Western Movie Reviews: Silverado

Silverado (1985)
Director: Lawrence Kasdan
Starring: Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner, Danny Glover
IMDB: 7.2
RT: 76
Box Office: $32.1 Million (Domestic)

Summary-

A misfit bunch of friends come together to right the injustices in the town of Silverado.






Review (Spoilers!)-

Having watched quite a few Westerns by now I think I have a firm grasp on most of the genre conventions. I think that's partially why I have gravitated towards the Spaghetti Western's recently because I wanted to explore a different aspect of the genre. That being said every once in a while it's nice to enjoy an old school Hollywood Western like Silverado.

The film opens with Emmett (Scott Glenn) getting attacked in a small shack that he is sleeping in. He fights off the bag guys, takes their horses and rides off. On the way he meets Paden (Kevin Kline) who has been left for dead in the desert. He takes him to the nearest town where Paden finds and kills one of the men who took his things. Paden also runs into his old friend Cobb (Brian Dennehy) who offers him a job but he turns it down. Emmett sets off for Silverado to meet his sister and Paden decides to tag along. On their way they stop in a town where Emmett's brother Jake (Kevin Costner) is set to be hanged by Sheriff Langston (John Cleese). They also meet Mal (Danny Glover) who gets kicked out of town for causing trouble because he is black. Emmet ends up breaking his brother out and they continue on their way to Silverado with the help of Mal. The first act does a perfectly adequate job of setting up all the main plot points and bringing the characters together although the characters are a bit thin.

When they get to Silverado Emmett and Jake meet up with their sister and her family, Mal heads to find his families farm nearby and Paden discovers that his friend Cobb is the Sheriff of the town and owner of the local Saloon. Everything seems fine until each character is presented with a problem. The son of a man Emmett killed is a powerful landowner in the town and wants him and his family dead. Mal discovers that his mother has died and that his father has been run off their land by the powerful landowner. Paden on the other hand gets himself a job working at the Saloon for his friend Cobb but he soon realizes that Cobb is one of the bad guys. Things slowly escalate in the second act until Emmett's sisters house is burned, her husband shot and her son is kidnapped. This leads to a very action packed third act that features one big gun battle and a couple of duels. Each character gets to kill off an individual nemesis and all of the plot lines are tied up neatly.

The plot is fairly by the numbers but effective, the characters while shallow are still entertaining and the camera work is solid. All of these factors come together to make an above average Hollywood Western. It is also pretty fun to watch so many big name actors shooting at each other. We get some fun appearances by Jeff Fahey, Jeff Goldblum and John Cleese to go along with the already big named cast. It also has a pretty enjoyable score that really adds some excitement to the action sequences.

The Crew

Final Thoughts-

I had a really good time with this film! Sure it has a few too many story lines going on at once and the characters are rather shallow but its a strong enough film to overcome that. This is a modern Western that doesn't try so hard to break the genre conventions but instead embraces them and makes them enjoyable again. Sure it isn't one of the best Westerns of all time but it is probably a good starting point for people new to the genre.

MY RATING-

3.5 out of 5

- Chris "Da Franchize" Hart
 

Action Movie Reviews: Blood and Bone (2009)

Blood and Bone (2009)
Director: Ben Ramsey
Starring: Michael Jai White, Julian Sands, Eamonn Walker, Dante Basco and Nona Gaye
IMDB: 6.7
RT: Not Available
Box Office: Not Available

Summary-

Isaiah Bone gets out of a Los Angeles prison and enters the underground street fighting world in order to fulfill a promise to a dead friend.




Review (Spoilers!)-

I have slowly become a big Michael Jai White fan. He played a small but memorable role in The Dark Knight but his performance as Black Dynamite is what really made me a fan. I really think Black Dynamite is one of the greatest action/comedies of all time! So when I saw a martial arts film starring Michael Jai White on Netflix I knew I had to watch it. While the end result is not a good movie by any stretch, it does do enough to entertain.

The film opens with Bone in prison taking a piss. Some scary looking inmates (including youtube sensation Kimbo Slice!) come to shank him in the bathroom. He goes on to thoroughly kick their asses and the film cuts to the opening title. The opening is quick and to the point and immediately shows off White's impressive martial arts skills.

Bone is released from prison and heads to what seems like the most random place possible to rent a room. He stays in a house where this lady and old man take care of what I assume are foster kids. They live in a pretty rough neighborhood but the lady and the old man try to keep the kids out of it. Bone soon finds the underground fighting venue and watches as the wealthy and sadistic hustler James (Eamonn Walker) brings his scary looking fighter named Hammerman (Bob Sapp) to fight. This dude is a massive and insane man that will pretty much kill anybody he fights. 

Former NFL Player and MMA Fighter Bob Sapp

After Bone watches Hammerman decimate an opponent that was promoted by Pinball (Dante Basco) he convinces the promoter to give him a shot at a fight. Bone proves that he has very impressive fighting skills and Pinball begins to set up some fights for him. Michael Jai White shows he is very skilled and is fun to watch fight. Bone works his way up to get himself a chance to fight Hammerman. He also has his eye on James's girlfriend which seems like it may cause some conflict. Eventually he gets himself a chance to fight Hammerman and he kicks his ass. 

This gets James's attention and he invites Bone to his place to talk some business. James explains how he wants to become more than just a street hustler and that he wants to have an in with the wealthy white guys. So he wants to have Bone fight the worlds best underground street fighter. James tries to convince Bone by letting him take his girl. This is where Bone's true motivations are revealed. We find out that the girl used to be his best friend in prison's wife. James had him killed in prison in order to get this girl and Bone had made a promise to take care of his wife and son when he got out. He checks the girl into a rehab clinic because she has developed a massive drug addiction and we also find out that the reason he was living at that house is because one of the kids is her son. I thought that was a bit of a stretch but at least it explains some things.

The third act sees the plot begin to collapse a bit. The old man in the house is randomly killed by dogs and then its revealed that it was by James for no apparent reason. James gets Bone into the fight with the top street fighter but Bone decides he doesn't want to do it so James freaks out. The plot continues to devolve into chaos and things make less and less sense until it leads to a final fight. Bone shows up at a very wealthy man's house and has to fight the top street fighter. I actually really liked this fight scene!

It's pretty clear this is more of a B or C list action film. The supporting actors are not particularly good and the writing is pretty bland. That being said Michael Jai White does a decent job holding the film together and the production quality is high enough to make this watchable.

Final Thoughts-

I still really like Michael Jai White and will be interested to follow his career. I know that he does have a role in the upcoming Fast and Furious movie so we will see if he can have some more main stream success. This film reminds me a lot of the Jean-Claude Van Damme film Lionheart (which I liked) but with slightly higher production quality. As far as action films go the story is not that bad but I would still only recommend this to hard core action and martial arts film fans.

MY RATING-

2.5 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart

Chris Reviews Need for Speed

Need for Speed (2014)
Director: Scott Waugh
Starring: Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper, Imogen Poots, Scott Mescudi
IMDB: 7.3*
RT: 23*
Box Office: $126.5 Million (Worldwide)*

Summary-

Tobey Marshall is small time street racer and car shop owner who gets an offer to make a lot of money. When he is framed for his friends death by a wealthy business associate he is put in prison. 2 years later he gets out and drives across the country trying to get himself to a legendary street race to face off against his rival, while also being chased by the police and other enemies.


Review (SPOILERS!)-

I knew this was going to be a shit movie from the moment I heard they where making it. That being said I still really wanted to see it. I love the Need for Speed games and am a big fan of car movies so I was hoping this would be a fun B-movie that could at least keep me entertained. In some ways it did do that but the film was just a lot worse than I expected.

The film opens with Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) and his crew of friends working at their car shop and then going to the local drive in to get ready for a street race. While they are there Marshall's ex-girlfriend shows up with her boyfriend Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper) who is a hot shot professional racer. Tobey and his crew have a pretty good system of how to do street races, Benny (Scott Mescudi) is a pilot who makes sure they have a clear path and Finn (Rami Malek) and Joe Peck (Ramon Rodriguez) are on the ground and Little Pete (Harrison Gilbertson) is like Tobey's little brother and he races too. Tobey pretty easily wins the race and he heads back to his shop to celebrate with his buddies. This is when he receives and offer from Dino to fix up a very expensive car. Tobey accepts the offer despite a distrust of Dino because he needs the money to pay of the loans on the shop. (They have some old high school beef that is never explained)

I'm pretty sure Ford paid for half this damn movie

Tobey and his crew fix up this car and they sell it for $2.7 million but Dino feels threatened by Tobey and challenges him to a race. Tobey and Pete come to Dino's Uncles house and he shows them 3 European Super Cars that they are going to race. At this point I knew exactly what was going to happen because they telegraphed every plot point. Tobey looks like he is going to win the race and Pete is preventing Dino from passing so that his friend can win so Dino flips Pete's car and he dies. Tobey gets arrested and Dino covers his ass and puts all the blame on Tobey and he goes to jail.The first act of the film is not terrible but its not great either. It adequately sets up a preschool level plot, has a few cool action sequences and does not reveal the terrible acting abilities of its cast fully. The second and third act is where the film really shows its hand.

Showing off the Mustang some more

2 years later Tobey gets out of jail. This is one of the first questions I had. Why was he only in jail for 2 years? I understand he only got in trouble for manslaughter, but when he was arrested they also said that the 2 cars they where driving were reported stolen. Wouldn't he have gotten a longer prison sentence for stealing 2 cars worth over a million dollars? Oh well I can live with plot holes like that because at least its a debatable question. After he gets out of jail he immediately goes down to his closed shop, asks the guy who owns the car he sold to let him borrow the car to enter this big race that Michael Keaton's character holds. The guy agrees as long as his assistant Julia (Imogen Poots) comes along. They realize they have to drive to California in less than 46 hours to get to the race in time. After a series of obstacles they get to California and he gets invited to the big race to face off against Dino.

The Final Race

The film really picks up in pace in the second act and we get a cool car chase around Detroit and a really big one with some hillbilly guys in trucks trying to kill Tobey in the southwest U.S. I was pretty impressed with the car chase sequences but that was to be expected as the director is known for his stunt work. The main issue with the film is the cookie cutter characters, especially Tobey's friends. I was also very disappointed in Aaron Paul, he just seemed very awkward in the role. He tried to pull of this brooding, quite street racer character with a raspy voice but I just wanted to laugh whenever I looked at him. It just seemed that the writing was very poor and the director had no feel for how to direct real actors. There were also a number of unresolved and not well fleshed out plot points.

Final Thoughts-

Despite all of the very negative opinions I have of this movie I still thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm not sure why. The action sequences were solid but unspectacular, the acting was piss poor and the writing was terrible but somehow it's watchable. Will I ever watch it again? Probably not but I'm not mad about having seen it. If your into car movies this might be worth a red-box rental at some point but that's about it. 

MY RATING-

2 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart

*Ratings and Box Office info as of March 24th 2014

Action Movie Reviews: Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Tony Burton, Laurie Zimmer
IMDB: 7.4
RT: 97
Box Office: Not Available

Summary-

Lieutenant Ethan Bishop is assigned to watch over Precinct 13 during its last night before its shut down. During the night a ruthless gang attacks the Precinct with heavy firepower and its up to Bishop, some of the administrators and two inmates to fend them off.




Review (SPOILERS!)-

This film is often heralded as one of the most unappreciated action films of the 1970's and rightfully so. In only his second feature film John Carpenter shows off his gritty and visceral style that would make him one of the most respected Sci-fi/Horror directors of all time.

The film opens with a bunch of gang members getting killed by police. We then get a radio broadcast describing how this gang has tons of dangerous weapons and then we see four of them making a blood pact. These guys seem pretty hardcore immediately as they quietly cut open their arms and pour their blood into a cup. We then see Ethan Bishop (Austin Stoker) leaving his home to start his first day of work as a Lieutenant on the police force. As he is driving he is told to report to Precinct 13 which is set to close down soon. He arrives and is told that he just needs to watch over the place over night. The first act draws all of the players to this one central location. Bishop is here to watch the precinct over night. Inmates Napoleon Wilson (Darwin Jonson) and Wells (Tony Burton) are on a prison bus transporting them to another prison but the bus has to stop at this precinct due to a sick inmate. The father of a little girl who is shot by the gang runs to the precinct for safety which is what brings the gang to the building. Now that all of the players have reached the central location all hell is about to break loose.

Don't Shoot the Ice Cream Man!

The gang marks them for destruction then unleashes an assault on the precinct. Most of the police officers are killed except for Bishop and two female administrators. In order to survive this siege they let Napoleon and Wells out of their cells and give them guns. They manage to repel the attack after killing dozens of gang members but one of the female administrators is killed. They are trapped inside the precinct and because the phones and electricity are out they cannot call for help. In the second act we get continued character development as the four people try to figure out what to do. Napoleon is a death row inmate who is a throwback to classic western characters. He is not a truly bad guy, he did something bad but he still has a code of honor. Wells is the guy who is a more typical inmate although he is not a terrible guy either just very unlucky. All four of the characters are very realistic and human which helps the audience to relate to them.  The gang on the other hand is more of a mindless, brutal and inhuman threat. John Carpenter has even said that the film was somewhat inspired by George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead as the gang is silent and unrelenting like the zombies in that film.

The survivors attempt to send someone out to get help but it fails and the 3 remaining people have to prepare for the final assault. They have limited ammunition and have to come up with some way to survive. Then the final assault on precinct 13 begins. This film is very reminiscent of an old school western and the story is often compared to Rio Bravo. While it has a very classic story the tone is very different from the action films of the time. Rather than having a major action star like Clint Eastwood be the lead Carpenter chose to have an African American man in the lead which was still somewhat of a big deal. The film is also fairly violent and the scene with the little girl getting shot is still pretty shocking.

Final Thoughts-

I understand why this has become such a big cult film over the years as I enjoyed the hell out of it. It's Carpenter at his best, delivering a dark and gritty film that gets good performances out of lesser known actors. While its not my favorite Carpenter film (The Thing) it is pretty damn close.

MY RATING-

4 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart    

Action Movie Reviews: The Transporter (2002)

The Transporter (2002)
Director: Cory Yuen
Starring: Jason Statham, Qi Shu, Matt Schulze, Francois Berleand, Ric Young
IMDB: 6.8
RT: 54
Box Office: $43.9 Million (Worldwide)

Summary-

Frank Martin is a "Transporter", he delivers peoples packages with no questions asked. He has a set of rules but when he breaks one of those rules many complications arise.








Review (SPOILERS!)-

After watching Homefront I decided to go on a little Jason Statham marathon. I realized I had never actually watched that many of his films outside of the Expendables. I decided to start with the film that put him on the map as a viable action star. He had co-starred in films such as Lock,Stock and Two Smoking Barrells, Snatch, The One and Ghosts of Mars but this was his first solo film. The script was penned by Robert Mack Kamen and Luc Besson who was known for films such as Leon: The Professional and The Fifth Element. This film was pretty well received which led to 2 sequels being made and another trilogy being planned.  

The film opens with Frank Martin explaining what his job is and his specific rules that he always follows. While he is doing this we get a slick car chase as he helps drive some burglars out of a crime scene. The film definitely has that early 2000's, PG-13 action movie feel similar to The Fast and the Furious and The Bourne Identity. If you enjoyed those films than you probably will enjoy this. After completing his job, Frank Martin returns to his very nice looking French Villa on the sea. While he is on his next job he gets a flat tire and when he changes it he sees the package he is delivering start to move. He decides to break one of his rules by looking in the package and discovers a girl. He delivers the package to a guy nicknamed "Wall Street" played by Matt Schulze (The Fast and the Furious) who realizes that Frank looked in the package. He asks Frank to deliver another package for him which he agrees to but it ends up being a bomb and blows up his car. Frank goes back to the house and kicks some ass and steals a car that the same girl happens to be in.

The girl comes back to his home with him but they are soon attacked by the bad guys goons. The girl tells Frank that they are transporting several hundred Chinese people in storage containers. She convinces him to help free them but he soon discovers that she is the daughter of the guy smuggling the people. Frank ends up getting put in jail and the girl is taken by her father. The cop who has been following him and arrested him allows him to go as he knows there is something else going. It seemed like the cop was too easily convinced to let Frank go, especially since Frank had lied to him about everything in the movie up to that point. Frank sets off in a boat with some guns to go and take down the human trafficking deal. This is where you get all of the cool action scenes. There was one scene in particular that stuck with me as pretty inventive.

The second half of the clip where he covers himself in oil and fights them in a big pool of oil is pretty cool. I never realized how much I actually liked Jason Statham's fighting style. The main issue with this film for me though is that it is definitely an action movie made for kids/teens (its PG-13). Frank Martin always manages to survive ridiculous things without any consequences and there is very little blood in the film.

Final Thoughts-
This might be a good place to start for kids/teens who's parents don't want them to see the more violent/gory films. That being said its not really even the best movie for that as this is pure genre formula. I would recommend watching films like The Bourne Identity instead but this is still a solid film. Overall The Transporter is a pretty mild, early 2000's action film that features some nice fight scenes and is worth a watch for fans of the genre.

MY RATING-

3 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart 

Action Movie Reviews: Homefront (2013)

Homefront (2013)
Director: Gary Fleder
Starring: Jason Statham, James Franco, Izabela Vidovic, Kate Bosworth, Winona Ryder
IMDB: 6.6
RT: 41
Box Office: $31.3 Million (Worldwide)

Summary-

Former DEA Agent Phil Broker has moved to a quite town in Louisiana. When he pisses off a local drug lords sister he puts his daughters and his own life at risk. 




Review(Spoilers!)-

I had wanted to see this in theaters but missed it because it wasn't out very long. This is a Sylvester Stallone written film so that should immediately tell you what kind of movie it is, a dumb and formulaic action film that is a lot of fun!

The film opens with DEA Agent Phil Broker undercover in a biker gang as they are about to make a big meth deal. The police barge in and a shootout ensues leading to the death of Jojo Turrie, the son of the drug boss. Phil Broker then storms off angrily and it cuts to the opening credits and it is assumed that he has left the force to live in peace with his daughter. This opening sequence is effective although its another film using that shaky cam look for fight scenes which I'm not crazy about.

Long-haired Statham

This is a story you have seen on film a million times, the guy who retires from a dangerous past which comes back to haunt him. There is a reason its a formula though as it is a pretty compelling story and if done correctly can make a good movie. In this case my reaction was somewhat mixed. The first act is all about Phil Broker trying to start a life in this new community with his daughter but has a hard time fitting in. His daughter beats up a kid who happens to be the nephew of the local drug boss nicknamed Gator (James Franco). The boys scary meth head mom played by Kate Bosworth goes to her brother to ask him to teach Broker some respect. This leads Gator to discover that Broker is a former DEA Agent. He then uses his girlfriend Sheryl to make a deal between with the Biker gang Broker busted at the beginning of the film. Gator will give the gang the location of Broker and in return he wants them to distribute his drugs nationwide. Through the first two acts of the film there is adequate character development and surprisingly decent performances (specifically from Franco) although the father daughter scenes are somewhat dorky.

Morgan "Gator" Bodine

The biker gang comes to the town led by Cyrus (Frank Grillo) and plans to kill Broker and his daughter. This starts off the predictably action packed finale. The bikers come to his house and there is a big action sequence. While I was not crazy about the way they filmed the action sequences the sound design was pretty great as you really feel the impact of every bunch and hear every bone crack. 

Final Thoughts-

This is exactly the type of movie you would expect it to be as it hits all the action movie tropes. That being said this film did have a certain charm to it. The casting of Franco was a good choice as he delivers a solid villain even if the character is not written particularly well and Statham is solid in the lead. If your in the mood for some mindless action entertainment this wouldn't be a bad choice but its not particularly memorable either. 

MY RATING-

3 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart               

Horror Movie Reviews: Land of the Dead (2005)

Land of the Dead (2005)
Director: George A. Romero
Starring: Simon Baker, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper
IMDB: 6.3
RT: 74
Box Office: $46.7 Million (Worldwide)

Summary-

After the zombies have taken over the world, civilization survives within a walled city. There is a divide between the rich who live in a luxurious tower and the poor who live in the streets. A group of people attempt to threaten the wealthy just as the zombies breach the city.



Review (Spoilers)-

Romero returns to the zombie genre for the first time in 20 years with this film. It seems to have received decent reviews although significantly worse than his original trilogy. I didn't really care for this film for a number of reasons that will be explained below.

The film opens with Riley Denbo (Simon Baker) and his group of people doing a supply run for their community. He is clearly in charge but Cholo DeMora (John Leguizamo) seems to be a threat to that. Cholo goes to pick up some alcohol that he can sell and in the process one of the people with him is bitten. This continues to increase the tension between Riley and Cholo. After they gather their supplies they head back to the community led by an armored vehicle called Dead Reckoning.While they are leaving you start to see that some of the zombies are becoming more intelligent and they begin to follow the survivors after they leave. This scene was okay although I could immediately tell that I was not going to like any of these characters.

Dead Reckoning

The group of people return to their community which looks like Pittsburgh. The city is run by a group of elite rich people that live in a luxury building called Fiddler's Green. The rest of the people have pretty shitty living conditions and watch zombie fights and gamble for fun. There is a pretty overt political message about the Rich taking advantage of the poor in this film. Cholo brings some booze up to Kaufman (Denis Hopper) who is the guy in charge of this community. Cholo is owed a lot of money by Kaufman and hopes to be able to move into Fiddler's Green but Kaufman turns him down. Cholo proceeds to steal Dead Reckoning and take it out of the community and threatens to launch some missiles at the Fiddler's Green if he isn't paid a bunch of money. This just seems really stupid, what the hell are you going to do with money if you leave the only community that uses it? It's just such a stupid idea! Of course what is even worse is that Kaufman refuses to pay because he doesn't negotiate with terrorists. I would have just given the guy money since it is pretty much just useless pieces of paper but everyone in this movie is an idiot. Dennis Hopper gives a pretty shitty performance as the human villain of the movie as well.

Zombies crossing the river

So Kaufman sends Riley with his friend Charlie, a hooker named Slack and a couple of goons that work for him to go and stop Cholo. While all of this is going on the zombie horde is slowly moving towards their community. Riley and his group are able to stop Cholo but by the time they do that the zombies have broken into their community. They try to save the people but everyone is pretty fucked. This is where you get all of your good zombie scenes but the plot is just so stupid that I didn't care.

Final Thoughts-

This was a huge letdown after watching the old school Romero zombie films. Sure it has a few good moments but this is by far the worst written one that I have seen (I have not watched Diary of the Dead or Survival of the Dead). I hated all of the actors in this film and didn't even like the zombies in it much either. This is pretty much just for die hard zombie and George Romero fans only.

MY RATING-

2 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart

Horror Movie Reviews: Day of the Dead (1985)

Day of the Dead (1985)
Director: George A. Romero
Starring: Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato
IMDB: 7.2
RT: 82
Box Office: $5 Million (Domestic)

Summary-

A small group of scientists and military personnel are living in an underground bunker during the zombie apocalypse. The scientists are working desperately to find a way to either cure the zombies or make them not want to eat humans. Their experiments begin to cross the line, further developing the tension between the military and the scientists.


Review-

Is it blasphemous to actually like this film better than Dawn of the Dead? While that film may have been a bit more action packed and featured more zombies I had more fun with this one!

The film opens with a group of people flying in a helicopter through Florida. They land in a town and try to see if they can find anyone but all they find are hordes of zombies. They return to their base and you can see that their are tons of the zombies beating at their fence. The group of people take an elevator down into an underground bunker. You immediately can feel the tension between the military and the scientists. I also liked the look of these zombies much more than in Dawn of the Dead.

Desolate streets of Florida

There are 3 scientists that are working in this compound, Sarah who is essentially the main character of the film, a guy they call Frankenstein who does the more absurd experiments and another guy that I could not tell you what his name is. Sarah is attempting to eradicate the disease while Frankenstein is attempting to make the zombies more docile. Rhodes, the newly promoted leader of the military unit (their previous commander had just died) wants immediate results as he is tired of losing men in attempts to capture zombies to experiment on. There are essentially two factions that are operating in this bunker, the scientists and the helicopter pilots on one side and the military people on the other.The majority of the film revolves around the tensions between these two groups and there is a clear political message about anti-intellectualism. I can understand why people where initially disappointed in this film because it is more of a slow burning character study but I still found it fascinating. I especially liked the experiments on Bub the zombie. He actually has a very interesting character arc and also serves as part of the political message of the film.   

Bub

Now while some may find the 2nd act of the film depressing and boring (I don't) they can't argue that the third act is awesome! All of this tension between the military and scientists builds to a point where they are all going to kill each other. Unfortunately for them, Miguel who was Sarah's boyfriend has been on the verge of insanity for a while. When he is bitten and they chop off his arm to stop the infection from spreading and he finally loses it. He goes above ground and lets a bunch of zombies into the complex and everything goes to hell. The finale is awesome and brutal and has some phenomenal practical effects. I had been hooked all the way through and the final act sealed the deal in my love for this movie!

Final Thoughts-

I really enjoyed this film and it probably ranks as one of my favorite zombie films. It has that bleak, post-apocalyptic feel that I was looking for while having just enough comedy in it to keep you sane. It's not just a straight up horror movie though either as it does have a political statement which seems to be the case in all of Romero's zombie films. I'm the guy who always likes the less popular films in a franchise and i guess its no different here.

MY RATING-

4 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart

 

Foreign Film Reviews: Oldboy (2003)

Oldboy (2003)-
Director: Chan-wook Park
Starring: Min-sik Choi, Ji-tae Yu and Hye-jeong Kang
Country: South Korea
IMDB: 8.4
RT: 80
Box Office: $14.9 Million (Worldwide)

Summary-

Dae-su Oh is an average guy who one night is randomly kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years. He is finally released and wants to know why he was kidnapped and who was his captor. He soon discovers that the real question is not why he was imprisoned but why he was released.


Review (Spoilers)-

Over the past few years I have started to develop a love for Asian cinema. I have always heard this is one of the best and I finally got a chance to watch it last night. Wow is this an amazing movie!

The film opens with Dae-su in a police station for public intoxication. His friend comes to bail him out and they go to a pay phone to call his family and let them know he is okay. While his friend is talking to them on the phone Dae-su disappears. It then jumps to several months later and Dae-su is being kept in a prison like room. We see the routines that he is put through and what is life is like for the 15 years. Then one day they release him on a rooftop of a building. He goes to a restaurant and meets a girl working there and they both feel like they know each other. The first act of the film does a great job at establishing Dae-su as a character and really peaks your interest as to why he was imprisoned.

Dae-su's home for 15 years

The second act is all about Dae-su trying to figure out why he was imprisoned. This seemed like the weakest part of the film but I was also tired when I was watching the film so I might have missed a few things. I did like a couple of the action sequences in this part of the film although I would not say that this is an action film. There is one scene in particular where Dae-su fights a bunch of guys in a hallway that was really badass.

 
The film builds up the mystery more and more as you go along as Dae-su and Mi-do try to solve this mystery. It seems like everyone knows who he is and that he is not in control of what is going on. It all leads to a shocking and brutal third act and finale. Even if the movie moves a bit slow in the 2nd act, the payoff at the end is well worth it.

Final Thoughts-

I understand why this film has been so highly praised. Not only is this a well made, well acted and creative film but it also features a phenomenal story. I also really enjoyed the soundtrack to the film as well which always is a big deal for me. I tried not to spoil the plot too much because this is a movie that any film fan should see right away!

MY RATING-

4 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart   
   

Horror Movie Reviews: Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Director: George A. Romero
Starring: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, Gaylen Ross
IMDB: 8.1
RT: 95
Box Office: $55 Million (Worldwide)

Summary-

Four people take refuge in a mall during a zombie apocalypse. They clean it out of zombies but eventually must defend it from armed people as well.





REVIEW (SPOILERS!)-

I have always heard that this is the greatest zombie film of all time. Since I have been in the mood for zombie films I decided to finally give it a watch last night. While I did enjoy the film, I do think it has been a bit over-hyped.    

The film opens in a news studio as reports are coming in about the zombies. They are trying to provide information to their viewers but people are starting to take off. We are introduced to Stephen and Francine as they plan to get out by using the traffic helicopter. Then we are introduced to Roger and Peter who are police officers and are trying to clean out people in a housing project. This is when you get your first glimpse of the zombies as the police have to battle some of them. It's hard to go from watching modern zombie films to this because the production quality is so different. The zombies have a blue skin tone and just look really fake overall. Initially I did not like it but eventually  I was won over by how campy it was. There are some pretty cheesy/over the top actors and some funny special effects right away. Roger and Pete decide they are going to get out before the zombie outbreak gets worse and they go to meet Stephen and Francine at the helicopter. They take off in the helicopter and just keep moving without any real plan until they find the mall.

Don't point a gun at me!

Once they get to the mall the film really starts to get interesting. This is also the portion of the film that has the most social commentary (all about consumerism). They find a way into the mall and hide in a storage area at first. They soon decide they want to go down into the mall and check out what is in the stores. This is probably the most fun part of the film as Roger and Peter have a blast go through the department store and get the things they want. They are able to avoid the zombies and get the supplies, they are also able to form a plan about how to survive here. The zombies seem fairly easy to manage if you keep them in small enough numbers. Things change when they attempt to put trucks in front of the entrances to the mall. Roger is bitten and you see the slow process of him turning into a zombie. Before he dies they are able to finish killing all of the zombies in the mall and secure it.

   
Up until Roger turns into a zombie, things seem like they can be okay. It seems like they can make a life in this mall but it quickly changes. Another group of survivors (led by horror legend Tom Savini) finds the mall and storms into it with guns blazing. They let all of the zombies back into the mall and pretty much everything goes to hell.

Final Thoughts-

I see why people like this as it is a poignant social commentary, a cool story, has some memorable moments and is pretty campy. That being said I did not find it to be all that scary. I think its an important film to watch for fans of the genre but it definitely isn't one of my favorites.

MY RATING-

3.5 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart