Merlin and the War of the Dragons (2008)

One of these film titles that sounds fascinating, intriguing and makes you want to see what they have done with this story. So what they did was they got two school boys who said they wanted to act and put them in charge of actually half decent CGI dragons and made them battle. This is in the vain of the SyFy channel horror films but this time they have gone back to the 5th Century to when Merlin was a a boy and pretended that he an his friend fall out and become Dragon Masters.


The acting in this film is awful with little to no stand outs, Jurgen Prochnow is the only name of anyone that you might have heard of and even he cannot carry this story. The story itself is not terrible but with the amateur acting and the low budget effects, there is a crowd scene where it just feels like there is nobody there. This really is more dreadful guff from the world of terrible films, it is so bad quality it does not even touch on the good side of bad film making.


This is a 1 star drivel avoid, there are no redeeming features at all and I would recommend that avoid you watching this.

The Hurt Locker (2008)

The 2009 Best Oscar winning film from Katheryn Bigelow sees Jeremy Renner as a member of a Bomb disposal unit in Afghanistan and it explores how he and his team cope with the stress and pressure of the dangerous job. I have to say that this is another film when the I heard about it I was not that interested as I did not think it would appeal to me. It starts following Guy Pearce and after the opening scene then Jeremy Renner comes in and he has a bit of a cavalier attitude towards the bomb disposal and he seems to want to take risks.


It is an interesting film as it counts down their tour of duty and the time until they can go home, it also looks at several of the soldiers in the unit and how they are coping with the stresses of the war and a little bit about what happens. This really is powerful stuff I will be honest and say i do not know if it is worthy of a best Oscar nod however it really is a very good film and is well worth checking out. 

There are a couple of graphic scenes and while there is a constant feeling of danger there are only a few cases of graphic violence but it really is an exploration of the stress caused by war and the dangers that the brave men and women of the armed forces face everyday and what they have to think about when they come home. This is a solid 4 star film and is well worth watching.

Eden Lake (2008)

Starring Michael Fassbender before he really made it big and Kelly Reilly who most people will probably recognise as Mrs Watson in the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes films. I had heard of this film and all I had heard was that a couple go to the lake and are terrorized by feral teens. It really is about this but is so much worse because of how it is delivered and how it goes as the film goes on. There is a reality within the delivery that actually disturbed me when watching it. You can believe the situation and when the escalation starts the reasoning is believable even if they are extreme, however you can see the reasons for the decisions being logical to the people making them.

You follow Steve and Jenny a nice couple who in very few words and actions you come to understand their relationship and their personalities and then you see their first few interactions with the youths. Before that you have also had a perception of society that can create children like those in the film. The pub scene and the beer garden are very important for the message the film is delivering. This film is disturbing in a tension building way as you know something is going to go down. When it does I think that it is delivered excellently and it is scary in it's reality.

The situation escalates for all involved, this is part of the story, how one decision leads to the next. There is the fact that being in a gang is cool but following a leader who you do not know where they will go can lead to many issues. There are some issues I have with what the main characters choose to do, I understand why they do it but it is not how I would have reacted and not the choices I would have made. Overall if you want to see a well made terror filled film with a disturbing message give this film a go, I would give this 4 out of 5 stars.

Stag Night (2008)

Film of 2012 #72


A strange little horror film that I saw because it had Breckin Meyer in it and I have always thought of him as quite funny and an interesting actor. However the story which sounded appealing soon became quite boring, 4 guys out on a Stag Night end up leaving a subway train early with 2 ladies after the Breckin Meyer character plays the douche and causes Mace to sprayed making them leave the train. From there they discover an underground way of life that would probably not go un-missed if it really existed.

So you follow them getting lost in the underground while they are being hunted by a brutal band of men/creatures who kill mercilessly and probably eat there victims and while this sounds thrilling it really is so contrived how they get stuck and how they fail to get out of the trouble which they got into quite easily. The ending as well while is what normal horror films portray is cliched and a bit disappointing and not worth the effort.

Overall this film is not worth seeing at all, even the acting is not that great, certainly not the worst I have seen but nothing that special, I give it 2 stars and that is simply for the efforts on the character design and the sets are really good and there is obviously some budget there but overall not worth seeing at all.

Outlander (2008)

Film of 2012 #62


Picked up this film as it starred Jim Caviezel and I have always liked him, also it was indicated as a Sci-Fi film so thought it would be worth a look. Jim Caviezel is Kainan, an alien that is chasing a "Dragon" and ends up on crashed on Earth in the time of the Vikings, he is captured by a tribe and taken prisoner. John Hurt plays Hrothgar the Cheiften and his Daughter Freya played by Sophia Myles who is promised to the next leader Wulfric played by Jack Huston and you have your obvious set up. Kainin comes in and Freya is keen as he is different, Wulfric does not like him because he is different and Hrothgar thinks a differnet type of leader. They have an ongoing battle with Gunnar played by Ron Pearlman's tribe and when the "Dragon" rears it's head you have the coming together of the tribes to fight a common enemy.

This film is nothing special, there is the usual fish out of water trying to learn and understand a culture he does not know, but as an alien he is not that different from the tribesmen other than his technology which he soon loses. You have the love triangle between Kainan, Freya and Wulfric, you have Wulfric not liking Kainan but coming to a trust him after they play shields and he sees what a Warrior he is. It follows the basic trope where the Dragon which is actually an Alien creature attacks the village and they have to battle it to win and he comes to respect him more.


To be honest I was not surprised by anything that happens in this film and there is nothing that special about it. Saying that within the scope it was aiming for it was pretty servicable, the acting and effects are not mind blowing but adequate overall this is a 2 star film, not worth seeking out but not a total waste of time if you are doing something while it is on in the background.

Bolt (2008)

Format - BluRay
Date - 21 January 2010

Bolt tells the story a dog who plays a heroic dog in a hit TV show and has some trouble recognizing that he doesn't even have superpowers. This becomes something of a hindrance when he is accidentally shipped from Hollywood to New York City. From there he has to make his way home with the help of a manky old cat and an overweight hamster in a plastic ball. Written by wolf_stoned

Thanks to IMDb for the plot summary.

This story is an animated story of a dog trying to go home to his person, Penny. Now this is a kids film and there are a lot of references I picked up in the story, you have "The Truman Show" elements, Bolt does not know his life is not real. "Homeward Bound" never seen this but it is an animal crossing the country story, unlikely allies. And the final reference I get is "Inspector Gadget" to me it really is paying homage to those cartoons with a slight difference, even in the name of Bolt's person.

I was aware of this film when it came to the cinema, however at the time was not inclined to go and see it. I knew the basic concept without the detail and i am unhappy I missed this, I think that the 3D while not needed is great when viewing animation in the cinema. The film is a riot of comedy with some great lines and some good gags, there is a lot of sentimentality and as a n adult you can predict how it will go, but still a great film.

The voice acting was actually quite subtle I was not aware who the main cast were so it did not draw me out of the film. Bolt is played by John Travolta, but he is simply in the position of saying the lines, at no time did I suspect that it was Travolta's voice. Mittens the cat is voiced by Susie Essman, Rhino is voiced by Mark Walton, Penny is voiced by Miley Cyrus, there are also a couple of other big actors including Malcolm McDowell and Greg Germann. The acting is great, the writing is superior and BluRay quality is sublime to view.

I have to recommend this film, especially if you like animation, it is not as good as say the Incredibles, Monsters Inc or UP, but still a masterclass for children.

I give this 4/5