What was the last movie you saw...? Part IV

[Charger]

13th WARRIOR

An Arab man gets called to action with 12 Viking warriors to be the 13th warrior of their party to save a village from attacks of mystical barbarians in 900AD. Slowly Ahmed begins to understand their language and customs and be-friend his new allies in fight of something truly evil.

Antonio Banderas does a good job as Ahmed but the unknown actors playing the vikings become almost bigger stars as the movie progresses.

Action director legend John McTiernan directs the Michael Crichton story with a slower pace than some of his previous works and was then near the end of production actually removed by the studio and Crichton ended up directing parts of the final scenes + redoing some of the earlier scenes...changing the story even somewhat.
Sadly that creates some issues and also almost 20 minutes of the original version were cut.

That also caused the project to go waaay over budget and in the end resulted in a box office disaster.

The movie however is quite good, some of the action sequences are captivating and less chaotic than in some historical epics. Most likely due to McTiernan's expertise. But at the same time it is less brutal that it could be....however some of that might be because of the re-shots in order to keep within the R-rating which rumors say the original cut would not have passed.

*  *  *

Fun Fact:
This is loosely based on the Danish Beowolf myth.

[Typhon]

Beyond the Law (1993)

The true story of Dan Saxon, an undercover cop who infiltrates a biker gang to nail the scum behind a drug-smuggling operation. In order to maintain the trust of the gang's leader, he must commit ever more dangerous and heinous crimes.

Charlie Sheen does a good job playing Saxon.  I also liked Michael Madsen as the leader of the biker gang.  Although the film is a bit cliche-like, I still enjoyed it.  7/10

[Typhon]

Transpecos (2016)

When 3 US Border Patrol agents, working at a somewhat deserted border crossing, encounter a car with questionable contents, an insidious plot is revealed within their own ranks.  Their mundane job suddenly turns deadly.

This is one of those type of films that you never hear about, but is worth a watch.  7/10

[Typhon]

The Great Global Warming Swindle (2007)

A documentary exposing the man-made climate change hoax.  Throughout the film, many climate scientists present their facts and evidence which went against the narrative that man's activities were warming the planet.  Attempts made to silence and smear these exerts is covered, as well.  The film also reveals the huge profits that were made, and who made them, from pushing this hoax.  It just goes to show that some people will say anything to make a buck.  9/10

[Zzzptm]

The Spongebob Movie: The Search for Squarepants (2025)

I was sick today, put it on to see if I could zone out while it ran.

Yup.

It's silly and pretty much is as advertised, but it did get to the point where I was asking, "why didn't they end this already?" Fortunately, I was playing a game on my other screen, so it's not like that was the only thing I had running at the time, thank goodness.

Expected/10.

[Charger]

BROKEN ARROW

Lead pilot on a Stealth Bomber training mission goes rogue and decides to steal the two nukes on board and crashes the plane his first officer with help of a park ranger try to fight back in the desert landscape of Utah.

Hong Kong action director John Woo in his second Hollywood film keeps the pressure up and the action on going.

Stars John Travolta and Christian Slater do a very good job, and Travolta once again shines in a bad guy role. Slater is a good, maybe bit un typical hero...but Samantha Mathis as the Park Ranger is rather poor...her acting is stiff to say the least. Lot of familiar faces are among the secondary cast including Kurtwood Smith, Delroy Lindo, Bob Gunton and so on.

The movie moves on with relentless speed and fury and it makes a very entertaining hour and 40 minutes.

Maybe a somewhat underrated 90s classic.



*  *  *  ½

[Typhon]

The Harvest (2015)

When a recently orphaned girl moves in with her grandparents, she tries to befriend a sick, bed-ridden boy next door, despite his mother’s strong objections. Her persistence leads to a friendship, but during secret visits, she uncovers dark secrets in the boy's home.

Great mix of suspense, drama and a little humor.  8/10

[Typhon]

The Red Baron (2008)

The story of the brief life of Manfred von Richthofen, who was the best fighter pilot of WWI.  He was officially credited with 80 air combat victories.  He and his fellow pilots become cult heroes for the soldiers on the battlefields not only for their tremendous skills in the air, but for their sportsmanlike conduct and code of honor.   Before long the Baron begins to understand that his hero status is deceptive, but his love for a nurse, opens his eyes to the brutality of war.  9/10

[Charger]

WRECKING CREW

Two estranged brother unite to investigate their fathers death. Their releationship is volatile to say the least but bit by bit they find common ground again hunting their fathers killer whose tracks run into some land development in Hawaii.

Lovely Hawaiian scenery turns smokey as the brothers face the Yakuza and some mercenaries.

Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista work well together, they have some real chemistry between them and their banter flows well.

The action is for the most part over the top and some of the fight scenes are unexpectedly brutal which is nice. Also the fact that this is a good old school R-rated action comedy and not some PG-13 garbage makes it feel more authentic.

There are few too many CGI scenes however which does bring it down a notch, but ofcourse that is present day film making so you just have to get used to it...very little practical effects done anymore even in car chases.

All in all a nice action comedy that actually has great characters and good banter.


*  *  *  ½

[Charger]

FLIGHT RISK

A US Marshall needs to escort a witness from outback Alaska to Anchorage via a small plane. She, the witness and the pilot start their journey but it soon becomes evident that the pilot is not who he says he is and a struggle for survivor begins.

Director legend Mel Gibson surprises with a small budget confined space thriller with Mark Wahlberg in a very rare bad guy role.

Other stars Michelle Dockery (who I did not recognize) and Topher Grace (from 70s Show) do routine preformances but Wahlberg goes enjoyably over the top. But all 3 do feed off eachother quite well...

This isn't among Gibson's finest works but I'm not quite so critical as KDC was as I found myself enjoying the preformances...although not exactly filled with action this one and eventhough it was quite short just around 1h30min it was still bit boring...but that's how most confined space thrillers tend to be though..

*  *  *

[Typhon]

Ingrid Goes West (2017)

Lonely Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza) becomes obsessed with a social network star (Elizabeth Olsen) who seemingly has a perfect life in California.  But when Ingrid decides to drop everything and move west to be her best friend, her obsession turns unsettling and dangerous.

Excellent acting by Plaza in a difficult role.  8/10