Magus (2008)

Why so much hype?

To me, this movie is perfection.

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

You see, average, disappointing movies get 4 or 5. Only true indie movies ever get 2 or 3. They are either too stupid, under-budget or unintentionally funny that they are worth seeing.Well, I wouldn't call this worth seeing. After all it is a bad script, terrible acting, clichéd story and '84 special effects are top of the line. But you can see that the people actually tried, even if completely lacking any talent. You get your evil wizard and his sexy fighting sidechick, you get the retired old good wizard and his lovely (ahem :( ) niece and a lot of secondary characters that either die in a blaze of ... magic or stick helplessly around. In the end good wins.Bottom line: this proves that anyone can make a movie. Even if almost a complete failure, at least it is not overrated: what you see is what you get. They have tried, gave their best, and I respect that.

This one is the worse I've seen in my entire life. Cast made with refurbished actors not even in a mint condition. It was like I was watching a group of teenager acting in a movie shot in their backyard. Except that there were some old guys. Did I mention their stupid faces? Wow it was unbelievable. And the so called special effects, you can make some better stuff on your first contact with Adobe After Effects. Tons of glowing electricity going out from the "wizards" hands in blue green and red and the bad guy melting in the end toasted by the good guy power,hmmm (sounds familiar?) God, avoid it with any price. I can't talk about the plot because there wasn't such thing. Anyway I still asking myself like I did every minute why I was watching that, so f you don't to be haunted by this question for the rest of your life avoid the movie. Yuck

This film is the Best Indy film I've seen yet - and I've seen quite a few. Director John Lechago has done more on screen with a small budget than most studios can do with a large one.For most people, they hear 'Indy film' and they think cheesy effects & no story line, but lots of nudity - this is just the opposite for this film.The plot is great - classic good vs. evil - right down to the use of red energy vs. blue energy ala Star Wars. The special effects are awesome for a low budget film - Mr. Lechago knows how to make his budget dollar stretch to maximum capacity for maximum screen effectiveness!The acting in this film was excellent - Lizzie & Julie Strain are gorgeous and very talented actresses! Eva Derrick plays her role of Sen (The Magus' ever-faithful servant, companion and warrior princess) quite well - her desire for his power is made quite apparent and is very believable. Master Ron Fitzgerald attacks his role as the evil Magus Fernos with a ferocious vengeance - he is a great actor! I look forward to seeing him in many more lead roles to come!Nudity? Yes, there's some - What would an Indy Movie Be without a little gratuitous boobage? (Thank you, Julie) However, it's not the only redeeming factor for this film, as is the case for most Indy films - it is merely a plus to the already captivating story.Perhaps one of the effects is not of the best quality, but you must remember that this is an Indy Film! That means SMALL (actually minuscule in most cases) budget! However, the Story line and acting abilities of the cast certainly make up for the one effect that is of questionable 'quality'.My hat is off to Mr. Lechago and the cast & crew - AWESOME!! It's definitely worth the purchase price! If you enjoy classic good vs. evil ala Harry Potter/Star Wars - You will enjoy this film - I Promise!

This movie was fairly decent and had a bit of potential; however, several things kept it from being great. The story was a bit bare, though it had enough to drive it to the end. The FX were pretty cool at times, but quite juvenile in other (the ending sequence was as cheesy as it gets and reminded me of crappy FX you see in 70's films). Worst of all was the acting, or lack thereof. It sounded like all, I repeat, ALL of the actors were reading straight from the script, you know, like reading a book out loud without and acting even being attempted. This might as well have been a read session instead of the final film.I forced myself through it just to see what they threw at us. It was cool at times, but quite corny/cheesy/dumb in others. It's not on par with the Warlock series, but good to kill a few hours on the weekend or late at night. There was a gratuitous full-frontal scene in it, if that will help get you through the film (nice bod!).All-in-all, not too bad but shallow story, poor acting, err.. reading, and blah FX in some places kept this film from getting a better grade. It was better than most straight-to-video films I've seen.