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Very disappointing...

Strong and Moving!

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

I would give it a zero if I could. How can you make a movie based on a book without the main character. The book is an awesome read and this movie was just a waste of time. If you love the book this movie is nothing like it so do not even bother watching it. In fact no one should watch this garbage. The book is a 10/10

The Relic (1997): Dir: Peter Hyams / Cast: Penelope Ann Miller, Tom Sizemore, James Whitmore, Linda Hunt, Clayton Rohner: Brain dead horror film that becomes one of the biggest spectacles of the year. Apparently a relic is something dreadful from the past. If that is the case, then the description will serve for any comment regarding future references to this crap. Penelope Ann Miller plays the world's stupidest heroine who works in a museum where a crate arrives containing a reptilian statue. Bodies are discovered aboard a ship. Cops use police dogs for tracking but they run free. When found mangled a nitwit cop pursues the killer. An escape rapist is also gunned down as one of those phony bologna bull crap scares. Miller and James Whitmore managed to get lost in the museum. Children hide out at the museum. A cop has his head removed by this creature and the force sends more cops down. The stupidity in this travesty is endless. The only element of interest is the special effects because director Peter Hyams turns it into a laugh fest. He previously made such junk as Sudden Death and Timecop and hasn't improved much. Aside from Miller's whining, there is Tom Sizemore as a superstitious cop, plus Whitmore and Linda Hunt who fare no better. Clayton Rohner plays Sizemore's dimwitted detective partner. The result is an embarrassing monster flick that should be used as target practise. Score: 1 / 10

A researcher at Chicago's Natural History Museum returns from South America with crates containing his findings. When they arrive at the museum without the owner there appears to be very little inside. Police discover gruesome remains on the cargo ship that brought the crates, and then another murder in the museum itself. Investigating the murder is Lt. D'Agosta who enlists the help of Dr. Green at the museum. Unknown to both though, there is a large creature roaming the museum, which is preparing itself for a benefit reception......The relic hasn't aged very well since the last time I saw this back in 1998, and the script doesn't hold up either. The film is basically Night At The Museum for adults, and about as entertaining.It's by the numbers stuff, museum gets dark, people get picked off every now and again, the monster isn't seen until the very end, and only two teachers from Kindergarten Cop and Tom Sizemore can save the day.If this were made today, it'd be released straight to Blu Ray and vanish without a trace.The years have been really unkind to this film.Not as good as I remember.

I remember seeing this movie in the theaters when I was 17 and enjoying it. I saw it was on Netflix instant and gave it a whirl...I'm not going to rip into this movie because it was full of clichés, its a monster movie for goodness sake. As far as the "ancient idol/horrible monster/kill everyone around" genre goes, its not bad at all. I enjoy Tom Sizemore as an actor and while the script was what one would expect of 4 credited (and lord knows how many uncredited) screenwriters, I felt he did a good job as his character. Honestly for a movie of this type, the acting was just fine. They weren't required to do much, but that was OK.However, if you watch this movie, get used to entire scenes where you have no idea what is happening because its so dark. I understand, keep the settings dim to create fear (and realism, the power is out most of the time though why everyone in the museum works in near total darkness 99% of the time is a bit mind-boggling) but I can't be scared if I can't see what's happening when I'm supposed to!Dark, extremely dark shots keep the viewer in the (I can't do it), keep the viewer confused in many scenes. It was bad enough that a moderate length movie (109m) seemed MUCH longer and not in a good way. Much like gimmicky camera tricks or abuse of slow-motion (I'm looking at you John Woo) can ruin a movie, the overly dark nature of so many shots just leaves you sitting there wish you could tell what the hell was going on.I will say, possibly watching it on a larger screen, or a better quality television (mine is a 32" Sony LCD, nothing fancy) might mitigate lighting issues a bit, I don't know.Overall, its an OK movie for the genre that is partially ruined by not being able to tell what the hell is going on.