24) The Avengers (2012)

(2.5's out of 5)

"The Avengers. That's what we call ourselves; we're sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type thing."

Director
Joss Whedon

Cast

Robert Downey, Jr. - Tony Stark 

Chris Evans - Steve Rogers
Scarlett Johansson - Natasha Romanoff

Jeremy Renner - Clint Barton
Mark Ruffalo - Bruce Banner
Chris Hemsworth - Thor 
Tom Hiddleston - Loki

Samuel L. Jackson - Nick Fury
Stellan Skarsgård - Selvig
Gwyneth Paltrow - Pepper Potts 

I decided to put on Marvel's bar-raising and 5th highest grossing movie (according to ScreenRant.com), "Avengers." 

I haven't watched it since its release back in 2012 and I don't recall what I thought about it back then. I probably enjoyed it. I mean, I don't recall having any negative thoughts about it, though it was 13 years ago. Watching it now, it fails to impress. In fact, it's boring! 

Honestly, I lost interest in these Marvel movies ever since the fourth and final Avengers movie (so far), "Avengers: Endgame" came out in 2019. 

I mean, "Endgame" is the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Too much of a good thing isn't good. I have what the kids call "comic book movie fatigue." For me, "Endgame" was the climax of this whole MCU. 

Occasionally, a new Marvel movie pops up that makes me curious enough to watch it when it's released on DVD. Otherwise, the spark is gone for me. 

When it comes to comic book-based movies, which "Avengers" is for those who have no idea what Hollywood has been producing in the last 20-plus years or so, after Tim Burton's 1989 movie, "Batman," comic book movies took a more serious, gritty turn. And to some degree, that tone still exists in some of these movies. But I think Marvel brought back some color and a bit more light-heartedness to this genre. Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" movies come to mind. I'm sure comic-book connoisseur would scream at me when I say that movies like Raimi's "Spider-Man" along with various other MCU films have a modern style and tone reminiscent of Richard Donner's "Superman" and Richard Lester's "Superman II."  "The Guardians of the Galaxy" vols. 1 and 2 along with the "Ant-Man" movies come to mind in that regard.

"The Avengers" is the first of four Avengers movies in the MCU, which several previous superhero movies focused on specific characters build up to. This movie picks up after those movies. 

In "Avengers," Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor's adoptive brother, meets a representative of an alien species called the Chitauri, who is referred to as "the Other" (Alexis Denisof). 
The Other wants Loki to get his hands on an energy source called a tesseract. If Loki can find and grab this tesseract, the Other will give him an alien army strong enough to conquer the Earth. So, Loki comes to Earth and begins his quest to find the tesseract and rule over the world.

So, where is it? 

This tesseract is located at a secret facility where Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) and a team he's leading is studying what it's capable of. 

Of course, Selvig and his team somehow activate the tesseract which opens a portal. And Loki meanders through it. That was easy! 

He snatches the tesseract and uses his magic-y staff to enslave Selvig and everyone in the lab including Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), also known as Hawkeye- one of the Avengers in case someone out there didn't know that.

So, while that's going on, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who previously brought the Avengers together, calls them to keep Loki from getting his hands on the tesseract and enslaving the Earth. 

To begin things, Agent Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) heads to Kolkata to get Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) to locate this tesseract through gamma radiation. 

As the Avengers hunt down Loki, inner turmoil ensues as they argue how to approach and deal with him. The top covert agency, S.H.E.I.L.D., wants to use the tesseract as a way to create weapons of mass destruction against the threat of any invading aliens. I'm trying to simplify the plot. 

Eventually, these alien invaders arrive at Earth, and it's up to the Avengers to stop them. 

There's a lot of talking in this movie, interrupted by fighting scenes, followed by more talking scenes. 

Throughout the movie, the word "tesseract" is used again and again...and again. 

Chris Evans, Robert Downey, Jr., and Samuel L. Jackson.

"We have to find Loki and the Tesseract." "Keep working on finding Loki and the Tesseract." "Have we located Loki and the Tesseract?" "Where's Loki and also the Tesseract?" "Once we have Loki, we'll have the Tesseract." "Keep looking for Loki and the Tesseract." 

For all the talking this movie has, the dialogue feels dull and repetitive. You know... dull feelings that feel repetitive. 

All the characters, outside of their superhero costumes and persona, lack personality. I only find them interesting when they're fighting and battling and doing what superheroes are expected to do. Everything else is dialogue, pseudoscience, and more dialogue.

Robert Downey Jr's character Tony Stark/ Iron Man has some personality but outside of his being a pretentious, filthy rich, and ingenious character, that's about all we get in the personality column. 

He's a dry character, and he seems to intentionally be that way. The rest of the cast don't have much of anything other than looks and some fighting scenes to keep audiences invested. For a movie with so many characters to be as boring as it is, is kind of remarkable.  

"Avengers" is certainly proud of itself for being what it is, or at least what it perceives itself to be - a super, superhero movie. It is an ambitious project inclusive of a bunch of superheroes played by big name actors. Thankfully, keeping track of all the motives behind each character is easy to remember 

Otherwise, it's boring until the final battle in which something exciting actually happens. The movie takes itself way too seriously. It's enough to make even my roll my eyes. 

The movie is one big load of setting up for later stuff, though the individual superhero movies before "Avengers" which focus on one member of the team at a time, seems to do that, too. 

The movie kept me waiting for the action to begin or continue. It felt like a new experience when watching it on screen back in 2012. Now, I hear a fifth Avengers movie, "Avengers: Doomsday" is set to be released in May of 2026. Regardless, the novelty and sheen of these huge comic book movie mega-productions have since worn off almost completely, if not completely-completely, sometime between then and now. 

23) Ready Player One (2018)

(3.5 's out of 5)

"I'm not crazy about reality, but it's still the only place to get a decent meal." - Groucho Marx

Director
Steven Spielberg

Cast
Tye Sheridan - Wade Watts/Parzival
Olivia Cooke - Samantha Cook/Art3mis
Mark Rylance - James Halliday/Anorak
Ben Mendelsohn - Nolan Sorrento
Lena Waithe - Aech
Win Morisaki - Toshiro Yoshiaki/Daito
Philip Zhao - Sho
Simon Pegg - Ogden Morrow
T.J. Miller - i-R0k

The 2018 sci-fi action movie. "Ready Player One," based on Ernest Cline's novel of the same name and directed by Steven Spielberg, is one long eye-popping pop-culture fest. 

I enjoyed the book very much, and the movie is just as loaded...saturated even...with all things pop culture from the last 50 years. So many characters and properties are crawling throughout this story that it'll take a lot of viewings to catch half of them, especially characters who have a second or less of screen time. 

Otherwise, "Ready Player One" is high energy entertainment. It doesn't waste any time. 

The takes place in the year 2045. All of society has grown immensely despondent, and everyone collectively escapes from reality by immersing themselves in a virtual reality world called the OASIS (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation). Every participant takes the form of an avatar and conduct themselves in all manners of entertainment, commerce, education, etc. It was created by programmers James Halliday (Mark Rylance) and Ogden Morrow (Simon Pegg) both of whom founded the fictional company Gregarious Games. 

Users can choose their own avatar, which are often characters from various movies, television shows, music groups. or video games. They can also purchase or acquire various power-ups or accessories also taken from various properties. So. the OASIS is jammed with just about every pop culture reference you can think of. 

As Halliday has since passed away, his avatar known as Anorak, previously announced to all the world that Gregarious Games and the entire OASIS will be handed over to one single lucky winner of an on-going contest taking place inside the OASIS. All the lucky winner has to do is be the first player to find an Easter egg hidden somewhere in the artificial world. The egg is locked away and can only be obtained with the use of three separate keys that also need to be found. 

To achieve the keys, players need to accomplish three separate challenges which aren't easy to win. 

OASIS avatars Parzival (left) and Art3mis in "Ready Player One."

Any egg hunter looking for these keys are referred to as "gunters." 

One of these gunters happens to be Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), the corrupt millionaire CEO of Innovative Online Industries, or IOI for short. 

Sorrento utilizes both IOI employees and indentured servants to work around the clock digging through all of Halliday's interests life events which may serve as clues as to where he hid this egg so IOI can own Gregarious Games and control the OASIS. These workers of his are known within the OASIS as "sixers."

Meanwhile, one random teenager named Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) not only immerses himself in the OASIS as frequently as anyone else, he's also a dedicated gunter. 

Inside, he goes by the avatar "Parcival" and is friends with a few other gunters called Art3mis (Olivia Cooke), Aech (Lena Waithe), Daito (Win Morisaki) and Sho (Philip Zhao). 

Wade studies the life and interests of James Halliday closely as records of Halliday's life, interests, writings, likes, dislikes, life events, achievements and failures, and other works and points of interest are all recorded in an archive database. 

After Wade figures out how to win the first challenge - a race that no one has yet won - and becomes the first gunter to win and score the first key, he works tirelessly with Art3mis, whom he has a crush on, and his other friends to find the remaining keys and be the one who scores the egg.

Wade becomes the first played to find the first of the three keys, which grabs the attention of Sorrento. He's willing to do anything to make sure he finds the egg before Wade does. 

It's comical to watch a corporate type wrack his brain and spend hours upon hours trying to figure out rather insignificant things (well, to most people) such as how to maneuver through now obsolete Atari 2600 games such as "Adventure" for clues alongside memorizing the importance of retro junk as it all pertained to one dude, Halliday. And he puts himself up against one teenager who's smarter than he is. It certainly says a lot about greed - corporate greed, which is certainly a plot point of the story. 

The whole thing feels satirical. So much energy, importance, life and death, over a giant virtual reality system. Of course, the prize is immense. It's like a modern day, or futuristic, action packed, geek version of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."  

There has to be hundreds of pop culture references dating between the 1970s to the mid-2000s jammed in here. Unless you watch "Ready Player One" which has a run time of 140 minutes, one frame at a time, or you have the attention and eyesight of a falcon, or just have nothing better to do on a Friday night and are desperate to accomplish at least one thing in your life, there's otherwise no way to catch them all. 

The Iron Giant attacks Mechagodzilla in the OASIS.

Most of the ones that are catchable have less than a second of screen time. Nevertheless, the movie depends so much on all the pop culture jampacked into the story that it seems the movie forgot to add some much-needed depth and development to the characters. 

They're too stale. It's not necessarily bad to focus on what Wade and the other characters are trying to accomplish. The movie feels completely full. There's a lot happening at every inch of the story, which alternates between the OASIS, Sorrento, and Wade's activities. Yet, the one thing that's missing is any insight into the characters. There's some insight, but not nearly enough. That's really the only initial problem I have with "Ready Player One." 

There's a fortune at steak, but it's hilarious watching everyone treating the OASIS like an absolute necessity. I'm sure there's some social commentary in that as far as modern society's dependence on technology and its addiction to constant visual gratification. That's on top of the commentary of corporate greed. All these references to other movies and such brings to mind those "member berries" from "South Park." Remember that? Remember? Oh, sure - I remember that!

Anyways, Spielberg knows how to wow an audience with eye-popping visuals and can tell a story that completely immerses the audience's attention. The pacing is great, and the story is entertaining. Weirdly enough, its audience is broad yet specific. Pop culture fanatics, geeks and nerds probably get the most out of this movie. There's enough pop culture and video game culture to feed the movie's intended audience of Gen X'rs, Millennials, and maybe some Gen Z'rs which spans more than 50 years. 

I read the book before the movie's release, and I enjoyed it. I also read the sequel, "Ready Player Two" as well, also by Ernest Cline. It felt slower and not as thrilling as the first book. 

Anyways, I like this movie for two reasons. The first being its dedication to irreplaceable reality (believe it or not), and that reality is where we all need to really need to spend most, if not all of our time. And two - the notion that we need to work for our success no matter what amount of success we achieve. No one's entitled to anything. Halliday makes each player use their brains to find his ultimate Easter egg. The entire experience comes down to its entertainment factor, and it is entertaining! 

22) Village of the Damned (1960)

(5 's out of 5)

"I must think of a brick wall." 

Director
Wolf Rilla

Cast
George Sanders - Gordon Zellaby
Barbara Shelley - Anthea Zellaby
Martin Stephens - David 
Michael Gwynn - Alan Bernard
Laurence Naismith - Dr. Willers
Richard Warner - Mr. Harrington
Jenny Laird - Mrs. Harrington
Sarah Long - Evelyn Harrington
Thomas Heathcote - James Pawle

When it comes to the alien invasion, "they walk among us" kind of sci-fi movies, "Village of the Damned," based on John Wyndham's novel, "The Midwich Cuckoos" nails the sub-genre. I have to say, the title "Village of the Damned" is certainly more ominous than "The Midwich Cuckoos." 

In this movie, the entire population Midwich, a small British town, suddenly pass out. It's not just the people who fall unconscious. All the animals do, too.

Any living thing that crosses a certain perimeter around Midwich will also "wink out" as the characters put it. 

Prof. Gordon Zellaby (George Sanders) is on the phone with his brother, Alan Bernard (Michael Gwynn) as when he and his wife Anthea (Barbara Shelley) pass out. 

The military are called in and set up a barrier around the town as Alan goes to check in on his brother, though he's stopped at the military barricade. 

After several hours, the residents and animals begin to awaken. The phenomenon goes unexplained.

A few months go by when the village's next major surprise suddenly occurs. All women of child-bearing age are mysteriously pregnant. 

Of course, as expected, some serious accusations fly around about these poor women. This includes Anthea who's also pregnant to the shock of her husband. 

The local M.D., Dr. Willers (Laurence Naismith), deduces that all the women became pregnant on the same day when everyone fainted. 

Quickly. all speculation of adultery and premarital sex change to something more preternatural as the cause of all this. The unborn children develop at a quicker rate than normal babies still in the womb. 
All the women give birth on the same day to children who all look alike. The cause is definitely something otherworldly.  

As the children grow up at a fast rate, they maintain their similar appearances and also demonstrate their power of psychokinesis by making people bend to their will. They also communicate with each other through their telepathic powers regardless of distance. 

They speak in an adult-like manner. They also communicate with themselves through mental telepathy and always walk in groups.

Gordan and Anthea's son, David (Martin Stephens) seems to be the leader of these children.  

Whatever extra-terrestrial species these children are, Midwich isn't the only town becoming inhabited by them. This occurrence is also happening in other parts of the world. 

Gordon begins teaching these kids, which the kids permit him to do. He uses this time to learn about these weird kids, what their intentions are and where they come from. 

Alan also catches on to what the kids are up to, but they warn him to leave them alone and let them carry out their plan for domination. 

He and the other Midwich residents find themselves at the mercy of these telepathic alien children, and it seems there's little they can do about it. After they show their true colors after causing some residents to do themselves in, Gordon secretly devises a plan to destroy all these children as he's the only person in Midwich to have access to all of them, all at once. The only thing he needs to do is concentrate on the image of a brick wall should the kids start suspecting him of something and try reading his mind if they become suspicious. Of course, Gordon doesn't tell anyone, not even his wife, what his plans are. 

I can't help but notice a parallel between this movie, and Pink Floyd's song, "Another Brick in the Wall." I guess it's the teacher, Gordon, as he's up against the oddball students. And there's David telling Alan to leave them alone so they can work out their plans, and the alien kids being intelligent enough to not need Gordon's education, and the whole thing with the brick wall and the thought control is what brings the song to mind. It's only speculation. 

This movie doesn't play with its audience. It cuts right to the thrill and suspense. The suspense and trepidation are solid and substantial with no excess. 

It has a dominant intellectual tone that certainly doesn't get in the way of the real trepidation of the movie. The unsettling tone, which intensifies naturally, is superb. 
There's nothing in this movie that distracts from the story. It begins at the start of the inexplainable turmoil that causes all living things, people included, in the town of Midwich to pass out.

What makes this movie bold enough to push the bar is the use of children, albeit aliens in disguise, as entities to be destroyed. 

"Village of the Damned" raises itself above shlocky sci-fi B-movies of the era with a sense of intellectualism and science fiction prowess. Even for a movie that's 65-years old, it still is just as nightmarish and menacing as it must have been when audiences first gazed at it in theaters back in 1960. 

George Sanders as Gordon Zellaby in "Village of the Damned."

It has a fantastic cast of British actors who portray their respective characters as realistically as possible when facing such an insane plot as this gives audiences disturbing thoughts about what they would do in a situation like this. There's something about children as antagonists that give stories, especially horror, thriller, or science fiction stories, an edge unlike any other trope or plot device. With David and the other children in "Village of the Damned," they're calm and unsympathetic which adds so much to the building apprehension. 

The villagers grow more and more frightened and unsure, while the children watch emotionless yet threateningly. 

The movie often shoots at the children's eye level, and also uses awkward angles and close-ups of the villagers' faces for that extra sense of uneasiness. Eyes are the gateway to the souls and have power to convey the owner's emotions onto others. This movie utilizes that fact as brilliantly as it can. I've seen this device used in other movies. The 2004 horror movie, "The Grudge" comes to mind, though that movie uses fear as seen through characters eyes much more subtly. 

This movie is pure lightening in a bottle. It's restrained but still manages to be completely unsettling and stirring with an increasing feeling that things are going out of control. Perhaps some effects, primarily the split screen used to create the children's glowing eyes that occurs when they gain mental control over their victims and mentally tell them what to do, haven't aged well. But that's not the movie's fault. It has still made a lasting impression, iconic, on audiences.

The movie spawned a sequel in 1964 called, "Children of the Damned" which didn't get quite the praise and acclaim this first movie did. 

John Carpenter also made his own remake in 1995 with the same title. It stars Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley and Mark Hamill. 

"Village of the Damned" is a solid movie where nothing is wasted. It's a story that encourages the mind to pick it apart and stokes tension in the audience as soon as it begins. The child actors are keen at not smiling or laughing or breaking character. They play their menacing characters, superior to humans, brilliantly. I think that superiority is subtly played out as the children always seem to turn their faces away from the human characters when they're talking. 

The weight of the movie's success is really on them. And they pull it off effortlessly. This movie deserves a place among the top sci-fi invasive alien thriller movies ever made.

21) Batteries Not Included (1987)

(2.5's out of 5)

"They're the fixers. They like to fix things."

Director

Matthew Robbins

Cast
Hume Cronyn - Frank
Jessica Tandy - Faye
Frank McRae - Harry
Elizabeth Peña - Marisa
Michael Carmine - Carlos
Dennis Boutsikaris - Mason
Tom Aldredge - Sid
Michael Greene - Lacey

Unless I'm mistaken, the trend in science fiction movies back in the 1980s was to pack them with good feels and warmth, likeable and marketable aliens, and emotion. Plenty of emotion. 

I suppose audiences had enough of aliens from space flying to Earth to pick fights and melt peoples' brains as was common in the atomic age of sci-fi/horror movies during the fifties and sixties. And then

"Star Trek" came along and had humans explore aliens and their worlds rather than aliens explore Earth. "Star Wars" took Earth out of the equation all together and added drama, charm and epic fun to the genre. "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" gave aliens a more friendly face and gave the genre a more realistic depiction of how a government would react to visitors from space. These titles helped veer science fiction away from the trope of mean ol' aliens merely looking for a place to invade and a species to conquer. Of course, there was still room for unsympathetic and threatening aliens during this period. Ridley Scott's classic "Alien" (1979) came out after "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Star Wars." 

When the 1980s came around, it seems audiences were treated to a generous portion of loveable, friendly, and just plain nice visitors from space and other science fiction-y characters. We had "E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial," "Starman," "Explorers," "Short Circuit," "D.A.R.Y.L." "Howard the Duck" and "Cocoon" among other such titles back in the 1980s. For sci-fi movies, they have the warmth and feels that have audiences returning again and again. That seemed to continue on until the bad aliens intruded their way back in and blew everything up in "Independence Day" (1996).  

Jessica Tandy as Faye Riley in "Batteries Not Included."

However, in this period of family-friendly feel-good sci-fi movies comes "Batteries Not Included." 

It tends to be remembered here and there but generally overlooked. 

The movie stars Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy and was directed by Matthew Robbins. 

Cronyn and Tandy play elderly couple, Frank and Faye Riley, who live in an antiquated apartment building that stands in the way of urban development somewhere in the East Village of lower Manhattan. 

Frank has been running a corner cafe in the same building since the glory days of the neighborhood back in the 1940s and 1950s. Time has marched on. Age has crept in like overgrown ivy. Frank is really holding on to the neighborhood as it was and all the memories that are now nostalgic black and white pictures holding up the walls.  

The other tenants in the building have been resisting the pressure to move out which the development manager, Lacey (Michael Greene) has been putting on them. 

So, as a not-so-final resort, he sends a thug named Carlos (Michael Carmine) to "convince" the tenants to accept Lacey's bribe to move and terrorize the ones who refuse. When they stand their ground, Carlos gets to them individually. He torments Marisa (Elizabeth Peña), a young single pregnant girl who lives in the building. He also breaks through the door of artist Mason Baylor (Dennis Boutsikaris). And he smashes some of the items which the maintenance man, Harry Noble (Frank McRae) keeps in his basement apartment. 

Lastly, when Frank refuses to be intimidated and digs his heels in to stay put, Carlos vandalizes his cafe. 

Some of the tenants do finally pack up and move. 

Mason's girlfriend, Pamala (Wendy Schaal) breaks up with him, takes the bribe, and leaves. Also, longtime residents Muriel and Sid Hogensin (Jane Hoffman and Tom Aldredge), who are friends with Frank and Faye, take Lacey's cash bribe as well. To them, the building doesn't feel like home anymore. Why hang on to the past?

Frank is really torn on this. He doesn't want to leave. Faye is suffering from dementia which is gradually getting worse. And he knows if things continue the way they are, he won't have a choice anymore. 

Just when it feels like the darkest hour is upon the apartment building, two small intelligent spaceship looking alien...things... sneak into their apartment to seemingly help out. Faye notices them right away and is thrilled at their presence. She calls them the "fix-its" as they have an ability to fix random items rather quickly. In fact, they even fix Frank's cafe perfectly. 

When she talks about them, Frank thinks it's a symptom of her dementia. The small flying saucers take up residents in a shed up on the roof. 

Faye introduces all the residents to these crafts, which seem harmless.

They begin to help by first luring Carlos to a shed up on the roof only to scare him. 

The robots also begin fixing items, as well as storing different parts of random objects up in the shed. 

Soon, the tenants begin relying on these robot spaceship creatures to help them win against Lacey and his hired thug, Carlos, and keep their building. 

The movie by the end of the second act, the film starts dragging its feet to get to the heart of the movie. It takes too long to get to the plot. 

Despite its uniqueness, "Batteries Not Included" is still a predictable story. It went pretty much where I thought it would, and a few inches more. Far enough for me to think to myself, "Oh, they actually did that" by the end. 

It has heart. It has its charm. It knows what kind of movie it wants to be - a sci-fi drama with a touch of whimsical elements, feel-good scenes, and some laughs. To be fair, it accomplishes that. Outside of that, it feels like there needs to be more. Something seems to be missing. 

Evidently, the story was intended to be an episode of Steven Spielberg's fantasy anthology series "Amazing Stories." But Spielberg wanted it to be something more...a movie. So, that's what it became. However, the story would probably fare better as a television episode. It doesn't need to be a feature film. 

Elizabeth Peña, Dennis Boutsikaris, Hume Cronyn, and Jessica Tandy.

It's not a bad story; it's just in the wrong medium. Stretching the story out to 107 minutes creates a sense of empty places where something important, maybe unforgettable, should be. It feels much more like an episode of an anthology series. Even the title sounds like something from a sitcom or a fantasy anthology show. I might be nitpicking there. Nevertheless, it feels like a working title or an early suggestion for one. Even so, it's slightly clever. 

The characters are interesting enough and worth getting invested in. And seeing the antagonists, from Carlos to the greedy and callous developers he's working for, get what's coming to them is satisfying.

It's intriguing (though, again. predictable) but not exciting.

While it really strives for that touching family movie sweetness, it becomes overly sweet after two of the flying saucers create a baby flying saucer together. I can't suspend reality that much. 

And the whole family friendliness goes out the window after Mason paints a completely unnecessary nude portrait of Elizabeth Peña.

It's a mediocre movie that tries to create interesting characters and an entertaining plot. Its strength falls short, unfortunately. I think part of the reason for that is the story tries too hard with the sentimentality. The heartstrings are really pulled, and quite effectively, when Faye mistakes Carlos for her deceased son.   

It's a movie to experience once, and then maybe watch it again 15 or 20 years later, on a Saturday evening when you happen to stumble upon it while flipping through apps trying to find something to watch in an undecided frenzy. You pick it because you it's getting late and you have to pick something. So, "Batteries Not Included" it is.   

20) Death Race 2000 (1975)

(1.5 's out of 5)

"Some people might think you're cute. But me, I think you're one very large baked potato."

Director

Paul Bartell

Cast
David Carradine - "Frankenstein"
Simone Griffeth - Annie Smith
Sylvester Stallone - "Machine Gun" Joe Viterbo
Mary Woronov - "Calamity" Jane Kelly
Roberta Collins - Matilda "the Hun"
Martin Kove - Ray "Nero the Hero" Lonagan
Louisa Moritz - Myra
Don Steele - Junior Bruce (race announcer)
Joyce Jameson - Grace Pander (race announcer)
Carle Bensen - Harold (race announcer)
Sandy McCallum - Mr. President

The three, maybe four readers of my horror movie blog, 1000daysofhorror.blogspot.com, have probably noticed I've been working my way through director Roger Corman's eight Edgar Allan Poe films. 

Well, I've been hauling around a box set of four other Corman movies collectively called the "Roger Corman's Classics Collection." The set includes the titles "Hollywood Boulevard" (1976), "Piranha" (1978), "Rock n' Roll High School" (1979) and "Death Race 2000" (1975). I found it at a library book sale and purchased it for a mere buck-fifty back in 2021 or 2022. Since purchasing it, I've kept telling myself "Self, I'm going to watch these next." So, I'm finally starting it, beginning with "Death Race 2000." 

According to writer Ed Naha in his book "The Films of Roger Corman," the premise of "Death Race 2000" is based on a weird idea Corman once had (Naha, 80).

That idea surrounds the premise of future racecar drivers running over pedestrians to gain points while racing across America.

Evidently, according to the same book, people around Corman told him the idea was terrible and certainly not a money-making idea. Still, the movie got made and... here we are. 

"Death Race 2000" is a futuristic dystopian flick in which, after a world economic crash that occurred in 1979, the world markets have suffered economic ruin. The entire globe went through total civil unrest. 

As far as the United States goes, the government went through a restructuring and came out of that as a totalitarian government which uses martial law as a means to control the American people. 

In order to squash the inner-civil unrest among American citizens, the government has established a racing event that goes across the country, which distracts the people from their daily strife.

It's the year 2000, as the title indicates. The 20th annual death race is underway. 

Five unique drivers are participating with personalized cars. The drivers include the dangerous and mysteriously masked "Frankenstein" (David Carradine), gangster "Machine Gun" Joe (Sylvester Stallone), cowgirl "Calamity" Jane Kelly (Mary Woronov), Neo-Nazi "Matilda the Hun" (Roberta Collins) and the Roman gladiator "Nero the Hero" (Martin Kove). 

All racers, as expected, are determined to win this race. And all of America are tuned in. As they all race to the finish line, they can collect points by hitting innocent people along the way. For instance, people in wheelchairs are worth 100 points. Elderly people are worth 70. Children are worth 50. It's really grim stuff. 

Meanwhile, an American resistance group, led by Thomasina Paine (Harriet Medin), a distant relative of Thomas Paine, are attempting to overthrow the current regime led by a leader simply referred to as "Mr. President" (Sandy McCallum). 

Their plans are pretty much centered on sabotaging the race. To do this, they aim to kill all the drivers, kidnap Frankenstein, and use him as a bargaining chip against Mr. President. Little does Frankenstein know that they're being helped by his navigator, and Thomas Paine's great-granddaughter, Annie Smith (Simone Griffeth). 

The points matter in this race. Spectators are really pulled into the event. Some even place others or themselves in the roadways so that their favorite driver might hit them and gain more points. 

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this flick. It's shlocky yet intriguing enough to pull me in and try to determine what this movie is trying to depict. The storylines are glued together with commentators announcing the race as it progresses. 

This movie strikes me as parody as well as a socio-political commentary. Maybe it's a commentary on the rise of inhumanity in America, the methods of government distraction and the role sports plays in that, or it's just a dark, dark comedy. Whatever I'm supposed to take away from this movie, it's uncomfortable to sit through. 

David Carradine as "Frankenstein" in "Death Race 2000."

It ends on what is supposed to be a comedic chord, but it's just as dark as the rest of the movie. Everything else is cheesy one-liners, violence for its own sake, some sleazy stuff, and racing. It's the same kind of entertainment as watching something like WrestleMania or a demolition derby but with carnage, bloodshed, and callousness of the worst kind. Basically, I got exactly what I expected; it's an action movie about a race that devalues human life which fits in with the dehumanized mentality of the dehumanized society the race takes place in. It's an oddball, goofball, and exploitative film that I really don't think is meant to be anything bigger or more than what meets the eye. I didn't get much out of this movie, nor do I think I am really meant to. It's shock for shock's sake. 

The movie was produced by Roger Corman and directed by Paul Bartel who appears in all the films I mention above. 

Bartel is, perhaps, most known for directing and appearing in the 1982 black comedy "Eating Raoul." He also has a cameo in "Gremlins 2: The New Batch" as a theater manager, which was directed by Joe Dante. Dante also directed "Piranha" which stars none other than... Paul Bartel. 

"Death Race 2000" got a remake called "Death Race" in 2008. That spawned two prequels - "Death Race 2" (2010) and "Death Race 3: Inferno" (2013) as well as a sequel called "Death Race: Beyond Anarchy" (2018)

Corman also produced a sequel to the original film in 2017 called "Death Race 2050."

The movie has the same general dystopian or anarchical vibe as movies such as "Mad Max" "Rollerball" "The Road Warrior" and even "The Purge." 

While I really don't care to, I think I'll have to watch this movie again and see if there's something I failed to notice the first time. Somehow, I doubt it. 

19) The Day of the Triffids (1963)

(4's out of 5)

"In nature's scheme of things, there are certain plants which are carnivorous, or eating plants....This is a newcomer: Triffidus Celestus, brought to earth on the meteorite during the Day of the Triffids."

Director

Steve Sekely
Freddie Francis (Uncredited)

Cast
Howard Keel - Bill Masen
Nicole Maurey - Christine Durant
Janina Faye - Susan
Janette Scott - Karen Goodwin
Kieron Moore - Tom Goodwin
Mervyn Johns - Mr. Coker
Ewan Roberts - Dr Soames
Alison Leggatt - Miss Coker
Geoffrey Matthews - Luis de la Vega

I'm a bit torn initially where to plop this review. Here, or on my horror site, 1000daysofhorror.blogspot.com. "Day of the Triffids" (1963) is considered 

to be sci-fi horror as the story centers on invasive carnivorous plants from outer space that eat people. 

The movie is based on a 1951 novel by sci-fi writer John Wyndom, who also wrote "The Midwich Cuckoos." The 1960 horror/sci-fi classic "Village of the Damned" is based on that novel.  

I think it's more science fiction than it is horror, so it fits better on this platform. 

"The Day of the Triffids" is a movie I've had on my radar for years. I have an affinity for vintage paperback books, so I hope to find an old copy out in the wild someday.  

In this movie, which takes place in the U.K., a majority of mankind loses their eyesight during an intense meteor shower witnessed all around the Earth. 

However, merchant navy officer Bill Masen (Howard Keel) manages to keep his eyesight as he's treated in the hospital overnight. He wakes up the next morning after eye surgery to find that everyone in the hospital is gone. 

He leaves and wanders around London as most everyone in the city is meandering aimlessly, unable to see. 

Soon, sentient plants called triffids begin sprouting and growing all over the place. They poison their victims, and then consume them.

The plants are also able to free themselves from the ground and crawl around looking for prey. They send out spores, carried by the wind like dandelion seeds, which land in soil and grow into more triffids.

While all that is going on, scientist Tom Goodwin (Kieron Moore) and his wife Karen (Janette Scott) are living in seclusion at a lighthouse for, I think, scientific purposes. Their only knowledge of what's going on out in the world is through a radio. As news of the triffid invasion, and mass blindness peaks, they think they're safe from the ever-increasing triffid population since they're out in the middle of the ocean. 

That delusion abruptly ends when Karen finds one growing on the rock outside the lighthouse. 

She accidentally leaves the lighthouse door open and the triffids make their way in. Tom attacks and subdue them. However, they quickly learn these triffids can regenerate. 

Tom and Karen hunker down and come up with a plan to destroying these walking alien plants. 

Meanwhile, Bill heads to a train station where passengers are struggling and fumbling around blind. People are begging for anyone with eyesight to help them, 

Bill comes across a little girl named Susan (Janina Faye) who's orphaned and spent the night in the train luggage van. To Bill's surprise, Susan can still see. 

Later, while on their way over to France, they meet Christine Durant (Nicole Maurey) who takes them to a chateau that is being used as a safe place for those who are blind. 

The triffids are multiplying at a crazy rate of speed. Typical weed behavior. So, those who can see need to figure out how to conquer them for good...before the triffids wipe out humanity. 

"The Day of the Triffids" is as classic and as good an old fashioned alien invasion flick that I could hope for. 

For a movie about man-eating plants from space that's about 60 years old, the story still pulls me in. It's an entertaining, suspenseful story that manages to create a thrilling sense of apprehension. 

It has its campy parts which comes with such films from this period. Some elements don't age well. Still, that doesn't hurt the experience. 

The triffids make an insect-like sound that's creepy and off-putting. It's a bit laughable but is a nice touch.

The movie has some loose similarities to "War of the Worlds" as the alien plants nearly conquer mankind until they're easily exterminated by...would you guess... ocean water. The aliens from "War of the Worlds" die from the simple yet contagious cold virus. Both demises are simple, but effective.

I also wonder if M. Night Shyamalan took some inspiration from this movie for his 2002 sci-fi thriller "Signs." 

Similar to the destruction of the triffids, water is fatal to the aliens in Shyamalan's film. At least

in "The Day of the Triffids" the alien plants aren't intelligent enough to avoid the salt-watery Earth. 

The aliens in "Signs" who create sophisticated crop circles, and travel across space in spacecrafts equipped with cloaking devices and then land on a planet that's 71 percent water, which will kill them. 

Of course, it also reminds me of "Little Shop of Horrors" for clearly obvious, man-eating plant reasons.  

The plot point in which eyesight becomes a valuable commodity has an original feel to it. It's silently suggested the triffids intentionally caused this. It's an imaginative and creative part of the story. 

The pace starts to stretch itself thin towards the end of the second act. But it picks back up rather quickly. It's primarily thanks to the subplot of Tom and Karen out in their lighthouse that keeps the story much more intriguing. If it wasn't for their story, the movie would likely be much more of a bore than it is. 

The fun aspect comes with its classic sci-fi/ horror tropes that seem much more original for a movie from this era such as the all-too familiar car that won't start when danger is imminent. 

The movie has brilliancy as far as color goes. The version I watched, streaming on "CinemaBox" wasn't the greatest quality, but it wasn't bad either. 

Regardless, "The Day of the Triffids" is a movie and story of its own. For a classic sci-fi movie, something ideal for a drive-in, it still manages to deliver with barely a dull moment.  

An updated reboot or remake would be great. I'd be curious enough to watch an updated version. The story did have its own TV series back in 1981. "The Day of the Triffids" ran for six episodes over in the U.K.   

As for this 1963 film adaptation, it's among the best early survival picture I've seen. 

18) End of the World (1977)

(1out of 5)

"Unfortunately, there is no more time!"

Director

John Hayes

Cast
Christopher Lee - Fr. Pergado

Kirk Scott - Prof. Andrew Boran
Sue Lyon - Sylvia Boran
Dean Jagger - Ray Collins
Lew Ayres - Commander Joseph Beckerman
Macdonald Carey - John Davis
Liz Ross - Sr. Patrizia

After previously reviewing a bunch of more appreciated and well-remembered science fiction movies from the 1980s that current audiences seem to recall fondly, it's time to get to some the best of the worst shlocky and cheesy movies sci-fi has to offer. These are the movies I really created this platform for.

After a trip to Omaha a couple weeks ago, and visiting one of my favorite bookstores, "Half-Price Books," I found a set of 50 sci-fi movies packaged as "Nightmare Worlds." And among these 50 "Nightmare World" movies was the 1977 sci-fi you never heard of, "End of the World."

Released by a company called Mill Creek Entertainment, I often stumble upon these 50-film sets and have a few of the horror and thriller collections in my movie library. They're the only way to acquire some of these hard-to-find, "so bad, they're good" flicks people once thought needed to be filmed. These sets often run on the cheap side, especially when they're used sets which they normally are. These sets come in basically all genres. The movie quality is often poor. There's no digital enhancements or quality improvement. They're often too dark, grainy, and with poor sound quality. Yet, they still manage to be appealing. Chalk it up to good marketing, I guess?

Mill Creek Entertainment DVD collections might look sophisticated in a movie library, but the movies they normally include you wouldn't find in a $5 Walmart bin. 

So, why have I bought a few of these collections despite the negativities? I think its the appeal, and the feel that they're a deal. A sucker and his money are quickly parted.

So far, they're just plain B-movies with an emphasis on "plain." Not that I expected anything more. Still, I might just get one more set. And yes, I plan to watch as many of them as I can, if not all of them.

In the movie "End of the World," some actor named Kirk Scott plays Prof. Andrew Boran who works for NASA and is looking into unusual radio signals floating around space. The really unusual part is that these signals seem to be coming from Earth. What's even more unusual is that the signals are predicting severe natural disasters taking place around the globe. 

Christopher Lee, Kirk Scott and Sue Lyon doing absolutely nothing
in "End of the World."

Andrew pinpoints the source of the signals and goes to that precise location to check it out. Of course, like all NASA scientists tend to do, he takes his wife Sylvia (Sue Lyon) with him. It turns out the signals are emanating from a Catholic convent where a community of nuns are living. 

A Catholic priest named Fr. Pergado (Christopher Lee) is the chaplain for these sisters. 

What Kirk doesn't realize is that the sisters along with Fr. Pergado are actually aliens from a utopian planet plotting to destroy Earth through several natural disasters. These aliens replaced the actual nuns as well as Fr. Pergado and have taken on their appearances.

Zindar, the leader of this alien species, is posing as the priest. When he finally reveals his true identity, he tells Andrew and Sylvia that Earth has to be destroyed because it's nothing but a source of disease and violence. It's making the entire galaxy look bad, so it has got to go. 

Zindar, however, holds Sylvia hostage as a way to force Andrew to steal a crystal from NASA which he needs to transport himself and his alien pals back to their utopian planet. Andrew has no choice. 

He steals the crystal and surrenders it to Zindar. 

There's really nothing Andrew nor Sylvia can do to save their planet and the millions of people who are unaware of what's really going on with this surge of natural disasters. 

So, they don't do anything. In fact, Zindar, proving he's not such a bad alien despite destroying a cloister of holy nuns and their parish priest. and then working to destroy an entire planet and all the innocent people living on it, invites Andrew and Sylvia to live on his utopian home planet and learn their utopian ways. He thinks with their intelligence, they might be an asset to his people. 

With barely an ounce of guilt or sadness, they agree and beam themselves up to this alien planet after Zindar and the other aliens return. 

Then, Earth explodes. The end! 

The movie lives up to its title, at least. 

Movies like "End of the World" are the reason why the series "Mystery Science Theater 3000" exists- to give forgotten, and quite often deservedly so, movies some much needed substance.

Christopher Lee is the only worthwhile presence in this flick. Everything else us dull, except for a few explosion scenes. 

It's worth noting that Sue Lyon is famous for her role as Lolita in Stanley Kubrick's 1962 movie "Lolita." 

However, Lyon, along with her co-star Kirk Scott don't do much of anything in this movie. They don't

Sue Lyon, Liz Ross, and Kirk Scott.

even act. They just talk, and then barely react, and then talk some more. 

You'd think their characters would do everything they possibly could think of to save their planet. They barely even try to formulate a plan outside of leaving the convent and flag down a passing motorist. Once that leads to absolutely nowhere, they give up. I guess I failed to mention that Zindar can control things with his mind and when they flag down that passerby, he blows up the car and its driver with his mental ability. 

So, the two protagonists ditch Earth to go live in the utopian alien world with the same aliens who made Andrew and Sylvia an endangered species. If you can't beat them.... 

They're complete sell outs, and all that's left for them is making more humans on this new planet they're going to have to call home. 

It's a story that brings Douglas Adams' book "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" to mind. Andrew and Sylvia are like Arthur and Trillian after Earth is destroyed in that story.  

Except in this movie, we really don't know what happens to the last of the earthlings once they ditch the planet they barely lifted a finger to defend. 

For an oddball sci-fi movie starring the talented and exception Christopher Lee, "End of the World" is boring and uneventful. The movie thinks its bold and daring, mixed in with explosions and such. 

My copy of this movie has terrible picture quality as I mentioned above regarding the 50 movie sets. There's so much shadow and night shots, I couldn't tell what was happening. And it's all talk and no action. Not even Christopher Lee could make this movie worthwhile, though his performance is nothing short of fantastic. He's the only actor who emotes. The two main characters can't even bother to act shocked or scared. The movie almost doesn't deserve Christopher Lee's presence. 

"End of the World" plays out like a vintage thrift store paperback turned movie, and shot verbatim. It if was a book, at least my own imagination would fill in what's lacking in the movie. If only "End of the World" got the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment. That would have made it worth watching!