Been catching up on Apocolyptic movies of late:
Contagion [2011]: saw this at the flicks. A big budget film stuffed with A-listers. I have to say I was dissappointed and left the cinema feeling somewhat irritated by what I can only describe as a lacklustre dumbing-down of the horrors of a global pig-flu pandemic. Now I know that most modern flicks are aimed at beautiful young things but is there really any need to fill a film with jangly techno-beats during the sciency bits, public service information style? The last time I saw anything like this was Doomwatch from the 1960's [whom I'll forgive] but don't really expect mental breaks nowadays. They should have watched The Andromeda Strain at least once more before making this drivel. Overall verdict: Pants.
Virus [1980]: pretty much the Contagion flick of it's day, this movie cost $16 Million to make and was a complete flop at the time and that's despite it being crammed with big names like George Kennedy, Olivia Hussey, Chuck Connors and Robert Vaughn. I watched a VHS Big Box video version distributed by Intervision. I have to say I really enjoyed this movie and found the story sufficiently complex to keep me entertained. Another Flu pandemic, this time its Italian Flu that decimates the world's population with only 800 men and 8 women surving in the polar regions, where the virus is dormant. The inclusion of Henry Silva as a mad General hell-bent on a nuclear solution was inspired. Overall verdict: Interesting.
Book of Eli [2010 ]: I saw this as part of my Love Film quota of two DVD's a month. I missed it at the flicks and it's apocolyptic contemporary, The Road. The Book of Eli is basically fifteen rounds between Denzel Washington's good guy and the bad guy, Gary Oldman. I'm surprised they agreed to it as it is truly awful. I was bored after half an hour. A message, a journey, a battle, a new hope. It's all been done before and much better when set in space with a few Sith thrown in! Overall verdict: Duff.
Holocaust 2000 [1977]: from the year that gave the world Star Wars came this little gem of a "horror" movie. I'll say right from the outset that it's a blatent rip-off of superior The Omen from the previous yea, but Holocaust still has enough going for it to stand on it's own two feet [or should I say hooves]. Thios was another of my bBig Box VHS tapes dusted off this week. Starring Kirk Douglas in fine Kirkian form, together with that erstwhile child-star Simon Ward, the plot is basically about the development of a nuclear reactor, which, if various priests and protesters are to be believed, will bring about the apocolypse. Like Gregory Peck a year earlier the chisel-chinned Kirk is having none of it until everyone around him has been dispatched, except of course, his grinning son, one Master Ward called Angel in the film [as in Fallen!]. Very Seventies. Apparantly the beach scene was filmed in Bigbury-On-Sea in Devon! Overall verdict: Fascinating.
PS. I just cannat get paragraph breaks to stay put on blogger. Sorry!
Holocaust 2000 [1977]: from the year that gave the world Star Wars came this little gem of a "horror" movie. I'll say right from the outset that it's a blatent rip-off of superior The Omen from the previous yea, but Holocaust still has enough going for it to stand on it's own two feet [or should I say hooves]. Thios was another of my bBig Box VHS tapes dusted off this week. Starring Kirk Douglas in fine Kirkian form, together with that erstwhile child-star Simon Ward, the plot is basically about the development of a nuclear reactor, which, if various priests and protesters are to be believed, will bring about the apocolypse. Like Gregory Peck a year earlier the chisel-chinned Kirk is having none of it until everyone around him has been dispatched, except of course, his grinning son, one Master Ward called Angel in the film [as in Fallen!]. Very Seventies. Apparantly the beach scene was filmed in Bigbury-On-Sea in Devon! Overall verdict: Fascinating.
PS. I just cannat get paragraph breaks to stay put on blogger. Sorry!
Is there a difference between apocalypse and armageddon?
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