Independence Day

 Released Year: 1996

Directed by Roland Emmerich

Casted by:

Will Smith as Captain Steven Hiller

Jeff Goldblum as David Levinson

Bill Pullman as Thomas J. Whitmore

Margaret Colin as Constance Spano

Vivica A. Fox as Jasmine Dubrow

Judd Hirsch as Julius Levinson

 Story:

On July 2, 1996, an enormous alien mothership that has one fourth the mass of the Moon enters orbit around Earth, deploying 36 smaller spacecraft, each 15 miles (24 km) wide, that take positions over some of Earth's major cities and military bases. David Levinson, an MIT-trained satellite technician, decodes a signal embedded in the global satellite transmissions that he determines is a timer counting down to a coordinated attack. With the help of his former wife, White House Communications Director Constance Spano, Levinson, and his father Julius, gain access to the Oval Office and warn President Thomas J. Whitmore that the aliens are hostile. Whitmore orders large-scale evacuations of New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C., but it is too late; the timer reaches zero and the ships activate devastating directed-energy weapons, killing millions. Whitmore, the Levinsons, and a few others, narrowly escape aboard Air Force One as the capital is destroyed, along with other locations over which the ships are positioned.

On July 3, international military leaders begin ordering individual counterattacks. Their aviation forces attack destroyer ships positioned above the ruins of the cities, but they are protected by force fields. Each destroyer launches a swarm of attack fighters, which wipe out the human fighter squadrons. Captain Steven Hiller of the Los Angeles USMC squadron survives by luring his attacker to the enclosed spaces of the Grand Canyon and sacrificing his plane, forcing the alien to crash-land. He subdues the injured alien pilot and flags down a convoy of refugees, hitching a ride with former combat pilot Russell Casse. They transport the unconscious alien to nearby Area 51 where Whitmore's group has landed. Through Secretary of Defense Albert Nimzicki, they learn that a faction of the government has been involved in a UFO conspiracy since 1947, when one of the invaders' attack fighters crashed in Roswell. Area 51 houses the refurbished attacker ship and three alien corpses recovered from the crash.

When eccentric scientist Brackish Okun examines the alien, it regains consciousness and attacks. It telepathically invades Okun's mind and uses his vocal cords to communicate with Whitmore before launching a psychic attack against him. Whitmore begins seeing visions of the aliens collecting resources by moving from planet to planet and exterminating all life. After Secret Service agents and military personnel kill the alien, he reluctantly authorizes a nuclear attack; a B-2 Spirit fires a nuclear cruise missile at a destroyer positioned above Houston, but the ship remains intact.

On July 4, Levinson demonstrates that the key to defeating the aliens is deactivating their force fields, and devises a way to do it by uploading a computer virus into the mothership. He proposes using the refurbished attack ship to gain entry which Hiller volunteers to pilot. The two are able to implant the virus and deploy a nuclear weapon on board. With military pilots in short supply, Whitmore enlists the help of volunteers with flight experience including Casse and leads an attack on a destroyer ship bearing down on Area 51. Although the fighters are able to inflict damage, their supply of missiles is quickly exhausted. As the destroyer prepares to fire on the base, the last missile jams and Casse decides to sacrifice his own life. He flies his plane kamikaze-style into the directed-energy weapon port, which results in an explosion that destroys the ship. Human resistance forces around the world successfully destroy the other craft using this vulnerability. As humankind is rejoicing in victory, Hiller and Levinson have returned to Area 51 unharmed and reunite with their families. They and military officers nearby accompany Whitmore and his daughter in watching the wreckage from the mothership burn up, resembling a fireworks display as it enters Earth's atmosphere.

 L² Scored: 7.5/10 

L² Comment:

I didn't watch this movie 20 years ago and honestly, i didn't even notice about this movie at all... Until recently the second movie is out, i stopped myself from going to the cinema to watch this movie because everyone say the 2 movies are some sort link to each other... Well, after few months only i manage to find this movie. Overall the storyline is ok but not too excited really...

World War Z

 Released Year: 2013

Directed by Marc Forster

Casted by:

Brad Pitt as Gerry Lane

Mireille Enos as Karen Lane

Daniella Kertesz as Segen

Story: 

A zombie outbreak erupts in metropolitan areas around the world; those bitten by the creatures become zombies themselves within several (twelve) seconds. Retired United Nations (UN) investigator Gerry Lane, his wife Karen, and their two daughters manage to escape the outbreak in Philadelphia and take shelter with a family in Newark while waiting for special evacuation the next day, thanks to Gerry's friend UN Deputy Secretary-General Thierry Umuntoni (Fana Mokoena). They find a shelter for the night while waiting for a rescue helicopter. Their hosts choose not to accompany them when they flee the next day and are subsequently bitten and changed by zombies. Their son, Tommy, manages to escape, and Gerry's family takes him in. They are flown to an offshore U.S. Navy carrier group near New York where Umuntoni is overseeing the remaining worldwide governments' reactions.

The scientists there believe they must first find the cause of the zombie outbreak, believed to be in South Korea. A team of U.S. Navy SEALs is dispatched to go and defend Gerry. Gerry is coerced into going with them under the threat of having his family sent to a potentially unsafe mainland refugee camp. The team lands at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, where the surviving soldiers hold back zombie attacks. Gerry learns that a Korean doctor was the first to come down with the rabies-like infection, after being bitten by a soldier he was treating, whom local villagers had captured when he tried to attack them. A former CIA operative held at the base for selling arms to North Korea reveals that Israel had reacted a week before the outbreak, building giant walls around Jerusalem, and suggests that Gerry talk to Mossad agent Jurgen Warmbrunn.

Gerry is flown to Jerusalem and is brought to Warmbrunn. The Mossad agent reveals they had intercepted a message from the Indian Army on fighting the rakshasa ("Demons"). He and other Israeli experts convinced the government to build the wall to protect themselves, but allowing all uninfected people to move in. As Gerry is escorted back to his plane by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), zombies are drawn to the loud music and singing in the city and pile themselves against the wall, forming a mound of bodies that allows many to clear the wall. As the city is quickly overtaken, Gerry and the IDF members battle their way to escape. On their way, Gerry notices that the zombies avoid attacking an elderly man and, in another instance, a young feeble boy. A zombie bites Gerry's IDF escort; and he quickly amputates her hand, which prevents her from being infected. Eventually, Gerry and the same female IDF escort, who identifies herself only as Segen, are able to board the last passenger jet leaving the city.

Gerry recounts the zombie attacks and remembers seeing sick, injured, and elderly people passed over by the zombie hordes, which leads him to believe this is evidence of some way to deal with them. He contacts Umuntoni to help convince the pilots to take them to Cardiff where an operational WHO (World Health Organization) facility is located. Nearing approach, a single zombie is discovered on the plane, and most of the passengers are quickly infected and converted. Seeing no other option, Gerry uses a grenade from Segen's pack to rupture the cabin and blow out the zombies, but in the process, causes the plane to crash. Gerry and Segen survive, though Gerry is impaled by debris from the crash. They make their way to the WHO facility where Gerry blacks out and falls into a coma.

Gerry wakes up a few days later nursed back to health. He contacts Umuntoni to help convince the WHO employees of his identity, but learns that Karen and his family were shipped to the mainland as they presumed he had died in the plane crash. Gerry explains his theory that the zombies ignore the infirm for the healthy, and suggests injecting themselves with a deadly but curable disease to mask themselves from the zombies. The WHO scientists agree but point out the pathogens are located in one of the zombie-infested labs. Gerry, Segen, and a WHO scientist carefully work through the infested labs but are detected. Segen and the scientist get to safety, while Gerry finds himself in the vault with the pathogens and becomes cornered by a lone zombie. Without the ability to identify the strains in storage, many of which could kill him, Gerry injects himself with one of the samples and finds himself still alive. His hypothesis is proven correct as the zombie enters the vault but does not attack, allowing him to walk back to safety with more samples as the rest of the zombies run right past him. Gerry is then treated for the disease.

Later, as Gerry and Segen are taken to the mainland refugee camp in Nova Scotia where Gerry is reunited with his family, he explains they were able to use these diseases to create a masking agent, allowing them to rescue refugees still trapped by zombies and fight against them. He says that this isn't the end and the war has just begun, but there is hope as people have used the masking agent to evacuate people or fight back.

 L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:

After watching the lousy Pride+Prejudice+Zombie, I feel "sad&bad" for the genre of Zombie lol~ Actually my darling recommended this movie and mentioned that World War Z 2 is coming out soon in this year, so I must watch the sequence in cinema (if it was released in m'sia).

Fury

Released Year: 2014

Directed by David Ayer

Casted by:

 Brad Pitt as US Army S/Sgt. Don "Wardaddy" Collier

Logan Lerman as Pvt. Norman "Machine" Ellison

Shia LaBeouf as T/5 Boyd "Bible" Swan

Michael Peña as Cpl. Trini "Gordo" Garcia

Jon Bernthal as Pfc. Grady "Coon-Ass" Travis

Jason Isaacs as Cpt. "Old Man" Waggoner

Scott Eastwood as Sgt. Miles

 Story:

As the Allies make their final push into Germany, a battle-hardened U.S. Army staff sergeant in the 66th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Division named Don "Wardaddy" Collier commands an M4 Sherman tank named Fury and its five-man, all-veteran crew: gunner Boyd "Bible" Swan; loader Grady "Coon-Ass" Travis; and driver Trini "Gordo" Garcia. The tank's original assistant driver/bow gunner, "Red", has been killed in battle. His replacement is the enlisted Army typist, Norman Ellison, who has neither seen the inside of a tank nor experienced the ravages of war. During his encounter with the men, they harass him and are cruel, obnoxious, and rude to him. Norman is then ordered to clean the tank, and vomits outside after finding a part of "Red's" face. While at a forward operating base, it's revealed that Wardaddy greatly despises the Waffen-SS, shown when he harasses an injured captive SS officer before telling Norman to kill every one of them he sees.

The surviving crew, who have been together since the North African Campaign, belittle the new recruit upon meeting him, both for his lack of experience and for his reluctance to kill Germans, especially the teenagers of the Hitlerjugend; a decision which results in the death of their platoon leader, Lieutenant Parker, and the destruction of his tank and crew. In an effort to 'educate' him to the realities of war, a furious Wardaddy demands Norman kill a captive German artilleryman. When Norman refuses, Wardaddy forces the gun into his hand and executes the prisoner by pulling the trigger over Norman's hand.

The bond between Norman and Wardaddy becomes stronger after capturing a small German town. Searching a house, Wardaddy and Norman discover a German woman, Irma, and her cousin Emma. Norman is then left behind closed doors in the bedroom with Emma. After they come out of the bedroom, the four then sit down and have breakfast together, but the tank crew barges in, rudely teasing the women and angering Wardaddy and Norman. Shortly afterwards, a German bombardment hits the town, killing Emma and some of the American soldiers caught out in the open in the square. Norman tells Wardaddy that he has begun to enjoy killing German soldiers.

A platoon of four tanks, led by Fury, receives orders to hold a vital crossroads, protecting a clear path to supply trains and a camp full of allied nurses and rear-echelon supplies troops (the map shows Emmerthal south of Hameln, where the railway from the Ruhr district to Hanover crosses the Weser river). On the way to the crossroads, they are ambushed by a heavily-armed German Tiger I, which quickly destroys one of the tanks. The remaining three tanks reluctantly attack the German tank, knowing they are outgunned. The Shermans advance and attempt to outflank the Tiger, but two other Shermans are destroyed before they can make it. With some decisive and experienced maneuvering, Fury gets behind the Tiger where its armor is weakest, and destroys it. Bible notes that he believes they were spared for a reason and the men proceed to the crossroads, knowing that they are the only tank left to protect the camp down the road.

As they reach the crossroads, the tank is immobilized when it hits a landmine. Norman is ordered to scout a nearby hill and he spots a reinforced company of three hundred Waffen-SS panzergrenadiers heading their way. The crew initially wants to abandon the tank and escape on foot, but Wardaddy refuses to leave. The crew, not wanting to abandon their leader, decide to stay and plan an ambush.

Immobilized, outnumbered and outgunned, the group talk as Bible recites "Isaiah, Chapter Six" as Wardaddy proclaims. Norman is then given the nickname "Machine" by Coon-Ass for his Nazi-killing, and drinking like a machine. Wardaddy and his men nevertheless inflict heavy losses on the Germans using both the tank's and the crew's weapons, Wardaddy using small arms. As they continue to fight and begin to run low on ammunition, one by one Grady, Gordo, and Bible are all killed. Wardaddy is gravely wounded by an SS sniper. Norman and Wardaddy retreat back into the tank where they share their last words. When SS soldiers drop two grenades into the tank, Wardaddy, wounded and unable to move, orders Norman to escape through the bottom emergency hatch of the tank. Norman escapes as the last surviving crew member and hides in the partial crater previously made by the landmine explosion. The grenades then detonate, killing Wardaddy. A young Waffen-SS trooper discovers Norman beneath the destroyed tank but does not report him. Norman continues to hide as the surviving German soldiers move on.

The next morning, Norman awakens to return to his fallen brothers in Fury, he places his coat upon Wardaddy and takes his revolver as he hears movement outside. As Norman awaits his fate, he is discovered by U.S. Army troops, who tell him that he's a hero. As Norman is being transported to safety, he looks back at the carnage of the hundreds of dead German SS troops surrounding the remains of the destroyed Fury.

  L² Scored: 2/10

L² Comment:

Once again, this movie prove that "war" genre movie is not the movie that I wanna watch~ if not because of Pitt, Lerman & LaBeouf, i dont think i will even finish the whole movie. As for the storyline, umm... damn~ i dont even remember except it is in the World War II times...

Edge of Tomorrow

 Released Year: 2014

Directed by Doug Liman

Casted by:

Tom Cruise as Major William Cage

Emily Blunt as Sergeant Rita Rose Vrataski

Bill Paxton as Master Sergeant Farell

Brendan Gleeson as General Brigham

 Story: 

A race of aliens called Mimics has taken over continental Europe. General Brigham, head of humanity's United Defense Force, orders Major William Cage, a public affairs officer and former advertising executive, to cover combat on the beaches of France during the next day's assault on the Mimics. Cage objects to the dangerous assignment and threatens to use his public relations skills to turn the public against Brigham when the casualties start increasing from the invasion. General Brigham has Cage arrested; Cage is knocked out during an ensuing escape attempt. He wakes in handcuffs at a forward operating base at Heathrow Airport and discovers he has been labeled a deserter and put on combat duty for the invasion under the command of Master Sergeant Farell.

The invasion is a disaster for the humans. Cage manages to kill a large Mimic but dies as he is sprayed with its acid-like blood. He then wakes up at Heathrow the previous morning. No one believes his story that he knows the invasion will fail. He repeats the loop of dying on the beach and waking at Heathrow until he encounters Sergeant Rita Vrataski. She recognizes his ability to anticipate events and tells him to locate her the next time he "wakes up".

Together, Cage and Vrataski meet up with Dr. Carter, a former government scientist and expert in Mimic biology. Cage learns that the kind of Mimic he killed in his first loop, an "Alpha", resets time when it is killed to give the Mimics an advantage in battle. Cage inherited this ability when he was doused in the Alpha's blood as they both died. Vrataski had gained this ability in a recent battle but lost it after receiving a blood transfusion. She tells Cage that they must hunt the Mimics' hive mind, the Omega.

Over innumerable succeeding time loops, Vrataski molds Cage into a far more effective soldier. Frustrated by his continued failures, though, he retreats to a London pub, only to discover the Mimics will overrun the city after their invasion on the beach. He and Vrataski then spend several loops learning how to survive the battle on the beach and get inland based on his vision of the Omega hiding within a Bavarian Alps dam. After numerous loops end in Vrataski's death, Cage decides to hunt the Omega alone, abandoning her and the rest of the invasion to doom on the beach. When he arrives at the dam, he discovers that the Omega is not there. He manages to kill himself before an Alpha can steal his blood and prevent him from resetting the day. Back at Heathrow, he tells Vrataski and Carter that his vision was a trick.

Cage and Vrataski adopt a new approach: they infiltrate the Ministry of Defence in search of a prototype built by Carter that will allow Cage to discover the Omega's true location. After several failed loops they obtain the device, which reveals that the Omega is located under the Louvre Pyramid in Paris. They are injured as they flee; Cage is saved by a blood transfusion, but it removes his ability to reset the day.

Vrataski frees Cage and they return to Heathrow, where they convince his squad to help destroy the Omega. The other squad members sacrifice themselves to get Cage and Vrataski beneath the Louvre. Vrataski distracts a waiting Alpha while Cage advances on the Omega. The Alpha kills them both, but not before Cage primes and drops a grenade belt into the Omega's core, destroying it and neutralizing the other Mimics.

Cage's dying body floats down into a rising cloud of the Omega's blood. Regaining the power to reset himself, Cage wakes up en route to his meeting with Brigham the day before. Brigham announces that Mimic activity has ceased following a power surge in Paris. With the events leading to his arrest never happening, Cage travels to Heathrow on his own, retaining his original officer rank. None of his former squad mates recognize him. He finds Vrataski, who greets him with the same initial rudeness as previous loops, causing Cage to laugh.

  L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:

Usually war genre kind of movie is not my favorite, but this movie is really good and I love the storyline damn well. And I'm surprise to see Emily Blunt in this kind of character, so tough and masculine... usually she's those kinda bitchy character which i think she's good at it too, like the one in Devil Wear Prada. Its a good change for her, hope to see her in more movie and i'm so in love with her now :)

2009 Lost Memories 2009 로스트메모리즈

 Released Year: 2002

Directed by Lee Si-myung

Casted by:

張東健 Jang Dong-gun as Masayuki Sakamoto

仲村亨 Toru Nakamura as Shojiro Saigo

金民铣 Seo Jin-ho as Oh Hye-rin

 Story: 

In 2009, the Korean Peninsula (Chosun) is still under Imperial Japanese rule and Japanese Bureau of Investigation (JBI) agents Masayuki Sakamoto and Shojiro Saigo thwart a hostage crisis at a museum in Keijo by a terrorist group known as the Hureisenjin. The exact motivation for the hostage situation is unknown, but during the investigation, Sakamoto discovers a museum artifact, a crescent-shaped rock known as the "Lunar Soul", found by one of the slain terrorists. After discovering a history of the Hureisenjin targeting the Inoue Foundation, a group founded around the artifacts collected by the second Resident-General of Korea, Sakamoto begins to suspect the Hureisenjin were attempting to steal the Lunar Soul, although both he and Saigo are puzzled as to why a terrorist group would put so much effort into stealing historical artifacts. The Hureisenjin ambush the convoy shipping the foundation's artifacts back to Japan and take the Lunar Soul. The terrorists confront Sakamoto and Saigo in a gunfight, where Sakamoto encounters Oh Hye-rin, the organization's female leader.

Sakamoto's questioning and accusations against the influential Inoue Foundation lead to him being thrown off the case, with the execution of Sakamoto's father as a traitor for aiding in a thwarted attack by the Hurisenjin on a cargo ship in Vladivostok in 1985 being cited by his suspicious superiors. Sakamoto pursues the investigation, traveling to Harbin to learn more about the Lunar Soul, and is then suspended from the JBI. That night, an unknown assailant murders Sakamoto's mentor, Takahashi, at his apartment and he is arrested for the crime. Sakamoto, however, escapes from the JBI with the help of Saigo, who vows to be his enemy the next time they meet.

A wounded Sakamoto stumbles into the Hureisenjin's hideout and Saigo is visited by the head of the Inoue Foundation, with both learning the truth: that they are living in an alternate timeline. In 2009, a large stone temple uncovered by a joint Chinese-Korean-Japanese archaeological expedition, is found to facilitate time travel, and its exploitation by the Japanese right-wing nationalist group Uyoku dantai, a man named Inoue travels back in time exactly 100 years, and prevents the assassination of Resident-General Itō Hirobumi on October 26, 1909. Itō's survival and Inoue's knowledge of future events allows for Japan, instead of being defeated with the other Axis Powers in World War II, to instead ally with the United States against Nazi Germany; The war ends in 1945, following the atomic bombing of Berlin (instead of Hiroshima and Nagasaki). As one of the victorious powers, Japan becomes a military and economic superpower with a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, with its colonial empire intact. Inoue goes on to become the second Resident-General of Korea and his descendants found the Inoue Foundation, which keeps knowledge of the altered timeline limited to only the highest levels of Japan's government. However, a Korean female researcher who followed Inoue and attempted to stop him becomes the founder of Hureisenjin and passes along the story of the truth of the altered timeline, with the hope that the original timeline can somehow be restored.

Knowing about the altered history, Sakamoto allies with the Hureisenjin, who have located the temple stone and are planning their final attack. However, the JBI raid their hideout and kill almost everyone before being wiped out by an improvised explosive. Carrying the Lunar Soul with them, Sakamoto and Hye-rin escape to a tanker ship where the Inoue Foundation's artifacts are being held. They find the temple stone and place the Lunar Soul in it, which activates in the middle of a gunfight with the JBI. Hye-rin is killed, leaving Sakamoto as the only person left to fix the timeline. Sakamoto sends himself to Harbin in 1909, but is pursued by Saigo, who wants to retain the current timeline (Saigo is warned that if the original timeline is restored, his wife's family will almost certainly die in the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima). Sakamoto wounds Saigo before heading to the railway station where the assassination is supposed to occur. He is about to stop Inoue from killing An, but Saigo once again confronts him. Sakamoto kills Inoue, then guns down Saigo to prevent him from shooting An; An then assassinates Itō, as in the original timeline. Later, Sakamoto is seen planting explosives to destroy the temple stone, when Hye-rin walks up to him. It then becomes clear that she was a female Korean researcher in the original timeline, who had followed Inoue when he travelled back in time. Although this Hye-rin (as opposed to the Hye-rin in the alternate timeline) and Sakamoto have never met, they immediately form a special bond.

Back in 2009, it becomes clear that the original timeline has been restored, and at the Independence Hall of Korea, a young boy Sakamoto had met in the alternate timeline sees numerous pictures of Korean heroes and leaders, including one of Sakamoto and Hye-rin together smiling.

L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment:

A bit of confusing when i start to watch this movie which i never watch before. I always thought that this movie was shown in 2009 but actually it was 7 years back in 2002. The story is kinda interesting and when i realize what they are talking about, it attracted me more into the movie. A nice movie, but its kinda heavy as well, lol~

Cleopatra 1999

Released Year: 1999

Directed by Franc Roddam

Casted by:

Leonor Varela as Cleopatra

Timothy Dalton as Julius Caesar

Billy Zane as Marc Antony

Rupert Graves as Octavius 

Story: 

The film begins in Alexandria with Cleopatra VII, Egypt's rightful Queen, in exile, while her sister Arsinoe and younger brother, Ptolemy have stolen the throne. Roman soldier Julius Caesar comes to collect Egypt's tax debt. After conversing with a courtesan, Cleopatra smuggles herself into the palace wrapped in a carpet; a gift from her to Caesar. He accepts the gift and the twenty-year-old queen is revealed to the 52-year-old man. The two spend the night together, and the next morning, Cleopatra and twelve-year-old Ptolemy are betrothed to marry by Caesar. Shortly after the siblings are wed, Cleopatra is proclaimed Queen of Egypt, forcing Ptolemy to join forces with Arsinoe and drive their sister out of Alexandria.

A war breaks out between the Romans and Ptolemy's Egyptian forces, and in the process, Alexandria's great library is burned to the ground. Even with this loss, Cleopatra soon celebrates the return of her Roman lover, and the capture of her traitor sister, Arsinoe. The two take a 2-month journey down the Nile aboard one of the Queen's elegant ships. Upon their return, Caesar breaks the news that he must leave for Rome. Unbeknownst to him, Caesar leaves Cleopatra pregnant with his child. A son is born to the queen roughly nine months later; he is named Ptolemy Caesar, in honor of his father.

Back in Rome, believing that he should hold the same status as his Egyptian lover, Caesar demands he be declared King of Rome. Although they are hesitant to do so, the senate eventually grants Caesar's request. Now having been declared king, Caesar invites Cleopatra to stay at one of his villas, just outside Rome. With her, she brings the couple's infant son, whom the Egyptian people call 'Caesarion', meaning 'Little Caesar'. In front of his people (including wife Calpurnia), Cleopatra declares that Caesar is her son's father, publicly forcing his hand, and demanding that her son be allowed to rule both Egypt and Rome invoking the consternation of Brutus and Cassius.

Although he accepts Caesarion as his child, Caesar denies the queen's request, explaining that Egypt is only free from Rome because he wishes it to be. Just before her return to Egypt, Cleopatra soon learns that Caesar has been assassinated at the hands of Brutus, Cassius and other senators. The burdens of ruling fall on the shoulders of Caesar's Roman heir and grandnephew, Octavian; a teenage boy who hates Cleopatra. With his ascendancy, Octavian has Brutus killed while Cassius kills himself.

Octavian also plans to rid himself of his rival, Cleopatra's baby boy, Caesarion, who, as Caesar's only child, threatens his reign. Renaming himself Caesar Augustus, Octavian sends soldiers to Egypt to find and kill Caesar's son. In the meantime, Caesar's boyhood friend and cousin, Marc Antony is sent to Alexandria to protect Caesarion and Queen Cleopatra. In spending time with together, Antony and Cleopatra fall in love. Although they wish to marry, Antony reveals that he wed Octavian's sister, the submissive Octavia, in order to strengthen his alliance and co-ruling with the new emperor. Defying his Roman beliefs against polygamy, Antony marries Cleopatra in Antioch, claiming that her son, Caesarion, is heir to not only Egypt, but also Rome.

Upon hearing of Antony's claim, Octavian wages war against the two lovers, trapping Cleopatra in her own city. Threatening suicide if Octavian does not let her son go, Cleopatra learns that she has lost Antony, killed in battle against Octavian's army. Octavian arrives in Egypt, demanding that Cleopatra join him in Rome as his prisoner. She refuses and demands that her son be allowed to rule Egypt. Octavian does not agree to this, but allows Antony to have an Egyptian burial. After sending her children to India, Cleopatra's plan goes through, as she has a basket of figs brought to her heavily guarded tomb. There, she lets the asp bite her, and dies shortly after. Her handmaidens quickly follow their queen's example. Octavian's men break through the doors, only to discover that the queen is dead. After they discover that Cleopatra is dead, Octavian then takes over Egypt about two years later after Cleopatra's death.

 L² Scored: 5/10

L² Comment:

Based on the fiction of Margaret George's "Memoirs of Cleopatra", of coz its the same as every legend of the famous queen of Egypt, Cleopatra. For me, this movie is still ok, not as good as the Elizabeth Taylor's version. The cleopatra is not wild enough even though she's a sexy latino~

Human Breast Lair 人奶魔巢

 Released Year: 1989

Directed by 郑永明 Zheng Yong Ming

Casted by:

东方闻樱 Dong Fang Wen Ying as 左林燕 Yan

纪玲 Ji Ling as 铁美 Mui

王亚玲 Wang Ya Ling as 大菊 Ju

王跃进 Wang Yue Jing as 王翔 Xiang

 Story:

During World War II, a lot of China ladies being kidnap and force to produce human milk for the Japanese. A group of 4 (Yan, Mui, Ju & Xiang) went for rescue. Yan was caught in the camp and they also realize Mui is a Japanese spy, out of shame, she killed herself. The rest of the gang also managed to settle the issue and release all the ladies while killed all the Japanese armies.

L² Scored: 1/10 

L² Comment:

This is the most funny movie i ever watch, not that it was shot badly, it is because of the silly storyline. I never heard of the human breat/milk factory ever in the history, but it already showed that how those in China managed to crack up stories...

Ararat

 Released Year: 2002

Directed by Atom Egoyan

 

Casted by:

David Alpay as Raffi

Charles Aznavour as Edward Saroyan
 Christopher Plummer as David
 Arsinée Khanjian as Ani
 Eric Bogosian as Rouben

 Story:

Ani and her son Raffi involved in the film which talks on the Tukish and Almerian during the war time. Raffi was in love with his step sister who believe that Ani has cause her father to die. While shooting the film, Raffi has different finding on his own life and the war...

 L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:

Its kinda heavy movie to watch actually, but luckily David Alpay is cute enough for me to complete the whole film :) I'm not familiar with the history of this, so there's no comment on whether its real or not, or should it be like this at all... Overall the storyline is fine with me, love the flashback shooting all the while in the movie :)

Rescue Dawn

 Released Year: 2006

Directed by Werner Herzog

 

Casted by:

Christian Bale as Dieter Dengler
 Steve Zahn as Duane Martin
 Jeremy Davies as Gene DeBruin

 Story:

Dieter Dengler, a German-born U.S. Navy pilot in squadron VA-145, is shot down in his A-1 Skyraider over Laos in February 1966, while on a combat mission. He survives the crash only to be pursued, and ultimately captured, by the Pathet Lao. Dengler is given the chance for leniency by the Province Governor if he signs a document condemning America, but he refuses. He is tortured and taken to a prison camp. There he meets fellow American military soldiers and pilots, such as Gene DeBruin and Duane W. Martin, some of whom have been captive for years. Dengler begins planning an escape, much to the disbelief of his fellow combatants, who have been downtrodden through physical and psychological torture by the camp guards.

Eventually, all the prisoners agree to escape, only Dengler and Martin follow through with the plan as the others disappear and are not seen again in the film. Dengler and Martin try to reach the Mekong River to cross over into Thailand, but Martin is killed by a mob of angry villagers. Eventually, Dengler is rescued by an American helicopter but sequestered in a hospital due to the secret nature of his mission. He is visited by some of his squadron who covertly take him back to his ship, where he is welcomed as a hero by the crew.

 L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment: 

This movie is based on the real story during the Vietnam war that time and seriously Christian Bale looks so hot no matter he is meaty or as skinny as a stick~ I actually like the fact that the movie doesn't further explain what happen to the rest of the guys who didn't follow Dengler and Martin at that time. If there's a shot/screen shows what happen, it would be fake then~ cause the real Dieter Dengler won't even know what happened~ a good movie :)

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 風の谷のナウシカ

Released Year: 1984

Directed by 宫崎駿 Hayao Miyazaki

Voiced by:

島本須美 Sumi Shimamoto & Alison Lohman as Nausicaä    
 松田洋治 Yōji Matsuda & Shia LaBeouf & 泰迪羅賓 Teddy Robin as Asbel     

 榊原良子 Yoshiko Sakakibara & Uma Thurman as Kushana    
納谷悟朗 Goro Naya & Patrick Stewart as Master Yupa    

Story:

One thousand years have passed since the Seven Days of Fire, an apocalyptic war that destroyed human civilization and gave birth to the vast Toxic Jungle, a forest swarming with giant mutant insects in which everything is lethal to humans. Scattered settlements exist wherever the Toxic Jungle relents. The Valley of the Wind is one such settlement. The Valley's settlers have a prophecy stating that a warrior "clad in blue and surrounded by fields of gold" will one day reunite man and nature.

Nausicaä, the agile, cheerful and peace-loving princess of the Valley of the Wind, has managed to befriend the Toxic Jungle. She explores the Jungle and communicates with its creatures, including the gigantic, armored trilobite-like creatures called Ohmu. She often travels on a compact jet-powered glider in order to find out about the origins of the Toxic Jungle, understand its nature, and even find a cure for both humans and the world.

One night, during a visit by the Valley's swordsmaster, Lord Yupa, a large fixed-wing cargo aircraft from the kingdom of Tolmekia crashes in the Valley. Nausicaä tries to rescue an onboard passenger, the wounded Princess Lastelle of Pejite, who pleads with Nausicaä to destroy the cargo before dying. The cargo is an embryo of a Giant Warrior, lethal genetically engineered bioweapons that caused the Seven Days of Fire. The invading Tolmekians seized the embryo and Lastelle. The Tolmekian plane, however, was attacked by mutant insects before it crashed. One of the insects then emerges unscathed from the wreckage and seems poised to attack the frightened villagers, but Nausicaä uses a small bullroarer to create a high-pitched tune that helps calm it and after mounting her jet-glider, guides the insect out of the village to safety.

The next morning, Tolmekian troops, led by Princess Kushana and Officer Kurotowa, subjugate the Valley and secure the Giant Warrior embryo, killing Nausicaä's sick father in the process. Kushana plans to mature the Giant Warrior and then use it to burn the Toxic Jungle, even though history warns of fatal consequences. Her father's death drives Nausicaä berserk and she kills several Tolmekian soldiers before the fight is halted by Yupa. Kushana announces her decision to leave for Pejite along with five hostages from the Valley and Nausicaä. Before they leave, Nausicaä's master discovers her secret garden of jungle plants. According to Nausicaä, plants that grow in clean soil and water are not toxic. The jungle's soil, however, has long been tainted by man.

Kushana and her detachment never reach their destination, as an agile Pejite interceptor obliterates the entire Tolmekian wing before being shot down. Nausicaä, her fellow hostages and Kushana crash-land in the jungle, disturbing several Ohmu, which Nausicaä soothes. She then leaves to rescue Asbel, the Pejite pilot and the twin brother of Lastelle, but both are swallowed by quicksand and end up in a non-toxic world below the jungle. Nausicaä realizes that the jungle plants purify the polluted topsoil, producing clean water that remains hidden underground.

Nausicaä and Asbel return to Pejite, only to find it ravaged by the insects. Pejite survivors, boarding a single plane, reveal that they lured the creatures to eradicate the Tolmekians and are doing the same in the Valley to recapture the Giant Warrior. To prevent any intervention, they take Nausicaä captive, knocking Asbel out in the process. Later, with the help of Asbel and his mother, Nausicaä flees on a glider. While flying home, Nausicaä finds a team of Pejites using a wounded baby Ohmu to lead scores of enraged Ohmu into the Valley. Tolmekians deploy tanks and later the Giant Warrior against the herd to no avail: tanks prove too weak and the Giant Warrior, hatched ahead of time, soon disintegrates.

Nausicaä liberates the baby Ohmu and gains its trust; in the process, her pink dress becomes stained by the Ohmu's blue blood, turning completely blue. Both land in front of the herd, but are run over. The herd, however, calms down, and the Ohmu use their golden tentacles to heal Nausicaä's wounded body. Nausicaä awakens and starts to dance on top of the hundreds of glowing golden tentacles. Thus Nausicaä, "clad in blue, surrounded by the fields of gold" fulfills the prophecy. The Ohmu and Tolmekians leave the Valley afterwards, while the surviving Pejites remain with the Valley people, helping them rebuild. Meanwhile, a tree is beginning to grow underground, meaning that the planet is beginning to heal.

L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment:

After 5 years of directing his very first animation, Hayao Miyazaki used his comics which he has been Posted in the comic magazine at that time. The animation movie gone a big hit and won a lot of applause. For me, the movie definitely has a sense of education to teach human beings of stop polluting our own earth and stop war. Storyline kinda special but of coz a few parts are a bit boring though...