Godawful, maybe the worst ever

Rating: 1/10 (21 April 1999)

Possibly the worst movie ever. The worst part about it is that it throws out any of the tenants of story telling. Movies are a story telling medium using visuals and sound. Nothing mattered and very little was explained. I will use only one example but it is really glaring one. How did they break through those hundreds of feet of rock when they couldn't do anything for hours and suddenly they were almost done? It was just a bunch of scenes thrown together. Constant mayhem does not substitute for plot and characterization. Next is the horrid editing. There were so many shots most of the time I could not tell what was going on. The sound was just loud. I am surprized no one died of an anuerism.
Most of the "acting" was laughable. Could Liv Tyler have flown any farther over the top. Could Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis have been any more wooden?
The other thing is it wanted to be a "message movie" about heroism without a hint of subtlety. I did get a good laugh at how badly this was handled. And for taking itself seriously the film won't even have any lasting camp value.
And don't try to call me a pretentious art film lover. My favorite films this year were Truman Show, Primary Colors, Out of Sight, Rushmore, A Simple Plan, Saving Private Ryan, Shakespeare in Love, Pleasantville, The Big Lebowski, and A Bugs Life. All I want is intelligent entertainment. Not insultingly stupid crap