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DVD The Skulls (Collector's Edition)
Think of the Skulls as a collegiate Freemason's society--an ultrasecret organization that opens the doors of power to a few lucky Ivy League students, including school rowing star Luke McNamara (Joshua Jackson), a poor kid with a misspent youth. "If it's secret and it's elite, it can't be good," cautions his journalist roommate, but the lure of lavish gifts and cabal-like ceremonies in torch-lit stone chambers is too much to resist--until his roomie is murdered and his own Skull "soulmate" Caleb Mandrake (Paul Walker) is the number one suspect.
There's a campy kick to the initiation ceremonies, ancient rituals in dungeonlike alcoves filled with haze and shadow, performed by enthralled frat boys, but as Jackson flounders at the center of a Skull conspiracy it spins into ludicrous melodrama. See the college president become a thug for the Skull godfather! See street punks become high-tech criminal masterminds! See the conspiracy collapse under its own absurdity!
Jackson is pretty much a dud as the well-meaning hero, but Walker, with flashing eyes under furrowed brow, is mesmerizing as a haunted rich kid torn between a ruthless, overbearing father (Craig T. Nelson) and his conscience. Director Rob Cohen drives the film at a galloping pace and fills it with foreboding images, but his humorless solemnity finally buries The Skulls in a heap of clichés. --Sean Axmaker
This is entertaining fare, and revealing in so many ways.
Much of the criticism is about the plotting, and how the key events could have happened without the Skulls leaders doing anything to stop the lower ranks acting "wrongly". That proceeds from false assumptions. The central theme of the film is about a power play between two council leaders. Once you see that, then the events of the film fall into place, since the junior players in the events are pawns of the council members who are competing for the leadership of the Skulls. This film has more layers than an onion.
The special FX used in this film are so invisible it is amazing. All the FX serve to further the story.
The additional material is superb, and the commentary shows the production process, amongst other things, and the deleted scenes show how a movie is crafted into a flowing creative, vibrant entity.
ENJOY
Great Movie
This movie is one of my favorite movies ever. It really draws me into the plot from the beginning. I am not usually a person who enjoys action films, but this one left me wanting to know more. I have not yet seen either of the sequels, but I don't think they can live up to how great this one was. One of my friends and I love to watch this movie together.
Bare bones entertainment
In the dark halls once walked by ancient members of secret societies, one group in particular stands out and has survived and prospered...The Skulls. This opening introduction should have been a clue as to how absurdly dramatic this movie would be.
Director Rob Cohen (Daylight, Fast & The Furious) has never been able to pull any gem from the movies he makes with the only exception being Dragon, The Bruce Lee Story. Instead, he usually creates moderately entertaining movies that try so hard to be more than they are. This was the last dramatic movie he made before moving into the even more flashy flair of The Fast & The Furious.
The Skulls starts out promising, with good characters trying to deal with their real life and school. One in particular, Lucas McNamara, played by Joshua Jackson of Dawson's Creek fame, is trying hard to make something of himself, despite his poor roots and semi-criminal childhood. He does well but mostly plays a similar character to what he played on DC. Paul Walker, playing Caleb Mandrake, stands out showing some real emotion as the conflicted rich kid who befriends Lucas and battles his own conscious throughout the movie. You find yourself liking him, despite his `take no responsibility' personality.
The real downfall of the movie is simply the switch in direction from Lucas' journey into sudden wealth and opportunity, to murder mystery. I think it would have been more instresting to see Lucas work his way into the society and find he is nothing like these people, and either find a way to use the Skulls abilities for good purposes. William L. Peterson, always good, plays Senator Levritt, who states this to Lucas early in the movie. This sounded like a promising start to the intrigue that could follow the young man who has never known what it's like to be rich or to have the ability to wield such power.
But alas, the movie falls into bleak territory and barely digs it's way out. All in all, it's an entertaining movie of power, secret society rules superceding the law and discovery of a person's own moral code. A good combination that was clumsily executed but is still good on most levels.
I was browsing through my rental place when I saw this dvd and decided to pick this up. The first Skulls had a good premise and a great cast (the ultra hot Leslie Bibb a extra plus to it) but this review isn't about that movie its about the sequel. The Skulls 2 has the same basic premise as the first one. Guy joins Skulls, guy sees wrong-doings by Skull members, guy gets set up by the Skulls, guy uses smarts to outwit Skull members all the while getting the girl. I hope I didn't spoil the movie for anyone by revealing the good guy winning. Like it would happen any other way anyways. This straight to video movie has an above average production and a nice cast. Robin Dunne is a good actor although I see him more as a tv actor than a movie actor. The pacing of the movie was great all the way... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Joe Chappelle DVD Release Date: Released the 03 June 2003 Usually ships within 24 hours
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It took 2 false starts until they made the best Skulls. This movie was by far the best skulls so far. Of course you know's the baddy its always the cute ones. And in this movie there is 3 gorgeous guys all hot for one girl(Claire Kramer). This movie is defiantly worth 5 stars it doesnt drag on and they have captured your attention by the first scene right up until the last More Info about this DVD Director(s): J. Miles Dale DVD Release Date: Released the 09 March 2004 Usually ships within 24 hours
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This MTV-produced drama only looks like an adaptation of H.G. Bissinger's expert dissertation of the church of high school football, Friday Night Lights. The energetic, breezy movie has none of the seriousness of Bissinger's book except on its basic level: in West Texas, high school football is life. Into this world comes Jonathan "Mox" Moxon (James Van Der Beek), a brainy, uncharacteristic jock who sits on the sideline reading Slaughterhouse Five until the West Caanan High School Coyotes All-Texas QB goes down with an injury. Suddenly the spotlight and the tyrannical ways of coach Bud Kilmer (another ace evil turn by Jon Voight) are on Mox and the light is white-hot. There have been several films that show tough, honest kids doing their best against the worst of small-town... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): James Van Der Beek - Jon Voight Director(s): Brian Robbins DVD Release Date: Released the 31 May 1999 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This modern-day teen update of Les Liaisons Dangereuses suffered at the hands of both critics and moviegoers thanks to its sumptuous ad campaign, which hyped the film as an arch, highly sexual, faux-serious drama (not unlike the successful, Oscar-nominated Dangerous Liaisons). In fact, this intermittently successful sudser plays like high comedy for its first two-thirds, as its two evil heroes, rich stepsiblings Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe), blithely ruin lives and reputations with hearts as black as coal. Kathryn wants revenge on a boyfriend who dumped her, so she befriends his new intended, the gawky Cecile (Selma Blair), and gets Sebastian to deflower the innocent virgin. The meat of the game, though, lies in Sebastian's seduction of... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Sarah Michelle Gellar - Ryan Phillippe - Reese Witherspoon Director(s): Roger Kumble DVD Release Date: Released the 11 December 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Joy Ride follows the familiar conventions of road-movie thrillers with enough vitality to make everything old seem new again. A confirmed master of neo-noir suspense, director John Dahl (Red Rock West, The Last Seduction) sets a consistent tone of humor and horror as Lewis (Paul Walker) and his black-sheep brother Fuller (Steve Zahn) drive from Salt Lake City to pick up Lewis's friend Venna (Leelee Sobieski) in Boulder, Colorado. En route, they play a practical joke via CB radio, inviting vengeful terror as an unseen trucker (voiced with exquisite menace by Silence of the Lambs villain Ted Levine) pursues them with relentless, homicidal aggression. Inevitable comparisons to Steven Spielberg's Duel fail to appreciate Dahl's unique talent for energizing... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Leelee Sobieski Director(s): John Dahl DVD Release Date: Released the 12 March 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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