<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Save Your Money
Review: Badly written, badly acted, and not worth the time if you're over the age of 8. Even 8 year olds will find this to be cheesy. Looks as if they filmed it at an out of season Renaissance Fair site. Costumes and special effects and make up try to make up for the lack of plot, writing, acting, and character development, but there are better movies out there for kids to see. Don't buy this.
Rating:
Summary: Max cast no spell on this viewer
Review: Certainly we can argue that the filmmakers tried their best, and they certainly show that they were totally in love with and confident about the movie with a commentary track and "making of" featurette. It's just too bad it was no good, and you almost (almost) feel bad for hating it.However, unless you are a fan of bad movies and enjoy a good sitting, taking them apart for laughs [Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans take note], it will cause great pain and pondering and will leave you with a bad taste in your mouth - well, it will either way, but moving on... Let's start with the actors, Crimble the mouse for instance. Now, I love animals, but I would take no grief if someone stepped on that little rodent with the annoying laugh or tossed him into orbit. Max's acting was especially bad. While the director does point out he has no previous experience, I couldn't help but say out loud in a sarcastic tone, "And it shows." There are many scenes that I couldn't possibly list (as there are so many) that will either have you laughing or just staring in disbelief. You just have to see it for yourself. The music and sound effects were very "stock," even a friend who was watching it with me pointed out the "celtic" soundtrack was on another CD she'd heard. Very little if anything about this movie is original and I could point out obvious rip-offs of other fantasy movies, Neverending Story for one [I think]. It's sad, but I don't think they realized that. Or they did but just didn't care and hoped nobody would sue. It's hard to believe this was released a little less than 2 years ago. Actually, I hope they make more of these so I can continue to riff and poke fun at the newer adventures of Max or whatever else they pull out of wherever it is they got this silly script. Overall this feels of a home movie I might've filmed over the course of a few summer days with friends. They didn't really pay attention to continuity and everything looks and feels cheap. Perhaps if they had worked harder, thought this through better, the budget would not have mattered and they could've made a very nice movie. It can be done you know. By the way, if you're going to film at an off season Ren Fest, at least unboard some of those windows so it will LOOK like people live there. Oh, and make it less obvious you're filming in small area of it and we won't see so much empty space. Just a thought.
Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious "Bad Movie Night" Movie
Review: Do you enjoy films so poor they become unintentional comedies? Do you find yourself delivering running commentaries during movies like the cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000? Then this little stinker is perfect for you! While the film's producers likely had loftier aspirations, Max Magician is one of the funniest fantasy films ever made. From actors who play multiple parts to wonderfully corny dialog to the unintentionally hilarious character foibles, this film is worth every penny if you enjoy "bad" movies. The movie is chocked full of contradictions and plot holes--Max, for instance, should be the butt of every bully at school; he nearly goes to class wearing a stage magician's cape, and his parents constantly complain about his lack of friends--but he seems rather popular with the girls when he does a "trick" that ends up covering a bully's face with egg. Still, when your best friend is a talking mouse with attitude and you look up to "tough" elderly gardeners, maybe you've got worse problems than bullies. That Max's gardening pal receives a warning of great danger from a man killed delivering it doesn't stop him from sending poor Max off with nary a word of caution into a world of poorly-made-up elves (or should they be fairies based on their hodgepodge mythological references?) and sneering, laughable bad guys off doing their "kingly things." The plot thickens about as much as water from there... The DVD version includes a number of "special" (like the short bus) features, including a documentary that features the curator of Natural Bridge droning on about how wonderful it was for a movie to actually film inside caves; the gung-ho armorer demonstrating "realistic" war hammers looking more like croquet mallets; and repeated rehearsals of one of Max's friends cracking an egg on a bully's head. These are nearly as funny as the film itself! The name and cover alone would disuade the fan of more serious fantasy, yet don't let that disuade you from picking this title up. If you want a great laugh at a great price, take Max Magician for a ride.
Rating:
Summary: Max Has Magic!
Review: It is a very entertaining well made low budget children's film. I thought the plot was very believable and not predictable and different enough from similar sounding plots and characters that it stayed within the bounds of creativity and uniqueness. There is a delightful little talking mouse who steals the show. I especially like the boy (Max) & girl (Princess) leads and the boy's mother. Most of the video is of very high quality. There are very few continuity or film problems. The weapons looked very real to me and fight sequences seemed believable. I checked out the existence and reputation of The Science Fiction Chronicle which is displayed on the cover recommends the film and here is what I found: "Welcome to the online home of the Hugo Award-winning Chronicle, Science Fiction's Only Professional News & Trade Journal. Chronicle, which has been published since 1979 ..." I think the make-up was amazing, especially for the characters with full prosthetic make-up. It looked as good to me as what I have seen in super budget hollywood movies and television series. I found the movie amusing and downright funny in parts because of the believability of the acting and the good comedic timing of the actors and the well-written script. There are many tender moments and one very real hanky moment in the film. Kids will identify with and like Max, especially girls. It seems to me that this movie could be a part of sequel or pre-quel.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best Children's movies I have seen!
Review: Max Magician is a wonderful and very enjoyable movie. It was very entertaining and it is great for kids. I recommend that anyone with kids should buy this movie. This is one of the best independent films that I have ever seen!
Rating:
Summary: Poor Home Video
Review: This movie is sure to be among the world's worst children's films ever. As a children's theater director, I never would have cast this sorry group of performers who looked the part but were outclassed by the scenery in terms of their delivery of lines. (Except for the title character, Max who seemed to try.) I watched this turkey in growing disbelief that it could get any worse....but it did! The videography was straight out of home movie production with a large reliance on diagonal wipes in scene changes, and about one overused special effect that was used for everything "magical." The plot was almost non-existent and combined with the actor's sterling delivery managed to bore everyone present at my god-daughters birthday party. Bottom line -- the six year old lost interest after ten minutes and the nine year old lasted a half hour (but it was her present from Grandma so she made the effort). Save your money. Buy any older children's classic from Disney instead.
Rating:
Summary: Poor Home Video
Review: This movie is sure to be among the world's worst children's films ever. As a children's theater director, I never would have cast this sorry group of performers who looked the part but were outclassed by the scenery in terms of their delivery of lines. (Except for the title character, Max who seemed to try.) I watched this turkey in growing disbelief that it could get any worse....but it did! The videography was straight out of home movie production with a large reliance on diagonal wipes in scene changes, and about one overused special effect that was used for everything "magical." The plot was almost non-existent and combined with the actor's sterling delivery managed to bore everyone present at my god-daughters birthday party. Bottom line -- the six year old lost interest after ten minutes and the nine year old lasted a half hour (but it was her present from Grandma so she made the effort). Save your money. Buy any older children's classic from Disney instead.
Rating:
Summary: So bad it's. . . bad.
Review: Wow, this film [stinks]. The writing is awful, the acting is poor, the camera work is clumsy. Some of the worst, cliche-filled dialogue ever. For example, "Don't judge a book by it's cover, Max. Speaking of books. . ." The director tries to deal with awkward transitions between scenes by using various wipes that would look silly in a home video. The weapons look like they are made of cardboard and tinfoil. The plot and world are (badly) stolen from other books and films and nothing really makes much sense. On the plus side, some of the makeup is pretty good and the actor who plays Max looks right for the part and might have done a decent job given better direction. In general Max Magician is a mess. When the evil demon king cut a fart on his way to the bathroom I gave up sitting through the rest of this garbage. On the DVD box there is a 3 and a half star rating from the "Science Fiction Chronicle." Either the Science Fiction Chronicle is an invention of the film's producers or that reviewer was on acid. Maybe the people who made this film would say in its defense that it's a children's movie. They should rent Spy Kids or the Harry Potter films. Sure, those films had bigger budgets, but they also had the technical craftmanship and good writing that Max Magician lacks. I pity the kids who are forced to watch this dreck.
<< 1 >>
| 
