Fallen Ones, The (DVD)
Steve Barton
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Mummies. They have enjoyed a bit of a cinematic resurgence over the last ten years thanks to some interesting action themed fun from director Stephen Sommers. With a mummy movie you can always count on great locales, chanting monks, and of course lots of undead action. But what happens when your star mummy is actually a giant?
One would think that having a giant of a star would equal bigger thrills and action. Maybe if done correctly. The Fallen Ones has energy to spare. It’s clear that director Kevin VanHook had a lot of big ideas. He also had a pretty good cast to work with including a surprisingly fresh-faced for his age Tom Bosley. So what went wrong? Well, for starters you shouldn’t make a giant mummy movie if you do not have the budget to film the FX shots that such an ambitious idea warrants. There’s just not enough mummy action in The Fallen Ones. Great ideas are proposed. Great setups are put into place. There’s just hardly any payoff. We do get to see the giant mummy shamble around and wreck a few things like a helicopter, but these scenes are sparse, and the visual fun that is hinted at never comes into clear focus.
It’s a shame too because if given the budget to film some more giant mummy stuff, this film could easily have taken its place in the hearts of cheesy horror movie fans everywhere. All is not lost though. As stated before, this film is lively. There may not be enough of the mummy action that you’re looking for, but there sure is a lot of fun to be had. The Fallen Ones WILL entertain you. Watching it conjured up a lot of memories for me. This is the type of film you could catch on TV during a Sunday afternoon Creature Feature in the ’70’s. It’s just plain “strap in and enjoy the ride” fun! Our resident B-movie aficionado The Foywonder has plenty to say about it!
We’re here to talk about the DVD, and WOW is this baby packing! Anchor Bay Entertainment gives this film treatment worthy of a four-star film, and god bless ’em for it! You just gotta respect a company that gives so much love to its fans and treats these types of films better than anyone could hope. Everything that you could ever want from a DVD is here. Animatics, making-of featurettes, storyboards, FX featurettes, the screenplay, an audio commentary with the filmmakers, still galleries, trailers, you name it! If you’ve ever wondered what would go into making a giant mummy movie, this is the DVD for you!
All in all there’s a lot of value to be found here, and despite the film’s shortcomings, it is without question worth a look. Gotta love B-movies, baby!
Just try not to be too distracted by a shirtless and chanting Irwin Keyes! Oh, the horror. The horror!
The Fallen Ones (2005)
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Directed by Kevin VanHook
Starring Casper Van Dien, Kristen Miller, Robert Wagner, Geoffrey Lewis, Tom Bosley and of course — a shirtless and chanting Irwin Keyes *shudder*
Special Features
Giants in the Earth – The Making of The Fallen Ones featurette
Creating Aramis the Mummy featurette
Animatics: Pre-Visualization by Forum Visual Effects featurette
Audio commentary with writer/director Kevin VanHook, producer Karen Bailey, cinematographer Matt Steinauer, and visual effects supervisor Chadd B. Cole
Trailer
Behind-the-scenes still gallery
Storyboard gallery
Screenplay (DVD-ROM)
3 out of 5
Categorized:Reviews
