediocre fantasy action movie. Need a innovation.

Season of the Witch(2011) Fantasy movies were not the popular genre of movie from the past.Before the 2000's that fantasy movie's saturation, I heard only'Excalibur', 'Legend', 'Labyrinth', 'Never Ending Story' for thefantasy movie. Since the Harry Potter Series and the Lord of the RingsTrilogy, Hollywood-filmmakers started to make the mass-produced fantasyfor the Box Office. Among them, There are the good fantasy movies suchas Guillermo del Toro's 'Pan's Labyrinth', 'Orphanage' and improvisedcommercial movies like 'Moon Princess', 'Eragon', 'The Golden Compass',and 'Inkheart'. and this is the movie for commerce.The plot of movie is on the 14th century's Europe within Black Plague.Behmen the Knight(Nicolas Cage) who fought on the Crusades have themission : Bring the girl who suspected for the witch to the temple.now, Behmen organize the knight-age with the six warriors to completethe mission. Yeah, Great story, right?(it's sarcasm)The first point have to criticize, is the plot. The plot of the film isnon-powerful. and, it don't have the probability, and it makes sleepaudiences. Expected the epic fantasy action movie, but, It was a roadmovie in the Middle Age! Next point is the error in the cast'sperforming. Nicolas Cage, acted the Behmen the Knight did thedisappointed play. I couldn't find the image of him from 'Face/Off','Leaving Las Vegas'. In my view, Nicolas performed this movie for thebucks. The epic supporting cast with Ron Pearlman, Christopher Lee, andSteven Campbell-Moore were good, but they couldn't save the movie fromthis problem. Performing is the biggest problem in this movie. the lastpoint is the lack of the theme. The movie changes the genre around theSci-fi, Fantasy, Horror, Zombiefilm, Historistic War...... It's likethe 'Doomsday', directed by Neil Marshall. Only the difference,'Doomsday' gives the small suspense and thrill to the audiences.Dominic Sena showed this style to the 'The Sword Fish(2001)', But notthis movie.Some people says, It's good for killing the time. Yes. It's good forthis. but, It's mediocre mixed fantasy action movie for Box-office.Filmmakers may did their best to improve this movie, But they couldn'tmade the spectacular fantasy movie like Peter Jackson. This moviefought with the epic CG, awesome actions, great casting, but theyfailed. The plot was forsake, and the concept was mediocre. That's notcool to me.2011. 1. 22. hojin0417

jennileefoster 2012-05-20 03:25:38

Didn't seem like $40,000,000 Spent

This movie was horrid! Right at the beginning I see the battle scenes,just a question, Where were the horses? The Crusades didn't haveCalvary? The Catholic Church didn't have an official army you could notdesert! The Crusades were over by 1272, way before the Black Death madean appearance. The "infidels" being killed looked very European, forinstance the woman dressed western. The Witch Craze in Europe didn'treally start for at least a couple of hundred years after the timeperiod of the film. Becoming a Knight in the old days wasn't easy, youjust couldn't become one, you had to really earn it or have a fatherthat was one already. On top of that but knights had HORSES! We are nottalking cute little riding horses of today either, these were mean WARhorses that were huge and could take the load of having armor on themand their masters. A great deal of money were invested in thesecreatures. I guess my whole issue is, if your going to spend$40,000,000 on a film, have somewhat big actors (not good ones) youmight want to do a little bit of fact checking.

Hunt2546 2012-05-19 13:15:08

Missing the point

It seems to me that most of the professional (!) reviewers and most ofthe amateurs here have missed the point about SEASON OF THE WITCH andtherefore missed what's deliciously transgressive about it. Yes the f/xpretty much suck. Yes, there's a lot of narrative time-wasting (thebridge sequence, which seems to be a nod to "The Wild Bunch," no matterhow inappropriate here), Yes, the frequent sword choreography is wildlydisappointing, the best fight being a match between Ron Perlman and aboy (Robert Sheen) just for sport; but it builds rhythm and showcasesmoves otherwise absent in standard routine sword-sandal stand-and-hackfashion. Its marketplace weakness may be its PG-13 rating, which leavesit neither there nor here. In other words, it's probably not shockingor bloody enough for R-raters or even those whose taste demand thatthey go beyond R into such unrated niceties as "Inside" and "Martyrs."Yet the frequent close-ups of pustule-pocked plague victims willcertainly turn off the young at heart. So who's the movie made for?Search me. (I would love to see an unrated version come to DVD sometimedown the line.) The acting, however, is first rate, from Cage andPerlman, who have good comic timing, particularly by Claire Foy as thegirl the two knights have been tasked to take to trial and presumableexecution. Even Stephen Graham, so disappointing as Babyface Nelson in"Public Enemies"" has a sparkle. You know the plot so I won't wastetime on it. The (SPOILER) amusing thing about the movie is that it'sset up like one of those endorsement-of-rationality jobs ("TheCrucible" coming to mind, or even "Witchfinder General") which promotethe idea that witchhraft is really elite- controlled hysteria meant tocynically leverage the peasantry into obedience. Hello, "Season"doesn't go there after seeming set up exactly for that drearydestination; instead it takes the opposite, the anti-rationalistposition, that witches and demons are literally true, to be feared, andmust be fought. The church, it implies, is right, and the Latinimprecations directed at the demon actually work. I loved it! Perhapsit's the movie's Hungarian setting leaking historical melancholy intothe proceedings--the Hungarians, after all, have a history rife withactual demons, from Hitler to Bela Kun to Stalin to the KGBinterrogator during the revolution--or perhaps it's one of those roguenotes that just slipped in, but it's so nice to see that someone takesdemons seriously.

PunchdrunkBob 2012-05-19 00:14:54

Unmitigated Garbage.

I have to say that I started watching this with a positive andinterested outlook after the exiting trailer and the prospect ofwatching Nicholas Cage and Ron Perlman in action. After the first 10minutes I revisited the trailer online to see If I had made a mistake.Alas no. The actors although working with the poorest material throughset piece after set piece, weren't even trying. I actually threw theDVD into the garbage once it ended. Throughout the movie I tried toremain optimistically hopefully that they would burst into life andsuddenly entertain. I'm sad to say that there are no redeeming featuresto this crap. Don't rent it. If you happen to see it in the schedulingonce it arrives on TV, do yourself a favor and watch paint dry. It willbe marginally more entertaining. Whatever you do don't waste your moneyon the DVD.

mattbaxter72 2012-05-18 04:04:12

Oh no! Must be The Season of the Witch

This movie has lots of things going for it. Ron Perlman and NicolasCage, together at last. A silly medieval bunch o' nonsense about acouple of deserters from the Crusades who have to transport a witchacross country and stop the Black Death, or something. And of course,zombie ninja monks.And it's dull, so dull. Cage and Perlman are unusually restrained, andthe plot plods drearily from Point A to Point B with all the verve andstyle of a kid doing a homework essay on plankton. That journey acrossthe vast and unknowable heart of medieval Europe? There's bad CGIwolves, and a dodgy rope bridge. Our heroes run away from the wolves,and cross the rope bridge. That's it for the journey.Once they arrive at the monastery, they do battle with the bad CGIzombie ninja monks, but the CGI is so very, very bad that you canhardly work out what's going on most of the time, and the monks arelittle more than blurry shapes. All the battle scenes are like this -confused, badly shot and impossible to follow. The director can't dotension or suspense to save his life, either.Oh, it's not a total loss. The dialogue is often hilarious, sounding asthough it's been translated via Babelfish from English to Ukrainian andthen back again. I particularly liked Cage saying 'Can't sleep? Myself,as well' among many other examples. The scenery is nice, and you get tosee Ron Perlman headbutt the Devil in the face. A few more moments likethat and this mess might have been worth watching, but as it standsit's not good enough to be good, and not bad enough to be campy fun.

siderite 2012-05-17 00:58:30

A decent fantasy film

I am convinced that the rather small rating for this film can be mainlyattributed to the current fad of criticising Nicholas Cage movies.Season of the Witch has very interesting ideas, many well executed, andI would deem it as worth watching. I will explain why.The heroes of the film are Nicholas Cage and Ron Perlman, two crusaderswith a conscience, who disgusted by their latest conquest resulting inslaughter of women and children, decide to desert the cause and returnhome. The only thing that awaits them is the plague and a mysterious(sexy young) witch accused of bringing it onto the Earth. One must takeher to a special place where a magical book is found that can dispelthe horrible disease. Guess who gets to do that?The beginning and end scenes were horrible. I would say they loweredthe overall quality of the movie. What I found very interesting was thedilemma of Cage's character, who is doubtful that the girl is actuallya witch and desires her brought to fair trial. Most of the othercharacters were also quite complex, escaping the cardboard cliché ofdoom and enriching the script. The acting was good, the effectsreasonable, without being much over the top.Bottom line: if one can forgive the occasional scenes that arecompletely lame and seem seeded by a demonic presence in an otherwisedecent film, the movie is quite watchable, certainly above the averageof the genre. I've enjoyed watching it and may so will you.

fung0 2012-05-16 07:31:50

What's the gripe, exactly?

Season of the Witch is another one of those fantasy films that seems tobe a magnet for hostility. Yet, when you see it, turns out to be justabout exactly what you'd expect. Leading to the question: are peopleseeing it just to criticize it, or what?This film aims to be a medieval horror-action-adventure. And that'sexactly what it delivers. There are some nice creepy bits, some reallyimpressive action scenes, and some CG fantasy stuff. There's a solid,if unspectacular, performance from Nicholas Cage, and a really nicecontribution from Ron Perlman, clearly having a ball in anuncharacteristically jovial role. The story does a good job of movingfrom A to B to C, hitting all the requisite thrills and chills between.So what, for pity's sake, is the complaint? For me, the only realnegative is that the film seems too short. I had the feeling that maybethe backers became nervous (again, who knows why) and a more ambitiousversion had to be abbreviated. I'd have loved to spend more time withthese characters, allowing Cage to evolve his bitterness and doggeddetermination to make things right. And I'd have loved to see more ofthe depths in Perlman's sterling supporting part. But no big deal... Ideduct one star for brevity, but Season of the Witch, as it sits, is areally entertaining bit of escapist dark adventure.When it comes to this type of film, I've entirely stopped payingattention to both critics and so-called 'fans.' Whatever it is youpeople are looking for, why don't you look somewhere else? And stopdumping on nice little films that deliver exactly what they promise.

Hellmant 2012-05-15 21:01:57

I enjoy a good 'bad B movie'

'SEASON OF THE WITCH': Three Stars (Out of Five) Nicolas Cage is a very talented actor who's kind of infamous forwinning an Oscar at the peak of his career and then taking an odd pathinto B action movie stardom. Most of his films are critical andfinancial failures (at least at first) but he does produce a well likedand successful film every once in a while. I personally like most ofCage's films, even his bad ones. I enjoy a good 'bad B movie' andthat's what Cage mostly puts out, 'SEASON OF THE WITCH' included. It'sa campy 14th Century action thriller that's full of cheesy dialogue andacting, but it's a lot of fun. It'll go down as one of Cage's worst asfar as the critics are concerned but it's actually received decentratings from fans and I think it could find a place as a beloved 'sobad it's good' flick for many years to come, with some film nuts.Cage stars as a 14th century Crusader named Behmen who, afterwitnessing atrocities committed by his fellow soldiers in 'the name ofthe lord', decides to desert his post and return home. He and hiscomrade Felson (Ron Perlman) journey back to their homeland only todiscover it's been overrun by the Black Plague. The church in controlthere believes the plague is caused by wicked sorcery. When spotted asdeserters the two knights are arrested and taken to the Cardinal(Christopher Lee). They're then offered their freedom if they agree toescort the witch (Claire Foy), believed to be responsible for thetown's disease, to a monastery where monks can perform tests anddestroy her powers. Behmen, having lost all faith, is reluctant to takethe mission but does so anyway under the agreement the girl willreceive a fair trial. The men are joined by a priest (Stephen CampbellMoore), a knight (Ulrich Thomsen), a thief (Stephen Graham) and a young'want to be knight' (Robert Sheehan) on their mission.The film was written by Bragi F. Schut and directed by Dominic Sena(director of 'KALIFORNIA', 'SWORDFISH' and another Cage film 'GONE INSIXTY SECONDS'). The story is interesting enough for this sort of movieand it does have a nice twist. Like I said the dialogue and acting arecheesy (especially Cage) but it seems to fit the material. Sena'sdirecting is a decent fit as well. It is just a bad 'B' action film butit's not that bad and it is an entertaining hour and a half. I don'treally have a problem with Cage's career choices. I'd like to see himdo a little more serious work and more of the kind of stuff that madehim famous (like quirky comedies such as 'RAISING ARIZONA') but I thinkdoing the fun 'B' action films is good for him as well. This film is ofcourse one of the latter. It works for the most part.Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS7EjRs-tOE

dighambara 2012-05-15 11:57:01

A DVD that keeps you watching

I bought the DVD in a local market about a week ago (19 March 2011 -Asia) and finally got a chance to watch it.I was fascinated... The sword play is quite good, the story isimprobable, but fit with the times. Guys in war make strong friends andjoke about death, so that seemed realistic.Nicholas Cage seemed interested in the girl's plight and saddened byhis past experiences. Through much of the movie we are kept guessingwho is on the side of good or evil... Plus there were a fewunanticipated twists.The CGI in a dark old abbey was very convincing and the adversaryfamiliar...

2012-05-15 03:12:04

Not a bad movie.

This review is from: Season of the Witch (Amazon Instant Video) Season of the Witch was not a bad movie. It was eerie and full of action. The story was decent and the acting could have been better but all in all I would rate this movie a 6.5 or 7 out of 10. The plot twists will keep you guessing and the special fx are A1. I would definitely watch this one again.

GokulStrikes 2012-05-14 10:31:47

Eew...

Nicolas, what are you doing..? I'm a fan of Nicolas & fantasy films aswell but this cant be recognized in both ways.. We do have a choice toview films of our own and there are a lot good movies in the list. Thisis just a total waste of everything & I have no idea how many viewersof this movie have not accepted this as such one.. There is no placewhere Nicolas can show his performance but clearly to say any actorcould have done his part.. The story line is good but they must haveconcentrated in it while making film.. It's a request, advice, order orwhatever don't watch it or you may spoil your excitement of NicolasCage movies in the future.

Steve Hunter 2012-05-13 20:27:28

Not A Good Way To Spend a Rainy Afternoon

I just came back from the opening matinee of this movie. I love Nick Cage and think that he is a terrific actor but one has to seriously question his choice of rolls in the last several years. This poor man desperately needs a new agent.The story line what little there is could have been accomplished in a ten minute short. The visuals were third rate. The movie gave you the impression that it was spliced together from the editors clippings left on the cutting room floor from another picture. It will probably appeal to about a seven or eight year old but that may be too generous.

Alvin A 2012-05-13 12:04:03

Just A Fun Suspense/Horror film.

Thhis is very much like a good Hammer Film from the 60's or 70's. (Kind of makes ammends for the terribly bad remake of the Wicker Man.) The effects are well done and Niccolas Cage and Ron Perlman are good together. It's not s classic, but it is a sollid B horror film. It is filmed very well in the forest/mountain scenes wherever it was filmed. I rated it a bit bigh to help compensate for the idiots who write BS reviews that they must think are hip, slick and cool but are just absurd. Like the guy who didn't go to the film but gave it a "rating". I enjoyed the film--not comparing it to the heavy hitters like Alien, The Exorcist, etc. But just a fun flick. Worth the popcorn.