Reviews

After seeing this film, I was stunned at the bad reviews it has been given. One critic even said 'Rearrange your cupboards instead of seeing this movie'. Had he seen it?

I know the subject is a bit touchy at the moment, and I think it should have been straight to video, but that is no reason to give out bad reviews, and tell people not to see it. Remember that this was completed BEFORE September 11th.

Now on with the film. Big Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a Los Angeles fireman named Gordon 'Gordy' Brewer. On his way to pick up his wife and son, he witnesses a bomb going off, killing his family. He is questioned by the CIA (or FBI) and shown some photos of the person thought to be responsible, and remembers seeing this person just before the explosion. Brewer then sets off for Columbia, looking for revenge against the man that planted the bomb, Claudio "The Wolf" Perrini. Brewer gets caught by The Wolf, but his wife, played by Francesca Neri, agrees to help Brewer after learning that her husband is planning to plant another bomb, this time in Washington DC. Brewer goes back to Washington, and manages to save the day, and is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Some of the violence is quite brutal (the Mike Tyson scene for example), and the acting is not brilliant, but this is still quite a good movie. It was, however, missing a few things. First, it was missing Arnold's trademark one-liners. The only good line was near the end (The Wolf: 'When are you going to kill me?' Brewer:'Now!') and second, this is one of the very few Schwarzenegger movies where Arnold doesn't touch a gun.

Overall, a good movie, but a touchy subject. It also shows that Arnold is the undisputed king of action movies.

Don't listen to the critics, go and see for yourself

7/10

Black Hawk Down is one of the best war movies of all time, but the remarkable thing is that it is a TRUE story!

People complain that the visuals are wrong, or the lines that the actors say during the battle is laughable, but how do they know? Were they there? Granted, artistic licence has a part, but, by all accounts, this is a very real account of what happened in October 1993.

Those people that say they couldn't care less which characters died have not taken into account that it was real people that were killed, and the actors are just showing the audience what happened.

Anyway, back to the film. This is about a mission that I would class as a successful failure (the objective was completed, but too many good men lost their lives for no reason at all). The whole movie was really tense, and, even though I had read the book before seeing this movie, I was really shocked at the way some of the Rangers were killed, and amazed at the courage of the two Delta snipers (Shughart and Gordon) who dropped in on their own to protect Durant's crash site against crowds of Somalies. No wonder these two men were awarded the Medal of Honor! The film, for its length of 144 minutes, was basically a 120 minute running battle, with 20 minutes of build up at the beginning.

The battle was well filmed, and, even though the characters were hard to tell at points, the script was good.

Sure, there were things missed out of the film that were in the book, such as the airdrop of ammo and IV bags, and Mike Durant being forced to make a video, but ultimately, these wouldn't have really made a difference to the film.

Don't believe these so-called 'professional' reviewers in newspapers. I read a review this morning where the reviewer kept talking about a film that was 10 minutes shorter than the real movie, and he mentioned things that were not in either the book or the movie.

I recommend that you make up your own mind about this movie, but don't go to see it is you don't like too much blood and gore. I give this film 10/10, and a place in my DVD collection when it comes out!

This is one of Arnold Schwazenegger's best movies (after the Terminator films), and one of the best Sci-Fi films of all time (after the Terminator series and Aliens).

The plot is quite simple, but the action is top notch stuff. The body count hits the rafters (more than Commando?) and Arnie kills some of the bad guys in rather gruesome ways. The special effects are good (for 1990), and the script is laced with Arnie's one-liners (such as killing his 'wife', played by Sharon Stone, after she tries to kill him, and saying 'Consider that a divorce")

All in all, one of the best Sci-Fi/Action movies around, and a must for any Schwazenegger fan. 4/5

This is definately one of the better action movies, even if the plot is a bit dodgy (who watches Schwazenegger action movies for the plot anyway?).

The story is simple. Colonel John Matrix's (Schwazenegger) daughter (Alyssa Milano) is kidnapped by a former comrade of his to use as leverage to get Matrix to do a job (kill the President of a South American country - Val Verdes). Matrix doesn't take too kindly to this, and the body count soon starts to climb (upto a respectible count of about 88!).

Schwazenegger isn't really required to act, but then again, none of the cast are, but who cares? This is an action movie.

The script is full of Arnie's brilliant one-liners ("I'll be back, Bennett!", "Let off some steam, Bennett" etc), and some great fight sequences.

A must see for any action or Schwazenegger fan! 4/5

Gladiator is quite simply one of the best movies ever made, and it deserved each of the 5 Academy Awards that it won. The story is brilliant, the acting is outstanding, and the soundtrack is perfect.

All of the acting performances are outstanding, but the most memorable performance is that of Russell Crowe. His performance here put him at the top of the Hollywood A-list, and he deserved the Best Actor award. He is riveting as Maximus, the Roman General who was betrayed. He was forced to become a slave, and then a gladiator. Some of the most memorable quotes come from the character of Maximus, such as 'My name is Gladiator'.

Another outstanding performance is that of Connie Nielsen as Lucilla.

The action scenes are well done, and extremely bloody, but this makes them more authentic.

If you haven't seen this movie yet, you are missing out on one of the best movies ever made.

Definately 10/10!

This film is really well done, and the voice actors are perfectly cast. The script is fairly weak, but the story makes sense, and is really funny.

Lou is brought into the Brody house after their dog has been cat-knapped [read retired] and is assigned to protect Professor Brody (Jeff Goldblum) from the cats that are trying to steal his cure for dog allergy. Cue lots of cat/dog fights, lots of comedy, a very Russian cat, and some ninjas, along with the soccer game of Uruguay vs. Chad (who came up with this?). If you are a cat lover, you may not like this film, but it is great family entertainment.

First Blood is a great action movie, and one on Stallone's best, after Rocky.

Stallone plays John Rambo, a former Green-Beret in Vietnam who is arrested by a small town sherrif because he wants something to eat, and charged with vagrency. The deputy sherrif abuses Rambo, and all hell breaks loose when Rambo manages to escape and make it to the woods. Not even after Rambo wipes out half of the team looking for Rambo, and his former commanding officer, Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna) tells the sherrif that he is in a war that he cannot win, will the sherrif give up.

Plenty of explosions and violence will keep action fans watching, and most people will probably be sympathetic with Rambo's problems.

A good, solid action movie from the king of action movies, Sylvester Stallone.

Rush Hour 2 is one of Jackie Chan's better movies, for the simple reason that it is funnier than most of his other movies. The comedy is well written, and Jackie is brilliant at the physical comedy during the fight scenes.

Fair enough, the fight scenes are not Jackie's best, but he is getting old now. The fight scenes here though, are miles better than the ones in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, simply due to the fact that Jackie does everything that is seen without wires, stuntmen or camera tricks. There is no stupid flying in this one!

The script is okay, and the story is a bit dodgy, but Jackie himself once said that if you go to see a Jackie Chan movie for the story, he is doing something wrong.

As always, remember to stay into the end credits to see the outtakes, as these are brilliant, even if they look like some of them were pre-determined (watch out for the last one with the comment about Rush Hour 3!)

A good movie, but not Jackie's best. 4/5

Demolition Man is a good, solid action movie with some good action, and even some good humour (the scene where Spartan (Stallone) keeps swearing at the machine on the wall to get some toilet paper), but the plot is average.

Wesley Snipes plays Simon Phoenix, a 20th Century criminal that is arrested by John Spartan (Stallone) for kidnapping and murdering (Spartan doesn't know this) 30 bus passengers. Spartan is put in a cryogenic prison for 70 years, but is thawed out in 2032 because Phoenix has escaped, and is running around in a non violent San Angeles (meat, physical contact and swearing among other things have been banned, and three sea shells are used instead of toilet paper!). Plenty of action scenes follow, with the Demolition Man John Spartan using his violent methods to try and catch Phoenix.

The supporting cast is excellent with a sexy young Sandra Bullock, Nigel Hawthorne (Yes, Prime Minister), Benjamin Bratt and Denis Leary.

If you liked Die Hard and Terminator 2, you'll love this. 4/5.

I went to see this at the sneak preview last night, and was really impressed by the animation. The vehicles were really well done, the background scenery was amazing, and the characters were breathtaking. They even look like major Hollywood stars (Dr Aki Ross looks like a spitting image of a young Sandra Bullock).

The story, on the other hand, is an average Sci-Fi story about aliens 'invading' Earth, and humans trying to find a way to stop them. The story behind the 'invasion' is told throughout the film by the dreams that Aki keeps having. This, however, is the only time the plot is actually explained.

The cast was well picked, and all played their roles very well. My only complaint is that the talented Peri Gilpin should have had a bigger part.

2.5/5

Vertical Limit is one of the best action movies out. It is miles better than Cliffhanger, in a completely different league from Crouching Tiger, and a lot more tense than The Sixth Sense.

Chris O'Donnell plays a wildlife photographer who wants to rescue his sister (Robin Tunney) after she fell down into an ice cave near the sumit of K2. He takes with him a team of 5 other climbers including Montgomery Wick (Scott Glenn) and Monique (Izabella Scorupco). Accidents happen along the way, including avalanches and some really nasty nitroglycerine.

The action is great, the special effects are amazing, the script is good, with some brilliant lines (She's French-Canadian. Some days she can be quite pleasant, but today she's obviously French!) and the acting is top notch, especially Bill Paxton as Elliot Vaughn.

A must see movie.The only movie from 2000 that is better is Miss Congeniality. 10/10

Dad's Army is the best comedy ever written. It follows the Walmington-On-Sea Home Guard (part time soldiers) during the course of WW2. The platoon is led by the pompous Captain Mainwaring (Arthur Lowe), and the public school educated Sergeant Wilson (John Le Mesurier). Third in command is the decorated veteran Lance-Corporal Jones (Clive Dunn). Also in the platoon are a Cockney black-market dealing Private Walker (James Beck), a Scottish ex-Royal Navy Chief Petty Officer turned Undertaker named Fraser (John Laurie), a medic with bladder trouble named Godfrey (Arnold Ridley) and a mummy's boy named Pike (Ian Lavender). The platoon frequently gets into various types of trouble, and this usually leads to a clash with the Chief ARP Warden Hodges (Bill Pertwee).

The plots and scripts for all of the episodes are superb, and like a fine wine, the series gets better with age!.

An especially funny exchange was in the episode 'The Deadly Attachment' where the platoon are ordered to look after a U-Boat crew for the night. This exchange was recently voted the funniest moment ever in a comedy series!

If you don't watch this brilliant series, make sure you see it soon, and if you don't find it funny, you will never laugh at anything!

This film was pretty awful! I saw it on a flight from Manchester to Newark, thinking that it would be brilliant. All of the hype gives the wrong impression. This film was AWFUL. Fair enough, the fight scenes were well done, but I think I'll stick to Jackie Chan for Kung Fu fighting. Now for the plot

What was it all about? I gather it had something to do with a sword that was stolen, and needed to be retrieved. That is about the limit of my understanding of this movie.

If you want to see good fights, watch Jackie Chan movies. If you want to see a good plot, watch Gladiator. If you want to spend a couple of hours with your brain turned off, watch Crouching Tiger.

I just wish that I watched Proof of Life sooner!!

I have never seen anything worse, except for Three Kings and Wild Wild West. This movie was utter rubbish. It wasn't scary, the script was bad, and the twist at the end was all too predicatible. I guessed it within the first quarter of an hour, and I didn't know anything about the movie. I only saw it for the first time last night. Everybody says the plot twist at the end is brilliant, but how can it be if people can guess it? Everybody that I know that has seen this says the same. The only redeeming factor was some good acting by Bruce Willis. One of the worst films ever made. 1/10

This movie was superb! The action was great, the script was fairly good, and the special effects were brilliant (apart from the computer generated Scorpion King at the end. This was cheesy) There was more action than in the original. Sometimes this can be good, sometimes it can be bad. Here it was good!

This movie, like most sequels, does some things better than the original. This one does the action and special effects better than the original, but the script is weaker.

The acting was good, and Brendan Fraser was outstanding as Rick O'Connell, as was Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep.

If you liked the original, you will like this. I give it 4/5

The Rock is a superb action movie, and I think, the best ever made! This movie is all action. In it's 135 minute length, only about 15 minutes are not action!. The cast is superb, especially Ed Harris as General Francis X Hummel of the United States Marine Corps. Sean Connery also stands out as ex SAS captain John Patrick Mason. The soundtrack by Hans Zimmer is brilliant, and this movie is worth seeing just for that reason alone! 10/10

This movie is miles better than the similar Mission to Mars. For a start, this one has some action in it, and a good musical score. The special effects are well done, and Carrie-Anne Moss is excellent as Commander Bowman. I give this movie 6/10

I saw this movie on a flight from Newark to Gatwick, and really enjoyed it. At first, I wasn't going to watch it, as I had no idea what it was about. I watched it on the second showing of the flight, and wished that I had seen it sooner. It is absolutely brilliant!. Russell Crowe is superb as Terry Thorne, an ex-SAS soldier who now works for K&R (Kidnap & Ransom), and what can I say about Meg Ryan? She was brilliant as usual!. The rescue scenes are well done, and Crowe is believable as the hero. It is a routine thriller, but well worth seeing. It is going to be added to my DVD collection when it is released! 10/10

I saw this movie on Pay-Per-View when I was on holiday in the USA, as I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend money on cinema tickets. I'm glad I saw this movie, but wish it was at a cinema!

Sandra Bullock is superb as FBI agent Gracie Hart, and adds some great humour to the average script. She has a great sense of comic timing, and really has good on screen chemistry with Michael Caine as the beauty coach, Victor Melling. This film was brilliant, and I cannot wait for it to come out on DVD. Definately worth seeing again! 10/10

I have never seen anything so bad, not even Wild Wild West! This film had the promise of being a good space movie, and something that you could see happening in the near future, but towards the end, it turns into a routine Sci-Fi movie with aliens. Another bad thing about this movie is that it has an awful soundtrack. The music should be tense and exciting (like it was in Apollo 13) but in reality is soppy! The only redeeming feature was some good acting by Gary Sinise. I give this movie 1/10

This is a great action movie, and the best I have ever seen! I only saw this the other night, but I enjoyed it so much that I went out and bought the DVD today! The plot is great, the acting is superb and the action is brilliant! The Kung Fu scene is nearly up to Jackie Chan standards, and the gun battle in the lobby is amazing. This film has great special effects, and Carrie-Anne Moss is outstanding as Trinity. I can't wait for "The Matrix 2"!

Being English, I hate it when Hollywood creates films showing how one American won the war. This has occurred with the Second World War as well.

Newspapers say that Americans claim to have won the war for the Allies, but it was the ENGLISH that broke Germany's Enigma code.

I received this film on DVD when it was released, and I thought it was excellent. This is different from most Jackie Chan films, as it is a ROMANTIC comedy. Despite the fact that it is not a typical JC movie, it still has the key elements of Jackie's films-fighting and comedy. Watch the fighting carefully, especially the fight with the gang with baseball bats. It's amazing how quick Jackie is. Also, watch the outtakes to see something that you probably won't have seen before: Jackie kissing the female lead. A great film. 10/10

What was this film about? All I gathered was that a group of US soldiers were trying to steal some gold. The back of the American DVD box says 'Absurdly comic, highly kinetic, and at times shockingly emotional' My view is 'Foul mouthed, boring and a waste of good money'. I'm just thankful that I bought the Canadian version instead of the more expensive English version.

This is the best movie of the year, and will be hard to beat! I saw it last night, and really enjoyed it. The humor is excellent, and will have everybody laughing, and Mel Gibson does well with the voice of Rocky the Flying Rooster. The final escape scene is superb, and the film is well worth buying when it comes out on video! It gets 10/10 from me