The Fantastic Phantom (1996 version)

The Phantom

By: Katie Miller

There is nothing like a good old 1996, superhero VHS to warm and cheer the spirits. Its fun to laugh at the car stunts, fight scenes, and imaginary happenings of the movie. But, that’s what films are all about. Some things that are done in cinema are not possible, very unlikely, and almost unbelievable. The only difference in films from the “early” film years (60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s) and current films is they are better at tricking our minds with the help of the supernatural computer. But, things are done in film to amaze and entertain. The Phantom was created to do just that.

We are first placed into the story of the Phantom’s background and basic history. Basically, he loses his father to a band of pirates and, after being rescued, discovers his lot in life: find and destroy his father’s murderers and protect the lesser of mankind. He also disguises himself as Kit Walker, when not in his purple suite and black mask.

The Phantom (Billy Zane) is of course a “loner”. He lives in a skull-shaped cave with a friend, who is like Alfred Pennyworth, Batman’s butler. He also has a horse and a wolf who are awesome and are so well trained that they are able to obey any and every command of their master.

The Phantom is said to immortal. Many men have killed him in the past but, he is often seen by the natives, even after his murder is reported. That is why he is called the ghost that walks. This is very strange because he is a young man but has been around for around three hundred years. It is very confusing until you discover ‘the secrete’ behind the mask.

The Phantom is thrust into an important mission that has the potential to threaten the fate of the world. Three majestic skulls could plunge the world under the power and control of one man. When all three sculls are together, they hold a power unknown to mankind. At one time in the past, the scull’s power was controllable. No one knows the secret to control their power. If they are placed into the wrong hands, the world and everyone in it would be under one person’s control.

After one scull is discovered and taken by a man named Xander Drax (Treat Williams), the Phantom makes it his mission to prevent Drax from accomplishing his evil scheme of taking over the world. Unfortunately, all three sculls end up in the hands of Mr. Drax along with Phantom’s girlfriend. By the way, she doesn’t know he is the Phantom. Drax doesn’t know what power he holds with all three sculls in his possession and there is a fight to the finish between Drax and the Phantom.

Phantom’s girlfriend from college is named Diana Palmer (Kristy Swanson). She hasn’t seen him since he took off and never returned or wrote or told anyone where he was. Diana knows him as Kit Walker, she has never heard of the Phantom. He is then stuck with the decision of telling her his secret and revealing his identity or being separated from the one he truly loves forever.

The cinematography of this film was great too. The jungle scenes, the shots of the ocean, and the rocks and cliffs were absolutely majestic. But, some of the scenes looked staged, particularly the first. It’s hard to watch a movie from then and compare it to films made now. The technology improvement has made such a huge difference in the way movies are made. Scenes that would be near impossible during the time of The Phantom’s creation are made so naturally and realistic that it seems possible when watched. As a matter of fact, we don’t even think of it as impossible. But, for the technology of its time, this film will blow your socks off.

The Phantom is a very good movie that I would recommend to anyone. The storyline is good, fun, and exciting. I would like to see the movie remade with today’s improvements and technology. It has the potential to be as good or even better than Captain America: The First Avenger. Strong words, I know, but it is really that good.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes
Review by Courtney Baker

Based on the series of novels and short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes puts a new twist on an old favorite in. Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.), ace detective, and his trusty companion Dr. Watson (Jude Law) are on an adventure- their last, because Watson is to be wed. The wellbeing of England is on their shoulders as Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) terrorizes London with supposed sorcery, while Holmes’ fate may rest on the shoulders of the only woman able to outwit him, Irene Adler (Rachael McAdams).

The film is a brilliant look into the mind of a genius, and of course, there’s a fine line between genius and insanity. Some may call this Holmes mad. He does indeed seem to be portrayed as erratic, a bit scatterbrained at times, and more than a little bit unorthodox in his methods. But when you get down to it, he really is a genius. Some may look at this Holmes and say that they ruined what Holmes was, they portrayed him all wrong. When people think Sherlock Holmes, they often think of a polished, straight edged, simply highly intelligent character who is very posh and high class. But Sherlock Holmes was a boxer, a smoker, used cocaine and morphine (both of which were legal at the time, though) and was unconventional to get the information he needed. He didn’t just go through places picking out tiny details and using his impressive deductive skills to solve the case. He went through big adventures too. This film re-imagined him by taking him back to his roots and making him as gritty and insane as he really could have been.

Holmes wasn’t the only character that was re-imagined. In the original short story “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Irene Adler was once only an opera star from New Jersey who had evidence of her relationship with a king once. Even then she was the woman; she could outsmart Holmes, arguably one of the cleverest minds in his world, as she does in the movie. Now she’s a world class thief forced into a deal with who could soon be Holmes’ main enemy.

And look at Watson. Dr. John Watson is often portrayed or thought to be an insistent super-fan of Sherlock’s. In this version, it’s the exact opposite. It’s a look on the friendship that is a bit unusual. Holmes seems to be the type of person who works, and only speaks to people involved in his work- as many highly intelligent people are. Even if Watson simply ceased working with him as a detective, obviously in some aspects Holmes would be lacking, and they would see each other little. It’s fairly obvious in one scene, when Holmes hasn’t had a case in a while, that he’s bored and he needs Watson’s help getting back into things (and facing the sunlight).

The chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law is fantastic in the leading roles. They work with each other like a true pair of bickering and sarcastic friends. Watson seems quite fed up with Holmes and his eccentric behavior, but it’s clear that they are close friends. If they weren’t close friends, I expect that Holmes would have been run through with his bow for practicing the violin at three AM, and likewise Holmes would have murdered Watson for letting the flies go- the ones that Holmes had been catching for six hours due to his boredom and probable high. But no matter how much they aggravate each other, they’ll always be there, whether they’re in an explosion, being chased by thugs, or Holmes has simply forgotten his revolver again. The way that Downey and Law act tells you this.

The same can’t be said for the chemistry between the trio- Adler, Holmes, and Watson. They don’t work as well together as just Holmes and Watson, and it’s always more fun to see Adler against Holmes than with him. She thoroughly bewilders Holmes. Luckily, they don’t work together for very long before Adler’s against Holmes again. Still, between Holmes and Adler, there’s still a sense of a very witty yet on edge love. After all, at the beginning of the movie, Watson points out that Holmes should probably avoid her, considering she’s tricked him before… twice.

All of our heroic takedowns are reasoned out and thought through before they happen, offering the audience a different look on our mystery. Yet, where some things are reasoned out before hand, when the characters start solving things or hashing out what needs to be or has been learned, the audience is taken back and walked through it again after they’ve seen it happen once, like when Holmes follows Irene from his home after she lets herself in to present him with a case. The audience isn’t even aware of the fact that Holmes followed Irene, not until he explains what happened to Watson afterwards.

The message of the entire thing could be that friendship holds strong, even through change. Just because Watson is moving out and getting married, doesn’t mean he’s any less Holmes’ friend. He can hardly resist being his friend really. No matter how much Holmes frustrates him, he still loves the adventure and mystery involved in being Sherlock Holmes’ right hand man. Or maybe the message is that there’s always something bigger waiting for you, as Professor Moriarty waits for Holmes.

This film gives you the clues, and you can follow along and solve the mystery with Holmes, if you care to. The camera hovers on this, a character says something else, and it’s a puzzle for the solving, but offers enough twists to not be a predictable and boring story. The wit and joking between Holmes and the other characters makes you laugh. It’s an action film, thrilling and fast paced. You’re drawn into the late 19th century, pulled into London, and you enjoy every minute of the ride.

Drive Angry; A Top Ten Film Of 2011 By Donald Price

“Since the birth of time humanity has endeavored to restrain evil men in prisons. But since Cain fled the murder of his brother, evil men have fled the walls of punishment. So it doesn’t matter if you’re a badass motherfucker on the run because you think you’re better than everyone else and somehow entitled to do what you got to do. No… because you see, badass motherfuckers are never fast enough. In the end they will all be accounted for”. These are the opening lines for the film Drive Angry.

The film begins with John Milton (Nicholas Cage) busting out of prison gates in a 1964 Buick Rivera. What we don’t notice right away is that Milton is escaping from the ultimate prison; Hell. Milton has escaped from his imprisonment to set out on a mission of revenge and is after the man who killed his daughter and kidnapped his granddaughter, Jonah King (Billy Burke). Milton begins his quest for vengeance in the town of Laughter, Colorado and conducts his manhunt clear to Stillwater, Louisiana. Along his way, Milton meets up with a lost soul Piper (Amber Heard), looking to be set on the right path. On Milton’s trail is The Accountant (William Fichtner), who does everything he can to stop Milton and to take him back to Hell. Milton is for the most part a lone man on a mission. Since he is pretty much an escaped soul reborn; he cannot be killed by normal weapons, making him nearly unstoppable in his quest. This film is one part The Crow and one part Smokey and the Bandit for its car chases, and back from the grave protagonist.

Religion plays a huge role in this film. I’m glad to see a movie that can entertain us with different takes on aspects of region and not get everyone up in arms. Milton plays the role of the sheep that has lost his way, trying to make up for all the mistakes he had made in life by doing everything he can to save his granddaughter. In a conversation between Piper and The Accountant, The Account shares his experience with dealing with the misconceptions of the devil by telling her “The dark lord, Satan, Beelzebub, Lucifer; Simply the warden of a very large prison…quiet man actually quite thoughtful and very well read. And I happen to know that the idea of sacrificing children in his honor annoys him greatly”. The Account is a take on the Greek gatekeeper Charon, who would ferry souls to Hades. The name of Cage’s character John Milton is the name of the author of Paradise Lost, the story about Satan’s expulsion from Heaven.

This film has some of the best car stunts since Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof. Every car that Milton Drives is a mean sounding muscle car or a classic show car of some sort. This is great because it makes sense that his character would only be interested in older cars, being that the last time he was alive it was the early 1980’s. He escapes in the Rivera; He drives Piper’s 1969 Dodge Charger, is given a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle, and winds up with a 1956 Chevrolet Bell Air. A lot of the scenes have a good deal to do with driving, so having an awesome fleet of cars in the film helps keep my attention.

The film overall is something different. It is a fresh idea that was unleashed on a crowd who had been conditioned for remakes and the same old garbage. This film takes a good deal of risks and I think they pay off. For instance, showing a gunfight during a sex scene is something that hasn’t been touched since Shoot ‘Em Up. I enjoy Cage’s performance as Milton mainly because he plays Milton like a dead man. He is often keeping to himself, calm, and lets his guns do the talking. It’s a different Cage than the crazed one that screams out outrageous statements like “I’m Castor Troy”. Meanwhile, it is almost everyone else’s performances that are over the top. Burke’s portrayal of Johan King is really enthralling. He plays the antagonist character as if Elvis and Neil Diamond had a son that was the leader of a satanic cult. Fichtner’s role as The Accountant is also pretty overblown in a good way. In one scene he walks out of a hydrogen tanker truck right before it collides with a road block as its stereo is blaring That’s The Way I Like It by K.C. and the Sunshine Band, and steps onto the roof of a cop car as a giant explosion engulfs the area.

How could nobody have seen or liked this movie? Rodger Ebert gave it one of the few reviews that weren’t total crap (two stars). Rotten Tomatoes.com has it at 45%, which is better than The Blindside at least. The film was budgeted for around$ 50,000,000 but only made around $10,000,000 worldwide. To see something that has something neat, fun and original just to be pandered by critics and audiences in favor of another Big Mama movie pisses me off to no end. I would easily put this film into my top ten movies of 2011, hopefully you will give it a viewing and enjoy it as much as a did as well.

The Best of Twenty Eleven

Captain America: The First Avenger

By: Katie Miller

A great movie should have an interesting plot and surprising storyline. There should be plenty of action, a romantic story, a blood-curdling villain, a super hero, some tragic events, some comedy, and a good ending that leaves you wanting more or satisfies all of your questions to the point of wanting to see it again. Now, this doesn’t mean that movies should all end with a “happily ever after”, for this is not how life really goes. There is the ability to get tired of the typical, unrealistic, endings, but, when things don’t end as such, we are almost disappointed. There should also be some good effects that intrigue your mind without you knowing it. Captain America: The First Avenger satisfies such standards to the point of being the best movie of 2011, so far.

In the beginning, we are immediately drawn into the story of Steve Rogers, a boy from Brooklyn. The movie is set during WWII when every good man is going to fight for their country. Rogers, played by Chris Evans, is a small, weak, underdog, who has tried to enlist several times but, has been rejected each time. He has a strong passion for defending his country. He doesn’t like bullies and isn’t afraid to stand up for what he believes, even if he knows he will get beat up for it. We feel sorry for him and want to see him succeed. To satisfy the audience’s desire, Rogers is selected by Dr. Abraham Erskine for a special experiment to create a new breed of super soldiers. With this new serum created by Dr. Erskine, everything in the person’s body is increased. “Good becomes great, bad becomes worse” Dr. Erskine tells Rogers. Rogers is chosen because of the true humility, honor, and promising qualities he has.

We are also introduced into a romantic relationship between Rogers and Agent Cater a lovely lady in the service. At first, Carter is impressed with Rogers’ kindness and humility. After his “transformation” if you will, she not only impressed with his attributes but also his new triceps and biceps.

After the experiment’s success, Dr. Erskine, who is seen as a threat to the Nazis, is killed and his murderer is chased down by the new and improved Rogers. This scene, along with many others, is very intense and shows foreshadowing. The murder proceeds to escape in a cab. The cab service he took advantage of was associated with a star. The emblem on the door is a star right in the middle. The car is wreaked and the door is used as a shield to protect Rogers from the gunfire of the murderer. This hints at Rogers’ future life as Captain America, the avenger who will wear the star of his country on a shield. The death of the doctor causes Rogers to want to get revenge on Johann Schmidt who hired Dr. Erskine because of his intelligence and serum. Schmidt previously took the serum and because of his true inner being he became full of hate and very evil. Johann Schmidt, also known as Rogers’ Red Skull, is the antagonist, a power hungry villain who work for the Nazis but only to further his own plans of conquest.

Along with its amazing storyline and exciting plot, Captain America: The First Avenger, is the best movie of 2011 because of the cool effects blended into the film. Many times, Captain America, while in combat, throws his shield and it, like a boomerang, returns to him. Now this may seem a bit farfetched but, not once was it thought about as being impossible because of the perfect effects put into the film. There are many scenes in which Captain America performs acts that are impossible for any real human. Things like long jumps, fist fights where his opponents are defenseless, and he cannot get drunk on alcohol. Captain America will not stop until either he or Schmidt is dead. Also, the effects used to make Chris Evans the small and weak Rogers at the beginning of the film are fantastic. There is nothing about him that looks fake.

This movie seemed to be appreciated by other reviewers and critiques. Roger Ebert said that he “enjoyed the movie”. He liked the “period setting and costumes.” The New York Daily News reported that the movie was good but, they were ready for the “cool finale” where the missing “last battle” will be shown. The film received 7 out of 10 stars on IMDb.com.

Captain America: The First Avenger is so far the best movie of 2011. It was not gory and it didn’t have any sexual situations, just a good scene of Chris Evans’ upper body after he receives the serum. There is some language and some freaky sci-fi characters, so, this may not be for young children. The best part is that this movie is “made in America”. It is patriotic and helps Americans think about their past and their heritage of freedom. I urge you to get the movie on DVD or Blue-Ray today.

Have You Really "Thought" About Captain America Yet?

Review of Why Captain America: The First Avenger was Underappreciated

By: Katie Miller

First, all films are underappreciated unless you have helped make a film or worked on a film set. Nobody but the film crew, designers, and actors know what has really gone into that film. Time, money, and extremely hard work all go into the creation of a good film. So, imagine what the “great” ones require.

The film Captain America: The First Avenger was certainly underappreciated. After re-watching it the other night, I looked at some of the bonus features. The design crew went through at least ten different helmets to find the best one for Captain America (Chris Evans). The outfits were also delicately designed for the character and the actor. The difficult shots, fight scenes, and digital editing were all put to the test, worked on, and perfected.

Many people in America today, do not go to a film and really think about the effort, thought, and work put into it. All of the characters must look the part. They must be dressed in the right time error, have the right hair styles, and talk the way their character is supposed to talk. Hugo Weaving (played the Red Skull in the movie) also played an elf named Lord Elrond in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. After watching him on the Lord of the Rings, it was amazing to hear his German accent in Captain America. Chris Evans became Steve Rogers, a “kid from Brooklyn” who was transformed into the hero, Captain America.

As stated before, all films are underappreciated. No one goes to the movies and sees Captain America and thinks I wonder how many outfits they had to go through before they chose that one? Or, man, they put a lot of really hard shots and work into that scene? It just doesn’t happen. This type of reasoning takes thought, effort, and practice. Many critics, thorough movie reviewers, and movie producers themselves are looking for and can see difficult scenes and a killer plot and storyline. But, they know what to look for. They are trained to see such things. Their paycheck relies upon it. The “average person” does not have to, nor do they want to, think about the trouble put into a great film.

Many people saw Captain America and loved it. It has been nominated for the Teen Choice Award, and Chris Evans has been nominated for the Male Choice Summer Movie Star Award. It was recognized as great but why? It was for the action, romance, comedy, and its special effect. But all of these are a result of the film’s crew and their hard work to bring forth a magnificent film. People don’t know that the reason they like a film is because of the work put into it by its creators.

I now challenge you to watch this film again. Then, think about the work. You can even increase your appreciation by buying the film and watching the bonus features. Watching these will take you “behind the scenes” and will show how the characters were created. It also shows some of what they went through to create such an atmosphere of reality in this film. Also, the next time you see a movie, don’t just like it because it is good, ask yourself why was it good, what made it good, and who made it good? This will give you a better appreciation for any and every film you see.