Cyclops (2008)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

As far as low budget action adventure movies go, "Cyclops" actually isn't that bad. The effects are bad and the plot is nothing special but as far as these cheap "Asylum" monster movies, it' one of the better ones, at least on a technical level. The plot is nothing new. It concerns a Roman general that's betrayed by a sleazy politician (Eric Roberts from The Dark Knight) and finds himself stuck as a gladiator in the ring. It throws in the movie's titular monster too. Basically there's a Cyclops roaming the lands, the bad guy want it captured so they capture it and throw it in the gladiator ring. That's when our hero (Kevin Stapleton) meets it. Without giving away the ending that's pretty much everything you need to know.The special effects (particularly when it comes to the Cyclops) aren't particularly convincing and in fact the decision to go with computer effects instead of practical is a pretty big mistake on the filmmakers' part. The Cyclops is, after all just a man with a few exaggerated features and a modified face so it seems odd that it wasn't prosthetics and trick photography used to create the creature. It's not like the Cyclops is that big either... we're getting side tracked so let's just say it's computer generate, and not convincingly either. As far as the story goes, it's pretty decent. It isn't really that original but taking a sort of familiar gladiator story and throwing in a big monster makes for some fun moments. The acting ranges from decent to pretty bad, with some characters simply delivering their lines pretty unenthusiastically to some people really under-reacting to being surprised and then killed by the Cyclops. The main characters do a fairly good job though, it's just the extras and secondary characters that will make you cringe. The fight scenes are actually pretty well choreographed and the costumes are convincing throughout. The gladiator battles actually get pretty exciting because you don't know how they are going to turn out and you can tell that it's actually people wielding some real weapons and they're edited competently so you can see what's going on. The sets are also well done and when the special effects call for some artificially created city skylines via computer effects, those are pretty good too. It is worth noting that when it comes to the amphitheatre the gladiator battles are set in the budget does show because it is far smaller than it should be, but it's nevertheless a minor flaw.The bottom line comes to this: "Cyclops" is not a blockbuster or a movie that would impress the casual movie goer. Most people will see it and laugh or just dismiss it as total trash. Well, it kind of is trash, but it's competently made trash. If you're the kind of person that picks these direct-to-DVD or made-for-TV fantasy and horror movies and hopes they're good, this is actually one of the better ones. (On DVD, April, 2013)

Because I'm watching this travesty with BOTH eyes and my head is starting to hurt.Before I wrote this, I checked a few other reviews and I have to ask myself if the cast and/or crew are writing their own critiques. Strong acting? Solid plot? Seriously? There IS a plot, but the only strength I find is in the stench. The directing, the camera angles, the inconsistencies... The director felt it necessary to randomly show weird actor facial expressions at useless times? A Syfy movie with no nudity, no worthy violence, horribly choreographed fight scenes and mediocre-at-best CGI.This is the second horrible movie I've watched today... Now I know what the guys in Mystery Science 3000 must have gone through.

First and foremost: the Cyclops wasn't a Roman legend, it was Greek! (Check any decent production of Homer's "Odyssey".)Eric Roberts was the best-known name in the cast, and therefore the first name mentioned in all the promo advertising. However, with what little screen-time Mr Roberts got, even he could not have saved this turkey. They wrote the Emperor Tiberius' character as if they'd never heard anything about the real man beyond his name. They had Tiberius completely under the sway of his evil counselor.The CGI Cyclops effect was cartoonish not monstrous! (I've seen better amateur efforts!) It has to be seen to be (dis-)believed. — And it's really not worth the trouble.All in all, I found it not only a waste of my time but a waste of the electricity it took to power my TV.I have to admire the film-makers' ability to get paid for this.dreck (noun: trash - worthless trashy stuff, especially low-quality merchandise.)

Plot spoiler. Plot pits good vs. evil. Good wins.What's with Eric Roberts? There can't be any money in making junk like this. That was Lord Oliver's excuse for making junk that was hugely better than this. Does ER perceive it as irony? Maybe he just drinks.For the most part I thought Kevin Stapleton did a decent job. He's not Russell Crowe, but this isn't "Gladiator," either. I can't say much for either of the female characters. Usually the Sci Fi Channel junk has a couple of youthful cuties, hotties, even. Not so here. Frida Show (or Farrell as the case may be) is neither cute nor hot and though this is the "break-out" role for Tania Kozhuharova, she isn't either.The CGI sux. It was abominable. So was the plot.Someone said the sets came from the TV version of "Spartacus." Maybe they did, but my high school gym had more seats than the so-called Coliseum. The original structure seated over 80,000. Also, construction on this edifice began in 70 AD. Tiberius died in 37 AD. And it's fair to say that Rome did not revert to a Republic upon Tiberius' death, whether he had his head removed by a CGI beastie, or no. There is no Science Fiction involved here, just fiction.