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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Widescreen Edition)

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Widescreen Edition)

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $15.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The League of Extrodinary Gentlemen
Review: A horribly burned madman, known as the Phantom/Fantom, is making very powerful weapons, is creating a world war and worst of all, it's not even the 20th Century yet! To combat this Phantom of the Opera wacko, "M"(Richard Roxburgh) has recruited 7 literary characters, each with their own special abilities and talents, to stop this madman. This team, which includes the Hunter Allan Quartermain(Sean Connery), the Rouge Rodney Skinner aka Invisible Man(Tony Curran), the Scientist Captain Nemo(Naseeruddin Shah), the Vampire Mina Harker(Peta Wilson), the Immortal Dorian Gray(Stuart Townsend), the Spy Tom Sawyer(Shane West), and the Beast Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde(Jason Flemyng and ugly CGI). Together, they form the League of Extrodinary Gentlemen.

This looked like a really fun movie. But in the end, it could of been done better. Now, I'm not very familiar with the comic book so I don't know how true this is to the material, but this film's weakest points are the script, which is terribly silly and pointless, and the horrible special effects. The action scenes were clumsy and you don't find any big suprises out of this film.

The actors range from good to bad. Sean Connery's a great actor, but he's just not believable as Quartermain because of his age. He seems too old to be able to do the physical things he can. Tony Curran is never given a chance to make us like his character. Skinner's a jerk most of the time and going back and forth between an actor in makeup and CGI effects is tedious. Naseeruddin Shah, as Captain Nemo, is fun to watch, but his fighting abilities seem a little hard to swallow. He's one of the better characters in the film. Peta Wilson does a fine job as Mina Harker. Her character is one you're really able to like. Stuart Townsend is great as Dorian Gray. He pulls the role off very well and has some pretty good lines. Shane West is good enough to make us like Tom Sawyer. He's got some really cool moments. Jason Flemyng is perfect as Dr.Jekyll, though the Hyde character looks really stupid(Facial expressions and deformations all over him.)

Overall, I'd say see it at least once. You might like it, you might hate it. Decide for yourself.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Extraordinary Waste
Review: Talent, money, special effects, and time- theirs and yours, wasted.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Guilty Pleasures
Review: Ok, this is a B grade action flick, with bad editing, poor direction and stock acting, if any acting at all. But "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" delivers what it ought, comic book entertainment (oh excuuuuuuse me! Graphic Novel entertainment) from a good cast, with fine special effects, well ok special effects. Think some of the later Batman sequels, and you will have an equivalent to match against your own tastes. This was about as good as any of those.

There is a lot of reliance on CGI scenery, some reasonably good if dull-colored stage sets, and some stupid costuming (Naseerudin Shah as Captian Nemo sports a horror of a fake beard, a welcome mat gone bad, very bad.)

The premise--the league formed to save the world, is what you'd expect from the title. Connery delivers a decent performance of a superannuated superhero, recalled to action, and newcomer Stuart Townsend is a fine, faux Johnny Depp in the role of Dorian Gray. Peta Wilson as Mina turned in an excellent performance. She was apparently not the first choice of the casting director, but she was intense and more than up for the task of playing the vampire with a heart of gold.

The duplicity of one character is about as transparent as a bowl of jello, and the red herring is very red, indeed. Still, I liked the film and enjoyed every guilty moment. Plenty of action, fight scenes, explosions, not much brains, good mindless enjoyment.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: delightful
Review: LXG may be many things, but it's certainly not boring! Great characters and great performances make this an exciting adventure film. This is a classic throw-back to the days of the Saturday matinee and cliffhangers with plenty of wonderful moments. You get lots of bang for your buck with LXG. There's no room for boredom because this sucker MOVES! Fast paced escapist fun abounds as our colorful band of heroes battle to save the planet from being plunged into global war. How could anyone not love this movie? I guess if you just grew up on video games and never read about these characters or watched classic films or B movies about these characters you might not get it, especially if you follow the herd that tells you this isn't what you should be watching, but if you grew up on these characters and classic escapist entertainment then you can't help loving LXG. Boring? No way! There's more than enough thrills and all the actors are superb and the characters are all in great form. It also doesn't hurt that Mina Harker is HOT! LXG delivers.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: BOORING
Review: Dear God,
what a boring movie! By the time I was 1/2 way through it, I didn't give a darn who did it or why. I think the writer and director used every single movie cliche ever devised. Even the in-jokes fell flat. What a yawn-a-rama. Heck, even Wrong Turn help my interest better.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Roxborough Rocks!
Review: First I saw Hound of the Baskervilles. Next I saw LXG. Then I saw Van Helsing. This Roxborough guy gets around! He's got great taste in films. They are all CGI spectaculars, but what isn't these days? Aussie's who blow goats may not like LXG, but other's who are looking for fun should give it a look. Keep up the good work Roxborough!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Worst Movie. Ever! Forget Gigli
Review: Though I haven't seen Gigli just yet, and after this I'm not sure I want to, because if it is worse than this movie, my head will just explode. Viewing this movie, 2 things prove evident, 1 Sean Connery was offered an exorbantant amount of money for this role, and 2 he is a hollywood whore. Don't get me wrong, I love Mr. Conery's acting in all his movies, and if this were a "King solomon's Mines" remake, I could see him as Allan Quatermain, but not here, not in this movie, and my respect for him as an actor is totally shot now. Now I've never read the comic (or graphic novel) and so I cannot make my judgement based upon it, but this movie is the complete bastardization of some of the greatest characters of literary history. Not to mention the fact that, even after logic, and all belief had been suspended, the plot was nonexistant. I must acknowledge 1 and only 1 good aspect of the movie, the special effects, except for an explosion at the begining, were great. The explosion at the begining of the film in Africa, was poorly edited.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fantasy, action and adventure.
Review: This is a movie about a very unlikely group of heroes and superheroes that must join each other to win a battle against an evil madman and save the world from his malevolent, ultimate-destruction plan. This movie is a must for readers of classic literature since its main characters are:
*Allan Quatermain from the novel "King Solomon's Mines" by H. Rider Haggard
*Captain Nemo from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne
*The Invisible Man from "The Invisible Man" by H. G. Wells
*Wilhelmina Harker from "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
*Dorian Gray from "The Portrait of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde
*Tom Sawyer from "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain
*Dr. Jeckyll from "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson
For all of you who don't know who these characters are and have never read the original "League of Extraordinary Gentleman" graphic novels by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, if you really want to enjoy this movie as much as I did, you probably should read some of these classic novels first.

The plot is a very old and tried one, which has been re-done in this movie surprisingly well. Although you shouldn't expect many unanticipated twists in the story, do look for enjoyable references to other novels like: "Crimes of the Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe, "The Phantom of the Opera" by Gaston Leroux and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, among others. It even pays homage to Ian Fleming's 007 (James Bond) characters and Sir Sean Connery himself, as it includes a short banter with two characters named M and Q.

The direction and editing of the movie is good, the story is coherent and follows a reasonable path so you won't be disappointed, the characters and their dialogues are right on target, and the setting, costumes and actor's performances are great. There are only two reasons why I give this movie only four stars: first, some very bad special effects (although, most of them are superb and it's a treat to watch how these were done on the Special Features) and second, a not-so-unexpected ending that yells, "Sequel, sequel, sequel!"

Surprisingly good fantasy/action/adventure movie overall.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: LEAGUE is a solid, if shallow, action flick
Review: Years after his prime adventuring days in Africa, the great hunter Allan Quartermain (Sean Connery) is recruited by the British government to lead an elite squad and prevent a World War. When he finally arrives in London he finds that his fellow squad members are each gifted with unique talents.....and even darker secrets. Reading like a Who's Who of 19th Century literature, Quartermain must deal with characters ranging from the never-aging Dorian Gray to the infamous Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Given the unstable personalities, can this squad complete its mission...or will they turn on each other? THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN takes this conceit and crafts a flick that, while short on depth, provides a non-stop ride of action and thrills. Based on the now-classic comic book series by Alan Moore, the film is wonderfully mounted and harkens back to the old days of 19th Century thrillers. The movie moves at a good clip and never drags as events move along. Also, the special effects are very solid, with Captain Nemo's famous sub, the Nautilus, being the most impressive. By now, Sean Connery is an old hand at this types of roles, and he brings a delightful crustiness as the aging Quatermain. Stuart Townsend is delightfully snide as Dorian Gray, while Peta Wilson smolders with sexuality as the vampiric Mina Harker (the heroine from Bram Stoker's "Dracula.") Naseerruddin Shah is stern and stalwart as the legendary Captain Nemo.
However, the movie isn't without its flaws. Fans of the comics may find themselves disappointed, since the film substitiues a new plot for the comic's and only Shah's Nemo is true to the source. Also, aside from Connery and Shah, the characters are pretty much one-demensional. Indeed, the movie assumes that you already know the back stories of these characters. As a result, if you haven't read the comics or the novels in which these characters appeared, you'd be at a disadvantage. Also, when Quartermain deduces the identity of the real villian near the end of the film, there's no real indication of where he got the knowledge.
Overall, though, LEAGUE is a solid film that will appeal to the action-lover who takes his English lit with a sense of fun, and it's worth recommending if you have the right frame of mind.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Judge Not By Cover
Review: Let me be the first to express my apprehension of watching this movie by previews only; it was strong. The trailers are like most these days, totally misleading. Had I stuck to my impressions of them for this film, I would never have watched it.

I am a big fan of Sean Connery, and so took a gamble. The pay-off was worth the risk. Not only does this film incorporate some of my most favorite literary characters, but with today's technology, brought them to life like only my imagination could have in the past.

Who cares about the foolish plot... this is a showcase for our outlandish and caricatures of literary hyperbole. Dr. Jeckyl has never been protrayed thusly. And Mina, our lovely wife of the vampire hunter who has evolved more than anyone imagined.

If you too are a fan of Doctor Jeckyl and Captian Nemo and Allan Quatermaine, you must watch this film and go for a ride into suspended disbelief. It is not to be missed.

Bon voyage.


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