Globetrotting patriotic nonsense with Harrison Ford looking as feeble as ever as CIA masterbrain (!) Jack Ryan (hopefully not JD’s smarter brother), Ann Archer looking awful after her umpteenth face-lift (look at that nose!) and Willem Dafoe hamming it up to elephantine proportions as whatever he’s supposed to be (I dozed off from time to time))
The film looks a little like this: zip - we’re in Washington - zap - we’re in Panama - zop - we’re in Colombia - zup - we’re the hell are we? And everywhere something exciting happens, an explosion, an assault, a murder, a kiss followed by a murder …
Best scene: an assault on Jack Ryan and his men in the centre of Bogota
All Ryan’s men are killed, all cars blown up with anti-tank weapons, nearly the entire city quarter destroyed … but Jack has only a small scratch
Good old Leonard Maltin calls this ‘intelligent and entertaining’
Funny thing is that while watching this kind of silliness, you start rooting for the worst guy around, in this case not one of the criminals (much too stereotyped) but a ultra-agressive neo-con avant-la-lettre, played by Canadian actor Henry Czerny, who wants to blow up the entire sub-continent because there are a few drug dealers around.
Technically the film was well-made
4/10, which is not too bad, according to some people’s rating system
Yeah to mine, ha ha, it would be an ok film. But in many others I get the feeling that every movie beneath 7 is a disaster. I’m not sure about yours, Scherp!
Anyway have watched the 1st Prime Suspect two parter. One of the best things made exclusiveley for TV.
Great acting, great directing, great characters, great crime film. And Helen Mirren at the top.
On a scale of ten, I’d give this film about 6/10
It’s incredibly stupid, but ity’s not dull
Actually, I enjoyed it quite well
I only thought the Willem Dafoe character was boring
And Harrison Ford, well, he’s just Harrison Ford, I have no specific feelings about him or his acting, I never considered him to be a real actor
Honestly, I had never heard before about a scale such as yours
I think usually a 7 means ‘good’, a 6 means ‘okay’, a 5 means ‘average’
That’s at least how it’s done in most schools, both in Holland and Belgium
In movies of a 4-star or 5-star system is more common, that why I rate my films (on this thread) most of the time using the 5-star rating system. Is your system common in Germany ?
My 5-star system :
5 = masterpiece
4 = very good
3 = good
2 = below average
1 = hopeless
0 = the pits
First it was only to mark the films I have seen, cause there is a film again in TV and I have not the slightest idea if I have seen this flic or not. I watch it and halfway through it became clear I knew this flic and it was bad. So originally it was only to avoid time wasting.
Next step was of course to mark them due to their quality.
But I like to differ between the films, even if it’s sometimes not so easy to change feelings in points. I give the points for every step of quality and I avoid to differ very much between bad films, so they all get zero. In the 10 point system the average gets a 1 or 2 (for some good moments amongst the rubbish). If it’s entertaining in a simple way without greater excitement it gets a 4. And from 6 up to 10 it really becomes interesting.
But for the voting in the film threads I follow the majority and give:
5 very good (= 8-10/10)
4 good (= 6-7)
3 ok (= 4-5)
2 average (= 1-3)
1 bad (= 0)
(If this is how the majority does it)
Maybe I should change my out of 10 system, maybe not.
Or maybe I only stop posting them in the threads.
But … but if you all give 5 for an average flic you all waste the lower points. And points are so precious in this often pointless world.
Yesterday I watched it in Cinema with two buddies. IMO not as good as Casino Royale and not very typical for 007. They could also call the Movie Vengeance for …(didn’t wanted to spoil for those who haven’t seen Casino Royale so far). It seems I was the only one who liked it but my buddies say I have a strange taste anyway. So I know you guys (and girls) have a good taste (SW!) so have anybody seen it so far?
Madhouse (dir Jim Clark 1984) starring Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Robert Quarry, Linda Hayden and er…Michael Parkinson! Its a AIP/Amicus co-production. Its great fun!
A young woman (Judy Geeson) is going to live with her husband (Ralph Bates) who is a teacher in the country. Geeson has recently had a mental breakdown, and believes she is being attacked and stalked by someone…
Peter Cushing has a guest role only in this Hammer film, but Joan Collins also stars who is a bit of a Bitch in this. Film is O.K, but a bit on the predictable side.
watched " shoot em up " last night. what a great action fun film.utterly ridiculous but it doesn’t matter it is so tongue in cheek, over the top hilarous.take it as it’s meant to be a fun film and you should love it.even towards the end reminded me of " django" where he shoots with his fingers broken. see this and you’ll never look at a carrot the same way again! ;D
I’m starting the Sabata Trilogy I scored the other day. I’ve seen some bits and pieces here and there, but never the whole she-bang. I’ve been a Van Cleef fan for ever, but Brynner I can take or leave.
A secret service agent (William L. Petersen) is hunting down William Dafoe as he has killed his partner.
Reminds me of a 70’s type thriller in some respects, but just updated with violence and an 80’s score which you will either love or hate. The scenes with Dafoe when he is printing counterfeit money is fascinating to watch, but there are many good moments in this one as film has a good pace and story. Petersen is excellent as he does not give a shit about anything, but does pay the price for this at the end of the film. And director William Friedkin surpasses his car chase from The French Connection in my view.
I enjoyed Quantum of Solace immensely. Being female and somewhat educated, it’s pretty hard to swallow vintage Bond movies’ bimbos and the fake, suave arrogance of the older Bonds. I’m not attracted to Daniel Craig (I’m attracted to you know who, see my handle for clues ;)), but I think his interpretation of Bond really got me into the whole recent Bond franchise. So much so that I got his new Sony Ericsson phone ;D I needed to replace my old, beat-up piece of beep anyway. Daniel Craig really injects a moodiness and psychological complexity into his Bond character. Also, the new Bond women are modern, intelligent, and have the contemporary devil-may-care beauty that vintage Bond girls don’t have; vintage Bond girls are mostly bimbos who are incredulous fleshpots. The new Bond girls look unusual and also have a cool moodiness to them like Craig.
Glad to see that you liked it. Some of the critics are far too strict to Quantum of Solace. IMO Daniel Craig is the best for a hard boiled Bond and QoS is a good Action Movie. Sadly Gemma Arterton as Agent Fields was only in a few scenes in the Movie. :-\
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1962/ Dir: Werner Klingler)
Next to the Edgar-Wallace Movie there was another Crime Series successful in the German Cinema: Dr. Mabuse. These Movies were based on the Fritz Lang Movies Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922) and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933). Both Movies had next to the Thriller Stories around the crime-mastermind Dr. Mabuse included also social criticism and political statements for that period. Nothing of them is left with the new installment of a Dr. Mabuse Series in the 60’s. Fritz Lang returned as Director to Germany and made the first “The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse” (1960). Two Mabuse Movie ( The Return of Dr. Mabuse; The invisible Dr. Mabuse) directed by Harald Reinl with Lex Barker should follow. “The Testament of Dr. Mabuse” is the 4th Part of the new Mabuse Series and a Remake of the 1933 Movie with the same Name. This time Dr. Mabuse is imprisoned in a asylum so he couldn’t be responsible for all the crimes we see at the beginning of the movie or? There is an interesting German Cast: Gert Froebe is the Commissar, Harald Junke his Assistant and funny sidekick, Walter Rilla the Professor of the Asylum, Wolfgang Preiss is the mysterious Dr. Mabuse, Senta Berger the beautiful girlfriend of one’s of Mabuse’s Henchman. All of the Henchmen have funny names like Jack the Finger-breaker, Paragraph-Johnny, Eyeball Rolf … The focus of the plot is more on the crimes of the Mabuse Gang as on the Commissar and how he is trying to solve the difficult cases. Some scenes are interesting but more or the less the movie is average. Dr. Mabuse returned in two further movies (Scotland Yard vs. Dr. Mabuse ; The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse). Later Jess Franco and Claude Chabrol should also direct further Mabuse Films but they had nothing to do the German Series of the 60’s.
;D