Genres

Visitors Review

davidm-14 2012-05-22 08:35:22

amazingly bad, even for the sci-fi channel

i can hear the production meeting now: "we've had too many 'peoplestuck on an island with a monster' movies. how can we freshen it up"?from what must have been the lengthy brainstorming session thatfollowed, here comes the result. i know, let's show women wearingbright red lipstick and put some pomade in their hair. that way, weknow we're in the 40's during WW2! here comes sci-fi channel's magnumopus "warbirds". an all-girl flight crew (with a few men along for theride) are piloting a super secret something-or-other across the pacificwhen they are attacked by a big bird and forced down on a mysteriousisland. they meet up with some Japanese soldiers, who are also strandedand attempt to figure out what's hunting them at night and how toescape the island.

simon-trek 2012-05-21 19:58:37

"Cheesy but enjoyable in minor ways"

I admit this movie isn't very good. The visual effects and the actingare poor. The only thing I really liked about this movie were thefemale pilots. I like the idea of a group of beautiful female pilotsduring the second world war. I liked the heroine of the film MaxineWest, she is as pretty as she is tough and resourceful. I also liked the fact that Brian Krause plays an Air Force Colonel.Because the role Brian is most famous for playing Leo in the Charmed TVseries. For those of you who haven't watched Charmed, Leo is awhitelighter for the Haliwell sisters in Charmed. Whitelighters areguardian angels for good witches. And Leo was originally a medic forthe U.S. army during the Second World War, he was suddenly killed in abattle and in heaven became a whitelighter. So in Warbirds Brian playsanother WWII character but this time he plays a soldier. The flying dinosaurs are scary but aren't very realistic. While the female pilots do have some action in fighter aircraft. Itwasn't as intense as I hoped. So I only recommend Warbirds if you likethe idea of seeing tough and pretty women in action. But don't have anygood expectations about this movie.

2012-05-17 01:33:04

Ha Ha Ha!

Who's prettier? The female pilots led by character Maxine West (actress Jamie Mann) or the CGI prehistoric birds in this B-grade movie?I'm giving this movie a 3-star passing grade only because of the (quite) good-looking actresses. I wouldn't have sat through the end if not for them, especially Maxine (actress Jamie Mann)! Ha! Almost everything looks out of place in this low-budget sci-fi movie. With the exception of the flying birds, the computer graphics looks too glaringly obvious.Jap caps (ear flaps are too long), uniforms are not in order. Makeup on the actresss is too obvious and a little overdone! Looks like the girls are all prepared for a prom night than for war! Rosy red lipstick, waxed eyebrows, eye shadow. Foundation's a little too thick on the youngest pilot. Maxine's perfectly white teeth shone brighter than her eyes and red lipstick. I'm not complaining on this one!... :-P Here's a spoiler: the island and flying predators were nuked, all males end up dead in the movie. One female copilot and sexy Maxine survive in the end by flying away to freedom and safety.

2012-05-16 10:51:09

Warbirds... not what you think!

This review is from: Warbirds (DVD) I got a DVD of this movie from a friend as a gift and watched it, and afterward I knew I had to buy one for one of my friends to pass along!! It's a little over the top with the acting but it is a FUN movie. This movie reminded me of; "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra" but with so much better effects! Same over the top acting but with a strong storyline and special effects to keep you entertained.I would rate and put this one in me "B" movies selection, so if you like ; Fun, Campy over the Top movies with a hint of the 1960's feel try this one out!

2012-05-15 04:14:30

Warbirds brings girl power to the skies, while rewriting WW II history...

Warbirds (2008) is a fantasy adventure set in the Pacific during World War II, that features a team of female flyers, a pack of flying dinosaurs, and an atomic bomb. This effort from the Sci Fi Channel attempts to be deadly serious in tone, but often displays a naiveté that is often quite humorous and even exasperating. Spoilers follow, so continue at your discretion. Maxine West (Jamie Elle Mann) is the commander of a group of WASP's (Women's Air Force Service Pilots). After flying a B-29 bomber from Kansas to Honolulu, they are assigned to take a group of soldiers led by OSS (Office of Strategic Service) Colonel Jack Toller (Brian Krause), on a top secret mission. While in the air battling storm winds, the plane is attacked by a huge winged creature, and with two engines on fire, is forced to land on an island. The island is the home for a large number of the flying beasts, who apparently enjoy chasing aircraft and feeding on human flesh. The Americans encounter some Japanese soldiers, and take them prisoner. They also discover an airfield with some flyable Zero fighter planes. The Americans attempt to execute a plan where one of the Zero flies to safety, while others fly cover, but the attacking creatures are just too numerous, and force the remaining planes to return to the island. Eventually it is revealed that the B-29 is carrying an atomic bomb. Despite the risks, the group decides to make a break in the bomber, with a couple of Zeroes again flying as escorts, to take on the flying reptiles. With Skipper West piloting the bomber, the film concludes with a remarkable world changing event that rewrites history. Warbirds is problematic in many ways, as little about the story makes any sense. The WASP's did not fly combat missions. The planning for the actual atom bomb raid on Japan was quite extensive, and pilots were fully briefed about the mission. A B-29 named the Enola Gay, and two other B-29 bombers flew on the mission. The film's haphazard portrayal of military operations and the chain of command, is not at all realistic and even traitorous. The Americans capture three Japanese soldiers, and the commander Captain Ozu (Tohoru Masamune), just happens to have been educated at an Ivy League college, speaks English, and to top it all, apparently has some knowledge of nuclear research! Although the Americans are on a top secret mission, the prisoners are left unrestrained, and kept in a shack with open windows, guarded by one man. Even after Toller finds Ozu in the plane next to the A-bomb, the prisoners remain unrestrained, and even help repair the plane. Toller is an idiot, but at least he is trying to follow his orders. Unlike Maxine West, who is constantly questioning his decisions, and trying to prove she's as tough as a man. Instead she demonstrates that overconfidence and stupidity isn't excusive to males. The characters do ridiculous things, like easily rolling heavy barrels of fuel, and then lifting them into a truck. Then without being tied down, the barrels somehow manage not to roll out of the truck, while it is racing through the jungle. How an American truck got on the island is a real mystery. In another scene, Toller is looking at the dinosaurs through binoculars, and then suddenly is dangling over the edge of a cliff, firing his gun. For more silliness, there are two ridiculous standoffs with guns, and the female pilots always look perfectly made up and glamorous, while flying. Flying dinosaurs would be a rare sight for most of us, but it seems like no big deal to these people. The CGI effects for the dinosaurs and the aircraft are passable, but hardly convincing. Warbirds is a female friendly tale that applies the concept of "girl power" to the war in the Pacific. Like a program intended for children, there is a naïve attitude that as long as the girls stick together, all will be right in the world, even if there happens to be a war going on. The script isn't too concerned with logic or historical accuracy, and often makes the actors look ridiculous. Toss out the CGI effects, and the film looks like an episode of the 1970's TV program Black Sheep Squadron. If you're interested in seeing empowered women pilots triumph over some semi-realistic looking flying dinosaurs, and incompetent male leadership, while rewriting the history of WW II, this is the perfect film.

2012-05-14 19:04:44

Warbirds

This review is from: Warbirds (DVD) This is a very good movie that Isaw.It has gore,creature violence,action,terror,explosions.And themost important thing a happy ending.So do more good reviews for this movieok.

2012-05-14 18:41:42

The War that Time Forgot

I avoid "made for sci-fi" films like the plague, but because I've always been a dinosaur and WW2 buff, I watched it out of curiosity. I was pleasantly surprised. No, it isn't a classic by any stretch of the imagination, but it IS the best movie by the sci-fi network I've ever seen. It is well-cast, well-paced and, considering the (low) budget, well-filmed. All too often, "B" movies set in the '30s see an opportunity for everyone to have tongue-in-cheek fun with the costumes, hair styles and sets, with big-band swing music accompanying the proceedings. This one, on the other hand, remembers that its setting is a grim one and never tries to be "cute". Another point in its favor is its use of the japanese soldiers: though depicted as human beings, the film never tries to create a "kumbayah/We Are the World" atmosphere. The 2 factions remain enemies to the bitter end. I'm not a big fan of CGI as it always gives me the feeling I'm watching animated concept art instead of the real thing, but the way it was handled here was almost acceptable. Also, the women are handled with unusual maturity. Depicted as competent soldiers without the shrill screeching of a politically correct agenda, the female characters are not spared the horrors of the island any more than their male counterparts. No pornographic, slasher-flick mentality here, their untimely ends are shown as tragic and/or heroic. Though the plot is by the numbers, the cast was well chosen and the life they bring to their characters makes this a rather engaging affair. All in all, one could do a lot worse than this half-way decent little flick. I give it 2 beers up and a bowl of chips.

kiawa77 2012-05-14 03:45:22

This movie should start out with a suicide warning...

I don't know where to start. Some sick part of me enjoys theself-torture of the Sci-Fi/SyFy Originals, but after this one, I don'tknow how long I can hold on. I have limited knowledge of WW2 (I suckedin history), but even I knew this stuff was made-up! The Japanese guyshad an American truck, and somehow the American women knew how to flyJapanese planes? Come on. And somehow they were going to fix their bigbroken planes with junk from a mostly abandoned Japanese camp rippedapart by blue pterodactyls? To add insult to injury, I don't care howbig the dino is... it can't fly as fast as a plane. While watching themovie, I didn't know the planes topped out at 300mph, but I knew it hadto be faster than any flying animal! The worst insult to myintelligence was the "fact" that the pterodactyls were fearless inripping through planes (literally), which had loud engines, whirlingsharp propellers, and of course someone in them shooting giant bulletsat the monsters... and yet the dinos were terrified at the sight of atorch. A TORCH. Come on.I have literally read stories written by children in grade school withbetter and more well-planned plots than this. This Sci-Fi Original tookits usual crap writing, crap acting, crap effects, and gigantic plotholes and somehow managed to make a mediocre movie even worse thanusual. While watching this, I had the same feeling I get when I'mgetting a cavity filled, thinking "God, how much longer is this goingto go on?!" There is absolutely nothing redeemable about this movie,not one thing. There isn't any humor, any effect worth mentioning,nothing. It's completely worthless. If you see it on your schedule orthink about renting it, do yourself a HUGE favor and just pass it by.

arthur_nonimus 2012-05-12 15:50:30

Bad, just plane bad! (if you think that pun was bad watch the movie)

!!!CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!-100 out of 10What is wrong with this film, well seeing as I only have a limitedspace lets just cover the basics.Acting: There was seemingly no passion or life in any of thecharacters. Even during the final human confrontation when the Japanesecommander is arguing the morality of his case there is no life in hiswords. Although the script is terrible, the acting is worse. I can onlyimagine how much these actor must have needed the money.Script: Let's just say there is enough holes and problems for me to useit as a sieve.Animation: Most studios would have been happy with the animation about15 before this movie was produced, but would be to embarrassed by it toshow their face now! An example is when the plane comes into land inthe beginning it hits the tarmac hard enough to brake the wings off.However in movie it was a great landing!!And finally we come to the biggest problems, plot holes and props. Nownormally I can let things like this go, if a story is good enough butnothing can save this plane wreck. Firstly, the A-Bomb in the bomb bayis way to small. The original Little Boy and Fat Man were the size of alarge car, yet this bomb is a little bigger than a large suitcase orsack. Secondly, an A-Bomb going off creates a sizable seismic event, anA-Bomb blowing up an island would easily have been picked up in Japan.A top secret weapon that the enemy knows about before it can be used isnot top secret!Not only that, bombs need fuses to make them work, like an altimeterfuse to detonate the bomb at a specific altitude. When they aretransported they do not have the fuse fitted so that they don'taccidentally go off. So the mere act of dropping it wouldn't make it gooff. A-Bombs have survived fatal plane crashes without going off,dropping it wouldn't make it go off, or if the trigger explosive didhappen to go off it wouldn't look like a classic nuclear detonation.And finally, the Pacific islands are young when compared to the Dino'swho are supposed to inhabit it. So unless they had a habit of makingtheir nests on the ocean floor there would be no way their nest couldbe on an island in the first place.Just remember that this is only the tip of the very large iceberg ofissues with this movie! Save yourself, don't watch this movie!

Jas-91 2012-05-12 07:31:26

Seen better acting in blue movies

What can anyone say about this film? No words exist for how much i hatethis film. My dog could write a better film in five minutes. Somepeople may enjoy this and that is your own taste. But i doubt anyonewould like this film. Its like the whole film just tried too hard. Theactors over acted by miles. They really thought they was staring in thenext massive upcoming film. And for them i feel sorry. As for thestoryline... I would believe button moon is more real then that. I justhave nothing nice to say about it. The only thing i am going to do nowis write to the writer and ask for 2 hours of my life back or some formof payback...

MartianOctocretr5 2012-05-08 10:40:39

W.A.C.'s vs. a whack script

Flying dinosaur creatures, Japanese spy soldiers, American GI guys,pretty W.A.C.'s who are hot shot pilots, a mysterious covert mission;put them all on a remote Pacific island during WWII, and stirvigorously into a broth called Warbirds.It's a mindlessly fun watch, since the film suffers from Sci-FiChannelitis. A familiar plot: military fighting a conventional enemy,while ferocious monsters lurk in the shadows, soon jumping out andcroaking soldiers from both sides. A lot of jargon is used in thismovie: when they're not saying, "Roger that!" or "Over!," they're beinginsubordinate to a cog-in-the-machine military brass Colonel whose lastname is "Inept," or at least it should be.Why are the creatures there? How many? What are they? Unknown and neverexplained, but the supply of them never runs out. Every time anybodywants to fly a plane, these things swarm out of nowhere. Their CGIdesign is OK, but far from groundbreaking. They screech loudly whilethey slash and smash anything they see. The dogfights are hilarious:when one of them is shot, it explodes into a fireball, lol. Since thismovie doesn't know if it's a war movie or a monster movie, it hascornball clichés from both. Example: Whenever the opposing soldiersconfront one another, guess what flying monster crashes the party at akey moment.The ending is pretty colorful, but its depiction of what happens is(and I'm putting this nicely) inaccurate.Plenty of suspension of disbelief is necessary for this movie. A senseof humor for the sublimely nonsensical is also helpful.

agarfan 2012-05-07 19:08:07

Putrid

Being a masochist I continue to watch the crud the SciFi pumps out butthis one may have been too much even for me. Plot holes the size of theGrand Canyon and factual errors so huge show that you do not needtalent or imagination to write for SciFi. The monsters in this areactually a few steps above the usual basement quality effects theychurn out but other than that there is NOTHING to recommend this movie.Script and acting are so bad I'm surprised the actors used their realnames. Once again the SciFi channel has made me appreciate a film like'They Saved Hitler's Brain' and perhaps someday they will be able torise to that level if they put more effort into the project. Obviouslywritten in one afternoon by people who shouldn't be allowed anywherenear a word processor.If the founding fathers had seen this coming theymight well have lost the Revolution.

2012-05-07 20:05:41

themeatnpotatoesofitall

This review is from: Warbirds (DVD) first of all warbirds are a lot smaller than shown on cover making the dinosaurs look a little more realistic, the females are cute and sexy.. balancing out a lot of the movies weaker area's, enjoyed the movie not an epic and not expected to be one.. just a quick entertainment fix. better than any reality show..Dino's, Gals, and old warplanes not a bad mix at all..

xsfreetime 2012-05-07 04:29:44

Filmmaker with a bright future!

I think it's wonderful that film industry executives support the workof filmmakers in the "Age 12 and Under" category. This filmmaker mayhave a bright future, although I wouldn't advise that he give up hispaper route just yet.Dinosaur effects: 3 stars Script: 0 stars Acting: 0 stars I personally have not seen such screen presence since the team ofDeacon Jones and Fred Biletnikoff as Vikings in the Lee Majors vehicleThe Norseman (1978, look it up!). In retrospect I'm astounded that this film wasn't directed by AlanSmithee.

dmphil 2012-05-05 22:35:09

Unspeakable.

Like many of the other commentators, I love made-for Scifi-movies andhow could I resist "Dinosaurs Vs. WWII" as a plot summary? I shouldhave. It was crap. Bad acting, bad effects, bad script, and baddirecting. Even the costumes were garbage. The whole thing might havebeen salvaged if the actors/directors hadn't taken themselves soseriously. The movie would have actually been fun as a tongue-in-cheekthriller, but they insisted upon acting as if dinosaurs fightinglady-aviators in a Pacific atoll was high art. If there is a mercifulGod, Scifi will put this turd back in the vault and never speak of itagain.

2012-05-05 07:29:01

a pain to watch.....except for the birds themselves...

Sorry to bust the bubble, but the only good thing about this movie wasthe cgi, Tohoru Masamune's acting and the scenery.Most of the lines from the script ive heard before in other movies, theinside the plane dialog sounded and looked like plan nine from outer spaceNobody gets dirty in this movie.. the girl always have full makeup andnever evidence of dirt on them ..even after rebuilding planes...Anyway....for science fiction fans...this movie has to be watched at least once....then use the dvd for a coaster.

2012-05-05 00:00:44

You Gotta Really Love Dinosaurs to Get Into This....

In the past 24 hours, I've seen some pretty awful movies on the Sci Fi Channel (now called SyFy). SABRE TOOTH. SKELETON MAN. People running through the same northern California woods from...something.I just watched as much as I could of WARBIRDS and I'm trying to understand the good reviews here. World War II buffs? "Hogan's Heroes" would be more accurate. Dinosaur fans? If you enjoyed the original "Land of the Lost" TV series....This is really a bad movie. An all-chick team of fighter pilots? What planet did that happen on? Not earth, not from 1941 to 1945. The special effects are just the same generic CGI stuff we've come to expect from a "Sci Fi Original." The script is pretty run-of-the-mill stuff. The acting, worse. Looks cheap, acts cheap.You will learn to hate the word "over." In all the poorly-acted, static shots of the pilots talking back and forth, they keep saying "over." Over and over and over.It's not even that fun of a bad movie. Just...bad.

matt-3030 2012-05-04 10:28:46

Funniest movie I've ever seen!

I don't know what all the bad reviews are about. Don't they know thiswas a hilarious comedy?! It made fun of all the awesomely horriblemonster movies! The lines were so ridiculous and the special FX werebrilliantly bad! The music was awesome, just like one of those romanticWWII movies. It included the wacky hair dos and bright red lipstickthat could withstand a pterodactyl attack and an atomic bomb blast.Perfect! I have to assume these guys meant to make a comedy. Actuallyit's even funnier if they didn't. If you want to experience MysteryScience Theater 3000 all over again where you make fun of the movie andlaugh your ass off... you'll love Warbirds like I did!

2012-05-04 05:40:36

THE GREATEST GENERATION

This review is from: Warbirds (DVD) I liked it.So did my father,a World War 11 veteran.He was awarded the silver Star for bravery and if any generation could defeat prehistoric creatures,THEY COULD!He told me the uniforms,firearms,holsters,vehicles,etc.were all authentic. Even the women's hair-do's.Someone did their homework.I liked the idea of women heroes and wished for more character development,though. I liked the tall woman whose plane crashed when the Pteranodon landed on it.Wish she lived.I realize this is a low budget affair and special effects were very good even so.I liked the sky colors(background) when the B-29 was in flight.I never heard of the stars and they did a good job and the film had a good pace to it.Maybe a sequel,where some of the pteranodons survived and mutated form the atomic blast?

Jack 2012-05-03 12:31:17

A return to the bad old days of Sci-Fi Channel originals

A WASP air crew is ferrying a bomber to Hawaii in WWII. When theyarrive, they're immediately ordered to take an officer and some secretcargo to an island in the Pacific. What could the secret cargo be? It'snear the end of WWII, it's in a bomber, and they're going to an islandnear Japan? The only reason anyone watching this didn't guess the cargoimmediately was that they gave the writers too much credit fororiginality. Surely it couldn't be THAT obvious? Yes, it is. As they'reflying over the ocean, they encounter bad weather and are attacked bypterodactyls. Hmmm...WWII, bomber, giant flying creatures, where have Iheard that before? Maybe in Reign of the Gargoyles, which Sci-Fi aireda few months back? Anyhow, they make an emergency landing on a smallisland, and battle a couple of Japanese soldiers and a hoard ofpterodactyls for the remainder of the movie.A women's air crew that's been working with each other for a whilecould have been very interesting, a lot more interesting than a maleair crew - give the women some credit! But no, the things that come outof these people's mouths are just dumb and obvious. The lead femaleabsolutely can't accept the fact that there are secrets during war andshe's not allowed to know them, which puts her at odds with the officerthroughout the movie. So basically we get 60 minutes of arguing. Therest of the female characters are as interchangeable as their brightred lipstick and '40s hairdos. Having characters argue throughout amovie is the cheapest of cop-outs when it comes to dialog. There's onlythe thinnest veneer of character development, and it just gets darnedannoying after an hour of listening to it.The worst part is that the characters dress like it was 1945, butthat's it. What draws a person in to any drama set in the past is thedifference in culture and attitudes. It's 1945, the Japanese havebombed Pearl Harbor and we're at war with them, and yet the lead womanis horrified that we might drop an A-bomb on our enemy. "Thousandscould be killed!" she exclaims. Oh good grief. Three hundred thousandGermans were killed in allied bombing raids, yet this is the first timeit's occurred to her that bombs kill people? The Women's AirforceService Pilots only existed to free up more men to fly combat missions- to kill more of the enemy. Thousands of them. Why would she volunteerfor such a thing if she's horrified at the notion of the enemy beingkilled? People in 1945 were too worried about how many of their sons,husbands and boyfriends were being killed by the Japanese to engage inthis politically correct nonsense anyway.The CGI is also bad, and the direction is just sloppy. One of myfavorite scenes is where they load a bunch of 55 gallon fuel drums ontoa truck. Do you know how much one of those things weighs? A littleunder 500 pounds. Yet two people load them into the truck with just asmall amount of feigned difficulty. They arrange them in such a waythat as soon as the truck started moving, the drums would all roll outthe back. But of course they don't, the magic "this is just a movie"forces holding them firmly in place.Overall, extremely weak character development, the blatantly obvious PCversion of 1945, crummy effects and pterodactyls that quite honestlybored me. Better luck next time Sci-Fi Channel.