Best movie of this year hands down!

Memorable, crazy movie

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

I'll give this movie a B for the action, but the plot was terrible. A EMF weapon manages to wreck the US economy and defense network (even the submarines are sunk) to the point that two third-rate military powers -- Russia and North Korea -- can invade the country. That's too much of a stretch.

This movie is grossly underrated by everyone. I think it's great.

I really don't like a lot of movies... But I am realizing that it's not that I hate every movie, I just don't go with the flow.Take this movie, for example. I found it quite enjoyable! The story does not make any sense? Yes, this is true. But this is the starting point, not the goal. That a bunch of teens becomes trained marines overnight is not realistic? That is very true; but this could be said for more or less all the movies in this genre.What I liked in this movie is that people died! I am sick and tired to see all this war movies where: if you are the hero - you are bullet proof. OK, you get beaten a lot, but you are invincible. I hate it. Where bullets are flying around and bombs explode, you are gonna get killed. Even if you are a good looking champ.And furthermore, not all happy ending have to be perfect! Not all ending have to be happy, if I might add. Here, at least, there is no magic button or miracle solution, that makes all bad go away.It is not a realistic movie. Far from it. But at least it feels a bit different and that's what I enjoyed.

I remember seeing the original version of this from the 80's and that was OK, nothing fantastic but an original idea and worth a watch for the action and acting. THis recent remake isn't even OK - it's woeful. The acting is dreadful, the story is thin, the action scenes hard to follow because they are mostly in dark or filmed so close you can't see what's going on (ie they are cheating). I give it 3 for a few good moments in an otherwise dire production, I mean I have seen worse, but not by much. The patriotism and "inspiring" speeches just don't ring true - it all comes across as lame & desperate and a lot of the "acting" is not much more than blank stares conveying nothing at all. Isabel Lucas should be banned from anything resembling a screen, she is an embarrassment to Australian Film & Television and the rest of the cast were only marginally better. Don't bother with this unless you're really really desperate for something to fill in an hour or so without taxing your mind.