Fantastic!

Awesome Movie

An action-packed slog

A Disappointing Continuation

My boy and some of his buddies made an agent/SciFi thriller when they were about 13 or 14 ... they had one camera, no money, and little time, but lots of enthusiasm and tinfoil, and the product was not very painful to watch if you belonged to the family. "Monarch of the Moon" is even better! No, seriously - although the low budget is clearly visible (sometimes in a painful way), "Monarch of the Moon" manages to circumvent most traps such productions use to fall into. The sets and FX are cheap but have a consistent quality and look; and the pacing is quick - no scene feels drawn-out.The only trap they fell into is bad acting - if you're spoofing something so inherently funny as those old serials, the best thing you can do is try to catch the tone and play it straight - it doesn't get funnier by deliberate bad acting. And a minor gripe: The sound mix could use some fine-tuning. Bot overall, a charming mix of spoof and nostalgia which stays entertaining from start to finish.

I had no idea what this was when I sat down to watch it, and my first thought was 'what the hell is this?' It took a few minutes to realize that, instead of being a totally inept movie, this was a spoof of old action/adventure films, particularly serials. I ended up enjoying the movie and am glad to have seen it.For a movie that is really over the top, it is quite subtly done. I know that those two things seem contradictory, but they both apply. The subtleties are what make this work.However, this movie takes a bit of flexibility to enjoy. If you go into it with preconceptions of what it should be, you could be quite disappointed. Regardless, I heartily recommend _Monarch of the Moon_.

Last night, we watched the first episode of this new 6-episode serial that is s'posed to be an homage to 1940s serials.It turns out that it's actually a Naked Gun-type spoof of serials (at least, it is based on the first episode) that has some impressive things in it, but which to me if it were an actual WWII serial would be one of the worst.Blane Wheatley is the chain-smoking hero the Yellow Jacket, who can fly and control actual yellow jackets. Monica Himmelheber is his chain-smoking secretary/girlfriend, and she's the best thing in the episode (there's a running gag involving her being bonked on the noggin that is the only thing I found amusing here). Kimberly Page is the Dragonfly, a femme fatale Japanese agent who speaks like The Craw on Get Smart. There's a lot of references to "Japs" and "Krauts" and Y.J. has a professor-sidekick who is dull, which is supposed to be humorous.The DVD comes with both color and B&W versions; oddly, they both look awful. The B&W looks like the color has simply been turned off, and the color looks like a B&W that's been colorized. Neither are satisfying, but after sampling both we chose the latter for episode one.Stay tuned.

I wasn't expecting much when I started to view Monarch of the Moon, I am a fan of the classic serials of the 1940's & 1950's so I thought I'd give it a try.I mean how good could it be for a low budget film? ...as it turns out very good indeed. True it had a low budget ($75,000), but the acting, writing, and even the effects added up to a great film.Our hero Cal (AKA The Yellowjacket), an army fighter pilot who, while captured and tested on by the Nazis, gained the super power to communicate with yellow jackets. A power that the government now uses on secret missions. Cal along with his team (the scientist, an air head of a secretary, his alcoholic pilot buddy, and the boy scout) must stop the axis powers from destroying America. Oh yes, the axis powers have forged an alliance with The Monarch of the Moon, who supplies them with advanced technology.I'd have to say that my favorite character was Cal's arch-nemesis: The Dragonfly. As with all Asian bad guys that appeared in the old serials she is played by a caucasian actress, Kimberly Page, who nails the character. Very exotic and very evil. The included commentary track tells how the director wanted her to play the character straight, no humor at all, while the other actors play very over-the-top. This combination works very well, and The Dragonfly comes out as the most remembered character.The DVD set includes the original version of the film, along with a black & white version (for us purists out there), and a commentary track. The 2nd DVD is the teams first film "Destination Mars!".