Stealth

Stealth is the story of three special forces navy fighter pilots involved in the worlds most advanced jet fighter system. When their department brings in unmanned fighter technology, capable of evolving and producing artificial intelligence, they are leery, and for good reasons. However, the AI jet ends up causing both trouble and help to the world. The plot isn't much different from sci-fi movies ever before, man builds technology, technology gets too smart, takes over. However, this movie had a lot of twists and turns that made the plot note-worthy. The speed and graphics were great, and who doesn't love high-speed stealth fighter jets? Plenty of realistic explosions, gunfire, and action to satisfy all but the most die-hard action junkies, and enough plot and even a touch of romance for the more drama oriented crew. There was a bit of language, and one bathing suit scene that make it a less suitible movie for younger kids, but the violence level was not anything like most great action movies in the last few years, and the language wasn't horribly bad either. I enjoyed this movie thouroghly, and if you are at all like me in your movie interests, this one is worth a watch. Hoever, it's not going to blow your socks off or anything like some movies do. It's unique, but not enough to really stick out amongst the myriad of other hot-action movies out there today.
Due to language, brief immodesty, and fairly old plot line I say this one is something like a 6.5 or so..

August Rush

I really liked this movie the first time I saw it, but by about the third or fourth time it was even better. I like dramatic love stories for some reason.. guess it's a bit of the romanticist in me :) But anyway, the story was well-plotted, the acting was great, and the music was awesome. It's the incredible story of a little boy that lives in an orphan home, but he knows his parents are out there somewhere. His parents don't know he exists, because his dad never knew about him, and his mother was under the impression that he had died at childbirth because her dad thought that would be best. Anyway, the boy hears music in everything, and longs to be able to play out what he hears in his head. Eventually he ends up getting a guitar, learning sheet music, and after only 6 months of musical involvement he was considered a child prodigy and had his own concert in New York city square. Well, all through the movie it builds up to a major climax at the end, although it's a bit unexpected when it comes. I kept getting closer and closer and my fingertips started getting whiter and whiter, and by the end I had chewed my nails off!! haha.. yea.. I get into movies just like I do with music. Anyway, I didn't know weather to laugh or cry at the end, but I knew I had to own it.. now I do, and I've watched it several times :)
The involvement of extramarital sexual relationships that is the baseline of this story may not be appropriate for young kids, but nothing graphic is shown, so i didn't think it was too much of a problem.
Anyway, I think due to awesome story, and great attention-grabbing capacities throughout, i have to award this one a 10.. definitely for older kids it merited a 10.

Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride"

Well, the name of this film might scare you off, but actually it was really cute and funny :) It's a kid's cartoon, but it has enough to keep teens and adults interested too. Basically this guy is betrothed to be married to somebody he's never met for monetary reasons, but on meeting it was love at first sight. However, when he was out in the woods practicing his wedding vows for the following day, he accidentally places the ring on the finger of a girl stuck in an enchantment because he thought her finger was a branch. Anyway, the story twists and turns and you never know what to expect next, but it all ends out good ;) The dead people are not gross or anything, and there's lots of funny parts.. like toward the end this old granny is beating on one of the skeleton dudes, and he's like "sweety pie! buttercup! gertrude!" and she looks at him and realizes it's her husband.. it was pretty funny :) anyway, I think there might have been one place where there was a word slipped in, but it was hardly noticable.. overall I think that this is a good family film :)
I say it gets 7/10

Hitch

Well, I typically like any movie with Will Smith in it, and this one wasn't much different :) It has a little bit of language in it, but otherwise it was pretty clean. It follows the life of a "love coach" who helps guys create openings to get the girl they love to notice them. Love is his job, but he never expected it to find him again after a messed up high school crush he had once had. Well, he ended up falling in love, and his tactful wittiness and charm that he had learned over many years of working with other love life situations did him well. However, a series of great misunderstandings nearly ruined his job, love life, and reputation. The movie shows a lot of things guys have to get through when trying to impress a woman.. in fact, both sexes will find lots of humor when it exposes stereotypical attitudes/reactions from both men and women. There were plenty of laugh out loud moments and a few times that had me sitting forward dying to know what was going to happen next. Too bad that it had to have language or I could totally approve it for family viewing..
Anyway, I say it deserves a 6/10 rating

Secondhand Lions

This movie was one of the best family-oriented movies I've seen in a long time. Although my cup of tea is more in the action genre, this one I would let the kids see. It's really funny, and tracks well with the feelings of a boy dropped into a completely new environment. At first you get the impression that the end is going to be really sad, but it turns out to actually make you laugh even though it's sorta sad at the same time. I was laughing out loud in plenty of places in this movie, and although there are probably a total of 10 explicit words used in the film, I thought it was ok, especially since we have a language filter on our dvd player. My whole family watched this movie at least twice, if not more in the one time I had it rented, and they all loved it. I almost guarantee you will laugh! Not bad for having practically no action.. not bad at all. One of my personal favorites in the humor section :) 8 stars!

The Dark Knight

This sequel to the "Batman Begins" movie was really quite impressive. I liked it better than the first one in fact. I've seen it twice in the theater, and it was well worth it! I highly recommend seeing it on the big-screen, it was pretty impressive. The movie was also designed for IMAX theaters, so if you get a chance, go see it in IMAX. Seriously, if you go see this movie, you will not want to leave to go to the bathroom, or get refills on anything! The story progresses, as with many superhero stories, the public begins to hate batman, and the Joker fuels that hate by telling everybody that the things he is doing are because of the batman. I'm not going to spoil the story, but the movie does have somewhat of a sad ending. This is easily one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. I was annoyed by the fact that the actor for Rachel Dawes was different, but after a little bit, she seemed just as much to be Rachel as the previous actor, so it wasn't too bad. The violence and language are not too bad, although I would not let any young kids see this movie, because aside from the violence and language, there are some kinda creepy and scary parts. Overall, if you liked batman begins, you HAVE to watch this one, and if you've never seen batman begins, watch it, and then you'll want to see this one :)
9 stars!

Wall•e

I really enjoyed Wall•e. As with most of pixar's films, it was funny, and involved intimate objects acting like humans as main characters. I saw it in the theater, and I got a lot of good laughs. I highly recommend this film as good, clean family fun. It is the story of a robot (wall•e) left behind to clean up the earth, since there was too much trash. The humans all went out to space in a big space station thing, leaving hundreds of robots behind to clean up the trash. Our main character is the last one left, the rest had broken down before their task was complete. There are a lot of places where you can laugh at the personality of this little robot, especially when he falls in love with another robot from the space station that had been sent to find out if earth was inhabitable yet. If you liked cars or toy story, you will probably like Wall•e. I give this one 9 stars. It was well worth the time it took to watch it.

Hancock

Hancock was a pretty good movie, the action wasn't all that hot, but it was really funny. Unfortunately, they had to put a lot of language into it, which makes it unsuitable for family viewing. Other than that it was pretty good. The story follows the life of Hancock, who has strange superpowers that he has no idea how he got, since he can't even remember where he came from. In the end it turns out that he is actually a kind of angel, sent to protect the earth, along with several others who all had fallen in love, and therefore died. I can't tell too much or it will ruin the movie, but I say it was worth watching, although I would not pay for a ticket to see it in the theater. I give it 6 points.

National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets

This sequal was a great continuation of the story in the first National Treasure movie. It was almost better than the first one actually in my opinion. One thing that kinda bugged me was that two of the main characters were living together when they weren't married.. other than that though this was a very good movie, and as far as I can say completely family-friendly. This time again it is  a search for treasure greater than imagination can fathom. However, this time it's a much more ancient treasure that they are looking for. The infamous city of gold fought over for centuries by the spaniards and other europeans, who eventually gave up and decided that the city did not exist. Once again the trio of treasure hunters are on the scene trying to find the treasure, while clearing up a strange mystery surrounding the family ancestors' involvement with the assassination of President Lincoln. I think the movie was very good, especially as far as sequels go. I can fully recommend this movie, and although I like some better, this one gets a higher rating because it was pretty clean overall. I give it a 9 point rating.

Shooter

This movie was not only very cool, but a bit disturbing too, only because the things that happen in it could be happening as I write this post. This is the story of military elite sniper Bob Lee Swagger. He and his spotter were left out in the middle of nowhere in Africa after they unknowingly helped cover a U.S. government war crime. Sgt. Swagger's spotter was killed, but he survived. Later, the same individuals came to Swagger with a story of needing to prevent a presidential assassination, while using his abilities to plan the assassination of Ethiopian Prime minister, who would have revealed their secrets. Swagger was blamed for the crime, and ended up struggling with his very utmost to survive the attempts to eliminate him by the bad government officials responsible for all the trouble. There is not as much blood and gore in this film as many action films, but the violence is still unacceptable for kids to see. Also, there are a few scenes in which a woman is not very appropriately dressed. Thankfully they were fairly brief scenes. The action and story-line of this movie were absolutely amazing. Probably one of the best action stories I've ever seen on film. If it weren't for the scenes with the immodestly covered woman this would be one of my favorite movies of all time. As it is it was really good, and any action fan will like it. There are plenty of gun-fights, and some awesome explosions as well. The end of the movie was one of the best endings I've ever seen on a movie. Swagger does win, and when the man co-responsible for all the government crimes asks as Swagger is getting ready to shoot him, "are you out of your mind? You know I'm a United States Senator!" Swagger replies as he pulls the trigger, "Exactly"

I can't approve of this for family viewing, but for teens and adults who like action stuff, this one is great. The story and filming gets a 10, but because of the immodesty and language, I docked it down to an 8.5

The Princess Bride

I've probably seen this movie a hundred times, and it never gets old. It is the perfect mix of action, romance, fantasy, and humor. It's a family-friendly movie, other than one scene at the end that I'm not sure why they had to put in there.. If you don't laugh when you see this movie I will be VERY surprised, and I'll know who doesn't have any sense of humor :p

Girls and guys alike love this movie, it's not a "guy" or "girl" movie, it's great for anybody. When I fist heard what it was about, my thoughts were similar to the little boy in the beginning of the movie.. where's the action? but I loved it then, and I still love it now. It's no wonder the little boy asked his grandpa to come read the story to him the next day! Monsters, giants, true love, miracles, sword-fights, pirates, danger, kidnapping, adventure, and sprinkled generously throughout, a hilarious sense of good humor that will have you doubled over with laughter. This movie gets better each time you see it, and although does not fit into my favorite style of movie filled with lots of action and fighting, it easily has become a classic in most families. Few people have ever seen this movie one time. Usually, it's either none at all, or dozens of times. I guarantee you won't be disappointed with this movie. Some little kids may not be able to see it, but my entire family has seen it dozens of times, and I have a lot of little siblings. No doubt about it, this one gets a 10 star rating :)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

This is the fourth episode of the ever-popular Indiana Jones series. When I heard they were making a fourth one, I was really doubtful that it would be that good since it's been like 15 or 20 years since the original three came out. However, I was really impressed with this movie, and it's probably the best come-back-later movie I have ever seen. It had a bit of language in it, but not too much. If you liked the old Indiana Jones movies, you will like this one just as much, if not better. If not, you should see the others first because this one will be millions times better if you've seen the originals. Having the same actors as were in the first ones was a major plus. Harrison Ford will always be the only guy capable of playing Indiana Jones, just like Johnny Depp is the only guy who could play Jack Sparrow. I was pretty happy with this movie as a whole. It had some kinda strange extra-terrestrial alien thingys in it, but it's a fiction movie, so it was cool. The other Indy movies had similar stuff too. All my teenage siblings and my parents saw all these movies and thought they were really cool, but for younger kids this is not that great of a movie to let them watch. Some people might get get a creepy feeling on their skin watching one scene of the movie when a guy gets covered by a swarm of ants and dragged into their huge nest and killed.. it wasn't graphic or anything, but some people may not like it too much. My sister saw it and thought it was fine though, so it wasn't too bad. I rate this one 8 out of 10.

Iron Man

As an action fan, I knew it was very unlikely that I would dislike this movie, and I was right :) There were several parts that I would've been MUCH more pleased with it if they had left out, (eg. making the main character be quite the womanizer...) and there was some language, but other than that it was REALLY good! The action was realistic yet not gratuitously gory, and the storyline was impressive. There were a few parts of the movie that were almost overdone, where the first reaction was to say "that's SO impossible!" but hey, it was still pretty cool. Mr. Stark is a high-tech weapon designer, but he gets captured by terrorists wanting to force him to build them high-tech weapons. However, he goes under their noses and builds a special suit for himself, using a special arc-reactor that kept his heart beating since it had been damaged when he was captured, he built a powered suit that was bulletproof, and gave him lots of strength. However, after he got away the suit malfunctioned and pretty much got destroyed. After that though, Mr. Stark realized that the enemy could capture his technology, and he decided to temporarily shut down weapons manufacture, and secretly build himself a much better suit in the basement of his huge, high-tech house in California. Soon, he got involved in some major anti-terrorist battles, and ended up fighting people he had thought were his best friends.
The movie was not particularly child-friendly because of the language, and some violence, but for teens and up it was great! Probably one of my favorite action movies I've seen so far. It is more of a "guy thing" movie though, so girls may get bored by it. However, I loved it, and suggest you try it out, if you're a fan of superhero stuff, or action movies, you will like this a lot.
Because of the language, sexual content, and mild violence, I can't approve this as a full 10 point, family-friendly movie, but it gets 9 points.

A Walk To Remember

Now before I can even start writing a review on this movie, I have to say I'm not usually a fan of romantic movies. I've always been a hard-core action fan. However, this movie touched me like none other. I had trouble not crying by the end of the movie. I cannot recommend it highly enough. This is the story of Landon Carter, a wild rebel and prankster, constantly making bad choices, and how his life is turned around by the faith and love of Jamie Sullivan. Eventually they fall in love, and every day his life is touched more and more by her. He starts to take her faith on as his own. Then, one fateful day, Jamie tells him she has a terminal disease, and has had for the last two years. Landon is torn up inside, but he still loves her whole-heartedly. I don't want to ruin the movie, but without knowing a little bit about the end, you might not think this movie would be any good. All I can say is that the last five minutes of the movie make up for anything less desirable in the rest of the movie. There is some language throughout this movie, but compared to most movies out there today it was pretty mild. Whether you are a crazy action fan like me, or a romantic, or even not a movie watcher at all, I think you should watch this movie. It will probably move you to at least wanting to cry. I know it did me, and I am not one to be emotionally stirred in that way by any means. This movie was friendly for most of the family, the only objectionable part as far as that goes was the little bit of language. I give this movie a 9.5 out of ten. I really enjoyed it, and I'm sure you will too!

Prince Caspian

I thought this movie was pretty good. It didn't have as much action as the movies that I really like, but it was family-friendly, and it was still pretty good. The script writers changed the story a little more than they did in "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe", but it was still a lot closer than most movies are. It's really hard to make a movie that actually follows the book closely, especially when the book is a lot of narrative like C.S. Lewis' Prince Caspian was. There were a few parts that I missed from the book, but most of the story was there, they just had to add some stuff to take up the time that the book described all that was going on. I'm not sure if I liked it or not when they made it so that Prince Caspian had a crush on Susan.. it was kinda funny, but kinda weird. It did make for a very funny line when Susan told him it would never have worked out anyway because she was 1,300 years older than him in Narnian time. I thought that was pretty funny. Really they didn't change that much, it's just that Lewis wrote things like "they battled on for hours" that then they have to make up as they go along when they write the movie. There were a few parts in some of the battles that were pretty ridiculous like Susan flinging arrows by hand that actually did some damage... but it's not supposed to be a realistic movie since it's fantasy, so I didn't mind. Hopefully they'll make the rest of the series as well! I was very pleased with this movie, and highly recommend it. The battles are far from gory, but some young children may be frightened. Other than that, anybody could watch this movie. I think it's worth going to see it on the big screen now, but if not, at least get it when it comes out on DVD, you won't regret it.

Live Free or Die Hard

This movie was absolutely incredible. Although there wasn't nearly as much blood as some action movies out there, they did a really good job of making the action very realistic and believable without getting too graphic and gory. It's the fourth of July: a former U.S. national security worker hacks the entire U.S. computer system in order to steal hundreds of billions of dollars. John McClane (Bruce Willis) is suddenly dragged into the midst of a major battle against the hackers after he was deployed to pick up a suspected hacker who actually turned out to be McClane's best tool to eliminate the hackers. The action is non-stop, and the stunts and effects are just to where you would say "That would be almost impossible!" but yet not so unrealistic as to make it dumb. If you're an action fan, this movie was awesome. Like nearly all action movies, there was some language, I don't really pay too much attention to counting words or anything, but there was a sprinkling of some dirty words. Other than that, I thought the movie was spectacular. The violence was too much for kids, but for teens and adults this was one of the better action flicks I've seen. I give this one an 8.5 out of 10 stars. It would be higher, other than entire-family oriented objectionable material.

Mummy

The only reason I even watched this movie was because I couldn't find a good christian review on it anywhere I looked, so I decided to give it one. I got it for free (on my ipod again) so I decided to try it out. I didn't think it was too bad, but a lot of people would freak out seeing this movie. It's kindof a mix between a horror thriller and an action flick. There were plenty of parts that even made me shudder, and I'm not easily upset by stuff like that. Several people get eaten alive by scarab flesh-eating beetles, mummies come to life etc.. surprisingly in this movie there was almost no blood at all. However, the cursed mummy guy who comes to life would probably freak out most people trying to watch it. The storyline of the movie was pretty good, and the computer generation was incredible, however, this was not a movie that I would say "You've got to see this!" by any means. It was ok, but really pretty much a waste of time to see it. The "creepy" factor was pretty high as well, so definitely this is not a children's movie. If you want to watch it, go ahead, the only warnings I have are that in the beginning the pharaoh's mistress is somewhat inappropriately dressed for a short introductory scene, and the dead people coming to life are pretty creepy. Other than that, very little blood, and no language that I can think of. This movie gets 4 out of 10

Fantastic 4: Rise of the silver surfer

This sequal to the first F4 movie was really good. In fact, I liked it better than the first one. In this part of the story, a new enemy arises with a very strange power that the 4 have trouble finding the scientific meaning for. I can't tell too much about the actual story without giving it away, but I highly recommend this movie. This one was more family-friendly than the first, but it wasn't quite stand-alone enough to understand it without having seen the first one. Therefore, if you decide not to let the family see the first one, there's not much point in letting them see this one. The language is toned down a bit from the first one, though it's still strong in a few parts. Overall, I recommend this movie if you even sort-of liked the first F4. Well, I give this one an 8 out of 10, it was definitely worth watching.

Fantastic 4

Fantastic 4 was one of my favorite superhero movies ever. It was really similar to the Incredibles, only with real people, and stunning graphics. A team of scientists go to outer space to explore a strange DNA-based radioactive space cloud that has appeared near the earth. However, something in their calculations was wrong, and the cloud reacted sooner than they had expected. The scientists were all affected, their DNA code was changed, and they had unusual powers. Each one of them had different results, but together they worked as a team and accomplished a lot. I can't tell much about who the enemy is, or anything else without giving away the story, but it was a really good movie. There is some language, and some violence to a degree, though it's not bloody at all. There are several scenes which could be frightening to young children, but a lot of people will enjoy this movie. If it weren't for the language I'd give this one a 9, but because of that and a few other un-family-friendly parts I have to give it a 7.5 out of 10.

Blue Streak

This movie is about a hard-core bank robber who's team-mate plays traitor, causing him to loose a several hundred thousand dollar diamond. After spending two years in prison, he tries to go find the diamond again, but it ends up that he has to impersonate a police detective to do so. He does really well, because he knows all about how criminals think, so the police station all admires him. However, he is constantly in search of the diamond, so while on one side he is fighting for justice, on the other he's fighting against it. The story was actually kinda cool, and it had a lot of funny parts. However, if it had not come with my ipod I wouldn't have bothered to watch it. It was nothing spectacularly wonderful, though it was pretty good. The downsides of the movie: for starters, it has a lot of crude language. Also, it doesn't help that the main character is a crook. However, it was an ok movie if you don't mind having to go through hearing a lot of language and crude humor in a few places. This movie was not whole-family friendly because of the amount of language, and there is a little bit of violence. However, for older kids it was an ok movie. I give this one a 5.5

The Patriot

This movie is by far one of the best revolutionary war movies that I have ever seen. The emotional pull is huge. When watching this movie, it's hard not to want to go shoot some redcoats yourself! This is the story of Benjamin Martin, a man who does not want to go to war, but ends up leading one of the most successful bands of militia men in the rebel army when his son is killed by a brutal Redcoat leader. I've seen this movie twice now. The first time I saw it was many years ago, and it didn't touch me like it did this time. The uniforms, explosions, blood, weapons, acting, and scenery all look like it's the real thing in this movie. The storyline is a little bit predictable, but still very good. There were many times when I wanted to start cheering along with the men in the movie. It's one of those that makes you feel very patriotic, especially one scene where Mel Gibson (Ben Martin) rides up on his horse, bearing the flag that his dead son had rescued and kept in his saddle bag. All the American soldiers start cheering as the flag passes, hats in the air, and morale high. It was really a great scene. The movie had plenty of parts that made me very angry as well, like when the British officer crowded a whole village into the church, locked them in, and burned the church down to the ground, killing all inside. I could relate to the feelings of the militia soldiers in that part. One other scene of questionable appropriateness was when Ben goes on a rampage, killing about 25 british soldiers mostly with his tomahawk after they had killed one of his sons for no good reason. That was when he decided that this was now his war, and he took action. I could relate to his actions, I would probably have done beyond that if somebody murdered someone I care about, but as far as being in this movie, it did get a little gory for being entertainment. I highly recommend this movie for 12+ children/adults. One other interesting thing about this movie is that I personally know one of the actors in it. He's just an extra basically, but it's fun to know he's in the movie on screen :)
Because of the violence this film was not family friendly, but It was really really good, so I give it an 8.

The Kingdom

This movie was a very touching film. I thought it was really good. The violence was not nearly as bad as some reviews made it out to be, though still not quite family-friendly in that respect. The language was very realistic, making it unacceptable for children, I didn't count, but I'd guess I heard the "f" word probably somewhere around 30 times in the film, besides a sprinkling of Jesus' name used disrespectfully, G-D, D**n, S**t, Ba***rd, B**ch, etc... Being that I'm in the army, and that's about how a lot of soldiers do talk, I'm kinda 'used' to it you might say, but I wish they didn't have to put so much in this movie. However, I strongly recommend this movie if you can look past the language. It really makes you think, and it has a great plot. The story revolves around a small group of special ops FBI agents who go to Saudi Arabia to investigate a major terrorist bomb attack on an American oil base. There are three factions in this story- the Saudi Police/military, the U.S. FBI, and the Saudi Muslim terrorist extremists. One of the hard things about watching this movie was that this could all be happening for real as I watched it, as the type of terrorist weaponry such as car bombs and suicide bombers are being used by the terrorists right now against my fellow soldiers in the middle east. The graphics were very realistic in this film, the explosions were awesome, and I could almost swear I felt the rush of bullets flying past me in high-speed gunfights. I must say this movie, besides the over-usage of inappropriate language was one of my favorite films ever. I didn't mind the violence level, though I wouldn't let my kids see it if I were you. Once again, this was a great movie that can't get a high rating because of it's abuse of language, and the un-family-friendly violence. I say this movie deserves an 8 or 9 for great story and acting and such, but because of the language and other family-minded problems, i give it a 7.

The Water Horse

This movie is the story of a boy during world war II, and his pet, Crusoe, the Loch Ness monster. Crusoe starts out as a tiny animal, a few inches long, but he grows at an incredibly fast rate. English soldiers occupy the house when Crusoe is, and before long, he had to be released into the lake for his own protection. I really liked this movie. It was family-friendly, most of my younger siblings saw it. I'm one of those people who actually think the Loch Ness monster does exist, or at least did in recent years. Unfortunately, the water in the real lake is about the color of dark coffee, and even high-tech radar can only go a few yards. The graphics in this film were pretty cool. The story was almost a little cheesy, but it was still really good. This was a great family movie, I recommend it for almost anybody, unless some young children might be frightened by Crusoe when he "goes wild" for a little while and is really mean and stuff. I give this movie an 8 on the scale.

The Bourne Ultimatum

This, the final segment of the Bourne series capped it off in shining glory. I'd love to tell what happens in the end, but it would ruin the story for anybody else watching the movie. In the ultimatum, Bourne remembers everything, his real name is David Webb, but his name was changed to Jason Bourne. Jason again is fighting the very organization he was working for to save his own life. I was really impressed that they didn't ruin the third segment like they do to most trilogies. In fact, I think this one was the best of all three. Even though it's nearly midnight, and I was up until midnight last night and up at 6 this morning, I had no trouble staying awake for this movie. The action is so real it feels like I should dodge to miss the gunshot aimed in the direction of the camera. The storyline is not the very best I've ever viewed, but it's right up there. Familywise, this one was the most family-friendly of the three, though I still would keep it for an older audience. The language was toned down a bit from the first two, and although there was more high-speed violence throughout the entire film, the blood/gore was a little less than the first two. I highly suggest you watch this series if you like action movies at all. This one, because it was more family friendly can get a higher rating than Supremecy and Identity. I give it a 9 on the 0-10 scale.

The Bourne Supremacy

This is the second installment of the Bourne Series. Here, Jason remembers more of his past, but has to fight to survive, yet he doesn't even know who to run from, because still most of his past is erased from his memory. The action again is great, the storyline continues strong, unlike many series of movies, this one was just as good as the first, if not even a little better. I recommend this one as well. Definitely if you've seen the first one and liked it, you should watch this one too. This movie does not suffer from slow spots like many action movies do, it's straight-up action-packed from beginning to the end. Matt Damon is the perfect actor for the role of Jason, I really think he does well at it. Again, violence, blood, and language prevent this from being considered fully family-friendly, but for teens and adults, go for it! same as the first, this one gets an 8.

The Bourne Identity

This movie was one of the best action flicks I've seen in a long time. It's the first in a series of movies following the story of a man named Jason Bourne who has forgotten his past, but still remembers how to read, cook, fight, shoot, and remembers the names of places, all the license plate numbers of the cars in the parking lot outside the gas station at his hometown etc. Eventually, small bits and pieces of his story start coming back, but it turns out he had failed his last mission, and the CIA wanted to get rid of him because he was a dangerous leak for their security. Overall the storyline was great, the acting superb, and the action was awesome. I highly reccomend this movie, although because of the blood, violence, and language I highly recommend that younger children not see it. It is a great movie for teens and adults though.
I give this movie an 8. It would get higher, but I have to keep in mind the family-friendlyness of films that I rate.

Doomsday

I only watched about the first 5 minutes of this movie, and that was more than enough for me. After reading reviews on it I am glad I did not see the whole thing. The violence was twisted and grotesque, the storyline was stupid, and unoriginal, and there was apparently more nudity than what little I saw. Most movies I see I have researched first, and I can give them a positive rating because I choose the good ones. However, this one gets a flat-out big fat 0 on my scale. My RSP drill unit went to see it in the theatre, about 2/3 of them raised their hand that they liked it. However, I was not one of them, and there were a few others who came out for a good bit of the movie, though I think it was probably for different reasons than my friend and I left.

Oceans Eleven

This movie is the story of a gang of hard-core robbers who want to rob the richest casino in Las Vegas. It is actually mostly one man wanting to get revenge because the casino owner is lying to his wife, and has her believing that he is a great and wonderful guy, when really he cares more about money than her. She divorces her original husband, and that's when he decides it's time to take action. The gang robs the vault containing 160 million dollars that is supposedly the most secure casino vault in the world- more secure than a nuclear missile plant. The robbery is a success, and the man gets his wife back when she finds out the true nature of her boyfriend- the casino owner. It was a pretty good movie considering that the stars were all gangster robbers :) the story dragged sometimes, and it wasn't the greatest movie ever, but it was worth watching.
I give this one a 6 on the scale for less than perfect story, slow spots, occasional slightly inappropriate parts and so forth.

Saving private Ryan

This movie was extremely bloody, but it was a good movie. It starts on the D-Day invasion, and focuses on self-sacrifice, teamwork, and working through your pain- emotional or physical. I think everybody who has ever seen this movie says their favorite part is where at the end the captain makes his final stand to give his troops a chance to escape, and because he has lost so much blood, and keeps getting shot he pretty much knows he's doomed, but wants to die fighting, so he starts shooting an armored tank with a 9-mil pistol (not a very effective anti-tank weapon) anyway, the tank suddenly explodes, leaving the viewer stunned at the impossibility, and then an allied tank-buster airplane zooms overhead, and you know that that help has finally arrived. There are a lot of parts in this movie that make it inappropriate for children, such as a guy slowly getting stabbed in the chest by a German soldier, but for older teens and adults this is a great movie. Being that I am in the army I can't exactly complain about blood and violence, but there are a lot of people who don't want to see that stuff, so I am warning you now, this is by far the most realistic and bloody war movie I have ever seen. It is not family appropriate, and since this blog considers in the rating the family-friendliness of movies, I can only give this movie a 7. However, I do recommend it if you don't mind violence and blood.

High School Musical 2

This is the second part of the High-School Musical series, and it was pretty good as well. I liked parts of this one better than the first, and parts I liked the first one better. Again, there's not much to say about this movie, It was pretty funny, though it would've been nice if they hadn't made Troy and Gabriella split up so much. I liked this one as well, and would recommend it, though I generally prefer movies with more action, adventure, suspense, battles, love stories, excitement.. you name it.. again, this one gets a 7 for the same reason.

High School Musical 1

This movie actually started out as a Disney tv series, but I really enjoyed watching the whole thing on dvd. The music is great, and it was a blessing to have a musical where they weren't singing everything they said. It was easy to relate to the characters since they are about my age, and go through a lot of the same things as I have. There's not a whole lot to say about this movie other than it was funny. family-friendly, and for the most part, a "teenie-bopper" as my mother puts it :) It's not the most awesome movie ever, or anything like that, but it was pretty cool.
I decided to give this one a 7, not because its bad, but just because it lacks enough action and excitement.

The Passion of the Christ

This movie was probably one of the most inspirational movies I have seen. It is rated R because of the extremely realistic nature of the crucifixion. However, it really makes you have a better sense of what Jesus went through physically to save our souls, not to mention spiritually. If ever there was a movie that should be bloody and realistic, this is it. I would highly recommend this movie to any Christian, even if you don't like blood and violence. You will probably never look at the crucifixion the same after seeing this movie. The movie is focused on the last six hours of Jesus' life, but it is interspersed with flashbacks of his lifetime. There is one really really cool part where he is playing with his Mother Mary, and splashes her with water, I think it brought out the core of His loving nature very well. The whole movie is very emotionally involved, and sucks you right into the middle of the story like never before. This movie is Mel Gibson at his best. I cannot reccomend this movie enough. Usually I like exciting action-packed movies, but this on, though it lacked those elements became one of my favorites instantly.
I give this movie a 9.5 rating. Now go see it.

Sahara

I have seen this move three times, and will undoubtedly see it many more times. The story is nothing super spectacular, a group of people trying to find a long-lost civil war ironclad that according to legend made it's way across the Atlantic, and was lost in the Sahara desert where it had been dropped by sinking flood waters. There are plenty of places that my whole family was doubled over in laughter at a truly hilarious line. The gus find that upon arriving in africa, they are involved in much more than trying to find treasure- they are in the middle of a civil war, and at the same time, they meet a doctor who is trying to find the cause of a strange epidemic disease (it turns out to be a poisoning of the water because of a toxic waste dump)
This movie was family-friendly, I think my whole family saw it, or at least most of us. There are a couple 'words' in it, but with the tv guardian we didn't hear them. The violence is minimal, people get shot, but you don't see any more blood than say, star wars. It was really a great movie- one of my favorites. If you see it, or have already seen it, then don't go out and do a panama, it won't work.
If you have not seen this movie, and if you like any kind of action movie, you are really missing out!
No doubts in my mind- this one gets a full 10.

Star Wars 1-6

Everybody has heard of Star Wars, and since there are 6 of them, I will not separately review each one of them. However, I really enjoyed the series, though I have not yet seen Episode 6. Episodes 1-3 were made recently, and have much better graphics and quality. However, I liked the older three (4-6) better. The series follows the life of Anikin (Darth Vader in the later episodes) and his son Luke Skywalker. Anikin Turned to the bad side of the force to save his loved wife, but she died regardess, leaving him full of bitterness and anger, and when he tried to kill his old master, Obiwan Kenobi, he was nearly killed, and had to have a machine to make him breath or talk- hence the cool helmet and weird sounding voice and breath. Later, his son Luke and Daughter Leia are fighting him and his friends- the Imperial universal dictatorship. Luke eventually discovers that he is Vader's son, and he is heartbroken. Yes- Luke is Vader's son, and Leia's sister.
The earlier episodes were revolutionary, and opened up the word of computer generation. This whole series is a must see, and I highly recommend it. The newer episodes almost look a little like new-age in their use of the force, but after all, it's sci-fi, so it's not like it's real or anything.
I have to give the entire series a 10. Go watch it now, the force will be with you!! ;)

Lord of the Rings- The Return of the King

This, the third and final chapter of this story comes out in shining glory. Although it did not follow the book quite as closely as the previous two, it was still closer than most movies, and in my opinion, it was for the better. The battle scenes are even more real-looking in here than in the first two as computer generation evolves. The undead, who are bound by a curse to serve in battle to the heir of Isieldoor, are awesome. They cannot be killed, yet they can kill the enemy. The battle of Minias Tirath is tied with the Battle of Helm's Deep for the most awesome battle scene ever on film. This movie is great, because in the end the good conquers over the evil, and everything is great. I watched this one in the theater because I could not wait for it to come out on dvd, and it was worth it. The surround sound and big screen add a lot to this movie.
I've seen this movie several times, and it hardly seems to get old.
I rate this one with a 10 like the Two Towers, for the same reason.

Lord of the Rings- The Two Towers

This, the second installment of the trilogy, has everything possible going for it. Here, we are plunged full-force into the heart of the story. The action is great, and the battle scenes are out of this world. The battle of helm's deep is by far the most awesome battle scene ever on film, unless it's the battle of Minais Tirath in the third LOTR movie. The computer generation is once again very awesome, and there's plenty of action, romance, humor, and overall great storyline. I would recommend watching the first one before this one, because unlike many trilogies, this one picks up right were the last abruptly left us hanging. There was obviously a lot of work put into tis movie, and it payed off. Go rent this whole series and watch it! When there is no bad language, no immodesty, and moderate violence, what more can you ask? Some families object to there being magic in anything. However, this movie has clear-cut good versus evil, and magic is part of the fiction. I am constantly reminded of the spiritual power that exists in real life when I see this movie series. Great movie, go see it.
I have to give this one a solid 10. I liked some movies better than this, but because this one does not have the language or immodesty, it doesn't loose any rating for that.

Lord of the Rings- The fellowship of the RIng

This movie is absolutely awesome. From following the book better than any other movie I've watched, to the special effects, on down to the very nature of the story. This, the first part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy really starts the series off on a good solid base. Though because a lot of this one is introduction to the rest of the story, there is plenty of good solid story in this movie as well. The computer generation in this movie was revolutionary, and paved the way for a lot of movies that have come after it. The lord of the rings trilogy brought in more money than any other movie before it, and it's no wonder. Some children should not be allowed to watch this series because there is some violence, and a lot of "creepy" monsters and such, but I know a lot of children under 10 who have seen it and not been disturbed in the least. This movie has no immodesty, no bad language, and nothing major in violence. Must-see for any fantasy/fiction lovers, as well as pretty much anybody else!
on the 1-10 scale, this one doesn't have anything bad, so it gets an 8 where many others would get a 7

Blackhawk Down

This movie really grabbed me, and didn't let go until the very end. It follows the story of a helicopter crew that gets shot down over an African village swarming with a cruel dictator's soldiers. The Rangers and Delta Force soldiers in here are on a special mission when everything goes wrong, and they go from a 30 minute mission to almost a 24 hour mission. The enemy is well-armed, and does not care about killing civilians. This movie stirred up some long-felt hatred for the politics involved in war today. The mission could have been easily done with a couple of C-130s, but the UN refused to allow it. Because of that, many soldier's lives were lost. This movie is fairly realistic in most ways, from violence, to the brotherhood of soldiers, to language. I would not recommend this movie for children because of the violence and language. There is plenty of F**k S**t D**n H**l in this movie. For teens and adults however, this is a Must-see. I really liked this movie a lot. Not having immodest women was a bonus as well. In fact I don't think theres ever a woman in screen.
Because of the language and violence I can't give this movie a 10, but it gets at least an 8.5

Batman Begins

The first of a two-part series, Batman begins follows Bruce Wayne's conquering of his fears, and deciding to do something about Gotham city's corruption from within. He, being the head of a mega-company left to him when his father was murdered, has money to buy stuff he needs to become the dark side of the city's worst nightmare. With the most awesome wheeled vehicle ever to drive the face of the earth, specially manufactured bullet-proof armor, and cloth that stiffens when charged with electricity, all prototypes made by his company in secret, but never made for production, he becomes batman. During the day he has to act like a spoiled millionaire, which makes the girl he loves- Rachel, look on him with disgust. She wants a man who is willing to stand up and do something, to take a stand against evil. It's hard for Bruce not to tell, but if his enemies found out who he was, it would all be over for him. At the end of the movie, she finds out, and leaves us wondering what their future together will be in the second half of the movie, the still unreleased "Dark Knight" slated for theatrical release Summer of '08. This movie struggles with spider man to be the greatest super hero movie ever. I don't think this movie had any language, the violence was family-friendly, and there weren't really any immodestly dressed women.
On the scale, this one also received a 9

Spiderman 1, 2, & 3

Usually I review series of movies separately, but since these all tied together so well, and since it's been a little while since I watched them, and don't remember where one left off and the next picked up, I decided that a general rating of all three would suffice. Really, who can't resist a guy who gets bitten by a genetically modified spider, and becomes capable of shooting webs from his wrists? "Spidey" is always on scene when there is rescuing to do. In this movie there is plenty of action, fights between good and evil, a love story, humor, sadness, and excitement. It's tough to see him go bad in the third one, but he conquers the parasite that was taking over his mind, and becomes good old Spider-man again. I really liked these movies, as did the rest of my family. I'd say most kids could watch this movie, although some easily frightened or very young children would not be the greatest audience. But overall, this movie is probably the best super-hero movie ever, unless maybe it's batman begins.. but that's best left for another review.
On the 1-10 scale. this series as a whole got a 9

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Well, I thought that this movie was going to be really dumb, but when a friend said it was great, I decided to check it out. It has it's dumb moments, but most of the time, it's really cute and funny. Great family friendly movie. Although my type of movies are action-based, this one still grabbed my attention, and I thought it was pretty good. I mean, singing chipmunks- what more can you ask? Especially when they are singing to some pretty awesome music. Overall, I would reccomend this movie for any family who likes some of the silly stuff sometimes, and even if you don't think you like sily stuff, try this movie out and you might change your mind.
On the 1-10 scale, I decided to give this one an 8.5

Transformers

This movie, though slightly lacking in storyline made it into my top five favorite movies of all time. The effects are beyond breathtaking. This is probably mostly a guy movie. I mean, most girls aren't sucked in by giant robots battling to the death while throwing tanks like chunks of firewood, and making explosions that make Star Wars look like firecrackers. This movie had some language in it, though not as bad as many movies out there today. The lead female character doesn't dress the way she should, though if you're like me, you won't even notice that until the second or third time you watch it, because you'll be more interested in the other stuff that's going on. The storyline is slightly lacking, but it makes up for it in outright coolness the whole way through the film. Probably the most impressive part of the special FX in this movie is the transformation from ordinary vehicle to robot by the Autobots and Decepticons. They make it look like it could actually happen. I highly reccomend this movie, in fact, it is the only movie I have ever gone out and bought right after seeing it.
on the 1-10 scale this movie would get a 10, but because of the immodesty it only gets a 9

Pirates of the Caribbean- At World's End

Well, in this, the third segment of a remarkable series, I have to say, a step in the wrong direction. To be sure, this movie has it's great moments, and does not lack in humor or action. However, amidst heroes turning traitor (although in the end all are reconciled) setting a sea goddess free from the body of a witch, and a fairly poor ending, this movie falls short of what it could have been. I would say this movie is worth watching to be sure- once or twice. The first two, I shall revisit them before long, however, this one just wasn't as good. Some bright points: William and Elizabeth have the most awesomest wedding ever; though it is slightly interrupted every time one of them has to kill somebody.. it is in the midst of a battle with the enemy, and Will asks Elizabeth to marry him. She says, "I don't think this is the best time!" and he says "it may be the only time we've got" so she accepts, and they are married by the captain of the ship. However, what looks like a thread that could bring this movie back into the same class as it's predecessors soon snaps when Will dies and becomes the captain of Davy Jone's old ship. Overall, the movie was fantastic (bar a few things that could have been changed) until the end. If you have seen the first two of the series, by all means either watch this one, or do all the reading about it that you can, because the 2nd one left off just where you were on the edge of your seat dying to know what happened next. However, this one, though good, was not in the same class as the first two.
On my 1-10 scale, this one earned a 6.5

Pirates of the Caribbean- Dead Man's Chest

This movie, although not quite as good as the first, was a great watch as well. The effects were just as great. The familiar characters from the crew of the Black Pearl are all back for this, the second shot at the world's best pirate movie series ever. Here, William meets his father, bound by the shackles of Davy Jones, enslaved in an unreleasable slavery to Jones that keeps him from dying for a hundred years. Davy Jones, a monster with the body of a man, and a head that resembles a weird kind of octopus, is after Jack Sparrow, and Jack knows it. Will is meanwhile trying to save himself and his fiancé Elizabeth from the clutches of a cruel British dictator. He goes to Jack for help, and then he finds himself struggling to get away from Davy Jones himself. By the end of the film, all characters have reunited, but Davy Jone's "Kraken" known for sinking ships in a matter of seconds, and eating dozens of men in one swallow, is now after the crew of the Pearl. At the end, Jack stays with the ship to give William, Elizabeth, and the rest of the crew a chance at survival. The last we see of him is as he makes a heroic plunge into the mouth of the Kraken, sword slashing. Not a very satisfactory ending if you're not planning to watch the third movie, where the crew apparently has to go to the end of the world to bring him back from Davy Jone's oft-sung locker.
This movie was not lacking in clean romance, action, humor, fighting, and overall viewability. Again, it has plenty of stuff making it not suitable for young children who are easily frightened by monsters, but for the rest of us, they did a good job on generating those aforementioned monsters. William is a great model of how a man should be toward the woman he loves, he risks his own life numerous times to protect Elizabeth, and overall, makes a good role model in that department.
On the 1-10 scale, this one gets an 8

Pirates of the Caribbean- The Curse of The Black Pearl

Well, with a movie like this, it's hard to know where to start. First off, I'll say I was reather impressed, and will certainly be seeing this one again. This movie has everything I could as of it; a clean and heartwarming love story, action, humor, adventure, fighting, and some pretty awesome special effects. Some families don't like the idea of some of the magic involved in this story. It's not my place to judge that, but if you're ok with say, the Lord of The Rings, then this movie will probably be fine as far as that goes. It's not suitable for easily frightened children, as there are pirates bound by an ancient curse that keeps them from going to their final place of rest until they have undone the curse. When they go into the moonlight, they are seen how they really are- dead, bones with rags of rotted clothing hanging from them basically. I was very impressed with the computer generation of these characters. Most teens and older children will love this movie, as well as a lot of adults. In my humble opinion, this one is worth watching, and deserves the popularity it received almost instantly after being released. Captain Jack Sparrow is probably the funniest character in this movie, though most of the pirates are pretty funny too.
on the 1-10 scale, I give this movie a 9