Gremlins 2 - The New Batch [1990]

Customer Reviews:

Not a patch on the original.......2007-11-07

This sequel was directed by Joe Dante and the score was arranged by Jerry Goldsmith - just like the first film. Also, as with the first film, the same Mogwai rules apply (feeding after midnight, getting them wet, and exposing to sunlight are not a good idea) - so this should have been another great family film, yes!?

...No.

The film isn't a really bad film - it has funny moments in it, there are some good effects in it, and the Goldsmith score is fantastic, as you'd expect. But the film simply felt like a series of sequences which were only very tenuously linked in order to show gremlins wreaking havoc and doing funny things. In short - the film was simply made to take advantage of an existing successful marketing franchise. Even Joe Dante thought this was the case and turned down the director job several times before accepting it.

As a kid I thought this film was `alright' but nothing more. The first film was hardly believable, but the second film just gets too silly. The slapstick from the original film is kept, but the dark humour of the first is replaced with childish humour.

The film introduced new aspects to the gremlins, but I watch it now and they simply look like new angles on which to base toys, the first film was something special, whereas this film simply isn't. If this was a standalone film I'd have probably given it three stars, but knowing what *can* be achieved I give it two.

Gremlins 2: New Batch [1990] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Average customer rating:

a great sequel
A man can always agree with others but it is more difficult to agree with oneself...
Quite good
Again Fantastic
My Favourite Movie of ALL time!

Gremlins 2: New Batch [1990] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: John Astin , Belinda Balaski , Paul Bartel , Jeff Bergman , and Vladimir Bibic
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000067FP8
Release Date: 2002-08-20

Customer Reviews:

a great sequel .......2007-03-23

more cartoony than the first gremlins,gremlins 2-the new batch (1990) is still a great film,where the laughs were more akin to black comic humour in the first movie,here it is more theatrical and certainly more obvious but this is still what to this day,a fitting finale to the mogwai gizmo and the evil that he is capable of unleashing onto the world.
This time gizmo is in the big city with billy after his old master dies,gizmo wearing the black armband while mourning is iconic,billy is making progress within a large company and through error gizmo is covered in water again and his offspring are unleashed and this time its as if they are like the marx brothers for example,all with very different personalities and when they eat after midnight they overrun the building and murder follows.
The gremlins diverse somewhat in a medical lab when one of them takes a talking serum and learns to speak,one turns into electric,one can fly,one turns into a spider and these things make for great viewing,gizmo putting on a rambo headband and preparing to kill his spawn is somewhat a homage to rambo but is also brilliant in its own right,and the final scene where a gross gender gremlin tries to seduce a man is brilliant,all of that plus hammer horror legend chris lee makes gremlins two a great treat any night of the week.

A man can always agree with others but it is more difficult to agree with oneself..........2007-03-14

For those of you who have read my review for "Gremlins", I won't bore you again with my tale of deprivity and woe: for those of you who haven't read it, I will just say this: having managed to reach the ripe old age of twenty-four having not seen the original Gremlins, I have decided to "strike while the iron's hot", and watch the second film quickly afterwards - a decision, with the benefit of hindsight, I am glad that I have made.

Briefly, "The rules are the same, but the laughs are bigger and the thrills are better. This time Billy and everyone's favourite Mogwai, Gizmo, must face off against a new batch of Gremlins that definitely think New York is their kind of town".

Overall, "Gremlins 2" is a fun, action-packed and worthwhile watch. Praise must go to the director for keeping faith with the two original leads from the first film - Zach Gilligan and Phoebe Cates, not least because the leading male has gone from being "cute in a wet-behind-the-ears way" to "pwoar, he's gorgeous" but also because it gives the film a sense of continuity that is lost in many, far inferior, sequels. The film also succeeds where the first film fails for two reasons: firstly, there are some genuine "jump-out-of-your-seat" moments in this film - ironic because many have described this as the more comedic of the two "horrors". Secondly, this DVD is laden with extras - significant, because bought as part of a boxset, the first film is conspicuous in their absence. The final reason why this film is so successful (and a point expounded by previous reviewers) is it's unwillingness to take itself too seriously. Although Hulk Hogan's cameo is cringeworthy-beyond-belief, the film gets away with it largely as a result of it's overall pantomine-pace.

What ultimately prevents me from giving the film five stars, however, is the lack of consistency in the story-line. Aside from the points I have already raised in my review for the original film (Why is it that no-one raises so much as an eyebrow when they first see Gizmo? If Gremlins can't eat after midnight, when can they eat? We know where Gremlins come from, but where did Gizmo come from in the first place?), this film also raises a few questions that it never really answers: When Mr Wing dies, doesn't Gizmo escape outside into the daylight? How does he survive? Where does Billy get the axe from that he uses to smash through the lock? If we are led to believe the Gizmo originated from China, how does crossing the time-zones relate to him eating after midnight (a point briefly touched upon in the film)?

For those of you searching for that "little bit extra" from the film - look out for the REAL horror that is presented to us throughout the course of the story-line. It comes not in the form of little green monsters, but in the idolisation of one man and the chain-smoking induced pressure of Wall Street as it was in the 1980's. Petty rules (e.g. not having a pot-plant on your desk), obsessive cleanliness and the relentless energy-saving strategies that the company adopts (think of Billy having to use kinetic energy to activate the electricity in his cubicle) will ultimately haunt you long after the Gremlins are killed.

Quite good.......2006-12-24

This is a good follow up from the first. However i personally preferred the first, it was not as funny, which made it seem more realistic. I am not really very into funny/shocking movies, i prefer just the shock alone. But i would definitely not rate this any less than 4 stars. It is worth watching if you liked the first!

Again Fantastic.......2006-07-30

The film is great
this time it's alot more funny
but i still say PG
The gremlins have been drinking potions.
Now some can fly
some are spiders
the master TALKS
This filmis hallorious.
But is also a horrific only a tincy bit
plus bad language
So PG.
Watch it you will not hate it

My Favourite Movie of ALL time!.......2003-10-13

This film is so crazy and just FANTASTIC! As I was one year old when it was first released I didn't see it, but when I was four I saw it on TV and I got totally scared! So don't show it to kids! Now that I am 14 I am totally obsessed with gremlins!

This is the better of the two films in my, and most people's opinion. Joe Dante really makes his name known in this movie!

I love the cooking programme where the gremlins start popping up everywhere, but the elevator part is SO scary I once needed the loo and couldn't go alone I was so scared! The cinema part is creepy and the part which makes you jump is when Billy (who is HOT!) tries to tell the people behind the cameras to shut the place down and this gremlin bursts out of a panel. It really gets your adrenaline going!

Scary, funny, enjoyable and easy to understand. It's just fantastic! You've gotta see it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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