movieman_kev When archaeologist Matt Fletcher (Casper Van Dien of Starship Troopers) finds a mummified giant from the biblical age, he bites off more than he can chew as he & his crew are soon beset by both cult members who worship this thing as well as the giant's father, a fallen angel who hopes to resurrect him. Now it's up to Matt, Angela & Rabbi Schmidtt (Tom Bosley??!!?) to stop both factions and their evil plans.This was one of the better Sci-fi Originals films that I've seen and I found that it moved at a brisk pace (for the most part, there are some lulls in action here and there) The film is heavily cheesy, but thats kind of part of it's charm. All the actors work well for the type of film that it is. Especially the always entertaining B-movie mainstay Irwin Keyes as a member of the cult.My Grade: C

slayrrr666 "The Fallen Ones" is a pretty good cheese-fest that really only has a couple flaws.**SPOILERS**In the Arizona Desert, archaeologist Matt Fletcher, (Casper Van Dien) and his friend Gus Ferguson, (Geoffrey Lewis) find remains of a ritual burial site after several thousand years. Searching a burial spot nearby, he finds a mummy in the ground and Angela, (Kristen Miller) a fellow worker on the site, grows concerned that it might interfere with their business. Digging more at the site, they find the mummy is over forty feet long and buried in an Egyptian manner. Growing more concerned, the staff at the site starts disappearing making owner Morton, (Robert Wagner) and investor Ammon, (Navid Negahban) feel that the discovery could upset the build of a new casino. As it gradually becomes apparent that one of the members of the site's staff is in conjunction with the resurrection of the mummy, (Robert Allen Mukes) which is a son of a God, by a small sect of followers that want it brought back, and race to stop it from happening.The Good News: This wasn't all that bad when it really wanted to be. One of it's best features is that it manages to incorporate several new ideas into this type of genre. There's a regular amount of the clichés found in this style of film, yet there's also some features that are new to this one. There's a giant animated effigy of the creature that pops up in the film, the mummy's a giant monstrosity and there's a series of small fist-fights that really don't belong with this type of film. This amounts to a real large amount of action in the film that manages to really make it watchable. The several fights are pretty fantastic, including one that takes place in the background of another scene that don't know about it. That in itself is a hilarious visual, and it's done wonderfully. The last half hour, where the giant mummy is unleashed and goes on a rampage, is it's most action-packed and entertaining segment that includes a rather unusual car chase, several more fist-fights and it's most intense scene, a massive flood that really works on a lot of levels. The idea of doing so is handled well, the visuals are perfect, and the premature detonation gives some potential suspense in the race to get out alive. This is also one of the few films to positively benefit from having a cheesy atmosphere, as this one can't in all circumstances be considered anything other than cheese, and it reveals in it and works to its advantage more often than it should. The resurrected mummy itself is also a pretty impressive site, towering over everything and allowing it's huge size to generate most of it's shocks. There's enough bandage and rotten features to make it seem like it's been dead for ages, and it even manages to work in one of the most clever scenes ever in the prologue to explain it's motive for rampaging later on. This is hardly ever done, and that it was done was a really pleasant surprise. The last big surprise was the single sequence where the villain's plans were unveiled to the one who had figured it out. There's a lot to love about it, and it's a surprising one to be included in the film. These here lift the film up a lot.The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot here that didn't really work. The biggest issue is that the CGI effects in here are pretty bad. There's really very few scenes where they even look the closest side of believable, and that they all come in during the big effects scenes at the end manages to take a lot of the luster out of them. Even going so far as to animate an entire confrontation between two figures that shouldn't have been in that manner to begin with. Add in the fact that there's a large amount of the action scenes done with CGI and it simply makes it feel fake as it never feels like it's happening together. It's a problem with all these types of films, and this one is no exception. The high cheese-quotient might also be a hindrance to some, as it's impossible to take seriously with all that's going on in the film with giant mummies being resurrected and incorporating fallen angels and biblical prophecies into the mix along with giant robot effigies, and this becomes a real fight for some. The last big problem is that this simply feels like a low-budget hodgepodge of several other films combined together, and then rips them off fairly accurately. They're easy to spot, so they won't be revealed here, but there's a lot of them on hand, allowing for yet another disadvantage.The Final Verdict: This is a pretty entertaining cheese-fest that manages to work in that favor rather than being a handicap. Worth a look for those who enjoy these turn-your-brain-off-and-enjoy films or want to see a few new spins on the mummy genre, while those that don't like the cheesy films should exercise caution.Rated R: Violence and Language

xredgarnetx This cheapo but oddly watchable mummy flick is one of those made-for-TV deals that stars several has-beens and pretty faces who can't act. The has-beens in this case are Tom Bosley and Robert Wagner, who probably thought they were doing a LOVE BOAT reunion. The pretty-faced nonactors include Casper Van Dien and Kristin Miller. I have no idea what the great Geoffrey Lewis is doing in this. Actually, the Iranian-born actor, who plays the chief villain, Nahvid N., wasn't bad, but pretty much all he gets to do is talk, talk, talk until you're ready to switch to a rerun of that old Olson Twins show. For a great rundown on the plot, check out the first IMDb synopsis. I shan't go into it here other than to add the flick borrows liberally from JURASSIC PARK, THE MUMMY and SAHARA. Not bad films to steal from. To say THE FALLEN ONES plot line is ambitious is not giving it enough credit. But what we get is a bunch of stiff-assed actors standing around most of the time. The action is severely limited in what should have been an action-packed horror comedy flick. The CGI isn't bad for a TV movie. The idea of a 42-ft.-tall mummy chasing around the countryside isn't bad, either. Neither is the 42-ft.-tall mechanical mummy (see the movie). Watch it for laughs if nothing else.

pyerro I saw not so fabulous rating on IMDb, but I went to see it anyway, because I am a big fan of Bible related material. First thing that bothered me was a little too much Indiana Jones wannabe movie, but it also looked like Casper Van Dien didn't see those Jones movies through (but he should). I believe he tried his best, but script just stunk. Music tried to be kinda Jones style too. Great work, but for such movie it seemed like too much work, like the video part did't deserve all that great music. Robert Wagner gave his best acting skills, he did a good job, but somehow the script was bringing everything down. "Jokes" are old school, somewhere 20 years old; they brought only cynic smile to my face. There are some really bad camera angels, SFX looks like homemade and unrealistic. Kevin VanHook had probably a good idea on the story (in my opinion, but I love such stories), but things just didn't work out in the end. Maybe he should put it on a paper when it was still fresh in his head. When I (in first minutes) saw that movie was going to be one of those 'low budget movies', I hoped that I will at least 'hear' a good story, but sometimes movies just disappoint.