Witness (1985)

4 / 5 May '10
Tagline: Harrison Ford is John Book - A big city cop who knows too much. His only evidence: a small boy who's seen too much...
Directed by: Peter Weir
Written by: William Kelley, Pamela Wallace
Actors include: Lukas Haas, Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Length: 112 minute
Banned: Nope

Review:
This was a rather exciting and tense thriller with an unusual premise. Harrison Ford plays a cop named John Book who is sent to solve the crime of a murdered Police Officer found in a bathroom. The thing is, the witness is a little Amish boy who's Family want nothing to do with the Police but of course they are forced to work together. They also have to hide out in Amish county so John Book has to get used to doing things a little differently. It's a bit of a touching film as everyone learns a little something from one another and it has a bit of a sense of humor which I suppose is why it has more of a broad appeal than most thrillers. The thing is, this tale involves other Police Officers and nowhere is really safe anymore, and that's where it really gets exciting. The acting is really impressive and in our cast we also get Danny Glover, Kelly McGillis and a very young Lukas Haas and the story is very well made too. Definitely recommended to most everyone, heck even my Grandparents seemed to like it!

Availability:  On DVD

To Live And Die In L.A. (1985)

3.5 / 5 May '10
Tagline: The director of "The French Connection" is on the streets again!
Directed by: William Friedkin
Written by: William Friedkin, Gerald Petievich
Actors include: William Petersen, Willem Dafoe, John Pankow
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Length: 116 minutes
Banned: Norway

Review:
I was not as enamored with this as I'd thought I might be. I adored The French Connection, and this has a rather similar nature, it's just not as effective and it has a few problems with it. First of all the plot is kinda silly, it's all about counterfeit money...seriously. An idiotically obsessed Cop (William Petersen) gets a boner for revenge against a counterfeitter when his Partner is killed two days before retirement (seriously...cliche city!). His new partner wants to play by the rules but he's a frickin' moron who is determined to commission counterfeit money from Willem Dafoe. The music is horrendous, it's all done by Wang Chung who spent most of the movie pretending they were Tangerine Dream, distractingly bad. The first half of the film also doesn't have a heck of a lot going on, a few fine moments jumbled in with a lot of mediocre stuff. The last half is exciting, particularly the ending which definitely made up for many shortcomings it has. The film is quite violent which I appreciate, and there is a pretty awesome chase scene here too but I've seen better. It's worth a watch, but hang in there and don't expect to be as impressed by this as some of the other similar thrillers out there.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

The New Kids (1985)

4 / 5 Aug '10
Tagline: The kids learned three things about southern hospitality, blood, sweat and terror!
Directed by: Sean S. Cunningham
Written by: Stephen Gyllenhaal, Brian Taggert
Actors include: Shannon Presby, Lori Laughlin, James Spader
Genre: Thriller, Horror
Length: 89 minutes
Banned: Iceland

Review:
Teehee, well this starts out like an insanely cheap teeny bopper flick it morphs into one heck of a bizarre and satisfying revenge flick so stick with it. Brother Charlie (Eddie Jones) and Sister Abby (Lori Laughlin yes Rebecca from Full House) are orphaned and they end up living at their Uncle's house. Uncle and wife are working on making a little theme park about Christmas, and together they all restore the park. It's not all happy though because Abby is one heck of a pretty girl and the local thugs have noticed. When she refuses each and every one of them a date, war is on and it's really not pretty (it actually goes a lot further than I thought it would dare). There are knives being pulled, they keep trying to light Abby on fire and ultimately a huge showdown occurs at the theme park (which involves many deaths with the rides which is awesome). It's got a lot more to offer than one might think, but you really wouldn't know it was from the same guy who directed Friday the 13th. Also be prepared to laugh hysterically at James Spader who plays one of the main thugs and looks like an albino, and has a terrible accent.

Availability:  On DVD

Massacre In Dinosaur Valley (1985) aka Stranded In Dinosaur Valley aka Nudo E Selvaggio

2.5 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Michele Massimo Tarantini
Written by: Michele Massimo Tarantini
Actors include: Michael Sopkiw, Suzane Carvalho, Milton Rodríguez
Genre: Action, Adventure, Horror
Length: 88 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Extremely lackluster and halfassed "cannibal" movie (though there is very little cannibalism. There is however a ton of nudity if that is your thing you might enjoy this? A fellow who acts much like McGuyver wants to go to Dinosaur Valley (which is dangerous what with the cannibals and man eating fish etc) so he manages to catch a plane ride with some models. When the plane crashes down off course they must struggle for survival despite clashing personalities and everything attacking them. They did try a little with blood near the beginning but it became clear that it was nothing more than a jungle porn really as it raged on. It's cheesy but not enough to really be funny, so it is probably one of the least entertaining of it's kind, yet I was still able to sit through it. At least the scenery is nice right? Oh well, another failure but for super big fans of this sort of thing it might be worth a gander.

Availability:  On DVD

Commando (1985)

4 / 5  Jan '11
Tagline:  If there's a mission that no man could survive...then *he's* the man for the job.
Directed by:  Mark L. Lester
Written by:  Jeph Loeb, Matthew Weisman
Actors include:  Arnold Schwarzenegger, Alyssa Milano, Rae Dawn Chong
Genre:  Action
Length:  90 minutes
Banned:  Nope

Review: 
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Commando...a former Commando who has now retired to pet deer and lick ice cream with his daughter (played by a young Alyssa Milano).  Some army men show up and want Arnold to help since his former Army buddies are being bumped off one by one but he won't budge.  That is until the bad guys come swooping in and abduct his daughter...then he has no choice but to co-operate!  The only problem is they want to force him to kill the President!  It's filled with amusing one-liners, violence and trickery...all the good stuff that action movies are made up of.  Satisfying though silly in many places, this is one to watch when you don't feel like thinking...just watching stuff blow up.

Availability:  On Blu-Ray & DVD

Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

4 / 5
Tagline:  No man, no law, no war can stop him.
Directed by:  George P. Cosmatos
Written by:  David Morrell, Kevin Jarre
Actors include:  Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Charles Napier
Genre:  Action, Adventure, Thriller
Length:  96 minutes
Banned:  Nope

Review:

Well, it's far more over the top feeling than the original, but I enjoyed both about the same.  Both are rather nicely filmed, and both are violent (though I think this one with the rocket launcher and exploding arrows takes the cake) and both should make any action film fan happy.  This time Rambo is in jail breaking hot rocks in the sun when he's offered an out, if he goes to Vietnam and takes pictures of any POWs he can find he may receive a pardon.  Of course he volunteers, and quickly finds where the POWs are kept and he goes on a rampage killing and blowing up everyone in his path.  It's pretty exciting and action packed and yes the body count is very high.  He can't follow instructions and neither can the Army so things get out of control of course.  The actual character of Rambo could use a little personality but I'm sure that's just a small quibble since to most it won't matter.  I enjoyed it and so will most, it's exactly what you think it is.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray