tchristophermiller

Almost 10 minutes near the beginning developing characters I can't recall the names of? Asylum! Thinking you're the Bard? It timed out at 00:08:18 of non-monster/alien spaceship footage; enough to make me almost give up and ask, "Is this truly an Asylum movie?"

I'm glad I hung on. It delivered. Pure "cr*ppy monster movies" (their script, verbatim) of the expected studio signature, where the plot holes require 20m planks to traverse, the self-deprecation of the studio's reputation for pure schlock, the deep investment in their known tropes of family reunification, numerous camara angles within each scene to capture each emotional wince delivered from their stellar cast, and the total absurdity of the story arc. And hats off to the steady camerapersons for mimicking the currently popular stylistic choice of handheld over boom or trolley-based filming, while still holding focus on characters tight enough to reduce nausea to the viewer; not that the wizards at the studio didn't reveal their competency with some very professional camera work slipped in throughout the roller coaster montage of mashups from previous Asylum classics.

But seriously, how the heck did The president survive the helicopter crash, his LtC daughter survive a face off with a 100m long piranha, and his doctor daughter survive an alien spaceship crash? Such mysteries, if ever filmed, did not make the final cut, and are left to the viewer's imagination.

Torn between rating this a 2 or a 10, I go for the 2 in hopes of qualifying it for future selection by MST3K. Such film must be remembered.

Leslie Stevens' 1964 episode 'Second Chance' comes through in spirit in this 1997 episode. A little low on the science fiction narrative, the main story of benevolent progenitors of humans replaces the original story of benevolent aliens rescuing humans. While watching 'Double Helix', I kept remembering the much earlier ' Second Chance' episode; different stories and details, but the same main arc of rescuing humans from their dangerous evolutionary warlike nature. The non sequiturs of the welted tectonic map for anything other than as a treasure guide are but an example of the screenplay factory that airing deadline pressure imposes, but overall, a very enjoyable episode. Makes me appreciate Leslie Stevens even more.

Even MST3K would be taxed to call this stinker. Like watching a train wreck in slow motion, it suckers you in to its' cinematic horror. Someone needed a loss on the books for some reason...

The positive reasons to watch are the staggered appearances of many a fine cast member throughout the scenes that are in no way connected or artistically unified. It is as if watching scores of different directors and producers in one sitting, without being at a film festival of shorts. Should any detect a story within the script, don't spoil it for me. I shall be blissfully ignorant. I was stunned to read the IMDB synopsis, as I detected no such elements other than a name dropped here or there.

Da Vinci Code effort to somehow link Dante and Bosch and deadly sins and Turin statuary, and a miserable failure at doing so.

May Edginton goes there. The references in the script to Wolfe's 'You can't go home again' are a red herring, a diversion from the cruelty of much more Dickensian bent. The ending is surprising and disturbing. Not all stories have happy conclusions. Good acting on both leads' parts.

A prime example of why time-travel is considered the weakest of crutches for 'science' fiction. This movie can boast excellent acting, decent production and passable script, but fails miserably on either the 'wow' factor of good science fiction or the catharsis of revenge on the villains, whom you come to root for as miscast heroes slugging their way through a story that should have been round-filed. Surprising that the writer/director has actually been nominated and won several editing awards. It begs the question, if this is what wasn't cut out, how horrible are the excisions on the cutting room floor?

Like most Stone fans I had Bigger Bang upon release and loved the new tunes, so I was excited to see the concert tour promoting these new songs when Scorsese released this film a few years later, as I had not seen the tour. Every song I kept hoping, well, the next one will be from the album... NOT! A whole film of an album promotional tour without a song from the album. I felt like I was humoring an old relic (Scorsese) lost in a nostalgia of HIS favorite OLD songs being performed for the zillionth time. Some people are hopelessly stuck in the past and never move forward. This film is a total disappointment for Stones fans. I watched this once in 2008, and will never let Scorsese waste my time again.