Classic Movie Review: The Santa Clause (1994)

Christmas movies are supposed to take place at Christmas. That's the general rule of thumb. And that's generally how I remembered The Santa Clause. Lots of North Pole elves and Santa suits and the like, except that's the sequel that I'm thinking of. In fact a lot of this movie takes place during the rest of the year. That doesn't mean it's bad, just different. In a good way.

Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) is a toy company executive who isn't a Christmas person at all. He puts on the Christmas cheer for his son Charlie (Eric Lloyd) though, which is more than his mother Laura (Wendy Crewson) and stepfather Neil (Judge Reinhold) do. Neil is a psychiatrist who believes that Charlie should face the realities of life and tells him that Santa Claus doesn't exist. That is until Christmas Eve when Scott accidentally kills Santa and has to take his place. Head elf Bernard (David Krumholtz) fills Scott in on the contract that he unknowingly has signed and gives him a year to get his affairs in order before it becomes a full time job.

So The Santa Clause kind of isn't a kid's movie, although I definitely saw it when I was one. There are a lot of themes around divorce and mental illness that are an interesting step to take this kind of movie. Scott has so much animosity for his ex-wife it's unbelievable. The best part of the movie however, is the antagonistic relationship that he has with Charlie's stepfather Neil. Normally Judge Reinhold is known for playing fun loving characters, but Neil is an incredibly dark and cynical person, which is how psychiatrists were portrayed in the 90s. It is a shame that there weren't more scenes featuring Peter Boyle (best known for playing Ray Romano's father in Everybody Loves Raymond).

While there are some funny moments, especially during Scott's physical transformation into Santa, it's the darker moments of the film that are better. When Scott first gets roped into being Santa, he is incredibly reluctant about and treats the job with a level of hatred. The idea of the actual Santa hating his job would be a funny movie to watch. Kind of like Bad Santa, but if Santa was real. The movie's ending is also darker than I remember, with Scott being accused of kidnapping and is hunted down by heavily armed police. Not quite the kid's movie content I was expecting.

Apart from moments of horrendous 90s CGI, The Santa Clause is a great cynical Christmas movie to revisit - especially after the year that we've had. It may not set out to have a cynical message, I'm sure they were trying for some lighthearted fun when the made it, but it's unavoidable to miss the sad undertones about divorce and kidnapping. Not at all like that Home Alone movie.

Classic Movie Review: Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)

I was always a bigger fan of Beavis and Butt-Head's spin-off series Daria than the show this movie was based on. That is until I saw the movie that Mike Judge put them in when I was a teenager. Now I know what you're thinking, that this is a movie only teenagers will like, but that's not so. After revisiting it for the twentieth anniversary of it's release, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America is just as funny as it was then and it's still funny now that I am an adult.

Beavis and Butt-Head (Mike Judge) wake up one afternoon to find that their TV has been stolen. After looking around town for it, or a new one, they stumble across Muddy (Bruce Willis), a drunken thief who mistakes them for hitmen sent by an associate. Muddy wants them to travel to Las Vegas to murder his wife and retrieve a package from her. But the horny teenagers get confused and think he wants them to have sex with her instead. When they get there, however, Dallas (Demi Moore) decides to use them to her own end and have them transport a biological weapon to Washington DC. Of course this is unknown to the two boys and they are oblivious to the fact that ATF Agent Flemming (Robert Stack) has placed them on a most wanted list.

I'll admit that the jokes may seem juvenile, but they are still pretty funny. Agent Flemming's obsession with cavity searches for anyone and everyone regardless of their innocence ("Don't stop till you reach the back of their teeth") is hilarious. Especially since each order is given with the utmost seriousness. Beavis' poor reaction to sugar resulting in him turning into The Great Cornholio still works every time, despite the inherent silliness of the gag. And of course, who cannot like the pseudo-music video of The Red Hot Chili Peppers being turned into Las Vegas lounge singers doing their version of 'Love Rollercoaster'.

The main attraction of this movie for me is the amount of celebrity voices that the movie contains. Bruce Willis and Demi Moore do a fantastic job as the backstabbing husband and wife thief duo and Cloris Leachman) is hilarious as the old lady who thinks that Beavis and Butt-Head are just the sweetest things she has ever met. Greg Kinnear is fantastic as Flemming's offsider Agent Bork who is always to please his boss with the correct grammar. Cameos from Boyhood director Richard Linklater as a tour bus driver and David Letterman as Butt-Head's dad are small but perfect.

Right from the outset you know this movie is going to be different from other stoner comedies. Whether it's the two main characters destroying a city in their dreams or the opening titles being a homage to 70s cop shows, you never know what this one is going to throw at you, but whatever it is, you know you'll have a good time.

Classic Movie Review: No Way Out (1987)

Political thrillers is a film genre that hasn't much been seen since the end of the Cold War. There may be attempts every now and then, but nothing modern can face up against the tension that existed between the US and USSR. And now one was better suited to star in these movies than Kevin Costner. While his efforts in JFK and Thirteen Days are considered to be among the best, the greatest Cold War political thriller he starred in is undoubtedly No Way Out, which is an amazing movie on its own, but punctuated by one of the best twist endings in cinema history.

After he accidentally kills his mistress, Susan Atwell (Sean Young), Secretary of Defence David Brice (Gene Hackman) attempts a cover-up by suggesting that there is a Russian sleeper agent in the Pentagon and he is responsible for the murder. He puts Lieutenant Tom Farrell (Kevin Costner) in charge of the investigation in finding the mole, codenamed Yuri. But unknown to Brice and his second in command, Scott Pritchard (Will Patton), Tom was actually the boyfriend of Susan and witnessed the Brice at the scene of the murder. Using his position as lead investigator to find the evidence he needs that Brice was the one to do it.

No Way Out is a very engaging and intriguing thriller. Although it takes its time in setting up the characters and all their relationships (Tom Farrell and Scott Pritchard are old friends, Tom wants to work for Brice, Tom and Susan's romance), the effort put in is well worth the payoff. Especially once Brice and Pritchard invent the idea of there being a Russian spy in the Pentagon. The invention is a fantastic idea, but even more so if you know the twist ending of the movie. Yes, this is the one case in which knowing the twist actually makes the movie better, but if you don't want it ruined, stop reading and go watch the movie. In the last five minutes of the film we actually learn that Yuri wasn't just a fabrication by Brice and Pritchard to cover-up, but an actual mole. And that it was Tom Farrell all along. What makes it so great is that they just thought they were making it up and we were watching Tom trying to reveal the truth. It is by far one of the best twists in movie history.

This is hands down Kevin Costner's best performance. While he'll always be remembered for Dances with Wolves, JFK and Robin Hood, nothing holds a flame up to this one. It's almost as if the desperation that Tom is feeling is real and you are absorbed by his character. It's his complete lack of wrongdoing that makes the twist ending so much more powerful. Costner is also great at restraining his emotion when we know that he should be feeling it. We don't need to know his motivation was or the plot that he intended to pull of as a Russian spy (I'm guessing cause a scandal in US politics, both sides always tried to do that) because he is so amazingly believable as both a spy and a loyal American.

No Way Out is an amazing classic that should be watched by everyone. If you're a fan of political thrillers, murder mysteries or twist endings, this has something for everyone. While it comes from a distinctly Cold War period, it really has stood the test of time because there is no real knowledge of the US/USSR tensions required. Give it a watch, you won't be disappointed (even if I did ruin the twist).

Classic Movie Review: Strangers on a Train (1951)

Alfred Hitchcock is remembered more for his movies that had outlandish plots that stick in people's memory. Movies like The Birds, Vertigo and the proto-slasher Psycho are better remembered because they have been referenced in other forms of popular culture for years. Strangers on a Train may not be one of his movies that younger audiences would recognise, but that doesn't mean that it isn't an incredibly suspenseful and enjoyable thriller.

Guy Haines (Farley Granger) is an amateur tennis star on the way to his next tournament. Whilst on the train he meets Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker), who starts to quiz Guy on all the personal details of his life that can be found in the gossip section of the paper. He is most intrigued by the divorce Guy is trying to get so that he can marry his new girlfriend Anne Morton (Ruth Roman). Bruno soon offers what he thinks is an ingenious scheme, he'll murder Guy's soon to be ex-wife Miriam (Laura Elliott) in return for murdering Bruno's father. Guy wants nothing to do with it, but the situation is taken out of his hands when Bruno murders Miriam anyway and Guy is the prime suspect.

It takes a while for Strangers on a Train to get to any of the suspenseful stuff, but that's not at all to its detriment. With this time, Hitchcock is better able to construct his characters and get to know every part of his character's personalities. We learn of the strange Oedipal Complex that Bruno has toward his mother. While it isn't entirely sexual, he views his father as competition of his mother's affections and that is why he must be eliminated. Guy's relationship with his wife and Anne are fleshed out in great detail too. We learn that he has aspirations for politics and it helps that Anne's father just so happens to be a senator. We also find out that Miriam looks exactly like Anne's younger sister Barbara, a fact that will haunt Bruno later in the movie.

The movie is also the ultimate for suspense. Rather than giving us suspense for things we don't know are going to happen, Hitchcock tells us in advance exactly what is going to occur and then lets us writhe in agony as we watch them play out. Take for example, the murder of Miriam. We can see this coming a mile off, but Hitchcock chooses to torture us in such a prolonged manner. Bruno stalks Miriam and her two male companions through a carnival so slowly and painfully, that we are unsure if he is even going to do it. At the end, Hitchcock also manages to make a match of tennis terrifying to watch because we know Guy needs to win it in order to stop Bruno from framing him.

Strangers on a Train is a great movie to revisit, especially because you don't know what to expect. The twists and turns of Hitchcock's other movies have all been parodied to death in sitcoms, in particular The Simpsons, who have referenced every Hitchcock movie, even this one (but that was in a later season that no one saw).

Classic Movie Review: Scream (1996)

Wes Craven's Scream was known for revitalising the horror genre. It came after a decade of a cheap horror flicks a that took themselves way too seriously. The self referential nature of the movie combined with Wes Craven's own history with the genre brought a new element to horror films that is still a big part of the genre today. Twenty years later, the movie is still terrifying despite the fact that it is an incredibly 90s movie.

One night, teenager Casey (Drew Barrymore) is settling in to watch a horror movie when she gets a mysterious phone call toying with her, asking her to name her scary movie. More than just a prank call, a killer shows up and murders both Casey and her boyfriend. These murders petrify the town of Woodsboro and in particular Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), who is still reeling after the brutal rape and murder of her mother a year earlier. As more murders happen, everyone ends up being a suspect. It turns out that the killers are following the rules that are set out in horror movies for who gets killed.

The best part about Scream (and it's sequels and recent Netflix series) is that you don't know who the killers are until the end of the movie. There are multiple suspects, everyone from Sidney's boyfriend Billy to the horror obsessed Randy. Spoiler alert: it ends up being both Billy and his friend Stu who are obsessed with horror movies and taking revenge for what has happened in the past. This is the second most reason for why it is so terrifying. These aren't unstoppable supernatural beings like Freddy or Jason, they're teenagers who have taken their love of horror movies to an extreme level. Skeet Ulrich (who plays Billy) is legitimately scary as this super serious psychopath and Matthew Lillard (Stu) is this weirdo who just loves to play games. Interesting side note: Skeet Ulrich was actually cast in this movie because he looked exactly like Johnny Depp in the first Nightmare on Elm Street. The final scene in which these two characters end up stabbing each other to make it seem like they are victims is both terrifying and darkly funny. 

Scream's multiple references to other horror movies would be considered cheap these days (the Scary Movie franchise definitely made that a reality), but these references work so well here. That primarily has to do with the fact that it uses them in its story. The rules of horror movies (and variations of them) that are set out in this movie have been used so many times in other movies that they have become a parody in and of themselves. In other movies they are used almost as a joke or a shorthand that most movie fans will know them without realising it.

Ghostface doing his thing

The only thing that doesn't work (and it's not really the fault of the movie) is that the technology has dated quite a bit. There is a lot of talk of cellular telephones as though they are a fad that is about is very comical. All the video cassettes is also very humourous. This has been made up for in the following movies, which update the technology accordingly and the recent Netflix series even introduces smartphones and gifs to the horror equation. In any other movie that would be irrelevant but in this movie franchise technology is key.

Despite having spawned a huge number of sequels, spin-offs and parodies, Scream is still a super scary and original movie. While sequels are generally considered bad, Scream 2 is just as a good, with Jerry O'Connell, Timothy Olyphant and Liev Schreiber bringing some really good acting to the series. This first one however is a must watch.

Classic Movie Review: Westworld (1973)

What better way to connect the recent release of The Magnificent Seven remake and HBO's TV show of Westworld, by reviewing the original sci-fi classic. Now if you're wondering why I mentioned The Magnificent Seven, well Yul Brynner was the star of that original movie and he's one of the creepiest robots you'll ever see in this movie. Westworld is also the first movie ever to use CGI and while not at all what we're used to now, it's still very impressive.

The Delos Resort is an adult amusement park where guests can go to three seperate worlds and live an immersive experience for one thousand dollars a day. The three worlds are Roman World, Medieval World and West World. The amusement park is inhabited by androids that are programmed to do whatever the guests want to do. Peter Martin (Richard Benjamin) is a first time visitor, being shown around by his friend John Blane (James Brolin). Initially Peter and John have a great time, getting into gunfights with the Gunslinger (Yul Brynner) and going on the run from the law. But soon the scientists behind the scenes, including the chief engineer (Alan Oppenheimer), find a computer virus that is making the androids go crazy. As things get worse and worse for the guests, Peter and John realise they shouldn't have hassled the Gunslinger so much.

On the surface, Westworld could easily be dismissed an old school sci-fi movie that isn't too good. It isn't until the end of the movie that any action really happens and it wraps up all too quickly. If it wasn't for the TV show that is currently airing on HBO, I doubt many people would even know about it. Indeed a friend of mine was surprised to hear that it even was a movie, he just thought it was a cool show. But dig a little deeper and it's actually quite a revolutionary movie. It is the first movie to use CGI sequences. There are a few times when we get to see through the eyes of the Gunslinger. It is only very basic pixels where coloured blocks represent actual things (and later a primitive version of infrared). While most action blockbusters today have some element of CGI in them, back then this was an unknown thing. It's little surprise to hear that this movie has a direct connection with Jurassic Park, the movie that pioneered the technique two decades later. Michael Crichton wrote and directed this movie, while inspiring himself to write Jurassic Park.

The performances in this movie are of note too. While Richard Benjamin does give a very bland performance in the lead, Yul Brynner and James Brolin do their best to shoulder the weight. It would be terrible to describe Yul Brynner's performance as robotic, but that's exactly what he is. It is so much fun to watch a classic actor to show no expression, no emotion, just movement. That adds a level of fear to his performance. This thing is capable of anything and you believe it. He is also dressed in the exact same costume as his character in The Magnificent Seven and acts in a total antithesis to that character. To me James Brolin looks like Christian Bale in American Psycho. There are definite parallels between the characters too. Both John Blane and Patrick Bateman do things with a disregard to the world around them. At least John Blane does it with the knowledge that the world around him is fake.

Westworld is a forgotten gem of the sci-fi genre, even though it has influenced so much of today's entertainment. Everything from the types of things we watch to the way they make them owe a lot to this movie. And while it may seem clunky and robotic for a modern audience, it's still an exhilarating action movie.

Classic Movie Review: Black Swan (2010)

Artistic and unsettling, Black Swan is a prime example of Darren Aronofsky's ability to create an uncomfortable and distressing film experience that audiences simply can't turn away from. Through a twisted and dark artistic lens, this movie asks one important question: how far will someone go for perfection? Through an overemphasized and dark view of the world of ballet, we receive a twisted and psychological flick that leaves us questioning our own emotional and mental states.

Nina (Natalie Portman) is an aspiring and dedicated ballerina whose entire life is ruled by her pursuits in the art form. When her company begins production on Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, Nina becomes the front-runner for the role of the White Swan, however her lacking range restricts her from playing the contrasting Black Swan. Competition begins as Lily (Mila Kunis) assumes this opposite role, and we begin to glimpse into Nina's dark emotional distress and mental illness as she vies for perfection in her performance.

An obvious starting point in an analysis of Black Swan is its artistic style. This film is Aronofsky at his best; assuming his token surreal and disturbing style in creating a truly beautiful and dark flick. The style of the film can be seen as a reflection of Nina's psychological distress, and as she spirals further downwards in her mental state, the artistic form of the film follows suit. As the movie progresses it becomes increasingly surreal and figurative as we glimpse deeper into Nina's emotional schizophrenia and anxiety. Basically, expect to come out of this movie questioning whether anything actually happened or not. But not in a clichéd kind of way.

Just as beautiful as the film's style is the acting in the movie, and not without recognition. Natalie Portman's incredible portrayal of the twisted and tormented Nina snagged her the Academy Award for Best Actress, with Mila Kunis also receiving praise for her performance as Nina's twisted counterpart Lily. Natalie Portman's ability to convey such a wide range of emotions in this movie, from love and lust to schizophrenia, ultimately creates an incredibly dynamic and diverse character out of Nina.

Much like Aronofsky's other movies (Requiem for a Dream, Pi), Black Swan is disturbing and uncomfortable, but ultimately impossible to stop watching. We as the audience get to see the dark embodiments of Nina's struggling mental, emotional and sexual states, and respectively feel almost as messed up as Nina by the end of the movie. Grim and beautiful, Black Swan is definitely not just a boring film about ballet. As Nina states at the climax of the movie, "I was perfect". And the film was too.

Classic Movie Review: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is one of those kids movie staples that everyone remembers watching when they were younger, but then when you watch when you get older you realise that it's full of dark and delusional material. In fact there's a whole story surrounding this movie that changes your perception of the movie. The movie was actually made as a marketing device to sell actual chocolate bars, but no one expected it to be a hit.

There are dark undertones in this movie and they become apparent when you watch this as an adult. Some of these are quite obvious like that terrifying boat ride (and that is one is still so scary), but there are other more sinister things that really hit home, like the heartbreaking poverty that Charlie (Peter Ostrum) and his family live in or Grandpa Joe (Jack Albertson) keeping Charlie in a delusional state of thinking that he is special and unique. I know that sounds cynical, but when you watch it, you can tell Joe is trying really hard to distract him from the poverty that surrounds them. 

Watching the world descend into madness at the beginning of the movie as they try to find the Golden Tickets is quite dismaying to watch. That's because you could see an obsession like that happen in today's society. Not only is the obsession crazy, but the odds of Charlie actually getting one are so inexplicably low. But then again, the supposedly evil Mr Slugworth, Wonka's rival, is present when every one of the tickets is found so then again maybe the winners were picked from the beginning.

For a movie that is remembered as having Gene Wilder's best performance, it's amazing to think that he doesn't appear in the movie for a full forty minutes and when we do finally see him, he appears seemingly fragile, but it is a great piece of improvisation from Wilder. In fact the majority of Wilder's fantastic performance is improvised. He shows so much range in this one role that it's unbelievable. Jack Albertson gives the other amazing performance as Grandpa Joe, a man who recovers from twenty years of bedridden atrophy in about five minutes.

Okay, so aside from all this overanalysis, Willy Wonka is a fun movie with some amazing songs that will stick in your head for years. Granted they're not all memorable, but they are amazingly written. But the real reason to go back and watch this is to watch Gene Wilder's dry, sarcastic, excitable and heart-warming performance.

Classic Movie Review: Planet of the Apes (1968)

It's not often that we review a classic movie that is actually a classic. Although Planet of the Apes has one of the biggest legacies of any movie, it's more of a forgotten classic. People know what the movie is without actually having seen it. In fact I went for twenty years of my life knowing the general idea (thanks in part to The Simpsons) and I think that is the case for most of the people my age.

Taylor (Charlton Heston) is the leader of space crew tasked with finding a new planet for the people of Earth to inhabit. He and his crew are put into suspended animation and while the light-speed journey lasts only eighteen months for the crew, three thousand years have passed on Earth. The ship crash lands in a watery canyon on a seemingly deserted planet. They escape ship and travel for many days until they encounter primitive humans who have no form of communication. Soon it is revealed that the dominant form of life on this planet are apes, who begin to hunt the humans. Taylor and his crew are caught up in the hunt and soon he is the only one left, having been shot in the throat and unable to talk. He is taken to Ape City, where he attracts the attention of Dr. Zira (Kim Hunter), an animal psychologist who soon recognises that Taylor is unlike any of the other humans there. She and her fiancé Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) start to study him, but come under the scrutiny of the sinister Dr. Zaius (James Whitmore) who knows that Taylor could threaten the power system that holds ape society together.

Planet of the Apes is actually a very political movie. The whole thing can be seen as an allegory for the racial discrimination that was prevalent up until the 1960s, as the humans could easily be substituted for black people. While they aren't used as slaves, they are considered animals by the apes. This would make a lot of sense since Charlton Heston was a big advocate for the Civil Rights movement. Another thing this movie makes an argument against is the separation of church and state. In it, Dr. Zaius is both the leader of the scientific institute and high up in the ape's religious order. He has a direct interest in not wanting apekind to find out the truth that they weren't divinely made and rather came from a lesser species. That's pretty progressive stuff to pack into a movie. It is also critical of the United States' military industrial complex, given that the final scene is the realisation that war on Earth when he left resulted in man killing each other to the brink of extinction. At least that's what it was prior to the current series of reboot movies.

The performances in this movie have to be praised so much. While Charlton Heston gives one of the best performances of his career and also spouts three of the most famous movie quotes of all time ("Get your stinking paws of me, you damn dirty ape!", "It's a madhouse! A madhouse" and "Damn you, you blew it all to hell!"), the real praise has to be given to the actors playing the apes. Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter and James Whitmore all had top of the line prosthetic masks of the day, so much so that they couldn't really emote much except with their eyes, but they all manage to make their characters feel real and believable.

The legacy of this movie is amazing. It spawned four direct sequels after this (Beneath, Escape, Conquest and Battle), a ill-advised Tim Burton remake starring Mark Wahlberg, a more recent reboot franchise and countless TV shows and references in other pop-culture (like The Simpsons crutch I've been using throughout this review). It also manages to do so well what science fiction is supposed to do, be a social critique.

Classic Movie Review: Deep Blue Sea (1999)

When you think of a classic shark movie, Jaws is the one that jumps to most people's minds. But in the late 90s along came this updated horror flick that took the idea of shark horror to a whole new level. It's one thing to have a 25-foot Great White terrorise some townspeople, but the threat of three genetically engineered supersharks getting out and terrorising the whole world is a lot more terrifying. And while these sharks may not benefit from the dodgy 90s CGI or budget Waterworld setting, they certainly didn't hurt the reputation of shark movies (no, that was something that Sharknado did expertly).

Set off the coast of California on the aquatic base Aquatica (clever), this horror movie follows a skeleton crew of scientists and others led by Dr. Susan McAlestar (Saffron Burrows) and Jim Whitlock (Stellan Skårsgard) who are experimenting with the brain tissue of sharks. They have genetically engineered three Mako sharks who have grown to massive size in an attempt to extract some of restorative brain tissue to help with human brain diseases such as Alzheimer's. But the company funding the experiment are skeptical and send along Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson) to check on the science and safety of the experiments. But it suddenly goes horribly wrong when the sharks are discovered to have a high intelligence and fight back. Luckily shark wrangler Carter Blake (Thomas Jane) is more than capable of leading the crew to safety.

First and foremost, Deep Blue Sea is chock full of references to Jaws, but not in a jokey way. Rather it is extremely reverential to that movie and is almost admitted to never reach the heights of that film. This definitely takes the pressure off of it to try and achieve that greatness. Some of these references include a tiger shark that is identical to the one that is mistakenly caught at the beginning of Jaws and has the same licence plate caught in its mouth. Also the three sharks are killed in identical ways to the first three Jaws movies, but in reverse order (they didn't count Jaws: The Revenge because that would be just silly). These are incineration, electrocution and of course blowing up, which everyone should at least know.

Not pictured: you know, a shark

But it's not just sharks that get killed in creative ways. Admittedly there aren't too many variations for a shark to kill a person, but this movie endeavours at least to try. Stellan Skårsgard is the first to go and has it the roughest, first having his arm bitten off, then pulled under the water and then smashed against an underwater plate glass window. That's a bit of a lousy explanation, but here's him getting his arm bitten off (that comes with a huge NSFW warning). Others include Samuel L. Jackson getting cut off during his rousing survival speech and a fantastic moment of un-Hollywoodness when the female lead gets eviscerated. Okay perhaps I'm making this film out to be way more gory than it is. By today's standards it's incredibly tame, with plenty of that late 90s/early 2000's action that seems so satisfying. Like diving and sliding along hard surfaces. It's never made sense to me, but my god nearly every character does it in this movie.

Deep Blue Sea is an essential viewing for anyone really, just as much as Jaws is. It's a serious and well handled horror flick, that while it may not have aged as well as the aforementioned classic (it has plenty of laugh out loud moments), it's a huge step above whatever shark movies they're making today. After rewatching it, there is definitely room for an unrelated prequel about Sam Jackson's character and his survival of an avalanche.

Classic Movie Review: Battle Royale (2000)

Way before The Hunger Games came along, this highly controversial Japanese movie had teenagers killing each other in much more brutal and graphic ways. While it is commonly believed that this movie was banned in the West for it's depiction of teen on teen violence, that's just not the case and it is a cult classic that lots of people enjoy, including everyone's favourite director Quentin Tarantino, who used actress Chiaki Kuriyama in his Kill Bill movies.

In the future, the unemployment rates have soared to new highs and violent crime is rampant on the streets. In order to lower the population, the government has started the Battle Royale Act, in which once a year, a class of students is sent to a remote location where they must fight one another to the death and only one can survive. This year it is given to the class of Shuya Nanahara (Tatsuya Fujihara). It is administered by their old teacher Sensei Takeshi (Takeshi Kitano). Very soon, groups are formed around who is friends with who at school and old grudges are brought up. Meanwhile, transfer student Shôgo Kawada (Tarô Yamamoto) knows a way out of the game and needs help achieving this.

This differs from what we're used to in many ways (not just that it's a Japanese movie). First off, we're not given an awful lot of backstory to the world that the characters are from. We're told how it is and we have to deal with it. That's a good thing because they allow us to focus more on the characters. The backgrounds of the main characters are fleshed out and we're told people have crushes on and who's being bullied by the other kids. Now, I know this isn't a high school movie so what's the point of knowing all this information. Well, we're a lot more connected to the characters, so there is an actual emotional response when someone is killed and you end up rooting for some kids to survive. We're also not given background information on those couple of kids who are actually enjoy the murdering, so seeing them on screen actually fills you with fear of what they're going to do.

And what that is is probably something horrific. Sure, you could shoot your best friend with a gun, but why do that when you could maim them with a samurai sword. The violence in the movie isn't so bad as it seems. The movie was shot on a relatively small budget and they get around things quite nicely, by not showing all the deaths on screen, but rather when people are killed we hear it through the loudspeaker, from Takeshi, or a countdown on the screen. I should mention that although we don't see Takeshi Kitano a lot in this movie, he is definitely one of the best parts of it. He is known more as a comedian and there are parts of this movie where he is quite funny despite the circumstances. It doesn't really add humour to the film, but rather gives it an unsettling tone, especially when he's on screen.

What makes this a classic is it's very straightforward approach. There's no getting bogged down in the political world that exists, it just focuses on what's important. Killing each other and escaping a death island. If violent movies aren't for you, I wouldn't recommend it, but if you're after something new and original, definitely check out Battle Royale.

Classic Movie Review: Spaceballs (1987)

Mel Brooks is undeniably the king of parody and his science fiction spoof is definitely his best. In it, he makes fun of everything from Stars Wars and Alien to Planet of the Apes and The Wizard of Oz. This was the first comedy I remember seeing and after all these years, the fourth wall breaking and excellent comedic performances still make me laugh.

Planet Spaceball is facing a crisis from the lack of available oxygen and President Skroob (Mel Brooks) has sent the evil Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) to kidnap Druish Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga). His plan is to hold her hostage and get the ransom of Druidia's clean air supply. King Roland (Dick Van Patten) enlists the rogue Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) to rescue her and save the day. It's actually a very simple plot that even Dark Helmet thinks doesn't really need further explanation.

The lead for me with this movie is more the fact that it breaks the fourth wall so regularly rather than the actual parody element of it. There are constant references to the fact that they know they are in a movie, such as when the bad guys get the videotape of Spaceballs to find out where Lone Starr is or the accidental maiming of a crew member during the final "lightsaber" battle (they use rings). That's not to say that the references aren't funny at all, but in true Mel Brooks style, there's a lot of them. Being a Star Wars parody, the majority of the story revolves around desert planets and huge spaceships and even the Schwartz, it even has specific shots straight out of Star Wars (I mean A New Hope but I'm not going to call it that), but the movie also references so many others and not just sci-fi stuff. Brooks' own Jewish heritage is made fun of more here than in any of his other movies, and while they may have been funny 29 years ago, today only about half of them hit.

The movie's cast is undoubtedly made up of some of the funniest performers of the time. John Candy, Joan Rivers and Mel Brooks are all just fantastic comedy actors and they are just a joy to watch. Especially Brooks as he has the dual role of Skroob and Yogurt (no prizes for guessing who that's a parody of). Long before Bill Pullman was giving famous speeches on the Fourth of July, he was hilarious as a idiotic Han Solo and he really has great comedic chemistry with the legend that was John Candy, but then again Candy worked well with everyone. There are also three cameos that are unforgettable. Dom DeLuise was a veteran of TV and film and was well known for working with Burt Reynolds in many of his movies, but here he lends his voice to the terrific character of Pizza the Hutt. King of sound effects Michael Winslow returns with his magic voice and John Hurt reprises his role from Alien only to be killed all over again.

Spaceballs won't be winning any competitions for it's greatness, but it is a hilarious movie. It's script even led George Lucas to lend a hand with some of the special effects. Don't let his involvement turn you off though, this was before he'd made any bad decisions with his career. Aside from that, it's a great movie to go back and revisit like I did or look at for the first time if you are a fan of sci-fi because there's just so much to look out for.

Classic Movie Review: The Phantom (1996)

Long before the current wave of superhero movies, but after Batman had appeared on our screens, there was The Phantom. Based on one of the oldest masked heroes in comic book history, this movie is fun mix of action and adventure. It's also one of the most 90s-ist (that's a real word) movies out there.

In the 1500s, a merchant vessel is attacked by the Sengh Brotherhood and the only survivor is a young boy who is raised by natives on the island of Bengalla. Four hundred years later, that boy survives as the Phantom (Billy Zane), a masked avenger who is seemingly immortal. Just kidding, the role is passed down from father to son, but don't tell the bad guys that. Quill (James Remar) is one of these bad guys, working for the evil Xander Drax (Treat Williams), and has been sent to Bengalla to retrieve one of the Skulls of Togunda. Whoever owns all three will become an immortal force. Along with the Phantom, comes Diana Palmer (Kristy Swanson) who is investigating Drax, as well as being the ex-girlfriend of the Phantom's alter ego, Kit Walker.

Now I'm going to be completely honest with you. I didn't pick The Phantom because it's a good movie. I picked it because it is a fun, incredibly cheesy action adventure flick. It almost plays out like a mixture between an Indiana Jones and a Robin Hood movie, with plenty of swords and gunplay. In fact the opening sequence is taken right out of Temple of Doom, with a rickety bridge being destroyed. The only difference is that this one is full of that awfully fantastic 90s CGI. The whole story of the skulls and the ancient pirate brotherhood is the sort of exciting story that sends chills down my spine. As for the Phantom himself, he's got enough exciting backstory told, but not so much that he still isn't mysterious by the end of the movie.

The performances in this movie are pretty cheesy, especially Billy Zane. His way of fighting people seems to be to flash his pearly whites and then shoot them, but it's not necessarily a bad thing, it's one of the best things. Treat Williams' Drax is such an over the top bad guy that it absolutely believable that he would have actually existed in 1930s New York. Catherine Zeta Jones' Sala is one of those old stereotypical femme fatales and she plays it so well. And as for James Remar, well he's Indiana Jones' evil twin brother.

This superhero is more Indiana Jones than Iron Man, but that doesn't stop it from being a more interesting one than anything that Marvel or DC are bringing out over the next couple of years. Why is that? It's just so 90s!

Classic Movie Review: The Informant! (2009)

Steven Soderbergh's dark comedy The Informant! is one of those movies that has all the hallmarks of being a big blockbuster, but somehow failed to engage with audiences on the level it should have. Matt Damon was at the height of his late 2000's fame, having just finished doing the Bourne movies, but this character driven flick couldn't be more different from those movies.

Mark Whitacre (Damon) is a executive for the food processing corporation Archer Daniels Midland who is unhappy about a price fixing scheme that his employer and their competition are engaged in. The FBI is contacted after a blackmail attempt is made by a Japanese competitor and Mark reveals his true intention of being a whistleblower to Special Agent Brian Shepard (Scott Bakula). Mark soon embarks on the task of making a series of audio tapes that detail the nature of the price fixing scandal. But once the investigation is finished, it is revealed that Mark had also been embezzling ADM of millions of dollars and the numbers rise and rise as he struggles to keep up with the lies he has been telling.

The most enjoyable part of this movie is watching the character of Mark get more and more flustered as he goes from one lie to another. He thinks that he has everything in control and in his narration, he often alludes to the fact that he thinks he is the hero in some spy thriller. His stream of consciousness narration reveals that inside his head are just the most bizarre and abstract thoughts and we see that he has them during either important business meetings or meetings with the FBI. The character is made all the more effective from Damon's superb performance. This is mainly due to his preference for serious roles (I don't consider The Martian a comedy, but his roles in Kevin Smith's movies are pretty funny), but here he is absolutely silly and that's made more evident by the fact that the other actors are playing their roles with the utmost seriousness.

The supporting cast is phenomenal as well. Scott Bakula, known for his science-fiction TV outings more than anything, plays one of the most sympathetic law enforcement officials I have ever seen. You just feel for the guy as you see how betrayed he becomes after hearing about his actions. Melanie Lynksy is fantastic at playing Mark's strong yet long suffering wife. The rest of the cast is padded out by comedians playing the straight role. These include Joel McHale, Patton Oswalt, Paul F. Tomkins, Tony Hale, Andrew Daly and Scott Adsit.

Legendary composer Marvin Hamlisch lends his talents to make the score for this movie and it's safe to say it's a doozy. He manages to place long, dramatic, thoughtful pieces in succession with short choppy pieces that bounce along. There is also a track that complements an FBI raid in such a way that you think wouldn't go well with the theme of the scene, but he manages to pull it off. In a way though the soundtrack really represents the character of Mark quite well because it is just as all over the place as he is.

The Informant! is a fantastic character study about a guy who believes his own lies. And after watching it, you believe that fat Matt Damon is the only actor who could pull off such a delusional character. A must watch for people who see Damon as that good-looking guy who everything goes well for.

Classic Movie Review: Amadeus (1984)

This movie is probably less well remembered than the 80's pop song that it inspired and definitely less so than the Simpsons parody of that song. But Milos Forman's Academy Award-winning film has a certain something that most blockbuster movies of today are lacking. Amadeus has a certain charm that most epics are missing out on and that has a lot to do with it's extravagant subject and amazing acting.

One night in Vienna, old Italian composer Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) attempts suicide, claiming that he killed famed composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce). After being admitted to an insane asylum, he tells his story to a young priest. From a young age Salieri committed himself to excelling in music, eventually rising to become the court composer for Austrian Emperor Joseph II (Jeffrey Jones). When Salieri hears about Mozart, he expects a regal genius, but rather finds a young man who wants nothing but fun. He finds this vulgar and makes it his life goal to ruin Mozart's career.

One of the things that may turn people off watching this is that it features a lot of classical music and composers writing their music. But that's only a small part of it and not at all the focus. Rather the hatred one man has for his rival and the passion he has to bring him down. Many times throughout the film Salieri acknowledges the genius that Mozart is and does nothing to contain his jealousy. However this rivalry is completely one sided, which makes it even more compelling to watch. Mozart believes that Salieri is doing his utmost to help, rather than undermine his popularity in the city of Vienna. This kind of bizarre feud is something you'd expect from second grade celebrities on Twitter. But despite the fact that the story seems so genuine, none of it is true. The historical accuracy of Amadeus is practically non-existent, something which people today would be disgraced at. But in this case, it doesn't matter at all. You are so swept up by the story and characters that it doesn't matter if any of it happened or not, it's just a whimsical journey you get caught up in (at least if you're watching from Mozart's perspective).

It's super fun to watch Tom Hulce as Mozart. He is able to bounce from being a giddy playboy to a petulant child in an instant and he has the most infectious (if sometimes annoying) laugh captured on film. His performance is complemented completely by F. Murray Abraham, who is a lot more reserved than his rival. They appear as both sides of a demented coin. It's no surprise that Abraham won the Oscar for Best Actor, but it is to see that both of them were nominated for that award. It would have been a hard choice. The supporting cast is wonderful, especially Jeffrey Jones as the slightly coddled Emperor, whom no one wishes to offend, as well as Simon Callow, who plays one of Mozart's alcoholic friends.

Even at three hours running time (that's for the Director's Cut), this movie is never boring. Forman is an absolute master of the screen, who fills this period piece with so many details that it's a good time just to watch what's happening in the background. It's a shame that it isn't as well known because it definitely holds up thirty years later, which is a standout for a movie that could have only thrived and died in the time it came out, which is the case for a lot of Oscar winners from this time.

Classic Movie Review: Starship Troopers (1997)

Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers is an often forgotten sci-fi gem, especially since he is better known for his more high profile films Robocop and Total Recall. But with this movie, Verhoeven has made something a lot more relatable and extremely poignant even though it was made almost two decades ago.

In the distant future, the people of Earth are in a constant struggle against the alien Arachnids of Klendathu. Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) decides to join up for federal service with the reward of becoming a citizen, which will allow him to vote and generally just become a proactive member of society (you know, something we should all strive to achieve). Spurred on by the ever present propaganda, Johnny joins his girlfriend Carmen (Denise Richards) and best friend Carl (Neil Patrick Harris) in signing up, only to get drafted into the Mobile Infantry, an army of expendable soldiers.

The thing that stands out and makes Starship Troopers such a great movie is the comment it makes on how war turns a regular society into a group of warmongering fascists. This is set up quite well in the Nazi imagery and propaganda films that are being shown to us at all times, but that is a rather surface level element of the movie. The real message of the story is that anyone can be turned into a extremist who hates another group of people (although in this case it's ugly bugs). To begin with, the characters don't really have an opinion of the insects invading, but after being told how to think by the propaganda, they soon come around to thinking their way is the right way. And the audience too participates in this, as we are shown the same constant videos about how the aliens are bad and only you can help.

That, of course, is only one of the elements that make this movie great. It's also a great action movie too. Verhoeven is more than capable of making an incredibly thrilling action movie. The war scenes on both land and in space are spectacular to watch and for a movie from this time, the digital effects are remarkable and hold up really well, something not a lot of people would expect.

This movie features some actors who you are surprised to see in it and others that you know you'd probably never see again. Neil Patrick Harris is probably the biggest one of these surprises, especially since he gives an incredibly solid performance. Late 90s heartthrob Denise Richards doesn't really stand out for her acting chops and neither does Casper Van Dien, but he plays a very likeable character. So does Jake Busey, who is probably better known for being crazy Gary's son. Michael Ironside has a particularly favourite role of mine.

Starship Troopers is a memorable movie for me (although probably not good to watch as a six year old) and it has definitely stood the test of time. It is pretty thrilling for a low-grade action sci-fi that will get everyone excited.

Classic Movie Review: Fanboys (2009)

Over the next few days, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens will finally be released across the globe. But let's not go crazy with excitement just yet. Some will remember a time when we got excited about a new Star Wars movie nearly twenty years ago. There is a movie that captured our excitement and disappointment back then in Fanboys. Like the Ghost of Star Wars Past, I'm going to take us all on a journey.

The year is 1998 and Eric Bottler (Sam Huntington) is working for his father as a car salesman. At a Halloween party he runs into his old friends Hutch (Dan Fogler), Windows (Jay Baruchel) and Linus (Chris Marquette). They bring up an old idea they had of breaking into George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch to steal a rough cut of the The Phantom Menace. Bottler dismisses the idea, but after Hutch and Windows come to him with the revelation that Linus has cancer, Bottler decides to help him with his dream. Together with their friend Zoe (Kristen Bell), they drive across America to fulfill every Star Wars fan's pre-prequel dream. Along the way they meet a whole bunch of colourful characters, including super geek Harry Knowles (Ethan Suplee), Seth Rogen as a Trekkie and drug dealing Star Wars fan and pimp and William Shatner as himself.

Fanboys is filled with deep cuts references to Star Wars fandom. The guys have debates about whether or not Luke and Leia actually love each other in a romantic way despite being siblings, actual merchandise from he era and the rivalry between Star Wars and Star Trek fans. The film even features Ray Park, who played Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace. All the main characters have equivalents from the movies. While the jokes may seem very basic, but funny if you're in the right mood. The funniest sequence probably comes when they encounter The Chief (Danny Trejo) who gives the guys guacamole laced with peyote. This scene also has an emotional aspect to it as The Chief taps into the fact that Linus has cancer.

The lead actors here aren't the best but that's not the focus of the film, it's more in the smaller roles. This film has some of today's biggest comic actors before we knew how big they would become. Seth Rogen had only marginal fame before he did this. Watching him fight himself is a great scene to watch. Danny McBride features as well as Joe Lo Truglio, Will Forte and Craig Robinson. Ethan Suplee plays actual nerd Harry Knowles, but a little more aggressively than the actual man. Veteran actors William Shatner, Carrie Fisher and Billy Dee Williams all have cameos.

The last line of the movie is uttered by Bottler just before they sit down and watch The Phantom Menace and it's "What if the movie sucks?" I guess what the purpose of this review is for us all to be mindful like our favourite Jedi. We have had new Star Wars movies in the past and been disappointed, so let's not be too upset if we're disappointed by J.J.

Classic Movie Review: Bernie (2011)

Director Richard Linklater is known for making films whose production and style have pushed the boundary in terms of the filmmaking process. His first film Slacker was the day in the life of a city, choosing not to focus on any story or characters. His latest film Boyhood was a triumph that took twelve years to make. However, this gem from 2011 is undoubtedly his best film.

Bernie Tiede (Jack Black) is the local assistant funeral director in the town of Carthage, Texas. He is extremely well liked by the whole community and tries his best to please everyone. After the death of her husband, Bernie meets Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine), who is despised by everyone in the town for her horrible demeanour. But Bernie takes a liking to Majrorie, although she begins to get under his skin too, and he murders her. After a while District Attorney Danny Buck Davidson (Matthew McConaughey) begins to suspect foul play and looks into Marjorie's disappearance.

What makes this movie so striking is the style in which it is delivered. The film is set up as mockumentary with interviews from the townfolk about the relationship between Bernie and Marjorie. This makes the movie fun and lighthearted as they each give their two cents. That is until you learn that this movie is not at all a fictional story, but is indeed based on the true muder of Nugent in 1996 at the hands of Tiede. And some of the townsfolk being interviewed in the film are actual townsfolk who knew the couple. This then turns the film into quite a black tragicomedy, as these people aren't talking about the Jack Black/Shirley MacLaine versions of the characters but the actual people who existed.

The reason that this movie is so funny instead of being an extremely sad and sobering film is due to Jack Black's extremely understated performance. This isn't his stereotypical stoner that we've seen throughout the majority of his career (High Fidelity, School of Rock, Tenacious D), but a rather downplayed, incredibly effeminate man. The laughs come more from Black's incredibly different performance than what we are used to.

Shirley MacLaine's Nugent is a truly horrible person, but somehow I couldn't help liking her at some parts of this film, but maybe that's just because I am a fan of her regardless. Matthew McConaughey is hilarious as the cowboy DA and I feel like it is his character Wooderson from Dazed & Confused grew up and sorted out his life (this would actually really work as a fan theory because the timelines and locations match up perfectly). The supporting cast of Brady Coleman, Richard Robichaux and Rick Dial give the film authenticity. Also McConaughey's mum Kay has a splendid little role and you surely won't miss her.

This movie is a tight little package that is quite fun and refreshing and I'm sure would have been a fun little project for Linklater in between his bigger ones. The closing video of Jack Black talking to and being enthralled by the real Tiede is a fantastic little touch.

Classic Movie Review: Mission: Impossible (1996)

"Your mission, should you choose to accept it..."

I really love the first Mission: Impossible movie, like really love it. All the action movie franchises of the 90s were sequels from the 80s, like Die Harder, Lethal Weapon 3 and Predator 2. But Mission: Impossible came along and made an original and exciting splash.

On a quiet night in Prague, Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) is leading his deep cover team of IMF (Impossible Missions Force, a secret team within the CIA) agents to entrap a terrorist who wishes to steal and sell a list of every known deep cover agent of the CIA. After this goes wrong and nearly every team member dies, the lone survivor of the group, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) comes in for a debrief with IMF director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny). Little does he know, that the mission was just to find out who the mole was in the organisation and he is now the prime suspect. Now a disavowed agent, Hunt must clear his name by finding the actual mole and is joined by disavowed agents Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Franz Krieger (Jean Reno), as well as Phelps wife Claire (Emmanuelle Béart).

I don't think I can explain how much I love this movie. I love it even more than that other ultimate 90s action movie Goldeneye. That's an even more blasphemous claim when you learn how much I love James Bond (just you wait for the 48 hour/24 Bond challenge). But the reason I love it is that it is so exciting. The pacing is so fast and it is well written. Brian De Palma (who also directed another of my favourites, Scarface) makes the story semi-believable, which is important for a blockbuster action movie because none of the action movies of today make much sense.

The film also employs tension perfectly. Take for example the famous vault scene, which uses no sound. This is because the vault that they are breaking into has sound sensors (it makes sense if you watch the whole movie, trust me). Other tense scenes are when Ethan figures out the mole and when the mole is finally revealed.

But that's the one problem I have with this movie. If you've seen it before (like I have, many times since it came out), is that if you know who the bad guy is, the opening sequence kind of ruins the revelation at the end. But this is one tiny problem I have because this movie is all about the journey to get to the end and the action climax at the end is still pretty exciting to watch. But then again, if you're not a fan of old school CGI, it might feel a tiny bit cheesy (it still works for me!).

I think the reason I like this movie so much is due to Ethan Hunt being such a likeable character and that is something that Tom Cruise really has going for him. His boyish charm comes through in this movie (even if you think he's weird because of the Scientology). All the actors in this movie give top notch performances though. Vanessa Redgrave has just the right amount of menace as international arms dealer Max, Emmanuelle Béart is good as Hunt's sidekick (although as the movies progress the characters turn into the same idea as a Bond girl). Both Ving Rhames and Jean Reno are fantastic as the disavowed agents. But the real star is Emilio Estevez at the start of the film, who I am so disappointed isn't in any of the others.

Now I've mentioned James Bond a couple of times in this review and thats because Mission: Impossible is sort of a mid-90s Hollywood response to the dominance of Bond in the thirty years prior to this film. And while it doesn't knock James Bond of his throne, it is still a super exciting movie. If I would give this movie five stars if I could.

Classic Movie Review: The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

The Lost World: Jurassic Park is the second instalment and at the time of its release it was seen as a very poor sequel to the original film. And while it does live up to comparisons with the original film, it is a very fun movie in its own right and has a cast of great characters and all new dinosaurs to hold up even eighteen years later.

Set roughly four years after the events of the first film, Dr Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) is summoned to the home of John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) where he is asked to lead a team of experts to the second island that contains dinosaurs in Costa Rica. However when Malcolm discovers that his girlfriend, palaeontologist Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore) has been sent in advance, the team leaves a little early. However, once the team gets to the island, they discover two things; Malcolm's daughter Kelly (Vanessa Lee Chester) has stowed away in one of the trucks, and that a team of InGen scientists led by Hammond's nephew Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard), the current InGen CEO has led a team to the island to extract a number of dinosaurs for a theme park in San Diego.

The Lost World takes no time in getting to the action. This movie relies on none of the suspense in getting to the dinosaurs that the first film did and as a result we can get a lot more fun. Within thirty minutes we are in the middle of a chase of the InGen team and a whole herd of dinosaurs. From this point on it is all action, right up to the thrilling climax which involves a T-Rex rampaging through the streets of San Diego. While this sequence may seem out of place to some, it is a perfect place to show off how big dinosaurs were in comparison to our modern buildings.

This movie has some pretty cheesy, but memorable quotes that are delivered quite well by Jeff Goldblum. The line "Where you're going is the only place on Earth where the geese chase you" is but one of the many wonderful lines. The character of Dr. Burke has some absurd long explanations about different dinosaurs that are fun to sit through as they are quite complex and scientific, but are one of the details that make this film well rounded, but at the same time it isn't taking itself too seriously. The film also has a surprising amount of characterisation for a film of this budget and genre. The leader of InGen's safari team Roland Tembo (Pete Postlethwaite) is a well built character and his relationship with others, especially his second-in-command Dieter (Peter Stormare), is something to write about.

The movie introduces some new dinosaurs into the mix. Every kid's favourite spiky tailed herbivore Stegosaurus gets a lengthy action sequence early on, as well as a new small dino called a Compy that terrified me when I was a kid. The Velociraptors also play a much bigger part in the film and their intelligence is fleshed out a little more (although not to same extent as in the third film. The CGI dinosaur design had developed a lot further than what they were at the first time and as a result the dinosaurs are a lot more mobile. Spielberg however still uses a lot of animatronics that work seamlessly with the CGI and is something that you won't find in movies made today.

Jeff Goldblum really does steal the show in this movie. He is well practiced with his character of Ian Malcolm and his own idiosyncrasies just add to his character. Julianne Moore is superb and was having a couple of good years around this time with both Boogie Nights (1997) and The Big Lebowski (1998). Arliss Howard (of Full Metal Jacket fame) is great as the greedy villain Ludlow. My only criticism is that Vince Vaughn should have stuck around for longer as he disappears two-thirds of the way into the film. Keep an eye out early on for a twenty-five year old Eli Roth playing Subway Man (you'll know the character when you see him).

While this is far from being Steven Spielberg's magnum opus (I think he's still searching for that himself), it is an amazing film to re-watch and rediscover as a fun part of the Jurassic Park series. I know for a fact that I enjoy it time after time.