MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - THE FINAL RECKONING: A Fitting Coda

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - THE FINAL RECKONING (4K UHD)

2025 / 169 min

Paramount

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Entity😸

After time leaves it in the rearview mirror, the Mission: Impossible films might be looked back on as one of the greatest action franchises in history. Individually, none of them are cultural milestones. But collectively, you’d be hard pressed to name another series as remarkably consistent, with only one film (the lamentable MI:2) dropping the ball. 

And until the The Final Reckoning - supposedly the final chapter - each film has been better than the last, not only for finding new and inventive ways to put Tom Cruise in harm’s way for the sake of an action sequence, but developing stories and characters (including antagonists) engaging enough to hold our interest whenever Cruise isn’t risking his life.

The Final Reckoning doesn’t reach the heights of its predecessor, Dead Reckoning Part One, mostly because it struggles to work as a stand-alone film (a common problem for most two-parters). Sure, you can pick up the gist of the plot even if you haven’t seen the last one, but the enormity of what’s at stake is somewhat diminished. 

For the record, a rogue AI simply known as ‘The Entity’ has infiltrated all of cyberspace with an ability to manipulate every aspect of technology. No one knows its origins, or if there’s even a central location, but two halves of a key exist that can potentially control it. As the film opens, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) has that key and is bent on destroying the Entity before it assumes control of every nuclear arsenal in the world to obliterate humanity (it’s not quite made clear what it stands to gain by killing everyone, though one character does ask that question). 

Tom flies coach.

The key provides access to the Entity’s source code, which is located in a sunken Russian sub at the bottom of the ocean, so not only is Hunt tasked with retrieving it, he has to contend with Gabriel (Esai Morales), who did the Entity’s bidding in the first film, but now wants to control it himself. Meanwhile, the CIA, led by director Kittridge (Henry Czerny), and most of the U.S. military fear that destroying the Entity will also destroy the entire internet. They urge President Erika Stone (Angela Bassett) to launch a first strike against the other eight nuclear superpowers before they lose control of their own arsenal. So yeah, the fate of the world is once again at stake, with every option appearing to be a lose-lose scenario.

As a continuation of Dead Reckoning, the film works pretty well, as does the usual quota of jaw-dropping action sequences. The climactic biplane duel (with Tom himself hanging onto the wings for dear life) is a definite highlight, while Hunt’s decent into the bowels of the Russian submarine is suitably claustrophobic, even as it eventually stretches plausibility to the breaking point. On the other hand, the film frequently dips into MCU territory by including characters and subplots that, if you haven’t seen other Mission: Impossible films, won’t mean a whole lot. There’s a ton of fan service here, some of it nicely woven into the narrative, some superfluously inserted (such as a major character who's revealed to be the disgruntled son of Jim Phelps). 

But even with all that baggage, The Final Reckoning is pretty damned entertaining, not just as a conclusion to Dead Reckoning, but as a satisfying coda to the entire franchise. Perhaps a bit too long this time around, the film takes awhile to get rolling, but once it does, the expected visual thrills and moments of race-the-clock tension are here in abundance. At its center, of course, is Tom Cruise, who’s just now beginning to show his age a bit, though his commitment to the character and the movie remains as strong as ever.

EXTRA KIBBLES

4K, BLU-RAY & DIGITAL COPIES

BEHIND THE SCENES - A five-chapter look at the making of the film, with an emphasis on the action sequences.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By director Christopher McQuarrie and actor Tom Cruise.

EDITORIAL CONTENT - There’s a montage of deleted scenes, as well as alternate takes of the biplane flying sequences. All of them included optional commentary.

4 PROMO SPOTS - Featuring behind-the-scenes footage.

4 PHOTO GALLERIES - Plenty of behind-the-scenes photos featuring Tom Cruise (includes a text biography), Christopher McQuarrie, supporting cast & crew.

ATTACK OF THE CORN ZOMBIES & RETURN OF THE CORN ZOMBIES: Dirt Cheap Double Feature

ATTACK OF THE CORN ZOMBIES & RETURN OF THE CORN ZOMBIES (Blu-ray)

2023 & 2025 / 177 minutes (2 movies)

Bayview Entertainment

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Before you go thinking the titles suggest a couple of satiric, self-aware zom-coms…nope. Both are a couple of ultra low-budget flicks that are more-or-less serious in tone (especially the second one). They are the products of Steve Hermann, a self-taught filmmaker from Chicago whose can-do spirit is admirable, even if he hasn’t quite taught himself everything yet.

Attack of the Corn Zombies apparently had a budget of $10,000, which'll get you a decent used car if you shop smart enough. Taking place in 1969, it’s about a corn crop sprayed with fertilizer that has the unfortunate side effect of turning people into the title creatures, complete with stalks and kernels growing from their open wounds. Languidly paced and clumsily staged, with some eye-rolling dialogue spoken by a cast whose primary income probably isn’t acting, Attack of the Corn Zombies might have you wondering if that used car wouldn't have been a wiser investment. Still, the movie boasts some not-half-bad make-up effects and an earnest effort to make the whole thing look like a product of the ‘60s.

DoorDash has arrived.

Comparatively speaking, Return of the Corn Zombies is actually pretty good. Made for three times the budget of the first (a whopping $30,000, enough for a decent new car), this one is still amateur night in the acting department and wastes way too much screen time on character exposition (to no avail, since we still don’t care about them). However, the legitimately decent story sees a few survivors of the corn zombie apocalypse lured into a compound overseen by a megalomaniacal ex-mayor and his looney family, who run the place like cult leaders. Pretty dark in tone, it sort of plays like a Walking Dead episode, where the real monsters aren’t the zombies. The technical aspects are also a significant improvement.

Ultimately, how much one enjoys these homegrown films largely depends on an appreciation for what Steve Hermann and friends were able to accomplish with such meager resources. He’s no Romero, but probably capable of cranking out a pretty solid horror movie if ever provided the kind of financing that could put a sports car in his driveway.

Experience THE LIFE OF CHUCK

THE LIFE OF CHUCK (Blu-ray)

2025 / 111 min

Neon/Decal Releasing

Review by Princess Pepper😻

Considering Stephen King’s reputation, it’s ironic that the best adaptations of his work have generally been those that aren’t horror stories. Maybe that’s because, while certainly good at scaring the pants off of you, he might be even better at creating vivid, authentic characters, the kind that good filmmakers love to sink their teeth into. 

And considering director Mike Flanagan’s reputation, it’s also ironic that The Life of Chuck is his best film, though maybe not too surprising. Sure, he’s mostly known for horror, but the best parts of his two previous King adaptations (Gerald’s Game & Doctor Sleep) were their character driven moments. And because Flanagan himself wrote or co-wrote those screenplays, he does more than simply pull exposition from the books…he seems personally invested in these people.

The Life of Chuck is entirely driven by its characters, with a premise and plot that defy genre classification. Like the King novella, it consists of three acts presented in reverse chronological order, which isn't some kind of narrative stunt either. If told chronologically, the story would have lost all of its impact. Instead, this might be the most emotionally affecting Stephen King movie since The Shawshank Redemption (though not always the most uplifting).

“Act III: Thanks, Chuck” sees the world apparently coming to an end, as experienced through middle school teacher Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his ex-wife, Felicia Gordon (Karen Gillan). Little by little, everything simply seems to be sort-of shutting down, both societally and physically. While no explanation is offered, the apocalypse has something to do with a guy named Chuck (Tom Hiddleston), whose face appears everywhere - billboards, windows, television - though nobody knows who he is.

We’re actually introduced to Chuck in “Act II: Buskers Forever.” He’s a 39 year old accountant who - as Nick Offerman’s narration informs us - is less than a year away from dying of cancer, though Chuck is currently unaware of this. While walking down the street, he comes across street drummer Taylor Franck (Taylor Gordon), drops his briefcase and spontaneously begins dancing to the beat she's laying down. The scene turns into a full-blown dance number as he’s joined by a stranger, Janice (Annalese Basso), and the two attract an enthusiastic crowd. Viewed out of context, it’s the most joyous and charming sequence in the entire film…

"He followed me home. Can we keep him?"

…but its narrative significance becomes clear during “Act I: I Contain Multitudes," where Chuck’s childhood is revealed. After his parents are killed in a car crash, he’s raised by his grandparents, Sarah (Mia Sara) and Albie (Mark Hamill), both of whom have a huge impact on his life. Sarah instills him with a love for dancing, while Albie - though he drinks too much - stresses the importance of mastering mathematics, as well as warning Chuck never to unlock the cupola upstairs. 

But the singular moment in his young life occurs in middle school, a conversation with his teacher, Miss Richards (Kate Siegel, Flanagan’s wife, BTW) about a Whitman poem that turns out to be the crux of the entire narrative. To elaborate further would be a disservice, as would hinting at the thread that ultimately ties all three acts together. Based on one of the few King stories I actually haven’t read, I knew nothing about The Life of Chuck beyond the title, so going into it completely cold turned out to be a great experience and full of surprises. By turns, the film is eerie, ominous, whimsical, bittersweet, rousing, surreal, sentimental, poignant and ultimately inspirational. 

Flanagan masterfully moves from one key moment in Chuck’s life to the next, with nearly every story & character development vital to the overall narrative, but waiting until the opportune time to reveal their significance. He’s greatly helped by a terrific ensemble cast, all of whom deliver earnest, engaging performances. The big surprise might be Mark Hamill. We all know who he is, of course, but this might be the first time I’ve ever seen him completely disappear into his character, where I didn’t immediately go, “Hey, it’s Mark Hamill.” 

By the end credits, I was drained…in a good way. The Life of Chuck is the kind of movie that emotionally grabs you and doesn’t let go until the haunting denouement, which could either be seen as depressing or life-affirming (I choose the latter). Either way, it’s a unique film and one of the best of 2025.

EXTRA KIBBLES

MAKING-OF FEATURETTE

ON-SET INTERVIEWS - Individual interviews with actors Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Mark Hamill.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By writer-director Mike Flanagan.

TRAILER & TEASER TRAILER

“HEART” & “MULTITUDES” - These are also essentially teaser trailers.

FALLOUT Season One: It's Not Just For Gamers Anymore

FALLOUT Season One (4K SteelBook)

2024 / 450 min (8 episodes)

Warner Bros

Review by Mr. Bonnie, from the Brotherhood😺

Prior to watching Season One, everything I knew about the Fallout video game came from my oldest daughter, Natalie. She’s always been a hardcore gamer, and not only did she love this one, I seem to recall her owning some Vault Boy merch at one time. I don’t think she plays it much anymore, but was definitely interested in checking out the TV adaptation, which first debuted on Amazon Prime last year.

I’m always down for binging with Natalie, and truth be told, I was also thankful she agreed to a few nights of Fallout with her old man, if for no other reason than to explain elements that only gamers would know. One big reason most video game adaptations suck is because they forget not everyone in the audience was born with a controller in their hand.

One notable exception was the first season of The Last of Us, which was really good. Besides gushing praise from Natalie, I knew nothing about the game, nor was it necessary. That show did a masterful job developing its characters and adapting the story. Comparatively speaking, I enjoyed Fallout even more.

Because of the origins and post-apocalyptic setting of both series, the comparison is warranted. Setting aside the fact that prior knowledge of the game is not required, Fallout is similarly character driven, well-cast and features first-rate production values. But while the overall tone of The Last of Us is pretty somber, Fallout features a lot of black humor (some of it really twisted), wild production design, interesting subplots and well-placed moments of shocking gore (often played for laughs).  

And unlike The Last of Us, Fallout tells an all new story in the same gaming universe. The main story arc takes place in 2296, a few centuries after nuclear war has destroyed most of Earth. What’s left of organized civilization lives in underground Vaults, hoping to someday return to the surface and guide humankind back to its former glory. Lawless chaos reigns above ground, populated by raiders, savages, mutants and “Ghouls” (who are sort-of undead, but not quite zombies). 

When the leader of Vault 33 (Kyle MacLachlan) is kidnapped by raiders, his daughter, Lucy (Ella Purnell), decides to go to the surface and find him. She ends up in a shantytown called Filly, where a renegade scientist has secret in his head (literally) that everyone seems to want. In fact, there’s a bounty on his head (again, literally) that a vicious gunslinging ghoul (Walton Goggins) plans to collect. There’s also a cult of warriors called the Brotherhood that want the device for their own use, as does Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury), the leader of the raiders who kidnapped Lucy’s dad in the first place.

Another wrong turn at Albuquerque.

Lucy wants the device to trade for her father, while Maximus (Aaron Moten), a Brotherhood squire who assumes the use of his dead knight’s armor, hopes to return with it to avoid being executed. While the device’s purpose is eventually revealed, it’s essentially a McGuffin, and the quest for it is just scratching the surface. There are numerous subplots throughout these eight episodes, some resolved, most left open-ended (a practice I typically can’t stand in serialized TV shows). The most interesting of them is the Ghoul’s backstory. He was once known as Cooper Howard, a popular western movie star whose wife worked for Vault-Tec. We also learn that there’s something sinister behind the seemingly idyllic life in Vault 33. 

Season One of Fallout is of full of surprises, many of them with ominous implications. It also does an especially good job slowly revealing that some of these characters aren’t quite who they seem. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention just how great the show looks, having never seen a post-apocalyptic world depicted quite like this. Natalie said that the show’s rendering of the game’s quasi-retro universe is spot-on, right down to the smallest details, such as the Pip-Boys (wrist computers worn by Vault dwellers).

Speaking of which, the story and characters may be new, but Fallout gamers will still get a huge kick out of familiar props, creatures, TV spots, and of course, the prominent (often ironic) use of ‘40s & ‘50s pop songs. And yes, Vault Boy is everywhere. However, I think I actually liked the show even more than Natalie did. The first episode had me wanting to binge the rest of them that evening (work be damned), while she was content with an episode or two each night. My only real quip is that nearly every plot thread ends on a cliffhanger. A little bit of closure on a few of 'em would have been nice.

I don’t know how Fallout looked and sounded on Amazon, but the overall 4K image is outstanding, as is the Dolby Atmos audio track. What you definitely don’t get on Amazon is the generous amount of bonus features related to nearly all aspects of the production. None of them are very long, but they’re pretty entertaining. We were sent the SteelBook edition for review, which is exclusive to Amazon and features impressive artwork both inside and out.

EXTRA KIBBLES

INSIDE EPISODE 1 - “THE END” - This is basically a commentary by director Jonathan Nolan and actor Walton Goggins.

FEATURETTES - Inside Season One runs just under 20 minutes and features numerous interviews with the cast, crew and Bethesda Games producer Todd Howard (who also exec-produced). Includes plenty of behind the scenes footage.  The rest of the featurettes are shorter, and the titles more-or-less tell-all, including: Creating the Wasteland, Safe and Sound, Set Your Sets on 2296, The Costumes of Fallout, Writing for the Wasteland, Meet the Filmmaker (and Fanatic) Jonathan Nolan, Prosthetics & Make-up Gone Nuclear, Becoming the Ghoul, Console to Camera, Welcome to the World of Fallout.

VAULT SELLER’S SURVIVAL GUIDE - A view amusing Vault-Tec promo pieces.

6 COLLECTIBLE ARTCARDS

TERMINUS: Campy Chaos

TERMINUS (Blu-ray)

1987 / 115 & 85 min (2 versions)

MVD Rewind Collection

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😼

Though I practically lived at my local video store back in the ‘80s, I don’t recall ever coming across this title on the shelves. Maybe it was there and I never noticed, or maybe it just happened to be rented out whenever I popped in. But based on the cover art, suggesting yet another Road Warrior rip-off, Terminus is something I probably would have rented.

Not that I would’ve expected a good movie (in the traditional sense, anyway). Countless low budget Road Warrior ripoffs were cranked out back then (a lot of ‘em hailing from Europe…mostly Italy) and none of them were ever mistaken for good. However, “good” is not always synonymous with entertaining. Some of these films were great fun, often at their own expense.

True to form, Terminus isn’t a good movie either, but does boast a WTF quality that's kind of a kick (again, at its own expense). This one's a French-German co-production that, unlike the stuff oozing from Italy, looks like there’s actually a sizeable budget behind it. However, the kitchen sink story is so all-over-the-place that it's often baffling, sometimes amusingly so. 

Terminus has its own Mad Max in Stump, played by hunky French rock star Johnny Hallyday. He drives an AI-powered truck called Monster in a game developed by a child genius who turns out to be a clone of another genius known as “Doctor” (Jürgen Prochnow, playing three different roles, including one where he’s costumed like a drag queen). The object of the game is to reach a place called Terminus while dodging violent attacks by “The Greys,” who pursue him in tanks but mostly end up crashing & burning (sort of making them the vehicular version of Imperial Stormtroopers).

Nothing gets in the way of Amazon Prime delivery.

Karen Allen shows up for awhile as Monster’s initial driver and Stump’s hilariously brief love interest, but her role is superfluous. Things get complicated when the AI (depicted as a disembodied mouth on the truck’s dashboard) malfunctions and begins to feel bad about itself. Oh…and did I mention the dreaded Ghost Truck, lurking in the periphery and driven by another character played by Prochnow? 

There’s goofy action here and there, some of it looking rather expensive, though most of the movie’s camp appeal lies in the batshit story and an overall aesthetic that practically screams 1980s (including your standard issue synth score and a central control room that resembles a nightclub). Terminus is junk, but can be entertaining junk if one is in the right frame of mind (or tripping on shrooms).

Of all the Road Warrior ripoffs glutting shelves in the ‘80s, Terminus is definitely one of the weirder ones. A fitting addition to the MVD Rewind Collection, this disc includes two versions of the movie, the U.S. version and the European director’s cut, which runs a half-hour longer. There are significant story and tonal differences between them, though the latter is arguably the best cut since it tends to be a little more comprehensible. It also comes with a decent selection of bonus features (outlined below). 

EXTRA KIBBLES

EUROPEAN & U.S. VERSIONS

WE ALL DESCEND: THE MAKING OF TERMINUS is a 50-minute retrospective doc featuring interviews with director Pierre-William Glenn, as well as his son and daughter, the latter of whom had a major role in Terminus as a child. This is a surprisingly revealing feature.

INTERVIEW WITH JÜRGEN PROCHNOW - The actor discusses his career, particularly following Das Boot and leading up to this film.

PHOTO GALLERY

REVERSIBLE COVER

MINI POSTER

TRAILER