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Octopus

Octopus

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.48
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: If I could rate this movie with 0 stars - I would!!
Review: All I can say is - avoid this like the plague. Incredibly BAD, amateurish and a total waste of time. You have been warned!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: If I could rate this movie with 0 stars - I would!!
Review: All I can say is - avoid this like the plague. Incredibly BAD, amateurish and a total waste of time. You have been warned!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Can't believe it, but I actually liked this movie.
Review: As schlock fans may have noticed, there have been a glut of straight-to-video creature features released the past few years. Most of them have been crap, some have been kind of fun, but without a doubt, Octopus is the most enjoyable of them all. Granted, this isn't saying much, but I'm almost to say this; I actually liked this movie quite a bit, and when it comes to the sea monster genre, the only movie of the past few years to have this beat is Deep Rising, so it's not surprising to see there are plot similarities between the two.

Both films feature a giant octopus and an oceanliner that's attacked by said animal. But the majority of Octopus is set on a submarine transporting a a dangerous terrorist named Casper (Ravil Issyanov). Playing his escort is Jay Harrington as young CIA agent Roy Turner. The captain of the sub, Shaw (David Beecroft), is a rather grizzled veteran, judging from his initially aloof and sarcastic demeanor. Given the movie's title, it's no surprise to see that the sub will be attacked by a giant sea creature and massive chaos will ensue.

For what it is, Octopus is a pleasant gem. This is a monster movie with plenty of action, suspense, humor, and even likeable lead characters. Now how often can you say that about a STV release? Oh, certainly, it's not without its flaws. The story's about as silly as you'd expect and the final scenes defy logic, but it's all in good fun. Really, the only things about the movie that truly bothered me were some of the sets, which are given a cheesy-looking green lighting, which is something that's always been a pet peeve of mine.

From an action point-of-view, director John Eyres does a fine job, given obvious budgetary restraints. The opening chase/shootout delivers quite a few large-scale explosions and flipping cars, though Eyres does shake the camera during this scene too much for my tastes. The rest of the action's even more relentless, with more fun gunplay, shaking sets, and an exhilarating finale set onboard a cruise, an elaborate setpiece involving not only a large ship, but also a helicopter and a submersible.

Once the mayhem begins, there's almost no point of let-up. So it's a good thing the cast has a good sense of chemistry that makes them rather endearing, with nice, unforced humor that's good for some belly laughs. Faring the best are Jay Harringotn as the inexperienced CIA agent and David Beecroft as the grizzled captain, a mismatched pair that grows on you. Rounding it out as a trio is Carolyn Lowery as an enthusiastic oceanographer. Oh, she's hot, too, and almost a dead-on for a young Virginia Madsen (and does anyone else find it amusing Lowery was also in Candyman, as Madsen's rival?)

Most of the special effects and sets are really quite good, so long as you remember that is was probably shot on a low budget without any major players. The monster is the kind of effects work that you know is obviously CGI, but gets more of the "that's pretty cool" response than unintentional laughter. Hey, by the time I saw the tentacles wrapping around an oceanliner, threatening to drag into the sea, I was completely won over.

Octopus isn't the kind of movie that will any major awards, but it's a fun, unpretentious way to spend 100 minutes. The winning mix of action, adventure, and horror adds up to excitement that not even some big-budget blockbusters could compete with.
*** 1/2 out of *****

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Can't believe it, but I actually liked this movie.
Review: As schlock fans may have noticed, there have been a glut of straight-to-video creature features released the past few years. Most of them have been crap, some have been kind of fun, but without a doubt, Octopus is the most enjoyable of them all. Granted, this isn't saying much, but I'm almost to say this; I actually liked this movie quite a bit, and when it comes to the sea monster genre, the only movie of the past few years to have this beat is Deep Rising, so it's not surprising to see there are plot similarities between the two.

Both films feature a giant octopus and an oceanliner that's attacked by said animal. But the majority of Octopus is set on a submarine transporting a a dangerous terrorist named Casper (Ravil Issyanov). Playing his escort is Jay Harrington as young CIA agent Roy Turner. The captain of the sub, Shaw (David Beecroft), is a rather grizzled veteran, judging from his initially aloof and sarcastic demeanor. Given the movie's title, it's no surprise to see that the sub will be attacked by a giant sea creature and massive chaos will ensue.

For what it is, Octopus is a pleasant gem. This is a monster movie with plenty of action, suspense, humor, and even likeable lead characters. Now how often can you say that about a STV release? Oh, certainly, it's not without its flaws. The story's about as silly as you'd expect and the final scenes defy logic, but it's all in good fun. Really, the only things about the movie that truly bothered me were some of the sets, which are given a cheesy-looking green lighting, which is something that's always been a pet peeve of mine.

From an action point-of-view, director John Eyres does a fine job, given obvious budgetary restraints. The opening chase/shootout delivers quite a few large-scale explosions and flipping cars, though Eyres does shake the camera during this scene too much for my tastes. The rest of the action's even more relentless, with more fun gunplay, shaking sets, and an exhilarating finale set onboard a cruise, an elaborate setpiece involving not only a large ship, but also a helicopter and a submersible.

Once the mayhem begins, there's almost no point of let-up. So it's a good thing the cast has a good sense of chemistry that makes them rather endearing, with nice, unforced humor that's good for some belly laughs. Faring the best are Jay Harringotn as the inexperienced CIA agent and David Beecroft as the grizzled captain, a mismatched pair that grows on you. Rounding it out as a trio is Carolyn Lowery as an enthusiastic oceanographer. Oh, she's hot, too, and almost a dead-on for a young Virginia Madsen (and does anyone else find it amusing Lowery was also in Candyman, as Madsen's rival?)

Most of the special effects and sets are really quite good, so long as you remember that is was probably shot on a low budget without any major players. The monster is the kind of effects work that you know is obviously CGI, but gets more of the "that's pretty cool" response than unintentional laughter. Hey, by the time I saw the tentacles wrapping around an oceanliner, threatening to drag into the sea, I was completely won over.

Octopus isn't the kind of movie that will any major awards, but it's a fun, unpretentious way to spend 100 minutes. The winning mix of action, adventure, and horror adds up to excitement that not even some big-budget blockbusters could compete with.
*** 1/2 out of *****

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: I just bought this movie on DVD. It is not a horrible movie. It is fun at times. I like it. It does take a while to get to the octopus but thats alright. And what are you expecting from a movie that was made on a low budget. If you are looking for a great action adventure and want to see great special effects than this might not be for you.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: IN THE ARMS OF ....
Review: I take OCTOPUS for what I think its producers wanted: a corny, old-fashioned let's run from the giant monster movie. Sure, it's effects are no where near what a larger budget would have entailed. But, still, there are some pretty neat shots, especially of inky's mouth! Jay Harrington as Turner, is so inept and bungling, it had to be intended. How many times does the slippery terrorist slip away? And poor guy won't shoot a gun in cold blood? Remember---he's not a special agent..he's an analyst. David Beecroft as the demoted captain has a world-weary edge that gives his performance both a sharp and comic bend. And with all the crew going psycho after the octopus attack, it certainly lends credence to the government's psychological profiling attempts. The addition of the ocean liner as the climactic finish also bends convention wisely. And, hey, we had to let Turner be heroic at SOMETHING!!!
Corny but I had fun!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: IN THE ARMS OF ....
Review: I take OCTOPUS for what I think its producers wanted: a corny, old-fashioned let's run from the giant monster movie. Sure, it's effects are no where near what a larger budget would have entailed. But, still, there are some pretty neat shots, especially of inky's mouth! Jay Harrington as Turner, is so inept and bungling, it had to be intended. How many times does the slippery terrorist slip away? And poor guy won't shoot a gun in cold blood? Remember---he's not a special agent..he's an analyst. David Beecroft as the demoted captain has a world-weary edge that gives his performance both a sharp and comic bend. And with all the crew going psycho after the octopus attack, it certainly lends credence to the government's psychological profiling attempts. The addition of the ocean liner as the climactic finish also bends convention wisely. And, hey, we had to let Turner be heroic at SOMETHING!!!
Corny but I had fun!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A good movie
Review: In Octpus a nuclear submarine care toxic chemicals is ground at the botttom of the sea. The radiaoctive materials in to the ocean mutate octupus. That grow to godzilla sized porportins.

This move in my opion is a mondern day version of peter Benchly class movie the Beast. Thilled with action, gore and adventure. Rate R for gore bad language and violence. The CIA gut is histirical. If you like thise she action packed octpusus 2.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A good movie
Review: In Octpus a nuclear submarine care toxic chemicals is ground at the botttom of the sea. The radiaoctive materials in to the ocean mutate octupus. That grow to godzilla sized porportins.

This move in my opion is a mondern day version of peter Benchly class movie the Beast. Thilled with action, gore and adventure. Rate R for gore bad language and violence. The CIA gut is histirical. If you like thise she action packed octpusus 2.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 8 Arms of Awesome Action!
Review: Incredible action! Incredible characters! Incredible effects! Incredible octopus! Incredible plot! Incredible villain! Incredible ending! Incredible movie!

Those are the top 8 incredible reason to love OCTOPUS! Do the Rock-topus, baby!

RECOMMENDATIONS.
If you think OCTOPUS is good, be sure to also wrap your tentacles around these:

1. JAWS.
2. PIRANHA.
3. THE BEAST.
4. ALLIGATOR.
5. LAKE PLACID.
6. DEEP BLUE SEA.
8. KING COBRA.
9. CROCODILE (both the 1981 and 2000 versions).
10. TENTACLES.


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