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Free Enterprise

Free Enterprise

List Price: $29.98
Your Price: $26.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Still holds up with the best special editions
Review: This packed-to-the-rafters special edition DVD STILL remains one of the best special editions ever produced, even though the DVD came out in 1999. Sure, it's not anamorphic, 5.1 or DTS, but what do you expect for a film which probably cost less than a million bucks? An absolutely hilarious (if ragged) hour-long making-of, 30 minutes of deleted scenes and a Shatner music video round out what has to be one of the best overall low-budget film DVDs of all time. "Project Greenlight" with people who actually knew what they were doing. The film, while simply made, remains hysterically funny and a knowing tribute to everyone who loves Classic Trek. Yes, there are comparisons to "Swingers" and Kevin Smith movies, but is this such a bad thing? It's interesting that people seem to love this film or hate it, but those who do hate the film all call themselves sci-fi fans, which doesn't seem to make much sense.
Oddly enough, director Robert Meyer Burnett is listed as the director of the 90 minute documentary on the TRON 20th anniversary DVD. This seems sort of a shame, as he obviously has the chops to make a much bigger and better movie. Producer/Writer Mark A. Altman also produced "The Specials," a far inferior film which does have a few funny moments.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: An unfunny self indulgent mess
Review: Free Enterprise is a film about the kind of sci-fi fans that embarass sci-fi fans. The two main characters are Robert and Mark, who respecfully are a pathetic loser and a narcissistic jerk. Robert is a film editor who blows off work to spend time with his girlfriend. Robert is portrayed as a man who is extremely childish who gets legitimitly upset when his girlfriend implies he likes Star Trek: TNG over classic Trek. She, with good reason, leaves him. He descends into a depression and continues to blow off work. Now Mark is his extremely smug best friend. Mark constantly makes obscure references to 70s sci-fi that apparantly are meant to be funny. His dialog is designed to sound clever, simply because he references sci-fi from his childhood, but it actually has zero content. One of Mark's extended speeches is about Logans Run meant to convey his fear of aging, it is totally incomprehensible and I've read the book and seen the movie!!! There's another scene in a Toys R Us where Robert chews out a kid for not having seen old films like Forbidden Planet. I don't understand how we are supposed to find these people even remotely appealing. From time to time I've seen one of the writers, Mark Altman, on the Sci-Fi Channel. Altman, like his movie, come off as abrassive and aggressively unpleasant things to be around. As a sci-fi fan who got all the references I was extremely embarassed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hilariously realistic!
Review: The only inaccurate aspect of this movie is that these guys get so many girls! Other than that, I'm amazed at how well this film captures the lifestyles of movie and toy loving guys like myself! Now I'm no Star Trek fan, and they pushed that show a little too much, but I believe they did that because they were able to get William Shatner instead of Harrison Ford. Yes, I'm into Star Wars, the other white meat. I was a bit ticked off at the beginning of the film, when Captain Kirk was being represented as "cooler" than Han Solo, but I think we all know better than that. Anyway, all that aside, this is one of the funniest movies out there for people who know what I'm talking about. Especially the scene where the crew is on the road to their local Toys R Us. We try to hit that place once a week if at all possible, don't we people? If you've ever found yourself at a comic book store more than once, if you LOVE buying movies, or if you just love finding cool and rare action figures, this movie is right for you. Now this isn't something to watch with the kiddies. As I mentioned before, these guys get waaay too lucky with girls, to the point where it's not that realistic, but that's the only aspect of the film that isn't realistic. So if you still think this movie sounds good, buy a copy, because you'll want to show it to your friends! I also recommend Mallrats, though I'm not a big fan of what's his name's movies, Mallrats is one I liked, and I still DO want to see Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. But back to Free Enterprise, be sure to see Logan's Run before Free Enterprise, if you haven't yet. One of the coolest things about free enterprise is that the characters are constantly quoting their favorite movies, usually but not always sci fi, and Logan's Run is one film that is alluded to quite a bit. That's all I have to say here, so enjoy!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: William Shatner gets turned down so much for Big Giant Head!
Review: I am a trekkie, but I didn't enjoy Trekkies half as much as I
enjoyed this movie. I love William Shatner and always have, I hope the new Star Trek captain will be similar. Actually, to me Janeway was somewhat similar. All throughout the series, Captain Kirk always got the girl. He gets turned down here. This is funny and a different coming of age story, turning 30. Feel free to email me with any questions about Star Trek or the series, my auctions, movies in general, I have hundreds! Foxyhands@seductive.com

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very Good Movie and Great DVD!
Review: This is a romantic comedy centered on two Star Trek fans that now work in the film business. Robert (Rafer Weigel) is the less responsible of the two friends and spends most of his film editor's paycheck on action figures and laserdiscs. Mark (Eric McCormack) is constantly loaning Robert money and bailing him out of financial trouble. Audie England shines as Robert's love interest and seemingly perfect woman. The hook here is provided when the two "Trekkies" meet their idol William Shatner (playing himself). However, instead of being a god as they imagined, Shatner is a bumbling, incompetent fool who can't get a woman.

Free Enterprise is presented in a clean and clear transfer with very good sound although as a dialogue driven film that is not a major issue. I found the extras on this disc to be extremely well done and a cut above the ordinary. First is the commentary of writer/director Robert Meyer Burnett and producer/writer Mark Altman who are the inspiration for the two lead characters in this autobiographical work. The two men talk almost non-stop about their experiences as first-time independent filmmakers in a witty and fascinating manner.

Next are the deleted scenes that comprise over 30 minutes of screen time. One thing I enjoyed was that each scene is prefaced by an explanation of why the scene was deleted and the place where it would have appeared in the film. This is a great way to get inside the heads of the filmmakers and really enjoy and understand the process they went through. The deleted scenes are generally of higher quality than many I have seen and are well worth watching in their own right.

Another innovative feature is a trivia subtitle track that explains the many references in the movie. This is a real boon for those who might be unfamiliar with sci-fi and "lets them in" on the jokes. For myself, I got about 80% of the references the first time around but it was still great to be able to pick up what I did miss and believe me there are some subtle things here. Also included and well done are a documentary, screen tests, glossary, and the original music video with Shatner as a rap artist (believe it or not).

This is a very enjoyable film that will be sure to delight Sci-fi and Trek fans everywhere with its multitude of references to that subject matter. The actors are great, especially Shatner in his self-effacing role and Patrick Van Horn who plays a womanizing sidekick. The DVD is loaded with features and is no doubt the preferred version for Free Enterprise fans.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Free enterprise
Review: This movie rocked first off i like the fact hat on of the characters meets the girl of his dream while trying to buy a Sandman Cmic wich is a pretty awsome comic.tis movie rules though im not realy telling most the story get this Dvd

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: only for the hard core trek and sci-fi fan
Review: either next generation or old, if you appreciate the star trek universe and even find yourself seperating and thinking about the stories (episodes) in your free time, you will appreciate the obsessiveness of these characters towards sci-fi. Some parts are pretty funny, and some of the lines very clever but it reeks of geeks who just wanted to make a movie and loved sci-fi as youths (I'm talking about the actual creators of the film and not the characters). If you have ever thought about writing or producing science fiction of your own then I'd definitely recommend it because you will get a kick out if certain parts, don't expect Bill "flatten-her" Shatner to be a major star either, his role is small but sorta funny in a yikes sorta way.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Funny, but uneven
Review: As a lifelong fan of the original Star Trek series I'm well able to "get" the innumerable references to the show in this movie. But if you're not well schooled in the subject this may not be a wise choice for you. While I can recommend the film overall, I feel compelled to point out some of its weaknesses. First of all, there are alot of moments where the acting, directing and editing seem amateurish. At times I felt like I was watching a student film. The screenplay also has an unfortunate tendency to draw too much attention to itself by forcing the characters to rattle off too many pop references too fast. This makes the flow of the dialog seem unnatural because the actors seem to be parroting their lines without taking the time to think about them. But many of the fantasy sequences do work quite well and the film benefits immensely from the presence of William Shatner. Unfortunately it ends with a tacked on, totally incongruous rap performance which sticks out like a sore thumb in contrast to the rest of the film. It's highly illogical(!)that characters so wrapped up in the past would be very aware of the latest trends in hip hop. The Rush and Yes references earlier in the film hit closer to the mark. There is also alot of unnecessary profanity which only serves to make otherwise intelligent characters seem immature. A particularly distasteful menage trois scene is probably the film's low point. But there are also alot of laughs to be had, so as long as you aren't expecting a comedic masterpiece you should enjoy "Free Enterprise". Despite its occasional misfires, the jokes that do hit the bullseye are very funny.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Sucks
Review: This is a badly written badly acted movie. The writer must be a geeky nebish, because the geeky nebish getting all those women in the movie is a geek's fantasy. It certainly would never happen in real life. They could have taken the Shatner as self-absorbed disappointment--which was an amusing concept--further, but they didn't.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Free Enterprise Soars
Review: Chase Masterson recently attended the Annual Saturn Awards, forwhich "Free Enterprise" won Best Home Video. Chase has asmall role in the movie, which is about 2 would-be writers inHollywood, trying to live up to their childhood expectations. Theironly problem is that growing up, they idolized William Shatner, andreal life is not always like an episode of Star Trek.

I wasfortunate enough to see the movie on the big screen with a packedtheater at the USA Film Festival in Texas. This movie is forTrekkies, by Trekkies. It never makes fun of them, but does hold up amirror for us to see ourselves. The two heroes of the movie, Mark andRobert, bump into William Shatner and of course are awe stuck, only todiscover that Shatner is not the hero they worship, but just a regularguy with regular problems like the rest of us. "People arepeople," Shatner says, and he's right.

The movie is certainlya reflection of the average male Trekker's life, getting beaten up inhigh school for wearing your Starfleet Uniform, failure with girls,job trouble, but it also shows the value of true friendship andloyalty, lessons the crew of the USS Enterprise taught use long ago.After I saw the film the first time I said to Mark Altman,"That's my life up there." He laughed and said, "Minetoo." but was quick to point out that even though the characterswere named Mark and Robert, they bore little resemblence to him andDirector Robert Burnett. Uh-huh...

It's not hard to see why thisfilm won a Saturn Award. It was made by two guys on a shoestringbudget. They had never made a movie before, but just like thefictional Mark and Robert, they followed their dreams and saw theproject through to it's wonderful conclusion. The DVD has not onlythe deleted scenes, but a "Making Of..." Special afterwardswhich Chase is also in.

As the tagline to the movie reads,"Love Long and Party"

Stompy

George "Stompy"Kuhr Webmaster to the Stars...


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