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Hollow Man

Hollow Man

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $13.46
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Lame story, Great effects
Review: Director Paul Verhoeven (Showgirls, Starship Troopers, Basic Instinct) puts out another stinker, this time a sexually explicit (although tamer than usual for Verhoeven) look at the Invisible Man genre.

Kevin Bacon stars as Sebastian Caine (with that name you know we're in for it), a research scientist working on an invisibility potion for the military. After a (just barely) successful experiment on an ape, he (against the cries of partners Elisabeth Shue and Josh Brolin) decides to take the next step and inject himself with the serum. The plan is to bring him back in three days, but after the rejuvenation serum fails, he is stuck invisible for over a week.

At this point, Hollow Man veers from mediocre effects thriller to sexually deviant mediocre effects thriller. Caine begins exhibiting the behavior of a teenage boy on the loose, with violent consequences. Bacon does manage to breathe some life into the character, especially at the beginning, but Shue and Brolin are nothing close to believable in their roles.

On the plus side, the special effects are marvelous, particularly with "minor" ones like the latex mask Caine wears to give his face some visible form. You can see through the eyeholes to the back of the mask. Actually, all the "invisibility" effects were stunning, but you can't expect effects to carry a film with a weak storyline. Hollow Man might be good for a late night TV viewing, but I wouldn't suggest paying money for it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An entertaining FX thrill ride
Review: "Hollow Man," directed by Paul Verhoeven, is a sci-fi thriller that takes on a classic theme: invisibility. Although this topic has been portrayed in numerous movies, TV programs, and comic books, "Hollow Man" distinguishes itself with a combination of cutting edge special effects and menacing thrills. Kevin Bacon plays the film's main character, Dr. Sebastian Caine--whose name struck me as a subtle biblical reference to the "mark of Cain" (Genesis 4:15)

The effects are truly the star of the film, and the filmmakers exploit the invisibility motif in many memorable scenes. Sequences such as a hunt for an invisible escaped gorilla are shot with flair. Good production values add to the film's visual appeal: every would-be "mad scientist" would drool over the high-tech laboratory created for Dr. Caine. But be forewarned: the film's gory violence may not be suitable for all viewers.

The only real flaw of the film lies in the characterizations. Bacon's Dr. Caine is an unlikeable, arrogant creep who shows his disregard for both human and animal life from his first scenes. The film's one almost sympathetic character, a soft-hearted veterinarian, is whiny and annoying. As a result, I found myself not caring much for any of these characters. But this criticism aside, "Hollow Man" is an entertaining and visually stunning thrill ride.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: HOLLOW MOVIE
Review: Yes, the effects are brilliant; director Paul Verhoeven hasn't lost his flair for cinematic flair. Elisabeth Shue is lovely; Josh Brolin is studly; and Kevin Bacon is appropriately malevolent. The movie's focus however is so shallow and the characters at times so unlikeable, we find outselves wondering how much of ourselves to invest. HOLLOW MAN is entertaining enough, although I can't for the life of me figure out the allure of being invisible. The climactic scene is tense and well done, but the Michael Meyers when is the villain really dead schtick is still getting old.
Not a bad movie for a popcorn Friday night, but it could and should have packed more punch!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: come on, show some love
Review: Think of this movie as a big budget slasher flick, sci-fi hybrid,and you might enjoy it.It has a mean streak a mile long and jaw-dropping effects.you can pin point when it shifts from sci-fi to slasher flick. the dvd is packed listen to the commentary its a good one.a guilty pleasure for sure,its better than the 2 1/2 star rating above.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Movie, Takes a Little Long, But Still Great!
Review: Sebastian Kane is a scientist for a secret government organization. His ex-girlfriend Linda and her boyfriend Josh are his co-workers, as well are Sarah, Frank, and Carter. They work deep underground planning something secret. It's so secret, in fact, that a dozen other movies were made about it. It's called "The Invisible Man." Great movie, but I can get some more originality when I'm spanking it. Basically, Sebastian (Kevin Bacon, omg so sexy, no just kidding--Elizabeth Shue is hot!) volunteers himself to be a guinea pig for an invisibility serum and when he is unable to be brought back, he takes revenge on his co-workers in various Paul Verhoeven-gory fashions. Paul Verhoeven is a genius: he brought us classics like Starship Troopers, Robocop, Total Recall, and Basic Instinct, and this movie is going into those classics. It's scary (loved the dog scene), it's gory (loved when ___ is dropped onto the metal and it dices his throat open), and it's got a lot of high points to it (the fight between Sebastian and Josh is the best part). It's got good acting (loved the guy who played Carter--is he in anything else? The guy does good!), some sensual parts, some genuine "holy hell!" parts, and some good one liners ("And I thought killing you would be hard!"). Enjoy this flick! It's fast-paced, and great.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The Invisible Plot
Review: This movie has great special effects. There. Now that I've gone out of my way to say something good about this film, here's what's wrong with it:

About three quarters of the film does little more than establish what a childish and jealous egomaniac the character played by Kevin Bacon is. After he is turned invisible, all he can think of doing with his powers is moving one scientist's drink when she is not looking and molesting a couple of other women. While Bacon becomes increasingly mentally unstable thanks to the invisibility treatment, the audience is supposed to believe that the so-called brilliant scientists who helped turn him invisible are now unable to turn him visible again because they have suddenly turned so stupid that they don't bother completely replicating the conditions that allowed them to bring a gorilla back from invisibility. Instead they search for an entirely new way of bringing Bacon back.

Finally, during the last 20 minutes of the film after Bacon completely snaps there is a long battle scene which only makes sense if you believe the good scientists' intelligence levels have now been reduced to that of vegetables. For example, if the scientists put on their infrared goggles they are able to see the heat patterns of their invisible guinea pigs. But during the battle sequence they don't bother wearing their goggles for more than 2 seconds at a time (well, okay, one of them finally realizes it might be a good idea to keep them on, but only after Bacon has flooded the area with enough hot steam to hide his own heat signature). The hero of the tale, played by Shue, is also so stupid that, after turning on the sprinklers so she can see Bacon's outline, she stands in a hallway staring in only one direction, allowing him to just waltz up to her from the other direction and attack her from behind (maybe she thought it was one of those new-fangled one-way halls). I could go on much longer about how utterly inane this film is, but I won't.

Why can't Verhoeven still make great satires like Robocop instead of unleashing insulting special f/x showcases like this upon the public?

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Cheezy rape fantasy...
Review: I think the movie should've been titled either "Sorrow Man" or "Jealousy Woes". What in God's name were they thinking? Those effects took hours, days, weeks, months, FOREVER! And all for what? So we can learn that an invisible "genius" can get jealous and kill all his friends? Well, I can't say I expected anything more from the director of Showgirls and Basic Instinct. On second thought, maybe I did a little, because I enjoyed Total Recall and Starship Troopers. (And just between you and me, I liked both Showgirls and Basic Instinct. Shhh.)

The score is better than the film. And, you know what? The special effects here are overrated. Stupid cartoon CGI. 'Hollow Man' is just another ret@rded mess puked out from the bowels of "Hollow"wood.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Hollow Man (2000)
Review: Very well done sci-fi flick with some very talented actors, a great director, original storyline and excellent special effects! Kevin Bacon stars as an arrogant, piggish scientist working on making mammals invisible, and when he succeeds in turning an ape invisible and turning her back, he decides to go to the third step and do experimentation on himself with the help of his team. But when he cannot be brought back to his original physical form, things turn deadly as Bacon decides to take things a little too far. Very well acted, directed, scripted and designed, this is a clever flick with suspense, chills and thrills all combined nicely with twists and turns, and humour. In my opinion, it's one of the best of its kind and obviously deserves some appreciation.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: HOLLOW SCRIPT (WHAT A WASTE OF SOME EXCELLENT FX)
Review: The buzz for this film has always been about the fabulous graphics that make Kevin Bacon disappear. Sadly, they stopped there. They should have continued to make the script disappear, then the silly set, and finally every visible element of this film. Because, there's nothing else there to show.

And this from a man who's behind all-time rockers like Total Recall and Basic Instinct (Verhoeven)! Here, he seems completely oblivious of the fact that all the brilliant visuals in the world (and this has some outstanding ones) cannot hide a a script from "Scripts-R-Us". Even the predictable slasher gore and the breasts on display (ah, the corrupt power invisibility can bring!) couldn't salvage the movie's tedium.

Possibly OK rental, nothing more.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: could have been better
Review: Man gets to be invisible. When he turns invisible, he goes crazy and drama continues. Movie was good but not believable. It seemed like it was all make believe. Maybe I am putting to much thought into the plot, after all its just a film, and its for pure entertainment.


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