Terminator 2 Judgment Day 3D

Terminator 2 Judgment Day 3D

Movie Review Written By: Adolph Vega

Watch my Video Review below : 

3D

2D to 3D movie conversions can be a very difficult thing to do. Some filmmakers do this only for a cheap cash grab and others actually take the real effort and make older movies look brilliant in 3D. Fortunately this is the latter and this 3D conversion looks fantastic. The first thing they did for this 3D conversion was to clean up the negative and totally restore the film. 3D aside the movie has never looked this good. The movie looks sharp, vivid and rich. The 3D visuals look fantastic as if it was meant to be in this format. So many times the movie inherently uses perspective in effective ways so converting it to 3D was a smart choice. 3D depth is used well in the long passageway in the hospital scene and during the ravine chase scene. The movie starts with a scene in a blazing fire with a terminator skeleton looking into the screen, and that fire looks fantastic in 3D. The fire has multiple layers of depth and looks much more interesting and intimidating in 3D. Another scene toward the end of the movie has a character in molten lava and this sequence makes you feel like you are in the lava with him as it splashes around. At many moments objects will pop out of the screen and use 3D pop in fun ways. I loved seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger pointing various guns out of the screen. All these scenes were in the original cut of the movie so it never looks forced or out of place. The movie looks fantastic in 3D and this is a wonderful conversion from 2D and a wonderful restoration of this movie. Obviously this movie was originally created in 2D so it does have limitations on the quality of the 3D, so it’s especially impressive how well the 3D fits this movie. This is a fine example of a quality 3D conversion. The 3D visuals look clean, sharp and make for a more visually enjoyable movie. This 3D conversation is highly recommended and is well done.    

Final Verdict: Great 3D

Movie

This movie is possibly one of the most difficult movies for me to review. It’s difficult for me to objectively make an unbiased movie review for such a wonderful movie. 

For me several statements are true regarding Terminator 2 Judgment Day:

·       Terminator 2 is possibly one of the best sequels of all time. 

·       Terminator 2 is one of the best action movies of all time.

·       Terminator 2 is one of the best movies staring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

·       Terminator 2 is one of the best movies from the 1990's.

·       Terminator 2 is the best Terminator movie in the franchise.

·       Terminator 2 is an iconic movie for my generation.  

So what exactly makes this movie so incredible? Basically it’s everything, the story, the action scenes and the characters are all top notch.

This movie tells the tale of futuristic robots who travel back in time to kill John Connor in the present time. In the future John Connor will be the leader of the human resistance against the robots. The robots previously attempted to kill Sarah Connor (John's mother), but they failed and now they return for another attempt to change the future. If you never seen the first Terminator movie you will be fine watching this movie because it does an excellent job of recapping that story yet being it's own chapter in this movie series. Two machines are sent back in time, one a T-800 model and one a T-1000 prototype model. The T-1000 is an incredible machine made up of liquid metal and can shape shift and transform into anyone it touches. The T-800 is a robot with a metallic skeleton that is made to appear human. Will the machines be successful in terminating John Connor and preventing the human resistance in the future?  Watch this movie to find out.

The movie is perfectly balanced with excellent action scenes that are exciting and entertaining. The special effects use both practical and computer graphics that look still fantastic after 26 years. At times the action is intense but it's well paced within the movie. The movie knows how to slow down and give the viewer some breathing room and explain the details of the story and characters. So many movies lately have shaky camera or do too many quick cuts that distract the viewer, but this movie knows how to showcase its incredible well-choreographed action scenes. The movie has many explosive set pieces and the action is enjoyable from beginning to end.

The movie has a subtle sense of humor that is perfectly handled. The movie has some jokes and moments of levity, but it never overwhelms with its use of comedy. The comedy works well for the tone of the movie and is never too silly or corny. The comedic elements are used to make a more enjoyable movie and to make the characters more enduring. The comedy is a nice addition to the movie that feels natural and is never forced.

The characters of Terminator 2 are what make this movie truly be special. Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) is a strong woman, who carries the weight of the world on her shoulders. Sarah knows all about the machines and the future and nobody believes her. John Connor portrayed by Edward Furlong does a great job in his role. John acts like a realistic young teenager and is independent and charismatic. For the most part all the characters have substance and depth and grow throughout the movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the T-800 Terminator machine and he does an excellent job with this role. The terminator is stiff like a robot should act, but has the capacity to learn. The T-800 shows fantastic character development during the movie. The T-1000 robot is menacing and threatening machine that has only a few lines but knows how to have a memorable presence on scene. Overall I enjoyed all the characters within this movie and the time spent on each character.

This version of the film is based upon the original 1991 theatrical cut of the movie with some changes. Some of the changes done to this movie are to correct minor continuity issues with the special effects that were visible in the original cut. Another change with this movie is with the visual fidelity. Like I mentioned within the 3D section of this review the visuals are now dramatically restored. The movie looks sharper and more colorful than ever before. The movie was never ugly to begin with but this restoration looks fantastic. These changes to the movie are worthy upgrades and only enhance the original movie. This is NOT a director’s cut, or extended edition of the movie. The changes don’t change the movie; they only perfect what is already present. If you are interested in the specific scenes that were changed and you don't mind spoilers this article from screenrant.com showcases the specific changes. The photo below might be helpful the showcase differences between the two versions. 

Another website Moviemistakes.com has many more mistakes (not all of which were corrected in this re-release) for Terminator 2 Judgment Day; you can read that article here. 

All that being said I am slightly disappointed that many of the additional and extended scenes that were part of the "extreme" and "ultimate" Terminator 2 edition DVD's weren't included in this restored version of the movie. Some of those deleted or alternate scenes were fantastic additions to the movie that really enhanced to the story. Specifically I really enjoyed the "smile" scene and the "chip reboot" deleted scenes. This is just a personal preference and this movie is perfectly fine without those additional scenes. 

One aspect of this movie that I truly love is how touching and sincere it is. Several scenes within this movie made me cry.  The emotions I felt within this movie were earned and never done by cheap manipulation or overly sappy scenes. Many lines of dialogue resonate with the viewer after the movie ends. The movie has a soul to it and it transcends beyond a typical brainless Hollywood action movie. The action scenes have meaning and I actually care if certain characters live or die. It delves into deeper questions, such as what is fate? Is humanity a doomed species? What does it mean to be a human being?  This movie is never preachy or obvious with its deeper elements. This movie is much greater than the sum of its parts. 

In closing Terminator 2 Judgment Day was an excellent movie in 1991 and is an excellent film in 2017 and forever shall be an excellent film. The movie is a modern day classic and is one of my favorite movies.  Terminator 2 Judgment Day is a must watch and a complete and total success of a movie. 

Final Verdict: 10 / 10

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Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets 3D Movie Review

Valerian and the City of A Thousand Planets

3D Movie Review Written By: Adolph Vega

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Watch my video review for Valerian below :

3D

The 3D visuals for this movie are very impressive and make an enjoyable yet flawed experience. This movie mostly uses the diorama 3D visual effect. This visual effect gives the viewer a perspective into the screen and makes great use of 3D depth. Occasionally the movie uses pop out 3D and it looks nice. I do feel like the pop out 3D element is muted and not as pronounced as it could have been. The 3D doesn’t look good in a few scenes within the darkness of space. Those dark scenes look slightly out of alignment and give the viewer a disorienting ghosting double effect. Fortunately those dark disorienting scenes are rare. Overall the 3D is definitely a worthwhile addition to this movie, but it’s far from a perfect 3D visual presentation. 

Final Verdict:  Good 3D

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Movie

Prior to watching this movie I had no knowledge of Valerian and it’s comic book history. Sadly this movie does a pathetic job of introducing this universe to a wider audience.

Valerian is actually the name of the male lead character that works with his partner Laureline. Valerian and Laureline work together for the galactic federation. Dane DeHaan plays Valerian and Cara Delevingne portrays Laureline, and sadly I didn't like these lead characters. This movie shows them working together as a team and sadly they have zero chemistry together on screen. I also question the acting ability for both individuals. The acting is bland and wooden for both of the main characters. Dane DeHaan as Valerian sounds like a bad impression of Keanu Reeves throughout this movie. Cara Delevingne as of Laureline seems bored throughout this movie. Laureline will often become frustrated at Valerian and his antics and she is always criticizing him. Many times the criticisms are justified but regardless I found this back and forth banter between these characters to be tedious and annoying to watch. Sadly this movie is focused on two very unlikeable protagonists.

The movie throws the viewer into the deep end and doesn't do a decent job of setting up this universe. This movie is a science fiction movie that is set several hundred years into the future. In some ways the movie is similar to “Star Trek” and humanity has joined an intergalactic federation of planets. Unlike most “Star Trek” stories (excluding Deep Space Nine) this movie is set mostly within one location, which is a gigantic intergalactic space station. This space station is called Alpha and is home to over a thousand planets and cultures that live together in peace. This movie has a massive cast of characters that are not properly introduced. It’s really hard to keep track of all these characters and their motivations. The main story is about Valerian and Laureline discovering the truth about an alien species that was thought to be extinct. The story flies by at the speed of light and the movie rarely takes the time to give the viewer an explanation to what is going on. When the movie does try to explain itself it feels forced and inorganic. The movie is extremely rushed and underdeveloped and I felt like they crammed too much into one movie.  The premise within this movie is interesting and captured my imagination with many fascinating elements. One scene within this movie has a character interacting with a parallel invisible dimension while being present in a visible dimension. This inter-dimensional scene is very creative and is fun to watch.  The alien designs are inspired and look unique and new. The movie introduces a trio of small brown aliens called the Shingouz. These aliens’ trade secrets for money are full of personality. These aliens looked similar to the 1980’s “Alf” character and I really loved these silly aliens and they were a wonderful element of this movie. Another alien named bubble can morph itself into different forms, and makes for a very fun strip tease scene. Many aliens within this movie are not bipedal humanoids and I appreciate that element of the movie. Too many works of science fiction portray space aliens that look extremely similar to humans or other earth approximating creatures. So I applaud when works of science fiction take some effort and make creative creature design. Even the aliens that look humanoid do look distinctive. I really enjoyed the ideas represented within this movie; I just wish it were better executed.  

Before I conclude this review I must discuss the visual effects. The visuals for this movie are simply gorgeous. The special effects are a real treat and are the definition of eye candy. Many scenes look lush, with rich vibrant colors that look appealing and attractive. The visual style is distinctive and it works well for this sort of movie. I enjoyed the computer graphics and how they presented other worlds, and other dimensions. This movie looks beautiful and compliments this movie perfectly.

In closing this is a movie that I wanted to love, but I couldn’t get over it’s many flaws. I was entertained by this fun action sci-fi movie. Miserably the awful wooden acting and the poor story development hamper a remarkable premise. The ideas within this movie are compelling but are poorly executed within this movie. Unfortunately this is a beautiful mess of a movie.    

Final Verdict : 6 / 10

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War for the Planet of the Apes 3D Movie Review

War for the Planet of the Apes 3D Movie Review

Review Written By: Adolph Vega

Check out my Video Review on YouTube below: 

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3D

Unfortunately the 3D visuals for this movie are not impressive and don’t do much of anything. Occasionally you will see rifle barrels pop out of the screen. A few scenes have snow falling and the 3D looks decent as the snowflakes fly around in 3D space. The 3D visuals do help make the digital apes seem more lifelike because there a three dimensional shape instead of flat 2D shape. The 3D visuals never wow the audience and are a subtle and minor aspect of this movie. Overall the 3D visuals for this movie are mediocre, forgettable and simply not worthwhile.

Final Verdict: Weak 3D 2D RECOMMENDED

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Movie

“War for the Planet of the Apes” is the third movie within this rebooted movie franchise. I really respect what the filmmakers have done with this franchise and how they created an interesting and believable world of apes. This trilogy is possibly one the best trilogies of cinema with all three movies being enjoyable.

The first thing I must mention about this movie is how misleading the title of the movie is. The title of this movie “War for the Planet of the Apes” seems to imply an action movie when that isn’t the case. The trailers are also very misleading and give an impression of a non-stop action spectacle. I mention this because the title and trailers give the audience an inaccurate picture and could potentially set up false expectations. This movie is very dramatic and serious and has lots of subtitles instead of spoken dialog. In many ways this movie feels like a thoughtful independent movie instead of a summer blockbuster. The movie does have some action scenes but the story is more focused on characters and plot than action. I feel that some people may find this movie boring because of the slow pacing and lack of action. This movie isn’t your typical summer blockbuster; it’s very cerebral, tense and suspenseful. I am not a marketing expert so I don’t know how to accurately make the trailers showcase this style of movie and give a correct portrayal of the movie. I usually don’t discuss the title of a movie or the marketing within the review, but for this occasion I believe that it must be mentioned.

The movie takes place several years after the events of the previous movie in this series “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”. This is the third movie within the rebooted “Planet of the Apes” franchise and it continues the story of Caesar and the super intelligent apes that follow him. This movie builds upon the previous two movies of this franchise, and they are required viewings before watching this movie. The movie begins with a few blocks of text on screen that give the viewer some context going into this story. This movie is about the ape of Caesar (the leader of the apes) and a small group of apes that follow him to investigate a nearby human military base. Broadly speaking this movie is about family, survival and the concept of mercy. The performances of the various apes are perfectly captured by cutting edge special effects. The acting and writing for this movie is truly excellent. I never once doubted the computer graphics on screen and it was a spot-on showcase to what the power of computer-generated characters can do under capable filmmakers. The characters might be digital creations but the have depth and substance. The movie does an excellent job of making these apes relatable and makes it easy to have empathy for them. This world that this movie presents is realistic, gritty, sad, tragic and is totally believable and thought provoking.

This movie has many returning characters but also several new ones. One of those new prominent characters is that of The Colonel. The Colonel is portrayed by Woody Harrelson and is the villain of this movie. This is easily one of the best performances by Woody Harrelson in his entire film career. This character has one excellent speech where you understand everything about this character and his history. I wanted to stand up and cheer after this speech because it was so perfectly delivered and it hit all the right notes. Another new character that is notable is that of an ape who used to live in a zoo. This character is used as comic relief and is very charming and very helpful to the plot. Many times he says what the audience is thinking and is a wonderful addition to this movie. Another new character is that of a young girl. This young girl is semi-adopted into the ape clan and is another stand out. This girl is a simple character and doesn’t have many lines but is a joy to watch on screen and has beautiful sweet innocence presence on screen.  The movie keeps some of the best characters from the previous movies and adds several new additions that are all excellent and interesting. This movie does a wonderful job with handling all these characters and making them feel complete and meaningful.

The only problem I had with this movie was with the ending. I won’t spoil this aspect, but needless to say it is the definition of a deus ex machina

ending. The conclusion makes sense within context of the location this movie is set, but it still feels too convenient. Maybe the deus ex machine ending was intentional for the narrative but it feels cheap and like a cop-out. Overall the movie does end in a satisfactory manor that feels like a closure to this series of Apes movies and delivers catharsis.

In conclusion this movie is an excellent science fiction film. My issues with this movie are minor and related to the ending and the slow pacing. The story, characters and acting are all truly wonderful. These “Apes” movies have done something truly spectacular and made a perfect trilogy and this third movie wraps things up nicely. “War for the Planet of the Apes” is an incredible summer movie, and Andy Serkis (motion capture & voice actor for Caesar) deserves award recognition for this performance within this movie, because it’s perfectly executed and is totally believable. This movie is almost perfect and totally resonates with its emotional and dramatic elements. This movie is easily one of the best movies of 2017 and should not be missed.

Final Verdict: 9/10, EDITORS CHOICE MOVIE AWARD

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