Escape From City 17 : A Hardcore Half Life Flick For Huge Fans

Escape From City 17

Okay with this reviews we’ve been serious a bit too long. Love stories. War stories. Horror stories. Let’s break away from this to nerd out once more, reviewing a video game fan film. We’re not going to the land of Zelda or Portal this time, but we are going to Half Life with the twenty minute film Escape from City 17 by Ian and David Purchase made in 2013.

So if you don’t know what Half Life is, you should know it’s a freak’n classic with an amazing imaginative world that stands toe to toe against Bioshock. And if you don’t know what Bioshock is, well check it out along with Half Life. Even if you don’t like video games, you probably be impressed when you find out what it all is. Anyways for new people, long story short, a doorway to parallel world was opened at a laboratory for that led to a war between humans and aliens. We lost essentially and made a deal that we could live and they could harvest what even they want front our Earth. People are oppressed, sterile, and dying from this alien force and soldiers of the Combine.

The film takes place during the revolution of humans in City 17. Its two tales. Part one tells of a trio of soldiers trying to get out of town as the city has fallen and became too dangerous. Part two tells of a man who saves a Russian woman, eventually joining with characters form the first film knowing that the great alien power tower, the citadel is failing, they try to find cover to survive

The good? The twenty minute film is incredibly well done. I know they did not find a destroyed city to film in. This was made on a $250 budget, so I am impressed with the scenery and setting. I know much of it could be green screen work, but its damn good green screen work. The costumes and props are wonderful. The sound track is pulled directly from the game but doesn’t feel forced. And the director went out of the way to include a number of things from the game including head crab zombies, the bug organic helicopter thingies, striders, and combine soldiers. Also acting is pretty good.

The bad? Despite all the efforts, there are things that looked off. The striders appeared to have canned actions opposed to looking like a life form like it does in the game. The masks on the Combine look a little cheap. The flying bug helicopters do not look real at all. And many of the head crab zombie wore exactly the same clothes, showing they copy and pasted some of those guys.

Overall, the film is not bad in the least. With the directors claiming to have only a $250 budget, the film is amazing. What they done is almost a miracle. So with that said I’ll say this. If you’re a Half Life fan, this is for you. But if you’re not you may not understand what is going on. Scifi fans will love it, but I don’t know who else would.

3 Flicks out of Four

Overall Rating: A Hardcore Half Life Flick For Huge Fans

Here are the films below. I hope you enjoy.

P.S. If you like books then check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

Dear Eva – A Love Story :Danny Dunlop Returns to Give Us a Heart Struck War Hero

Dear Eva: A Love Story

Okay. Of many of the films so far, there have been good and bad. But the student film “A Short Story,” was one of the films that turned out to be surprisingly good. So I looked up the director Danny Dunlop to see what else he (or she) made and I found he (or she) made a war film called Dear Eva

“Dear Eva: A Love Story,” is a simple minimalistic approach to a film. It follows a soldier in France I turmoil. This is shown alongside the narration of a letter he wrote to a loved one. It tells of war and his love for this woman.

The good? This is much better produced than the director’s first film, “A Short Story.” The costumes credible, and the effects are great. Like “A Short Story,” the narration is used in a creative way to make film more engaging.

The bad? At the end of the film after the story, it jumps to 2013 to show the same actors play as two obnoxious modern day people at a party. I believe it was supposed to be a social comment on what love is now versus back then. But it is so incredibly random. I mean I thought it was a commercial at first. It just didn’t fit. Also there is no stinger or really strong story arc. It’s a letter put into film form. So don’t expect anything clever story wise.

Overall, this was a great follow up to a short story. Was it perfect? No. But it was fun, and I recommend it to everybody.

3 ½ Flicks out of Four

Overall Rating: Danny Dunlop Returns to Give Us a Heart Struck War Hero

P.S. If you like books then check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

Arbiter : Steampunk Iron Man vs Nazis

The Arbiter

Okay, these is a short film that I looked up under the belief that it was a feature length film. Given the trailers it looked like a full length action movie, but was surprised to find that it was only twenty minutes long. Its steampunk World War II flick called Arbiter by Micheal Chance.

What is Arbiter? It’s a steampunk experimental war suite that gives the soldier more strength, more protection, and ability to go invisible. Only problem is it can kill the user inside of it if they use invisibility too long. With aid of a single plane above, our soldier attacks a country home where Germans are experimenting on captives with this mysterious mixture nine.

The good? Production value is through the roof here. The action is fun. The acting is wonderful. The special effects are amazing. A lot of hard work and sweat went into this film, and because of that its not dull for a moment.

The bad? Despite all the top notch work in this film, the writing is a little aimless. Why is our lead and only two other guys are about this? Why risk the suite? Why was the fact the suite is killing him introduced so late? Who was the woman he was trying to save? What is the significance of the mysterious German leader with a false eye? And why does our lead care so much about finding mixture nine? The movie felt like a small scene pulled out of the middle of a much bigger flick.

Overall, despite the odd writing, you will not regret watching this. It is fun, and exciting. And it was full of so much imagination. I would love to see what else this director makes in the future.

Overall Rating: Steampunk Iron Man vs Nazis

3 ½ stars out of four.

P.S. If you like books then check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/