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Rambo (2008)
"Till You Come Full Circle."
Wow where to begin, RAMBO! this film is one that I can safely say, delivers. If your a fan of the series you won't be disappointed, if you thought some where a little over the top after First Blood, you still might enjoy this. Like the other films and to an extent the Rocky sequels, this film is it's own thing, one of the things that makes these two series great is the fact each movie can almost be a different genre, Rambo III and First Blood are chalk and cheese. This can turn people off though. How I'd describe RAMBO is if Rambo III was as realistic as First Blood, actually showing you what would happen if one man was to go up against an army. Actually even more realistic, no jumping up and grabbing helicopters or firing repeatedly at enemy soldiers and nothing happening but a little hole in there uniforms. Another problem cynics had was the gap between this and the last film, mostly due to Stallones age. Now they could have made a Rambo IV in the 90's It probably would have been big and action packed, probably something like True Lies, and it probably would have been entertaining but the time has added to the film and the character if Stallone had tried to make another Rambo III it would have been stupid, instead he made a film about an ageing warrior, Rambo is darker inside, very much like he was in First Blood. Stallone's not just playing him as the super cool action hero but as an angry grizzled war dog, an ugly killing machine which I think is better than the others.
The villains in this film are plain evil, I've never hated the bad guys like this for years, not even the villains in the other Rambo's where this bad in fact they where like Indiana Jones villains, we're bad just because we are. Where as the Burmese soldiers are shown doing what they do, it's sickening and you really are routing for them to be killed not just watch Rambo killing targets. The real footage from the beginning is really horrifying and the ultra violence throughout really slaps you in the face and says, this is what war is! If you are a huge fan you will feel very much like Stallone respects you, there is references and little nods throughout to all three films, involving a great montage sequence that gave me goosebumps. Goldsmiths music score is used as masterfully as the music was used in Rocky Balboa. As a Director Stallone has very much improved, the gap between Rocky IV to Balboa and this you'd think it was a different person, not that I thought his directing was bad in the past. The plot of the film on paper may seem old and predictable but it's the way the film is executed (No pun intended) that makes it so great, Stallone knows what emotional buttons to push which make this a heart pounding drama.
The ending (I'm not gonna give it away) I heard people didn't like it, I loved it I thought it was the perfect ending, not only for the film but for the whole series. Just like Rocky Balboa it makes the whole series better as a whole.
Trautman. "You're always going to tear away at yourself till you come to terms with what you are, Till you come full circle."
I Am Legend (2007)
I Am Legend?....
"I Am Legend" is probably one of the most important books in the genre, I doubt there'd be a Night of the Living Dead, no Dawn, No omega man, no 28 days later and none of the films inspired by those films. So that stated you realise how enthusiastic I was about I Am Legend "Hey there using the actual title this time it must be a lot closer to the original story now..right?" I thought Will Smith was good as Neville, It wasn't the Will Smith from Bad Boys and Indapendance Day (I think a lot of people thought it might be) He made it feel so reel watching him going through loneliness and insanity. I feel they should have gone one way or the other with the action though, seems like they where trying to dance on two lines at once. Did they wanna make an action packed Omega Man or a character study horror film? If they had gone all action (Yet sticking to the basic storyline) I'd have enjoyed it. I think the Schwarzenegger/Ridley Scott version might have gone that route.(And yes I would have enjoyed that too) The CGI was seriously dodgy, I actually though some of the animals had escaped from Jamngi, well It's not really the fact the CGI was bad it's the fact it was used too much and most of the time when a far more economic and realistic alternative could be used.
Think about good cgi in films, Jurassic Park, T2. partly the reason there was the CGI was for things we have never seen; liquid metal men and dinosaurs. If you use it for humanoid creatures or animals (especielly furry ones) we'll spot its fake as we are so used to seeing them. But also because they where designed to work with well made practical effects.
Actors in make-up and actual REAL animals, you are not really trying to make me believe they don't have trained animals for films any more. CGI would of coarse still be used for animals attacking and the creatures doing un natural things but thats all it should be used for.
Look at the reapers from Blade II they where far more convincing and scary, thats another point as soon as a Close Up of a bad CGI vampire appeared it lost a realism all the great character build up with Smith was lost in an instant. It's almost as if the film itself was affected by night, by day a smart character study into the horror of isolation by night a bad cgi filled action film I feel the whole point of the book was missed like not having the other infected intelligent people who Neville had killed and thus became a "Legend" by doing so. I thought that Anna was going to be one of them and that the place she was trying to lead him too was there society.
I really wished some of them could talk I remember how creepy it seemed in the Vincent Price version when his partner would torment him every night I mean every night for 3 years its outside not letting you get some sleep "we're gonna get you".
If it where just BASED on the book and not an adaption they shouldn't have used the title, Title should be kept for adaptations. Movies based on books that differ I don't mind e.g "Total Recall", "Blade Runner", "Die Hard" but could you imagine "Lord of the Rings" reception if they had decided to change the plot? I have to say the expansion of the dog relationship was better and made the dogs death even sadder when you realise just how important that relationship was the Neville, although perhaps showing him capture the dog like in the book would have been better. The whole film seemed to go by so quick, 1 hour 40 mins? feels like there was no 3rd act at all. Plus it seemed to only take a period of a few days, I'd have preferred to watch Nevile over months like Tom Hanks in Castaway.
In actuality it was the same basic premise used many times by Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later etc (I Know they where all inspired by the book) but if your going to do a new film the most original thing they could have done is actually stick to the "Basic" storyline.
I'm not saying it's terrible but a lot of things let it down.
Grindhouse (2007)
3.45 hours of pure dynamite!
Well finally I saw this movie the way it was intended. And to do that I had to do something I am usually against that is download it and burn it to DVD myself. Luckily it was excellent quality. Anyway I'm sure you know my reason's namely Weinstein's teasing UK movie fans for 6 months then giving Death Proof a release so limited that I'm not sure if there was a week between the trailer and the end of it's run.
Anyway the film, the over all 3.45 hour Grindhouse experience is well fantastic I give it 9/10.
Individually the films don't fair so well, Planet Terror is by far my favourite of the two, maybe because it captures the flavour of horror I am biggest a fan of, the works of Romero, Raimi and carpenter. Rodriguze's Carpenter inspired score is fantastic it must have unlocked some part of my mind that made me believe I was really watching an early 80s Carpenter flick at times. This fused with Rodrigueze's own hyper reality style made it sheer entertainment. The cast was fantastic in fact all that was missing was Danny Trejo, but his Machete trailer was kick ass enough! It is however Death Proof I unfortunately found many faults with, mainly what the hell is it supposed to be? A Car Chase Thriller or a Horror Slasher or a Revenge Thriller. it ends up none of the above. there is not enough car chases or cop involvement for it to be a Car Chase thriller, There is not enough suspense or deaths for it to be a horror slasher in fact all the deaths happened at once half way through the movie and relate to nothing. And the revenge aspect comes in far to late and to tell the truth there doesn't seem that much for them to get revenge for. What I see is a movie where women babel on so much dialogue I forgot what I was watching. it's a real shame as Kurt Russel was fantastic and Tarantino's camera work was great too. I just feel a little more Christine/Halloween influence and a little less Sex in the City would have made a more entertaining flick.
Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
Time To Die Hard Again!
I'm going to call this movie "Die Hard 4.0: Live Free or Die Hard" as far as I'm concerned that should be the title. Now I've been a big fan of this franchise since I can remember, In fact as I write their is a huge framed poster of Die Hard sitting behind me. I'm glad to see all the old school action heroes coming back get the nasty taste of Diesel and the Rock out my mouth.
What I was actually expecting from the trailers was a shallow action packed sequel and you know what, I was looking forward to that. I was however slightly shocked and for a while disappointed I didn't get this. That is not the film this is, in fact it's only flaw may be it doesn't know what it wants to be; a serious thriller or an action packed brainless sequel. It hovers between both fairly well most of the time coming off as a Thriller with ridiculous over the top stunts. A lot of people seem to say it's too over the top, I disagree in fact I think a few of the action scenes could have gone on longer. I think of all the Die Hards, Die Hard: With A Vengeance is still the biggest action film due to its constant action sequences it's like T3 and T2 although the chase in T3 is huge the constant action sequences in T2 make it a bigger film.
The plot is very Die Hard in my opinion, in fact more Die Hard than the 2nd film due to those Terrorists actually being what they said they where. (Not that I don't like Die Hard 2: Die Harder) Bruce is back, he is McClane he's a cranky sarcastic un-stylish cop and yes the vest is there be it under a green sweatshirt. Only slight flaw with him is yes the potty mouth is gone although their is some great "McClane" lines about Maggie Q the Asian Henchwoman. McClane's usual swearing is replaced by his unique laugh. Yippi Ki Yay, his famous line is said and in my opinion the best use of it not just some line thrown in after a vehicle explodes although I wouldn't rank the Villains demise as the number one way for a bad guy to go. Timothy Olyphant is a pretty menacing villain nothing compared to the Gruber brothers' condescending approach to McClane but still fun.
Oh the sidekick, yep he's a sidekick the is necessary for the plot. Justin Long is pretty good he could have came across as an over grown Short Round but managed not to.
Overall I'd rank this my 3rd favourite Die Hard, under of coarse the Original and Vengeance. I just like the Grubers thing.
8/10
Smith (2006)
Uber cool, should have been given a chance.
I haven't watched much TV in recent years, programs have degraded my TV so much I felt it was best to face it towards a corner till it thought about what it had done. Soaps, Reality TV, Bad comedies, Reality TV, Annoying Game shows and Reality TV have saturated the schedules but then this comes along. This is the best Drama/Thriller serial I've seen in ages.
Whats not to like? Ray Liotta being uber cool, Amy Smart being so sexy I have to wipe the steam from the screen,(Thank god I said Steam), Simon Baker and his underlying violent tendencies.
The plots where interesting and exciting, We got a little glimpse into each characters life in each episode while getting down with some grade-A action that even makes most feature films look boring, I'm talking Motor Bike chases, Hummer ram raids, Chainsaw killings, Sniper assassins, High Profile robberies and good old fashioned fist fights.
Hot Fuzz (2007)
It's A Blast!
What can I say, it's hard to describe Pegg/Wright stuff. They are their own genre really, not spoofing, not tongue in cheek it's like to films in one.
Now I'm lucky, not only am I a fan of Pegg,Frost,Wright ever since Spaced drew me in with it's premier episode I'm also a huge fan of the films and genres these guys love. Horror sub genre zombie I loved so Shaun of the Dead floated my boat and Action/Cop movies this time.
When the movie was 3 or so min's in I was thinking, hmm this doesn't seem as good as Shaun, where's the laughs. But the film does shift gears dramatically you never know what to expect from this film, just when you think it's a quite little comedy something extreme happens and you think WTF that was a bit much even for an action movie. You'll see, I mean Shaun of the Dead's gore/shock factor is topped.
Also if your like me already a fan of Spaced and SOTD. Plus a fan of Proper Cop Action films you'll have a blast. Lots of tiny references to movies like Lethal Weapon 2, Cobra and even High Plains Drifter & The Shining for some reason.
Go see it! 'cause I wanna see it again already.
Rocky Balboa (2006)
You Sly! You Did It!
One more round! Having grown up with the Rocky films, Seeing "Rocky Balboa" was like seeing an old friend. Amazing the last time a Rocky film was in the cinema I was 5. I think this film works better if you really know the 5 films before hand, especially 1 & 2.
I really felt for Rocky, more than before. The sorrow of this old Widower who doesn't get the respect he deserves. And seeing Rocky close to tears talking about Adrian or telling his son he can do better really brought a lump to my throat.
"Rocky Balboa" brings this series back to its gritty roots from 1 & 2, something 5 tried to do, not very well. But Balboa makes Rocky V worth while as it had to happen for this tale to happen.
As for those worried about the age factor, it's not a problem in fact the opposite. This film works because the fact Rocky is an old fighter with no chance, it brings to mind George Foreman's return to boxing.
A lot of the familiar elements are their, I got so pumped as Rocky works out to that old familiar music and ran up those steps one last time.
The final fight is one of the best, so realistic and I'm sure you'll find yourself yelling for Rocky to get up! And Stallone's physique is amazing for a 59 year old, hell it's amazing for a 39 year old. Clearly he's made of something different than rest of us.
Sly deserves something for this film seriously, Writer, Director or Actor nomination but I'm sure Oscar officials will turn their noses up at the 5th sequel of a boxing drama franchise.
Rocky Balboa doesn't disappointed and has shook up the way I look at the whole franchise I used to say 3 was my favourite but I can't say which is anymore.
Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991)
Buddy Martial Arts Mayhem!
I wasn't sure about getting this film. I have been disappointed by Dolph Lundgren in the past (except Universal Soldier & Rocky IV) most films use him as a poor substitute for Arnold but not this one they play his strengths, yes he is a big guy like Schwarzenegger but he's also an agile martial artist like Van Damme. So I can't picture anyone else but him in this film. Then we have the late Brandon Lee who is great in this film and a great counter weight to Dolph.
Now the film how can I describe it so you'll know if you want to see it. Well imagine Lethal Weapon was Directed by the same guy as Commando and the cops where Muscular Martial Artists who didn't so much investigate but beat information out the bad guys who where Samurai Yakuzas and you pretty much have it.
Yes it is Mark L. Lester who directed "Commando" it's not quite that good I think due to the lack of memorable lines but it's good fun anyway 7/10.
Commando (1985)
Let's Party!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some may say Conan was Arnie's big break, well it did get his foot in the door. Some say Terminator was his definitive moment, well it did blow the door off, But this is the first "Arnie" movie. Everyone thinks Conan and Terminator are his most remembered roles but think about it, what do you expect from an Arnie film? Arnold the Action Hero! (That's basically the guy who's in Raw Deal, True Lies, Eraser, Total Recall, Predator etc). The kick ass action hero with the killer one liners, and this is his debut film.
Commando is the most streamlined Hyper Action film of all time. Arnold is Matrix, a retired Commando. He likes to spend his days feeding dears and eating Ice Cream with his daughter in his little cabin in the woods. But all this changes when some evil South Americans helped by Bennit, an ex-member of Matrix's Commando unit who looks like Freddie Mercury on steroids, kidnap his daughter and force him to go on an assignment to Kill the President of a fictional South American country, Val Verdi.
Well when you do things like that to Matrix, clearly the hardest man alive, that makes him mad and when He gets mad people DIE and things BLOW UP! Matrix decides not to assassinate the President of Val Verdi but instead track down his daughters kidnappers withing an 11 hour time limit. Helped by his female sidekick, Thankfully not his love interest (See how streamlined it really is?).
The most memorable bit is of coarse the final showdown, which has to be the finest of it's type. Watch Matrix as he mows down at least 100 bad moustached guys in the space of 15 minutes. Then boils down to the one on one match with Bennit.
Commando is directed by Mark L. Lester (Class of 1999, Showdown in Little Tokyo), who seems to know some magic formula for making entertaining B-Action movies that are incredibly re-watchable.
Predator (1987)
It Hunts For Pleasure, It Kills For Sport...................
"Predator" is a genuine Classic. Action, Horror, Sci-Fi it's all there. Lets see for starters we have Arnold Schwarzenegger, on top form riding to the peak of his action status, leading a team of tough Commandos. Made up of a great cast including Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura and Bill Duke. They're on a mission to rescue Hostages from Gorilla forces but are double crossed by the C.I.A, stop there and you already have a great action movie.
But oh no, this film also has an Intergalactic Alien Big Game hunter equipped with plasma cannons, Stealth Invisibility and Thermal Vision. It would be so easy to imagine this film going nowhere if it where to have fallen into the wrong hands. You could really imagine a plot of an Alien hunting Commandos in the jungle coming off a bit lame but no, Fox thankfully had faith and McTierman had a vision. Fox's faith may have been down to there two previous unexpected big hits "Aliens" and "Commando" which you could possibly say this film is a hybrid of.
Film also benefits from being made in that 80s early 90s era where your action film could take its self seriously yet still not too seriously. One minute we see a fairly realistic use of of weapons and tactics the next Arnie throws a truck down a hill equipped with C4 and Jesse Ventura pulls out his M-134 Mini Gun and shreds some Gorillas.
The Predator it's self is a classic design, thanks to the genius Stan Winston, and in my opinion never looked better than in this movie. It looked slightly fake in Pred 2(Not a bad film too) and don't get me started on the travesty that is AvP. It could have been a different story if they had stuck to the big rubber turtle they had shot scenes with thank god Arnold himself suggested Winston.
I won't spoil the plot for anyone who's not yet seen it I just urge you to see this movie.
Tittybangbang (2005)
And so the BBC stoop lower!
Just when you though UK comedy couldn't get any worse we get the laugh less TittyBangBang. As usual with bad comedies it is first shown on BBCtryout sorry I mean BBC-Three. How can I describe it, Imagine French and Saunders made Little Britain except with even less comedy and you pretty much got this pile of junk that the BBC should be ashamed of to ask a license fee for. It mostly revolves around the lead actors (I Refuse to call the comics) appearing in different costumes. I think we are supposed to be impressed by the BBC's prop and make-up department. Pity the actresses can only do about 3 different voices. They're innate attempt to try and get there repeat catch phrases to work just as annoyingly as the ones from Katherine Tate and Little Britain have pretty much fallen on their face. In the past few year the only decent comedy the BBC has churned out is Extras. I wonder what the hell is going on at the BBC, the people that gave us stuff like Only Fools, Black Adder, One Foot in the Grave and other well scripted, well acted FUNNY comedies. I won't say avoid this I say sit down and see how much of this dreadful sketch show you can take.