Reviews

This pilot for the successful TV series is a dark, gritty thriller which begins with a young couple being blown away in their car by two assassins. LA's toughest cops Dave Starsky and Ken 'Hutch' Hutchinson are called onto the scene, believing that they were the intended victims, so they roam the seedy streets, looking for answers. They then realise that there are bad guys on both sides of the law. Compared to the series, this TV movie is considerably more serious. Although Starsky has several witty lines and the chemistry between him and Hutch is apparent, people are gunned down in cold blood and the two heroes trust no one but themselves. Soul and Glaser are good and the action sequences are raw and exciting, featuring a downtown car chase, a punch-up inside a gangster's mansion and the climactic chase/gunfight. S & H are the guys who clearly paved the way for the likes of Bodie & Doyle and Crockett & Tubbs, with their humorous banter and crimefighting antics. The first 2 seasons of S & H were pretty tough and violent, until they were told to tone it down and it became more corny.

The Driver apparently, like some other early Walter Hill movies, failed to set the box office alight, but on its own, it stands as a pretty competent, edge-of-the-seat thriller which begins and ends with two pulsating car chases. Ryan O'Neal is The Driver, a highly skilled getaway man, also a loner who likes listening to country music. Bruce Dern is the obsessed cop who is hell-bent on capturing 'The Cowboy'. What follows is a cross/double-cross plot which culminates into a fiery climax and a surprise ending.

I bought this from HMV on Monday, because I wanted to check out this early Sly Stallone movie, and I've got to say that he made a sterling job of it, both behind and in front of the camera. The story (also by Stallone) borrows a little off ROCKY, but is nonetheless entertaining. Three brothers dream of escaping from the dreary Hell's Kitchen of the 1940s, so one of the guys, Cosmo (Stallone) persuades the youngest bro (Lee Canalito), a big, musclebound labourer, to take part in a wrestling competition in the hope that they will become rich. However, things are never as easy as they seem, as the brothers set out to discover. Critics have said in the past that Sly could never do comedy, but in PA, he has some funny one-liners and he displays wit, warmth and charisma as conman-with-a-heart Cosmo. Note the dramatic change in his character as the movie progresses. The supporting cast is strong, including Armand Assante as the oldest brother who too undergoes a change in character and Frank McRae as an over-the-hill wrestler. There is one nice directorial touch during the film where Cosmo looks through the window of a girl he's been chasing and sees his brother's walking stick next to her bare feet. The wrestling sequences are well handled, as well, with plenty of blood and pounding flesh. I reckon this movie influenced countless 80s B-movie fare such as A.W.O.L. and THE CAGE, but this is the real deal, as it's better acted and pretty realistic. I'd say this was one of Sly's best, alongside FIRST BLOOD and NIGHTHAWKS.

Arnold Schwarzenegger hit it big with this pulsating, extremely violent and nailbiting thriller about a group of supertough soldiers who are being stalked by a vicious hunter from outer space. The special effects are great for its time, the action sequences are hard-hitting, especially the battle against the terrorists and the final 20 minutes and in between, there are moments of suspense.

I used to like this movie, because of at the time, I loved watching Sly mow down the bad guys Rambo-style, but I now understand why people hate it. The bad guys are weak, killing for no reason, the dialogue is cliched and Stallone basically does his best (?) Clint Eastwood impression, posing tough and whirling his gun. If you want to see a decent Stallone cop thriller, watch Nighthawks - it's believable, suspenseful, exciting and features a much more charismatic villain.

COMMANDO is a guilty pleasure, hammily acted by all concerned and outrageous, but it's a fast-moving all-action blood 'n' guts thriller with a couple of funny (and grisly) moments. Arnie Schwarzenegger capitalises on his previous success as THE TERMINATOR by strapping on more firearms than ever, except this time, he's the good guy, a retired supersoldier who goes on a rampage once again when a gang of terrorists kidnap his only child and promise to release her if he assassinates a Latino president. Arnie knows that even if he carries out the task that they'll kill her anyway, so he spectacularly escapes from a plane and goes after some of the thugs who may know where his daughter is. With the help of a reluctant sidekick (Chong), he steals guns, bombs and grenades from an arms shop, hijacks a plane then he goes, all tooled up, for the battle of his life, in order to save his girl and take on Bennett (Vernon Wells), a psychopathic enemy from his past. This is one of Arnie's most action-packed movies and it features a fairly long list of renowned heavies, including Dan Hedaya (TIGHTROPE), Vernon Wells (MAD MAX 2), David Patrick Kelly (THE WARRIORS, 48 HRS), Bill Duke (PREDATOR) and Branscombe Richmond (RENEGADE TV series, ACTION JACKSON). It is also one of the most edited movies on TV, second to ROBOCOP. Since it premiered on ITV back in '92, lots of scenes have been cut such as Cooke's impalement, the shed sequence (when Arnie is being shot at and he kills those guys with gardening tools), the knife-fight with Bennett and the final fistfight. I now have the uncut version but I believe there was another scene where Arnie chopped off a baddie's arm.( the bit when he axes the man in the groin is still intact)

Before he carved a couple of more Rocky movies and set box offices alight as super-soldier John Rambo, Sly Stallone starred in this tense police thriller, alongside EMPIRE STRIKES BACK's Billy Dee Williams and Nigel Davenport. Hot Dutch actor Rutger Hauer made his Hollywood debut as the villain Wulfgar, an elusive terrorist who has come to New York to restore his credibility after a bomb raid on a London department store went wrong. Sly and Billy are two tough cops, DaSilva and Fox, who are transferred to an anti-terrorist unit, headed by Davenport, who gives them the essential combat training to tackle Wulfgar. Apparently, in one UK movie mag, Stallone cited Nighthawks as one of his best movies and it's not hard to see why. The story nicely builds up from one scene to another, involving individual characters, until the obligatory confrontation between 'good' (Stallone) and 'evil' (Hauer). Some years ago, when this came on TV, guys in my class watched it and told me how boring they thought it was. I'll admit, the first 40 or so minutes are talky and things pick up after the two cops ID Wulfgar in a night club, then give chase. If you are expecting Nighthawks to be an all-action affair in the vein of RAMBO, DEMOLITION MAN or even ASSASSINS, you'll be disappointed, but nevertheless, this is purely a taut thriller flick with memorable scenes such as the disco showdown, the foot chase, the tram hijack, Sly practising at the shooting range ( I saw this bit in an advert years ago on ITV ) and the exciting finale which has definitely been censored in UK VHS and DVD versions. In a way, this was probably Stallone's first proper action movie of the 80s before FIRST BLOOD and he also manages to perfect that famous 'death stare' of his which was never seen on Rocky Balboa.

Mel Gibson first rose to international stardom, playing a futuristic, embittered (ex)-cop in MAD MAX, and since then, he tried his luck in Hollywood, appearing alongside the likes of Anthony Hopkins, Sigourney Weaver, Diane Keaton and Sissy Spacek, but with little success. However, in 1987, he returned with a new look and a new, hard-hitting role in LETHAL WEAPON, a gritty, violent police thriller, directed by veteran Richard Donner (SUPERMAN, THE GOONIES) and co-starring Danny Glover, then relatively unknown. Everybody knows the plot - mentally disturbed LA 'tec, Martin Riggs (Gibson), depressed over his wife's death, a former Vietnam killing machine and who doesn't care if he lives or dies, is teamed up with stable family man, the laid-back Roger Murtaugh (Glover). Initially, Murtaugh is reluctant to have this 'lethal weapon' at his side, but gradually, they bond when CIA-trained drugrunners kidnap Roger's daughter and the two cops have to fight their way out of a deadly situation. The first Lethal Weapon was definitely the best. Like the original Dirty Harry, it was a character study of its main character, a man on the edge, not afraid to kill anybody in the line of duty, in fact all the more willing to do it so that he can lash out his inner demons. He is also a loner, because of his dangerous attitude, nobody will go near him, not even Murtaugh, but as they slowly get to know each other, they do reach an understanding and Riggs' suicidal thoughts are momentarily put aside, because he's finally found someone he can relate to, and the fact that Murtaugh has a family. As an action thriller, LW works efficiently. The way the two cops relate a whore's death to a drug-smuggling operation involving Vietnam veterans is maybe a little far fetched, almost like a TV cop series episode, but Richard Donner keeps the action tight. Before LW, there were a whole load of actioners starring Sly, Arnie, Bronson and Norris where the good guy kills loads of bad guys with not even a scratch. In this movie which sort of paved the way for DIE HARD (both were produced by Joel silver), the heroes are ordinary human beings who are shot, tortured, electrocuted and able to express their feelings. There are scenes where Riggs is crying over a photo of his dead wife and Murtaugh curses and weeps when his captors prise his daughter away from him. Can you imagine Arnie and Sly doing that? Maybe Stallone could've done with the right script ( in Rocky 2 & 3 and First Blood, there were emotional scenes involving his characters).This is what lifted Lethal Weapon above the movies of the same ilk that came before it.

Despite taking its cue from movies like Alien and Predator to some extent, Pitch Black is nevertheless an effective suspense thriller, featuring a largely unknown cast ( apart from Keith David, who's appeared in THEY LIVE, MARKED FOR DEATH and ROAD HOUSE ). The hideous creatures were pretty well done, a nice touch being that they are sensitive to light and Vin Diesel brought an air of menace as the dangerously unpredictable SOB on whom the fate of the others depends. The story does have some inventiveness such as the fact that amongst the stranded survivors is a convicted killer and a cop protecting him who may not be all he seems.

As everybody knows, this is the film that turned Western hero Clint into the superstar he is today and it also introduced the .44 Magnum revolver, 'the most powerful handgun in the world'. Bullitt may have been the first movie to feature a rule-breaking cop, but Dirty Harry takes that premise to an extreme level, focusing on a San Francisco cop who is a lot more violent and sadistic than the character Steve McQueen portrayed back in '68. Harry is disgusted by the bureaucracy and red tape that prevents him from dishing out further justice to those who really deserve it and he resorts to more violent methods when a deranged gunman named Scorpio (Andy Robinson) terrorizes the city. Don Siegel handles the action sequences brilliantly with the suspense enhanced by Lalo Schifrin's spooky score. P.S. a couple of years ago, I was looking for a Lee Marvin action film called Prime Cut and so I phoned a second hand video shop to enquire about it and they said that it was like Dirty Harry. If anyone's seen both these movies, let me know if this is true.

This is what would feature in every episode of this cult classic sci-fi action thriller series which was based on the hugely popular Marvel comics character. The pilot episode explains, of course, how and why Dr. David Banner (played expertly by Bill Bixby) became the Hulk (Lou Ferrigno), a 7ft musclebound man-monster into whom Banner would automatically transform when made angry, scared or frustrated. After taking an overdose of gamma radiation and losing his best friend, Dr. Elaina Marks in a fire which was accidentally caused by inquisitive reporter Jack McGee, Banner is believed to be dead so he spends the rest of the series searching for a cure. Along the way, he has rescued and helped many people, only to change into the Hulk when angered by stressful situations and mainly some villains who stand in his way.I remember back in '89 when ITV repeated the third series of the Hulk, every Saturday evenings, and there were some great episodes such as The Snare, in which David was invited to a man's island, only to discover to his horror that his new 'friend' liked hunting humans as well as animals.Captive Night and Nine Hours were both good, exciting thriller episodes where David had to pit his wits against dangerous criminals, winning out at the end thanks to the strength and brute force of the Hulk. The Psychic was probably the most touching episode of the series. A young woman (played by Bixby's wife) who can see into the future when having close contact with people knows that David is the Hulk and she believes him to be involved in the assault of a teenager. Once she meets David, though, they share their traumas and become close friends. However, when the boy dies, David is so distraught that he contemplates suicide, only to find out through the girl's visions that Jack McGee is to meet a cruel fate. This leads to a gripping climax to the story, with the Hulk saving McGee for the umpteenth time and cornering the real murderer. Death Mask was perhaps the most chilling episode, focusing on a serial killer, with SIMON & SIMON's Gerald McRaney giving a great performance as a mentally disturbed cop. A couple of years ago, I managed to catch episodes of the 4th series from the Sci-Fi Channel. Prometheus was terrific, with Ferrigno having a bit more screen time than usual as the Hulk (in nothing but shorts!)as he tries to get out of a military complex and in Free Fall, there's a cool scene of David about to transform in mid-air as he's being shot at by an evil cop who gets his just desserts when the Hulk chases him. Then there was the now classic 2-parter, The First, where David and the Hulk battle with a villainous Hulk, just when David has finally found a serum to cure him of his affliction. Of the 5th (and last) series, Veteran was the best episode, packed with full-on Hulk action as the green one pummels a sadistic torturer and prevents the assassination of a senatorial candidate.

For those of you who haven't seen this, I won't spoil the "surprise" for you, except to say that I've owned FRENZY on VHS for two years now and it is quite a powerful Hitch murder thriller, making extremely fine use of its Central London locations and featuring many suspenseful moments which are enhanced by excellent camera work. Jon 'MacBeth' Finch gives a convincing portrayal as Dick Blaney, a down-on-his-luck ex-RAF officer who has just been sacked as a barman after 'stealing' some gin. He is penniless and he can't even afford to bet on a winning horse recommended to him by his best pal, Bob Rusk (Barry Foster), a well-dressed fruit and veg merchant. Meanwhile, a series of gruesome killings are plaguing the area. All the victims are young women who are stripped of their clothes and strangled with neckties. The killer is an impotent psycho-fiend who gets his pleasure from brutalising his victims. As if things can't get any worse for him, Dick becomes prime suspect after both his ex-wife Brenda and sexy girlfriend Babs are found dead. I won't reveal who the killer is, but you'll find out for yourselves anyway 30-40 minutes into the film. The supporting actors do an able job, considering none of them were very famous (maybe with the exception of Bernard Cribbins, cast against type as a seedy landlord). Alec McCowan is effective as the detective on the trail of the Necktie killer, Billie Whitelaw makes for a willing adversary against Finch and Anna Massey provides some brief warmth as the beautiful girl who stands by Blaney as he goes on the run and faces persecution.