Minotaur (2005)

[trekgeezer]

Every three years soldiers from Minos show up at the village to collect 8 young people to sacrifice to their bull god. Young Theo (Tom Hardy), son of the village leader (Rutger Hauer) is usually sent away to tend the sheep so he will be protected from being taken (he is the heir and future leader). Theo has a conversation with the leper lady who tells him his girlfriend who was taken the last time is still alive and that Theo is destined to save her and kill the bull god, so naturally he takes the place of one the eight.

The eight get thrown into the tunnels where the minotaur lives and it is pretty much a monster in the cave movie from there. They even fall into the usual monster movie stereotypes; the hero, the guy who dislikes the hero, the kid, the slow witted guy, and the whiner (who does get shut up in a surprising way). There is also a subplot involving the high priest (Tony Todd) and his sister.

This movie had surprisingly good production values for a SciFi original. It does suffer from a weak script, but most of the acting is adequate for the subject matter. The effects were pretty good too. The minotaur doesn't look like the classical being we are used to seeing.

If you don' t know who Tom Hardy is, he played the Shinzon (the Picard clone) in Star Trek: Nemesis. He does quite a bit of gravely voiced mumbling.  Rutger Hauer is in about the first fifteen minutes playing the protective father who has to resign himself to the sacrifice his village must make (I don't understand why they didn't just up and move seeing as they were only being harrassed every three years).

Overall not a a bad way to spend a couple of hours. I have seen some theatrical movies that were far worse.

[plan9superfan]

Is this movie related in any way with the Greco-Roman myth of Theseus and the Minotaur?

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

I watched abit of it and didn't mind it much.  I like Rutger though, enough to put up with some awful films to watch him.
-Ed

[Joe the Destroyer]

I just got done watching it and I have to say I enjoyed it for the most part.  The head-impalement scene with the stupid emo girl was great! 

[Jack]

I enjoyed that one as well.  The high priest and his sister really made it for me, they were by far the most interesting characters.  I thought the special effects were pretty good too.

[Bmeansgood]

I had this one in my hand at the video store and set it down at the last minute (probably for some dumb slasher flick with a half-naked woman on the cover). 

Now I have to go rent it. 

[Torgo]

The main thing I was asking my friends when we saw this on Sci-Fi channel was what was up with Tony Todd's man boobs?  Middle age isn't being too kind for him.   

[Joe the Destroyer]

The main thing I was asking my friends when we saw this on Sci-Fi channel was what was up with Tony Todd's man boobs?  Middle age isn't being too kind for him.   

The black fingernails. incestuous intent, and Saturday morning cartoon villain voice didn't help, either.