Saturday's Warrior

2016

Musical

Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 71% · 2 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 71% · 250 ratings
IMDb Rating 5.7/10 10 311 311

heaven religion family latter day saints

Director

Michael Buster Photo
Michael Buster

Top cast

Mason D. Davis Photo
Mason D. Davis as Tod Richards
Monica Moore Smith Photo
Monica Moore Smith as Julie Flinders
Jacob Buster Photo
Jacob Buster as Ernie Flinders
Bailee Michelle Johnson Photo
Bailee Michelle Johnson as Shelly Flinders

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by brennantolmanmedia 4 / 10

Amazing story, serious technical issues

The storyline of this film was so much better than the original. I loved the depth and back story given to Jimmy, Pam and Todd. The music was fantastic, and was very enjoyable to listen to.That being said, the movie suffered from serious technical errors that made it hard to watch until you were finally used to them (aka the last 30 minutes of the movie). To name a few, the dubbing was terrible, the entire film appeared as if it was shot hand-held, and the angles of the actors/actresses faces were not flattering in the least bit (tons of double chins). There was no headroom and the closeups of the actors were WAY TOO CLOSE UP, making the audience feel like they had to run to the back of the theater to get away.There were certain dialogue scenes in which there were many sudden cuts that were confusing. Certain actors didn't read their lines well or act their parts well at all, making some scenes very uncomfortable.As bad as some of the technical aspects were, the music was great and the message was greater. If the technical errors were fixed before this movie was released on DVD, I easily could see this film being bought by many LDS families all over the nation.
Reviewed by hrc-25575 7 / 10

Great Remake of the Classic but...

I loved the original stage play and thought the original VHS video paled in comparison to the live performance with some pretty cheesy acting and weak jokes. The music of course is great. This latest remake could have been a total 10 if they had used all but one of the deleted scenes, instead of the ones they used in the DVD. Most of the deleted scenes were better than what was in the movie except one. With one exception, I'd pay extra for a revised version of this video using the deleted scenes instead. The extend heaven clip was far better and filled in a lot of gaps in the story. The "Paper in my hand" song was far closer to the original record, far more moving and heart felt than the modified production that ended up in the DVD and even the first VHS movie. All the deleted scenes were better except the cameo clip with Governor Gary Herbert. That was so bad it should have been deleted from the deleted scenes. This DVD movie seems to struggle with the flow at the beginning but gathers steam as the movie goes on. The acting kept improving, not sure why but we all noticed it and came to the same conclusion. I really enjoyed the movie in spite of the choices made in editing the final cut. If they had included the full deleted clips I would just make my own cut and have a 10 rated movie instead of barely a 7. I do like the show just feel the had some great shots that they replaced with lesser takes. It's really not that hard these days to put out a DVD that offers the viewer options to watch alternate cuts of a movie. I wish they would have had some screenings of some of these cuts to get audience feed back on what people think sounds better. I mean no disrespect to the producers as this is far better than what came out on VHS years ago. But I also can't help but wonder if I'm alone in this opinion? I would welcome other who have watched the deleted scenes and have opinions. Please respond, I truly felt a stronger spirit watching the delete scenes after the fact than in the show. I really would like to hear from others to know if I'm alone in that opinion.In making a dated period remake, that tried to mimicked real life in the first movie, it puts you totally out of today's market. Today should be the target audience of this message not hippies and pop rock. My grand kids all walked out within the first ten minutes of the show. The original kept my older kids interest because it was relevant to their lives. This new show is a great a bit of nostalgia to me and the adult kids. But your not reaching out to the next generation at all. The whole production could have been updated with a possibly redo some of the lyrics to be relevant to today's spiritually dying generation of children. I was moved by the movie but the youngsters really don't. They have no clue what hippie are nor do they care. Take a survey on who your real audience should be next time so you can make a difference to the next generation. "Does anybody out there really care." To quote those sad Saturdays Warrior lyric's. Do the homework next time brother Lex, you put a lot of effort into making nothing more than a nostalgia update for us old folks. Call in T.C. Christensen and get a few pointers on how to produce really great movies. Yes, I loved 2016 Warrior, I just wish it mattered more and didn't have so many glaring technical issues.
Reviewed by GeeBeav 6 / 10

original was better

It must be a technical challenge to get it right, but the bad dubbing/lip- syncing made this movie uncomfortable. I wanted to like it, but that soon changed to wanting to pull my eye balls out (and just listen.) That is why the original was better.I cannot figure out why other posters liked the performance of Jimmy/Kenny Holland. I thought he was awkward and flat. On the other hand, Julie/Monica Moore Smith was poised and engaging!The new plot was great and the acting good overall. It is still a little goofy which is OK. The emotions of the story are real and save this film. Go see it but just brace yourself against the technical issues.
Read more IMDb reviews

No comments yet

Be the first to leave a comment