Speed (1994)

4 / 5
Tagline: Get ready for rush hour.
Directed by: Jan de Bont
Written by: Graham Yost
Actors include: Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper
Genre: Action, Thriller
Length: 116 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
The bus that could not go under 50...it's beyond duh duh but that's probably what makes it so easy to watch. A mad bomber is ticked off and decides to wire a bus so that it will explode if anyone tries to get off or if they drop the speed. After something goes wrong with the bus driver passenger Sandra Bullock (who had her license revoked for speeding I believe) has to take the reigns. Bomb specialist Jack (Keanu Reeves) boards the bus to try and devise a solution but of course things are getting desperate. See they end up on a stretch of unfinished road, a passenger jumps even though they aren't allowed and several other exciting action sequences occur. This should be pretty much exactly what one would expect and not a penny more. Fun to watch, not exactly groundbreaking but worth a view for those who are bored, I still can't believe this has a sequel though...

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

The River Wild (1994)

3.5 / 5 July '10
Tagline: The vacation is over
Directed by: Curtis Hanson
Written by: Denis O'Neill
Actors include: Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon, John C. Reilly
Genre: Thriller, Action
Length: 145 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
A rather fun little action thriller with a few silly elements and oddly Meryl Streep being a silly river rafter with an uninterested husband and kids. She decides to take the boy and husband rafting on a nice vacation in the wild. Things are great until they come across a group of other rafters that are clearly up to no good. They've robbed a location and are now on the getaway with a bag of money and a gun. Kevin Bacon and John C. Reilly head up the bad guys who are trying to be nice but they need the river guide for escape. It's got a few moments of excitement, particularly when it comes to especially dangerous rapids that they are being forced to endure. It's predictable and a bit hammy but the scenery is nice, the acting is fine and if you want an adventure movie with a bit of danger this should satisfy.

Availability:  On DVD

Death Wish V: The Face Of Death aka Death Wish 5 (1994)

3.5 / 5 Jan '11
Tagline: The vigilante is back...
Directed by: Alan A. Goldstein,
Written by: Michael Colleary, Brian Garfield
Actors include: Charles Bronson, Lesley-Anne Down, Michael Parks
Genre: Action, Thriller, Crime
Length: 95 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
So if you are looking for a comedy filled with ridiculously impossible stunts and unrealistic everything then you need to see this. I laughed until I just about cried, and I found this immensely entertaining...but to say it's a "good movie" is rather difficult. So this is the last in the Death Wish series which I generally love...at this point Charles Bronson is rather aged, and in love with a fashion designer person with a little girl. Little girl's Father happens to be some sort of mobster bad guy who's posse attacks Bronson's girlfriend. What choice does he have but to go all vigilante on their asses? This time he isn't always using guns and easy weapons like that...no he goes for poisons, wood chippers and saws and things...(which don't seem to really belong at a fashion design warehouse but what do I know?). It's got plenty of insane violence, enough to satisfy most anyone and plenty 'o Bronson, what more could you want?

Availability:  On DVD