Harpies (2007)

Fantastic!

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I get a kick out of watching the awful movies the Sci-Fi Channel releases during the weekend, and by golly, Stan Lee's Harpies is without a doubt, the worst film to be featured yet.There's many implausible actions the writer for this garbage wrote, such as the lame excuse of a threat Stephen Baldwin's character makes to a fellow security guard, or the great sketch of a trebuchet he later provides to a fellow warrior.The special-effects are laughable. From the usual bad CG used in other Sci-Fi movies, the harpies in this film are cringe-worthy in that you'll laugh till your sides hurt. There's scenes where the harpies were suppose to be added in later during post, but what we get are warriors hacking and slashing at invisible things in front of them or in the air. To get an idea of this trash's budget, there's a moment when an elderly soldier falls from his horse after a harpy dismounts him sending the soldier onto what should be a dirt path, but a quick cut shows a younger man with black hair falling onto a beautifully green field -- with no wig at all. There's also trick angles, where a spear hits a soldier to make it look like he's been impaled, only to see briefly that he is holding it under his arm and to his side. Other moments include: fake swords (the kind that push in when pressed upon a hard surface to give a seemingly real stab) and corny blue screen.The harpies are so ugly looking, one could wonder if anyone took this project seriously. From the big-tooth dentures, to the matted hair, these woman are funnier looking than scary.The music is terrible. While trying to have some sweep, it comes off as something an audience member would chuckle to. When one of the main warriors is slain in battle, the choral work is even more laughable.The dialogue is atrocious. From the villain explaining his mistakes and intentions to his dim-witted harpies, to the weak "jokes" Stephen Baldwin's character makes here and there.The acting is so bad, it's bewildering. Peter Jason has a dual role as the sorcerer and the professor (who somehow manages to grab some of the lamest mercenaries in movie history) and the lazy performances by Baldwin and some of the other warriors, who seem like they want to take a nap rather than express any emotion in their monotone deliveries.Overall, there is not one compliment one can give to this wretched "film". It's simply grotesque, and the only way this could even be considered good, is if this was a parody and it was done with the best of intentions of being this awful -- which considering from the moronic director Josh Becker, this was meant as a somewhat serious project, as he has a list of failing movies. Only watch this film for the laughs, it wasn't meant to be taken seriously I hope.

I admit not seeing all of the movie. I came home from Live Free or Die Hard (which was awesome!) and watched the last half of this. It had me literally laughing out loud, too bad it isn't a comedy. The good was Kristin Richardson, she could act and was easy on the eyes. The OK, Scott Valentine. I give him the benefit of the doubt and believe he was just over the top and cheesy on purpose to fit the tone of the film. Stephen Baldwin let his acting chops drop to the level of the surrounding cast, which was just terrible. You rarely get the whole cast to sound as if they can't remember their lines and are just reading them off a cheat sheet just off camera. Horrendous. The CG. Holy crap. This got the most,and biggest laughs out of me. Original Sci-Fi channel pics are not know for great CGI. But this is a new low. WOW, truly needs to be seen it to believe it. Probably the worst CGI I have ever seen. Avoid this even if you liked other made for Sci-fi channel movies, or tune in if you can't believe its the worst acting and CG maybe ever. But please quickly turn it off and save the brain cell or 2 you will burn out trying to figure out how it was green lit to go out to the public.

Army of Darkness can be considered a cult classic, so I guess it's surprising we haven't seen more ripoffs of it. However, I can't imagine we'd ever see one like this.To those that haven't seen Army of Darkness, a regular wisecracking Joe with a shotgun is accidentally teleported into medieval/dark ages times and must save the inhabitants there with a combination of future know how, leadership abilities and fighting ability from a supernatural evil.It was a silly movie, but worked because Bruce Campbell has charm and wit, and the script was genuinely funny.Replace Bruce Campbell with Stephen Baldwin and replace the Evil Dead with Harpies. Replace the claymation low budget special effects with blue screen special effects straight from a shopping mall vendor or amusement park. And take out the witty banter and one liners and replace them with dialogue that makes the worst dubbed Italian film seem like Shakespeare. Watch at your own peril. About the only redeeming feature is the female lead, who isn't much of an actor, but is attractive, in a mid 30s sort of way.

...and end up surprisingly good movies.Stan Lee's Harpies is not one of them. **WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW**Let's see...where to start?Ah, yes -- The Harpies themselves. You'd think, given that they are the title characters of the film, that there would be great time and care and attention given their design. Instead we get abominable CGI, and the live action harpies looked like emo girls wearing badly-done halloween wings.The Action Sequences. When the harpies attack, it doesn't show us anything that convinces us that there's a battle going on. You see a bunch of people waving their swords, then you see a shot of the harpies giggling and flailing their arms. Yeah, real convincing. The battle scenes, such as they are, show a bunch of guys bumping into each other with swords drawn. One poor nameless extra got skewered by a sword, and when he fell down, he fell at an angle showing that he was holding the sword between his arm and torso, rather than sticking out of his trunk, as it should have been.In the museum, we're supposed to believe that these mercenaries are not only bad shots, but that an ancient cup, hit by a bullet, is just going to fall as if it were knocked over, and protect our hero.The Casting Not too much wrong here, other than they're rather unseasoned and ill-suited for a fantasy film. Also, they got the cast wrong on here. Scott Valentine (yes, the guy from Family Ties who said "Ay!") played Vorian.There are other stretches of the imagination, people jumping when they're supposed to be "sucked in" or "thrown clear" of the blast, etc. But this movie was just "That Which Should Not Be Made" on so many levels. My friend and I made better student films than this in college. Did anyone notice the dearth of slavic names in the crew? I thought only the Italians made ridiculous movies ("Naked Gladiators" and "Texas Rangers 2020", anyone?).Ah well, I suppose that if they enjoyed what they were doing, that's what counts. I didn't.