‘X-Men’ reviews
John’s “X-Men” flashback review, johnvhansen.com, June 14, 2014 “X-Men” – From the opening scenes showing the backgrounds of three main characters to the final epic battle atop the Statue of Liberty, it’s clear that director […]
Science Fiction
‘Valerian’ serves up grand adventure while showing how its source material influenced ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Avatar’ (Movie review)
I consider myself to be an amateur “Star Wars” historian, but until recently, I didn’t know about the influence of the “Valerian and Laureline” comics on George Lucas’ saga. Pulling the 1997 “Magic of Myth” book […]
‘Armageddon’ review
Brainerd Dispatch: Completely random slice of pop culture 1998 was the year of ‘Armageddon’ By JOHN HANSEN July 10, 2008 This is going to sound kind of random, but 1998 will always be the year […]
‘Soldier’ reviews
John’s PKD flashback review of “Soldier,” Sept. 14, 2020 “Soldier” – “Rambo” meets “The Terminator” meets “Blade Runner” with a twist: The soldiers of the future are not robots, they are human beings who have […]
‘The Faculty’ reviews
John’s “The Faculty” flashback review, Dec. 25, 2020 “The Faculty” – Teacher creatures attempt to take over Herrington High, but the students fight back in Robert Rodriguez’s film that gives an extra chill to the […]
‘The Truman Show’ review
“The Truman Show” – One of the major themes of “The Truman Show” is how easily people can be manipulated, and the movie itself is a prime example. Jim Carrey’s latest got great reviews prior […]
‘Godzilla’ (1998) review
“Godzilla” – I hoped for only three things from “Godzilla”: 1. A radioactive lizard 2. that stomps around New York 3. causing mass destruction. I left the theater satisfied, if not blown away. Dean Devlin […]
‘Disturbing Behavior’ reviews
John’s “Disturbing Behavior” flashback review, July 31, 2020 “Disturbing Behavior” – This is the pleasant surprise of the summer movie season. David Nutter’s film is a powerful treatise on a major problem in society and, […]
‘Contact’ reviews
John’s Throwback Thursday review of “Contact,” May 20, 2021 “Contact” – In the wake of big-budget toy commercials such as “Batman and Robin,” “Contact” is a refreshing change: It’s a summer blockbuster with substance to […]
‘Event Horizon’ reviews
John’s “Event Horizon” Frightening Friday review, May 21, 2021 “Event Horizon” – “ ‘Event Horizon’ is the scariest movie you will ever see,” said the film’s trailer. Of course, there’s roughly one movie per week […]