The Skulls | | Cast : | Joshua Jackson | | Director : | Rob Cohen | | Studio : | Universal Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | March 31, 2000 | | DVD Released Date : | October 24, 2000 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 16, 2005 | | Summary | Very Good; Very Detailed; Very Revealing | Content
 | This is entertaining fare, and revealing in so many ways.
Much of the criticism is about the plotting, and how the key events could have happened without the Skulls leaders doing anything to stop the lower ranks acting "wrongly". That proceeds from false assumptions. The central theme of the film is about a power play between two council leaders. Once you see that, then the events of the film fall into place, since the junior players in the events are pawns of the council members who are competing for the leadership of the Skulls. This film has more layers than an onion.
The special FX used in this film are so invisible it is amazing. All the FX serve to further the story.
The additional material is superb, and the commentary shows the production process, amongst other things, and the deleted scenes show how a movie is crafted into a flowing creative, vibrant entity.
ENJOY |
| Rating | | | Date | January 18, 2005 | | Summary | Great Movie | Content
| This movie is one of my favorite movies ever. It really draws me into the plot from the beginning. I am not usually a person who enjoys action films, but this one left me wanting to know more. I have not yet seen either of the sequels, but I don't think they can live up to how great this one was. One of my friends and I love to watch this movie together. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 20, 2004 | | Summary | Bare bones entertainment | Content
| In the dark halls once walked by ancient members of secret societies, one group in particular stands out and has survived and prospered...The Skulls. This opening introduction should have been a clue as to how absurdly dramatic this movie would be.
Director Rob Cohen (Daylight, Fast & The Furious) has never been able to pull any gem from the movies he makes with the only exception being Dragon, The Bruce Lee Story. Instead, he usually creates moderately entertaining movies that try so hard to be more than they are. This was the last dramatic movie he made before moving into the even more flashy flair of The Fast & The Furious.
The Skulls starts out promising, with good characters trying to deal with their real life and school. One in particular, Lucas McNamara, played by Joshua Jackson of Dawson's Creek fame, is trying hard to make something of himself, despite his poor roots and semi-criminal childhood. He does well but mostly plays a similar character to what he played on DC. Paul Walker, playing Caleb Mandrake, stands out showing some real emotion as the conflicted rich kid who befriends Lucas and battles his own conscious throughout the movie. You find yourself liking him, despite his `take no responsibility' personality.
The real downfall of the movie is simply the switch in direction from Lucas' journey into sudden wealth and opportunity, to murder mystery. I think it would have been more instresting to see Lucas work his way into the society and find he is nothing like these people, and either find a way to use the Skulls abilities for good purposes. William L. Peterson, always good, plays Senator Levritt, who states this to Lucas early in the movie. This sounded like a promising start to the intrigue that could follow the young man who has never known what it's like to be rich or to have the ability to wield such power.
But alas, the movie falls into bleak territory and barely digs it's way out. All in all, it's an entertaining movie of power, secret society rules superceding the law and discovery of a person's own moral code. A good combination that was clumsily executed but is still good on most levels.
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| Rating | | | Date | October 21, 2004 | | Summary | Mediocre formula film | Content
| I rented this film hoping to learn more about the secret society, Skull and Bones (or just Skulls for this film). We don't get to see much, other than some lame initiation rite and a brief ballroom dance party where beautiful ladies are merely there for the decoration as they are introduced to the new initiates. What follows is a second rate formula film to unravel the mystery of who's behind the coverup of the murder in the Skulls ritual room. I was nearly bored to tears. The only good things about this film were the music and the scene when Joshua Jackson's character flips out, accusing a police officer of switching the videotape to cover up the conspiracy. He did a great job in that scene, but the rest of the film seriously needed some work. After I finished watching it, I felt like the makers of this movie didn't know enough about the Skulls to really write and produce a stellar movie. I wanted to learn more about what a membership in Skulls means to people, besides having beautiful women thrown at them, sports cars of their dreams, and $100,000 checks made out to each member once they are officially part of the brotherhood. I wanted to know more about the tension between Mandrake and the Senator, as well as Mandrake and his own son. This film just glosses over it to move the plot along, and what you get is a snoozefest with marginal acting and story. If anything, this film does a service to secret societies, because people will walk away after viewing this film that there's nothing to worry about if members of our government and Wall Street are in the brotherhood. I hope a more serious film about the social impact of secret societies and its rituals will be made someday, and that such a script/story won't be sacrificed for the purpose of fitting the standard formula of the suspense drama. Skulls could have used a lot more suspense. Because of the mediocrity of this film, I won't even bother to watch any of its sequels. If it couldn't be done right the first time, there's no point in repeating the same formula with different casts. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 06, 2004 | | Summary | Not what I expected. | Content
| I got this movie, expecting to see a thriller based on fact. What I got instead was a teen-flick that seemed more like Scream than a movie about the powerful elite that (purportedly) runs countries and continents. Don't get me wrong however, this movie is definitely a thriller but it isn't sinister enough. The Skulls seem more like a group of spoilt brats than a highly efficient secret organization filled with the best minds. The story was not very credible, how do a group of teenagers bring down such a secretive society that is said to span the globe? Surely the Skulls are not so incompetent as to allow a teen-journalist to enter their most sacred chambers with such ease and steal all their secrets. There must be better movies about the skulls out there because this one was a real disappointment. I can only recommend this movie to those who like thrillers, just don't get this movie if you are expecting an expose on the skulls. There was one reviewer who said he would have liked to see Jackson and Walker more physically involved with each other. It amazes me that there are such deviants who watch these movies to fulfill their perverted fantasies. The movie was about the Skulls not about homoerotic fantasies. |
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