I got this because I heard that it was a decent B-movie. Well, it might be decent when compared to all other modern B-movie science fiction/horror films, but it's nowhere near the level of the classic B-movies that are much more enjoyable, and here's why: This one tries to be both a B-movie and a parody of a classic B-movie. That's really something that is hard to do. I can't think of any really successful examples that did this.In the classic B-movies, the characters were all earnest in dealing with whatever the outlandish problem/event/monster was, and in a realistic manner. The approach by the producers was, what if this could happen, and how would people deal with it? That made for a serious exposition even if the effects were subpar, and made for an enjoyable viewing. Also, the characters tended to all be working towards the same goal and with one another, not against each other. There wasn't all sorts of stupid backstabbing or personal grudge matches amongst the serious protagonists, like scientists, military men, local police, etc. They all either worked together or eventually did so due to the situation at hand. This is what makes the classic B-movies so great to watch.In the modern B-movies, we see all sorts of stupidity surrounding the people involved. They all have a personal fiefdom to protect and all have unwarranted antagonistic feelings toward each other. Also, they tend to show major character peculiarities that are entirely unrealistic. As an example, the main scientist in this movie isn't much of a smart scientist at all, and is really ignorant around home, but not in a way that we can relate to, but in a goofball way played for laughs. I get it that the actor was channeling a Bruce Campbell type of character, but only Bruce Campbell is good at that and making it work.The other thing so annoying in these modern B-movies is the incredibly ridiculous stereotyping of any type of authority or political figure that doesn't meet with the filmmakers' approval. This is probably because these modern ones are pretty much thought up, written by, and helmed by twenty-something comic book geeks and delayed adolescent film buffs, and the immaturity shows in the movie.The great classic B-movies, the best ones, were all written by and produced by adults with adult sensibilities, regardless of the material presented. I'm talking about people like Jack Arnold, William Alland, writers Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, effects men like Ray Harryhausen, character actors like Jeff Morrow, Richard Carlson, and Rex Reason. This is why the modern B-movies are rarely as good as the classics.

For SyFy Mammoth is actually tolerable. The premise was silly in the first place, and I had low expectations but I watched with an open mind with little else constructive to do. It does have problems though, most typical of SyFy and were admittedly on my part expected. There are definitely worse looking creatures in other movies, but the mammoth does look very fake and un-menacing, and the editing does betray this at times. Think a giant vacuum on legs and you have the mammoth here. The script mostly is lazy, any attempts at humour come across as cheesy and unfunny, while the story suffers from predictability and one too many ridiculous scenes like the mammoth soul-sucking with its trunk and it managing to sneak up behind its victims without them hearing it(either it was a logic lapse, a case of character stupidity or both). The characters are mixed, a couple are surprisingly likable if rather clichéd but others verge on annoying and are not developed enough. On the plus side, it does move quickly and doesn't feel dull unlike other SyFy features. The editing is not too hackneyed, despite moments where it all too obviously betrays the cheapness of the effects, and the scenery and lighting have some atmosphere. The score is quirky and haunting, and I did enjoy some of the references and homages, they were fun to spot and didn't feel like rip-offs. The direction is competent enough and the acting is better than average, especially from Summer Glau and Tom Skerritt. Vincent Ventresca also does his best with little. In conclusion, a reasonably fun movie, cheesy, predictable and ridiculous and the mammoth is not convincing enough, but the acting, the fact that it never bored me, the music and the references and homages were enough to enable me to stick with it. 5/10 Bethany Cox

The end of the Ice Age some 10, 000 years ago reduced the numbers of mammoth across the globe, but over hunting by us is what brought them to their knees. All the more interesting it becomes then, considering that today, scientists are 80% of the way to cloning the mammoth using recovered DNA strands. It would be doing a justice to the species, something that this TV sci-fi channel flick does not do, and while Mammoth sounds about as absurd as they come, the makers embrace the absurdity and take a somewhat comedic approach to this. Although it could've been maybe a bit funnier, the film is amusing and reasonably entertaining to watch if you catch it on TV one afternoon. An alien probe crashes down on a museum in New Orleans, and more specifically on the room in which a fully preserved mammoth is displayed. Something inside the probe brings the giant back to life and it breaks out, and hits the town, crushing anyone in it's path, and sucking their souls out through its trunk. It is up to the Mammoth keeper Dr. Abernathy and his family to save the day.The role of Dr. Abernathy is the kind where Bruce Campbell would be perfectly at home in. He is a quirky nut. Had Campbell gotten involved with this Movie, it may have have been a great film. Summer Glau (Firefly) is kind of cute, and she is certainly not the helpless kind of chick. The mammoth itself is quite a character as well. It is less of a woolly mammoth and more of a zombie mammoth. This over-sized CG beast is kind of a Elephant caricature: with a trunk that is twice as wide as its legs, a mouth that looks decayed, and a pair of semi-reptilian eyeballs, and patches of hair which occasionally make it look like a French poodle (depending on the angle)Good thing then that the movie is played partially for laugh. It is still long way from great, and with so many of these movies out and about (somewhere) in the world, Mammoth is in no way unique, but it is amusing.

In Louisiana, the clumsy director of the local museum, Dr. Frank Abernathy (Vincent Ventresca), removes a weird device from a frozen 17 ton mammoth, actually a GPS that brings a spacecraft with an alien entity to Earth that falls into the local museum and revives the mammoth that hosts the lifeforce. The animal attacks the security guard first and the population later. Special Agents Powers (Leila Arcieri) and Whitaker (Marcus Lyle Brown) seek out the paleontologist Dr. Frank to help them to destroy the mammoth; otherwise the government will blast the town. Dr. Frank concludes that the animal must be frozen and together with his father and fan of sci-fi movies, Simon Abernathy (Tom Skerritt) and his sixteen year-old daughter (Summer Glau), they plot a plan to capture the mammoth.The forgettable "Mammoth" is an attempt of remaking those sci-fi movies from the 50's and 60's that unfortunately fails. There are references to many sci-fi classics, but the silly story does not work well alternating humor that is not funny and fiction. For example, the unnecessary death of Squirrelly is stupid and moralist and for the purpose of the plot, is absolutely useless. Simon Abernathy seems to be a lunatic in many moments and his son Franks is never funny, only clumsy. My vote is four.Title (Brazil): "Extinção em Fúria" ("Extinction in Fury")