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Post by Dramatic Look Gopher on Jan 27, 2021 3:47:08 GMT
The Rookie (1990)
If you're willing to suspend some belief (actually, make that a lot of belief), and if you can accept Raul Julia and Sonia Braga as German villains, then you will likely have a good time with this over-the-top Clint Eastwood action flick about a cigar-chomping cop trying to nail an expert car thief. Uses just about every action cliche in the book, but hey that's fine. Has the best spectacular stunt work money can buy, plus lots of flashy, macho direction from Clint. Sonia is one beautiful badass.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jan 27, 2021 10:15:29 GMT
Have not seen The Rookie for some years now, but I remember I enjoyed it, specially Raul Julia as the villain, and Charlie Sheen showed up in a few cool action films around that time, kicking some ass and taking names, also in Navy Seals which came out in 1990 as well. But yeah, I think his performance in The Rookie is surely the better of the two.
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Post by vegalyra on Jan 27, 2021 14:04:11 GMT
Fate of the Furious (2017)
Probably my least favorite of the series, due to the lack of Paul Walker, and an especially miscast Charlize Theron. The series also makes the final break from its street racing/heist roots into spy film almost super hero territory. While all of the films have gradually tried to one up the one before it in terms of over the top action sequences this one vies with 7 for ridiculousness (jumping a car from skyscraper to skyscraper vs. a car and submarine battle). Additionally the bad guys from the last couple of films are accepted into the family quickly and almost without pause and they are now just really great guys. Back to Theron though, she appears way out of place in this film and I never truly buy her being an evil genius hacker/criminal mastermind. She seems to phone in her role. Vin Diesels Toretto character is the one interesting aspect as he is being forced into working for Theron so it adds a new twist to the series. All in all I found it pretty weak without the charm of the previous films. 5/10
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Post by Power Ranger on Jan 27, 2021 19:24:46 GMT
The Getaway (1972). Steve McQueen was a talented actor. I never bought into the cult adoration that he inspires in so many. To me he was just a very capable actor. And Al Lettieri is a great tough guy. Very enjoyable.
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Post by Power Ranger on Jan 27, 2021 19:28:30 GMT
American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt (1989) 3/10 The first two films were goofy, but fun. This was goofy too, but sadly lacklustre. It should have been Steve James’ show with Michael Dudikoff not returning. As David Bradley shows skills, but just lacks that magnetic presence Dudikoff brought to poker-face Joe. The plot feels like a rehash of the first-sequel “The Confrontation”, only stupider. A wasted Marjoe Gortner plays the sophisticated villain (with a lethal name Cobra, but there's no venom evident) with ambitious plans for making an unstoppable weapon by injecting Bradley's character with a dangerous virus. Working for him just happens to be ninjas. Doesn’t really make much sense why they are there though. Expect the unexpected. The plot is nuts. I do find David Bradley to be a more believable actor than Michael Dudikoff, which is ironic because Bradley is the martial artist and Dudikoff supposedly the actor. I think AN 4 exposes this more as well. |
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jan 28, 2021 11:42:38 GMT
The Getaway (1972). Steve McQueen was a talented actor. I never bought into the cult adoration that he inspires in so many. To me he was just a very capable actor. And Al Lettieri is a great tough guy. Very enjoyable. Have you seen the remake from 1994, with Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger and James Woods? Sure, it might not be as good as the original, still I found it to be enjoyable and fast paced, of course it also helps that Basinger pretty much "loses" most of her clothes, several times over (the uncut version is a must for fans of her). The action is not bad either, but a bit of a downer, to see Woods go out, far too early on. Rated the original with a 7,5/10, the 1994 version a 6,5/10.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jan 28, 2021 11:57:15 GMT
lostinlimbo I couldn't help but notice that the Van Damme film, In Hell (2003) seemed to hit off well with you at Letterboxd. Nice to see that it went that way. I think we discussed it a while back, not sure if it was in here or in the Last Horror or Thriller film thread, but glad it turned into a positive experience. I might have to re-watch it, as it has been years since (or so I believe) that last time I saw it.
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Post by mgmarshall on Jan 28, 2021 17:35:50 GMT
Regrettably, it was Passenger 57. I knew its reputation, and I still gave it a chance. When Bruce Payne is the best thing in your movie, you have a problem.
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Post by Prime etc. on Jan 28, 2021 18:23:50 GMT
Deadlier Than the Male
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Post by lostinlimbo on Jan 29, 2021 20:10:28 GMT
lostinlimbo I couldn't help but notice that the Van Damme film, In Hell (2003) seemed to hit off well with you at Letterboxd. Nice to see that it went that way. I think we discussed it a while back, not sure if it was in here or in the Last Horror or Thriller film thread, but glad it turned into a positive experience. I might have to re-watch it, as it has been years since (or so I believe) that last time I saw it. Yeah, I was surprised by how much I did like ‘In Hell’. I thought I was getting a run-of-the-mill prison story turned fight tournament. It might take some cues from other films, but the story still shook things up and had some meat to it. Van Damme gave one of his better performances and Ringo Lam’s directorial touches really had me hooked. It actually looked great for a straight to dvd feature. Going by their three films (Maximum Risk, Replicant etc) Lam and Van Damme made quite a good duo.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jan 30, 2021 10:47:49 GMT
Yeah, I was surprised by how much I did like ‘In Hell’. I thought I was getting a run-of-the-mill prison story turned fight tournament. It might take some cues from other films, but the story still shook things up and had some meat to it. Van Damme gave one of his better performances and Ringo Lam’s directorial touches really had me hooked. It actually looked great for a straight to dvd feature. Going by their three films (Maximum Risk, Replicant etc) Lam and Van Damme made quite a good duo. I have not seen Maximum Risk or Replicant (the one with Michael Rooker, right?) for many years now, but I believe the latter also showcased a more serious/dramatic approach from Van Damme, which I thought he handled well back then. Have you by the way, seen one of his later ones, I believe goes under the name of The Bouncer? It looked interesting, but from one of my last visits to a movie/music store, I found the import version to be just a bit too pricy, and since very few of the mans films since 2010s have impressed me, I decided to skip it for now. Might have to track it down, and have a look.
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Post by lostinlimbo on Feb 4, 2021 21:25:15 GMT
Yeah, I was surprised by how much I did like ‘In Hell’. I thought I was getting a run-of-the-mill prison story turned fight tournament. It might take some cues from other films, but the story still shook things up and had some meat to it. Van Damme gave one of his better performances and Ringo Lam’s directorial touches really had me hooked. It actually looked great for a straight to dvd feature. Going by their three films (Maximum Risk, Replicant etc) Lam and Van Damme made quite a good duo. I have not seen Maximum Risk or Replicant (the one with Michael Rooker, right?) for many years now, but I believe the latter also showcased a more serious/dramatic approach from Van Damme, which I thought he handled well back then. Have you by the way, seen one of his later ones, I believe goes under the name of The Bouncer? It looked interesting, but from one of my last visits to a movie/music store, I found the import version to be just a bit too pricy, and since very few of the mans films since 2010s have impressed me, I decided to skip it for now. Might have to track it down, and have a look. Maximum Risk was a run-of-the-mill chase thriller, but stood out because of the kinetic action and high-octane pacing. Van Damme was going through the motions. However Replicant showed more creativity, and had Van Damme putting in more effort. One thing though, I thought Ringo Lam/Van Damme got better with each film they did together. Lam really got the best out of him for ‘Replicant’ and especially ‘In Hell’. It’s been quite awhile since I’ve watched a recent Van Damme film. The latest was ‘Enemies Closer’, and that’s some time ago. I don’t find his recent films on the streaming sites I use, compare to Seagal which are a little more frequent.
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Post by lostinlimbo on Feb 4, 2021 21:38:25 GMT
 Plenty of crackpot action set-pieces done with stylish verve and intense brutality. However the story is of no great shakes (a flamboyant new comer assassin pitted up against a seasoned/disciplined assassin). Cold and clinical characters make it hard to form an attachment. |
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Post by Prime etc. on Feb 4, 2021 22:01:03 GMT
THE BRIGAND OF KANDAHAR 1965 Much of the action is recycled footage from another movie--they stick the actors in front of a screen showing the footage and making it seem like they are riding on horses. It is not very convincing.
But Oliver Reed gets into a sword fight in a cave.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Feb 5, 2021 11:09:39 GMT
[Maximum Risk was a run-of-the-mill chase thriller, but stood out because of the kinetic action and high-octane pacing. Van Damme was going through the motions. However Replicant showed more creativity, and had Van Damme putting in more effort. One thing though, I thought Ringo Lam/Van Damme got better with each film they did together. Lam really got the best out of him for ‘Replicant’ and especially ‘In Hell’. It’s been quite awhile since I’ve watched a recent Van Damme film. The latest was ‘Enemies Closer’, and that’s some time ago. I don’t find his recent films on the streaming sites I use, compare to Seagal which are a little more frequent. I might have brought Enemies Closer (2013) up during one of our earlier chats, while discussing Van Damme and his more newer arrivals. But I really got a kick out of that one, and thought it was a very entertaining and wild ride. Of course, it sure helped that Van Dame himself delivered one hell of a performance, as the main villain, and at times he did seem to try reach or go for some kind of a Joker maniac character, along with his unpredictable appearance and that "goofy" blonde haircut, where some of his facial expressions. Well, with a bit of make up, I guess it is not hard to understand some of the similarities, and he seemed to really have a blast as the baddie.  I think I rated it with a 7/10, so I might need to re-watch it some day, but surely the most fun I had watchin one of his 2010s releases, along with The Expendables 2.
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Post by mgmarshall on Feb 6, 2021 1:55:18 GMT
[Maximum Risk was a run-of-the-mill chase thriller, but stood out because of the kinetic action and high-octane pacing. Van Damme was going through the motions. However Replicant showed more creativity, and had Van Damme putting in more effort. One thing though, I thought Ringo Lam/Van Damme got better with each film they did together. Lam really got the best out of him for ‘Replicant’ and especially ‘In Hell’. It’s been quite awhile since I’ve watched a recent Van Damme film. The latest was ‘Enemies Closer’, and that’s some time ago. I don’t find his recent films on the streaming sites I use, compare to Seagal which are a little more frequent. I might have brought Enemies Closer (2013) up during one of our earlier chats, while discussing Van Damme and his more newer arrivals. But I really got a kick out of that one, and thought it was a very entertaining and wild ride. Of course, it sure helped that Van Dame himself delivered one hell of a performance, as the main villain, and at times he did seem to try reach or go for some kind of a Joker maniac character, along with his unpredictable appearance and that "goofy" blonde haircut, where some of his facial expressions. Well, with a bit of make up, I guess it is not hard to understand some of the similarities, and he seemed to really have a blast as the baddie. I think I rated it with a 7/10, so I might need to re-watch it some day, but surely the most fun I had watchin one of his 2010s releases, along with The Expendables 2. Hmmmm, Van Damme as the Joker. I'd pay to see that.
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Feb 6, 2021 9:00:35 GMT
 And  |
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Post by Power Ranger on Feb 6, 2021 14:58:22 GMT
Wedlock (1991). Not bad for a b-film. Lost steam towards the end. Great cast. Joan Chen is very talented and beautiful.
6.5/10
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Post by Dramatic Look Gopher on Feb 6, 2021 17:01:08 GMT
Regrettably, it was Passenger 57. I knew its reputation, and I still gave it a chance. When Bruce Payne is the best thing in your movie, you have a problem. I remember thinking Passenger 57 was just an OK action flick, but the one thing I really had a problem with was the short running time. I believe it clocked in at something like 82 minutes and that includes all the credits.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Feb 7, 2021 11:04:24 GMT
And Damn, Willis just looks so sad and depressed in most of these generic DTV/VOD releases/posters. Someone should just give the man a big hug, but I doubt it would make him do lesser of these action "classics". That Death Wish 4 poster however, is how it should be with older action stars. Bad ass and not dull looking. I remember a guy from the old IMDb forum of Death Wish 3 or 4, who had a huge paperboard out of the exact same poster, standing in his living room. Looked pretty darn awesome.
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