"Which HDnet Movies movies have you seen? Would you like to post your review of them?

[Sean Mota]

Here's the system we would use...

5 Stars Review Excellent
4 Stars Review Very Good
3 Stars Review Good
2 Stars Review Poor
1 Star Review Don't bother

I would like serious reviews with explanation as to why you like or dislike the movie. Everything from HD Transfer, to plot, etc. Doesn't have to be extensive but to the point and objective.

 

[Sean Mota]

A few that I have reviewed in other threads:

Young Guns II 1.5 stars out of 5. I saw this one before and stopped watching it for the same reason I stopped watching it now. Emilio Stevez acting is not that great and the movie was made with him at the center of the movie. Waiting to catch Young Guns I.

Heavy Metal 3.5 stars out of 5. Quite a cool movie and very nice stories in animated form. The explicit sexual situations made the movie look "cool".

Thief 1.5 stars out of 5. A thief finds himself in a pressure situation when anothe thief or ganster pressures him to work for him. The ganster does not keep his promises and all hell breaks loose. Not your typical ganster movie and one can see what's coming from the beginning.

School Ties 4.0 stars out 5. Excellent movie! A great cast of actors on this one. Prejudice is a disease preconceived by ignorance. This is the moral of the story. The most prejudice ones that the ones that usually want to be regarded in high morals.

Bubble 3.5 Simple movie shot in native HD. The story is quite simple but the shots are excellent. The acting is also good. Great to see this one on HDnet Movies.

The Tailor Of Panama 3.5 stars out of 5. The story of a gossip that goes very far in creating a political conflict. I see two stories. One story is about the persuassion of man who has ambition of using the "tailor" to get his ways ($$$). I do not think this was his intent from the beginning but it could have been when MI5 was letting him go from LONDON and sending him to PANAMA. He did not like that move and could have orchestrated the whole conflict from the beginning or he could have just taken advantage of the situation as it developed. The political gossip that goes very far and probably is applicable to real life.

Clear and Present Danger 4.0 stars out of 5. Excellent movie about how politics and honesty do not mix. It makes you think if some of the conflicts of the world fall within the same parameters of the movie.

Idle Hands: 3.0 stars out of 5. Funny but at the same time a little stupid for a horror film. A hand that is evil and will do anything to kill.

I Dreamed Of Africa: 4.0 stars. I have seen this one before but decided to check it out. It is a beautiful film and the panoramic scenes makes it worthwhile to spend a little time and watch. The story itsel is a true story and very tragic one but it has its reward after all.

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (aka Naked Gun): 3.0 stars out of 5. It does not matter how many times I have seen this movie. It always makes me laugh! O.J. is in this one and his character is just too funny (if you can forget about what happened with afterward).

Police Academy 3: Back in Training: 3.0 stars out of 5. Another one that does not gets all. I love all the Police Academy films. Somehow each one finds a way to entertain you and make you laugh although you know that the story are just a little bad.

The Puppet Master: 2.0 stars out of 5. I thought this one was the original Puppet Master but it was not. It was a different story which has some flaws in it. They could never explained how some people were able to get cured after taking the alien out of their back while others did not make it. The story could have been better.

Glory 4.0 stars out 5. Great Epic! Very emotional battle and the faces of those who knew what was waiting. The 54 did show courage and enthusiasm to the last minute. I felt that the 54 only wanted to fight because everyone else thought that they could not.

Heartbreak Ridge 1 star out of 5. What an awful movie? This movie falls into the category of movies that should have never been made. Who was the smart one who let this awful story to be put in the big screen.

Network 3.5 stars Quite an interesting and amusing story about a news anchor that goes insane because his evening news show will get canceled by the Network because of bad ratings. It turns out that he starts displaying his insane behavior on the news and the ratings go higher than expected and the Network gets him back. He goes overboard in one of the shows and his nielsen ratings starts sinking once again but this time the Network can not get rid of him because corporate does not want that. What does the Network does to get rid of him? Well you need to watch to find out. The PQ transfer was not great. It is a very soft transfer yet the movie is funny and it has its own sarcastic way in making a point about what drives Tv ratings, corporate TV, corporate management and network tv. It addresses the big question of who is in charge. Is charle's in charge or is there is "the company" or "corporate" that is in charge.

Club Paradise 1.5 stars out of 5. Did not like it in SD and did not like it in HD. Too predictable...

Road House 1.5 stars out of 5. A macho type of movie with a lawless man engaging in extraordinary crime. Time not well spent watching this one.

Pulse 0.5 stars out of 5. I could not find myself awake to watch this one. It was so bad that it made bored to death.

The Cowboys 2.5 stars out of 5. Great flick and western movie about young boys who learn to be man. A few issues do come up in this movie -- kids working under age, kids drinking under age, kids under age with guns! seems like a nightmare when you speak about these topics in the area that we live in. However, for cowboys I guess we can say 'natural'?

Life As A House 3.5 stars out of 5. A very good movie with Kevin Klein. The whole movie point is about broken relations and how one father amended them before he past away. Excellent acting and excellent topic!

Open Range 3.5 stars out of 5. Very good western tale of a bullit trying to gain territory and cattle. The violence and gunshots makes you go wow! Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall are excellent. In the beginning it is kind of slow but then it picks up and one is stuck to the TV.

Owning Mahowny 3.0 stars out of 5. Great movie. Mahowny = how many backwards. Based on a true story of a gambler who gambles on everthing and anything while defrauding a bank. The guy is very smart and covers up the fraud but it is caught later on when he loses everything.

AMADEUS had a chance to watch Amadeus this week. Exceptional film and in HD!. What a treat....

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai 2.5 stars out of 5. Forest Whitaker plays a killer who follows (sort of) the Samurai philosophy. He is contract to various killing by the Mafia but in the last one, the Mafia (gang) wants him to pay for their mistake. They do not find out what hit them until they decide to go after him. It was an ok movie and it has some good creative ways of killing people. The one in the bathroom comes to mind. Ghost Dog.... comes back to life....

Till Human Voices Wake Us 1.5 stars out of 5. This is about a boy who experienced the death of a dear friend while he was a teenager. The death of the dear friend comes to life when he father passes away and he finds himself back in his own town. One will never know whether the whole fantasy was in his head or something that was happening to him. Confusing as hell and very slow.


Shallow Grave 3.0 stars out of 5. Three friends find a bunch of money and at first do not know what to do with it. The decision is made to keep it but it turns out to be the worse decision that they could have made. Greed, jealousy and mistrust embodies them all and they end up killing each other. The end has a surprise for the girl. She never knew that it was coming and it took her by surprise.


Dark Half, The 3.0 stars out of 5. The sparrows are coming to get you George Stark. A writer gets famous about his evil stories. The evil character comes to life and starts killing friends of the writer. George wants more stories so that his legacy can continue but he does not get his wished. The sparrows have a surprise for George at the end.

The War Within watched this last night and there are so many ways to discuss this movie that it is better not to say anything. Excellent movie. P.S. Very strong movie and if you saw the manchuria candidate on showtime tonight. This could be considered (philosophically) a type of manchuria candidate.

D.O.A 1.0 stars out of 5. What a waste of a movie. Dennis Quaid was horrible on this one and the story was completly trash.

Blade Runner 2.0 stars out 5. I was very dissappointed about this one. 3/4 of the movie is quite boring and it the story moves at the pace of a turtle. Many times I wanted to stop it and deleted but I said to myself let me watch till the end because I want to know what's the big deal about this movie. Well the end was not great either and the story was quite predictable.

The Mosquito Coast 3.5 stars out of 5. Great movie with a sad ending. I do not know who was crazier the preacher or the scientist. Both needed to be thrown to the side and make wave for rationalize thinking. If this was based on a True story, you have to feel for the children. How could the wife let this guy get this stuff so far.

The Birdcage and Dances with Wolves Excellent movies... These are two that need to be watched.

FAME 2.0 stars out of 5. I saw this movie a long time a go in the theater. I could not remember it but I know what I liked about it -- the music. The movie in itself is kind of awful and the story is so boring. Irene Cara's Fame is only good thing about this movie.

Forbidden Planet 4.0 out 5 stars I will give to this movie. Quite an interested story about an earth spaceship that it is on a rescue mission of another earth space ship that was lost in a planet. The commentary stated that humanity had step forward in space exploration and humanity was exploring planets beyond their planetary system. The spaceship I found quite amusing -- an saucer type spaceship. They find the planet and get in contact with the only survivor (apparently) on the surface. They are told not to land unless they are willing to suffer the consequences. When they land they find all sort of mysteries about the guy on the surface. His crew was killed and only him and his wife survived. His wife died of natural causes and only his beautifu daughter is now alive. The crew and the captain are amazed at the beauty of the daughter and who wouldn't. Her short dresses are delicious. There is a robot also on the surface. Remember that other series called "lost in space". Well, a robot similar to that one. The ending is quite good. There is a monster crawling and destroying everything around the planet. It is invisble and nothing can destroy it. This reminds of another movie I saw with a similar story --- Sphere---. Very similar, indeed. I think Sphere took the same idea from FORBIDDEN PLANET. Good movie...

The Freshman 3 stars out of 5. Very entertaining movie about a young man (Matthew Brodrick) coming to NYC to study. He finds himself the victim of a scam by the taxi driver who runs away with everything that he posses it. He finds himself in a bigger scam by the same driver who takes him to meet Marlon Brandon (the Godfather), who plays the "Godfather" like on this movie. It is funny at times but the story gets a little dull at the end when everything is revealed.

In Enemy Hands NR - 1:37 - 2003 4.5 stars out of 5. Excellent movie about a submarine caught in the middle of WWII and two crews - American & Germans - are trying to stay alive. William Macy is featured in this one. Great movie.

The Horsemen 1.5 stars out of 5. Not a very good movie. The scenery is the most beautiful thing about the movie. The rest is just not worth to see. First you a horse race where a dead goat needs to transporter from point to the 'circle of justice'. All the horsemen fight for the dead goat to the point that some get killed and every thing is allowed -- from whipping your opponent to have him killed. The son of clan leader loses the race and ends up in the hospital with a broken leg. His stuborness takes him out of the hospital and he takes a long path back home in which he loses his leg. There some other stories hidden but it just no reason to make this movie. BTW, everytime one of these clan leaders move or say something a whole population of men just listens and pays attention. Nothing happens unless these leaders move or talk... I could say more but you see where I am going with this.

Klepto 2.0 stars out of 5 stars. I watched this last night. It was digitally filmed in HD and it looked quite good on E*. However, there are major flaws with the story that never reached a conclusion. There are loose ends which makes you think what's going on. I did not like the way it ended it could have been better and there was potential for a better story all together.

American Hot Wax Very good movie if you care about early rock and roll music. The DD5.1 sound was not that great but still enjoyable. Did you see how young Jay Leno looked but his face never changes.

 

[TheTimm]

Sweeeeeet! You da man, Sean. I look forward to contributing.

 

[Sean Mota]

I hope others contribute. I have always looked at the Cinema reviews and based my viewing on those when I was not sure about a movie. I hope we can do the same with HDnet Movies.

 

[TheTimm]

Well I think we can count on you, me (even though I disappear for a while sometimes), and riffjim at least -- but I hope others contribute as well. I like hearing what real people think about movies, as opposed to professional reviewers. And I agree -- it helps me decide if I want to try to watch something or not, too.

 

[long_time_DNC]

Open Range: 4 stars out of 5. Eastwood and Costner both know how to do one genre particularly well: Westerns. Costner and a couple of guys picked up the majority of the budget to produce this movie, and it looks to me like if you have a stake in the film besides your name, you work harder to make it right. Costner takes the grandness of open prairie life and brings it to the screen with the same quest for quality as he did with Dances With Wolves.

The slow pacing at the beginning seems deliberate and gives one a feel for what life as a cattle hearder before the turn of the century must've been like. People had more time to talk, think and appreciate the little moments in life, and Costner takes the time to impart this feeling to the viewer in the first 40 minutes or so of the film. I must say, it makes one sort of yearn for something other than the daily grind in the cube farm.

The pace picks up and of course the gun-fighting ensues, but what a gun-fight! When I first watched on DVD in my home theater, the gunshots were astounding! They lose none of their impact via HDNet Movies in my home theater and seeing it in HD...well, it's breath-taking. It's the only movie I have in HD on my 942 and I tend to watch it, or parts of it about once every other month. I definitely recommend it.

Duel: 2.5 out of 5 stars. The late Dennis Weaver stars in this Spielberg made-for-TV suspense/mystery about a salesman being chased by a truck driver who evidently doesn't like being passed by hen-pecked salesmen in red cars. We're given no reason as to why the trucker uses his rig to terrorize Weaver or if he terrorizes other drivers. I guess we're supposed to assume that this guy is just anti-social.

Weaver does a very good job in this 30-year-old film and the transfer on HDNet Movies is very clean. It is in it's OAR, so you've got vertical, black sidebars, but actually, this isn't a bad thing. It lends a claustrophobic effect to the film, which tends to increase the suspense factor. I give it a 2.5 because of the fact that we never are given any indication as to why the trucker is harrassing Weaver. At least a Great White shark has a reason for attacking people...

 

[TheTimm]

F/X - 3.5 stars: Oh, I know this isn't really that good of a movie - but I really dig it and I have a little bit of a soft spot for it because it was the first movie I ever rented to watch at home on a VCR. It really is a pretty good story, too -- and looks much better in HD than it did on VHS on a 19" SDTV! My favorite line? -- "Nobody cares about making movies about people anymore -- it's all about the special effects." (or something like that) -- and this was back in 1986! Good stuff.

 

[TheTimm]

The Adventures of Sebastian Cole - 4 stars: This is a really good movie. Some might even call it "bogardus" (and you pretty much have to watch the movie to understand that one!). It's just your everyday tale of a teenager who's parents split up and his stepfather decides to become a woman. Kid's got some issues, and makes for a character who's fun to get to know. It's not a comedy, but I laughed out loud several times. And it has a very good soundtrack -- hell, if nothing else it's worth it to watch this movie just to hear the snippet of Greg Kihn's "Breakup Song" in DD5.1. The 5.1 is surprisingly good all the way through -- the scene that comes to mind is the rainstorm while he's in his old house making nice nice with his girl. All around, very entertaining.

 

[riffjim4069]

Radio Flyer - 3.5 stars: This was very good IMO. It is a movie about the adventures and wishful fantasy of two brothers, Mike and Bobby, as they grow up with their abusive stepfather (The King)...although the younger frequently gets the worst of the abuse. "It is inspirational and terrifying all at the same time. It was during the 10th showing of Chatty Chatty Bang Bang that Mike saw that look in Bobby's eyes again, that he got the greatest, scariest, biggest, most dangerous, and incredible idea any kid in the history of all time got." That's when he got the "Big Idea" to fly Bobby away to safely in the Radio Flyer where The King could never hurt him again. I had forgotten that Tom Hanks appeared as older Mike (uncredited) for several minutes in the beginning and end of this movie in addition to providing narration.

 

[riffjim4069]

Searching for Bobby Fisher - 4 stars: This was an excellent film about a child chess prodigy. No time for a review...just watch and you won't be disappointed.

 

[TheTimm]

The Madness of King George - 2 stars: I couldn't sit through the whole thing. It seems like a good topic for a movie -- the king of England at the time the American colonies gaining independence goes nutty. And yet, it couldn't hold my interest. But I did think the surround treatment of the music was pretty cool. And the guy playing the king was pretty good, what what.

 

[riffjim4069]

The Madness of King George - 2 stars: I couldn't sit through the whole thing. It seems like a good topic for a movie -- the king of England at the time the American colonies gaining independence goes nutty. And yet, it couldn't hold my interest. But I did think the surround treatment of the music was pretty cool. And the guy playing the king was pretty good, what what.

Ditto - 2.5 stars! I didn't write a review because I flipped the channel half-way through. There was nothing especially bad about this movie (it was actually very well acted), but it just never grabbed my attention.

 

[TheTimm]

Open Range - 4 stars: I seem to like this movie a little bit more each time I see it. Nothing groundbreaking in the story really, your usual western stuff. The sound is excellent though -- especially the storm and the gunfight. And you can feel the explosions from the guns. Costner is good, but Robert Duvall is excellent.

 

[dfergie]

Open Range - 4.5 stars: I too enjoy watching this movie, I had it on my 921 for along time... Costner does good westerns IMHO and the sound is pretty dang good and shakers and subs add to the experiance. Robert Duvall adds the finishing touch to one of the best Westerns in years...

 

[Sean Mota]

Throttle 1.5 stars. A very predictable movie about a guy who gets involve in cheating someone out of some money. He tries to get back out of the operation but it is too late. He gets stuck on this garage. In the garage there is a black truck that tries to kill him. The chase stars and it kinds of remind you of that movie that was driven by an evil spirit. The plot is not so hot because there is lots of flaws in the movie.

 

[TheTimm]

Step Into Liquid - 2.5 stars: Pretty cool surfing documentary. Looked good, sounded really good. Good subject matter, no shortage of bikini babes. I just think they could've, and probably should've, shortened it by a half-hour or so and just made it a TV show for PBS or RUSH instead of a full movie. Went a little long for my taste.

 

[long_time_DNC]

Gotta agree. Step Into Liquid was a fun romp through the world of surfing and why they do what they do (and with all the bikini babes around, who could argue?), but as a feature-length documentary, it does tend to wear-out the subject matter. No disputing the picture and sound however. Top notch. 2.5 stars from me as well.

 

[dfergie]

Radio Flyer *** Stars: Good movie showing 2 Brothers growing up with an abusive Stepfather and their means of escaping reality by modifying a Red wagon.

 

[TheTimm]

Searching For Bobby Fischer - 4 stars: Love it. A great story, very well-acted. Thought-provoking, with some great messages in there about parenting and decency and the importance of winning. This is one I can watch over and over again and it makes me feel good each time.

 

[TheTimm]

City Of Ghosts - 1.5 stars: Usually when Matt Dillon is in a movie I like it. But I guess those movies didn't star Mr. Dillon in a movie he also wrote and directed. I don't wanna say it sucks, really -- it's not that bad. It just doesn't have anything to really set it apart, to keep me glued to the set. By halfway through this movie I found myself strolling over to the computer, wandering in and out of the room and not caring if I missed something.