Search - Cold Harvest on DVD

Weak weak, and more weak

SRFireside | Houston, TX United States | 09/15/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Gee... where do I begin? I suppose I can sum Cold Harvest in one word: Craptacular. It's a low budget movie, but that's not why it is bad. It's a clichéd action flick, but surprisingly enough that's not why Cold Harvest is bad either. It's bad because it performs so low on categorically every aspect of film making whatever decent stuff there is (and there are only a few) doesn't stand much of a chance to get around the lame script production values.

Isaac Florentine is known for using B-movie production values and over the top martial arts. This has brought him success with his work on the Power Rangers. This time it doesn't work. For one the script is awful. It's hardly more than just a series of action scenes hardly tied together with some sort of cookie cutter plot that seems to show up in lots of post apocalyptic movies. As a matter of fact this movie hardly qualifies as a science fiction aside from an intro talking about a comet and a plague. Half the scenes could be completely thrown away and you wouldn't miss it in the continuity. While it's a little interesting seeing an old west style angle in the plot it doesn't go anywhere aside from the props and spaghetti western stare down contests. The characters are one-dimensional and play out their roles with as much depth as wax paper. I am not talking about the acting, which is mostly canned but does have some pretty decent moments. I am talking about the script. Cold Harvest is written badly. It's a sad day when the only character development you see is from a side character talking about noses.

The sets are laughably cheap. You can see the bricks are painted on plaster walls. The sound effects are so bad they are laughable, especially the blatant abuse of using the 'whoosh' sound every time someone moves. Continuity? Don't look here for it. The old west guns they like so much in this movie seem to be able to load themselves magically. I counted at least 10 bullets coming out of a six round revolver more than once in this movie. And when they are actually fighting our hero, Roland (Gary Daniels), they forget to bring the guns and just go martial arts on each other. Real smart boys. The action is admittedly pretty cool even if it gets way over the top at times. The fighting parts look cool but the stunts coming from it like the flips and spins from getting hit can get pretty cheesy. Also there are scenes where stunts are done that really don't fit. I found myself scratching my head wondering what just happened. This movie seems more like a showcase for stunt men than anything else.

This movie pretty much sucks aside from the martial arts. If you are really into martial arts and can ignore EVERYTHING else then you just might like Cold Harvest. If you have any need for a decent script or production values you can forget it. Of course this movie would be great fodder for Mystery Science Theater 3000 so those of you who like making fun of cheesy movies can have something new on your list with this one.

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So action-packed, it's a comedy...

John Ferri | Stevenson Ranch, California United States | 06/27/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If you're into action-packed movies that make you laugh at their lack of action and failed attempts to grip the audience, then you need Cold Harvest. Before one even watches this movie, a close reading of the synopsis on the back cover, reveals everything anyone would want to know about the movie, maybe too much. There are many serious, dramatic scenes in this movie, which bring the audience to laughter:The infamous 19-shot revolver, the innocent homeless man getting kicked over early in the movie, the mysterious man with a cord coming out of his back, the motorcycle rider that briefly forgets Roland's location after giving him the fiercest expression one could ever imagine, the magical moving mirror hanging on the wall in the highly emotional "beautiful back" scene, the highly skilled two-story-jumping ninjas, the painting-like acting of Gary Daniels, and the non-stop back-flipping action fed to us by the stunt men.This movie is entertaining and is a source for many inside jokes between the viewers. This movie gets three stars for being a comedy and one for an action movie."