Movie Review: Stargate (1994)

Stargate (1994) co-written and directed by Roland Emmerich

Egyptologist Daniel Jackson (James Spader) is on social and financial life-support. He has theories about the Great Pyramid of Egypt that don't sit well with the academic community. Specifically, he argues that it is more ancient than believed and the locals must have had access to other help or technology. With no real support, he accepts a mysterious translation job from a woman associated with the U. S. Air Force. In a prologue, we see that woman as a young girl at an archaeological dig in Egypt as it uncovers a massive burial stone and a huge metallic ring. Now, both items are hidden in a military bunker where civilian and military experts are trying to decipher the writings on both. Jackson makes a breakthrough when he realizes some of the symbols are constellations, not hieroglyphs. Meanwhile, taciturn Colonel Jack O'Neil (Kurt Russell) is brought in to head the project for the military. With Jackson's knowledge they are able to activate the ring, which is a portal to a planet in another galaxy. O'Neil leads the expedition to the other side, where they discover a pyramid and a culture under the thumb of Ra (Jaye Davidson), who is less the Egyptian god of the sun and more of an alien exploiting the human race.

The story has an intriguing set-up, with the mystery about the portal and the mixed motivations of the various characters. Director Emmerich (most famous for Independence Day) is a crowd-pleasing director who puts everything on the screen. The plot is straightforward and the story leads to another triumph for humanity, even as the baddies do their best to mess up things. The action is fun and the special effects (almost entirely practical) hold up after thirty years. Spader and Russell give their usual good performances, providing more humanity to characters who could have been cookie-cutter stereotypes. The enhanced Egyptian mythology works well for the story and provides an alien aesthetic that is not too odd to be believed.

Recommended--this is classic 1980s/1990s sci-fi big budget entertainment.

Movie Review: Godzilla (1998)

Godzilla (1998) co-written and directed by Roland Emmerich

The king of all monsters was given a reboot in the late 1990s by Roland Emmerich, the director of summer popcorn blockbusters like Independence Day and 2012. This movie follows the over-the-top entertainment of Emmerich's other films.

The story introduces Dr. Tatopolous (Matthew Broderick) investigating the impact of Chernobyl radiation on earth worms (it makes them 17% bigger!). He's pulled out by the military to investigate another large, apparently radioactive monster. The army has only found footprints, but the incidents of the big monster lead from French Polynesia through Panama and onto New York City. Another female scientist (Vicki Lewis) is both threatened and attracted to Tatopolous. They move quickly from Central America to New York, where most of the movie takes place. Godzilla shows up in the city and wanders around, with the army destroying stuff around the amazingly nimble giant lizard. The monster vanishes as the city is evacuated. Mayor Ebert (Michael Lerner) panics about his reelection as he deals with the army's destructive campaign against Godzilla (who uncharacteristically inflicts minimal damage on the buildings, unlike the army). Plucky junior reporter Audrey (Maria Patilo) is Tatopolous's college ex and the whipping girl of TV anchor Charles Caiman (Harry Shearer). Caiman is the typical sleazy top dog in the TV studio, hitting on Audrey while using her research as his own. Also, a Frenchman (Jean Reno) follows Godzilla around, though the reason is a bit mysterious at the beginning.

The movie has lots of flaw. First of all, too many characters are introduced, leading to one-dimensional performances and cliched plot lines. The French character seems especially shoehorned in to crack jokes about Americans and (maybe?) to appeal to French cinema goers. Godzilla, though the title character, is relegated to tertiary standing among the cast. Also, he is almost unrecognizable. Physically, he's slimmed down and more alligator-like with smaller eyes and longer limbs. Godzilla's iconic roar is barely discernible in the noises made by this movie's monster. His atomic/fire breath is used once or twice but not explained, even though the movie seems obsessed with making pseudo-scientific explanations about everything else.* And Godzilla is upstaged by his offspring, who go after the main cast like the raptors from Jurassic Park (they even look a bit like the raptors) in the final part of the movie. The script is full of cliches that make the movie feel tired and lazy. The cleverest part of the movie is Mayor Ebert's helper with whom he constantly bickers and at the end is named Gene, when he gives a thumbs down to Ebert. Even so, that joke is aging out as fewer people have a living memory of Siskel & Ebert's At the Movies.

Not recommended--at least the old Godzilla movies earned their cheesiness through being entertaining and being focused on the monster.



*To be fair, the old Godzilla movies don't explain his atomic/fire breath either, but they never bothered with technical explanations.

Movie Review: Independence Day (1996)

Independence Day (1996) co-written and directed by Roland Emmerich

This summer has lots of sequels and remakes coming out, so I'm reviewing the earlier works and seeing if they will inspire me to see the new films!

Only July 2, a mysterious object shows up near the moon. It broadcasts a signal that's picked up on Earth. No one can understand it--not scientists at S.E.T.I. (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) or the Pentagon. Soon enough, the object releases over a dozen 15-mile wide saucers that fly over various capitals (London, Paris, Moscow, Washington D.C., etc) and important cities (like Hollywood, I mean, Los Angeles). One down-on-his-ambition scientist (Jeff Goldblum) figures out the signal is really a countdown, so he rushes to the White House where his ex-wife is serving as Press Secretary. He just barely convinces the president (Bill Pullman) to flee before the attack happens. All the alien ships attack at once, wiping out cities across the world in spectacular displays of fire and destruction. Fighter pilot Steve Hiller (Will Smith) leads his squadron against the Los Angeles ship where they utterly fail. He is able to knock down one alien fighter ship and takes the alien pilot captive. The Americans regroup at Area 51 (the US Government has been hiding an alien space ship there for decades) where they plot to defeat the alien menace.

The movie is a pastiche of other science fiction films, borrowing from War of the Worlds, Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien, and the television mini-series V. I had the problem (which I had twenty years ago when I saw it in the theater) of being reminded of all these other better films. The eventual solution is almost completely implausible and an awkward blending of War of the Worlds and Star Wars. Even so, the movie is enjoyable as an action romp if you set your brain in neutral and enjoy the ride.

The sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence, looks like more of the same from the trailer:



Unless I hear some stellar reviews or friends invite me to see it, I'll probably wait for the DVD release.