Green Phoenix - Dragonheart Review

Last week we covered 1998's Godzilla, directed by Roland Emmerich. I gave a very...colorful opinion on that film (especially given my love of the Godzilla franchise and Kaiju films in general). With that in mind, lets take a look at a film that on the surface should suffer from all the same flaws, but due to some very different circumstances and motivations behind the scene, comes off much stronger and remembered far more fondly.

Originally set up as "The Skin Game with a dragon in it...Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", Dragonheart was a film which could've been the great Fantasy film that Hollywood was waiting for. The film that The Lord of the Rings would eventually become. In another universe, this film could've been directed by Richard Donner or Kenneth Branagh, but instead fell into the lap of Rob Cohen.

As I looked into the background and production of Dragonheart, what we got instead was a film where greed and studio politics kneecapped the final product yet could not completely destroy the heart behind the original story.

***

VR Troopers Episode 13 Review - Dogmatic Change

We finally get a serious topic in today's episode of VR Troopers. Ryan Steele wants to convert to Hinduism. Oh, sorry, it ain't that kind of dogmatic change. Kaitlin wants to write an article about the local dog pound to encourage adoptions. Carl Ziktor, because he can, decides to mutate a dog so it can terrorize the town...and maybe curb future dog adoptions? It sounds like a pretty bad thing for Ziktor to do, so let us find out how the VR Troopers can stop it.

Red Diamond: Super Sentai World - Summary/Review

Here is an unexpected thing to be so easily available, a short 10 minute Super Sentai film that was shown in Amusement Parks and Special events nationwide in Japan back in 1994. Five different Sentai teams join up, with Kakuranger being the current at the time. It was shown as a triple feature along with Kamen Rider World and Toei Hero Daishugō, two other short films. Based on that, it can be easy to assume this flick was more for the events surrounding it than the actual film itself. However, just for the sake of morbid curiosity, let's click "read more" and take a look at whatever this will be.

News: New Pokemon Games Spark Backlash Amongst Fans

News: New Pokemon Games Spark Backlash Amongst Fans

From National Dex cuts, reused models of Pokemon from the 3DS era of games, to poor visual quality and even allegations of SS using the Switch's NAND as extra RAM (causing "bad batch" Switch consoles to brick), the new Pokemon games have seemingly not lived up to many gamer's representations of what a "good" Pokemon game really is.

Kamen Rider: The Bike Race (Playstation 1) Review. Simple Character 2000 Series Vol. 3

Finally! I am reviewing something from the greatest video game series of all time!  Yes, this is the Simple Series where you can get quality games for dirt cheap.  Okay, we are talking about a different kind of quality here.  A quality that's best described as being so bad that it's good.  There are a few exceptions though as some of the games in this series are really, really good.  Will this game be one of them?  This is Kamen Rider - The Bike Race and it is volume three of the Simple Character 2000 Series.  (Click on "Read More" to read the full review.)

Green Phoenix - Godzilla (1998) Review

Godzilla is without a doubt the most famous movie monster of all time. With a consistent film release since his premiere in 1954's Godzilla. The nuclear powered dinosaur has appeared in 35 feature films and numerous television shows and comic books. And while the current iteration of the "King of the Monsters", produced by Legendary Pictures, has reintroduced Japan's most famous kaiju to American audiences, there was an earlier attempt to reimagine Godzilla for American audiences.

In the wake of films like Jurassic Park, with its groundbreaking use of CGI, there was a proliferation of CG-heavy monster and disaster movies that characterized the "Dark Age of Cinema". Big of effects, but oftentimes light on story, this period would see Godzilla return with a controversial new-look but a surprisingly familiar story.

But maybe a little too familiar.

From the directorial mind behind Independence Day, 1998's Godzilla would be the film that killed Godzilla to the majority of western audiences for nearly a decade. Despite a magnificent marketing campaign, the lack of original story, compelling characters, and effects that failed to wow due to their sheer ubiquity during this period of blockbuster cinema left Godzilla a dull, plodding, and even mean-spirited mess that is still mocked to this day in the US and especially Japan.

***

Gekisou Sentai Carranger Ep. 1: Fighting for Traffic Safety - Summary/Review

This season was a real let down in Power Rangers, but that's not the case in Super Sentai. What we have here is a season that took a step back from the constant serious and dark writing that the older Sentai were known for and focused more on comedy with a driving safety theme. Gekisou Sentai, or Racing Squadron. Yup, some even refer to this season as a spoof. So, let's click "read more" and take a look at the first episode.