Image by David Berkowitz via Flickr

Opening wide starting April 19, 2010 – the new film Repo Men – is not at all related to the 1980s cult classic Repo Man. Judging by the trailer below, it has much more in common with the 2008 cult classic, Repo! The Genetic Opera.

Studio Description: In the futuristic action-thriller Repo Men, humans have extended and improved our lives through highly sophisticated and expensive mechanical organs created by a company called The Union. The dark side of these medical breakthroughs is that if you dont pay your bill, The Union sends its highly skilled repo men to take back its propertywith no concern for your comfort or survival.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0LkMrPMMhw]

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OPENS: August 29, 2008
Rating: PG-13 (Intense violence, Language)
Genres: Science Fiction, Dystopia
Starring: Vin Diesel, Gerard Depardieu

“Veteran-turned-mercenary Thoorop takes the high-risk job of escorting a woman from Russia to America. Little does he know that she is host to an organism that a cult wants to harvest in order to produce a genetically modified Messiah,” or so say the studio teasers.

“Ugh,” or so say the critics – well those who saw it. The studio refused to have advance screenings for film critics – usually a sign a film is a dud.

The movie’s director, Mathieu Kassovitz agrees. as reported by the Reelz Channel:

 ”I’m very unhappy with the film,” Kassovitz ranted to AMC. “I never had a chance to do one scene the way it was written or the way I wanted it to be. The script wasn’t respected. Bad producers, bad partners, it was a terrible experience.”

Kassovitz, who described parts of the movie as “like a bad episode of 24,” places the blame squarely on the shoulder of studio backer 20th Century Fox. Fox, ironically, also happens to produce TV’s 24.

Look on the bright side, sci-fi fans: Babylon A.D. may not be the second coming of Blade Runner, but it should provide for the best DVD director’s commentary ever.

 Mainstream film critics agree.

WATCH THE TRAILER

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• Great well-known and loved cast.

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• The movie’s director has trashed the film, saying the studio hacked the heart out of it.
• Disjointed characters and plot.

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"More inert than argon gas and given over to obvious directorial hissy fits, Babylon A.D. is like a bad dream a cyberpunk once had” – Bill Gibron

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{for=”IGN” value=”2″}

“French director Kassiovitz himself has decried the theatrical cut of Babylon A.D., and watching the film it’s easy to understand why: whole chunks of plot, much less their explanation, have clearly been excised.” – Todd Gilchrist

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{for=”Variety” value=”3″}

“Fans of Pitch Black, hoping Diesel would reprise the stone-faced Richard Riddick role here will be disappointed.” – Jordan Mintzer

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What happens when Executive Producer Tom Cruise hires a cast and crew to re-make the schocky 1970s grindhouse drive-in film, Death Race 2000 for a modern audience? Why, 2008′s ultra-violent dytopic sci fi bloodbath, Death Race, of course. And the ciritcs are loving it, believe it or not.

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OPENS: August 22, 2008
RATING: R (Bloody deaths, Extreme profanity, Violence against women)
GENRE: Grindhouse, Car racing, Action, Dystopia, Science Fiction

Among the negative comments from critics on the excessive violence and the way the film treats women – as sexy objects, cold-hearted bitches or other B-movie sexploitation clichés.

Other critics say, “hold on a minute … the film is a spoof of those types of films.” Here, the women are in on the joke and the dark commentary the film has on American society and the way women are still treated by men in general.

Furthermore, the action scenes are praised as outstanding. Death Race knows how to “blow things up real good,” so to speak.

WATCH THE TRAILER

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• Great action scenes
• Quality cast

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• Nature of film’s sexist remarks and acts may offend some
• R-rated for a reason;  bloody gore is a staple of this film

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"Yes, Death Race is as brutal as a punch in the face. If you have a hankering for B-movie grime and gore, it can also be a lot of fun.” – Stephen Cole

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“There’s no pretense here — even the satire [Death Race] is as sophisticated as an Alabama bumper sticker — but if I’m forking over my gas money to see chases, crashes, booby-traps and body counts, I probably wasn’t in the mood for Pride and Prejudice anyway.” – Kevin Williamson

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“Filled with weaponized vehicles, pyrotechnics, exploding skulls and some mesmerizingly enormous female breasts – but no sex or love-stuff – “Death Race” seems almost scientifically designed to trigger every boy’s prepubescent pleasure-centers.” – Rafer Guzman

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“Thanks to its character interplay, the movie doesn’t drag despite taking a good 40 minutes to really rev its engines. And the racing that ensues is as loud, fast, hyper-edited, and pulverizingly destructive as the gladiatorially minded would hope.” – Tom Russo

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“And while steel-plated cars bristling with firepower are guaranteed to get adolescent hearts stirring, the movie offers myriad pleasures for adults.” – Jason Heck

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“One more reason why Joan Allen is the most underrated actress of her generation: While Meryl Streep and Tilda Swinton are fine, multifaceted talents, neither one could pull off the line “Activate the Death Heads!” or “Release the Dreadnaught!” without looking completely ridiculous.” – Peter Hartlaub

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“It’s one of those vicious larks that just plain hit the spot. It hits the spot, throws ‘er into reverse and hits the spot again, before machine-gunning it and ramming it head-on for the fun of it.” – Michael Phillips

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“Briskly paced and art-directed with the look of grim decay that you associate with an obsolete but still cranking oil refinery, the film knows when to pile on the clichés and when to include a few surprising twists.” – Donald Munro

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“The car chases and most of the characters are thrillingly executed, with 5,000-horse-power smash-’em-ups shredding the screen.” – Kyle Smith

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Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh

Director: Mathieu Kassovitz

Writer: Eric Besnard (based on the nevel by Maurice G. Dantec)

Plot: Veteran-turned-mercenary Thoorop (Diesel) takes the high-risk job of escorting a woman from Russia to China. Little does he know that she is host to an organism that a cult wants to harvest in order to produce a genetically modified Messiah.