Category: Opinion

Dragonball Z: The Dead Zone

dbz dead zone

Like many anime, Dragonball Z has more than it’s fair share of movies ranging from awesome to crap. Dead Zone is the first and takes place around the Saiyan saga. While most aren’t cannon, many fit well enough into cannon they can be said to be. Dead Zone is actually cannon and starts the story of Garlic Jr.

Goku and his family are hanging around, living there lives when Goku comes home from fishing one day to find Chi-chi knocked out and Gohan gone. he was taken hostage because of the Dragonball on his hat and because he fought back. Goku tracks him down with Krillin at his side only to find it’s a group of monstrous warriors lead by Garlic Jr, the son of an ancient enemy of Kami’s and by extension Piccolo who jumps in after getting attacked. Garlic Jr seems to be on the ropes until he transforms and unleashes the power of the Dead Zone which destroyed his father, but help comes from a unlikely force…

Dead Zone isn’t terrible but isn’t great. The action isn’t really special but the fight between Kami and Garlic Jr is pretty cool. The story is fairly basic and is a pretty quick watch. Gohan has a moment at the end, that does play a part in things to come later which is pretty cool. In the end, Dead Zone is fine and worth a watch for the hardcore DBZ fans. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Dragonball Z ( The Saiyan Saga)

dbz 1   June is here and 2019 is half over. A part of my New Year’s resolution was to bring us more varied reviews. As a kid, I loved cartoons but my childhood friend Violet, like much of what’s brought me to this point, helped me discover something brand new: anime. Blood, tons of fights, flashing lights, and a complex story of complex characters we care about; this was a whole new world for me. It would be much later in later when I’d journey farther into anime ( unsure it was a genre at the time and merely thinking it was just an anomaly) So let’s begin to start the epic saga that is Dragonball Z…

Years after Dragonball ended, Goku defeated Piccolo and the world was safe. He settled down with Chi-chi and had there son Gohan, named after Goku’s grandpa. His old friends are having a get-together at old Master Roshi’s place, so Goku and Gohan set out to meet them. Meanwhile, an alien crash lands on Earth, and searches out Piccolo on accident, mistaking him for someone named “Kakarot”. This alien is a Saiyan named Radditz and he’s looking for his brother- Goku. After kidnapping Gohan, Goku and Piccolo have to team up to face Radditz, just barely beating him but not without a heavy cost. Goku dies and Radditz promises two more Saiyans will  come to earth in search of the mystical Dragonballs in a years time. Goku’s friends: Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Chotzu and Yajarobe train with Kami as Goku had as a child. Piccolo, after seeing the incredible power inside him during the fight against Radditz, takes Gohan for training. Meanwhile Goku journeys  across Snake Way in search of King Kai for training. The time passes and the Saiyans arrive, Vegeta and Nappa, and as promised there powers go far beyond Radditz. With Goku wished back, can the Z fighters last against the terrible duo?

The Saiyan saga is the first season of DBZ and as you’d expect, it’s a bit slower and more adventure based but no less awesome. My favorite character to follow was Piccolo, starting as the villain who begrudgingly helps his enemy out of necessity and develops a heart through helping Gohan. The final fight between Goku and Vegeta will go down as one of anime’s greatest battles but the Radditz and Nappa fights are also pretty badass. The season is a slow burn but it’s a hell of a climax and the characters and adventure are well worth the time. In the end, for new anime fans it’s a must watch. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Star Wars Battlefront 2 (EA)

battlefront 2 new

When I was covering the classic Star Wars: Battlefront 2 , I crapped all over this game. After clocking in roughly 30+ hours, I can say much of what I originally said still stands. What’s overall offered in the EA game pales in comparison to what the original did almost 15 years, 2 console generations ago and I’m flat out recommending that now more than EA’s. However, now I was able to play the story mode as well dive into much of the other modes and pretty much this review won’t compare old and new past this point but squarely on it’s own merit…

Battlefront 2 (EA) has it’s own original story, set after the events of Return of the Jedi when the second Death Star fell. We primarily follow Inferno Squad, a badass special forces crew of the Imperial Army reigning revenge on the rebels, lead by Iden Versio. She was born and raised by her father, a high ranking Admiral in the Imperial Fleet, to believe the Empire were the good guys spreading law and justice throughout the lawlessness of space. Suddenly when Iden watches the cruelty of the Empire first hand against her loyal home-world, her and her comrade abandon the Empire and join the rebels to end the Empire once and for all…

The story itself is fine, not great or terrible but just kind of there. It’s best moments no doubt are when you are with the Empire and I think a better story could have done if the focus stayed on the Empire. The rebels don’t seem to really give that much of a shit that you essentially killed hundreds of there people simply because you said sorry and defected. The story is pretty short but an alright experience that has it’s moments.

The game’s focus is predominately multiplayer. The best mode in my opinion is Capitol Supremacy, which changes scenery and has some exciting pulls and feels like a real war. Heroes and Galactic Assault are solid but feel repetitive quick. Starfighter Assault would be my second favorite and I’m glad there bots mixed into the fray, making it feel more full. The horrendous system has been cut all around and Heroes are way more affordable but you can still find the pay-to-winners scattered throughout. The Heroes ain’t bad but feel clunky and require practice to get good with them.  Gameplay overall is solid but I warn you there are some pretty hard bugs throughout the game. I’ve had games crash, I’ve fallen into the nothing void a few times, and a few times the environment just disappeared only to pop up and kill me. In the end, it’s an alright game on sale if you need a Star Wars fix but I wouldn’t pay anything over 20 for it. May the force be with you and the gaming gods bring you glory.

2 Years Today, Semper Fidelis

I don’t often share personal still on this blog, and I know many of you come here for reviews and opinions on games and movies or some quick news. So by all means skip this post,I won’t be insulted at all. None of that will be found here. This is simply me talking about what happened 2 years ago today, and why the United States Marine Core Motto is here.

First, me and my dad were never all that close. I have been calling him Drew since I was about 12. For the most part we watched some movies together here and there and in the summer until I was a bit older we played baseball, aside from that he did his thing and I did mine. He was also did some time in Vietnam and was a corporal in the United States Marines, one of the few things I have ever known him to be proud of besides the 9 years he spent working on an ambulance.

Despite us not being close he did teach me some things, many of them I found out later from my girlfriend were quite odd. For example he taught me how to make some basic traps and explosives. I never really got a straight answer on why besides “why not, they taught me so i’m teaching you” which as a kid made as much sense as anything else but as an adult, really doesn’t. He taught me some basic emergency first aid, which again his answer to why was “Why not, I know so I am teaching you” which again as a kid made sense. This pattern repeats quite a bit honestly. He wasn’t perfect tho, he was quite abusive towards me and my brother yet never my mother. In fact I don’t even think he knew he was abusing us tho I can really understand why he would think punching a 10 year old in the face was ok.

Oddly this stopped when we swung back. Clearly it didn’t end very well for me or my brother at the time,hell we were kids and he was a Marine, but it was almost like the whole thing was his way of making sure we could take care of ourselves and when he knew we could he saw no point.

Another thing he taught me, tho he never knew it was that if you have the ability you should help those around you. It always bothered me as a kid that he would take off to help someone that wasn’t his family when they got hurt or sick. Once at about 3 in the morning a guy was harassing our neighbor and he went and beat the crap out of the guy. As an adult tho, I find myself doing similar things to the point my girlfriend and Ex wife have numerous times told me I have a hero complex and need to save everyone.

All of this story does have a point. A little over 2 years ago we found out Drew had cancer. He seemed to have known for awhile and never mentioned it. See we lost contact for about a decade and when his mom died he came home for the funeral and just kind of stayed. He was here for a couple years before he died getting to know his grand kids. He had a few, 4 granddaughters. The youngest is only 2, only a few months old when he kicked the bucket actually. He died June 1st 2017, and as I write this that morning I was talking to my mom and she said she didn’t think he would last much longer and offered to drive over to get me so I could say good bye. At the time she didn’t really understand why I said no, but I told her he probably would’y last until I got there. See it is about a 20 minute trip to my house and back and I didn’t want my mom to not there.

It was only about 10 minutes later I got a text, “he’s gone.”  See I had visited the weekend before and had already had my time with him to say good bye. Neither me or Drew outright said it would be the last time we saw each other but we both knew. He just asked a bunch of questions he usually didn’t ask me, like ever. Truthfully I never told anyone this before, it was always just our moment, but I feel the need to share now. He asked how the kids were but not in the sense of that day. My oldest daughter Marissa is high functioning autistic and he wanted to know if I thought she would be ok in life and if I realized that if Kaitlin had a bit more confidence she would go further than any of us. He mentioned how cute Penny was and how he thought her and Aria (my niece) would probably be inseparable and he was right. Most importantly tho I remember going to leave that day and knowing he would say what he always does, “Be good Matt, see you later” as he had since I was a little kid. This time it never came tho. It was the moment I realized he truly was saying good bye in his own way. It hasn’t always been easy, nor have I always succeeded. In fact i am pretty sure I have failed more than I succeeded. But the last words I ever heard him say were “Have fun Matt, do good” So with that in mind old man Semper Fidelis, dad.

Island of Terror

isle of terror

This goes out to my parents, Duke and Marsha, who watched this movie all the time when I was a kid amongst dozens of others. This stuck out to me for a variety of reasons I’ll get to at the very end.

Essentially we begin with an instance of man playing god, creating a strange series of lifeforms that could best be called “turtles”. These turtles are in fact giant, lumpy creatures that kill with long stinger-ed tentacles, liquefying the victim’s bones and fluid and sucking them dry ( think early Cell from DBZ). A pair of scientists are trying to track down the creatures origin while trying to survive the growing infestation…

For a early monster monster movie, it ain’t bad for it’s time. The acting is solid if not a bit too serious for a movie like this. The music ranges from solid to mildly corny. There are some decently creepy environments and atmosphere. What I will always remember about this movie are the “turtles”. They look goofy and are ludicrously slow; I laughed my ass every time they’d get someone because you know there would be no way in hell these things would kill anyone in real life. But, what I remember most, and I’m not exaggerating here, I’m pretty sure they bleed and gush raw Campell’s Chicken Noodle soup. Originally, if I’m correct this movie was in black and white where they may have been able to get away with it, but color it’s hilarious. In the end it’s not a bad old sci fi horror movie that cn worth some laughs. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Supernatural Season 14

With Supernatural Ending After Season 15 and me finally catching up and finishing season 14 (Thanks Netflix) I have to say season 14 ended with one of the most exciting endings of them all, Sam, Dean, and Cass surrounded by the dead facing what seems like certain doom. But how we got there was also pretty amazing. We had a lot of ups and downs, we lost loved ones and got to see the return of Papa Winchester, at least briefly.

The real amazing thing here is less than halfway through the season is the loss of Jack, but nobody stays dead. With magic feeding off his soul which will become a huge thing later. We will also see the return of God, which will reveal something many of us have suspected for awhile now, and something our boys have been told for seasons but did not want to see.

I don’t want to spoil it for you, but I was not surprised but I was still a bit pissed about it. Not in a bad way, after all that is what good shows, books and games do. They invoke a response, they get you attached to characters that are real people that do real things and when they do you feel betrayed or happy or whatever just like if your friends had done them. Season 14 does this multiple times, and seeing the end of season 14 it is no surprise the show will end at season 15. While it will end at 15, and there is no way the ending will make a everyone happy, I can say for sure it will go out on top. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Godzilla: King of the monsters (Torsten)

godzilla 2  Every nerd has there favorite franchise that just sticks to them. Long time readers of the blog know Alien is mine; for Savior as well as our friend Autobot, Godzilla stirs them up. While I’m not the biggest Kaiju fan, I wanted to feel the hype my friends had and see some giant monsters kick the shit out of each other. I wasn’t disappointed…

Picking up 5 years after the first appearance of Godzilla, Monarch has been trying to keep tabs on these Titans that walk the Earth (Godzilla, Kong, the MUTOs, and 17 others) but the government is getting ready to shut them down. A scientist from Monarch has developed a device called the Orca, meant to communicate with them. But when the Orca falls into the wrong hands and starts awakening the sleeping giants, namely the “devil with 3 heads” called Ghidorah, can Godzilla restore balance against a foe not from this world that means to rule it? Long live the King…

I have to agree with Savior in his review of Godzilla King of Monsters (Savior) , this is basically what I wanted from this kind of movie. Unlike the 2014 movie, there is plenty of action and it’s plenty visible. The monsters look incredible and there are plenty of awesome fights. What I wasn’t expecting was the epic cinematography and musical score for each monster. The lore was surprisingly interesting. The characters weren’t bad and I actually felt for a couple of them but you definitely know they aren’t the main focus of the movie, as they shouldn’t be in a spectacle like this. In the end, Godzilla 2 is a epic summer movie I’d highly recommend in IMAX or XD and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Godzilla King of Monsters (Savior)

Last night was sort of a bucket list night for me. @torstenvblog , our friend Brandon and myself went to see this and while torsten can take or leave Godzilla me and Brandon are huge fans.  Also as some of you know the birth of Savior Gaming came about a few years ago, in fact 3 years ago tomorrow, when my dad died and left me a few bucks with the stipulation that I could only use it for what I wanted, not what I thought I needed. It wasn’t a lot, nothing life changing, but enough to have a little fun with. The problem is I didn’t really want anything so I have it away to my girlfriend of 11 years, my kids and of course I bought torsten a few things. I also started this. I tell you this to add this fitting bit of trivia, me and my dad always wanted to see a Godzilla movie in theaters. Every year he would take a weeks vacation, and we would spend 1 night up watching old monster movies like this, and I would spend all day picking my favorites. So it is only fitting that I tell this story before I talk about this movie.

Godzilla at hits heart is everything you would want from a Godzilla movie. It tells the story of how mankind is attempting to find all these titans, 17 known, and debate as to whether they should be destroyed or studied or even controlled. Things of course go very wrong when Mothra’s containment grid goes down and the machine to control her works, and a Eco-terrorist group attacks and kidnaps the lead scientist, her daughter and the machine.

They later use the machine to wake up Monster Zero, the 3 headed dragon and Rodan. Godzilla is not a fan of this and fights Monster Zero only to lose, leaving Ghidorah in charge and to wake up all the other titans to wreck havoc on the work.

I won’t go further on the story here because it is a good one, but this time around they spend a lot of time focused on the monsters and their fighting which is a huge positive for any fans of this  type of movie. It felt like the golden era of their time just watching these beast go back and forth, and to make things even better this movie may be the best fan service I have ever seen. It was all done in such a way that fans like me instantly notice the classic Godzilla reveal music in the back but it was spun into the music so new comers wouldn’t feel left out. Beloved songs were remastered or covered and snuck into the movie or credits masterfully such as the cover of Godzilla from Blue Oyster Cult and the Mothra theme, something fans would love but new people wouldn’t quite grasp the significance of. They are left out of the movie, but are in the end credits which for me was monumental.

The movie isn’t perfect, and if you aren’t a fan I can see why you may not have much interest. But if you are a fan of Godzilla, there is no reason to skip this movie. See it now, and long live the king.

Chris Hemsworth Explains Why he Turned Down Star Trek 4

Recently Chris Hemsworth finally explained why he turned down the now dead project of Star Trek 4. ScreenRant reports that is actually quite the boring reason. He simply didn’t like the script. While speaking to Variety he said he just wasn’t intrigued by the script and it wasn’t really strong enough for Georges come back. Admittedly I understand, nobody wants to make a return a lot of fans want and just have people hate it. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Bell Jar

the bell jar

I’m going to start this review on a somber note. May in the US celebrates Mental Health Awareness Month. Most of the world suffers from some form of mental illness whether mild or severe and many never get treated for one reason or another. Much of it comes from guilt, shame, or denial or plenty of other reasons but the outcome remains the same: a pain others can’t see. I’ve suffered from mental illness and many of my loved ones have. The Bell Jar helped me realize I wasn’t alone…

Esther Greenwood is a young woman who ought to feel on top of the world. From college she scored herself a much sought after internship at a women’s magazine and has come a long way from her roots in Boston. Unlike the others around her, she isn’t fascinated by the big city life. She feels stuck, unsure what to do or where to go after school and what the world could have in store for her except a life as a homemaker to please her nagging mother and marry a dude she barely likes basically because she’s expected to. One night she finds herself in a dark situation and Esther unravels, leading to suicide attempts and trips to the asylum and the barbaric treatments of the day, all alone, and misunderstood inside of her own personal jar…

The Bell Jar scared me. Deeply terrified me in fact. It wasn’t the fear of a monster or the supernatural that terrified me but how much I related to the feelings Esther portrayed. The book is beautifully written and the characters feel palpable through Esther’s eyes. The feelings she has feel justified and while sympathetic, by the end I rooted for her to find hope.  The ending I found even more tragic when the real life of Sylvia Plath was taken into account. In the end, The Bell Jar is a book every reader, writer, or anyone dealing with mental illness should read. Instead of our customary farewell, I urge anyone dealing with mental illness to seek help and best wishes; it’s Ok to not be Ok.