Retro Review – Page 15 – Savior Gaming

Ghostbusters 2 (1989)

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The Ghostbusters are back, sort of. After the events of the first movie they get sued for all the damage they caused and are forced out of business when they are banned from investigating the paranormal. No good deed goes unpunished right guys? Tho it is a Ghostbusters movie after all, so they will do some digging anyway and discover a river of slime under where a baby carriage mysteriously stopped. Of course they get caught and arrested however, it doesn’t really take much to get caught excavating a road even in New York.

Lucky or unlucky for them the judge is a real hard ass, and the slime reacts to negative emotion and unleashes a few ghost in the courtroom. After the Ghostbusters refuse to do their job since they would be breaking the law, they are court ordered to go back to work.

After much more investigation, Vigo reveals himself, and he wants a body. However you are going to have to watch the movie to find out more. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Destiny AKA Reaper (1921)

Destiny

Sometimes I watch movies from way back in the day. Like so far back you need a history lesson. For example this movie, Destiny, called Reaper on Netflix was originally released as Behind The Wall in the United States back in 1921 and was called Der müde Tod: ein deutsches volkslied in Germany it seems. I say it seems because I don’t speak any German so that may just be the same name in a different language.

The movie itself is a silent film that us a fantasy love story that follows multiple couples. My favorite involves a woman attempting to make a deal with Death to get her lost love back but she can’t make the sacrifices Death demands.

The movie, not unlike Metropolis Restored (1927) has been damaged quite a bit over the years and has been re-pieced together from multiple sources tho not as extensively as Metropolis. I didn’t enjoy this one as much but its historic value can’t be understated. Movies from that time are rarely found complete and are even more rarely shown so readily to the public. If you have the time its pretty cool to check out for the movie buffs out there. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Ghostbusters (1984)

Every so often Netflix or Hulu adds a movie and I just have to sit back and watch. Or I just rip it out of my collection for old times sake. Ghostbusters is a classic, and with very good reason. The story of Peter, Ray,Egon and Winston saving New York from Ghost and the Stay Puft Marshmallow man is one every kid in the 80’s and 90’s knows by heart. It launched video games, cartoons, toys, sequels and even came back in 2016 with an all girl cast which got mixed reviews. Admittedly I have not seen it yet but I keep telling myself I will get around to it,

The first Ghostbusters movie covers the founding of the team itself, from them being fired from the local college to the very first call where they capture Slimer. It isn’t long before they get accused of causing all these ghost to appear and tossed in jail by the EPA. There is plenty of fun stuff in between, but I don’t want to ruin this for the rare person that hasn’t seen this. The gaming gods would like to remind you, if someone asks if you are a god, you say yes.

Men in Black (1997)

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Every so often I see a movie and I notice the year it came out and my brain goes damn it I am old. Tho a friend of mine just recently pointed out I have known her for almost 30 years so that wrecked my life a little bit to know I have known her almost my entire life. Men in Black is one of those movies. 1997 doesn’t seem that long ago, but 20 years went by pretty quick apparently.

Men in Black as you know spawned two sequels, a cartoon, video games and rumor has it soon a Men in Black 4. More on that tho in a future post. For now the original. The first one sees Will Smith as a regular old cop doing his job, and suddenly chasing a guy down on foot. This dude is quick and can jump damn near like an Olympic athlete. This catches the eye of the character played by Tommy Lee Jones, Agent K.

Agent K eventually test a group of people, and chooses Will Smith to be an agent, Agent J. Together they are essentially the police that operate independently of even the governments of the world as the police for the numerous aliens that visit and live on Earth. The movie is fun and has actually popularized a few conspiracy theories, one of which basically says the movie was released by the government to judge how people would take the news of aliens and such a groups existence being real. The movie holds up pretty well, and I definitely recommend seeing it. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

War of the Worlds (1953)

War of the Worlds has had many iterations, from the many movies, books and even the original radio broadcast that has spread its own host of urban legends, some of which I covered here Brave New Jersey (2016).

The 1953 version however is by far my favorite, Based off the novel by H.G. Wells and the screen play by Barre Lyndon. The story takes place in a small California town on a night like most others. People are at a local dance or out to eat even a few on a little fishing trip camping out. When a meteorite strikes nearby people get curious, after all who wouldn’t?

A few days later when it cools down and people can get close enough to investigate is when things go from fun and interesting, to world-changing bad. As the meteorite opens to reveal itself to be instead to be alien ships invading the earth.

The acting in the movie is great, you can actually believe these people are scared of what is taking place and for its time the effects are stunning. Sure by the standards of today they are primitive but imagine going to see this on the big screen back in 1953 with your girlfriend, having never seen anything like this when the ship starts shooting or when you finally see this alien come on-screen and grab the girl’s shoulder from behind.

Sure we have the benefit of it being remastered in color and have seen things much better, but for its time this thing was creepy as hell. Even when I was a kid having grown up with horror movies I remember thinking how I would have freaked if this ugly little bastard managed to sneak up on me.

The ending is also amazing, and I don’t mind spoiling it because the movie is over 60 years old, but if you plan on seeing it after reading this and don’t want it spoiled now is the time to stop reading. Seriously, last chance.

Now I assume you are ready for the spoiler. The end is with the world mostly in ruins, people rioting cars flipped and burning we find out main characters hiding in a church after even nuclear weapons failed to stop the invaders. When suddenly the ship heading their way simply starts to fall and crashes into a building. A hatch opens, an alien starts to appear and stops. Our brave scientist inches his way over to discover it is mysteriously dead. What is even more is all of these ships seem to be slowly doing the same thing. Not all at once, but slowly over time dying. For all their technology they failed to take into account one thing. The germs of Earth played hell with their immune system. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Dazed and Confused (1993)

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This is another movie I didn’t see until well after it came out. I actually had a friend that kept calling me Matthew McConaughey and when I asked why he wouldn’t tell me, all he kept saying was watch the movie. Finally I did and well, my girlfriend while legal was a bit younger than me. We met freshmen year in college, tho I went through the army before college and she went straight from high school. You do the math.

The movie itself however is amazing. Its a coming of age story about a few of the football players and choosing between giving in to the demands of the coach, or staying true to themselves. It doesn’t stop there tho. There is a love story as well, there is some philosophy talk and even a fun side story about the tradition of of High School seniors essentially chasing the soon to be freshmen down and beating them with paddles.

Now I am not quite old enough to know anything about what the 70’s was like. I was born after that, but the stories I hear makes it seem pretty accurate. The acting is also amazing and they really capture what many think of when they think stereotypical high school experience. It is one of those cult classic movies people love and there is a reason for it. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pokemon Pinball

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If you had a GameBoy Color in the early 2000’s, this game was a necessity. As the title suggests, it’s Pokemon themed Pinball in the palm of your hand. You had a red stage and blue stage with all 150 original Pokemon to capture and evolve. After every three Pokemon captured or one capture and a evolution, you got to play a fun mini game whether it was battling MewTwo or bashing Meowth for coins. Though simple, it was easy to get lost and addicted trying to beat that ludicrously high score your friend set as the rumble numbed your hands after hours. There isn’t much to say, the game was simple and fun as games should be and deserves a go. May the gaming gods bring you glory as you go catch them all.

Dead Poets Society (1989)

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I have been told a million times in my life, Savior, watch Dead Poets Society. Always meant to, never got around to it. Finally as I am flipping around Netlflix there it is. So I pop that bad boy on and away I go. At first I was a bit bored and couldn’t really get into the whole all boys boarding school thing. Enter Robin Williams character. At this point the whole movie turns around.

This isn’t the role I am used to seeing him in, but it was wonderful. At this point the students really start coming out of their shells. The students go from little rich brats you want to punch to actual characters thinking for themselves. They are learning poetry, discussing ideas defying their parents and the school itself. It is simply a movie you must experience to truly appreciate. I had always heard it was great, but I never understood why until I saw it.

Of course the entire movie isn’t happy and sunshine. There is love with a local high school girl, and I am pretty sure this was the start of Kurtwood Smith being Red Forman. The characters of Red and Mr. Perry are quite similar but Mr. Perry faces a personal tragedy that will show the true range of skill Kurtwood Smith has as an actor. This is also one of the roles that gave Robert Sean Leonard of house his start.

This movie is still mentioned in many circled as one of those cult classic all time greats, but never seems to pop up as one of the best for any of the actors I’ve mentioned, and I think that is simply a travesty. If you have access to Netflix and haven’t seen this, now is the time. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Assassin’s Creed 3

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Of this entire series, 3, which isn’t really 3 when you think of it, is probably the game I’m most on the fence about. Following Assassin’s Creed: Revelations , Desmond’s story comes to it’s final climax where he has to stop the Apocalypse and face Abstergo as well as another soul like himself. Meanwhile, we follow a new ancestor in half Native American/ half British Conner as we see his village destroyed, his people turned against him as he learns to be an Assassin during the American Revolution as he faces off against his father, a Templar.

Ok, while fun, I’m going to say Desmond’s part of this lost me though the end finishes his story well enough. Graphically the Revolution period looks great and as for gameplay, there are new additions like naval combat, hunting, and of course there is the Assassin’s Creed staples. Combat is touched up a bit and done better than previous installments but it’s a good step forward. Conner’s story is really good in my opinion; where as Ezio and Altair’s stories felt more cut and dry, Conner’s feels more grey and it becomes hard to define good and evil. It does take it’s sweet ass time getting to be an Assassin and I have to say the pacing feels off, either dragging more in the middle or rushing at the end. In the end, it’s not the best or the worst of the series but I will say it’s the last really relevant game in the series and a good conclusion. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

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Here we come to the finale of the Ezio trilogy in my Assassin’s Creed reviews and well, it’s there. Essentially I feel like before the climax that would be Assassin’s Creed 3, this is just there to tie up lose ends until then. Ezio is old and in the twilight of his years; we see what happened to Altair after the first game; and Desmond is in a coma and we get to experience his memories leading up to his abduction by Abstergo in the first game. As I said, it’s the loose end tie-er so 3 could start epic.

After the first, this my second least favorite of the series because it’s short as hell and feels kinda rushed. I’m still not invested in Altair so his stuff had no real effect peaking my interest. Desmond’s stuff was interesting but really weirdly constructed for level designs. His stuff are these really trippy puzzles through his subconscious. Ezio’s stuff feels very much like the other two games but the biggest addition are the defense missions, which have a cool strategy aspect to them. They take a little getting used to but are pretty fun and fulfilling once you get the hang of them. And you can ride ziplines. Other than that, that’s about it. Years later, these are all the things I really can really recall from it, which says volumes really. It’s a forgettable game in my opinion but is ok if you feel inclined to pick it up. May the gaming gods bring you glory.