This movie was not a gigantic success in 1999 when it came out (as far as I recall), but it really is a terrific movie. Simple, funny, endearing… what more could one want? What? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles? It has all that, too! Well, I can't prove that. But anyway, it does have Brendan Fraser in a classic role, Alicia Silverstone as an adorable but helpful Pasadena girl (but much less annoying than her other such role), bomb shelters, lots of money and the things it can buy for you, transvestites on the street, a cult, swing dancing, Firefly's Mal, a random "happy" guy, and a hilarious Christoper Walken (as opposed to the non-hilarious Christopher Walken, which surely must exist, though I havn't found it yet).

Its simple comedy is easy to enjoy time and time again, and it's easy for me to identify with the main character (not because I have lived in a bomb shelter all my life, but because I grew up in a family with traditional values and skills that are no longer appreciated or valued by a large portion of the modern world, but when we were growing up, we didn't know this, and assumed everyone was as good and honest, studious, religious, and happy as we were).

Anyway, every time I watch this movie it makes me happy. I can think of no greater accolade than that. It has been out for so long, and the DVD so cheap on the shelves everywhere, that I cannot imagine people our age exist who have not seen this movie, but if you havn't I heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoys simple comedy and a bit of romance. And being happy. Everybody likes being happy, right?