rivau319 Reviews

Blow Out (1981)

Blow Out blew me away.

[9/10 · 29 July 2008]

What a cinematic triumph for De Palma and his loyal fans. A sterling piece of work from Brian coupled with stupendous characterisation from the entire cast guaranteed me a thriller of magnetic proportions. Pino Donaggio's gritty underlying score highlights the sheer magnitude of the indispensable 'Blow-Out' climactic moment. Travolta and Allen keep things moving in this thought-provoking masterpiece, not to mention John Lithgow who without a shadow of a doubt, is perfectly suited to be the ultimate villain. One could say that it really is bemusing why this movie didn't rake in a lot at the box office because this is clearly Oscar-worthy material. A must-see movie for all.

The Experts (1989)

The most boring of Travolta's 80s flicks

[4/10 · 29 June 2008]

Why does this movie fall WELL below standards? Ultimately, the answer lies in the poor, humourless script. A slim/average looking Travolta (looking rather dapper in black I must say, even with a HUGE mullet) and Gross both act very well as two young-ish 'slick-dressed' but nevertheless dimwitted New Yorkers eager to open their own nightclub. Other than that, the rest of the film is just boring to watch. It is SO dull that it's really not worth knowing what happens in the film's climax on any level. Kelly Preston obviously exudes sex appeal and the sexually charged dance with her husband-to-be Travolta is one of the film's few pleasures. Charles Martin Smith is quite fun to watch as struggling KGB honcho "Bob Smith". Personally, I think the movie would have been better if the plot was altered a little so that the settings did not change from NY to 'Indian Springs, Nebraska' (which is in the former Soviet Union?)--you'll understand if you see the movie... Apparently, this movie was filmed in 1986 ready for a 1987 release. I guess Paramount stalled on releasing the movie until January 1989 because of the unbelievable plot. It was reported they deemed it "unreleasable". Nevertheless, this $6,000,000 film garnered a little over an embarrassing $163,000 in revenue as it was released only BRIEFLY in places like Texas and Colorado before heading straight-to-video. This is testament to the overall BAD quality of this movie.

Perfect (1985)

Perfect? Not really... Entertaining? Definitely.

[7/10 · 25 January 2007]

This film was definitely the final nail in Travolta's metaphorical coffin having been preceded by 'Staying Alive' and 'Two of a Kind'. Upon first viewing of the film, I was dumbstruck to find what I thought was Travolta acting poorly and the story seemed to be absolutely forgettable and pointless! But after persevering with the movie a couple of times more, I enjoyed it. I even changed my mind on Travolta's performance and realised what he actually tried to do-a mixture of anger, frustration, fatigue, mild charm-all of which are attributed to a workaholic Rolling Stone journalist such as his character Adam. The music has a pulsating beat although I do admit some songs on the film's soundtrack are better than others but the music does seem to carry this film along. Curtis is dazzling in her role as the 'Aerobics Pied Piper.'(Her sexy body and amazing legs are a plus for this movie.) Jann Wenner deserves special mention even though he's probably playing himself considering he was then the editor and now owner of Rolling Stone Magazine. This is a real 80s movie, and a strange theme involving both journalism and aerobics somehow merging together. Travolta and Curtis both do a great job in their roles bringing a contrast of characters in their relationship. I didn't however like the beginning or ending credits at all. The beginning was just basic and static-a list of credits against a plain background. The ending wasn't great either--Berlin's 'Masquerade' song (which is, in my opinion, a weak link in the film's soundtrack), plays on while ALL of the key characters do aerobics...Is that realistic? Bizarre. I rather liked it when Curtis meets Travolta at the end and they drive off. There, is when it should have ended. But I guess all in all, an entertaining mid-80s movie.

Staying Alive (1983)

Staying Alive keeps the dancing fever well and truly alive...(just about)

[7/10 · 10 January 2007]

OK, this film doesn't have the same celluloid quality as does SNF, but for it's entertainment value, it's definitely worth seeing. Tony's back, this time as a professional dancer dancing (or at least trying to) his way through auditions but he fails until he meets Laura which doesn't look good on his part since he already has a girlfriend, Jackie. He feels used by Laura and they're all involved in the big show called 'Satan's Alley' which is rather interesting to watch... Tony somehow lands the lead in the show and becomes everyone's hero once again. THE END. Tony looks considerably fitter than in 1977 but looks aside,the cheap dialogue here is nothing compared to than in SNF. The only way to appreciate this film is to think of it as a mere 'continuation of Tony's life.' He's supposedly grown up, he dances a LOT LOT MORE than in SNF, not to mention looking fairly Ramboesque (unsurprisingly, as Stallone directed this) and if I may say so the soundtrack is just as great, if not, better (in style) than SNF's soundtrack. Travolta, however, does his best with the uninspiring Stallone-written dialogue and therefore in my opinion, didn't deserve to get Razzie nominated for Worst Actor for the same role he got Oscar nominated for Best Actor 6 years earlier. The undeniable flaw in this movie is that Stephanie (SNF's female lead) isn't present as I believe her character from SNF would have given the dramatic side of 'Staying Alive' more dimension and depth. It was also widely believed that Tony's father and Anette were written in the original script, and a scene with Tony and the latter had actually been shot but evidently it ended up on the cutting room floor. Nevertheless, this movie is just really fun to watch!