Sumuru

This movie is admittedly not the highest-budget, but what I like is that the producers know that, and refuse to take themselves too seriously. Maybe it would be better to say that the producers spent their money wisely, rather than throwing it into expensive, unnecessary effects.

Filmed in South Africa by a German company, the locations are terrific, the actors are from all over the world (Michael Shanks has a fun departure from "type" as an action hero, and pulls it off well), and unlike some "blockbusters" I've seen, this one actually has a plot. Admittedly, it's not something to examine too closely (or maybe you would -- it's fun to try and come with answers to "why are you wearing metal clothes in the desert?" among others!), but the one-liners are fun, the men are dashing, the women are regal, the actors all seem to have good chemistry on-screen, and it's got a big giant snake.

What more could you ask for when you're looking for light, fun sci-fi?

As far as B-movies go, this is in the middle. I wasn't getting warm fuzzies during the opening crash/landing scene, graphics and simulated tension were horrible. It picked up in the middle and turned weak again at the end. I love how 900 year old spaceships just power on and fly with no issues. The overacting of Simona Williams (Taxan) was a little overkill, while Alexandra's character seemed a little more realistic. For a planet full of beautiful women, I little more skin might have helped moved this B-Grade up a little.

This movie was really bad. I mean really really bad. The scenes were like from a parody and special effect sucked a lot. And it was filmed in 2003!!! i think this was a great waste of time and money and Michael Shanks with his 'Shaggy from Scooby Doo' image just made me laugh. Never waste your time with this picture... I really don't know what the director was thinking after seeing the final cut of this movie but the fights were so unrealistic that it hurt my eyes to look on them. The 'latex cat women' fighters were like sheep just rolling around the scenes and looking frightened around like they had no clue what to do on the scene... I think this is a beautiful example of Bottom 100 picture.

While the 2003 movie "Sumuru" is by no means an outstanding movie, it actually is a watchable movie, if nothing else.

Granted, the storyline presented by writers Harry Alan Towers, Peter Jobin, Torsten Dewi and Sax Rohmer have elements of classic fantasy, laced with some light sci-fi elements. And of course it is topped off by a heap of scantily clad women and set in an Amazonian-like environment (Amazon as in the female warrior society, not the South American region, nor the online giant vendor). And while it does actually sound like it is a good combination for some geeky entertainment, the movie was actually not overly impressive.

The storyline was rather mundane and actually boring, and I managed to endure an hour of the ordeal, then I was tender to the core, good and ready to find something else to watch. And I did; I turned off the movie at that point, because I just didn't have the will or interest to watch any more of this.

Now, what did work in favor of "Sumuru" was the production value, for the most parts. I will say that the movie definitely had a good production and editing to it, and it felt like a wholehearted movie, where it could just as easily has come off as being a project made by young adults for young adults. I liked the costumes and the props, and the setting of the movie was actually good too.

The acting in the movie was adequate. With the movie's premise in mind, you know you are not in for a grand Shakespearian performance here, nor will you witness any amazing performances worthy of top notch awards.

While I searched this movie on IMDb, I saw that there were other - older - titles also bearing the name Sumuru in the title. I haven't seen those movie, so I have no idea what the connection is, or how the continuation of those movies is with this 2003 movie.

All in all, "Sumuru" was not a movie that provided the needed entertainment value, and it just succumbed to becoming too much of a low budget B-movie. My rating of the 2003 movie "Sumuru" settles on a mere four out of ten stars. I had initially settled on three stars, but the movie's overall production managed to lift up the movie a notch.

Gorgeous women dressed as Roman Gladiators traipsing around a desert. Who footed the bill for this ?

Getting a Root Canal or a Colonoscopy without sedation is less painful than watching this epic fail.