Reviews
San Ging Dou yu Fei Tin Mau (1993)
Hong Kong silliness
Hmmm what can I say? This is one of those Hong Kong movies which starts of fairly normal and then spirals off into silliness. Is it just me or has just about every Hong Kong movie some reference/joke to urine in it? Can't say much about the acting, most characters were too busy flying around to have much dialog. The story is a simple one. The jokes are what makes this movie "special". A few subjects: urine, S & M, a wandering hand and farts(as a weapon). The martial arts in this movie are okay, but nothing special. Lots of wire-fu. All in all good fun if you're feeling silly.
The 13th Warrior (1999)
Beards, long hair and blood!
Let me start with the story line. The story line for this movie is like it has been picked out of a kids cartoon serial. It's a plain good versus evil story line. All the characters are shallow and there isn't any romance in this movie(a little hint at it but that's all). Despite all this, this movie is nice to watch if you like period movies. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Antonio Banderas' character isn't as present as I expected it to be. You could even say there are no real leading characters in this movie. The visuals are nice, lots of blood and macho poses by the characters. All in all a fine piece of entertainment, without any pretensions.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Waste of time and money
This movie is a pure waste of time and money. For almost and hour and five minutes this movie is completely and utterly boring. All you get are a bunch of screaming, cursing and irrational people. There are some interesting moments but not enough to provide relief from the boredom. The only moment you get some suspense is at the very end. If you HAVE to see this movie do it on video or wait until it's on TV. All in all I vote 4 for this movie
eXistenZ (1999)
predictable
This movie should have been made 10 years ago. It now looks hopelessly outdated. It even has a made for TV feel about it. This movie manages to put you on the wrong foot a couple of times, but then you catch on and it all becomes very predictable. The acting is good. Like I said before the visuals are lousy, bordering on camp. Don't bother watching this movie unless it's on TV
The Mummy (1999)
nice and superficial
This movie is filled with all the cliche lines of every adventure movie. The movie tries to be funny and scary at the same time, but fails at either. There is no chemistry between the actors whatsoever. The special effects in this movie are great. For a 2 hour movie I'd expect a more interesting story line.Having said all this it's still is a nice movie to watch if you've got nothing else to do.
The Matrix (1999)
there is no spoon....or logic...but it doesn't matter
It's obvious that the directors have seen a lot of movies from Hong Kong and the fact that Yuen Woo Ping also worked on this film as martial arts and stunt director has left it's mark on this movie. This movie has all the trademarks of a Hong Kong action movie. Beautiful visuals, furious martial arts sequences, lots of wirework, over the top violence bordering on the cartoonish and last of all a story which falls apart once you start thinking about it. Go see this movie for the visuals and action/stunt sequences. The acting is lousy although not a hinderance because there's enough going on to grab your attention. All in all an entertaining picture.
Astérix & Obélix contre César (1999)
Only if you know the comic.
This movie is a feast of recognition for those who know the comic. The story is straight forward. It doesn't follow any story-line from any of the comics. The movie doesn't flow, it's more a collection of scenes. The characters sometimes seem a parody of the characters in the comic than rather staying true to the comic. The visuals are good and have a comic book feel to them. If you know the comic this movie is worth seeing, but don't expect too much from it. For all the other people don't bother.
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
An entertaining movie
The first 30 minutes I sat with my toes clenched. People around me were sobbing, which I honestly found to be over-reacting. After the 30 minutes the movie begins to slow down and the wafer thin plot is introduced. The characters in the movie are never really fully developed and stay two dimensional. That's why I was surprised about the Oscar nomination for Tom Hanks, in my view totally undeserved. The visuals are good and effectively show the chaos during combat. Overall I would put the movie in the same category as "The dirty dozen" and other mission type war movies, very entertaining but not worth the hype this movie has gotten.