Customer Reviews

Invincible [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I recently bought this DVD and was especially amazed about the nice effects and very stylish camerawork. Good slow-motion, nice angles and good play with light, shadows and water. The editor and cameraman are really topnotch tryng to envision the the idea of the director with a wealth of innovative work.
The story itself is a rather old one: good vs evil in an epic battle over the unsuspecting little planet known as earth. Combining mythical- and science fiction-elements we are told the story of Os - Billy Zane - a former member of the Shadowmen, dark entities stalking the universe and destroying whole planets. Exiled on earth there is only one way out: Finding the vortex to destroy earth and shattering the grounds of space.
But Os is turned good by an entity of pure love. And so his quest to destroy the shadowmen along with their leader has begun. By gathering four special protectors, unique hyper-humans, each representing an element he is willing to save earth from his former allies.
Very cool fighting-sequences occur. One of the best is delivered in the beginning of the movie, when we are told about the clash between Os and the White Lady who's turning him into a protector force of earth. Sparks fly, energies explodes and we see Zane running on walls, weilding his sword like he's done this since he was baby. Very good choreography indeed. The real good CGI-effects are doing their best to convince us of the existence of superpowered warriors fighting over earth. And they surprisingly succeed.
In the middle of the movie there are some slow moments, but those are filmed in a nice way, bringing the story and the charácters further than simply letting them fight every thirty seconds. We learn more about the mystical ways of Os and how he mentally trains his fighters preparing them for the really impressive, wireworked and effect-ladden showdown!
There are similiraties betweenn the movie and some videogames. take Mortal Kombat or Tao feng for example.
If you like cool action with a twist, modern filmmaking with the use of good postproduction you will like this one a lot. Innovative action sleeper hit.

A film with a decent story line but the acting wsn't that good. The only one that stood out for me were Os (Billy Zane) who added charm and interest to the speech and altogether stole the show.
The fight scenes were well choreographed and decently performed, though the slow motion became rather too much after a while.
There wasn't enough action in this film, or if there was there was way too much sitting and talking inbetween. The part where Os is telling the elements how Slate will try to trick them and that they musn't hate him for this lingered on a little too long leaving me quite bored at the end of it.
The characters Os and Slate where well introduced at the beginning making it pretty simple to go along with though the elements weren't actually properly introduced although it was quite easy to see who they were anyway.
Altogether I think this film could have done with a little less talking and had more action in. Billy Zane gave a good performance which added more interest to the film and made me want to keep watching. If the other actors had given as good as performance as him, then the film would have been of much higher standard.

The only reason I'm writing this is for the BAD reviews. The story is not hard to follow, If you pay attention to the philosophy. The action is good with chinese martial arts variations. The Shadowmen (like dark angel type beings) are trying to go home. To do that They must use the tablet to open a portal which will destroy earth. O's (Zane) is a shadowman who was shown good and wants to preserve the earth. Good philosophy, nice form, and some background humor. Aside from the "captain planet" similarities of the heroes, I think this was a good movie. Not flashy, not hard to follow, not profound or phenomenal, just good.

Okay, I admit, the plot is a TAD weak...and maybe part of my love of this movie is that I have a weakness for Billy Zane... (thinks about Billy Zane for a moment...smiles)..

I could watch this thing all day, personally. I can probably quote the movie. It's a cute teminder of love and compassion...

Mmmmm...Billy Zane..... (goes back to work, begrudgingly)

This movie obviously had a lot of holes in the story but you don't often see a martial arts movie that is about love and redemption. A lot of martial arts movies are instead about anger and revenge.

I want to bring everyone's attention to the people who made this movie, Jet Li and Mel Gibson. A Buddhist, and the director of The Passion of the Christ.

THIS IS NOT AN ACTION MOVIE! Sorry to say, people, but this is far from what you are going to want if you want an action movie. It is Circle of Iron/The Silent Flute for a new generation. It is not just about kicking the crap out of everyone in their way. It is a philisoophical movie.

Four people who showed the traits of four of the five universal elements [fire, air, water, metal, and void], ended up being the only way to undo the end of the world. That doesn't even sound like a good action movie plot...but then again, that is the point!

All those who want an action movie, get something else. All those who want a good, deep look into Eastern Philosophy, and an even deeper look into themselves...get this movie. Watch this movie time and again. No matter how many times you watch it, you will find something new in it.

I saw this movie when it was first shown on TBS and I thought it was pretty good.This movie definitely has a "Matrix" feel to it.Although it's not the best action movie out now it's still pretty good martial arts/fantasy movie. THE KEYWORD BEING FANTASY.Billy Zane did a nice job with his role as Os(given the fact that I have never seen him do any type of martial arts movies ever) who is tasked with training 4 different people from different areas around the world..A thief,a cop,a soldier,and bodyguard. Now here's a point I wanna make about this movie.

What most of the people who gave this movie bad reviews never understood about the "Element's abilities" is...their powers only enhanced the abilities that they already had...NOT GAVE THEM NEW ONES.Michael & Serena were martial arts experts,Grady had a few moves from when he was a thief, and Ray is a streetfighter so their newfound powers were not meant to turn them all into Jet Li or Jacky Chan.

The swordfights were nice and the martial arts fights were sweet.Although many of the faces in the movies were basically new I seen Byron Mann(Michael Fu)in the Stephen Seagal's Belly of the Beast.Now if you like action/fantasy then I recommend this movie.If you are one of those people who look for realistic things and to make sure everything makes sens in a movie(when in most movies not too much makes sense)then this movie is not for you.Most fantasy were not meant to make sense or to be real

one of my friends recommended me to watch this movie if i'm into mixed martial arts with some matrix moves added to it. i watched it and it was not that bad. the story was quite remarkable and the special effects made it more enjoyable till the end. i wouldn't rate this movie as a number #5 but it wasn't that bad either to get a #3 rating according to me and some of my friends.

Boy, you'd think that when Mel Gibson and Jet Li got together to produce something, it'd be better than this. Then again, perhaps it would've been a better movie were it actually based on the input of the two aforementioned stars instead of being a rather cheap attempt to cash in on the popularity of The Matrix released two years earlier. If you like your action movies slick but with no substance to them, pick this one up.

The story: after his conversion from evil destructor to a force of good, ex-Shadowman Os (Billy Zane, Titanic) bands together four mortal protectors - bodyguard Michael Fu (Byron Mann, Street Fighter), FBI agent Serena Blue (Stacy Oversier, Guardian), ex-soldier Ray Jackson (Tory Kittles, Next), and master thief Keith Grady (Dominic Purcell, Equilibrium) - to stand against his former friend Slate (David Field, Chopper) and his mystical and deadly brethren as they attempt to destroy the world.

Where to start complaining? The overbearing ambiguity of the storyline? The facelessness of the characters? The debilitating roughness of the narrative? The inharmoniousness between tone and scene? The domination of every scene by unnecessary post-production editing? All of these things deal crushing blows to the movie, which never really feels like a legitimate film as much as it does like the filmmakers simply took parts of their favorite martial arts and fantasy movies - slow motion, characters in trench coats, scenes with flashing lights in them, endless voiceovers - and overdid them ad nauseum in an overproduced spectacle. Literally every scene is played like it's the only one in the movie, with every conceivable post-production technique inserted to compete with the forced dramaticism. The performers can't save it: having been written as light-on-personality stand-ins, you have next to no chance of getting to know any of them beyond their given stereotype (or "Matrix" counterpart, as is the case with Billy Zane as a bald, gi-wearing Morpheus ripoff).

Even the martial arts scenes aren't spared from being completely overdone, so the usually excellent work of choreographer Tony Ching (Hero) - showcasing his stuff for the first time in an American feature - falls flat as well. There are two instances of legitimate coolness to be seen: when Billy Zane slices a dumpster in half during his fight with stuntwoman Michelle Comerford in the beginning of the movie, and near the end when he takes on David Field in a midair swordfight. Zane is obviously doing most of his own fighting and appears to have trained hard with the sword to look this convincing, but the rest of the fighting cast (excluding the nameless Shadowmen) are laughable; even wushu practitioner Byron Mann, who'd work with choreographer Ching again with better results in Belly of the Beast, looks like he's simply going through dance moves. Then again, everybody would likely have come across better if the fights weren't entirely mucked about with slow motion. You'd think that producer Jet Li - who gained fame specifically for how fast he could move - would've spoken up against this insistence on snail-pacing each of the five brawls.

Aside from starring Billy Zane of all people as a kung fu master (one of the few things which surpassed my expectations instead of demolishing them), "Invincible" really could've been a stellar entry into the American martial arts genre. Sure, it would've still been weird, but with more competent direction, it could've actually been cool for Zane to spout pop zen wisdom and ride his bicycle through a pool. As it is, it's just plain weird and not very fun to watch. Steer clear.

One of my favorite martial arts movies ever made. Billy Zane(Demon Knight,etc.) shines in his performance. Kung Fu fights mixed with extreme psychic power duels(Mortal Kombat?) are what this movie is about. Buddhism is wide-spread throughout as well. If you like Mortal Kombat, this is light years better without any "cheese".