When I picked up this DVD for £3 at my local supermarket, I knew I was in for a classic tale of mediocrity, sub par effects, and budget filmmaking.
I was not disappointed.
Acting: I've never seen death and hardship be portrayed in such a dead-pan and wooden manner. Thane's character was under-utilised as his screen presence was quite strong. The bad guys did a good job, but sometimes their writing wasn't believable - for example one of them seemed to be a really bad guy at times, but seemed to develop a kind of stockholm syndrome with the good guys, and this betrayed not only his character but the sense of antagonism and tension within the main 'party' of characters.
Story: A good overall storyline, actually very well paced. Ultimately, the fact that I watched the film in windowed mode while playing Guild Wars 2 speaks volumes about my interest in the on screen action. The introduction was very disappointing as nothing much really happened.
Visual effects: Obviously this is not a huge budget blockbuster, and so the effects are going to reflect this. Still, there was some skilled camera-work which helped mask some of the rougher edges.
Music and Sound: Unfortunately one of the weaker points of the movie. Some of the synthesised effects were very out of place for this genre of film. Also, for the first half there is this unusual helicopter synth sound that is pretty intrusive and goes on for several minutes. I don't know how this sound effect is at all related to progressing the narrative or reflecting the on screen action, it only served as an annoyance.
Conclusion: Why not? Just don't pay top dollar for it.
Also, that one 10 star review on here is obviously fake, right? I mean it has to be fake.
