LuboLarsson Reviews

The Expendables (2010)

Great action film

[8/10 · 15 August 2010]

As we all know The Expendables has an amazing cast of Action stars led by arguably the greatest action star of all time and if Stallone isn't that guy the other one makes a cameo appearance. Of course I'm talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger who makes a brief appearance with Bruce Willis in a scene many action fans never would have dreamt possible. My only problem with this movie is perhaps it has too many stars which means each one has too little time to make an impact. Jason Statham gets the most screen time bar Stallone and he is excellent, Jet Li has less impact but has a great fight with Dolph Lundgren who I have to say proves that he really should be on the big screen more often. Stone Cold Steve Austin also makes a fabulous bad guy and the rest of the team get brief chances to shine. Mickey Rourke also shows what an incredible actor he is even with less than stellar script to work from. Stallone really is truly back on top now and I hope that if Expendables 2 does happen he works a little more on the script and story. What truly saves this film is the astonishing last half hour or so of action and that is really what most of us turned up to see. Highly recommended for action fans. 8 out of 10

On Deadly Ground (1994)

Seagal vs Caine

[7/10 · 9 January 2010]

This movie is generally the one that Seagal haters will use to beat him with. There is no doubt that Seagal has a huge ego and he indulges himself greatly here in his first directorial movie. He was coming off his biggest hit in Under Siege and he used his new status to make a movie with a message that was obviously important to him. I'll admit whilst I can see how people would hate this movie I actually find a lot to like about it. A great cast headed by the superb Michael Caine, great score by Basil Poledouris and stunning scenery make this a worthwhile and fun watch for me. Yes the story is ridiculous and the ecological message is rammed down your throat especially with the speech at the end but I find it funny that Al Gore was praised for delivering basically the same message that Seagal delivered years before! if you don't like Seagal then avoid this movie if you are a fan you will probably appreciate the fact that he tried to something different for action movie fans.

A Dangerous Man (2009 Video)

Solid effort from Seagal

[7/10 · 5 January 2010]

I don't think Seagal fan's will be disappointed with this one. Bearing in mind it's DTV it would be unfair to compare it to the likes of Under Siege and Exit Wounds but its definitely one his better efforts from the last ten or so years. Lots of action in this one and well done to for the quality of the gun fights. Seagal packs in quite a few brutal fist fights too. The story although perhaps a little bit more complicated than it needed to be moves along at a good pace. Byron Mann who teamed up with Seagal previously in Belly of the Beast and also appeared in Sniper 3 with Tom Berenger makes a good bad guy but he is perhaps a little underused. Recommended for Seagal fans.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

Average

[6/10 · 24 November 2009]

I don't think Star Trek V is quite as bad as some on here would make out. I have seen some rate it one out of ten, that is just silly. It is however a huge disappointment after the fantastic second and third parts of the series. I would also blame Paramount's decision to try and make a Star Trek movie on the cheap rather than William Shatner who directed it. Although Shatner has to take some of the blame for the poor storyline as he co-wrote it. I also never thought I would see such poor SFX in a Star Trek movie. In amongst all the dodgy effects and poor jokes there is some good stuff here, I liked the camping scenes at the start as Kirk, Spock and Bones spent shore leave together, some of the Star Trek magic is still apparent here. Also Jerry Goldsmith once again creates a great score for the movie. Sadly however the film slowly headed towards its lacklustre ending. Thankfully the original crew got a much better film to end on with Star Trek VI.

Driven to Kill (2009 Video)

Seagal is Driven to Kill....again and again

[6/10 · 21 July 2009]

This is easily one of Seagal's better DTV efforts. Its on a par with Urban Justice but not as good as Belly of the Beast. To compare it to his earlier movies would be unfair as he makes much smaller budget movies these days. First off if you are a veteran of Seagal films of the last ten or so years you can tell if he cares about the movie or not and he certainly seems to be putting a bit of effort into this one. No body doubles of bad dubbing in this which is good. The story is very generic, a basic revenge movie. Not unlike the movies Charles Bronson made when he was a similar age to Seagal now. The action scenes are well done with some good shoot outs and fist and knife fights. The acting is a little hit and miss although the bad guy who will be familiar to people who seen the awful Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull was very good. So worth a rent on a Friday night but i really wish Hollywood would give Seagal another big budget action movie. Hell lets get another Under Siege movie out before its too late.

Smokey and the Bandit II (1980)

Terrible sequel

[3/10 · 22 June 2009]

Awful follow up to the fantastic Smokey and the Bandit this movie surely marks the beginning of Reynolds downfall as the Worlds number one movie star. Everything about this needless sequel is lazy, the story is poor the actors look uninterested and jokes are recycled from the first film. Burt's character doesn't even seem to be the same care free guy we loved in the first and Sally Field looks like she may have regretted appearing in this. In real life Reynolds and Field had broken up so maybe thats why the film has a depressing feeling all the way through it. Jerry Reed and Jackie Gleason aren't too bad but they have nothing to work with here the director seems only to interested in how many cars and smashes he can show on screen at the same time. Has no-one noticed that car stunts are not made more exciting by simply multiplying the amount and adding more and more cars? If anything its boring. I can appreciate car stunts, there was some great stuff in the first one and in other Reynolds movies like Hooper but by now it had run its course. Avoid this movie even if you loved the first.

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

Jason takes centre stage

[7/10 · 2 February 2009]

*** MAJOR SPOILERS *** After Jason's startling appearance at the end of the first Friday the 13th he takes over where his mother left off in this great sequel to the horror classic. Friday the 13th Part 2 is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine, its by no means great film making but its sure as hell an entertaining slasher movie. A new camp has opened near Camp Blood from the original and Jason Voorhees is after the blood of the councillor's and teenagers that have arrived for the summer. Its all very unoriginal and its the usual mix of teenagers smoking dope and having sex and being bumped off one by one by the hooded (no hockey mask yet) serial killer. What lifts this above the usual slasher fare is some inventive kills and some great "jump" scenes. I actually also think Jason looks better with the hood than the hockey mask, it looks more chilling to me somehow. The acting bar the main couple is the usual Friday the 13th standard i.e amateurish but Amy Steel makes a very strong heroine arguably the best of the series. The last twenty minutes of the movie is an incredibly tense and exciting chase scene and has some of the best moments of the entire franchise. Recommended for horror fans.

Masters of the Universe (1987)

He-Man hits the big screen

[6/10 · 6 December 2008]

I remember this movie was a pretty big deal when it came out in 1987. He-Man was a hugely popular cartoon in the 80's and when it was announced the were making a movie version of it many a kid must have been very excited to see it at the cinema. The result sadly is a bit average, first of all the action takes place on Earth for 90 per cent of the movie. It would have worked so much better if they kept it on He-Mans home world of Etarnia. Also a very popular character from the cartoon "Orco" was missing and replaced by a slightly annoying little creature called Gwildor played by the great Billy Barty. Both of these decisions were due to budget problems (this movie was made by Cannon films after all) but a Kid who was a huge fan of the cartoon is bound to be slightly annoyed at this. Still credit where credit is due they certainly tried to offer up a big Star Wars type spectacle but it didn't quite work out. More positives were that Dolph made a pretty good but not very talkative He-Man and Langella makes a great scenery chewing Skeletor but you can't help see this movie as a missed opportunity.

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

One of the best Halloween's

[7/10 · 13 July 2008]

This is easily one of the better Halloween movies. Its nowhere near as good as the original but is a definite step up from parts two and three. As the title clearly states Michael Myers is back on the rampage despite being shot twice in the eyes and set on fire in Halloween 2, don't you just love how horror films can always find a way to bring the bad guys back. The film starts well building an eerie atmosphere but its not long before Michael is back to his killing ways. As usual Dr Loomis is not far behind played as ever by the slightly over the top but excellent Donald Pleasence. Michael is of course heading back to Haddonfield to kill Jamie the daughter of the now deceased Laurie Strode from the first two Halloween movies, luckily for us Danielle Harris who plays Jamie is a superior child actress and not annoying in any way like so many characters in slasher movies are, her step sister is trying to protect her and is played well by Ellie Cornell. I feel the makers of this movie managed to make the main characters likable enough for us to care about them as Michael Myers stalks them later in the film. There are some nice moments of suspense and some suitably gory kills but at no time did I feel this film got close to matching John Carpenters original, they did however create a valid and entertaining movie which is all I expect from the fourth part of a slasher series, check out some of the later Friday the 13th movies to see how bad these films can get or later parts of this very series. All in all Halloween fans will thoroughly enjoy this instalment of the long running franchise.

Diary of the Dead (2007)

Good but not great

[7/10 · 8 July 2008]

First of all I would like to say I enjoyed Diary of the Dead it was a good way to spend an hour and a half. My only problem with the movie is that I expected a little more from a George A Romero Zombie film. I am not a huge Romero fan in fact I would say I only became a fan of his Zombie films in the last ten or so years. I am however a huge fan of the original Dawn of the Dead and I can't help but compare this film with it just as I did Land of the Dead. Sadly Diary of the Dead is no Dawn of the Dead but I don't think Romero intended it to be. It has a rough quickly made feel to it and the whole hand held camera view point is interesting but it has been done a few times now and is getting a bit stale. What Diary has going for it is some very inventive and fun ways to kill Zombies, the special effects are great and I was amused just as much as I was repulsed by the gory death scenes. Whilst I liked and cared for the characters in Dawn and Day of the Dead I never particularly cared for any of the students in this film and the actors reactions to friends and families becoming Zombies was unconvincing. The Professor came across as the most convincing character to me but the rest were merely walking Zombie food. Still all in all a pretty good movie but an average Romero Zombie movie.

Missionary Man (2007)

Entertaining Pale Rider remake

[6/10 · 22 February 2008]

This is the first Dolph Lundgren movie I've seen in many a moon and I found it an entertaining modern day take on the classic Westerns of old, mainly Shane, High Plains Drifter and most of all Pale Rider. Dolph does a good job of playing the mysterious preacher who rides into town and takes care of the local bad guys. This is the perfect entertainment for a Friday night with a few beers. Dolph also directed this movie and that really impressed me he has a definite talent for that and I hope he directs a few more, preferably with a slightly bigger budget as this was undoubtedly a low budget movie but one that I found much more rewarding than many a Hollywood blockbuster. Whilst many of the supporting actors won't win many awards some of the young cast were very good as was the two main villains. My one complaint was the colour of the movie I found it a little too colourless but I suppose it gave it a cool look. Thumbs up for the final shoot-out too with a nice final line from Dolph before he rides into the sunset.

Urban Justice (2007 Video)

A step in the right direction

[6/10 · 13 January 2008]

This is undoubtedly Seagals best movie in many a year. Its by no means perfect but after watching some terrible Seagal movies in the last few years I was beginning to lose any hope of the big man making anything near what might be classed as entertaining. Happily Renegade Justice is something approaching the sort of film he produced in the late 80's up to the mid 90's, in that I mean some hard hitting action. The only major low in the movie was a very dodgy car chase but everything else was above par. I hope Seagal continues on this upward route and hopefully gets bigger budgets and a return to the big screen, hopefully with Under Siege III.

The Golden Child (1986)

Eddie saves this movie

[6/10 · 10 June 2007]

If this movie didn't have Eddie Murphy in it then it would be practically unwatchable. Its a ridiculous movie but what makes it work is that Eddie knows it is and acts accordingly. Its great fun to watch and Eddie wise cracks his way through the whole film. It also has a pretty good villain in Charles Dance and -Charlotte Lewis may not be the best actress in the world but she is certainly nice to look at. Throw in some top notch 80's special effects and its a pretty good way to pass a couple of hours. I must say though this film is pretty similar in tone to Big Trouble In Little China so if you enjoyed that then I'm sure you will enjoy this. Just don't expect to get as many laughs from this as you would have from Beverly Hills Cop, Trading Places or 48 HRS. You could actually make an argument that this was when Eddie to his finger off the quality control button and started making uninspired sequels and children's movies.

RoboCop 2 (1990)

Terrible

[3/10 · 29 May 2007]

I recently picked up all three Robocop films in one box set, rather cheaply and the only reason I did this was for the special edition of the superb first one. I have seen Robocop 2 before but not for 17 years, the year it came out. I have never watched it since because I can still remember how disappointed I was when I discovered how appalling it really is. Its a complete mess really, it has all the signs of a troubled production with so many sub-plots going on at the same time. It has a very uneven tone also and it is also one of the nastiest films I have ever seen. I don't mind a little violence, the first one was incredibly violent but this one is just plain nasty. Also the SFX is terrible even for 1990, say hello to bad stop motion. Also having a drug dealing, cursing kid as a villain is just a little too much. Peter Weller at least had the common sense not to return for the next one. The only positive thing I can say for this film is it does have a couple of nice gags, like the thank you for not smoking one and the kiddie baseball team robbing an electrics store. To quote the kid who plays the villain "It sucks"

Over the Top (1987)

Pretty Good Stallone Movie

[8/10 · 27 March 2007]

Over the Top isn't a bad film by any means but it isn't a particularly great one either. Its a strange mix of a film, Sly is trying to get to know his son from a former marriage, his ex-wife is dieing from cancer and his father in law is doing everything in his power to stop Sly getting custody of his son. Also there is a small matter of a an Arm Wrestling contest in Las Vegas to contend with. Its a hell of a lot better than it sounds to be fair, Sly has some touching moments with his son and the kid is played by a pretty good child actor who is a lot less annoying than most. Also as they journey across the USA in Slys truck some of the scenery is stunning. Its just a little hard to get excited about an Arm Wrestling contest though, couldn't they have had a more interesting sport like Pool or something? Still there is plenty of great 80's music to keep things flowing. This is certainly worth picking up on DVD if you get it for about five quid (like I did).

Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)

Good Movie

[6/10 · 26 February 2007]

I enjoyed Memoirs of an Invisible Man, its no classic but better than its flop reputation. I've always been a fan of Chevy Chase and I'm also a huge fan of John Carpenter although I never imagined that Carpenter would direct a Chevy Chase movie, but to be honest if I had not heard that John Carpenter had directed this or seen his name in the credits and had just watched the movie oblivious to the fact I don't think I would have guessed this was a Carpenter movie. Nothing about it screams John Carpenter, its much more a Chevy Chase movie although a slightly more serious one than normal. He's pretty good in this, more straight and with less of the physical and wacky comedy that made his name. Daryl Hannah is as beautiful as ever as the love interest and Sam Neil makes a good villain. One thing I will say about this film is it seems like it may have been heavily cut as it seems a bit disjointed at times. Special credit to the special effects guys though , amazing effects for a 1992 movie. All in all a rather good movie.

Days of Thunder (1990)

I feel the need, the need for Speed

[6/10 · 12 February 2007]

The producers, director and star of Top Gun get together again for this above average racing drama. Its nowhere near as good as Top Gun of course but its no disaster. Tom Cruise is good as the daftly named racing driver Cole Trickle and the ever reliable Robert Duvall offers classy support. Michael Rooker is excellent as Toms rival and Randy Quaid shows a more serious side to those who only know him from the Vacation movies. Surprisingly the usually good Nicole Kidman is rather bland as the love interest although to be fair she's not given a heck of a lot to work with. The music is of course all important in a movie like this and it has a pretty good soundtrack including Maria McKee's Number One hit Show Me Heaven, but again Top Gun had a much better soundtrack with Hans Zimmmer no match for Harold Faltermeyer. Tony Scott directs with his usual style, if you have seen Top Gun or Beverly Hills Cop 2 you'll no what to expect, very flashy and VERY LOUD. With a slightly less predictable story this could have been a lot better but as it is its a pretty enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

Average Freddy Flick

[6/10 · 5 February 2007]

I recently got all seven Nightmare on Elm Street films in a box set for a bargain and have been making my way through them in order. Part One is a classic horror movie, Part Two was terrible and Part Three was fantastic. So I had absolutely no idea what to expect from Part Four. What i got was an average Freddy Krueger adventure, neither great nor awful, somewhere in between but certainly closer to awful than great. The acting from most of the cast in this one is pretty poor although Lisa Wilcox makes a pretty good stab at the heroine and she's certainly nice to look at. What saves this movie though is the superb special effects, a great 80's soundtrack and of course Freddy played again by the great Robert Englund. Also some pretty inventive deaths with the highlight being the cockroach transformation and Freddies "death", yeah right Fred seeya in part Five. You can't help think though that if New Line Cinema weren't so hell bent on getting a Nightmare on Elm Street film out every year and had a bit more time between movies the quality would have stayed higher.

Rambo III (1988)

Real Action Movie with a Real Action Star

[10/10 · 12 January 2007]

Rambo III has a reputation of being a flop, mainly because it underperformed in the USA for some reason ( it took about a third of what Rambo First Blood Part II made at the box office there). However it was a massive success everywhere else in the world, I remember going to see it in the cinema in 1988 and it was a packed house. It was also well known that at the time Rambo III was the most expensive movie ever made and of course Sly Stallone was taking home his usual huge pay cheque. Looking at Rambo III now though makes me nostalgic for the time when films like this were getting made. This movie is absolutely huge in scope, it looks amazing with some of the most impressive action sequences ever put on film and Stallone is at his peak here, maybe not acting wise but certainly in the muscle side of things, he is absolutely huge giving arch rival Schwarzenegger a real run for his money. Also respect is due to the man because that really is him riding horses feet away from explosions and getting dragged beneath a tank. What lets the film down slightly is the villain, who is so over the top it just looks silly. Richard Crenna returns and is as reliable as ever as Col Trautman, also returning to do the score is Jerry Goldsmith who delivers another superb soundtrack to all the mayhem. Goldsmith and Crenna will be missed if and when Rambo IV gets off the ground, fingers crossed it does and it gives us some much needed old school action! Despite the fact I really like Rambo III I would probably still rate it third in the series... just behind First Blood and the untouchable Rambo First Blood Part II. They just don't make action films on this scale anymore so bring on Rambo IV!

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

A mess

[2/10 · 11 September 2006]

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is a disaster, less than ten years after the wonderful Superman The Movie the series has been downgraded to a cheap Cannon film. Most people know now that Cannon slashed the budget for this film just before it was to be filmed and it is impossible to make a Superman movie on the cheap. These films are very reliant on their special effects, we must believe Superman is flying and using all his various Super powers and this film just didn't have the budget to convince the audience. The same awful effect of a greenish Superman flying towards the screen is used over and over again, every special effect looks cheap and nasty. If thats not bad enough the story is very poor and makes little sense. I felt sorry for the actors and the director as they were on a loser from the start. Christopher Reeve looks like he knows he is making a bad film and gives easily his worst performance as Superman and even more so as Clark Kent, also he must take some of the blame as he came up with the dodgy "rid the world of nuclear missiles story". Funny thing is even though the whole world knows Superman is going to pluck all the missiles out of the air and throw them into the sun they continue to launch them! Why not just say OK fair enough just take them all Superman, oh and by the way what exactly is going to stop the Red Army from marching across Europe now Supes? The UK for instance would have had no Nuclear Detterent??? But I don't really want to get bogged down in the whole Political side of this film, neither did Reeve's either as his story seems just an excuse for Lex Luthor to release the worst villain in any Superhero movie, Nuclear Man, or maybe Mulletman... whatever, he looks more like the lead singer of Whitesnake than a credible villain. Also on the acting side even Gene Hackman who is nearly always fantastic doesn't look in the mood to put the effort in. The less said about Jon Cryer and Marc Pillow the better, they are poor substitutes for Ned Beattie and Terence Stamp from the first two Superman films. What a shame Reeve's Superman ended up like this, best to remember him in the first two movies.

Firefox (1982)

Something different for Eastwood

[7/10 · 4 September 2006]

Firefox isn't your usual Eastwood film, he's almost branching out into Star Wars territory here with this Sci-Fi heavy Cold War Spy thriller. The effects like every 80's film have dated badly but for a movie made in 1982 they are rather good. Eastwood directs himself in what is a pretty average performance by his own high standards. The majority of the cast is made up by British character actors. Warren Clarke is really good but Freddie Jones and Nigel Hawthorne are pretty hammy. Also Raiders of the Lost Ark fans can spot Ronald Lacey playing Semelovsky a Jewish scientist. The first half of the film is a spy thriller and can be pretty nail biting at times as Clint gets his papers checked at regular intervals. Also he's suffering from the same post Vietnam War disorder that John Rambo had in First Blood and that really adds to the tension. The second half is more like Star Wars and is really great stuff. So better ice up at a cold one and enjoy Firefox for what it is, Cold War entertainment at it's best.

Rocky (1976)

Classic

[10/10 · 3 September 2006]

Rocky is not only by far the best of the series it is also in my opinion one of the greatest movies of all time. Sylvester Stallone is amazing in this. Add the fact he wrote the movie and you can see he deserves his superstar status. Ten years later he was doing stuff like Cobra but never mind! Rocky is as they say a true underdog story, a boxing story and above all a love story between Rocky and a shy pet shop worker called Adrian. Also a friendship between him and Adrians brother Paulie, a bitter man with a chip on his shoulder but a good guy underneath. Also Boxing trainer Mickey played by a superb Burgess Meridith and World Champion Appolo Creed played by the under-rated Carl Weathers. All the ingredients make this an amazingly uplifting movie. Praise to Bill Conti too for producing the now very familiar music, although there is very little of it at the beginning only when Rocky starts to train for the big fight. The film has so may memorable images, especially when Rocky runs up the steps in Philadelphia. Also loads of endlessly quotable lines, many of which are very funny. On a final note, one thing I have noticed about the Rocky movies, Rockys career seems to run very close to Stallones in as such if Rocky is on top of his career then so is Stallone in Hollywood. Rocky II is similar to this but III and IV are just pure entertainment and V tries to get back to the style of this one. Rocky Balboa (out at the end of 2006) will have to be some movie to come close to this one thats for sure.

King Kong (2005)

Awful remake

[4/10 · 16 July 2006]

I hated this version of King Kong. I have waited a long time to see this film and was really looking forward to it. All I got was a film no better than Jurassic Park 3. CGI driven films are getting really boring and King Kong proves this. When the 1933 film came out it was a huge success because audiences had never seen anything like it, sadly we have seen this all before ever since Jurassic Park came out thirteen years ago. Peter Jackson seems to be able to release anything and the critics will bend over backwards to heap praise on him. The Lord of the Rings series was pretty good but not the classics we are being led to believe. Why is this version so long when it adds nothing that the 1933 version had. Also it doesn't look like Kong just a giant Gorilla, OK the special effects look great (yawn) blah blah blah. Give me the 1976 version over this any day at least they tried something different. What seals it for me is the awful last line from miscast Jack Black.

Above the Law (1988)

Good debut for Seagal

[7/10 · 20 May 2006]

It was films like this that built Seagal a fan base that are willing to put up with the rubbish he has made since his last decent film "Exit Wounds" in 2001. I know this film as Nico and Seagal puts in a great performance that set him out as an action star to watch. The film has great fight scenes and a great villain in Henry Silva. Another bonus is a pre Total Recall/Basic Instinct Sharon Stone. I would probably rate this about Seagals third best film after Under Siege and Hard to Kill. I would like to think he could escape the DTV films he makes now and return to these sorts of movies. Pam Grier completes a pretty strong cast for an actor making his debut.

Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Superb Action Movie

[9/10 · 7 May 2006]

MI III just might be the greatest action movie ever made, its certainly the best Mission Impossible film by far. It has the best villain, story and stunts, actually the stunts and action are out of this world. Tom Cruise is on the top of his game and is ably supported by the rest of the IMF team, especially Ving Rhames who is as great as ever. The film grips you with the opening scene and never lets up, if I had one small complaint it would be that I would have liked a bit more humour, but there was some funny lines between Cruise and Rhames. If you are going to only see one blockbuster film this year....... go and see Superman Returns if you are going to see two go and see this! I watched this last night and it was a great way to spend a Saturday night, I hope this breaks every box office record going. Nice one Tom.