Change Your Image
DarkStar84
Reviews
Out for Justice (1991)
A Cop sets out to bring down a vicious criminal by any means after he murders his friend
For being only his fourth film, Seagal is really at the top of his game in this. The movie benefits from having a good mix of shoot-outs, fight scenes, and bloody intrigue.
Seagal plays cop Gino Felino, who sets out on find the man who killed his fellow cop and friend Bobby Lupo. The killer, Richie Madano (played masterfully by William Forsythe) is a total psychopath who treats murder and violence like it's a hobby. Richie just does whatever he wants- killing on a whim, terrorizing people for fun, and snorting crack. Still, as much of a sadist as he is, he fails to realize the hell storm he's unleashed in the form of a vengeful Gino.
Gino pursues Richie all over town, shaking down people for info and fighting anyone who wants a piece of him. He's out to get Richie and won't let anyone stop him, resulting in several memorable fight scenes- including the bar room brawl and the infamous fight in the butcher shop. Seagal is less spiritual and much darker in this. This movie really shows that while he's the hero (sticking up for working girls and even rescuing an abandoned puppy), Seagal has no problem being totally ruthless with the bad guys.
The movie is pretty graphic, and the final showdown in the last 10 to 15 minutes is epic. And when it's down to Gino and Richie, Richie makes the mistaking of declaring that he 'likes pain'. Let's just say that Gino gives it to him in spades.
Uchû no kishi Tekkaman Burêdo (1992)
War isn't Numbers, it's People
I was only about 12 when I saw this on UPN. But I was frigging glued to my seat every Sunday morning, watching the episode. This was a great show and it was so well handled.
The characters were so engaging and I loved the plots involving them more then the action parts (even though they were some pretty damned cool fights and space battles).
The dub deserves a lot of praise because it allowed the show to have a real air of internationalism about it. The whole world was fighting the venamoid spidercrabs, so when Slade met a group of commandos in the space station (The Space Ring to those who remember). The leader was portrayed as being Irish and it was so moving when he sang at the end.
It was so cool when Technobot sang the song at the end of the episode. It just showed how cool this show was. The fact that the robot had a progressive a.i. and could problem solve was a nice touch as well... I'll have a soft spot for Technobot/Pegasus.
This was a show that could take the audience to breakneck battles one minute and yet in the next ep, have everything slow down so we could stop and think about the effects that the war was having on people at a very personal level. The base grew becoming tearful during Slade's story of what happened to his family was believable and not hammy at all because these were real people trying to cope with a serious problem.
Then the Government comes in and tries to start running the show- only to have the commander basically give the data to their inside man just to get him the hell out. At the height of the conflict, Slade undergoes a traumatic period and refuses to fight- but unlike a lot of emo main characters, I could see that he was really dealing with some heavy sh*t and a lot of guilt.
And of course, it had some of the most vicious bad guys ever. On top of fighting off the mutant spidercrabs, the earth had to deal with the evil technomen. Towards the end, we got some heavy things happening... General Galt's immortal line "so what if a few million people die to end the war?" is pretty chilling when looked at from a modern view point.
So, if you ever thought about buying this or just want to make sure that what you remember from over ten years ago was actually that good... well, my friends, it was! And you new 'kids' might try giving it a chance too.
Lily C.A.T. (1987)
A hard to find animated Space Thriller
Having stumbled upon a used copy of this piece years back, I bought it out of curiosity.
For a production done back in 1987, it's very good. The character designs are decent, but it's surprising to know that the monster designs were outsourced to acclaimed artist and animator Yoshitaka Amano (Vampire Hunter D, Final Fantasy series). However, beyond this, you'll note a lot of hard work went into the visual presentation of it- there are countless scenes where multiple layers are used to create depth, people walk towards the camera and stay in perspective, first-person povs are employed, and so on.
As for the story itself- it's a fun little jaunt through deep space- in the vein of "Alien" as we watch the crew of the Saldes try and figure out just what happened while they were in cryogenic suspension. It turns out a piece of organic matter got on board the ship and has caused a virus to spread through the ship. Things get bad as some of the crew start showing up dead and panic over possible infection sets in. The virus soon prompts the ships computer to begin taking measures to stop the virus- which endangers the remaining crew members, much like "2001". As more and more members of the crew turn up dead and the computer gets more out of hand, the survivors must fight to stay alive and try and find a way to escape to the planet just below them.
This film is pretty gory, and a lot of the monsters are reminiscent of the creatures from the 1982 version of "The Thing". There are a lot of cool moments in it- like when the crew fights with homemade flamethrowers or when someone one of the things attacks (lots of gore). My main gripe is that it's only about 70 minutes long, so things happen pretty fast in this story.
If you ever see a used copy, buy it- it's worth the money.
Surviving the Game (1994)
One of the Most Underrated Action Films of the 90s
This is an interesting film all right. The story takes it's inspiration from the Richard Connell 1924 short story 'Suriving the Game'. It's not a new idea, but it's one of the best takes on it.
Anyway, on to the meat of the story. The main character is the homeless Jack Mason (Ice-T) who quickly decided that he's sick of life. However, he's saved in the nick of time by a seemingly well-meaning man named Cole (playerd by the incomparable Charles S. Dutton). Cole managed to convince Mason to give life another try by offering him a job. The stories a little slow in the beginning, but things start picking up when Mason goes for the interview and meets the man he'll be working for, Burns (Rutger Hauer of Ladyhawk fame.) Mason manages to land the job and a few scenes later he's in the wilderness. This is where the story really starts rolling- we get to meet the remaining four characters of the story. The group includes nut-job Doc Hawkins, played by Gary Busy. Wolfe Sr. (F. Murray Abraham) a wall street cutthroat, and his naive son Wolfe Jr.. The last person we get to meet is Griphon (John C. McGinley, Dr. Cox from 'Scrubs')who seems ready to flip out at any moment.
Well, dinner commences and everyone get to know each other, and Mason goes to bed... Only to wake up with gun in his face. We knew this would happen, but it's just as fun to see him tossed out into the wilderness amidst threats and jeers from everyone (save for Jr- who's freaking out). Mason is left with little choice but to run like hell as the hunters have breakfast.
What I like about this story is that each of the hunters aren't 2D killers- they've all got complex back stories and both their's and Mason's are woven into the story as it progresses... Hawkins and Griphon argue over who'll get Mason first while Wolfe browbeats his son into going along ("He's a homeless piece of trash. Nothing... less then nothing!") The group sets out on ATVs and motorcycles, brandishing everything from automatic shotguns to crossbows.
However, like the novella, the prey turns out to be a little better than they expected. Cole and Burns smile (in their own subtext riddled way)- declaring that Mason's doubled back to the cabin... something that's never happened before.
Sufice to say, the group burst into the Cabin. Hawkins and Wolfe Sr. rush inside just as Burns realizes it's a trap. The cabin explodes (thanks to a trap set by Mason)as the hunters narrowly gets out... There's a great moment where Hawkins tries to kill Mason. "I like my meat rare!" Only to have things turned on him as he's thrown back into the cabin as Mason utters "try well done!" However, as the men take note of the situation, they discover that Hawkins has been killed. Burns smiles and remarks "This is where it gets good." ...And it does! The remaining men set after Mason. Jr continues to try and get the hell out of this situation, but his father is set on making a man out of him ("You're not going to embarrass me.")They start splitting up when they get a whiff of Mason, only to fall for another trick. This time, it's Griphon who get's waylaid by Mason.
The hunters continue after Mason. Burns makes it clear that he's more concerned with getting Mason then rescuing Griphon. Eventually, Griphon returns, remarking that he was let go but has no idea where Mason went (now armed with HIS Shotgun. Griphon want's out- he's ready to get his act together and leave. But Burns lets Cole shoot him- who's grinning the whole time! Jr flips out at this point and his father attempts to calm him down- trying to pin both deaths on Mason's shoulders! A potshot at the group tips Burns and Cole off to Mason's whereabouts. The three of them had been trading insults (over little headsets) back in forth amusingly, till Cole gets feat up with it and hops onto his ATV- triggering one of the raddest deaths on screen. (Mason had jimmied with the thing earlier)Cole's death sets off Burns, who'd been having a ball up till that moment. He's tired of the game- he want's Mason dead.
There's a nice exchange between Sr and Jr. "...It wasn't supposed to be like this." "How the F*ck was it supposed to be?!" The two of them follow Burns more out of fear then any desire to hunt.
For the entire film, the music has been solid, the editing great, and the shooting set to vivid cephia tones and arrays of greens. But the visuals get really cool when night falls (by this point, a trap had killed Jr and Wolfe openly remarks "after we kill Mason, I'm going to settle things with you." Burns just grins at this and welcomes the death challenge). Everything is set in strong blacks and dark blues as the two men wait for Mason to come after them...
And he does! Wolfe, starts freaking out even more and throws his gun away- challenging Mason to a fight. The bit where he turns around in time to see Ice-T's ghostly face point blank is brilliant! ...The movie should have ended in the woods. With it down to Burns and Mason, the confrontation would have been more then enough. This is really the biggest weakness of the film is the '2nd ending' aspect. Abraham has an academy award, but overacts in a couple of scenes (one of them critical to his character!) The "cave scene" is rather silly, but forgivable. Still, it's a good movie for the most part and fun to watch.
Pánico en el Transiberiano (1972)
A prehistoric humanoid thought to be the missing link turns out to be a deadly alien life form
This film is very much of it's time. It's a 1972 Horror film staring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing- both Heavies of the Horror Genre for many years.
You might not give it a second thought, as it's own summery writes it off as a zombie film. HOWEVER, you'd be wrong my friend. Cushing and Lee may have spent most of their shared ventures trying kill one another in countless films (the Hammer Dracula films being the most notable)but this film gives the viewers the rare treat of them being allies.
Lee is great in this, his piercing eyes and thunderous voice are matched by his character Dr. Saxon who refuses to tolerate any BS from anyone. Cushing offers a subtle and charming performance as Dr. Wells. The rest of the cast is good- particularly Alice Reinhart as Miss
-Bojack727 Jones, Well's assistant. Telly Sevalez shows up to chew some scenery and get out some good one-liners.
Yet, where it really shines is the story. It's not a zombie film, but rather a take on the John W. Cambell Novel "Who Goes There" (the source for "The Thing".
I've always had a soft-spot for monsters in Victorian/Edwardian settings. The film is clever, well-paces, and actually eerie (quite a feet considering it was done in 1973 in the midst of an ocean of horror schlock). The Creature of the film is done well too, and the clever viewers will be able to understand how it works.
The film makes no real attempt to hide who is the creature... that would be pointless, the real fun is trying to figure out how the cast will discover him/her. There's a lot of thought in this and the idea of the creature amassing knowledge is cool.
If you're willing to sit back and enjoy yourself, you'll like this movie, I sure did. It's fun to search for details. Also, it lacks the awful horror music of most films of it's time and chose to use a haunting main theme throughout.
Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks: Part One (1985)
One of the Most Shocking Doctor Who Stories Ever
As a kid, I saw this on TV when I was like 7 or 8. This is a story that you never forget. Eric Saward is really a great writer and this story proves it.
Davros, the creator of the Daleks, has set a complex trap for the (6th) Doctor on the funeral planet Necross. Luered by the funeral of friend, the Doctor and Peri soon stumble in a gruesome trap.
The Story flourishes from the writing and the Direction by Graem Harper. The amazing thing is how complex and grown up the story is despite the straight forward ideas in it. Davros is no longer just a crazed villain, but is also- at times- a shrewd and clever man.
Terry Malloy goes from berserk (in his previous Davros story) to chilling and subtle. Davros and the story push the Daleks into the background at times, but it works to the story's benifit.
The themes of murder, sadism, sex, and others things come to a brilliant peek in this adventure. The story is twisted and merciless a times with engaging characters. It proves that the Doctor doesn't have to be in every scene for a good story.
Also, the scene with Stengos is one of the few times a TV show made the hair stand up on my neck!
Doctor Who: Logopolis: Part One (1981)
The Sombre Final Adventure for the 4th Doctor
This is story is pervaded by feelings of dread and decay. It's very well written, yet unavoidably sullen. The Fourth Doctor is not long for this world, and the presence of a shadowy phantom confirms this.
The Doctor quickly finds himself coming to terms with feelings loss and even death. For the audience, this almost seems like a countdown to the unavoidable end of of a character that a generation had grown up watching (1974-1981).
The Newly regenerated Master lures the Doctor into a trap that will ultimately put the entire universe in danger and force the Doctor to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop him.
So many things ended with this story- season 18, the Tom Baker era, and- some might say- classic Doctor Who. For better or worse, things would NEVER be the same after this.
Doctor Who: The Keeper of Traken: Part One (1981)
One of the Very Best Doctor Who Stories Ever
"I once knew a cure for mad dogs, I must look it up for you."
Airing in 1981, this the 2nd to last story for Tom Baker as the Doctor. And brings a lot of things full circle in regards to his era in the show. It's well-written and chilling. The allusion to Shakespeare and fantasy is perfect.
When it aired, the story must have been incredibly shocking for the audience- the Doctor and the Audience realize that the Master is behind it all. The Doctor is forced to stop his arch enemy (not seen in the series since 1977)
Tom Baker give an excellent performance, along with Mathew Waterhouse as the new companion "Adric". Anthony Ainley is excellent as Tremas and Sarah Sutton is spot-on as Nyssa.
Anf finally, Goeffry Beavers is chilling as Melkur/The Master. His creeping, skulking mannerism add a chilling aspect to the dying arch-villain.
"What is in a name, especially with Kassia is as good a name as Tremas."
Krull (1983)
A great piece of fantasy/science fiction that doesn't get the credit it deserves
The first glimpse of this film I caught was when I was about five years old in 1989 (the film was still common on TV by then)and a few bits went into my memory. The thing that really stuck with me was the "guy with one eye" in the film.
Sixteen years later, I found the movie for rent and the images from then came flooding back to me. This had to be that movie that I saw part of all that time ago! The movie is almost perfect. It had a cast that included soon-to-famous actors in it such as Liam Neesan and Robby Coltrain. The film manages to bring in sci-fi, fantasy, swashbuckling, and adventure into one story. I could tell it would be some special when I saw the "black fortress" floating through space towards Krull.
Ken Marshal plays Colwyn and does a pretty good job in the role, really taking on the daunting physical aspects of it. The female lead, Lysette Anthony does well enough in the role and can be forgiven as she spends most of her time in places that are added on in blue screen.
Freddy Jones is good as the old man and it was a real treat to find Bernard Bresslaw in the cast as the Cyclops. Well versed fans will know him also as the lead Ice Warrior from the 1967 Doctor Who story. Liam Neeson's character is very well played, as well as Robby Coltrain's part. The nice thing about this movie is that almost every single character has a name and dialog.
What else can I say: it has an evil space fortress controlled by a intergalactic demon, an army of "slayers" with lances that fire lasers, a large cast of memorable characters, an array of unique landscapes, and a timeless theme of good versus evil. It's never pretentious and sarcastic about it's own genre.
The only downside at all is it sometimes seems that there was just so much material to cover that somethings didn't get the attention they deserve. But still, it's a great film.
Where else would get get to see a prince fight a space demon/living fortress-spaceship with fire balls and a spinning magic disc? 9.5 out of 10
Red Dwarf (1988)
Seventh Season MUCH BETTER Then Many claim
Okay, I bought the 7th season a while back and wasn't sure what to expect. There were a lot of things working against it. (Sort of Spoilers ahead) However, this season is amazing. A lot of changes happened to the show after much thought, Doug Naylor and Ed Bye (Director series 1-4) decided to do it without an audience to make the show more professional-looking. Also, this season has two extra episodes.
The entire cast from season six returns for the season. Episode 1 "Tikka to Ride" is probably one of the funniest episodes ever in the whole series. The 'campfire scene' had me laughing hysterically. This is also impressive for the fact that it employs a lot of drama and is pretty sombre at times- as it deal with the Kennedy Assassination.
Episode 2 "Stoke Me A Clipper" is good too, but it has the downside of being the "final" story for Rimmer. The scene at the end has some amazing music by Howard Goodall, probably one of his very best.
Episode 3 "Ouroboros" Works pretty well. The only weakness is probably the parts about "Kochanski". The story could ALMOST work without her in it. Lister has some really good scenes in this, specifically when he learns about who he 'realy' is.
Episode 4 "Duct Soup" is a good story (best viewed in the extended version)but Episode 5 "Blue" just killed me. I won't spoil it, but there are two scenes that make this one unforgettable.
Episode 6 "Beyond a Joke" is a pretty good one too. Peter Wragg's effects are insane in this one- just watch the "Gazebo" scene and you'll know.
Episode 7 "Epideme" is good, the 'new' Kachanski is finally working out as a character. Episode 8 "Nanarchy" is alright. It's strongest part is the "pick up the ball" scene, and the cameo by... well, that's a surprise.
I definitely recommend it!