Customer Reviews

Doom [UMD for PSP]

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(53)
3 star:		(56)
2 star:		(46)
1 star:		(55)

 

 

Sometimes I marvel that so many people and movie critics expect every film to be Oscar material! Lots of action, fast paced, cool special effects--Doom is a solid, entertaining movie. The Rock and Karl Urban carried the story forward (and provided some nice eye candy to boot).

Are you going to find deep philosophical meaning in it? Only if you're drunk. Can you sit back and let go for a couple of hours? Definitely. Bottom line is if you're a fan of action movies, add this movie to the roster.

Doom (Andrzej Bartkowiak, 2005)

It took fourteen years, but one of the finest videogames of all time finally made it to the big screen. And there are some of us who've been waiting the whole time. And we get a movie starring The Rock?

The big surprise is, it's not all that bad.

Sure, it's possible to nitpick. What's a Doom movie without revenants, lost souls, archviles, rocket launchers, and for the love of all that's holy the cyberdemon?But when it comes right down to it, why not The Rock in a movie about a bunch of Marines fighting creatures from the depths of Hell? At least they didn't cast Steven Seagal. And when you've only got a little over an hour and a half, you have to cut a few things. At least we got the BFG. (And I wish the BFG's effect in the game was half as cool as its effect in the movie.)

The plot, what little there is (and pay attention, because it's different than the game, in one major aspect): A colony on Mars, originally started to support an archaeological dig, shut it down after weird, mysterious things began happening. Without anyone knowing, the head of the genetics lab, Dr. Carmack (Robert Russell, of the recent Dune TV miniseries), has reopened the archaeological dig, putting everyone in the colony in grave danger. They don't know that, of course, until it's far too late. They discover remains who have some pretty odd characteristics, which intrigue Carmack. He does some experiments that go, shall we say, awry. Marines, headed up by Sarge (The Rock), head to Mars in order to find out what's going on. Things blow up.

Doom the movie, like Doom the game, is a turn your brain off and watch things getting killed experience. If you were expecting high art, were you playing the same game the rest of us were? This is a movie that's all about violence, special effects, and things blowing up. And that's pretty hard to mess up, as long as you get halfway competent actors and a crack special effects team. Andrzej Bartkowiak (whose name is not Uwe Boll, something for which we can all thank whatever we hold holy) delivers both, and does it in style. The Rock heads up a rather capable acting team-- Reaper (The Chronicles of Riddick's Karl Urban), Duke (Resident Evil: Apocalypse's Raz Adoti), Destroyer (The Four Feathers' Deobia Oparei), The Kid (Al Weaver, recently in Radford's Merchant of Venice adaptation), Goat (Ian Fleming: Bondmaker's Ben Daniels), Mac (Phobia's Yao Chin), and Portman (Munich's Richard Brake). They're assisted on Mars by the quadraplegic Pinky (Layer Cake's Dexter Fletcher), on intel, and the obligatory beautiful scientist Sam (Die Another Day Bond girl Rosamund Pike). All of the above are at least decent actors.

Cliched? Sure, in spades. But again, this isn't a complex flick, just as it wasn't a complex game. And from that angle, this is a wonderfully satisfying film.

Still, I wish they'd found a way to work in the cyberdemon. *** ?

This one still boggles me!
I read the finicky reviews and was not expecting anything decent but it wasn't so bad!
Yeah at times I was thinking "why did these people film this? Did they need money?" because it is based on a game and has its own world, it does not follow what we on Earth would call a story taken from life.

The special effects were rough at times and made me think that whoever did Pac Man was still doing his work on this movie, but since it's based on a game I took it with a grain of salt. The creatures were pretty wild and I like "alien chase on starship" whether under water, in outer space or on a Moon type of a movie.

I liked how certain characters, without spoiling anything, changed sides and there were a few nice plot twists. Karl Urban and surprisingly the dude known as The Rock were pretty good in this one.

Fun movie to see, but it's not deep soulful or Oscar nominee material.
Pretty much eye candy, but overall better than I expected.

As a big Doom fan throught the video games I was happy with the movie and I will admit there was not much of a story to it but this is doom your suppose to be shooting demons and your suppose to be scared

This is why this movie gets bad reviews because you get a person who has not played the games before and has no knowledge of anything to do with doom and they dont understand most of the movie so they automatically can not appreciate it as a true doom fan

Two Thumbs up Great job

The original video game DOOM had a campy, mishmash plot that just kept piling on conventions from different movie and pulp-fiction genres. You got military contractors screwing around with dangerous technologies. A military spaceship crew decimated by evil baddies. A cigar-chomping marine that turns into a one-man carnage machine. You got mosters drawn from a host of mythologies, muddling about in radioactive waste -- and a secret level full of Nazis thrown in for good measure. Was that enough? Course not. After you progressed a bit, they started tossing in huge helpings of occult silliness too. It was one big, funny cartoon full of irreverently portrayed cliches. All this haphazard, tongue-in-cheek borrowing was fine because it played little role in DOOM or DOOM II. The games were about manual dexterity and rapidly escalating firepower.

Problem is, what is a poor screenwriter or director going to do when asked to make an action movie about a video game that was a farcical treatment of action movies? The fans couldn't possibly be satisfied, and non-gamers would be totally at a loss because there was no way to explain everything and still have time to blow stuff up! So they wrote two storylines: The surface, internally consistent one for people who didn't play the game, with the typical melodramatic humorlessness of an effects movie -- and the hidden storyline in which they showed an appreciation for the game by trying to explain as much of the DOOM mythology as they could: zombies, monsters, alien gates, health packs, restarting levels, one-man carnage machines, death matches, you name it.

Was it brilliant? Uh, no ... but not because they failed to be true to DOOM or because their wall textures didn't include the pentagrams. It just wasn't a great movie. The Rock, Karl Urban, and Rosamund Pike all fell below their average performances (which in The Rock's case is not a terribly impressive par score). There were numerous cheap ploys to gross us out or shock us. Sometimes it rushed through ideas, and sometimes it belabored them. All the usual imperfections found in big-budget flick with a guaranteed audience. But it was better than I expected from a movie whose creators knew that, as an artistic venture, their project was doomed to fail.

Once again, the entire premise of the Doom idea has been drastically altered. Surprisingly, although this movie is not an accurate portrayal of the original Doom story, I found it to be massively entertaining and to have a more believable and a more highly developed story line than the original Doom game and subsequent novels. I expected to greatly dislike this movie since it is not true to the original Doom idea that was perpetrated through the first installation in the Doom game series. However, I was greatly pleased to discover that this movie was far better than I could have ever suspected and greatly surpassed the original Doom stories. Also, many claim that this film has no basis in the Doom games. However, it was based on the new and better story line that was developed in the most recent Doom release, Doom III.

It all begins in the year 2046 when the archeological site on Olduvai, Mars, discovers that something beyond their nightmares is now creeping along the corridors, seeking the lives of whoever comes too near. In a desperate attempt to regain control of the UAC installation, retrieve crucial research data, and banish the horror that now dwells within it, an elite force of Marines is sent to Mars to decontaminate the facility which has been placed under quarantine until the unearthly creatures are removed. As the Marines force their way deeper into the UAC building, disturbing events begin to transpire and the situation attains a hopeless feel as more and more of the brave soldiers are slain by their mysterious adversaries. What are these grotesque creatures? Where did they come from and what is their ultimate goal? Will Sarge and the remaining Marines be able to contain the threat or will these new horrors soon be coming to earth? As the plot of the movie unfolds, the true nature of the creatures is revealed in a shocking climax.

I was surprised to discover that this movie, unlike so many horror/action movies contains more than sequences of gratuitous violence and graphic gore. The plot and general theme of the story was deeper and contained a greater amount of relevance than the Doom series has attained thus far. I was intrigued by the scientific data and the shocking revelation of the real truth behind the innocent "research" that was supposedly transpiring in the UAC facility. Although this same theme of corporate corruption and experiments gone awry has been done an innumerable amount of times, I was still unprepared for the final revelation and was pleased to see that the idea was taken a step further into the realm of morality.

I was astounded at the level of characterization presented in this movie. Although the film contained many action sequences and suspenseful scenes in desolate and forbidding corridors, there was a great deal of attention concentrated on the characters' personalities and how they were coping with such depressing and hopeless circumstances. Each character had their own side stories, the most memorable story being that of Reaper who is returning to Olduvai where the ghosts of his tragic childhood most haunt him. Upon his arrival, he discovers his sister, Samantha, is still residing on the planet that he abhors continuing the archeological research that was his parents' demise. Many other characters are also given their own stories most notably, Portman, Duke, and the Kid. As the story progress and the situation worsens, one of the most prominent characters begins to change personalities causing a shocking betrayal to be imminent. Who will survive the evil that has been unleashed on Mars?

As many have already noted, this film does not contain many vivid monster scenes. Instead, it concentrates more on the physiological trauma of the characters as they wonder the darkened halls hearing strange and disquieting noises. I found this to be the cause of much suspense. If monsters had been presented often, the suspenseful feel of the movie and the curiosity of the characters toward these hideous creatures would have been eliminated. Instead, the focus of the movie was more on what you are unable to see lurking at the farther end of the corridor than on various monster forms from the game. However, towards the end of the movie in the first person shooter sequence more grisly monster scenes and scenes of carnage are presented for the more bloodthirsty viewer's satisfaction.

I found the conclusion of the movie to be most satisfying. Although, the hand to hand combat scene between Sarge and the Reaper was, to state it generously, ridiculous. The acclaimed first person shooter sequence was well done, however it did not fit either with the scene before it nor with the subsequent scene. In my opinion, it would have been better if this sequence had been displayed earlier in the movie instead of being forced into the most touching and surprising scene between the Reaper and his sister. Overall, I found the ending well done and vastly intriguing. I was delighted to see the movie end on an unexpectedly happy note.

I felt that the acting was superbly done and well executed. I was completely drawn into the suspense and the tension of the situation. I especially enjoyed the conflict between the Reaper and his sister and the eventual outcome proved to be most touching. The character of Sarge was well presented and proved to be very formidable. All the members of the cast did an excellent job portraying their characters and enabled me as the viewer to feel as though I was in the story wandering the lonely corridors with them.

The extra features presented on this DVD were very satisfactory and surprisingly enjoyable. I especially enjoyed the documentary on the Doom game entitled "Doom Nation". Other features were entitled Basic Training, Rock Formation, Master Monster Makers, First Person Shooter Sequence, Game Onl, and Doom 3 Xbox Demon. The cinematography and monster makeup were well done. The only element that I was not entirely satisfied with was the sound. Doom was one of those movies that has to be turned up to a setting you almost never use on your television since the dialogue and even the music are surprisingly quiet.

For Doom Fans - - - - - >

This rendition of the Doom idea is not true to the original Doom game, which transpired on Mar's moons, Phobos and Deimos, and claimed that the monsters were in actuality demons. No port to hell is opened or even mentioned as existing. Also, this film is not true to the Doom novels, which also took place on Phobos and Deimos and claimed that the monsters were alien invaders. No hyperspace tunnel to another realm is presented as it was in these novels nor mentioned as existing. The original monsters such as the fire throwing imp, the grotesque centaur who threw green fire, the Cacodemon, the Cyberdemon, and the menacing Spidermind are not included. Although, a new and improved version of the BFG is present. This film is entirely based on Doom III and does not relate to the original Doom or any of its novels. The monsters portrayed in this film can all be located only in Doom III.

In conclusion, this movie contains elements that will appeal to everyone. For those of you who enjoy violent action movies you will not be disappointed with the many well done and suspenseful action sequences. For those of you who enjoy twisting plots and stellar characterization as well as some scientific information then you will find this to be highly enjoyable. And for those of you who are just searching for a good story then you have located it in this film! However, if you a looking for an exact rendition of the original Doom idea you will be disappointed. This story is not the original Doom story and should not be expected to revive the first Doom experience. This story is based entirely on the ideas and monsters presented in Doom III. Dare I dream of sequels?

I, unlike other people, did not find this movie to be a disappointment. I never got to see this movie in the theater and recently got a chance to see the uncut edition. Honestly my very first impression of the movie was "this is cool". Honestly if this movie would have been called "UAC Marines", "Viral Apocalypse" or something else random, this movie would have done A LOT better. It was actually really good for a sci-fi movie. Much in the vein of Resident Evil meets Mission to Mars. The thing that really made this movie not a movie about DOOM however was the lack of cohesive elements to the game story. In the game it's all about hell and demons and weird psycho doctors wanting to be more psycho. The movie focuses on an ancient race designing a machine called the ARC; this machine makes direct transport to mars possible. There seems to be a problem on mars and the UAC Marines are sent in to investigate. The next about an hour and forty five minutes is all about trying to figure out what happened and destroy the threat if any. It's your very standard sci-fi story but it achieves what it's meant to do. Entertain you for a moment.

The movies main downfall is it is only LOOSELY based around the game that everyone wanted to see on film. However to appease the fan boys (girls?) out there DOOM does have a very unique experience visually in the form of a (about 5-10 minute) segment where the camera is completely shot in first person perspective. Which having never seen this EVER done in a film was really neat. A bit out of place where they chose to do it in my opinion but good nonetheless.

Overall don't judge this movie till you see it because it is a lot better then people rate it unless your looking to find something that's a 100% identical too its source material (Doom 3) then I'd advise you to not watch this film because some of it has been completely rewritten from its original context hence no hell. Other than that it's a lot better then what I was expecting too see

An embarrassment to the video game and all of the fans. I can't believe ID Software actually let them use the title "Doom" on this garbage. Read "Knee-Deep In The Dead" and "Hell On Earth" for what the movie SHOULD have been. It was like the screenplay was written by someone who played the video game 10 years ago and made up the story from what they remember. There are NO monsters from the game, NO Hell and NO Flynn Taggart. Don't waste your time. Hollywood ruined ANOTHER story that had great potential, and they turned it into a piece of marketed, unoriginal crap.

Being a huge fan of Doom and Doom2 games from Id Software, I was really disappointed when I learned the original game idea - of UAC corporation researching teleportation and accidentally opening portal to Hell - was stripped away from this movie, being replaced with some "genetic experiments gone bad" cliche. I dont want to know who and why decided to change the way it should be, but it just doesnt work. No Cyberdemon in Doom movie? What a shame... This movie does not deserve its title. And without demonspawn from hell - well, it is just another Aliens clone. Do yourself a favor and watch Resident Evil instead - where "genetic experimentation" idea really works. Not to mention that Resident Evil is much better movie overall - no yawning through half of the movie for action to start.

There are going to be two groups of fans that will be actually excited to see the Rock in his new movie Doom: one being the group that enjoyed the storyline of the first person shooter game phenomenon and the other being those that loved the characters and gory carnage from the video game. Both will be disappointed. Now, you would have to be pretty naïve to even assume that this movie would be less than flawed but some fans might actually buy in to it just for the sheer joy of its action spectacle.

I was one such person. I went into Doom with a closed mind but with space that this might just be mêlée junk food that would satisfy my craving for now until a bigger and better flick comes out further down the road. It's been far too long since Schwarzenegger or Willis has churned out a good shoot-em-up so I figured the Rock may fill that gap. I must say, Dwayne Johnson does have that charisma that makes him attractive to the action genre but I don't think a million Rocks would ever save this movie from not sucking. Also, it's slightly misleading (but almost in a good way) that they are using the Rock as the anchor selling point for the film, he isn't the real protagonist, Karl Urban (Eomer from Lord of the Rings) is the big hero in this one. But don't get me wrong, the Rock carries the movie still.

If you've ever played any of the Doom games you may recall the original ID Software shareware version was about a lone marine who was trying to make it through a horde of demons and possessed goons from hell accidentally released by a teleportation gate on the planet Mars; or even perhaps the newer Doom III which rehashes much of the same plot with new gimmicks added. The movie tries to repeat the plot trend but either totally forgets about the whole theory on demons coming from Hell or just ignore it entirely. Doom starts out with a little history on the gate between Earth and Mars which they call the Ark. It was created by some superior race of humans which was later found in an archeological excavation on the red planet. Well, something goes horrible wrong and some lab scientist are hacked up by some kind of monster. Just like the classic movie Aliens, the government decides to call in a rag tag group of specialized Marines led by the Rock. They are sent to Mars to contain any contamination and revive any property to this organization. So far, the plot seems very close to the game but then the screen writers decide to go their own direction.

I'm just going to spill the beans on this one because it's not fair for those that loved the game to have to suffer through one and half hours of boring science jibber jabber to get to the real story behind the movie. Basically, they explain that this ancient advanced race had an extra chromosome that made them super strong and smart if they were good at heart but if they were evil in the least bit, they became a zombie then a huge alien type creature. This is where they screw up. There are no cool demons in this movie. There are no big evil blob monsters shooting green stuff out of their mouth. There are no devils with giant chain guns or spider creatures. There are just about a handful of zombies. The handling of the demons is what really buries this movie folks. The origin is such a far cry away from game it loses touch with the real essence that made Doom scary. If I wanted to watch zombies, I would wait for another bad installment of Resident Evil.

There are also way too many unanswered questions, like why one guy turns into a totally unique doglike monster instead of taking on the whole zombie phase or how one of the monsters gets itself through the complicated gateway to earth? But probably worst scene in the movie is the use of the first person camera. It is only used on one part and it was totally unnecessary. It was like the director wanted to get some nerd kudos or something for his utilization of a video game perception. Half the time you couldn't tell what the hell was going on because the camera was moving around so d@mn fast. Not only that but they tried throwing other bits and pieces of the game into the movie like the BFG (Big F'ing Gun) which was pretty impressive seeing shot during the film but never really used for anything you wanted to see like hmmm, killing the bad guys?

Come on guys, this movie can't be that freakin' hard to make, the plot was already outlined for ya and then you have to go and screw with its simple yet prevailing plot and toss in a bunch of sci-fi bull that is incredibly stupid and ill thought out. They spent way too much money on boring effects and eye-catchers and less on cool monsters. I actually think they just reused the alien suit from the Alien movies when I come to think about it. The only redeeming quality of this movie is the Rock's tough as snot attitude and maybe the nifty, slightly given, twist ending. Another videogame movie bites the dust.

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