Black Hawk Down (Ridley Scott, USA, 2001) September 2, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 2000s, Film reviews, Action/Adventure, Thriller/Suspense, War , add a commentDir. Ridley Scott; screenplay by Ken Nolan; starring Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore et al
I was left a little cold by Ridley Scott’s 2001 film about the real life crisis in Somalia. Yes, the visuals are nice, the action set-pieces are well-drilled and the very real sense that ‘war is not a good thing’ is obvious, but the lack of characterisation left the movie as a vacuous excursion in the trenches of the bloody battlefield.
I did, however, like one of the final scenes where the American soldier’s are running away from the gun-waving Somali militia. This was a very powerful sequence, beautiful photographed by Scott.
Frenzy (Alfred Hitchcock, UK, 1972) August 20, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 1970s, Drama, Film reviews, Action/Adventure, Thriller/Suspense, Crime , add a commentDir. Alfred Hitchcock; screenplay by Anthony Shaffer; starring Jon Finch, Alec McCowen, Barry Foster
Hitchcock returned to England to shoot this, his second to last film, about the ‘Necktie murderer’ who is on the loose in London. It’s a down and dirty Hitchcock film that loses the grandiose trappings of big-star leads, beautiful women, and exotic locations, that made some of his well-known classics so iconic. ‘Frenzy’ however is still a well-crafted, effective thriller, set against the backdrop of seventies London with all its changing sexual politics and the affects of globalisation.
Hitchcock is much more explicit in his depiction of the murders here, at times hinting at the exploitation films that would later arrive in the decade. While this isn’t his best work – the coincidental plot is far from the strongest he’s worked with, and the unsympathetic lead character makes it difficult to fully immerse oneself within the mystery – the film is constantly very amusing (Hitchcock’s wry humour is beautifully layered into the film), and some flashes of technical genius remind us that this is indeed the maestro of suspense’s movie. The first revelation and consequent murder is a brilliantly directed piece of film, prolonging the audience to some very real terror. When Hitchcock takes his camera to the murderer’s room as he ushers another victim into it, and then, as the door closes, slowly pulls back, down the stairs and out into the street, the shot really could be from one of his very best films. Sadly, ‘Frenzy’ is a very well-made thriller, but it will be remembered more for the odd piece of stylistic genius than as a whole package.
Along Came A Spider (Lee Tamahori, USA, 2001) August 17, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 2000s, Drama, Film reviews, Action/Adventure, Thriller/Suspense, Crime , add a commentDir. Lee Tamahori; screenplay by Marc Moss; starring Morgan Freeman, Monica Potter, Michael Wincott
Oh dear! Watching a clearly bored Morgan Freeman reprise his role as James Patterson’s Alex Cross is one thing, but watching him in a clichéd, predictable, so-called thriller, with a support cast of equally bored actors, is ten times worse.
The first film ‘Kiss The Girls’ was average at best, but I was expecting more from this one. It’s so predictable you just want to do what the Futureheads have been telling us lately – Skip To The End. When does Micheal Wincott ever play a good guy? We meet him wearing a disguise but immediately you know to point your finger and say – he did it! Don’t worry I’m not spoiling the film for you – it alludes to who the criminal is early on, it’s what happens then that is supposed to be the mystery. Yet, the plot twist towards the end is so ludicrous it feels like the writer (maybe James Patterson, I wouldn’t know, as I haven’t read this particular Cross novel) knows that he’s written a clichéd story and needs to add some suspense. He appears to do this by simply picking a character at random and saying: well, actually there’s more to it.
Joyride (John Dahl, USA, 2001) August 16, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Horror, 2000s, Film reviews, Action/Adventure, Thriller/Suspense , add a commentDir. John Dahl; screenplay Clay Tarver, J.J. Abrahams; starring Steve Zahn, Pete Walker
John Dahl’s excellent thriller uses some old-style Hollywood techniques to make its suspense really work, building real psychological terror on the similar premise that Steven Spielberg’s Duel and Robert Harmon’s The Hitcher used so expertly. Both previous films are slightly better examples of the genre, but Dahl updates the story for the 21st century audience, making for what is a very stylised, edgy thriller with excellent direction and some surprisingly good performances.
Shanghai Knights (David Dobkin, USA, 2003) August 15, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Comedy, 2000s, Film reviews, Action/Adventure, Crime , add a commentDir. David Dobkin; screenplay by Alfred Gough and Miles Miller; starring Owen Wilson, Jackie Chan
This is a rather delightful sequel to Shanghai Noon, switching its attention from the Wild West to the cobbled streets of London. The two hero’s culture clash with England works well, helped by an excellent performance from Owen Wilson and brilliant action choreography from Jackie Chan.
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, USA, 1977)
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 1970s, Film reviews, Action/Adventure, Sci-fi/Fantasy , add a commentDir. Steven Spielberg; screenplay by Steven Spielberg; starring Richard Dreyfuss, Francois Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon
If this isn’t Spielberg’s best film, then it most certainly is his second greatest achievement behind Jaws. It could be looked at as a level of cinematic accomplishment that Spielberg could never re-imagine, an easy comparable for his critics to endlessly debate with their most hated of his movies like Schindler’s List.
If what tainted his film about the holocaust was his Manichean view of the world, at least in part, then this certainly doesn’t hinder CE3K. For me, it’s an example of a kid’s movie made entirely for adults. It recreates that sense of wonder, that fearful, guarded interest into the unknown, that only really works if one still believes that the unknown (the bogeyman, the werewolf, extraterrestrials, Father Christmas) still exists. Spielberg places the audience within the world of the few remaining dreamers – those that still cling to the idea: we’re not alone.
You can see that Spielberg is embodied in Richard Dreyfuss’ character, much like he was Elliot in E.T. There is the disenchantment with the American Dream – a feeling that his children just want to rebel and his wife is only interested in a tidy kitchen – a sort of apprehensive precursor to eighties yuppies and materialism. It’s as if the ‘important’ things in life don’t matter (much like the thought-process of a child), the only thing that needs worrying about is the monster that hides under your bed. The dreamers dare question that not everything is set in stone and their reality has not been made for them.
Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg, USA, 1993) August 13, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 1990s, Film reviews, Action/Adventure, Thriller/Suspense, Sci-fi/Fantasy , add a commentDir. Steven Spielberg; screenplay by Michael Crichton, David Koepp; starring Sam Niell, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough
Having not seen the film for many years what struck me most was the postmodernist and self-reflexive attitude of the film, almost parodying the ‘event’ movie that Spielberg had helped create in the first place. The character of Hammond, constantly alluding to the fact no expense was spared could be the mantra of Jurassic Park’s producers and Spielberg himself, but couple this with the film’s blatant product placement and the idea of a theme park ride (Jurassic Park clothing, lunch boxes, t-shirts, etc., were readily available to the public when the film was released; the theme park ride would come a little later), and you discover a rather interesting aside to the film. Spielberg’s left-wing critics would argue he was cashing in on total commercialism through audience manipulation, whilst others might argue he was wryly satirising mainstream, big-budget blockbusters - the phenomenon he’d help create.
Nevertheless, Jurassic Park is a crowd-pleaser that set a benchmark for special-effects in 1993. The performances could have been better (evidenced with the sequel’s much better acting), but the film’s sense of humour, some excellent set-pieces, and terrific production values, make for a frequently entertaining adventure story.
Identity (James Mangold, USA, 2003) August 11, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Horror, 2000s, Drama, Film reviews, Action/Adventure, Thriller/Suspense, Crime , add a commentDir. James Mangold; screenplay by Micheal Cooney; starring John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, Alfred Molina, Clea Duvall
One of the better thrillers to come out of Hollywood in the last few years, John Cusack plays an ex-cop who gets himself into a little trouble when a storm leaves him and ten others stranded at a remote Motel. The trouble is: someone is killing them one by one.
The problem with Identity is that it does lose something on repeat viewings because for its ending to work satisfactorily it relies on the surprise of the twist. When you know what’s coming, the ending can seem like a let down. Nevertheless, the photography is superb, and John Cusack and Ray Liotta are their usual dependable selves.
Driver, The (Walter Hill, 1978) August 8, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 1970s, Drama, Film reviews, Action/Adventure, Thriller/Suspense, Crime , add a commentDir. Walter Hill; screenplay by Walter Hill; starring Ryan O’Neal, Bruce Dern, Isabella Adjani
Walter Hill’s 1978 film-noir is fascinating in its depiction of Bruce Dern’s desperate attempts to catch the illusive ‘Driver’. The great thing about this film is how the criminal becomes the anti-hero. Hill plays with western, film-noir and action movie genre conventions to great effect, but it’s his two main characters that draw the viewer’s attention. Ryan O’Neal as The Driver is ‘all cool’, while Dern is tired, pissed off and at the end of his tether. There’s some excellent car chases while Dern and O’Neal carry the film with strong performances. I particularly liked how the crook is less corrupt than the cop – it made for an interesting dynamic between the two characters.
Back To The Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985) July 28, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Comedy, 1980s, Desert Island Films, Film reviews, Action/Adventure, Sci-fi/Fantasy , add a commentWhat would you do if you could go back in time and meet your parents when they were teenagers?
That’s the brilliant premise that Back To The Future is built on – the quintessential American Dream movie, which in its infinite time-travel wisdom, brims with as much nostalgia for the fifties as it does concern for the fears and politics of eighties Reagan-era Americana. It is without doubt Robert Zemeckis’ best film in a career very much underappreciated by critics. The mere fact Steven Spielberg got it off the ground may be a reason why Zemeckis, in many quarters, is seen as a knock-off Spielberg understudy. But it’s quite true, whilst Spielberg, Zemeckis, and of course George Lucas, all hailed from a childhood fed on late night fifties B-movies, science-fiction serials, and the television revolution, the others never did encapsulate the comforting nostalgia of the period like Zemeckis achieved so often.
It isn’t strange then that whilst Spielberg phoned home and had Richard Dreyfuss making mash potato mountains, and Lucas went off to fight a war in the stars, Zemeckis and co-writer Bob Gale would quietly concoct Back To The Future - the best science-fiction adventure ever made.
The reason the film is regarded so highly is not because of the near-perfect script (used in many film schools as the blueprint for writing character-driven, narrative cinema) but because it explores such a beautifully enriching idea that anyone can relate to. Like any great sci-fi, those questions of ‘what if’ are carefully investigated by Zemeckis’ warm touch and sprightly direction, from a screenplay infused with humour and intertextual references. The film also stands out from John Hughes’ ideas of the repressive parents, turning the notion on its head to reveal a rather cyclical sense of history and human nature.
Yet the film would be very different had it not been blessed with two such terrific leads. Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd may have pushed their skills as actors further in other productions but they’ve never embraced their characters as well, or with as much comedic chemistry, as in Back To The Future. Lloyd’s Doc Brown is the kind of mad scientist living off a kinetic childlike energy, whose optimistic attitude and moral values suggest, given the chance, he’d make Frankenstein out of dead poets, Peace Corp Protestors, Vietnam heroes and JFK.
His energy is anchored by Fox’s wide-eyed teen who gets himself into a spot of bother, but what is actually happening is he’s having the adventure of a lifetime. Of course, one cannot go without mentioning the excellent support from Crispin Glover as Fox’s Dad, and Thomas F. Wilson as the school bully.
It is only when you evaluate all these component parts and pause to contemplate the filmmakers inspired use of time travel’s infinite possibilities, that the full sense of Back To The Future’s true genius prevails.
Of course, Back To The Future produced two sequels and it’s extremely difficult to look at them as separate entities. The original film is superior, but the second showed time-travel at its most dark and exhibited Zemeckis questioning the idea of such an ability having an adverse effect on a world that simply could not deal with it. The third showed us that second sequels are not always bad, eclipsing Back To The Future Part II by virtue of returning to the values and ideals that made the original such a joy. Forget your Indiana Jones, your Star Wars, your Three Colours, and your Lord Of The Rings – this is the finest cinematic trilogy there is.
The best thing to do is buy the box set and get all the films together. The best version is probably the region 1 edition as it has additional extras over other regions. However, both regions 2 and 4 contain DTS tracks for all the films, whereas the region 1 does not. NB. A new U.K edition adds an additional bonus disc and corrects the aspect ratio problems that occured on the early releases.