areaseven Posted December 25, 2008 Posted December 25, 2008 (edited) Resiklo Imus Productions/Ignite Media/Star Cinema, 2007 Hah! Let's see if SciFi Channel will pick this up... Directed by Mark A. Reyes Running Time: 110 minutes Rated G (suggested PG-13). Contains violence and mature situations. Cast Sen. Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Jr. as Col. Crisval Sarmiento Jennylyn Mercado as Bianca Dingdong Dantes as Angelo Michelle Madrigal as Dr. Miles Ella Cruz as Kiara Jairus Aquino as Arkin Lowdown My brother hates me. And just to prove it, he gave me a DVD copy of this movie for Christmas. The film begins with an asteroid on a collision course towards Earth. Then, all of a sudden, it shatters into pieces, revealing a mothership that launches squadrons of attack ships and, well, you know the rest... Shortly after the opening credits, we meet the film's protagonist, Col. Crisval Sarmiento, who stands in front of a grave site as he watches some home movies on his camcorder while recalling the first invasion that took away his family. And then we find out, as some hot chick is writing a journal, that the year is 2021 and while the aliens have taken over Earth and enslaved most of humanity, those who escaped their wrath in the Philippines live in a secluded sanctuary simply called "Paradise." And so, since most of civilization is nothing but landfill, mankind has to rely on recycled parts to build their own mecha to combat the alien threat. Okay, that's it - I'm gonna stop talking about the movie here, as you all know where this is leading to. Resiklo is the Tagalog word for "recycle," and it doesn't just imply the mecha used here. It also refers to the movie plot itself. Not only does the plot recycle scraps of other sci-fi films - most notably the over-budgeted disaster known as Battlefield Earth, but also all the elements that make Philippine Cinema nearly impossible to take seriously: the cheesiness of an action film, the overacting of a drama, the dry slapstick of a comedy and annoying child actors all over. (Surprisingly, it doesn't have the musical elements of the typical Tagalog comedy.) Hell, they even stepped it up by adding cheap CG effects in the mix. And the mecha - obviously, someone's been playing too much Mechwarrior and StarCraft. I'm surprised they didn't use jeepney parts to build those mechs. Sure, you'll say the Japanese sci-fi flick Returner is downright cheesy and cliche, but at least it's still fun to watch. Resiklo, on the other hand, is simply a train wreck. It makes G-Saviour look like The Godfather. It makes Steel look like The Dark Knight. It makes Robot Jox and Transmorphers look like Citizen Kane. Hell, it even makes Brokeback Mountain straight. Yes, it's that bad. And given its title, there's only one place it belongs - in the recycle bin. Rating: D- DVD Extras: F Trailers are not extras. Links Official Resiklo Homepage Reference Wikipedia Edited December 26, 2008 by areaseven Quote
the white drew carey Posted December 25, 2008 Posted December 25, 2008 It makes G-Saviour look like The Godfather. Wow. Quote
Einherjar Posted December 25, 2008 Posted December 25, 2008 Cool, I saw a commercial for this a while back on a local channel, but never looked it up because I kept forgetting the name. From the looks of the review, it's too bad it didn't turn out to be anything special. Just Pinoy. Quote
VFTF1 Posted December 25, 2008 Posted December 25, 2008 Actually - the review makes me want to go see it. But - then again - I managed to watch about 5 minutes of G-Savior too...and...hmm...I think what killed G-Savior wasn't bad CG but just bad acting. I mean - there have been lots of movies and tv shows out there which were live action and used poor FX and cheesy sets but were saved because of good acting. Think Doctor Who, for instance- most of the sets and special effects were really cheesy - but the acting was top notch and the plots were involved and interesting. I usually enjoy B movies; but yeah - sometimes there are these b movies where there is just such terrible acting combined with absolutely no pornography that it just makes it literally painful to watch... Pete Quote
Morpheus Posted December 25, 2008 Posted December 25, 2008 The title name, does this got something to do with Battlefield Earth? Quote
areaseven Posted December 25, 2008 Author Posted December 25, 2008 The title name, does this got something to do with Battlefield Earth? Yeah, I already pointed out that the movie recycled the Battlefield Earth screenplay. Quote
VF5SS Posted December 26, 2008 Posted December 26, 2008 At least this movie has more Filipinos than all three Starship Troopers movies. Quote
areaseven Posted December 26, 2008 Author Posted December 26, 2008 At least this movie has more Filipinos than all three Starship Troopers movies. And your point? (Other than the fact that Johnny Rico was originally portrayed in the novel as a Filipino.) Quote
Noriko Takaya Posted December 26, 2008 Posted December 26, 2008 Hey Jeremy, should I break out the shotgun for some good old fashioned skeet shootin'? Quote
areaseven Posted December 26, 2008 Author Posted December 26, 2008 Folks, the review was just the icing on the cake. The whole saga gets worse... 2007 Metro Manila Film Festival Quote
Einherjar Posted December 26, 2008 Posted December 26, 2008 At this point I'm not surprised they still recycle material from other films. They've been doing it for years. I've seen ads for Filipino rip offs based on movies like Titanic and Lord of the Rings where I grew up, and this was in the U.S. Quote
the white drew carey Posted December 26, 2008 Posted December 26, 2008 Folks, the review was just the icing on the cake. The whole saga gets worse... 2007 Metro Manila Film Festival #1, baby!!! I got a friend who is half Filipino and his family back home always sends him homegrown movies. He hates them. I have to ask him if he's received this one yet! Quote
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