toddly6666

Big-budget/sci-fi/fantasy filipino movie is now available on DVD.
The only DVD specs I know is that the audio is Filipino with English subtitles.
Available at:
http://www.kabayancentral.com/video/...pstexodus.html
http://www.showbizpinoy.com/item.php?sku=STAR-DVD94

Here's the trailer:
http://www.twitchfilm.net/exoduslarge.mov

Everyone's giving it fair to low reviews. I have a feeling that I will get suckered into buying this film, especially since I purchased the director's old movie, PEDRO PENDUKO EPISODE 2, and it was one of the worst films that I couldn't even watch past 5 mintues, but the trailer to EXODUS is too tempting and it has convinced me to buy the DVD. It ain't coming to our local DVD stores definitly.

Twitchfilm gives a fair review, but I don't trust that review. But there is a short review in the reader comments of Twitchfilm that I have a feeling is the exact representation of what one will get when watching this film:
A nicely optimistic albeit extremely forgiving review of this film. Saw it myself and I have to say that production values (probably the best aspect of the film) aside, the story is by-the-numbers bland and lacking imagination devoid of any moments for you to see depth to the cast. The sudden revelation before the third act is pretty empty and emotionally unsatisfying. The villain does nothing till the finale, and there is no feeling of dread, danger or peril throughout the entire film. It's all a leisurely walk to the land of evil to kill this pretty boy masked dude and happily ever after.

Not just as a Filipino myself but as a lover of fantasy/action films, I have to say that Exodus is far, far below par- perhaps on line with the B-movie Deathstalker films, especially made sad by the fact that everything is played dead serious. On the good side, it's not horrible, but lowering expectations a lot will greatly help enjoyment of this film.

twitch

Not sure how my review was supposed to be 'overly optimistic' when I say myself that the story mines a sort of Hercules / Xena vibe and that the characters and plot are overly simplistic.

It's very much a kids film, and very much a b-film, targetted at the tween set and as such is entirely bloodless and has a couple of throw away characters aimed purely at getting the kids involved and the story arc is very direct.

On the plus side - and it's a big, big, plus - some of the art direction is just stunning, particularly the standing sets of the human encampment and the villain's castle. There are some great set pieces, some very unique character design, and a couple very good action sequences.

It's a popcorn film, fun while it lasts but - like I said - not a classic. I wouldn't go nuts trying to track it down but it's worth looking at.

toddly6666

twitch,
Do you know if this Filipino is anamorphic? I doubt it...

logboy

thats hugely illogical to say one opinion is the true one, the other is a false one : opinions are simply variations on how people see things, from individual perspectives, so theres no right and wrong per se.

on the subject of overly optimistic, remember your 'great yokai war review'?
if opinions were in one direction or another, not in all directions, as you seem to see them, then your review would be a prime example of overly optimistic if ever i read one :

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread....reat+yokai+war

"I think THE GREAT YOKAI WAR is the director's best film, but I'm sure people will disagree with that, but it's certainly a totally entertaining work of art fantasy film, with not one boring scene in the film.
" 10/10 - toddly6666

toddly6666

Logboy,
hahaha...yes, you are right and it's true, I am overly optimistic too...Twitchfilm and DVDtalk are the greatest movie/dvd sites ever, it's just that I have been let down by Twitch's Asian movie reviews - I got pumped up for Casshern, Shinobi, and the Duelist, but was let down by all of them. They still aren't good movies with lower expectations...But that's not their problem, that's mine. I wish I could enjoy Casshern, Shinobi and the Duelist as much as them.

logboy

i dont think thats an appropriate description "let down by" even if you say its "your fault" as it shows seeds of doubt in your mind as to your confidence in making your decisions entirely on your own and that you still look to others as an outlet for disappointment - no review is anything more than one persons opinion, so nobody is alone in having holes in how they make choices, theyre useful because they give views and information, but theyre not a definitive buyers guide from and individual or bulk perspective. no one piece of information or any particular definable group of pieces of information guarantees you any success in your choices in the end, they (or it) simply informs you of whats out there and hopefully triggers into your mind a response of wether its interesting from your perspective - doesnt matter if the review is good or bad for that reason amongst many.
everyone gets disappointments, and weve said it before elsewhere, that happens no matter what is communicated and how its done... i didnt buy 'shinobi' didnt buy 'duelist' and loved 'casshern', and i use any site that i might contribute towards in a way which means i pick and choose on my own level all the time.

toddly6666

I base all my DVD purchases on reviews and/or trailers, so it's gonna be the critic or the marketing that gets the blame for an overly hyped movie which is actually bad, as well as myself since I'm spending between 20 and 30 dollars on them. I wouldn't be so hard on myself if I was just renting them.

logboy

its not appropriate to blame anyone, potentially theres no blame to be laid at anyones door for your feeling a film is bad other than those involved in making it : theres all kinds of ways to review a film, and theres all kinds of enthusiasm that shouldnt be killed off simply because people dont take the film the same way. marketing is one big lie, so theres a good finger-waggin to be had towards those being paid to do what they do, but (for instance) theres not a penny of profit in a fan site like twitch, revenues go back into cover initial setting-up costs, revamp cost, running costs and so on : and it doesnt even totally manage to do that, if it ever does then it wont have been because of any conscious decision.

perhaps you should rent more often?

toddly6666

Oh yeah, I blame the filmmakers too - so that includes the filmmakers, the critics, and myself...all to blame! haha

can't rent them - the foreign videos I want to watch are not in rental stores. The two good foreign rental places Nicheflix(online) and my local NYC video store (kim's) take forever with getting hot foreign titles...

logboy

the more often you post one of your reviews (over-enthusiastic or otherwise) then hopefully the more you will realise someone else will be using it as a guide and they may be disappointed as a result... and then hopefully you will see how odd it is to be in either position.

twitch

Ah, you read the wrong Duelist review, man. X loved it, Kurt and I both pretty much hated it. I stand by my love for Casshern and Shinobi, though, although I totally understand where people see the flaws in them. Thanks much for the kind words, though ...

Anyway ... no idea on whether the Exodus DVD will be anamorphic. I saw it on a screener that Matti's company sent me a good while back. Generally speaking though the quality of the DVDs I've seen from the Philipines has been pretty poor. Sigaw, for example, has this weird pulsing effect all through it, which is really distracting especially for such a visually strong film.

Tutut

After following the reviews for some time you should know which critic's taste matches to yours, from the reviewer
who thinks everything's good to the most elitist.
-

toddly6666

Twitch,
Thanks for the info about Exodus. I wouldn't have even been aware of Exodus without twitchfilm. I greatly appreciate everything about your site, even with everyone's different tastes. I was only thinking of Shinobi, Duelist, and Casshern when I mentioned that I didn't "trust" the Exodus review. I have faith in 99 percent of every single other review the site does, so It's just my bitterness talking after watching Matti's crap fest PEDRO PENDUKO EPISODE 2. I didn't like Shinobi or Casshern, but im glad I watched it. I would have gone nuts with curiousity if I hadn't seen them. I thought that the Duelist review by X was pure genius. That's the closest DVD review I've seen that resembles a college thesis - I loved it! It doesn't even matter if that movie was good or not. That review was just so long, full of analysis, interesting and different. X could probably write an in-depth/analysis review of Glitter or Crossroads and make them seem good. Actually, I would like X or someone anywhere to analyze Mathew Barney's Cremaster movies. There can be a whole semester on Mathew Barney.

Also with Filipino movies/dvds:
1. Any news of The Princess of Mount Ledang on DVD?
2. Why are Filipino DVDs bad quality if they have a big film industry? The Philipines, like India, are developing countries with huge film industry. Typical Indian films (Bollywood) are non-stop crap, sort of like Filipino films, but Indian DVDs get excellent DVD quality - even Tamil and Bengali movies get awesome DVD treatment. Why are these Filipino DVDs of such crappy quality, especially since they are getting sold in Filipino-American online stores? Are the Indians of USA/Canada/UK more HDTV junkies than Filipinos living in USA/Canada/UK?

twitch

That's a damn good question ... it's a long way from being flawless but it sure is purty and I'd love a DVD copy of it. You may have realized from my reviews that I'll forgive a lot in the name of good visuals (though even that couldn't save The Duelist in my book) and this one definitely falls into that camp.

Quasi-realted question: anybody know a good source for Malaysian DVDs that doesn't charge a fortune to ship?

joeydaninja

you can try this place

http://www.filipinomovierentals.com/

i also know they used to sell dvd's too, i just can't seem to find the page.

and to answer why we don't put our movies on DVD's? we're working on it . but seriously even our classics over here aren't on DVD. i have a feeling though more will come out eventually when they realize there is a market for it.

sorta... I think Indians who live abroad grew up loving Bollywood and when they get nostalgic watch Indian movies. Filipinos who live abroad hate their movie industry (with good reason) because it symbolizes everything that is wrong with the Philippines (corruption, low production values, no script, etc.). Also, I think Indians grew up speaking more Hindi and thus are more comfortable with Bollywood movies. Filipinos grew up with both English and Filipino, and we get a lot of the Hollywood movies. So we don't really care where our movies come from, whether Hollywood or the Philippines. We simply watch what is better. And when we get nostalgic, we eat or drink beer or sing karaoke, we don't feel the need to watch the Filipino movies.

But once the quality of our movies get better, I'm sure there will be a resurgence of pride, like what happened with Mexican and Spanish movies.

hmmm, looks like all the movies you requested for above are on netflix. i have a feeling they are subtitled or else netflix wouldn't be renting them out.

twitch

I want Sepet and I'll want Gubra when it releases, but it's not just the Malay films ... they do lots of cheap DVD releases of films and anime from all around Asia that include English subtitles when other regions don't. It would be a cheap way to get a lot of stuff if I could just find a retailer that didn't charge a fortune to ship ...