A Public Apology

In our entertainment links section, we formerly had links to two blogs: TV Shows & Series Reviews on DVD; and TV Addicts Review. Both of these sites had excellent short reviews on various TV shows and series. At the end of each review, there were direct and exclusive links to TVDVD Planet and TVAddicts.tv websites, which sold the DVDs. This makes it clear to me that the blogs and the sites are connected commercially.

In looking up some Google search engine results, I stumbled onto numerous complaints that both TVDVD Planet and TVAddicts.tv sell only bootleg Asian DVDs, if they ship anything at all. I could find no positive comments about either of the two merchants. TVDVD Planet has since closed down.

Kaboom Review will in no way be affiliated with or condone illegal bootlegging of copyrighted material. Nor do we wish to be connected in any way with merchants with such a poor reputation.

I apologize to any of our readers that may have been misled by our connection to these merchants, however indirectly through their softsell blogs. I have removed all links to their blogs and sites from this site, and will strive to more closely examine any site or blog I affiliate with, recommend, or link to in the future.

Sincerely,
Mike “Godzilla” Blitz
Owner, Kaboom Review

Review: Swordfish

swordfish_cov.jpgYear: 2001
Director: Dominic Sena
Starring: John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry
Kaboom Review Action Movie Rating: 78

Plot
A computer hacker, trying to get custody of his daughter, is sucked into working for a vigilante looking to pull of a hi-tech bank heist.

Quick Review
Swordfish is a refreshing and daring action thriller whose quick, twisting story carries the day. Recommended!

Full Review
Swordfish is a tight, intellectual action drama with a lot going for it. There are a few problems in the story’s logic, and much of the action is generic, but the intellectual edge to the story and the good pacing outweigh the negatives.

Let’s focus first on the good…

Swordfish takes the risky tack of trying to be an action movie that engages the viewer’s brain. To a large degree, the movie manages to stay within itself and to stick to its premise very effectively. The sharp story keeps you on your toes, and throws some interesting curveballs at you along the way. swordfish1.jpgA good part of this suspense comes from John Travolta, who plays Gabriel Shear, a spy working with the CIA to steal 9.5 billion dollars from a government slush fund. Travolta shines in his role: Gabriel Shear is larger than life, and walks a fine line between good and evil that keeps you guessing all the way.

Pacing in Swordfish is better than average, although there are a few scenes that are too long and a few scenes that could have been omitted altogether. The tense story drives the pace for much of the movie; the action definitely plays a secondary role. Having said that, the explosion in the opening scene is brilliantly done in a slow-motion, panning shot reminiscent of the Matrix. The ending, too, gets points for the creative use of a bus, and is impressive in places. In between, there is some action that fits in with the movie well, but it’s nothing you haven’t seen before. All in all, though, the combination of story and action works well to keep you engaged.

swordfish_halle_berry.jpgThere are other positives as well. …Halle Berry puts a sexy edge to her role as Ginger Knowles, Gabriel’s girlfriend. Berry drives the babe rating way up! …Hugh Jackman and John Travolta help the hunk rating. … The script is fair, with Travolta getting the good lines. …The ending seals up the movie tightly, and clears up the loose ends.

Swordfish has some rough spots, as well. I’ve touched on some of these above, but a couple more are worth mentioning. …

Hugh Jackman does an adequate job in his main role as the down-and-out computer hacker hired by Gabriel Shear to break into government computers. Halle Berry is average as well with regards to her acting. With a movie with this much potential, stronger performances by Berry and Jackman could have made this movie a classic. swordfish2.jpg…There are some questionable plot dynamics, especially towards the end. These are forgivable, but they do bring the movie down some. …A significant part of the movie involves computer hacking, and they get this stuff all wrong. Since computer stuff is almost always silly in movies, I am resigned to movie makers general incompetence in accurately dealing with it.

On the whole though, Swordfish is a refreshing and daring action thriller whose quick, twisting story carries the day. Recommended!

Movie Fact
Swordfish was playing in theaters in early September, 2001. The film, which features terrorism and exploding buildings, was pulled from theaters because of the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Score
Pace: 72
Plot: 84
Action: 68
Consistent Premise: 77
Script/Quotes: 53
Characters: 58
Acting: 61
Villain: 84
Body Count: Fair
Time to First Dead Body: Fast
Babes: 75
Hunks: 73
Explosions: 59
Special Effects: 54
Stunts: 29
Ending: 88

Overall: 78 (Recommended)

Cool Movie Blog: Random Movie Club

Here’s the simple concept: Twice a month, a group of movie masochists gets together and screens films that are randomly selected from a library of over 1400 titles. For over seven years now, the Random Movie Club has been doing just this, and their blog reviews many of the movies they have watched.

This blog is a great resource for movie lovers. The writing is witty, down to earth, and easy to read. The blog does a great job of conveying the atmosphere of what seems to be an energetic, humorous group of people. Just from browsing through their site, I’ve already added a couple of movies to my wish list (one of which is Carried Away!). Great stuff!

Up Next: Swordfish

Took some time on Wednesday to watch Swordfish, a John Travolta action thriller from late summer of 2001. I hope to have the review up sometime over the weekend.

TV Shows & Series Review Blog

Edited on January 28, 2007:

This post was originally part of a link exchange regarding two blogs, TV Addicts Review and TV Shows & Series Review on DVD. It has become apparent that these two blogs were connected with sites that sell bootleg DVDs.
Kaboom Review wishes in no way to be associated, however indirectly, with sites that sell or promote pirated or bootleg DVDs. I have removed these two blogs from our entertainment links section, and have removed all links to the blogs from our blog.

I apologize to anyone who may have been misled by our connection, however indirect, with those sites.

A full apology is here.

Sincerely,
Mike Blitz

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