Reviews

I rented this video a few weeks ago when I was unable to bring myself to rent any more of the trash that had been in theaters last summer. So I wandered through the "favorites" section and came across Fight Club. I had been passing this one on the shelves for five years but decided tonight I'd give it a try.

In a word, WOW!

I had expected a typical matter-of-fact movie about guys who like to fight each other, a standard Hollywood plot twist or two and then the good guy beats the bad guy in the big fight and rides off with the quirky-but-adorable love interest in the end. Boy was I wrong.

I did get the film about guys fighting, but there was also so much more. This film speaks on so many levels I'm still sorting it out weeks later. It has cutting social commentary on modern life, consumerism, good and evil, the male psyche, philosophy, and of course, fighting. The love interest was definitely quirky but pretty darn far from adorable. This is no Hollywood picture. The dialog pulls no punches, and there are plot twists sharp enough to make you lose your lunch.

I watched this thing five times on five consecutive nights just trying to take it all in. You can watch it five times and see five different movies. It works as an action flick, a dark comedy, a twisted romance, an art film, a mystery, and a satire. If you haven't seen this picture I highly recommend renting Fight Club. You won't be disappointed.

I hate this movie. The acting is third-rate (except for Diesel, who is OK within the limits of his character), the plot is ridiculously contrived, and the characters are two-dimensional cardboard cutouts. There is nothing redeeming about the story and it offers absolutely no insight on anything meaningful.

That said, whenever I find this movie on my on-screen cable guide, my fingers inexplicably move the cursor to it and press "OK". Maybe there's something about brightly-colored cars, hot chicks and revving engines that affects me on a subconscious level. Maybe it's the cutting-edge soundtrack or Vin Diesel's bald head. Whatever it is, I can't stop watching this movie. Please help me!!!!!

This is one of my top-ten favorite movies of all time. It's quite easy to dismiss this film based on its genre (barbarian slash-em-up) and the limited acting ability of the star (Schwarzenegger), but Conan is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Ok, the story is fairly standard, and the principal actors (Schwarzenegger, Sandahl Bergman & Gerry Lopez) are competent but not outstanding. There are a few brief but memorable performances from James Earl Jones and Max von Sydow that help lend weight to the film, but the real stars are Poledouris' score and the cinematography. I have never seen a more beautifully-shot film in my life. The costumes, props and art direction are all top-notch. They could take all of the dialog out of the movie, and just have the music and pictures and it would still be worth watching.

To fully appreciate Conan, though, you have to watch it and then watch another barbarian-type film from any era (Beastmaster, Krull, etc.) and the difference will be stunning.

This film would have been better if they'd cut out all the junk about the murders and the therapy group and made it into a Red Shoe Diaries episode. There were a few very funny lines thrown in during the group sessions, but they're not enough to save the picture. Really bad movie with some really great sex scenes!

Despite being an ultra-violent sci-fi action picture with comic-book violence and dark humorous overtones, the storyline in RoboCop is almost Shakespearian in style. The plot is a vague retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with a computer-age twist. The late Officer Alex Murphy returns as a cybernetic revenant to avenge his own murder, and at the same time struggles with his own monstrous nature.

I rank RoboCop among the top 10 science fiction films of all time for its poignant if unsubtle social commentary on the 80s, its storyline, and of course, the special effects. The acting is effective for the genre. Kurtwood Smith is outstanding as the evil gang leader. Most of all I liked RoboCop because it is the only time I can remember actually being scared in the theater. It scared me even more the second time I saw it even though I knew what was coming.

A word about the violence: This may be the most violent film ever made. I understand that when the MPAA originally rated it, it received an 'X' rating -- the first film ever to get an 'X' rating for *violence*. A few scenes got clipped to get down to an 'R', but those scenes are restored in the director's cut.

I think this is Verhoeven's masterpiece, and I'm proud to have it in my collection.