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Roger Ebert: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1995)

111 points by optimalsolver 5y ago

zucker42 5y ago
It's a blast from the past for me to see this particular review. I believe it was the first Roger Ebert review I read, shown to be me by my high school English teacher. It's partially what turned me on to Roger Ebert, and from that cultivated my current love for movies.
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ngcc_hk 5y ago
Still goes to him if I watch again any old movie. Very miss him.
ggm 5y ago
I don't think he liked the movie. Maybe there's some personal animosity with the auteur?
- ipspam 5y ago
  Or maybe, you don't get to totally tee off on a movie unless it's total trash, and I'm sure he had fun with this one.
  - ggm 5y ago
    He had a valid point: Kids movies can be better. Why not try harder? The usual path out is to make it somehow educational which sucks, because kids know when they're being lectured. But they could have put some decent dialogue and dad-jokes in. Spongebob movie was a gem, packed full of bizarre witticisms and the Hof. But I do think Ebert reviewing MMPR is .. ok, next he could have done dragonball Z
    - egypturnash 5y ago
      He didn't review any Dragonball films (Wikipedia tells me there were about ten!) but here's his review of the first Spongebob movie. He thought it was pretty decent, 3 stars out of 4. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-spongebob-squarepants-movie-2004 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-spongebob-squarepants...
    - throw0101a 5y ago
      > He had a valid point: Kids movies can be better. Evidenced by the fact that in the same year (1995) Toy Story also came out. A number of good movies that year: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_in_film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_in_film
    - mzs 5y ago
      >He had a valid point: Kids movies can be better. Why not try harder? indeed: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-water-horse-legend-of-the-deep-2007 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-water-horse-legend-of...
    - shadowgovt 5y ago
      > Why not try harder? Haim Saban didn't become a billionaire by trying harder in that way. He built an empire off of cross-national media translocation, not chasing Citizen Kane. The movie that tried harder was the 2017 Power Rangers film, with a worldwide gross of $142.3 million, against a production budget of $100 million. Contrast with this movie, doing $66.4 million on a $15 million budget. Mich better ROI on just giving the target demo what they wanted.
      - 2muchcoffeeman 5y ago
        I feel like yourself and the other poster saying Eberts review is bad are missing the point. Given that the owners of the IP are filthy rich, they could have done a better job. Indeed lots of other production companies produce kids shows that are better and they make shit tons of money on merch: Star Wars, Frozen, Toy Story, all the Marvel stuff, basically most of the Disney stuff. All the Studio Ghibli stuff (actually I don’t know how rich Ghibli are). I’m trying hard to think of anything not Disney…
- pvg 5y ago
  This is a bit of a silly nitpick but 'auteur' in the context of a movie has a fairly specific English meaning. Bryan Spicer is a successful and accomplished director but isn't an 'auteur'.
  - ggm 5y ago
    Yea, I don't mind this picknits. Playing fast and loose with the words in a field is naughty.
anderber 5y ago
This is one of the examples where I enjoy Roger's reviews more than the movie itself. But don't get me wrong, this goes for some "good" movies too. I remember one where I just didn't understand of get it, and then I read his review, and an ah-ha moment made the movie connect with me.
josephpmay 5y ago
Anyone else get a scamware popup on the site? I would not expect it from rogerebert.com
- SamBam 5y ago
  No, what popped it up? I tried it on latest Chrome and Firefox (both with uBlock Origin). Is it possible that it's actually something malicious on your machine trying to trick you?
js2 5y ago
I’ve imported all of Ebert’s reviews (with only the first two paragraphs of the review itself) to letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/re2/ https://letterboxd.com/re2/ https://letterboxd.com/re2/film/mighty-morphin-power-rangers-the-movie/ https://letterboxd.com/re2/film/mighty-morphin-power-rangers... Here’s all his 1/2 star reviews: https://letterboxd.com/re2/tag/-%E2%98%86%E2%98%86%E2%98%86/films/ https://letterboxd.com/re2/tag/-%E2%98%86%E2%98%86%E2%98%86/... And those didn’t even rate a 1/2 star: https://letterboxd.com/re2/tag/%F0%9F%91%8E/films/ https://letterboxd.com/re2/tag/%F0%9F%91%8E/films/ His great movies: https://letterboxd.com/re2/tag/great-movie/films/ https://letterboxd.com/re2/tag/great-movie/films/ Was a fun coding exercise a couple Christmases ago. The hard part was cleaning up the data and matching the reviews to the correct movie in tmdb. I also had to decide how to map his 0-4 star system to letterboxd’s 0.5-5 star system. I ended up mapping his 0 stars to 0.5 stars on letterboxd, and for everything else just add a full star. I never got access to letterboxd’s API. I just used their CSV import system.
- erehweb 5y ago
  You can see many of these 1-star or less reviews in the book, "I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie", available at Amazon and Powell's.
  - js2 5y ago
    I think that there’s also reviews in his books that never made it to his website.
dereg 5y ago
One thing I've always appreciated about Ebert's reviews is that he [has explicitly stated that he] rates movies from the context of the intended audience[1], rather than from the context of an aloof movie critic. I like that he takes that approach here as well. This is the first time I read his review and his experience echoed mine, when I saw it as a kid. I remember that the movie sucked and I remember the toy/movie marketing tour that accompanied it. I miss the guy. He was never an elitist and always willing to surprise you and engage with you on his blog. [1]: Check out his reviews for Speed 2 and Home Alone 3. He gave both movies, panned critically, three stars. It's hard to argue with the logic he so colorfully furnishes. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/home-alone-3-1997 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/home-alone-3-1997 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/speed-2-cruise-control-1997 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/speed-2-cruise-control-19...
- willis936 5y ago
  Godzilla 1998 popped up on streaming feeds recently. I watched it for the first time in decades and was happy with it. It got so many things right for a dumb blockbuster. I noticed Mayor Eberts as the bumbling mayor. This prompted me, like many others I'm sure, to read Eberts' review of Godzilla 1998. He panned it. Almost all of the critiques felt like they would be considered praise when compared against the blockbusters of today. The final line of critique, and imo the most valid, was the lack of message/theming in the conclusion of the movie. I like Eberts' reviews. He brought good thoughts to the conversation. I think his harsh criticism of Emmerich movies was unwarranted. For a few years Emmerich had it imo.
  - MilnerRoute 5y ago
    That was one of the last movies that Gene Siskel reviewed with Ebert on his show. Siskel actually had to phone in to the show from a hospital - and he didn't like the movie either. But I remember that Ebert specifically asked Siskel how he'd felt about the fact that there were two characters in the movie named Ebert and Siskel - that were obviously intended to make fun of them. Siskel called it cheap. But then he added, as a purely objective criticism, that the bit never actually paid off. That he was expecting Godzilla to attack the characters, but instead they're just still standing around talking at the end of the film. What was the point? But whatever you think of any of that, that's what was so great about their show (and about this review, for that matter). That it creates this "middle space" between viewer and film-maker, for this additional giddy social mix of reactions and opinions -- all the "best of the year!" and "what were they thinking?" Or maybe I'm just saying that sometimes I really miss Ebert.
overgard 5y ago
I was a huge fan of the power rangers as a kid, but he's not wrong. The only ranger with any personality was the green ranger, and he was essentially just mopy emo. Those giant robots were cool though
- shadowgovt 5y ago
  That character's story was even more intense in the original Sentai. The candle was counting down his life. He knew he'd die when it burned out.
thedevelopnik 5y ago
Another classic is his review of “North” https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/north-1994 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/north-1994 I remember for the Friar’s Club roast of Rob Reiner one comedian just read that review. “ I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it.”
walrus01 5y ago
From the Roger Ebert review of "Freddy Got Fingered" [4.6/10 IMDB] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240515/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240515/ This movie doesn't scrape the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn't the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn't below the bottom of the barrel. This movie doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with barrels.
- mdre 5y ago
  Thanks for reminding me this one! I just love this movie, seen it like 15 times... I honestly think it's pure genius.
- jgwil2 5y ago
  I seem to recall somebody (AO Scott perhaps?) had a surprisingly positive review of that movie, seeing it as possibly some kind of experimental cinema. I wonder if there was anything to that or if he was just being contrarian; still haven't seen the film.
- skyechurch 5y ago
  That's a good quote, but Freddy Got Fingered is beyond conventional notions of 'good' and 'the worst thing ever made'.
  - kelnos 5y ago
    It sounds like you and Ebert don't really disagree!
vlunkr 5y ago
I didn't know it as kid, but the original TV series was created by dubbing over a Japanese show for the action scenes, and then filming new footage of the American actors for scenes when they're not in costume. The white ranger was from yet another Japanese show, which is why he came later and didn't fight with the others. So yeah, don't be surprised that this patchwork creation wasn't full of artistic integrity.
- echelon 5y ago
  It's incredible that this turned into half a billion dollars for Saban. https://m.jpost.com/israel-news/haim-saban-sells-power-rangers-franchise-to-hasbro-for-522-million-553547 https://m.jpost.com/israel-news/haim-saban-sells-power-range...
  - 7thaccount 5y ago
    I was in kindergarten during this time and the target demographic. We were on the poor side of things, but even I had several power rangers toys and watched it when I could. Toys were so in demand that they were nearly impossible to find. Anytime Walmart, Kmart, or Toy's R Us got a shipment, they'd be gone immediately.
honkycat 5y ago
It's funny, because MMPR is an Americanized "Tokusatsu" show. In fact, the original series was a re-cut Tokusatsu show, with American actors spliced in between Japanese action scenes and props. Some notable examples are Giant Robo, Kamen Rider, and Kikaider. They are children's television shows that are, lets face it, trash. But, they find an audience. The shlockyness, the cheesy rubber suits, the bad acting, and the razor-thin plots all serve one purpose: To get two people into rubber suites so they can smash up a cardboard city and set off some squibs and pyrotechnics. Do they exist to sell toys? of course. But, they were also made by teams of people all making music, designing suits, building props, planning pyrotechnics, acting, doing stunts ( driving and physical ), choreographing fights, and designing the "monster of the week." There is a humanity to these shows. They are cheesy little guerilla operations doing the best they can with a small budget.
tasha0663 5y ago
My favorite Ebert review is for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (3 stars) > Moviegoers who knowingly buy a ticket for "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" are going to get exactly what they expect: There is a mummy, a tomb, a dragon and an emperor. And the movie about them is all that it could be. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-mummy-tomb-of-the-dragon-emperor-2008 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-mummy-tomb-of-the-dra...
- 7thaccount 5y ago
  I remember seeing that movie in what must have been early highschool. We got free tickets to one of those fancy theaters that have recliners and a button to have a waiter show up. We had tickets for free food too as my friend's dad did some work for the theater. I had never experienced such opulence before and although the movie wasn't on par with the first mummy movie, I remember really enjoying it and having a great time. I've never been a fan of movie critics in general and although I'm no movie buff, I've seen hundreds of movies and liked nearly all of them.
  - thehappypm 5y ago
    I think one of the oddest feelings in the world is learning that a movie you like is not well rated. For example I watched the second Fantastic Beasts movie on a plane and enjoyed it, definitely excited to see the third. Then I went home and learned that people HATED IT.
    - 7thaccount 5y ago
      Yeah. I guess different people have different expectations. As long as I'm entertained in some way I'm usually happy with nearly any movie.
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causality0 5y ago
I saw the movie as a six year old and adored it. It was the first time I'd ever seen something I enjoyed as a nerdy kid up on the big screen. Some movies are made to be great for kids and adults, but I don't think it's a requirement. It didn't have anything *deep* to say, but it had a few things I didn't a lot of exposure to. People of different races, genders, and interests working together without being stereotypes, that was nice. Also, if you didn't laugh at the Brady Bunch joke you have no soul.
newbie789 5y ago
This is hilarious! I’m sure Elbert’s cutting wit and no-nonsense method of sniffing out true cinema mastery and creative rot saved dozens of eight year olds from watching this film, thus preserving their intellectual cinematic palate for better works, such as Das Boot.
bitwize 5y ago
I never liked MMPR when it first became a phenomenon. The characters seemed to me like perfect little balls of nothing -- no unique personality to them, and they were like a hivemind. All of the subordinate Rangers always followed Red's orders -- seemingly in lockstep -- and Red always followed Zordon's orders. It was implied that they only got their powers contingent upon using them in compliance with Zordon's wishes, which is lame. It's like being handed the keys to a Ferrari and being told you can only use it to go grocery shopping for your mom. The way superhero stories work, usually, is that the character receives powers and then has to make the choice to use them for good. The only distinct one was Tommy, but they were careful to explain that Tommy's bad-boy-ness was due to Rita's evil magic, not his own choices. Thus absolving of any blame but also stripping him of his agency. (Rita was the coolest thing about that show. I always love a good, sinister female villain... because at the time they were rare.) I never saw this movie in theaters because it just seemed like more of the same. I saw parts of it on YouTube and yep, looks like it. Like, don't they skydive and then rollerblade for charity in the opening or something? It just hammers home the point that the OG MMPR are what every fortysomething suburbanite parent wishes their kids were: attractive, omnitalented, getting straight A's and scoring a perfect 1600 on their SATs (the maximum at the time), all while lettering in football, participating in all the extracurriculars, volunteering at the homeless shelter and touring with Up With People. And always, always obeying authority figures to the letter. I wasn't that kid, so I couldn't relate. I did, however, greatly appreciate the 2017 Power Rangers film, because it reimagined the Rangers as messed up kids who gained superpowers and... had to make the choice to use them for good. And were so stubbornly independent that working together as a team was a challenge for them. They were like the kids I actually hung out with in high school. If those Power Rangers were in the original show, I would have been way more into the franchise. Later seasons of Power Rangers got better. Same hokey production values, but the characters were more human and fleshed out. And the primary original Japanese series behind Mighty Morphin, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, was pretty rad in a VERY cheesy way.
ilamont 5y ago
The 1996 release of Godzilla with Matthew Broderick had a character named Mayor Ebert, and this was no accident. Director Roland Emmerich had apparently gotten a bad review from him in the past and decided to get his revenge by naming this pathetic character in the movie after Roger Ebert. Mayor Ebert : What the hell's the matter with you people? You've caused more damage than that goddamn thing did! Gene - Mayor's Aide : All right, Mayor, calm down. Have some candy. Mayor Ebert : [flails his arms around like a child having a tantrum, knocking the bag of candy out of Gene's hand] No, I don't want any candy! Leave me alone https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120685/characters/nm0503627?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t6 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120685/characters/nm0503627?re...
fouc 5y ago
Ebert only gave 0.5/4 stars and IMDB gives 5.3/10, and Rotten Tomatoes' Audience Score gives 56%.
jdkee 5y ago
Roger Ebert on video games as art: "That a game can aspire to artistic importance as a visual experience, I accept. But for most gamers, video games represent a loss of those precious hours we have available to make ourselves more cultured, civilized and empathetic."
- MagnumOpus 5y ago
  Of course that quote is now 15 years old, comes from a position of slef-confessed utter ignorance of the range of video games available even then, and was the answer to a question about Doom... You wouldn't think of Doom/Quake/TF (or Pong/Pacman/Space Invaders) as art just like you wouldn't usually think of football, darts, scrabble or chess as art - generally you'd describe them as skill-based games or maybe sport. While narrative-heavy games are unquestionably art just like movies or novels are, Ebert has only ever played Myst and some multimedia exploration game of Kyoto before he made that statement. He admitted near-complete ignorance of video games, so he wouldn't have known about, say, Planescape Torment or Monkey Island or Indiana Jones Fate of Atlantis. And of course Ebert is guilty of being a notorious edgelord too - he apparently also claimed that "hardly any movies are art" too...
pronlover723 5y ago
If we're on Ebert, I liked that he liked "Knowing" though I wasn't quite as shocked as he was that no one else liked it. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/knowing-2009 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/knowing-2009 (4 of 4) His defense of his review https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/love-and-hate-and-knowing-or-do-wings-have-angels https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/love-and-hate-and-kno... And more defense https://www.rogerebert.com/answer-man/i-know-im-right-about-knowing-and-its-critics-were-unknowing https://www.rogerebert.com/answer-man/i-know-im-right-about-...
wk_end 5y ago
While we're talking Ebert, my favourite was his review of The Longest Yard (the remake, with Adam Sandler). The balance that it strikes - to both respect a movie for being entertainment, while also acknowledging that movies (and art) can be so much more than entertainment, is something I feel like a lot of critics (and people) struggle with. > I often practice a generic approach to film criticism, in which the starting point for a review is the question of what a movie sets out to achieve. "The Longest Yard" more or less achieves what most of the people attending it will expect. Most of its audiences will be satisfied enough when they leave the theater, although few will feel compelled to rent it on video to share with their friends. So, yes, it's a fair example of what it is. I would however be filled with remorse if I did not urge you to consider the underlying melancholy of this review and seek out a movie you could have an interesting conversation about. I have just come from 12 days at Cannes during which several times each day I was reminded that movies can enrich our lives, instead of just helping us get through them. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-longest-yard-2005 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-longest-yard-2005
shannifin 5y ago
I must confess I actually enjoyed it as a kid, along with the show. I had low standards and a short attention span. I would fast forward through slow parts of movies all the time (like that "Cheer Up Charlie" song in Willy Wonka... go to the factory already). The Power Rangers movie served as a long toy commercial, so the bland characters worked fine for me, I just wanted to see them fight and then go play with the action figures. So I disagree with the critique that "the movie will do what it can to deaden their imaginations"; that's giving the children like me too much credit! They even sold that purple ooze to compete with Nickelodeon's Gak Splat and the TMNT green ooze. (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles -- a similar franchise for which the show and movies served only as fodder to encourage me to smash my action figures together.)
wodenokoto 5y ago
> while mindless rock music drones on the soundtrack. Power rangers the movie has the absolutely best rendition of the power rangers theme
loughnane 5y ago
Reminds me of a comment about books: that the best can elevate you to a higher level of being, some are enjoyable to pass the time, and some are trash that deadens your ability to enjoy better things

111 points by optimalsolver 5y ago

It's a blast from the past for me to see this particular review. I believe it was the first Roger Ebert review I read, shown to be me by my high school English teacher. It's partially what turned me on to Roger Ebert, and from that cultivated my current love for movies.

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ngcc_hk 5y ago

Still goes to him if I watch again any old movie. Very miss him.

ggm 5y ago

I don't think he liked the movie. Maybe there's some personal animosity with the auteur?

ipspam 5y ago
Or maybe, you don't get to totally tee off on a movie unless it's total trash, and I'm sure he had fun with this one.
- ggm 5y ago
  He had a valid point: Kids movies can be better. Why not try harder? The usual path out is to make it somehow educational which sucks, because kids know when they're being lectured. But they could have put some decent dialogue and dad-jokes in. Spongebob movie was a gem, packed full of bizarre witticisms and the Hof. But I do think Ebert reviewing MMPR is .. ok, next he could have done dragonball Z
  - egypturnash 5y ago
    He didn't review any Dragonball films (Wikipedia tells me there were about ten!) but here's his review of the first Spongebob movie. He thought it was pretty decent, 3 stars out of 4. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-spongebob-squarepants-movie-2004 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-spongebob-squarepants...
  - throw0101a 5y ago
    > He had a valid point: Kids movies can be better. Evidenced by the fact that in the same year (1995) Toy Story also came out. A number of good movies that year: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_in_film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_in_film
  - mzs 5y ago
    >He had a valid point: Kids movies can be better. Why not try harder? indeed: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-water-horse-legend-of-the-deep-2007 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-water-horse-legend-of...
  - shadowgovt 5y ago
    > Why not try harder? Haim Saban didn't become a billionaire by trying harder in that way. He built an empire off of cross-national media translocation, not chasing Citizen Kane. The movie that tried harder was the 2017 Power Rangers film, with a worldwide gross of $142.3 million, against a production budget of $100 million. Contrast with this movie, doing $66.4 million on a $15 million budget. Mich better ROI on just giving the target demo what they wanted.
    - 2muchcoffeeman 5y ago
      I feel like yourself and the other poster saying Eberts review is bad are missing the point. Given that the owners of the IP are filthy rich, they could have done a better job. Indeed lots of other production companies produce kids shows that are better and they make shit tons of money on merch: Star Wars, Frozen, Toy Story, all the Marvel stuff, basically most of the Disney stuff. All the Studio Ghibli stuff (actually I don’t know how rich Ghibli are). I’m trying hard to think of anything not Disney…
pvg 5y ago
This is a bit of a silly nitpick but 'auteur' in the context of a movie has a fairly specific English meaning. Bryan Spicer is a successful and accomplished director but isn't an 'auteur'.
- ggm 5y ago
  Yea, I don't mind this picknits. Playing fast and loose with the words in a field is naughty.

anderber 5y ago

This is one of the examples where I enjoy Roger's reviews more than the movie itself. But don't get me wrong, this goes for some "good" movies too. I remember one where I just didn't understand of get it, and then I read his review, and an ah-ha moment made the movie connect with me.

josephpmay 5y ago

Anyone else get a scamware popup on the site? I would not expect it from rogerebert.com

SamBam 5y ago
No, what popped it up? I tried it on latest Chrome and Firefox (both with uBlock Origin). Is it possible that it's actually something malicious on your machine trying to trick you?

js2 5y ago

I’ve imported all of Ebert’s reviews (with only the first two paragraphs of the review itself) to letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/re2/ https://letterboxd.com/re2/ https://letterboxd.com/re2/film/mighty-morphin-power-rangers-the-movie/ https://letterboxd.com/re2/film/mighty-morphin-power-rangers... Here’s all his 1/2 star reviews: https://letterboxd.com/re2/tag/-%E2%98%86%E2%98%86%E2%98%86/films/ https://letterboxd.com/re2/tag/-%E2%98%86%E2%98%86%E2%98%86/... And those didn’t even rate a 1/2 star: https://letterboxd.com/re2/tag/%F0%9F%91%8E/films/ https://letterboxd.com/re2/tag/%F0%9F%91%8E/films/ His great movies: https://letterboxd.com/re2/tag/great-movie/films/ https://letterboxd.com/re2/tag/great-movie/films/ Was a fun coding exercise a couple Christmases ago. The hard part was cleaning up the data and matching the reviews to the correct movie in tmdb. I also had to decide how to map his 0-4 star system to letterboxd’s 0.5-5 star system. I ended up mapping his 0 stars to 0.5 stars on letterboxd, and for everything else just add a full star. I never got access to letterboxd’s API. I just used their CSV import system.

erehweb 5y ago
You can see many of these 1-star or less reviews in the book, "I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie", available at Amazon and Powell's.
- js2 5y ago
  I think that there’s also reviews in his books that never made it to his website.

dereg 5y ago

One thing I've always appreciated about Ebert's reviews is that he [has explicitly stated that he] rates movies from the context of the intended audience[1], rather than from the context of an aloof movie critic. I like that he takes that approach here as well. This is the first time I read his review and his experience echoed mine, when I saw it as a kid. I remember that the movie sucked and I remember the toy/movie marketing tour that accompanied it. I miss the guy. He was never an elitist and always willing to surprise you and engage with you on his blog. [1]: Check out his reviews for Speed 2 and Home Alone 3. He gave both movies, panned critically, three stars. It's hard to argue with the logic he so colorfully furnishes. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/home-alone-3-1997 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/home-alone-3-1997 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/speed-2-cruise-control-1997 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/speed-2-cruise-control-19...

willis936 5y ago
Godzilla 1998 popped up on streaming feeds recently. I watched it for the first time in decades and was happy with it. It got so many things right for a dumb blockbuster. I noticed Mayor Eberts as the bumbling mayor. This prompted me, like many others I'm sure, to read Eberts' review of Godzilla 1998. He panned it. Almost all of the critiques felt like they would be considered praise when compared against the blockbusters of today. The final line of critique, and imo the most valid, was the lack of message/theming in the conclusion of the movie. I like Eberts' reviews. He brought good thoughts to the conversation. I think his harsh criticism of Emmerich movies was unwarranted. For a few years Emmerich had it imo.
- MilnerRoute 5y ago
  That was one of the last movies that Gene Siskel reviewed with Ebert on his show. Siskel actually had to phone in to the show from a hospital - and he didn't like the movie either. But I remember that Ebert specifically asked Siskel how he'd felt about the fact that there were two characters in the movie named Ebert and Siskel - that were obviously intended to make fun of them. Siskel called it cheap. But then he added, as a purely objective criticism, that the bit never actually paid off. That he was expecting Godzilla to attack the characters, but instead they're just still standing around talking at the end of the film. What was the point? But whatever you think of any of that, that's what was so great about their show (and about this review, for that matter). That it creates this "middle space" between viewer and film-maker, for this additional giddy social mix of reactions and opinions -- all the "best of the year!" and "what were they thinking?" Or maybe I'm just saying that sometimes I really miss Ebert.

overgard 5y ago

I was a huge fan of the power rangers as a kid, but he's not wrong. The only ranger with any personality was the green ranger, and he was essentially just mopy emo. Those giant robots were cool though

shadowgovt 5y ago
That character's story was even more intense in the original Sentai. The candle was counting down his life. He knew he'd die when it burned out.

thedevelopnik 5y ago

Another classic is his review of “North” https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/north-1994 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/north-1994 I remember for the Friar’s Club roast of Rob Reiner one comedian just read that review. “ I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it.”

walrus01 5y ago

From the Roger Ebert review of "Freddy Got Fingered" [4.6/10 IMDB] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240515/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240515/ This movie doesn't scrape the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn't the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn't below the bottom of the barrel. This movie doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with barrels.

mdre 5y ago
Thanks for reminding me this one! I just love this movie, seen it like 15 times... I honestly think it's pure genius.
jgwil2 5y ago
I seem to recall somebody (AO Scott perhaps?) had a surprisingly positive review of that movie, seeing it as possibly some kind of experimental cinema. I wonder if there was anything to that or if he was just being contrarian; still haven't seen the film.
skyechurch 5y ago
That's a good quote, but Freddy Got Fingered is beyond conventional notions of 'good' and 'the worst thing ever made'.
- kelnos 5y ago
  It sounds like you and Ebert don't really disagree!

vlunkr 5y ago

I didn't know it as kid, but the original TV series was created by dubbing over a Japanese show for the action scenes, and then filming new footage of the American actors for scenes when they're not in costume. The white ranger was from yet another Japanese show, which is why he came later and didn't fight with the others. So yeah, don't be surprised that this patchwork creation wasn't full of artistic integrity.

echelon 5y ago
It's incredible that this turned into half a billion dollars for Saban. https://m.jpost.com/israel-news/haim-saban-sells-power-rangers-franchise-to-hasbro-for-522-million-553547 https://m.jpost.com/israel-news/haim-saban-sells-power-range...
- 7thaccount 5y ago
  I was in kindergarten during this time and the target demographic. We were on the poor side of things, but even I had several power rangers toys and watched it when I could. Toys were so in demand that they were nearly impossible to find. Anytime Walmart, Kmart, or Toy's R Us got a shipment, they'd be gone immediately.

honkycat 5y ago

It's funny, because MMPR is an Americanized "Tokusatsu" show. In fact, the original series was a re-cut Tokusatsu show, with American actors spliced in between Japanese action scenes and props. Some notable examples are Giant Robo, Kamen Rider, and Kikaider. They are children's television shows that are, lets face it, trash. But, they find an audience. The shlockyness, the cheesy rubber suits, the bad acting, and the razor-thin plots all serve one purpose: To get two people into rubber suites so they can smash up a cardboard city and set off some squibs and pyrotechnics. Do they exist to sell toys? of course. But, they were also made by teams of people all making music, designing suits, building props, planning pyrotechnics, acting, doing stunts ( driving and physical ), choreographing fights, and designing the "monster of the week." There is a humanity to these shows. They are cheesy little guerilla operations doing the best they can with a small budget.

tasha0663 5y ago

My favorite Ebert review is for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (3 stars) > Moviegoers who knowingly buy a ticket for "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" are going to get exactly what they expect: There is a mummy, a tomb, a dragon and an emperor. And the movie about them is all that it could be. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-mummy-tomb-of-the-dragon-emperor-2008 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-mummy-tomb-of-the-dra...

7thaccount 5y ago
I remember seeing that movie in what must have been early highschool. We got free tickets to one of those fancy theaters that have recliners and a button to have a waiter show up. We had tickets for free food too as my friend's dad did some work for the theater. I had never experienced such opulence before and although the movie wasn't on par with the first mummy movie, I remember really enjoying it and having a great time. I've never been a fan of movie critics in general and although I'm no movie buff, I've seen hundreds of movies and liked nearly all of them.
- thehappypm 5y ago
  I think one of the oddest feelings in the world is learning that a movie you like is not well rated. For example I watched the second Fantastic Beasts movie on a plane and enjoyed it, definitely excited to see the third. Then I went home and learned that people HATED IT.
  - 7thaccount 5y ago
    Yeah. I guess different people have different expectations. As long as I'm entertained in some way I'm usually happy with nearly any movie.

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causality0 5y ago

I saw the movie as a six year old and adored it. It was the first time I'd ever seen something I enjoyed as a nerdy kid up on the big screen. Some movies are made to be great for kids and adults, but I don't think it's a requirement. It didn't have anything *deep* to say, but it had a few things I didn't a lot of exposure to. People of different races, genders, and interests working together without being stereotypes, that was nice. Also, if you didn't laugh at the Brady Bunch joke you have no soul.

newbie789 5y ago

This is hilarious! I’m sure Elbert’s cutting wit and no-nonsense method of sniffing out true cinema mastery and creative rot saved dozens of eight year olds from watching this film, thus preserving their intellectual cinematic palate for better works, such as Das Boot.

bitwize 5y ago

I never liked MMPR when it first became a phenomenon. The characters seemed to me like perfect little balls of nothing -- no unique personality to them, and they were like a hivemind. All of the subordinate Rangers always followed Red's orders -- seemingly in lockstep -- and Red always followed Zordon's orders. It was implied that they only got their powers contingent upon using them in compliance with Zordon's wishes, which is lame. It's like being handed the keys to a Ferrari and being told you can only use it to go grocery shopping for your mom. The way superhero stories work, usually, is that the character receives powers and then has to make the choice to use them for good. The only distinct one was Tommy, but they were careful to explain that Tommy's bad-boy-ness was due to Rita's evil magic, not his own choices. Thus absolving of any blame but also stripping him of his agency. (Rita was the coolest thing about that show. I always love a good, sinister female villain... because at the time they were rare.) I never saw this movie in theaters because it just seemed like more of the same. I saw parts of it on YouTube and yep, looks like it. Like, don't they skydive and then rollerblade for charity in the opening or something? It just hammers home the point that the OG MMPR are what every fortysomething suburbanite parent wishes their kids were: attractive, omnitalented, getting straight A's and scoring a perfect 1600 on their SATs (the maximum at the time), all while lettering in football, participating in all the extracurriculars, volunteering at the homeless shelter and touring with Up With People. And always, always obeying authority figures to the letter. I wasn't that kid, so I couldn't relate. I did, however, greatly appreciate the 2017 Power Rangers film, because it reimagined the Rangers as messed up kids who gained superpowers and... had to make the choice to use them for good. And were so stubbornly independent that working together as a team was a challenge for them. They were like the kids I actually hung out with in high school. If those Power Rangers were in the original show, I would have been way more into the franchise. Later seasons of Power Rangers got better. Same hokey production values, but the characters were more human and fleshed out. And the primary original Japanese series behind Mighty Morphin, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, was pretty rad in a VERY cheesy way.

ilamont 5y ago

The 1996 release of Godzilla with Matthew Broderick had a character named Mayor Ebert, and this was no accident. Director Roland Emmerich had apparently gotten a bad review from him in the past and decided to get his revenge by naming this pathetic character in the movie after Roger Ebert. Mayor Ebert : What the hell's the matter with you people? You've caused more damage than that goddamn thing did! Gene - Mayor's Aide : All right, Mayor, calm down. Have some candy. Mayor Ebert : [flails his arms around like a child having a tantrum, knocking the bag of candy out of Gene's hand] No, I don't want any candy! Leave me alone https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120685/characters/nm0503627?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t6 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120685/characters/nm0503627?re...

fouc 5y ago

Ebert only gave 0.5/4 stars and IMDB gives 5.3/10, and Rotten Tomatoes' Audience Score gives 56%.

jdkee 5y ago

Roger Ebert on video games as art: "That a game can aspire to artistic importance as a visual experience, I accept. But for most gamers, video games represent a loss of those precious hours we have available to make ourselves more cultured, civilized and empathetic."

MagnumOpus 5y ago
Of course that quote is now 15 years old, comes from a position of slef-confessed utter ignorance of the range of video games available even then, and was the answer to a question about Doom... You wouldn't think of Doom/Quake/TF (or Pong/Pacman/Space Invaders) as art just like you wouldn't usually think of football, darts, scrabble or chess as art - generally you'd describe them as skill-based games or maybe sport. While narrative-heavy games are unquestionably art just like movies or novels are, Ebert has only ever played Myst and some multimedia exploration game of Kyoto before he made that statement. He admitted near-complete ignorance of video games, so he wouldn't have known about, say, Planescape Torment or Monkey Island or Indiana Jones Fate of Atlantis. And of course Ebert is guilty of being a notorious edgelord too - he apparently also claimed that "hardly any movies are art" too...

pronlover723 5y ago

If we're on Ebert, I liked that he liked "Knowing" though I wasn't quite as shocked as he was that no one else liked it. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/knowing-2009 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/knowing-2009 (4 of 4) His defense of his review https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/love-and-hate-and-knowing-or-do-wings-have-angels https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/love-and-hate-and-kno... And more defense https://www.rogerebert.com/answer-man/i-know-im-right-about-knowing-and-its-critics-were-unknowing https://www.rogerebert.com/answer-man/i-know-im-right-about-...

wk_end 5y ago

While we're talking Ebert, my favourite was his review of The Longest Yard (the remake, with Adam Sandler). The balance that it strikes - to both respect a movie for being entertainment, while also acknowledging that movies (and art) can be so much more than entertainment, is something I feel like a lot of critics (and people) struggle with. > I often practice a generic approach to film criticism, in which the starting point for a review is the question of what a movie sets out to achieve. "The Longest Yard" more or less achieves what most of the people attending it will expect. Most of its audiences will be satisfied enough when they leave the theater, although few will feel compelled to rent it on video to share with their friends. So, yes, it's a fair example of what it is. I would however be filled with remorse if I did not urge you to consider the underlying melancholy of this review and seek out a movie you could have an interesting conversation about. I have just come from 12 days at Cannes during which several times each day I was reminded that movies can enrich our lives, instead of just helping us get through them. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-longest-yard-2005 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-longest-yard-2005

shannifin 5y ago

I must confess I actually enjoyed it as a kid, along with the show. I had low standards and a short attention span. I would fast forward through slow parts of movies all the time (like that "Cheer Up Charlie" song in Willy Wonka... go to the factory already). The Power Rangers movie served as a long toy commercial, so the bland characters worked fine for me, I just wanted to see them fight and then go play with the action figures. So I disagree with the critique that "the movie will do what it can to deaden their imaginations"; that's giving the children like me too much credit! They even sold that purple ooze to compete with Nickelodeon's Gak Splat and the TMNT green ooze. (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles -- a similar franchise for which the show and movies served only as fodder to encourage me to smash my action figures together.)

wodenokoto 5y ago

> while mindless rock music drones on the soundtrack. Power rangers the movie has the absolutely best rendition of the power rangers theme

loughnane 5y ago

Reminds me of a comment about books: that the best can elevate you to a higher level of being, some are enjoyable to pass the time, and some are trash that deadens your ability to enjoy better things