The Skulls (Collector's Edition)
by Rob Cohen
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Christopher McDonald, Hill Harper, Joshua Jackson, Leslie Bibb, Paul WalkerDirector: Rob Cohen
Brand: JACKSON,JOSHUA
Producer: Bruce Mellon
Producer: Christopher Ball
Producer: Creighton Bellinger
Producer: Fred C. Caruso
Producer: John Pogue
Writer: John Pogue
Producer: Nancy Kirhoffer
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 106 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-10-24
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of The Skulls (Collector's Edition)
Movie Review: Another Conspiracy Theory?
Summary: 5 Stars
The Skulls, 2000 film
At an Ivy League College there is a Secret Society of the best and the brightest who will act to further each other's successes in controlling the country. They discuss "The Power Elite" in class. There is a boat race between colleges. [Was this copied from England?] Luke gets a phone call, then another. "Drink Me". Men climb out of coffins. [This is not a vampire movie.] They are given a task: to steal a python. They succeed at a difficult task. Luke is now one of the chosen elite. They are branded like cattle! Later there is a fancy dress dinner. Young women are brought in for "dancing". The next day they are given cars. One man finds his car window broken. There is an intruder in the Skulls building. Was it made to look like an accident? There is another ritual for the members. Caleb tells the truth about what happened. "It may not be right, but it worked." Luke takes the deal. Luke talks to his old friends (he is a townie). He learns about the collection of tapes. His friend tells him his telephone and apartment are bugged, and so is his girlfriend. "Nobody is safe."
Should Lucas be placed in a hospital for psychological evaluation? There is a vote. Luke asks Chloe to play it safe. She won't. Luke follows a man into the vault to get some taped records. He is pursued and caught. Or is he? The pate shows what happened. "They killed him." Luke goes to the police, and learns that Caleb accused him of murder! But Luke has that tape, and they play it. It is blank! Luke becomes quite upset! "I'm innocent." He is taken away in an ambulance to a hospital for troubled people. Chloe pleads with Caleb, then tells him what happened after he left the building. A man attacks her, she runs away. Senator Leveret offers to help her by taking her to see Luke. She rescues Luke and puts her in a rental car. [Is this all too easy?] But a light truck starts crashing into the car until their car is forced into an obstruction! Is it all over for them? Or will they be saved by a miracle? [It has to be one or the other.]
What is the meaning of all this? "We live by the rules and die by the rules" is a coded message. A private meeting is interrupted. [Would Luke make a good lawyer?] Will there be a duel to resolve the differences? [The Code of the Duel says the person challenged gets to pick the weapon.] There is another dramatic surprise. Then another! "Its over." Will the good guys win? Will there be a happy ending" Maybe. The loose ends are left untied. This is a good drama, like "Blow Out" or "The Parallex View", but with a happier ending. Would it be as successful if Chloe and Luke perished on the railroad tracks? Probably not.
C. Wright Mills wrote "The Power Elite" about 50 years ago. G. William Domhoff wrote "Who Rules America Now" in the 1980s. These works discuss classes and wealth in this county. Are your telephone conversations bugged? Yes. No court order is needed for a government agency to intercept wireless transmissions. Many line telephone and all cell phone conversations are sent by microwave transmission. Eliminating public telephones has forced people to use cell phones, wireless transmissions. But don't worry, its all for your own good.
Summary of The Skulls (Collector's Edition)
Lucas enjoys extreme privileges provided by an Ivy League secret society until he tries to expose an accidental death.Genre: Horror
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 28-MAR-2006
Media Type: DVD
Think of the Skulls as a collegiate Freemason's society--an ultrasecret organization that opens the doors of power to a few lucky Ivy League students, including school rowing star Luke McNamara (Joshua Jackson), a poor kid with a misspent youth. "If it's secret and it's elite, it can't be good," cautions his journalist roommate, but the lure of lavish gifts and cabal-like ceremonies in torch-lit stone chambers is too much to resist--until his roomie is murdered and his own Skull "soulmate" Caleb Mandrake (Paul Walker) is the number one suspect.
There's a campy kick to the initiation ceremonies, ancient rituals in dungeonlike alcoves filled with haze and shadow, performed by enthralled frat boys, but as Jackson flounders at the center of a Skull conspiracy it spins into ludicrous melodrama. See the college president become a thug for the Skull godfather! See street punks become high-tech criminal masterminds! See the conspiracy collapse under its own absurdity!
Jackson is pretty much a dud as the well-meaning hero, but Walker, with flashing eyes under furrowed brow, is mesmerizing as a haunted rich kid torn between a ruthless, overbearing father (Craig T. Nelson) and his conscience. Director Rob Cohen drives the film at a galloping pace and fills it with foreboding images, but his humorless solemnity finally buries The Skulls in a heap of clichés. --Sean Axmaker
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