DVD Review: Horsemen: Dennis Quaid, Ziyi Zhang, Lou Taylor Pucci, Clifton Collins Jr., Barry Shabaka Henley, Patrick Fugit, Eric Balfour, Paul Dooley, Thomas Mitchell, Liam James, Chelcie Ross, Manfred Maretzki, Jonas Åkerlund, Andrew Form, Bradley Fuller, Jeremiah Samuels, Joe Rosenberg, Joseph Drake, Kelli Konop, Dave Callaham: Movies & TV
DVD Review: Horsemen: Dennis Quaid, Ziyi Zhang, Lou Taylor Pucci, Clifton Collins Jr., Barry Shabaka Henley, Patrick Fugit, Eric Balfour, Paul Dooley, Thomas Mitchell, Liam James, Chelcie Ross, Manfred Maretzki, Jonas Åkerlund, Andrew Form, Bradley Fuller, Jeremiah Samuels, Joe Rosenberg, Joseph Drake, Kelli Konop, Dave Callaham: Movies & TV
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At home, hardened police detective Aidan Breslin (Dennis Quaid) has grown increasingly distant from his two young sons, Alex (Lou Taylor Pucci) and Sean (Liam James), since the death of his wife. At work, he finds himself thrust into an investigation of perverse serial killings rooted in the Biblical prophecy of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: The White Horseman, a master of deception and the unexpected leader hell-bent on conquest; The Red Horseman, a sharp-witted warrior intent on turning man against man, with an innocence that hides a burning rage within; The Black Horseman, a manipulative and dark tyrant, unbalanced but always one step ahead; and The Pale Horseman, an executioner with disarming strength, determined to spread death through surgical precision.
Product Description
Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 07/14/2009 Run time: 110 minutes Rating: R
“Pales” in comparison to ‘Se7en,’ but still keeps the viewer’s attention,
By Anthony Pittore “On the Pedestal” (Behind You) -
Dennis Quaid stars as a widowed detective facing an investigation the likes of which he has never seen: Four murders modeled after the themes of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Ziyi Zhang (Memoirs of a Geisha) also stars.
The first thing that comes to mind when hearing about a crime thriller about a detective investigation religious-themed murders will be the comparison to the modern classic ‘Se7en’ (David Fincher, 1995). And, yes, it’s quite obvious that ‘The Horsemen’ had quite a bit of inspiration from that film, and the film was styled after its predecessor in more ways than the story. But, I must ask. . . is anyone surprised? Keep in mind that this film was produced by Platinum Dunes, Michael Bay’s remake machine that has given us the remakes of such classic horrors as ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ and ‘Friday the 13th.’ Maybe Bay wanted to remake ‘Se7en’ a mere fourteen years after its release, but couldn’t get the rights. . . so, they went for a film styled after it.
Regardless, the film itself (separated from ‘Se7en’ and other similar films) isn’t terrible. While it CERTAINLY doesn’t live up to the 7.5/10 IMDb currently rates it at (a number clearly inflated by crew and studio employees), it still works as an interesting crime thriller. The story is good, Quaid is his usual dependable self, and the direction captures some darkly attractive scenery. Also, the last 20 or so minutes give quite a few thrills and almost had me on the edge of my seat. However, on the negative side, the script is quite lacking and maintains too steady of a course, feeling more like a collection of scenes than a coherent film; Ziyi Zhang puts forth one of the most annoying performances I’ve seen in a long time; and the extremely rushed and thoughtless final moments leave a very bitter taste in the audience’s collective mind.
Similar to the Al Pacino vehicle ‘88 Minutes’ (2008), ‘The Horsemen’ simply came along too late for its audience (not to mention had a below-average script) to be as enjoyable as it could’ve been.
Final Verdict: 6/10.
-AP3-
The director summed it up best…,
By Steve Kuehl “SLV Video” (Ben Lomond, CA) -
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)
In the commentary the DoP (Broms) and the director admit they “were struggling” with everything in this movie - and man did it show. This struggle included obvious re-shoots (ever wonder what Clifton Collins looks like with a wig?) and plot points being convoluted into confusion, forgotten or just plain eliminated (have to watch the deleted scenes), bad editing, an inability of one of the actors not speaking English well and the list goes on.
The plot has been summed up repeatedly here, but in the end, I was so bummed with how everything happened in the entire film, I actually watched it a second time to listen to the commentary to find out what went wrong. I have listened to many a discussion by the leaders of various films, so without slandering any one person, they summarized this whole thing up with the word they themselves kept using - painful.
This film is being supported heavily by these “youth” that participate in this suspension phenomenon happening all over the world, so expect to see lots of glowing reviews. And should you have some morbid interest in this self mutilation you can hear the director discuss all kinds of details about how to succeed at this. Did not work for me, but the only interest in seeing this waste of film would be to hear some of the songs and watching Quaid have one of his worst outings - ever. The camera work was unique at times, the storytelling was mismanaged (explained by how the crew kept comparing things to how they made music videos) and the performances were below average. Skipper.
Dan Brown, watch out!,
By H. Schneider “Hermit” (window seat) -
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)
This movie has absolutely nothing to do with Brown. It is not even in the same genre as Brown’s trash, but it is in the same category of garbage. It is in the run for worst film of the decade.
The best that can be said about it is: there are some nice shots of winter landscapes. And a nice dog, very early.
After Tom Hanks, now Dennis Quaid demonstrates how awfully he can act if he wants to.
He is a forensic odontologist (did I get that right?), and this fact is almost entirely irrelevant for the story. He is an incredibly bad single father to his two sons, and it is very hard to believe that a father wouldn’t have tried just a litte bit harder.
Zhang Ziyi plays a child monster, and that is unfair on her, she has a hard enough time at home with all the envy that all other young Chinese women pour over her.
The horsemen? Forget it. They are nothing. ‘We are nothing’ is their website. But beware of them! They got their inspiration less from Revelation than from A Man Called Horse, the film with Richard Harris. This hint just to show what kind of sadists might get a kick out of the blood and gore.
(Now I have said so much about this nothingness that I wonder if it doesn’t deserve 2 stars?)
Search Horsemen: Dennis Quaid, Ziyi Zhang, Lou Taylor Pucci, Clifton Collins Jr., Barry Shabaka Henley, Patrick Fugit, Eric Balfour, Paul Dooley, Thomas Mitchell, Liam James, Chelcie Ross, Manfred Maretzki, Jonas Åkerlund, Andrew Form, Bradley Fuller, Jeremiah Samuels, Joe Rosenberg, Joseph Drake, Kelli Konop, Dave Callaham: Movies & TV from AmAzon
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