Cyclops (2008)

Absolutely brilliant

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Do not judge this movie for its historical imprecision, it's not meant to be a next Troy nor an exact retelling of any historical events. Its story is clearly made up to ENTERTAIN, to not you make think. It's made to let you just watch and maybe smile sometimes. The integration of the Cyclop is a mere refreshment for the story mixed with gladiator fights and tenderly developing love between Marcus and Barbara. Don't judge, this movie is worth more than 2,9. I've seen many a horrible movie, not worth anything, nevertheless gaining better ratings. Why? Do you really need those famous "stars of Hollywood" to make you like a movie? Then you don't like movies at all.

I liked the movie Cyclops very much. The King Kong "bring the big beast back alive so we can display him for profit but he gets loose tearing up the town before we finally kill him tragically" plot is classic. The Roman Emperor granting bread and circuses to the people as cheaply as he can manage it (while having his underlings make it seem like a big deal) and constantly tying the hands of the only seemingly competent military man who can control Cyclops is classic government satire. That same military man being spared by Cyclops in the exciting Colesium scene is classic "Androcles and the Lion" material. The Cyclops defending himself and his property and trying to win his freedom (albeit rather bloodily) is heroic. The historic period recreation (though it may be inaccurate)is interestingly done. The monster is portrayed in many more scenes then the average monster films which try (and usually fail) to build up suspense by gradually having their monsters appear. Technical picks aside I though this a very good film.

I bought this with a bunch of other Sci-Fi movies that Anchor Bay had released under the "Alternate Realities" line-up. I initially thought this was a cheesy 80's movie which closely resembled Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans. Much to my disappointment this movie was more recent and from the opening scene my hopes for some good ol sci-fi cheese reminiscent of the 80s were quickly dashed.The costumes seemed too bright thrown together. I felt as if at any moment I would look down and see one of them wearing sneakers. The actors throughout the film seemed out of place and much too "modern" as it were. The first characters we come across just seem to not be properly prepped for their rolls.. where was the makeup department on that one?I didn't believe any of the actors portrayals in any of their rolls. Eric Roberts was just awful.. It felt like he checked out before filming ever began. Stapleton's character Marcus wasn't much better. Although he seemed to get progressively less crappy as the movie went on I can't say I was able to believe his role whatsoever. Mike Straub who played Gordian was by far the best throughout the film. He seemed to be the only actor taking his role seriously. The soldiers of Rome were pitiful as well. There weren't enough of them so their attempt at a Phalanx (the shield maneuver like in 300) fell short. They all looked like random kids they pulled off the street and once again it felt as if none of them played their roles with any kind of serious intention.The visual effects were atrocious. For a movie that was made in 2008 the lacklustre CGI quality is quite disheartening. I have worked on a few low budget films and the CGI weren't astounding but the CGI in this film makes the projects I've worked on look like Avatar! For a movie like this that did have some production value (supposedly) you think they would strive to make it look a lot better than they did. Epic failure across the board in the CGI department. This movie def. screams Cheese! Unfortunately it's not the good kind of cheesy that you enjoy watching again and laughing at, no it's the kind of cheesy that you are just happy to be done with once the movie has ended. I would feel embarrassed to have my name associated with this movie in any form. had a little more time, planning and research into the story been done I'm sure they would have had at least something that they wouldn't spend the rest of their lives trying to forget was ever made.

I have watched this film two or three times now, and have got to love it. I have found that there are two versions one with the violence left in, the other with most of the violence cut out. (I guess for before the watershed), the cut down version is awful, and makes little sense. But if you see the full version the film is very good indeed. I actually like the CG Cyclops, and the story line was very good in my opinion. I do feel that it would have been better to have a larger budget, as for me there should have been more foot soldiers marching through the forests, but that is a small criticism. Yes this is one for the young (at hart), and no I would not let young children watch the uncut version, but as a fantasy adventure I loved it. I recommend people watch this film, and not just read what has been written in other comments on this site. You may be surprised. After reading there comments, I felt it was my duty to type this quick rebuff, so people will give this film a chance, and make up there own minds.