Transformers (2007)

Genre: Action, Sci-Fi

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Tyrese Gibson, Jon Voight, Josh Dushamel

My Rating: 5/5

The Autobots and the evil Decepticons, two robot species fight for the "All Spark", a cube that creates their life forms but lose it in space during their war. Finally, the autobots hear news that it has been located in an unknown planet called "Earth".

If you like giant robots transform into cool cars and fight against each other, then this movie is for you. Shia LaBeouf stars as a teenager whose father buys him a used car. It turns out that it is an alien robot that has a mind of its own. It soon signals it's friends, the remaining autobots to come down to earth.

It is then revealed that the teenager's great-grandfather discovers the frozen state of Megatron, the leader of the evil Decepticons, who first locates the All Spark on earth, in the Arctic Circle. Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots tries to get to the All Spark location before the Decepticons could so that they do not take the control of the universe. There is plenty of robot and human fight sequences and also between the  two robot species.

Having never seen the original transformer series, I really loved the concept and the action sequences. However, i heard the true fans complain that Optimus Prime was not given much of screen time and that the story revolves around the teenager. But it is definitely worth watching if you are a big fan of action movies and special effects that makes Hollywood famous worldwide.

Timeline (2003)

Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Thrillers

Cast: Gerard Butler, Paul Walker

My Rating: 4/5

Director: Richard Donner

As a big fan of time travel movies, i decided to give this a try since it was also directed by Richard Donner. Gerard Butler of "300" fame, then an unknown actor and Paul Walker of "Fast & Furious" series star in this.

Though there are some logic defying plots in this movie (since time travel is not a possibility yet, you shouldn't care for any logic for that matter), the movie does make it for an interesting viewing by making it story setting around the "Hundred Years" war between Britain and France.

An archaeologist goes missing but soon his son and his students find his lens- a modern day equipment with a letter in a old excavation site of the Hundred Years war between Britain and France asking for help. Shocked, they go to the funding company to, of course, learn about the time travel. They then go back to France in 1300's to bring back the archaeologist. The rest of the movie is about how they manage to survive the war in 1300's and all the while changing the course of history.

Paycheck (2003)

Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Thrillers

Cast: Ben Affleck, Uma Thurman, Aaron Eckhart, Paul Giamatti

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Director: John Woo

Director John Woo has tried a sci-fi movie with his regular action material and it doesn't disappoint. You may find some of the scenes in this movie to be unbelievable and unrealistic, but once you stop thinking logic, you would find this movie interesting.

Ben Affleck plays a reverse engineer, who makes a deal  with Aaron Eckhart, a friend of his for a job in return for huge shares in his company. But the project would take three years and the whole three years of his life would be erased from his memory as part of his job. When he starts work, he meets Uma Thurman and they fall in love.

After the project is completed, he doesn't remember anything and finds that he has not received any money in his account. To his horror, he finds out that he has voluntarily forfeited the shares. And he also receives a package containing items used in everyday life such as glasses, cigarettes which were not his but were sent by him. And to top this, he is also pursued by FBI for the murder of a physicist. He slowly finds that the trivial items in his possession holds the key to saving his life from danger and about what exactly he did during his three years that he can't remember.

John Carter (2012)

Genre: Action, Sci-Fi

My Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

One of the reasons i started writing my blog is because the mainstream critics seem to always love movies that are realistic, too long and too slow. On the other side, some people like me, want movies to be unreal. We want all that action & drama around it, things that can only happen in the movies, not in real life.

When i heard that it's about a guy, who, one minute is going after gold and chased by Indians, and the other minute, finds himself in Mars, i decided to ignore the critics' poor reviews. Unfortunately, I will have to agree with the critics here about this movie. This movie sucked, it was too long and boring. I somehow got through the entire movie. To start with, the hero doesn't have the screen presence like other action heroes. We do not clearly understand who the villains are, what powers they possess and what they want to do.  It talks about a ninth ray that can give infinite energy but once again, it was vague.

Do not waste your precious two and half hours of life and ignore this.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Genre: Sci-Fi

Cast: James Franco, Frieda Pinto

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

One of the best movies of last year that i have seen. When i saw the trailer, i was skeptic about how the movie would be, for some of the scenes in the trailer didn't make sense. So, i waited a long time to see this movie only to realise that i made a mistake.

Do not watch this movie with hopes of seeing plenty of action and violence. I have always used to think - Before man there were dinosaurs that ruled the planet but will be there be another species that might take over him? This movie kind of toys with that idea about what happens if an ape that has been genetically modified to have enhanced brain cells that makes it intelligent would do with an army of apes? But wait, this movie is not about a war between humans and apes. The director does end the movie with that possibility though.

The best part about this movie is that you would be left with struggling on whose side to pick.. the apes or us humans. If you have already seen the original "Planet of the apes" movie you would be able to appreciate some of the scenes in the movie. But you need not watch that movie to understand this one though.

So, the story is about a scientist, James Franco who experiments on apes and chimpanzees to look for a cure to Alzheimer's.  He administers a drug on a female chimpanzee which mutates and attains higher level of intelligence. It tries to protect its baby from the approaching guards and gets killed. James Franco, not able to kill the baby chimpanzee takes it home.

The baby also inherits its mother's intelligence and is able to think on its own.  We get to see the movie from the ape's point of view about how it feels when it can also think like a human being but gets treated in a different way. There is this scene where the chimp, on seeing a dog on a leash, realises that it is also being treated as a pet and gets furious.This movie really is different from the regular run of the mill Hollywood movies and you wouldn't be disappointed once you get to see this.

Alien (1979)

Genre: Sci-Fi, Sci-Fi Horror

Cast: Sigourney Weaver

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

" In space no one can hear you scream". I still remember how i started watching this movie reluctantly. I saw this in late 2000s, so thought this being a 1970s sci-fi movie, would be a total bore but boy was i surprised. It was thoroughly engaging and i ended up watching all the sequels.

I could imagine how popular it must have been during those days with its fresh idea about a space creature that attacks human beings. A crew aboard a space craft comes across a transmission and stops at a planet to investigate. They happen upon a dead creature and a chamber containing eggs. One of the eggs cracks and a creature attaches itself to a crew member's face.

I would recommend this movie to all sci-fi and horror enthusiasts.

The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

Genre: Sci-Fi, Thrillers

Cast: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

A Sci-fi thriller with a love story. I watched this movie without any expectations and was pleasantly surprised with its fresh plot. Matt Damon stars as a politician who just lost in his campaign. While rehearsing for his speech, he meets Emily Blunt and instantly falls in love with her and gives an inspired speech that makes him a favorable candidate for the next elections.

A month passes by and when Matt Damon is about to walk out of his apartment, a guy is told by his boss to make sure that Damon spills his coffee at a particular time. However, he doses off and Damon meets Emily and gets her phone number. He is later apprehended and told by men in suits that they are from "Adjustment Bureau" who make sure that everything goes by "plan" and that Damon meeting Emily is not in plan. He is also told that he cannot talk about the Bureau or he would be "reset".

The rest of the story is about if Damon is able to meet Emily again and re-unite with her against the bureau's plan. The movie could have been even more interesting had they explained about the "Bureau" in detail. All we know is that they can use the regular doors in buildings to move quickly to different locations and that human beings were initially allowed to choose their own path, but after the world wars, the bureau decides their fate with a plan.