The B Action Movie Thread

[Rene (Mr.Eko)]

Originally Posted by JudgeSmails

Or coked out of his mind. Guy's drug use really was out of control and took out his career. I always liked his work, thought he was under appreciated. But then again I'm a sucker for anyone even remotely involved in Homicide.

As for JC's Vampires, one of my prized possessions is a signed B&W 8x10 of Carpenter on the set of the film personalized and signed by the man himself.

I was thinking the same thing about Baldwin and the lighter. He must have been sauced out of his mind to do that.

Cool that you got an autographed photo of Carpenter himself, Smails.

[Moltisanti]

Just finished watching THE DEAD POOL. Sadly, no newfound respect for it like I have for SUDDEN IMPACT. Chump villain is even worse than the humps from THE ENFORCER. The accent he uses to try and sound like Liam Neeson is a joke. I know he's supposed to be mentally disturbed but that should not have infringed on his ability to do a better Liam Neeson impression.

But the real crime here is the short shrift given to the Magnum. Things start fine. Harry makes use of it during 3 separate incidents in the first 40 minutes. So far so good. But after that he only fires it once for the entire film, AND THAT'S TO SHOOT A RADIO!

Not a good way to close out the series. Really wish he had tried one more time during the 90's to give a fitting final chapter to the character.

[Hans Gruber's EYE CONDITION!]

There was supposed to be a video game, with Eastwood doing the voice of Harry, but it didn't pan out.

[Rene (Mr.Eko)]

Too bad you didn't find any new found respect for The Dead Pool, Molt. Still one of my fave movies ever, as it was the only other Harry flick I saw at a young age after first seeing Dirty Harry and 6 years old (didn't see the other 3 until years later).

Did you at least dig the opening with Jim Carrey? That's a definite highlight of the flick.

The fortune cookie bit is also great. "It says you're shit out of luck."

[alexc.]

I tried to pretend The Rookie is the last Harry film, but it works better as a pretend sequel to The Gauntlet.
Re: Vampires, sometimes when I wake up, I make that sour face Baldwin does waking up in the motel with Laura Palmer.

[wadew1]

Never forget Harry Callahan's immortal last words after he shoots the killer (aka "some guy") with a giant harpoon gun.

"HE'S HANGIN OUT OVER THERE."

*end credits helicopter shot*

[Hans Gruber's EYE CONDITION!]

Originally Posted by alexc.

Re: Vampires, sometimes when I wake up, I make that sour face Baldwin does waking up in the motel with Laura Palmer.

That's one of my favorite parts. You can see his shadow on the wall and his lower lip is sticking out comically.

[felix]

Have you read the original Vampires novel by John Starkey that it was based on?

In it, Crow gets turned into a vampire at the end.

[Hans Gruber's EYE CONDITION!]

Originally Posted by felix natalya

Have you read the original Vampires novel by John Starkey that it was based on?

No I've always wanted to read it though. Does it have the same macho asshole mentality that the movie does?

[alexc.]

Frank Darabont needs his own spin-off. When the police tell him what happened to his car, he discovers the world of The Vampyres and hunts them with his own team of slayers. They develop a rivalry with Jack Crow's group, much like the Cary Elwes weather team in Twister.

[Hans Gruber's EYE CONDITION!]

Darabont's character was far too tame to take on the vampires. He wouldn't even stand up to the pudgy Baldwin when he got carjacked! Though a rival team for Team Crow to compete against would be fun. Especially since the european team headed up by Tom... our Tom... our TOM CALLAGAGHAN...

was wiped out.

[felix]

Originally Posted by Hans Gruber's EYE CONDITION!

No I've always wanted to read it though. Does it have the same macho asshole mentality that the movie does?

Maybe a little. Crow is an Ex-DEA agent in the novel. He's feeling highly stressed out and guilty after 12 years as a Vampire Slayer. He's lost too many team members over the years.

There's a scene where he goes completely psycho on the Pope ("The Man" as he is referred to) and he does have some of that badass Macho attitude that the Wood's Crow has.

Lots of great fight scenes very similar to the movie. In fact in the climax, Crow takes on an army of zombie vamps all by himself and a couple of stakes and pistols.

[Moltisanti]

Originally Posted by Rene (Mr.Eko)

Did you at least dig the opening with Jim Carrey? That's a definite highlight of the flick.

The fortune cookie bit is also great. "It says you're shit out of luck."

Not too fond of Carrey's performance. He really just looked like he was in a demented "In Living Color" Sketch.

They should have given Slash from Guns N' Roses a bigger role. He might have made a better killer instead of just being the guy who fires the harpoon gun first thus letting the audience know that it's possible for a harpoon gun to be used later in the film.

I guess "You're shit out of luck" was supposed to be the catch phrase for this one. Little lacking, but I do like how the tiny bits of fortune cookie fall out of his hand while he says it. I'll give him a few points for that.

[Hans Gruber's EYE CONDITION!]

I forget if I said it or not, but of all the great asian character actors out there, for THE DEAD POOL, they go with that nerd from V that gets the alien juice spit in his face??? They couldn't get Soon Teck Oh?? Or the bald guy from Showdown in Little Tokyo and Ninja Turtles?

[Rene (Mr.Eko)]

Soon Tek Oh was a corrupt cop in Death Wish IV: The Crackdown, so I guess they had him booked already.

Besides, Harry always gets partnered up with younger cops. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be in real life anyway? Older cop teaches younger cop the tricks of the trade?

[Moltisanti]

I liked the guy from "V" as his partner. In fact, I wish he had been more integral to the plot. Maybe have Harry partner up with him because they need to take down the Triads who are flooding San Francisco with the purest China White that Harry has ever seen.

But no, instead let's have Harry square off against some horror film freak. Oh yeah, that's just as good.

[Crazy Jim]

Originally Posted by Hans Gruber's EYE CONDITION!

I forget if I said it or not, but of all the great asian character actors out there, for THE DEAD POOL, they go with that nerd from V that gets the alien juice spit in his face??? They couldn't get Soon Teck Oh?? Or the bald guy from Showdown in Little Tokyo and Ninja Turtles?

Or they could have brought in Dennis Dun but then the film negatives would probably have melted due to the excessive amount of awesomeness.

[Rene (Mr.Eko)]

Originally Posted by Moltisanti

I liked the guy from "V" as his partner. In fact, I wish he had been more integral to the plot. Maybe have Harry partner up with him because they need to take down the Triads who are flooding San Francisco with the purest China White that Harry has ever seen.

But no, instead let's have Harry square off against some horror film freak. Oh yeah, that's just as good.

That would actually have been a pretty good plot, but I dig the horror fan/stalker that they went with, partly because I've always liked horror flicks, and the movie had a horror "whodunit" formula wherein the killer isn't discoverd until almost the end of the flick, but while watching it, you can easily pick off who isn't the killer.

Another thing I liked about the flick, was Harry's fakeout with the mob boss. "You're the mail man."

[Timo]

I just watched one of the most entertaining action films I've seen in a long time. It's a Turkish film called En büyük yumruk from 1983 starring Cüneyt Arkin, who I'm sure is familiar to all fans of Turkish schlock cinema. I have no idea what the plot of the film is, but it's pretty irrelevant when you've got countless action scenes of Arkin and his female sidekick beating up bad guys. This is one of the most action packed films I've ever seen, since there's an action scene every 5-10 minutes. Most of them have the hero doing his awesome Cüneyt-Fu to beat up baddies wearing ski masks. I'm sure the reason they all wear ski masks is because it's probably the same stuntmen in every fight. There's also two car chases that are entirely lifted from other movies.

Yes, one notable thing about this film is that it shamelessly steals footage from countless other films. Almost every action scene has shots lifted from Hollywood or Hong Kong action films. I recognized footage from Charles Bronson's The Stone Killer and from a couple of Bond movies. I'm sure all of the music is also stolen, but I only recognized Morricone's score from My Name is Nobody.

Here's a few scenes from YouTube for your enjoyment.

The first big fight.

Another fight scene with Arkin doing awesome flips.

A flashback. There's no sound, but it's still worth watching till the end.

The finale. Is that music in the beginning from Carpenter's score for Escape From NY?

[HtP]

Originally Posted by Hans Gruber's EYE CONDITION!

I forget if I said it or not, but of all the great asian character actors out there, for THE DEAD POOL, they go with that nerd from V that gets the alien juice spit in his face??? They couldn't get Soon Teck Oh?? Or the bald guy from Showdown in Little Tokyo and Ninja Turtles?

Describing him as "the nerd from V" is a disservice to his incredible performance as Loo in the Fistful of Yen segment of Kentucky Fried Movie.

Anyway, I honestly thought the Dirty Harry movies go downhill quite rapidly in the series. Clint's heart really wasn't in it since it was a one-for-them-one-for-me contract obligation, more than anything that interested him. Stuff like Pale Rider (a very commercial flick, but something he put some heart in to) is far more satisfying to watch than any of the Dirty Harry sequels.

[felix]

The Quantum of Solace Teaser Trailer is up!
http://commanderbond.net/article/5282

Your thoughts?

[Fat Elvis]

Eastwood is famous for his collaborations with Sergio Leone & Don Siegel. Buddy Van Horn? Not so much!

Seriously, the one-two punch of DEAD POOL & PINK CADILAC was about as bad as it got.

Good points on SUDDEN IMPACT. A big disappointment. Been a while for me on that one, but remember the highs being high & the lows low. One of those times where Clint's tendency to rush thru production backfired. It wasn't that far off from being great Dirty Harry.

[Hans Gruber's EYE CONDITION!]

Originally Posted by felix natalya

The Quantum of Solace Teaser Trailer is up!
http://commanderbond.net/article/5282

Your thoughts?

MEH. I'll see it of course. I'm not a big fan of Daniel Craig or Casino Royale but the action looks better.

[felix]

The Gemma Arteron nude shot at 1 min 28 secs was kinda nice.

P.S- I've heard on good authority that this will be a relatively short Bond film. It clocks in at just under 2 hours.

[wadew1]

No 40 minute card game this time around.

BOND HAS DISCOVERED HIS "TELL"!!

[JudgeSmails]

Originally Posted by wadew1

No 40 minute card game this time around.

BOND HAS DISCOVERED HIS "TELL"!!

Amen to that. While I enjoyed Casino Royale the movie was badly in need of an editor. They could have shaved 45-1 hr off the film and it would have been great. Instead it is bloated, loses focus, and has 47 endings. I just don't get the love for this flick.

CR doesn't even make my top 5 Bond flicks.

[Moltisanti]

SOLACE looks like fun. I've never been a gigantic Bond fan but really enjoyed CASINO ROYALE. Agree that it could have used some trimming but I tend to feel that way about every Bond movie I've seen. Hopefully this one will be free of dead stretches.

[Matt E.]

Here is video of Sonny Landham on FOX News' 'Red Eye' talking about his Senate run in Kentucky. It's not a personal phone call and it's not quite July 4 yet, but this is still pretty great. He can still do the laugh!

[DARKMITE8]

VAMPIRES needs a prequel. What I liked about it was it felt like a sequel. Like the team already had a history of vamp-slaying adventures. Then the flick wastes them all too soon. I wanna see what came before.


Watched DIRTY HARRY last night:

• Harry sure likes to peep.
• I find it funny that Harry is befuddled about the mention of Miranda rights, warrants, inadmissable evidence, etc before the climax. As if he played hookie the semester they went over that stuff at the Police Academy.
• I'm shocked the Mayor asked Callahan to make the 2nd delivery, after the fact that Harry (and Chico) also got injured on the 1st delivery, and especially because of all the media scandal regarding the supposed brutality and rights violations. They also never really acknowledge that Harry was right about Scorpio going back to his old ways.
• John Vernon was also the Mayor on SLEDGE HAMMER. Awesome.
• The film-makers do a great job of creating such an unsympathetic villain. It's not hard to hate Scorpio.
• After hearing "But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"... I was kinda hoping to see that in action. Nobody's head gets blown off.
• Maybe if Gyllenhaal, Downey Jr, and Ruffalo used Harry Callahan's tactics, they could have solved the ZODIAC case.
• You can really see (Molt's old observation) how this flick influenced later cop movies. Establishing Harry's character through the additional non-Scorpio related "Dirty Work" really conjured up thoughts of Riggs' intro in LETHAL WEAPON (especially the suicide rescue).

[Moltisanti]

Originally Posted by DARKMITE8

[*]I find it funny that Harry is befuddled about the mention of Miranda rights, warrants, inadmissable evidence, etc before the climax. As if he played hookie the semester they went over that stuff at the Police Academy.

To be fair to Harry, Miranda rights started sometime in mid to late 60's. I'm sure Harry was dishing out his brand of justice long before you had to read perps their rights. But you got him when it comes to warrants and inadmissable evidence.

That's one of the great aspects to setting the series in San Francisco and it's a point made on one of the DVD extras. That character is anti-establishment in that city. That notion would not come over as well in say New York or Los Angeles.

[Timo]

The new Bangkok Dangerous poster is just as awful as the previous one. It looks Cage is sticking his left hand inside his right shoulder which is causing his right hand to grow HUGE! That's some bad photoshopping.


Coming Soon also has a new very unexciting action clip from the film. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=46290

I can't wait to see how big of a disaster this will turn out to be.

[Trejo]

That's possibly the worst poster I've seen in many, many years.. and I've been through the whole myers87 thread (and contributed!).

[Fazer]

man those Turks sure know how to make shitty films.

[Rene (Mr.Eko)]

That really is a shitty poster.

I'm watching Basic right now, and I still can't believe that this movie threw away what could have been an awesome flick. The set up was good, but then the ending completely fucks the rest of the film. This flick had a buffed out Travolta, acting in a film that trumped the return of him starring alongside Samuel L., and they only have two scenes together.

Still, seeing a buffed out Travolta facing off against Thomas Jane in The Punisher would have been cool, but then they drop the ball there too, and have him get shot and dragged into the burning cars that resemble that skull. What a waste of bombs that was in The Punisher.

[JudgeSmails]

Originally Posted by Fazer

man those Turks sure know how to make shitty films.

But they love them some Billy Zane! -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_of_the_Wolves_Iraq

[Moltisanti]

I really though BASIC was going to be the flick that brough John McTiernan back to his heights. Travolta reunited with Jackson, plus you add TIM DALY(!) into the mix. I still don't really know what the fuck was going on in that mess. Just dreadful.

[JudgeSmails]

Originally Posted by Moltisanti

I really though BASIC was going to be the flick that brough John McTiernan back to his heights. Travolta reunited with Jackson, plus you add TIM DALY(!) into the mix. I still don't really know what the fuck was going on in that mess. Just dreadful.

I got the feeling that 2/3 through the film the entire cast realized the movie made no sense whatsoever and just decided to wing it. What's amazing is that I still enjoyed it even though it made zero sense whatsoever.

I watched the A&E Andromeda Strain this past weekend on DVR. Definitely a B-Movie cast (Bratt, Rick Shroeder, Dae Kim, etc.). Some of the worst special effects I've ever seen on film. And they spent some decent money on this so I was surprised at that fact. All in all it was mediocre with some good moments, but the deviation from source material was totally unneeded and ended up with a finale that made no gods damned sense at all.

[Rene (Mr.Eko)]

Yeah, I was expecting a really big action packed flick, but what ended up was a really really messy plot. It's a mess, but there are parts in the flick that I dig. McTiernan did one of the most boring commentaries ever for the flick, though.

[wadew1]

Wow it looks like they just attached a bunch of random body parts to Nic Cage's confused face. Nice effort!

[Rene (Mr.Eko)]

Well, at least Cage could be in the running for Patchwork Man then.

Hadn't voiced my opinion about Wanted yet. I pretty much agree that it's good that the studio's will see that action is still bankable, but that honor should have been bestowed upon Rambo when it was released. I'll probably see Wanted later on, but as I've said before, I'm not expecting much.

[Moltisanti]

McTiernan is just a dull guy in general. DIE HARD is my favorite flick ever so I was hyped to hear his commentary. I hung with it for maybe 40 minutes. Never even tried his commentary for PREDATOR. Still love him because he makes awesome films, or at least used to.

Don't know what happened to that flick RUN he was supposedly going to make with either Karl Urban or Thomas Jane, or maybe it was both.

[Rene (Mr.Eko)]

If I remember correctly, I heard his commentary for Predator, and it wasn't as bad as the Basic commentary. Then again I haven't heard it in a long time so I might be wrong.

[Fat Elvis]

If I remember correctly, the ending of BASIC was completely changed. (By studio or director) What a mess! Seems alot of the parties involved haven't been interesting since. A shame.

Shitty poster aside, I'm excited about Bangkok Express. (Is the buzz that bad?)

[Hans Gruber's EYE CONDITION!]

Originally Posted by wadew1

No 40 minute card game this time around.

BOND HAS DISCOVERED HIS "TELL"!!

Going "ALL IN" means he's betting everything he has!
FEEFTEE MEELEON EEN DE POT!

[dontEATnachos]

Originally Posted by Moltisanti

McTiernan is just a dull guy in general. DIE HARD is my favorite flick ever so I was hyped to hear his commentary. I hung with it for maybe 40 minutes.

I think I turned it off once they started talking about the boring logos they used on the side of the cargo truck that was used for sneaking into the Nakatomi building (and how the same graphic is on the side of the truck that first explodes in DH3).

Wait, that part was actually kind of interesting. It was the part that is so boring that I have no recollection of it that really made me turn it off.

[Fat Elvis]

With all this McTiernan talk: Anybody seen NOMADS? <Recall it being strange, but good>

[Moltisanti]

Never saw NOMADS, mainly because I always heard it was awful. Still, Pierce Brosnan and Adam Ant together? Sounds like magic to me.

[felix]

Originally Posted by Trejo

That's possibly the worst poster I've seen in many, many years.. and I've been through the whole myers87 thread (and contributed!).

I believe Nicholas Cage has the same hairstyle in NEXT.

BASIC is one confused mess of a movie. Way, Way too convulated. Giovaani Gibsi choking on his own puke and Characters changing identities at the drop of a hat.

The Official Quantum of Solace Teaser Trailer here.
http://www.moviefone.com/movie/quant...ace/26922/main

[The Perfect Weapon]

Originally Posted by Timo

The new Bangkok Dangerous poster is just as awful as the previous one.

If you think that's bad, try having to look at a huge cardboard stand of that poster all the time at your place of employment, as I've had to do for the past few weeks now. Right beside that is a large cloth poster for... Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Feel my pain.

Speaking of Cage's new movie, I did not know it right away when I first commented on the film (and scoffed at it) but it is a remake of a Thai film by the Pang Brothers, who are also directing this. It explains why the title sounds goofy; it's something that you'd expect from someone that doesn't speak English as their first language. After seeing that clip, I can't say my opinion on the movie has changed... at least yet.

[Moltisanti]

Originally Posted by Matt E.

Here is video of Sonny Landham on FOX News' 'Red Eye' talking about his Senate run in Kentucky. It's not a personal phone call and it's not quite July 4 yet, but this is still pretty great. He can still do the laugh!

Was just able to watch this. Nice to Sonny in such good spirits.

Too bad Arnold's interview this past Sunday with Tom Brokaw wasn't as jovial:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/po...0,595673.story

By Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 30, 2008
SACRAMENTO -- -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, usually a darling of the national media, found himself being told by the host of NBC's "Meet the Press" that if he ran a private company the way he has run the state, he might have been fired by now.

Tom Brokaw, who will be moderating the program through the presidential election, put a series of confrontational questions to the governor in an interview taped in California and aired this morning.

"When you ran for governor in 2003, you ran as a fiscal conservative who would change the system, who would bring business-like techniques," Brokaw said. "Now, you are facing a $15-billion deficit here in California. Unemployment is running at about 6.8%; you've got the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression. If you were the CEO of a public company, the board would probably say, 'It is time to go.' "

Schwarzenegger joked: "Are you always this positive?"

He defended his record, saying that he has brought Republicans and Democrats together to fix the state's workers' compensation system and build public-works projects, among other accomplishments.

"That doesn't mean when you are doing a good job the economy doesn't go down eventually," Schwarzenegger said. "What goes up must come down. We see that nationwide. We see that other states are struggling. The country is struggling. People are struggling, and I think we see that all over the world."

Brokaw persisted.

"Before you came in, governor, you said the spending was out of control," he said. "Your rate of increase in spending is about the same as your predecessor, Gov. Gray Davis. It has grown at about, what, 34% since you took office."

Schwarzenegger, who in the 2003 recall campaign repeatedly cited spending growth under Davis, responded:

"You've been around long enough to know that the numbers are misleading. We have paid off a lot of debt. . . . I am very proud that we paid off a lot of debt and that we got the economy going again."

That claim has been challenged by Schwarzenegger's critics, who note that under his leadership the state has actually rung up as much debt as it ever has -- or more. Much of the debt is for public-works projects, which the governor says will ultimately pay for themselves by helping to stimulate the economy.

Brokaw reminded the governor that his approval rating was plunging.

"It appears the people have some real questions about your leadership," Brokaw said. "Your approval rating has gone from what, 60% in December down to about 40% recently. It is tough to govern under those circumstances."

Said the governor: "Not at all. I'm having a great time."

Video of the interview:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540...39837#25439819

Unemployment rates? Dipping approval ratings? California's massive deficit? Where does Brokaw get off asking about this stuff? Not one DAMN question about whether Arnold will return to movies when his term is up. Tim Russert would have asked him that, I can tell ya that much!