instruction:
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
question:
warning : may contain slight mild spoilers .
rated :
r for intense violence / gore , some strong sexuality and language .
starring : arnold schwarzeneggar , robin tunney , rod stieger , gabriel byrne .
running time :
132 minutes we go into a movie theater , boom !
the lights go down , our hearts race , we go through ten minutes of preview and finally the movie we 've been waiting to see for a long time comes on .
we sit there , watch in disbelief that this movie is as bad as it is .
why should n't i have know what i was getting myself into .
again like this past summers hit " stigmata " , " end of days " may be worse .
it 's not like this is any kind of original idea , it just throws in some " rosemary 's baby " , along with " the devil 's advocate " a little " exorcist " and some " stigmata " here and there .
whala you have " end of days " a movie that is extremely disappointing
and by the previews made it look terrific .
sadly but truly again like most recent films , all the good parts are in the trailers .
the plot which is very confusing at times is also very ludicrous and the movie is destined to be a hit in the first weekend , and flop in the next .
jericho cane ( arnold schwarzneggar in hit typical macho role ) is a cop who finds out that he is chosen to track down satan ( living in gabriel byrnes body ) and stop him from impregnating christine york ( robin tunney ) because if he does , and she gives birth all existence as we know it will cease to exist .
he has to do this before it turns into the year 2000 , and strangely he 's trying to fight him 5 minutes before 2000 comes .
he seeks help from the catholic church and help from rod stieger ( in a terrific role ) and tries to save this girl leading to an ending that 's satisfying , but turns into a typical action movie
.
that 's pretty much it on plot .
it does have the razzle and dazzle of a great action movie , and with the 100 m dollar budget parts seem to show it , parts you have to wonder where all the money went .
as for arnie ?
good role ,
ok performance .
i think since he is getting a little older he is held back a lot of his stunts .
the thing that disappointed me was the fact that there was nothing to the film
.
in the trailers it looks like a good scary , action film and ends up being a boring , long and preposterous drama that leads into something else that leaves us with questions .
gabriel byrnes ( who ironically played a priest in " stigmata " ) here plays satan and gives a good performance but again seems held back and not into his character .
two years back al pacino gave a terrific performance in the fun " the devil 's advocate " and here it seems like the idea of him is in the character also .
robin tunney ( great performance as always ) plays satan 's main person whom he wants to impregnate to carry his child .
of course rod stieger gives another great performance which really is n't nothing new .
the direction by peter hyams is at times a bit overblown , though not nearly as the visual style was in " stigmata " .
here we are given great camera work , and some great scenes that are terrifically directed but sadly just do n't work in this movie .
the script written by andrew marlowe has a few witty lines , but again the movie is all style and no substance and by the ending finale climax i was ready to go home .
only a few things work here and those are a few of the performances , the writing and visual style , but the storyline and the finished product do n't work as well .
the sad thing is that " end of days " had so many things going for it .
the plot could have been more organized , the action scenes could have been more brainy and less mind - numbing
.
at times it seems like " armageddon " and started to get old and tiresome .
hollywood is running out of ideas bad , and like i 've always said before needs new ones .
even with its 100 m budget " end of days " is less than pleasing .
in fact the 100 m dollar budget is at least 30 m over , and easily could have had a 70 m budget .
maybe i sound crazy , but i am really looking forward to the new exorcist film , and hope that they make it as good as the original .
we need to get new ideas and stop recycling old ones just to make money at the box - office .
we need to get more films like " the blair witch project " that could scare people to death , while people thinking well what exactly is scaring them and how do i know that it is in fact the blair witch .
overblown effects , stupid and thin plot - line , good performances , disappointing . . . .
umm
yup those pretty much describe " end of days " .
answer:
N


question:
pitch black is a sheep in wolf 's clothing .
it is full of darkness , danger and violence and if you buy into the marketing hype , an unsettling and scary film going experience .
do n't be fooled .
pitch black is a morality play masquerading as a scare - fest .
it starts off with blistering intensity .
a cargo spaceship crash lands on a planet apparently leeched of life by the scorching heat of three suns .
among the survivors is fry ( mitchell ) , the ship 's pilot , who spends the film wrestling with the fact that she tried to jettison the other passengers in her effort to land the craft safely .
there is imam ( david ) , an islamic leader whose faith in his god is tested repeatedly throughout the film .
there is a law enforcement officer in the form of johns ( hauser ) , who attacks every situation with square jawed authoritarian zeal .
and there is riddick ( diesel ) , a menacing , muscle - bound convicted murderer who 's being brought back to justice by johns .
the group quickly sizes up the situation and each other .
confident in their assessment of matters , a plan is set in motion to escape their hellish environment .
those plans are shredded by the appearance of one of the planet 's wildlife , a predatory , sometimes winged , species that enjoys the taste of blood and flesh .
fortunately , the creatures are light sensitive and are forced to live in networks of catacombs under the planet 's surface .
unfortunately , the group has managed to land on the planet moments before an eclipse is about to occur , taking away their one protection from the monsters .
the group 's savior comes in the form of johns , whose decisive leadership looks to deliver them from purgatory .
or does it ?
pitch black deviates from the standard sci - fi fare by avoiding some of the stock " escape the boogieman " conflicts the genre typically serves up .
just as the planet gave a false facade of lifelessness , first appearances given by the survivors proves to be just as false .
the excitement of the film comes not from the danger posed by the creatures , but rather from watching the shifting allegiances and emotional growth of the characters as the planet serves as a deus ex machina of sorts to catalyze emotional growth .
a recurrent theme runs throughout the movie of faith , whether it be religious or in a person , and how that powers their motivations .
i found it telling that an accidental death occurs early on due to the misperception of a self professed atheist .
conversely , imam constantly contributes any good fortune to allah .
one by one , his perceived heaven sent blessings are taken away and crushed .
imam is forced to reassess his faith .
another character expresses belief in god , along with a life long hate .
yet another character makes a decision that echoes the sentiments of christ about selflessness and has lasting repercussions for several of group .
it is a fascinating character study hiding under the guise of a scare flick .
special mention should be made of vin diesel , who intriguingly conveys feral menace combined with a truly mesmerizing presence .
his character could have easily slipped into a parody of the baddass killing machine , but twohy and diesel add surprising depth to riddick .
they can be excused for the two or three shwarzenegger - like catch phrases that growl their way out of diesel 's mouth .
the movie has its flaws that can be nitpicked .
the creatures do look derivative of the ones in alien .
the dialogue is n't the freshest at times , reminiscent of a bad comic book .
yes , the appearance of riddick 's vision skills are more than a little timely considering the situation .
these trappings are on the periphery of the story twohy is really trying to tell .
twohy may have lured you in under the pretense of scaring you with film fabricated boogieman , but he shows the real boogieman to be the prejudices and beliefs we use to direct decisions in our lives .
answer:
P


question:
it 's time to take cover .
after a hiatus of about fifteen years , the disaster movie has come back with renewed zest .
in early 1997 , there were no less than three movies about volcanoes alone , one on television and two in the theaters , with dante 's peak and volcano in heavy competition for the moviegoing dollar .
of the two , i had heard that dante 's peak was the better film , so i decided to check it out when it was released on video .
the film begins with a slow motion scene of people in a third world country trying to evacuate their little town .
the town is being covered in ash and sulfuric water from what we presume is a volcanic eruption .
flaming rocks of various sizes also fall from the sky , crushing homes and people .
we see people panicking , people crying , and even horses rearing .
it is a disaster of biblical proportions , signified to us by one person dragging a cross down a road .
symbolism does n't get much more blatant than that .
we learn that harry dalton ( pierce brosnan ) , a volcanologist with the u . s .
geological survey , was there with his wife when the eruption occurred .
harry survived , but his wife did not .
a few years later , harry is sent to investigate some unusual seismic activity detected near the small town of dante 's peak , washington ( which , we are told , has been voted second most desirable place to live ( under 20 , 000 ) by the readers of money magazine ) .
there harry meets rachel wando , a single mother of two who serves as mayor of dante 's peak and proprietor of a small coffee shop .
although the mayor does n't seem to be alarmed by the presence of a man sent to determine if the mountain next to their town is going to blow up , a few members of the city council are .
they are afraid that harry 's presence is going to scare off an investor who has pledged to put millions of dollars into developing dante 's peak .
they would rather have any news of possible stirrings within the neighboring dormant volcano swept under the rug .
however , when an amorous young couple takes a skinny - dip in the local hot springs , they turn up cooked by lava which bubbles up from a small fissure underneath .
thus begins a chain of events leading up to the inevitable eruption .
this film contains a number of cliches .
the amorous couple is one . as soon as they doff their clothes , you know they 're going to die .
the town busybody and the abrasive mother - in - law make appearances , as does the death - defying dog .
countless familiar scenarios only serve to make this film very predictable .
watching the movie , i was able to not only anticipate each of the major plot elements , but some of the dialogue as well . unfortunate , since much of the dialog is terrible .
for example , harry 's boss , paul ( charles hallahan ) , and a team from the u . s .
geological survey join harry to assess the situation .
paul basically tells the townsfolk that harry 's eruption predictions are n't cause for alarm .
this causes harry to leave in a fit of rage , only to turn up the next day , ready for work .
when paul asks harry why he stayed , he says with grim determination , " cause this town 's in trouble
and i 'm the best man you 've got .
"
even better is when harry is trying to explain the need to jolt the residents into leaving .
he likens the situation to how a frog will jump out if dropped into a pot of boiling water .
if the frog is in cold water which is gradually heated up , however , the frog wo n't move and will allow itself to be cooked .
" is that your recipe for frog soup ?
" asks one of the team members .
"
it 's my recipe for disaster , " responds harry .
dante 's peak has a singular talent for pointing out the obvious .
our heroes are in a boat in the middle of a lake which harry realizes the volcanic activity has turned to acid .
mayor wando demonstrates her brilliant powers of deduction by proclaiming , in a very grave tone , " acid eats metal .
" thanks for the tip .
when we first see the u .
s .
geological survey building
, there 's a caption labeling it as such .
this would n't have been so bad if it were n't for the fact that the caption is right above a sign on the building which reads , in large letters ,
" u . s . geological survey .
"
i suppose the caption is for people who ca n't read signs .
although harry and mayor wando become an item by the end of the film , the viewer has no idea why .
there is a severe lack of chemistry between the two characters , and the relationship seems rushed because of this .
when they get close to kissing , i was asking myself , " why do they want to kiss ?
were they even attracted to each other ? " if i were the mayor , i would sure think twice about kissing a guy who does n't even crack a smile through the whole movie , trying to pull off the rough - yet - debonair act .
who does he think he is ?
james bond ?
the eruption of the volcano feels similarly rushed .
there are several " warning signs " prior to the eruption itself , but they are so lackluster and without suspense that we do n't feel as if they are leading up to anything
.
for example , one of the survey team members makes his way down into the crater of the volcano in order to retrieve a remote controlled robot .
a tremor occurs .
does he plunge headlong to his death ?
is he engulfed in lava which shoots up from below ?
no , a couple of rocks fall on him and break his leg .
the sole purpose of this scene seemed to be to set up the subsequent chopper rescue scene , which i suppose was intended to be dramatic as well .
it was n't .
one plot thread left noticeably hanging was the investment in the town of dante 's peak .
in a disaster movie , there 's usually one guy who 's greedy enough to cover up the possibility of eruption / fire / earthquake / explosion / tsunami / tornado / meteorite , and usually gets killed by the disaster .
it 's okay , of course , because we all think he got what he deserved .
if you 're going to be unoriginal , you might as well go all the way .
in dante 's peak , the city councilmembers are concerned , but they do n't really try hard enough .
maybe the mayor 's abrasive mother - in - law should have been the one . for no apparent reason , she snaps at harry for even positing that the volcano could erupt .
perhaps her ancestors invested in some pompeii real estate .
there are a couple of good things about this movie .
the first is the scenery .
there are panoramic shots of forests , lakes and mountains that are absolutely beautiful .
the second is the special effects .
they are the closest i 've ever seen to a real pyroclastic eruption .
but when elements which do n't speak are going to be the best parts of your movie , you 'd probably better rewrite the script .
answer:

N