iamsam103

Back in 2001, I remember sitting down with my family at 10:00pm to watch 45minutes of pure adrenaline and suspense with no adverts and commercials on BBC2. I would look forward to every Sunday night as I was properly obsessed with 24...it had it all, suspense, action, romance, espionage and believability. Of course, this was all before Jack became an action hero and the "real-time" factor became lost. I liked the fact that in the first two seasons, 20 or so minutes were given to Jack driving or an episode was given to him purely in a jail cell...why? because it made it believable, the fact that the entire season was 24hrs in real time had never been done before, and was done so brilliantly.

Season 1 starts first of all with introducing the characters and then once that's done things get rolling. We meet Jack Bauer, a CTU (counter terrorist unit) agent with a wife and daughter (Elisha Cuthbert). What happens then is that there's a threat against a Presidential Candidate and that Jack must solve the threat. However, things get complicated when his family is put in danger by the same people after to kill the candidate...so jack must now do two jobs at once; save his family and protect the next president, which also includes sniffing out a mole in his workplace. It's all very tense stuff and extremely entertaining, i've since bought the DVD box-set and re-watched seasons 1 and 2 3 times now.

Season 2 is more violent and action packed and also has a very good story, but it's not up to the same standards. However, everything is still believable and the series still holds you captivated. However, it's after this that the series goes downhill... I might be biased because after Season 2, 24 went to SKyOne...which meant advert breaks every 15minutes which ruined the pacing of the show. The real-time factor also seemed lost, with Jack travelling to Mexico within about thirty minutes and driving from one-side of LA to the other in a matter of 2 minutes....the rest of the series (including the now airing season 6) isn't a matter of real-time but how can jack save the world or the USA within 24 episodes. The series has truly gone downhill, and over the last 4 series it's been agonising to watch favourite characters get killed off or disappear..and just when you think the series might end...it doesn't, it's revived for the next year.

It's a shame...what started out as possibly the best show ever, unfortunately transformed to the run-of-the-mill action series. What made the series such a hit was that it was unpredictable, you didn't know who would be a mole and who would die next...nowadays it's all predictable and you KNOW Jack will in the end save the day.

So I'm giving 24 a 9/10. The first two seasons rock my socks off, they're the best TV can offer us but as always, the best things in life never last...and 24 is pure proof of that.

I'm going to point out first of all that I love dragons. I LOVE dragon-slayer and still think it was ahead of it's time! Dragonheart was an amazing experience for me when I was younger, and still now the dragon looks f*ing cool. Reign of Fire was a disappointment, but the dragons were so dam awesome I didn't care....So this is mainly why i watched this film...for the dragon.

I have not read the books, in fact the only thing I do know is that the books author, (Christopher Paolini?) wrote them when he was about 15. Now I'm not doubting for one second that the books are good or bad or whatever, to be honest I have next to no interest in the books and just care about the film adaptation. From the second I saw early pictures of Robert Carlyle in his outfit and of our lead hero (which i've already forgotten his name...)I knew this film would turn out to be a flop. I wasn't wrong, every review I've read about this film has slated it and the trailer made me feel queasy into saying "lord of the rings" ripoff? Now I shouldn't be saying that at all, because it is unfair to nearly ANY fantasy film that comes out nowadays. You can't immediately compare a new film to the best of fantasy films;it might be a totally different type of fantasy and if your already calling it a LOTR wannabe, then it's already failed in your opinion of sustaining any respect...which should be reserved for AFTER you've seen it.

Well i can fairly say, after seeing this film, that it's not just a LOTR rip off, but also a Star Wars rip off as well. The story is basically the same as A New Hope. Farmboy lives with uncle, farm-boy finds something that is dangerous for the King of baddies, King of baddies sends out soldiers to kill him....Farmboy's uncle dies, farm-boy goes off on an adventure under the influence and teaches of an Aragorn wannabe (they even dressed Jeremy iron's character the same as Aragorn!) and he finds himself in the middle of a battle between two forces. My main problem with the film is that, it had so much potential! It was an hour and 40 minutes I think which could quite easily have been two and half hours and been stretched out to make a good film. The pace of the film is horrible, you can tell that the filmmakers are rushing from one set piece to the next to try and usher the film along to the climax to meet under a 2hr mark so that the little kids won't get bored. The acting is around average, Jeremy Iron's, as usual, hams it up and does a good job with material he clearly doesn't seem comfortable with. Sienna Guilroy (spelling?) looks fabulous but she to seems uncomfortable and frustrated with delivering the lines with meaning. The lead actor, (cant remember his name) playing Eragon just wasn't very good, he did an OK job but nothing fantastic or believable, which is needed...it shows just how good it is when you can't remember any of the character's names except for the one which is also the title of the film! I don't know what John Malkovich, Carlyle, Irons, Honsou or even Guillroy were doing here...maybe they felt sorry for the production and took part in it for good faith so it didn't do too badly (this would also explain how Uwe Boll gets good actors, sympathy).

Now, the star of the film...the dragon. The visual effects, aren't stunning or breathtaking, but they do the job well into creating a believable dragon. Two things annoyed me though, when the dragon grew up (going from little puppy dragon to full grown just because it learns how to fly) and suddenly being able to communicate to Eargorn through thoughts...the firs time I heard the dragon speak, or ...think to Eragon, and noticed Rachel Weisz's voice...i laughed with embarrassment for the film. It was done so horribly and was so cheesy I couldn't take the film seriously. To be honest though, the dragon probably does give the best performance in the film...but this doesn't make it worthwhile of any special attention. I admire the fact that the dragon is a different design to what we've been given in the past (not just scales but also feathers) and it certainly was cute at the start after hatching...but it wasn't a "cool" dragon, if I wanted to own a dragon it would still be Draco from Dragonheart.

All in all, the film was a let down and so obviously rushed. If they had taken their time about it, spread out the budget a bit more then the could have come up with a 2 & 1/2 hour something epic that is perfect for kids and not bad for adults. But instead we get an extended teaser trailer for what MIGHT HAVE BEEN a good film. This is silly, unbelievable and sadly...uninteresting hokum which I simply don't care about. The sad thing though, is that if they make the other 2 films...i will probably watch them for three reasons;

1. Sienna Guilroy 2. Dragon 3. Hope that Eragon dies.

Not a good sign is it? Well here's hoping that the other two films find a new director that shows some talent and a degree of respect for the novels, other than simply rushing ahead to get to fighting and it's disappointing climax.

I won't make an essay for this film as I tend to do sometimes, so I'll keep this short.

I saw the Theatrical release at the cinema and really liked the film. It was epic, gritty and emotional and clearly defined Scott as the king of "sword and sandal epics". However, it was missing something. The film seemed incomplete and didn't answer half as many questions as people would have liked. I for one was impressed with Bloom's acting, it seemed he was only good as an elf and although he's adequate in Pirates of the Caribbean, he's never excelled in my opinion until now.

From the moment I saw the film, there was the news of Scott releasing a Director's cut DVD...so I waited...and waited. And finally, it arrived and I bought it. The film has plenty of additional scenes which makes the film all the more grand. Character's have more of a back-story and there's an added sub-story of Sibylla's child becoming King. Bloom's acting really excels even more in this version, as you can truly sense the depression, anger and frustration his character is going to.

This director's cut is a MUST see for any Scott fan or Crusades buff. It's just as brilliant as the first but 10x better!!! If you have to see this film, this is the version you want to see...it's just a shame Fox made Scott shorten the film otherwise I'm sure the response to this film's theatrical release would have been extremely different!