Those strange terribly made independent movies.

Have readers ever rented movies from movie stores like Blockbuster with titles they've never seen or heard of? Have readers ever searched these "movies" on the Internet with little or no search results?
It has happened to me a few times. I've picked films from Blockbuster with titles I've never heard of and show almost no search results on the Internet.

And every single time, these movies such as Junior Pilot or Stranded are not only unheard of, but are so poor in quality. The worst part of all of this is that I am paying an estimate of the same price that I pay to rent regular movies.

Junior Pilot was so terribly made. A movie about a plane being hijacked by a pair of mad doctors with syringes pointed at anyone who came near them. The plane showed in the movie consisted of different shots of different airplane models. Models as in the type or airplane, not scale models. It's like shooting a video of a racing sports car and then shooting another shot of a regular car and depicting them to be the same car in the movie.

If that's not bad enough, then I don't know what is. Paying the same amount for cheap acting, poor storyline and dialog as a good movie with the opposite quality is simply a rip off.

Is it a wonder why corporate film makers such as Hollywood seem to dominate the film industry? Many defenders of these independent films claim that corporate filmmakers have a larger audience due to massive advertising. I totally disagree.

Corporate filmmakers or any filmmaker who properly invests in their films seems to get a huge audience and profit.
Take for example the first Star Wars movie (A new hope) released in 1977. It became a huge hit in America and the world, not due to the massive advertising, but the money it's makers put into it.

Even the most famous Star Wars fan film, Star Wars: Revelations catches up to the quality of the Star Wars franchise due to money being invested into it. This amount was only a few thousand, but it worked.

Until and unless, these independent filmmakers invest a reasonable amount in their movies, it's unfair for their productions to be sitting on Blockbuster shelves and costing the same approximate amount for rental as a heavily invested movie does.

I urge readers to search a movie on the Internet they see at their local video store if they never seen or heard of it's title before wasting their money on it.

Harry Potter seems to have copied so much from Star Wars.

There have been many striking similarities between Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker of Star Wars. Some of these comparisons are mentioned on this site.
But aside from those mentioned similarities, many things in Harry Potter seem to have been directly copied or plagiarized from Star Wars.

Lord Voldemort is a name so strikingly similar to Lord Vader. The dark lord is a name mentioned in Star Wars to describe Darth Vader and other Sith Lords.
"I'm not turning to the dark side" is a line by Harry Potter towards the end of the first novel. The dark side is a word first mentioned in Star Wars.

Also towards the end of the first novel, Voldemort tells Harry Potter "better save yourself and join me" this sounds strikingly similar to Darth Vader's line to Luke "Join me and together we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy."
The replies are more or less the same too. Harry Potter's reply: "NEVER!!!"
Luke Skywalker's reply: "I'll never join you!"

Professor Dumbledore seems to be a copy of Gandalf in appearance and Obi-Wan Kenobi in character.

Gandalf:

Dumbledore:

Peeve Riddles being Dumbledore's former student before changing into Voldemort is an almost exact duplicate of Anakin Skywalker being a Padawan of Obi-Wan Kenobi before turning into Darth Vader. I've even come across sources claiming JK Rowling stole the word "muggle" from another writer's story.

Darth Vader looked like an exactly normal human being as Anakin Skywalker before falling into the lava on the planet Mustaphar. Ever since he has been a monster behind his mask and suit.
The same parallel is that of Tom Riddle looking perfectly normal until he turns into Voldemort and becomes a hideous looking monster.

Some rumors were also spread before the release of the last Harry Potter book that Voldemort was Potter's father. These rumors were most likely a result of JK Rowling making her story so similar to Star Wars theme wise.

Even the marriages of Harry Potter, Ron Weasly and Hermione mirrors that of Luke not marrying the main heroine Leia, though for an entirely different reason.
People would have to read the novels of the Star Wars sequels where Return of the Jedi left off to know what I'm talking about regarding the marriages.

The only people who would disagree with me on these facts would be the die-hard Harry Potter fans.

Resident Evil one review

To give a full review of Resident Evil, I'll have to discuss each version of the game.

Resident Evil for PC/Playstation1:
The original Resident Evil game (pictured above) for PC/PS1 were more or less the same game as I recall.
The only difference there might have been were the prizes you earn after finishing the games. Finishing the PC version with Jill Valentine will give you an infinite sub machine gun.

Finishing the PC version with Chris Redfield gives you an infinite old-fashioned automatic rifle used in the early 1900s.

Other than those few differences, the are the same game pretty much. The background music and everything else stays the same. My personal views on this first release is that it missed alot of details and corrections that were released later in the Director's Cut version duel shock version.

The background music was poor and did not really match with the atmosphere. There were hardly any difficulties to choose from in the game. Finishing the game led to very limited prizes besides the rocket launcher, the machine guns depending on the characters and the "special key." The special key allows you to unlock a wardrobe and take out new clothes for your characters.

For this version of Resident Evil, I'd give two stars out of five. One extra star above the lowest rating for the special sub machine gun that you can obtain with Jill, not possible in the other versions of the game.

Resident Evil:Director's cut: This is the same game as the the Dual shock version, which I'm about to discuss except the background music is the same as the first version of the game.



This is the best version for Playstation out of all the Resident Evil issues. (only one version of RE was released on PC).
Excellent updated, [creepy] background music. It contains various difficulties, including the ultimate difficulty dubbed "arranged mode" which completely changes the the setting of the game. Items are in completely different places, characters have different outfits, new camera angles and additional new features.

The arranged mode can be a little frustrating with the difficulty that it's at. For example killing a regular monster can require more than one magnum round. For those unfamiliar with the Resident Evil series, the magnum gun is the ultimate gun, killing everything except for bosses in one shot.

To erase your frustration with the arrange mode's difficulties and completely conquer the game to win prizes, simply go to the difficulties menu at the beginning of the game, go down to arrange mode and hold the right direction button until the arranged mode turns green.

My rating is four stars out of five. Everything is excellent, save for the length of the game play and realism.

Resident Evil: Remake
This is the best version in the series. I haven't finished it yet or progressed much far, but so far it is everything Resident Evil was meant to be. So far I'd give it five out of five stars. I just wish the background sound tracks were the same as the Director's Cut duel shock version released on Playstation.
Otherwise the graphics are excellent, realism is at it's peak. The game play is almost entirely different from the PlayStation & PC versions with the puzzled re-arranged and completely enhanced making it more challenging than ever.

I give this a full five star rating. The video below speaks for the game:

Hitman Trilogy review for PlayStation 2

Hitman Two: Silent Assassin
I first played this game at a friend's house on his Xbox back in 2002-2003. Seeing the realism in it and it's similarity to James Bind games, I actually liked it and rented it for my PlayStation 2.

The things I really liked about it were the long number of missions, the realism, the various challenges.
One thing I really have to complain about is difficulty using the fiber wire in this particular game.
The character really takes a really long slow swing when trying to take out an enemy or a target. Slow enough that if you miss even the slightest bit, the victim is fully aware of the attacker and reacts fast.

Using the anesthetic to knock out a non-target is also another pain, I simply don't use it. It's the same difficulty as the fiber wire.

My way of scoring through the game is using the kitchen knife picked up in the first mission "anathema" and using that in place of the fiber wire & anesthetic to get a silent assassin rating.

Another negative I have to say about this game is certain missions can be extremely boring. The mission in Indian Punjab for example is extremely tough, requiring you to find an almost-impossible-to-find pathway to get you to the next end of the level. There are quite a few missions like this.

The saving options are also good. They give you a fair amount of time to think & strategize your mission and where exactly to save.
The harder level you choose for your game, the less saves you get; and I've read staying in stealth is also more difficult as you select higher difficulty.

To sum it up, I'd give this game a four out of five stars. One star less for the reasons I mentioned. Quite a fun game otherwise. If you're a fan of the James Bond games, then you're bound to love this game.

Hitman:Contracts
This was probably my least favorite game in the series. For one the number of missions are just to few compared to it's predecessor and successor around twelve or thirteen as a recall correctly.
Some of the missions are also incredibly boring & annoying. As an example, missions towards the end of the game take you into extremely dark places where you have to keep putting on your night vision goggles, which changes your views completely.

You're forced to switch back & forth between goggles and normal view several times to adjust to the area you're in the mission.
You also have to go deep into underground areas staying areas in stealth mode, which means no running.

On the positive side, you can use the fiber wire much, much more easily. Instead of an anesthetic bottle that you had to stick into a victim's face with such great difficulty, you know have a syringe and easily kill them with a jab. One is to knock out the victim the other to kill.

The key configuration is also somewhat improved. You have to place the game son PS2 to understand what I mean.

My overall rating would be a four out of five. One star less for the negative things I mentioned.

Hitman:Blood Money
In my opinion, this game is the best of the three. Similar key configuration to the second game. A large number of missions, better weapons.
It's more or less the mistakes of the second game removed and combined with the positives of the first game in the trilogy.

The game also offers various hints & clues as well is various killing tactics, like setting booby traps for the target(s).
But in return, there is a price to pay: you don't get to save your missions while exiting.
You have to finish the mission and can only save and restart where you left off without leaving the mission.

The game also has alot more extras, such as the amount of money needed to spend on staying undercover. You have to bribe civilians or the local police chief, but only if you were seen.

The incidents lead Agent 47s appearances to come in the papers. The game also has an in dept look at the story of Hitman and political climax around the whole story. You get to see everything unfold through cut scenes as you progress through the game. This makes the whole game alot more enjoyable.

The game also has a few surprises that I don't want to spoil for my reader.

My overall rating is five out of five. If you liked the previous Hitman games, you'll love this game. And if you play the other two Hitman games after this one, you may experience disappointment.

I hope my review will be useful to readers who are interested in this game trilogy.
A thing to note is that even if you play this game on Xbox it's no different than the PS2 version. I cannot comment on Blood Money for Xbox360 as I haven't played it on that counsel.
I played Hitman two on Xbox and PlayStation Two and I can tell you they're the same thing, even the key configurations are the same as I recall.

Resident Evil tricks

In Resident Evil one, move close to a Zombie with a shotgun and aim up and fire, this kills the zombie in one shot. If there are two in front of you, you can kill them in one shot the same way.

Picture puzzle- In the mansion room with the paintings, go from youngest to oldest.

1-New born baby

2-infant

3-lively boy

4-young man

5-Tired middle aged man

6-bold looking old man.

7-People mourning the dead.

In Resident Evil Code Veronica X to kill the bandersnatchers quick and fast, equip yourself with the M-100P, go right up to the bandersnatcher. make sure there is no distance between you and the creature and quickly fire at it without stopping and it will die in five rounds at the most.

In Resident Evil 2 use the flame rounds on the plants with Clair's scenario. They will die in one shot. Also in Clair's scenario, use the acid rounds on the lickers and they usually die in one shot. In Leon's scenario, use the flame thrower you find on the plants and they die in one shot. Use the magnum for boss fights.

To kill the tyrant monster in Leon and/or Clair's scenario, use the submachine gun and keep shooting non-stop till the tyrant goes down.

4 film favorites: The Superman Quadrilogy DVD review

Christopher Reeve's Superman quadrilogy is now finally on a two-disc set with two movies per disc one on each side.

Superman three and four are the same Deluxe Editions released in 2006 alongside Superman Returns.

As a person who bought this set for the cheap price of about $12.50 Canadian, I would say the deal is fairly satisfactory- however, if you're willing to pay less, then you should also be ready to expect lower quality.

For instance, the first movie in this particular set is not the same as the individually released version which means it does not contain any extended scenes like the original 2000 DVD release did. Nor does it have the same special features (ie. deleted scenes).

It's the same as the theatrical edition with the cleaned-up opening credits and audio commentary by Mr Ilya Salkind as the 2000 DVD release had.

Superman Two is also the same as the 2006 release of the two disc "special edition" of the movie, except it is without the second extra features disc. It contains the same theatrical cut of Superman Two with a director's commentary, a deleted scene and a theatrical trailer(s).

As stated earlier, the other disc contains the exact Deluxe editions of Superman three & four released in 2006, so there is nothing further to say about them.

In short I'd say it's a fair deal for the price you pay.

My recommendation:
If you're desperate for a DVD movie collection of Christopher Reeve's Superman films but are pinching pennies and don't care about picky things like the exclusion of extended scenes, then I say go for it.

However, if you're a die hard fan like me and prefer your favorite films to their fullest, then I suggest you buy each film individually. Buy the extended cut of Superman: The Movie, the two disc special edition for Superman two, Superman three: Deluxe Edition, Superman four: Deluxe edition. It may cost more, but for die hard fans it's definitely worth it.

I would give this four disc set two stars out of five. I would definitely recommend this over the earlier quadrilogy known as the complete Superman collection which contain all four movies, except the movies in that edition have none of the extra features like their 2006 Deluxe editions and are far more costly as they come in four discs instead of six.