Gung Ho DVD

Advantages: Re-Mastered release. Extra footage, audio commentray, scene development, screen tests, excellent effects
Disadvantages: poor acting in places, predictable.

...Back) this is a non stop roller coaster ride that keeps the audience on the edge of its seat, with mind blowing special effects and ‘over the top’, ‘gung ho’ acting from its main cast. Verhoeven is no stranger to the censors and on its original release Starship Troopers was cut drastically by the BBFC, now with this new re-mastered edition of the DVD we not only get some of those deleted scenes, but also a full length feature commentary, scene by scene development, a screen test between then unknown Denise Richards (The World is Not Enough) and Casper Van Dien and even a making of featurette. The six deleted scenes are well worth a look at but it’s perhaps the commentary by one of the best directors around at the moment that makes this reissue worth watching. On the whole the movie is not without its flaws... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Brilliant acting. Genius Concept. Both funny and touching.
Disadvantages: May not be what some people are expecting.

...Big movie studios just don't know a good thing when they see one do they? All they are willing to release is trash that makes a quick buck, but has no soul and its getting to the point where even mainstream audiences are seeing right through their risk free schemes and starting to look elsewhere. As was the case with DONNIE DARKO, a low budget directorial debut that had an unfathomable plot, but word of mouth spread on how great it was regardless and it went from an unknown independent gamble to a massive cult hit within a few years and raked in enough cash for Richard Kelly to even release a director's cut of the film. BUBBA-HO-TEP is also one of those movies, it is very strange, yet also speaks to you on a human level, it's a classy little horror comedy that hardly has an ounce of gore in sight yet is still up there with the best... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Unique concept, great acting.
Disadvantages: One joke can't sustain a film.

...In Bubba Ho-Tep, an elderly Elvis Presley and a black John F Kennedy battle an ancient mummy. As concepts go, you can't get any more unique than that. The concept here though is so strong that the film can't possibly live up to it. Once we gets past that initial idea, the film in itself falls rather flat. It's a film that is almost entirely dependent on the above making up the entire content of the film, but it simply can't hold up. While seeing Presley and his zimmer frame trundle around a nursing home chasing a mummy is funny at first, it's not enough to sustain the already brief 80 minute runtime. In the 1970s, tired of fame, Elvis Presley (Bruce Campbell) traded places with an impersonator, with the option to change back at anytime. After the contract is destroyed in a barbeque accident, and the man pretending... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful