Deniro68 Reviews

Bullitt (1968)

The frontrunner of the modern action movie

[25 December 2000]

Have seen this movie quite recently and then being gifted with a copy as a Christmas present I felt it's time to comment. Possible spoilers contained ahead so read no further if you haven't yet seen the film and if you haven't I defnitely recommend it.

Steve McQueen in one of his best known performances plays San Francisco cop Frank Bullit. Bullit is assigned to guard an important witness over a 48 hour period. The witness allegedly embezzled money from the mob and is going to testify against them. However things go disasterously wrong and soon the witness is on life support. Bullit then sets out to get to the bottom of the mess while dealing it out with the politician who assigned him to keep the witness alive and who in reality was acting mainly out of self interest.

The main drawing factor for many people to this movie is the chase scene. That chase scene is highly intense. In order to see it properly you need to watch it on a big screen TV. There you will get the feeling you are on a roller coaster.

What makes this movie work is the fact that it is not simply interested in blowing stuff up. In a way this works as a criticism of many of the clones and hack jobs that pollute cinema today. This movie takes the time to get to know the Bullit character. And unlike many modern movie cops he doesn't blow several people away and not have it affect him somehow thus making him more realistic than many current cinema cops or the violence desensitized Harry Callahan.

A highly recommended action film.

Eye of the Tiger (1986)

Been there. Seen that.

[15 December 1999]

I happened across this movie on TV about 5 years ago. It looked interesting so I watched it.

The Plot: (Warning.Possible spoilers ahead so stop reading if by some insane urge you're compelled to see this movie). Gary Busey plays a Vietnam vet who wound up in prison for some years (I can't remember the offense that landed him there). The film opens with him being released from prison. He returns to his home town to settle down with his wife and daughter. Upon returning he discovers that his town has been overrun by a group of motorcycle riding thugs.The corrupt local sheriff doesn't seem to want to do anything about them. Anyway the thugs break into Buseys home and kill his wife. His daughter is so traumatized by this that she goes into a catatonic state. After his daughter is committed to a local hospital Busey sets out to blast the hells angel like thugs to hell and back.

Any of this sound familiar? There is nothing new to recommend this film. Busey doesn't really seem to do much with the lead role. He's better off in an action film playing the villain. The only remotely intersting character is the deputy sheriff played by Yaphet Kotto. He seems to be the only character in town besides Busey who seems to care anymore. Also there is an amusing sequence where Busey and Kotto go to question a thug who is in a hospital bed. The sequence involves a stick of dynamite.

Not even worth a rental really.

*

Beetlejuice (1988)

Daaayyyooo. Daylight come and me wan go home!

[14 December 1999]

This is one of my all time favorite movies. Hey it was my favorite when I was 10 years old and you can't throw away memories like that. I laughed hard then. Now that I'm older and more mature I laugh even harder, being able to appreciate some of the more adult elements.

To go into the plot is to risk listing spoilers. I will tread carefully although some may accidentally pop up. A married couple played by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis die in a somewhat amusing car accident. They promptly return to earth as ghosts. After being back on earth a while they discover that the house they were living in has been sold. The new owners plan to remodel it in an ugly fashion. Ugh! So Baldwin and Davis set out to scare them away.

To see what happens rent the movie yourself.

Beetlejuice is funny. But it's not for everyone. If you don't appreciate macabre humor (my mom didn't think it was funny at all) stay away. But if you like your comedy with a little darker twist check it out. Great performances by Baldwin, Davis, Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder.

Homebodies (1974)

Old people killing developers who want to demolish their home (Spoilers present)

[8 December 1999]

I first saw this when I was 15. My mom saw it at the video store and thought it looked interesting. We watched it. It was more violent than we expected. One character is stabbed and another one is placed in a box and buried in cement and hidden under the building. I found some of the various moments humorus. My mom thought it was sick, completely sick. Worth a rental

Murder at 1600 (1997)

An entertaining thriller (A few spoilers contained)

[26 November 1999]

Murder At 1600 is that rarity these days, a thriller that places suspense over violence. While there is some action, this film relies more on good old nail biting suspense and mystery.

The plot: Wesley Snipes is a DC homicide cop called in when a Whiet House staffer is found murdered in a washroom. He sets out to investigate and immediately runs into opposition from all side. The Secret Service chief doesn't want a city cop on his turf and assigns an agent played by Diane Lane to keep an eye on Snipes. After a while though she realizes Snipes is on to something and the two of them enter an uneasy partnership. They soon discover that a sinister conspiracy has been designed to bring the president down.

Good acting, lots of suspense and action. See it!

Absolute Power (1997)

Could have been better

[26 November 1999]

Maybe it was seeing this after reading the superior novel that killed it for me. But Absolute Power to me was disappointing. While it was heads and shoulders above Shadow Conspiracy it wasn't as good as Murder At 1600 or In The Line Of Fire Or Three Days Of The Condor. Buy the book instead. And rent any of the other three movies I mentioned.

Absolute Power wasn't a total throw away. The performances were good as was the direction. Clint Eastwood did a good job as Luther Whitney, Gene Hackman was an appropriately slimy villain while Scott Glenn and Ed Harris were good in their roles. The problem I think I had with this movie was that it started out promising, but then headed for one of those Hollywood type endings.

The book on the other hand worked better. It had ordinary characters in a very unusual situation. It wasn't glossy. And it didn't end with a Hollywood type ending.

Shadow Conspiracy (1997)

Simply Average

[25 November 1999]

I have read many reviews and reader comments panning this movie. I can recall reading one review praising it. Me. I fall somewhere in between

I don't think Shadow Conspiracy is that bad. But it's not that good either. It's simply an average action film. If it didn't have big name stars like Charlie Sheen and Donald Sutherland I bet it would have gone straight to video. Murder At 1600, which was released about the same time was a much better choice. Rent it instead. Plenty of action, good acting and edge of your seat suspense there.

If you like action/suspense movies and see Shadow Conspiracy is on TV one night when there's nothing else on it may be worth seeing. Otherwise don't bother

Fear (1996)

Works Quite Well

[16 October 1999]

Movie like this either reach out and pull you in or they don't. Fear pulled me in. I rented this movie about a week after Halloween of 1996 and put it in my VCR not sure what to expect. 2 hours later I ejected the movie from the VCR feeling somewhat dazed and overwhelmed. Fear isn't a classic. But it works well. It is scary, violent gory and well made. The reason it works so well is because it was made by people who knew what they were doing. The whole stalker style of movies is full of uninspired trash that sounds like it was made for the USA network.

Fear stands heads and shoulders above that (And to some extent above the original Fatal Attraction). It's not afraid to push, to pull us inside, to scare us and give us a good conclusion at the end, one that movies of this type always mess up.

***

Heavy Metal (1981)

A Cult Classic

[5 April 1999]

Heavy Metal, when you look at it is not as much a movie as a long running cult phenomenon. I remember reading that when it first came out it was pretty much ignored by everyone including the future fanatics.If it weren't for it's somewhat obscure status for much of the 80's it probably would have been forgotten. Today it lives on thanks to the rise of Anime

When I first saw it I was into Sailor Moon. I rented Heavy Metal when it was finally released and liked it. Enough that I purchased it. I watched it a few times afterward and then tossed it in a drawer.

The same consensus seemed to happen for all the new fans. For a while there was much fanaticism about it and then ultimately a sense of disilussionment

Judgment Night (1993)

Enjoyable But Nothing exceptional

[13 March 1999]

This whole movie while enjoyable is nothing exceptional. It starts off with a group of twenty somethings going to a boxing match. Of course we know something will go wrong. They get stuck in a traffic jam and decide to get off the highway and cut through a run down neighborhood. Bad mistake. They get in a wreck and witness a gang leader murder one of his lieutenants. The gang leader sees them and orders that they be eliminated. They try to escape. For a good part of the movie you get the feeling that this is a version of Deliverance set in the big city as the young men try to dodge the thugs through abandoned railroad cars, a run down housing project and the city sewer system. Then the young men decide to fight back and the movie turns into a version of Die Hard with one third the firepower as the thugs and the young men face off.

The Running Man (1987)

Great slam bang action!

[28 February 1999]

Easily one of the best films of the 1980s. Arnold is great here in that he isn't a superman. He fights like one though. His character starts out as simply a working stiff and then finds himself forced to fight to save his life and the livves of those he cares about and to break a tyrannical grip on freedom. The villains are great too. The gladiators on the game show are all menacing (including one played by Minnesota governor Jesse "The Body" Ventura). And then there is Richard Dawson. Effectively carrying over his role as host of Family Feud he portrays a character who is wonderfully charming and evil. His character is a scumbag who cares about nothing but the ratings for his TV show and himself. The climax, which includes with a confrontation between Schwarzenneger and Dawson is a good example of a villain getting his comeuppance. Great performances also from Maria Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto and rockers Mick Fleetwood (of Fleetwood Mac) and Dweezil Zappa (Frank Zappa's son)

The Rescue (1988)

Rambo For Kids

[16 January 1999]

I first saw this movie when I was 10. It had just come out and I had an interest in that sort of thing.Back then I loved it. Looking back it seems kind of ludicrous. But I can still view it and enjoy it despite the fact that it is somewhat dated today. The film was very appropriate for is time, the height of the Reagan era.If you happen to stumble across this movie on cable it is worthwhile viewing.

Licence to Kill (1989)

Criminally underrated

[16 December 1998]

This one is definitely in the top 5 best Bond movies. Timothy Dalton was an excellent Bond. He portrayed Bond as a flawed human to whom anyone could relate. Licence To Kill featured him moving away from the megalomaniacs that were so common in the Roger Moore era. It also sensed times were changing by taking the villains out of Russia and making them drug dealers in South America. A must see for any serious Bond fan

The Living Daylights (1987)

Excellent Bond movie

[16 December 1998]

A well made Bond movie. Timothy Dalton was an excellent Bond, better

than Pierce Brosnan and just as good,if not better than, Roger Moore. In

this excellent film Bond tries to get th the bottom of a labyrinthine

plot to turn the Cold War into World War III. The only drawback to this

movie was the lame theme song from AHA. Other than that.

The Substitute (1996)

Good Action Flick

[7 December 1998]

A well done entertaining action movie. Tom Berenger gave a good performance. Maybe this is the future of educational defense. Just kidding. Anyway see this movie if you are in the mood to be entertained. Just don't look for logic