Kurt Russell hits new heights in laconic action heroes with his portrayal of Sergeant Todd, born and bred to be a soldier in a futuristic army. Raised to kill mercilessly, living only for battle, he finds himself at the twilight of his career (and so-called life) when a regiment of genetically enhanced warriors threatens to make his brand of soldiering obsolete. Despite his extensive skills, he is no match for the best of breed of the new order and he's left for dead on a planet that serves only as a junk heap. There he encounters a ragtag group of castaways and in his own strange and silent way slowly begins to learn how to be less a killer and more a human. All is disrupted, though, when the genetic regiment arrives on the trash planet and decides to eradicate the local human "trespassers". Though Todd had been overmatched before, this time he has more than ever to fight for--a home and friends. Soldier is one of those rare sci fi movies that relies more on plot and action than special effects (though the trash planet is effectively wrought). The pace of action in the last half of the film is relentless and exciting and Russell's portrayal of the old warrior as he warms to human emotions relies more on expression than words--in fact, he barely utters more than a half-dozen lines. --Todd Nelson
Val Kilmer stars in The Ghost and the Darkness as Lt Col John Patterson, a 19th-century Irish engineer drafted by Britain's railroad bosses to build a trestle bridge over an African river, thus expanding the empire a tiny bit more. In Tsavo, Patterson is instantly hailed for killing a man-eating lion that had been making life hell for native workers. But morale sinks when two more unstoppable big cats devour more men and destroy the project. Along comes an, expatriate American hunter (Michael Douglas) to help Patterson face the almost preternatural powers of the two killers. The script by William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) is based on fact, though the film owes more to Steven Spielberg (specifically to Jaws) than history. There are also suggestive echoes of Kipling and Conrad in the material and characters, and there are hints of emotional complexity and psychological nuance that make one wish this could have been a great film instead of a merely fun one.--Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
See again for the first time the memorable matches from October 19 2003 in Baltimore Maryland. Didn't see it? Well here's what you missed: The first-ever Biker Chain Match for the WWE Championship with Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar The First-Ever Father-Daughter ""I Quit"" Match: Stephanie McMahon with Linda McMahon vs. Mr. McMahon with Sable The U.S. Championship Match: Eddie Guerrero vs. Big Show WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match: Rey Mysterio vs. Tajiri Kurt Angle vs. John C
Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens star in this gripping World War II drama about an American destroyer and a German U-boat stalking each other at sea. As both men try to out-think and out-manouevre each other the chase becomes a deadly chess game in which any mistake can bring instant defeat and death. Winner of the 1957 Academy Award for Best Special Effects The Enemy Below marked the directorial debut of actor Dick Powell. In an interesting move Powell let the public deci
Columbia's biggest hit of 1943, Sahara confirmed the superstar status Humphrey Bogart attained with his Warner Brothers' North African adventure, Casablanca (1942). Surrounded by the Germans on three sides, Bogart's tough-as-they-come Sergeant Joe Gunn takes his tank and a crew of American, British and French soldiers into the Sahara to reach the retreating allied forces. But when they find that the only water for 100 miles is also the target of a German battalion they decide to take a desperate stand. Early scenes present the characters with assorted perils: thirst, sandstorms and a German air attack. The characters are rather stereotypical: the cowardly Italian prisoner, the Frenchman obsessed with food, the German humourless and fanatical, though the British come out well, and there's a sympathetically drawn black British Sudanese soldier (Rex Ingram). The director was Zoltan Korda, the man behind such British classics as The Four Feathers (1939), and though Sahara lacks the scale of that adventure, Korda's experience pays off in mounting the extended and suspenseful siege/action climax. With support from Lloyd Bridges and Dan Duryea, Oscar-nominated photography by Rudolph Mate and a fine score by Miklós Rózsa, Sahara is a taut, gripping desert war thriller which wouldn't be bettered until Ice Cold in Alex (1958). On the DVD: The black and white picture is presented in the original 4:3 ratio and looks very good for its age, though there are numerous brief instances of substantial print damage. Audio is strong, clear mono. Given the age of the movie it is not surprising the only extras are filmographies and a small selection of beautifully reproduced original advertising posters. The film is presented with alternative soundtracks in French, Italian and Spanish, as well as with English, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Finnish subtitles. There are trailers for The Caine Mutiny (1954), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and The Guns of Navarone (1961). --Gary S Dalkin
A box set featuring the original Disney animated production The Fox And The Hound as well as its belated sequel
Wrestlemania XVIII: 1. Intercontinental Championship - Rob Van Dam vs William Regal to become new champion 2. European Championship - Diamond Dallas Page vs Christian to retain 3. Hardcore Championship - Spike Dudley Hurricane Mighty Molly Maven Christian 4. Kurt Angle vs Kane 5. Undertaker vs Ric Flair 6. Edge vs Booker T 7. Stone Cold vs Scott Hall 8. Fatal Four Way Elimination Match for World Tag Team Championship - Billy & Chuck vs The Hardy Boyz vs the APA vs Dudleys 9. Icon vs Icon Match 10. The Rock def. Hollywood Hogan 11. Triple Threat Women's Championship Match - Jazz vs Lita 12. Undisputed Championship Main Event - Triple H vs Chris Jericho Wrestlemania XIX: 1. Cruiserweight Championship - Matt Hardy vs Rey Mysterio 2. Handicap Match - Undertaker vs Big Show and A-Train 3. Triple Threat Women's Championship Match - Trish Stratus vs Jazz vs Victoria 4. Triple Threat WWE Tag Team Championship Match - Team Angle vs Los Guerreros vs Chris Benoit & Rhyno 5. Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho 6. Cat Fight - Stacy Keibler vs Torrie Wilson vs Miller Light Cat Fight Girls 7. World Heavyweight Championship Match - Triple H vs Booker T 8. Street Fight - Hollywood Hogan vs Mr. McMahon 9. The Rock vs Stone Cold 10. WWE Championship Match - Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle Wrestlemania XX: 1. World Heavyweight Championship - Triple H vs Chris Benoit vs Shawn Michaels 2. Undertaker vs Kane 3. WWE Championship - Kurt Angle vs Eddie Guerrero 4. Women's Championship - Molly vs Victoria 5. Fatal Four-Way for the WWE Tag Championship - Scotty 2 Hotty 7 Rikishi vs APA vs Basham Brothers vs World's Greatest Tag Team 6. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar 7. Open Cruiserweight Match - Ultimo Dragon Shannon Moore Jamie Noble Funaki Nunzio Billy Kidman Rey Mysterio Tajiri Chavo Guerrero 8. Playboy Evening Gown Match - Sable & Torrie vs Stacy & Miss Jackie 9. Rock 'n' Sock Connection vs Ric Flair Randy Orton & Batista 10. Christian vs Chris Jericho 11. World Tag Team Titles Match - Booker T & RVD vs Jindrak & Cade vs La Resistance vs Dudley Boys 12. U.S. Championship - John Cena vs Big Show Wrestlemania XXI: 1. Rey Mysterio vs Eddie Guerrero 2. Money in the Bank Ladder Match - Edge Chris Benoit Shelton Benjamin Chris Jericho Christian and Kane 3. Interpromotional Match - Undertaker vs Randy Orton 4. Women's Championship Match - Trish Stratus vs Christy Hemme 5. Interpromotional Match - Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels 6. Sumo Match - Akebono vs Big Show 7. WWE Championship Match - John Cena vs JBL 8. World Heavyweight Championship Match - Batista vs Triple H
The Tom Cruise Collection. Vanilla Sky: David Aames (Tom Cruise) appears to lead a charmed life. Handsome wealthy and charismatic the young New York City publishing executive's freewheeling existence is enchanting yet he seems to be missing something. Then in one night David meets Sofia (Penelope Cruz) the girl of his dreams but loses her by making a small mistake. Thrust unexpectedly onto a roller-coaster ride of romance comedy suspicion love sex and dreams Davi
Director John Carpenter and special makeup effects master Rob Bottin teamed up for this 1982 remake of the 1951 science fiction classic The Thing from Another World, and the result is a mixed blessing. It's got moments of highly effective terror and spine-tingling suspense, but it's mostly a showcase for some of the goriest and most horrifically grotesque makeup effects ever created for a movie. With such highlights as a dog that splits open and blossoms into something indescribably gruesome, this is the kind of movie for die-hard horror fans and anyone who slows down to stare at fatal traffic accidents. On those terms, however, it's hard not to be impressed by the movie's wild and wacky freak show. It all begins when scientists at an arctic research station discover an alien spacecraft under the thick ice, and thaw out the alien body found aboard. What they don't know is that the alien can assume any human form, and before long the scientists can't tell who's real and who's a deadly alien threat. Kurt Russell leads the battle against the terrifying intruder, and the supporting cast includes Richard Masur, Richard Dysart, Donald Moffat, and Wilford Brimley. They're all playing standard characters who are neglected by the mechanistic screenplay (based on the classic sci-fi story "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell), but Carpenter's emphasis is clearly on the gross-out effects and escalating tension. If you've got the stomach for it (and let's face it, there's a big audience for eerie gore), this is a thrill ride you won't want to miss. --Jeff Shannon
Sinbad (Patrick Wayne) daring sailor and Prince of Bagdad sets sail towards Charnak seeking permission from Prince Kassim to woo his sister Farah (Jane Seymour). But Sinbad discovers that Kassim has been placed under a spell by their fiendish stepmother (Margaret Whiting). To break the wicked spell Sinbad must set forth on a journey unlike any ever traveled. Awaiting him on this perilous voyage is an assortment of beasts beyond one's wildest imagination. Among the creatures encount
The first release from the crews new company Anthill Films, Follow Me takes the viewer inside the action, capturing the unique perspectives and HD imagery the crew is famous for A modern portrait of mountain bike lifestyle, Follow Me gets back to basics and reminds us why we all love to ride bikes Breaking from the traditional single rider format, Follow Me is based on the idea that no one rides alone mixing and matches the worlds best downhillers, freeriders and slopestylers in some of the best places to ride on the planet Think back-yard sessions, ripping local trails, training bike parks, epic road trips and heli drops Follow Me is all about good times, pushing limits with your friends, crazy adventures and most importantly having fun your bike Follow Me will change the way you see mountain bike films and get you stoked to get off the couch and ride Riders include Sam Hill, Gee Atherton, Darren Berreclough, Ben Boyko, Brendan Fairclough, Geoff Gulevich, Matt Hunter, Cam McCaul, Brandon Semenuk, Steve Smith, Kurt Sorge, Thomas Vanderham Locations include Queenstown NZ, North Shore, Sunshine Coast, Kamloops, Mt. Hood Run Time: 45 Minutes
Van Wilder: The Freshman Year
Trying to explain the cult appeal of John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China to the uninitiated is no easy task. The plot in a nutshell follows lorry driver Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) into San Francisco's Chinatown, where he's embroiled in street gang warfare over the mythical/magical intentions of would-be god David Lo Pan. There are wire-fu fight scenes, a floating eyeball and monsters from other dimensions. Quite simply it belongs to a genre of its own. Carpenter was drawing on years of chop-socky Eastern cinema tradition, which, at the time of the film's first release in 1986, was regrettably lost on a general audience. Predictably, it bombed. But now that Jackie Chan and Jet Li have made it big in the West, and Hong Kong cinema has spread its influence across Hollywood, it's much, much easier to enjoy this film's happy-go-lucky cocktail of influences. Russell's cocky anti-hero is easy to cheer on as he "experiences some very unreasonable things" blundering from one fight to another, and lusts after the gorgeously green-eyed Kim Cattrall. The script is peppered with countless memorable lines, too ("It's all in the reflexes"). Originally outlined as a sequel to the equally obscure Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension, Big Trouble is a bona fide cult cinema delight. Jack sums up the day's reactions perfectly, "China is here? I don't even know what the Hell that means!". On the DVD: Big Trouble in Little China is released as a special edition two-disc set in its full unedited form. Some real effort has been put into both discs' animated menus, and the film itself is terrific in 2.35:1 and 5.1 (or DTS). The commentary by Carpenter and Russell may not be as fresh as their chat on The Thing, but clearly they both retain an enormous affection for the film. There are eight deleted scenes (some of which are expansions of existing scenes), plus a separate extended ending which was edited out for the right reasons. You'll also find a seven-minute featurette from the time of release, a 13-minute interview with FX guru Richard Edlund, a gallery of 200 photos, 25 pages of production notes and magazine articles from American Cinematographer and Cinefex. Best of all for real entertainment value is a music video with Carpenter and crew (the Coupe de Villes) coping with video FX and 80s hair-dos.--Paul Tonks
A luxury ocean liner capsizes, leaving its survivors to fend for themselves in this remake.
As a tale of self-discovery, Silkwood, Mike Nichols' 1982 biopic of the plutonium factory worker who uncovered negligence and dangerous practices at the heart of her employer's company, works well enough. Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) is no saint. She drinks, cheerfully gets 'em out for the boys, has left her husband and kids and lives in a curious ménage à trois with her lover, (Kurt Russell) and their lesbian friend (Cher). But, through her own dawning suspicions, she is drawn into union activism and embarks on a crusade to expose the rottenness of her paymasters, only to die in a mysterious car crash. And here is the flaw. The film can't decide whether it's quirky soap opera, a campaigning blow for the anti-nuclear lobby or an allegory for the conflict between the rights of the individual and the demands of the corporate giant. It stops short of providing some important conclusions about what really happened to its central character, and why. Streep is fine though, injecting her character with a studied mixture of innate intelligence and trailer park trash. Russell offers solid support and Cher is outstanding as housemate Dolly Pelliker. Their performances give Silkwood its heart as a powerful human drama. On the DVD: Silkwood is well-served on this DVD release by sharp picture and sound quality (Georges Delerue's poignantly jaunty country and western soundtrack benefits in particular), but the extras are static and add little to the package apart from a strictly "budget" feel: standard biographies of the stars and director with some pretty pointless trivia facts, and a brief history of the production. There's nothing here that even the most generalist of film fans won't already know. A director's commentary explaining why the film loses its bottle in the final reel would be more interesting. --Piers Ford
The Laconic tough guy finally gets the box set treatment featuring three of his finest celluloid performances. The Enemy Below (1957): Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens star in this gripping World War II drama about an American destroyer and a German U-boat stalking each other at sea. As both men try to out-think and out-manouevre each other the chase becomes a deadly chess game in which any mistake can bring instant defeat and death. Winner of the 1957 Academy Award for Be
Nick Falzone (John Cusack) is a control freak. An air traffic control freak.
Poseidon On New Year's Eve, the luxury ocean liner, Poseidon, capsizes after being swamped by a rogue wave. The survivors are left to fight for survival as they attempt to escape the sinking ship. The Perfect Stom An unusually intense storm pattern catches some commercial fishermen unaware and puts them in mortal danger.
Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel is a crowning achievement of Weimar cinema an exquisite parable of one man's fall from respectability. Emil Jannings the quintessential German Expressionist actor stars as Professor Immanuel Rath the sexually repressed instructor of a boys prep school. After learning of the pupils' infatuation with French postcards depicting a local nightclub songstress he decides to personally investigate the source of such indecency. However as soon
In the not too distant future, Todd Hewitt (Tom Holland) discovers a mysterious girl named Viola (Daisy Ridley). She has crash-landed on his planet, where the women have disappeared and the men are afflicted by The Noise, a force that puts all their thoughts on display. In this dangerous landscape, Viola's life is threatened and, to protect her, Todd must discover his inner power and unlock the planet's dark secrets in this thrilling action-adventure based on the best-selling novel The Knife of Never Letting Go.
Please wait. Loading...
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy