The Days and Sly Dynasty Warriors

Disaster in Japan, Romance in China, and Rocky in the USA

The Days

This one season series is a dramatization of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident which could have laid waste to a third of Japan's land mass. When compared to the Chernobyl series this certainly feels like it had less budget and isn't as tight - especially with a few too many slow motion shots and an opening twenty(?) minutes that everyone can safely skip through (just watch the Earthquake then speed up till you get to the Tsunami). Outside of those two issues, this is actually quite decent and you really get a sense of dread with the hardships these people faced or are still facing.

The plot includes politicians and inept big wigs trying to save face while the poor workers at the site keep trying so hard to win each step forward only to get pushed down a flight of stairs as a reward. Only recommended if that is your sort of thing, want to know more about the Fukushima incident, or enjoyed the Chernobyl series (just lower expectations a bit).

Dynasty Warriors (2021)

Right in the opening text it says this movie is based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms story AND video games which gives you fair warning about how its going to go - and the opening army battle scene sets the tone with "the three heroes" Liu Bei, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu saving the incredibly fat womanizer Dong Zhuo from the Yellow Turban rebellion and their Yellow Turban sorcerer / necromancer leader via wire-fu and ridiculous effects to Chinese Synth metal which are right at home in the Dynasty Warriors game series. This happens for every and any fight scene.

While that's enough for an interactive game a movie needs more plot and isn't it lucky the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is pretty popular? To that end, it is kinda confusing why they decided to go off and butcher it a bit by introducing the god-forged weapons which was either a way to excuse their insane powers (which they had prior to receiving the weapons) or to switch POV to Cao Cao who is equally important to the over all story. The biggest problem though? This whole movie only covers the setup for the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. All the interesting stuff is forming and starting to get interesting and then they end (at the battle of Hulao Pass for those wondering) which feels like this needs a sequel or a remake. Probably both.

Sly

There are a growing number documentaries on celebrities it seems and this is Sylvester Stallone's one. Unlike Beckham's series, this is a movie which primarily focuses on Stallone's script writing, acting, and clashes with his dad who really sounds like a piece of work. It's interesting to hear how he injected parts of his own life throughout the Rocky series and his rise to fame but ultimately its just ok. Not saying Beckham's a more interesting guy, but his media certainly makes for better viewing. Recommended only for Sylvester Stallone fans.

Samaritan Interceptor

That would be a funny title, but no - this is a two movie review! :P

Samaritan

A super powered individual (Sylvester Stallone) finds it hard to stay in retirement when a kid who is one of his biggest fans, begins snooping to prove that he is his long vanished hero. It's an ok story with decent but back-loaded action with only a medium budget (or that's what it felt like anyway). The kid is the most annoying and obviously gets himself into trouble a lot, but he has to be I guess. An OK watch for Sylvester Stallone fans but it takes awhile to warm up.

Interceptor

Unlike Samaritan, this movie is action all the way and stars Elsa Pataky as the last line of defense on one of the USA's nuclear warhead Interceptor bases when it comes under siege. Despite the bad guy talking too much, multiple plot and defense holes all over the place and a good dose of silliness, this is an entertaining movie if you turn of your brain. Turn off your brain hard. Since I like silly action flicks, this was fine for me but your mileage may vary.

Rambo: Last Blood

He doesn't actually drink coffee. Or eat.

Retired soldier John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) now mostly spends his days training horses, enabling his PTSD, and blaming himself for people he can't save. Thanks to the actions of a stupid teenager, he finds a new foe in a medium sized group of Mexican thugs whom he is quite happy to do very bad things to.

Still many HPs to go.

While the predictable plot moves at a good pace, almost all the action is loaded onto the tail end of this film and it is well worth the wait as people die in very horrible and entertaining ways. The rest of the movie? Eh, passable enough - but I'd probably just watch the last bit again. Still an ok film for action fans or Rambo fans.  I give it two and a half cartridge traps out of five.

Blaugust Topic Idea: Reviews (and a Daylight Review)

An updated map would have solved everything.

Due to terrible luck, a bunch of people get stuck in a tunnel as it collapses on both ends and begins to fill with water. Their only hope is an ex-rescue specialist (Sylvester Stallone), who does everything he can to defy authority and put himself in there to buy those civilians more time.

It works well as an action disaster movie though other than Stallone, you will probably not care for any of the rest in the party despite their individual five minute intros prior to the tunnel event. There's a lot of dead weight too, with at least a third of the group being removable and it wouldn't change the story much - though obviously it looks better if Stallone saves more people.

Make that 1/2 the group could have been removed.

It's hilarious to think that with an updated map of the tunnel system, the majority of the movie wouldn't have needed to happen. Stallone didn't even have to go in at all, or at least - not the way he did. Ah well, the benefit of hindsight right? This one gets two bracelets out of five.

Blaugust Note: Reviews are another main stay on my blog and are also good "ammo" to load up on for future posts! They also have the benefit of being pretty fast to write given most of them would be one and done. :)