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Post by fenris on Jun 26, 2010 16:01:22 GMT
Someone on the SFX forum recently asked if The Asylum has actually made any decent films. Here's the reply I posted;
Of The Asylum movies that I've seen, I genuinely enjoyed Dracula's Curse and Merlin and the War of the Dragons (retitled Merlin and the War of the Dragon Empire on Region 2 DVD). And while Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus doesn't live up to it's majestic title, it's a painless way to spend ninety minutes and is no better or worse than many of the 1950s monster movies it's paying homage to. The Haunting of Winchester House is an effective & eerie little ghost story, and The Asylum's recent Sherlock Holmes (which receives a not-bad review in the current issue of SFX) is a quietly-outrageous, quirky and entertaining steampunk adventure, with steam-powered mechanical monsters, a villain cybernetically-enhanced with cogs and gears, clockwork robot suicide bombers, and an airborne climax in the skies over London.
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Post by fenris on Jul 28, 2010 12:57:58 GMT
It's been announced that Mega-Shark vs Giant Octopus is getting a direct sequel, entitled Mega-Shark vs Gigantosaurus. Sadly, Debbie Gibson will not be returning. Instead, the delectable Ms Gibson is starring in another Asylum production for the (American) Syfy channel - Mega-Python vs Gatoroid! This latest entry in The Asylum's loosely connected 'Mega' series not only has Gibson appearing alongside fellow 80s popstar Tiffany (who starred in The Asylum's Mega-Piranha), but also includes a no-holds-barred cat-fight/sploshing session between the pair. Here's a clip, together with further info about the movie; www.joblo.com/arrow/index.php?id=23296
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Post by fenris on Aug 7, 2010 11:09:06 GMT
Plenty of Asylum movies on Syfy this week;
Today (07/08/10) 12:50 Mega-Shark vs Giant Octopus 20:00 100 Million BC 21:40 Journey to the Centre of the Earth
Sunday (08/08/10) 14:40 Journey to the Centre of the Earth 18:20 30,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Monday (09/08/10) 20:00 Titanic 2 (UK premiere!) 21:50 100 Million BC 23:30 Snakes on a Train
Tuesday (10/08/10) 20:00 War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave 21:40 Universal Soldiers 23:20 AVH: Alien vs Hunter
Wednesday (11/08/10) 20:00 Transmorphers: Fall of Man 21:40 30,000 Leagues Under the Sea 23:20 The De Vinci Treasure
Thursday (12/08/10) 20:00 The Day the Earth Stopped 21:40 Titanic 2 23:30 Transmorphers: Fall of Man
Friday (13/08/10) 16:00 Princess of Mars 20:00 War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave 21:40 100 Million BC 23:20 Snakes on a Train
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Post by fenris on Sept 16, 2010 19:12:06 GMT
The Asylum's output may shamelessly cash in on major studio releases, but what do you call a film that shamelessly cashes in on an Asylum movie?
Made-for-cable movie Malibu Shark Attack has been retitled Mega Shark in Malibu for it's Region 2 DVD release, and is being described as an entry in The Asylum's 'Mega' series, despite the fact that it's not an Asylum production and is entirely unrelated.
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Post by fenris on Dec 1, 2010 22:02:14 GMT
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Post by fenris on Feb 18, 2011 16:46:36 GMT
Popped into my local Sainsburys today and happened to see Merlin and the War of the Dragons (one of The Asylum's best movies) on DVD for just a pound! So I snapped it up. An absolute bargain.
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Post by fenris on Feb 22, 2011 12:26:45 GMT
Popped into my local Sainsburys today and happened to see Merlin and the War of the Dragons on DVD for just a pound! So I snapped it up. I first saw Merlin and the War of Dragons when it was screened on Zone Horror a couple of years ago, and really enjoyed it. Having watched it on DVD last night, a second viewing has actually made me appreciate it even more. Yes, it was filmed in just twelve days on a budget of less than $1 million, and as it's set in 460AD, I doubt that few of the swords and helmets being used are historically accurate, but I don't give a monkey's. As far as I'm concerned it's a top-notch sword & sorcery movie, far better than many of the mega-budgeted fantasy efforts that the major studios have foisted upon us in recent years, in their quest to produce the next Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. I'm sure I read when Merlin and the War of the Dragons was originally released that director Mark Atkins intended it to be the first in the trilogy. Sadly, in the three years since there's been no news of any sequels, and I presume that it didn't do as well in DVD rentals & retail as The Asylum were hoping. The fact that Shine's TV series Merlin (which War of the Dragons was clearly designed to cash in on) was dropped by the NBC network in America after just one season (subsequent seasons have been shown in the States by the Syfy channel) probably didn't help.
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Post by fenris on Mar 29, 2011 12:43:28 GMT
The Asylum's latest mockbuster, Battle of Los Angeles, was released on Region 2 DVD on 13/03/11, and I bought it last week at my local Sainsburys for only £4.
Although it's clearly The Asylum's take on the mega-budgeted studio movie Battle: Los Angeles (playing at a multi-plex near you as I type these words), Battle of Los Angeles' primary template is actually Independence Day (1996): within the first four minutes of the film, a two mile-wide circular spacecraft has descended out of the heavens to hover menacingly above LA's skyscrapers, proceeded to devastate the city with an expanding burst of energy, then disgorged waves of saucer-shaped fighters that attack all of the military bases nearby. However, the movie that Battle of Los Angeles most reminds me of is Neil Marshall's Doomsday (2007). Just as that film was packed full of homages to the various genre movies that Marshall grew up watching during the Eighties, so director/scriptwriter Mark Atkins' Battle of Los Angeles contains numerous references to sci-fi films produced up until the late Nineties. There are nods towards War of the Worlds (1953), Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Screamers, Men in Black and even Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
In terms of narrative, Atkins piles incident upon incident, resulting in a mad meld of aerial dogfights, immense property damage, mind-controlling foo fighters, alien drones of all shapes & sizes, time-displaced pilots, references to the actual 'Battle of Los Angeles' (a real-life UFO incident that occurred in February 1942), city-wide electrical/magnetic pulses, Majestic 12, shape-shifting robot assassins, vehicles retro-engineered using Roswell technology, journeys at light speed, and a climatic confrontation with a Lovecraftian alien king. It's like watching an entire cliffhanger serial in a single viewing. And just when you think things can't get any more batshit crazy, Nia Peeples drops in on the action (literally) as a MJ-12 agent clad in a skin-tight blue catsuit, dispatching alien drones with a katana.
The extensive CGI used throughout the film ranges in quality, from being as impressive as you'd expect to see in a bigger-budgeted movie, to decidedly dodgy. But on the whole, it passes muster.
I can't say, in all honesty, that Battle of Los Angeles is actually a good film. And I'd hesitate before recommending it to anyone else. But speaking for myself, I thought it was an absolute blast and I enjoyed it immensely. It stands alongside Merlin and the War of the Dragons and Sherlock Holmes as one of the best movies produced by The Asylum so far.
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Post by fenris on Apr 17, 2011 15:27:55 GMT
Although best known for their mockbusters and more recently their Mega series of monster movies, The Asylum also specialise in a number of other genres;
Disaster/Christian End-Time Movies. 2012: Doomsday 2012: Ice Age (in post-production) 2012: Supernova Airline Disaster The Apocalypse Countdown: Jerusalem Megafault Meteor Apocalypse Titanic II
Movies based on Classic Novels. 3 Musketeers (in pre-production) 2010: Moby Dick 30,000 Leagues Under the Sea Allan Quatermain and the Temple of Skulls H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds War of the Worlds II: The Next Wave I Am Omega Journey to the Centre of the Earth King of the Lost World Land That Time Forgot Pirates of Treasure Island Princess of Mars Sherlock Holmes
Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery. Dragon Dragon Crusaders (in pre-production) Dragonquest Merlin and the War of the Dragons
Teenage Sex Comedies. #1 Cheerleader Camp 18 Year Old Virgin Barely Legal (in post-production) MILF Sex Pot Sorority House Party
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Post by fenris on Apr 23, 2011 16:38:33 GMT
Here's a link to the trailer for The Asylum's latest mockbuster, Almighty Thor. Call me crazy, but I think I'm genuinely looking forward to it more than Marvel's mega-budgeted 3D Thor movie.
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Post by fenris on May 20, 2011 15:18:22 GMT
Here's a link to the trailer for The Asylum's latest film Ballistica, which is loaded with familiar B movie faces, and seems to owe a large debt to Kurt Wimmer. Be warned that whoever edited this trailer, instead of following the traditional practice of giving us clips of the movie's best bits, has instead apparently compiled a condensed version of the film, seemingly revealing almost the entire plot.
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Post by fenris on Jun 13, 2011 14:21:26 GMT
As I've previously mentioned in this thread, I think The Asylum's best movie so far is Merlin and the War of the Dragons, a first rate sword & sorcery adventure that was directed by Mark Atkins and filmed in Wales (coincidentally, my second favourite Asylum flick Sherlock Holmes was also filmed there). So I'm really looking forward to their upcoming fantasy movie Dragon Crusaders, which is currently in production in Wales with Atkins at the helm. Especially as the latest production stills on the movie's page at The Asylum's website show that some of the key cast-members from Merlin and the War of the Dragons apparently have major roles. Dragon Crusaders seems to be The Asylum's entry in the current wave of medieval horror/action movies that mostly centre upon Crusaders and other adventurers battling against witches and the occasional demon during times of plague (examples include James Purefoy as Solomon Kane, Sean Bean in Black Death, Season of the Witch with Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman, James Frain in Dark Relic, and Purefoy again in the non-fantasy but very bloody Ironclad). The film's storyline apparently has a band of fugitive Crusaders attacking a pirate ship, finding themselves cursed as a result (hmm, shades of The Black Pearl), and having to defeat a powerful wizard - who can transform himself into a dragon - in order to save themselves.
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Post by fenris on Jul 16, 2011 20:36:48 GMT
Here's a link to the trailer for The Asylum's latest mockbuster, Almighty Thor. Call me crazy, but I think I'm genuinely looking forward to it more than Marvel's mega-budgeted 3D Thor movie. According to Amazon, Almighty Thor is being released on DVD in the UK on 8th August 2011.
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Post by fenris on Jul 26, 2011 15:30:55 GMT
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Post by fenris on Sept 19, 2011 16:00:31 GMT
I think The Asylum's best movie so far is Merlin and the War of the Dragons, a first rate sword & sorcery adventure that was directed by Mark Atkins and filmed in Wales. So I'm really looking forward to their upcoming fantasy movie Dragon Crusaders, which is currently in production in Wales with Atkins at the helm. Several actors from Merlin and the War of the Dragons return in Dragon Crusaders, and looking at the cast listing for the latter on the IMDB I've spotted similiarities in the roles some of them play in both movies. For example, in Merlin and the War of the Dragons Iona Thonger played Ingraine - Uther Pendragon's future wife and Queen, while Carys Eleri and Nia Ann played Viviane and Nimue - the Ladies of the Lake. In Dragon Crusaders, Thonger is portraying the 'Forest Queen', while Eleri and Ann are playing two of the 'Witches of Caer'lo'. Hmm. When Merlin and the War of the Dragons was originally released, director Mark Atkins said in interviews that it was intended to be the first in a trilogy. Unfortunately it didn't happen, but I suspect that with Dragon Crusaders, Atkins has taken a script for one of the planned Merlin sequels and subjected it to a rewrite.
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