Resurfaced Short Reviews, Part VII

These are Resurfaced short or quickie reviews written in 2002 or earlier. For more information, please visit this link: Resurfaced Reviews.

Star Wars

Star Wars (1977)

Rating

Director

George Lucas

Screenplay

George Lucas

Length

2h 01m

Starring

Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, Phil Brown, Shelagh Fraser, James Earl Jones (uncredited)

MPAA Rating

Basic Plot

George Lucas’ science fiction retelling of the good vs. evil story.

Review

George Lucas’ created in 1977 a movie that so sparked the imaginations of millions it easily became the highest grossing film. Since then, it has been re-released five times and has grown to be the biggest film of all-time in the world. Star Wars is a great story, told well with great acting. The Good vs. Evil story has rarely had a better treatment and this is one of the granddaddy’s of science fiction and a revolutionizing film in special effects.

Review Written

Unknown

Carrie

Carrie (1976)

Rating

Director

Brian De Palma

Screenplay

Lawrence D. Cohen (Novel: Stephen King)

Length

1h 38m

Starring

Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, William Katt, John Travolta, Nancy Allen, Betty Buckley, P.J. Soles, Priscilla Pointer, Sydney Lassick, Stefan Gierasch, Michael Talbott

MPAA Rating

Basic Plot

A troubled young high school girl possesses a dangerous ability. She can move and destroy things with her mind.

Review

Sissy Spacek is brilliant and Piper Laurie superb in this adaptation of Stephen King’s novel. The film and novel are very similar and both are quite astonishing and effective. Carrie is a girl who’s never been popular and is constantly picked on, but it’s a jock that asks her to the prom and there’s some revenge that needs to be taken. By everyone.

Review Written

Unknown

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)

Rating

Director

John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman

Screenplay

Larry Clemmons, Ralph Wright, Vance Gerry, Xavier Atencio, Ken Anderson, Julius Svendsen, Ted Berman, Eric Cleworth, Winston Hibler (Books: A.A. Milne)

Length

1h 14m

Starring

Sebastian Cabot, Junius Matthews, Barbara Luddy, Howard Morris, John Fiedler, Ralph Wright, Hal Smith, Clint Howard, Bruce Reitherman, Jon Walmsley, Timothy Turner, Dori Whitaker, Sterling Holloway, Paul Winchell

MPAA Rating

Basic Plot

Winnie the Pooh is the key figure in this adaptation of the A.A. Milne stories.

Review

Walt Disney captures three interesting stories that are classics among themselves. Originally released as shorts, (The Blustery Day received an Oscar for Animated Short Film) This film collects those three stories into one and releases them in the format they were once made famous in.

Review Written

Unknown

Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Rating

Director

Tim Burton

Screenplay

Tim Burton, Caroline Thompson

Length

1h 45m

Starring

Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall, Kathy Baker, Robert Oliveri, Conchata Ferrell, Caroline Aaron, Dick Anthony Williams, O-Lan Jones, Vincent Price, Alan Arkin, Susan J. Blommaert, Linda Perri

MPAA Rating

PG-13

Basic Plot

A modern day fairy tale which tells the story of Edward man created by an inventor, who died before finishing him and left Edward with scissors where he should have hands. One day when the local “Avon” representative calls at the historic mansion where Edward has been living alone, she takes him home to stay with her family. He has to adapt to the new life and environment that he isn’t used to. Soon he shows a talent in cutting hair and hedges, and wins every body’s heart.

Review

Tim Burton brings anothe fantasy world to the screen, this time it seems somewhat forced, but the end results are still appealing. Casting an increasing talent, Johnny Depp, a wonderful Dianne Wiest and a star from Beetlejuice, Winona Ryder is something Burton can be proud of. The methodical layout of people leaving for work and coming home from work shows great strength for the increasingly satisfying director. The visually pleasing sets help to bring out the film’s character while some forced romance knocks the film down a little.

Review Written

Unknown

Ulee's Gold

Ulee’s Gold (1997)

Rating

Director

Victor Nunez

Screenplay

Victor Nunez

Length

1h 53m

Starring

Peter Fonda, Patricia Richardson, Christine Dunford, Tom Wood, Jessica Biel, Vanessa Zima, Steven Flynn, Dewey Weber, J. Kenneth Campbell

MPAA Rating

Basic Plot

An Aging bee-keeper must year after year bring in his crop of honey and sell it at continuously decreasing prices without any assistance or support from family. He’s raising his two grand children and renting a house nearby. His son calls him up from jail begging him to rescue his wife from the hands of two ex-compatriotes fo his. Ulee finds her drugged and himself in some trouble when the thugs threaten his life if he doesn’t find out where the rest of the loot, hidden by his son, is located and return it to them.

Review

Peter Fonda is terrific, yet the supporting cast is not. Patricia Richardson gives a very disappointing performance given her talents on Home Improvement. The kids aree mere background and only the daughter-in-law and the thugs give acceptable performances. While the subject matter is interesting, Peter Fonda’s performance LITERALLY saves the film from destruction and the occasional interesting bit of directiong reaps a few rewards. Not as good as some have played it out to be, unless they were playing off Fonda’s performance, which really IS Oscar calibre.