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But besides it being very funny, it also shows it has its heart in the right place.
On a technical level I was quite impressed with its sets and cinematography too.
Last Voyage with Sanders is okay
Delta Force with Norris/Marvin is better than Commando or Rambo II imo (script , music) , Forster is great as the bad guy
Best version of the Dumas classic novel, Richard Lesters lavish telling with an all star cast. Oliver Reed, Michael York, Richard Chamberlain and Frank Finlay as the heroes taking on villains Charlton Heston and Christopher Lee. Lester also finds roles for comics Spike Milligan and Roy Kinnear! Beautifully shot and glorious production values, its a terrific romp. There are some great displays of swordplay, one in a convent and another in a washroom, a particularly good one in a darkened forest with the protagonist's holding lamps and the finale against a firework background! Lester shot two films back to back (THE FOUR MUSKETEERS followed a year later) unknown to the cast, who were not amused!
Bought both movies on bluray and they look and sound tremendous!
LIFE OF BRIAN (1979).
Even in coronavirus times, the motto must be Always Look on the Bright Side of Life!
No time to die, huh.
I have them both on Bluray great movies, I had them on VHS previously watched them hundreds of times. I often look out for the third though I still can't even get a digital copy, the only version I could find was a rough looking version on YouTube that's barely watchable.
I really wish they would Bluray release The Return Of The Musketeers for nostalgia more than anything else, alas it was the film Roy Kinnear tragically died in a terrible accident.
Yes, Kinnears death had a profound effect on Director Richard Lester, who stopped directing after that.
Return of the Musketeers was enjoyable, but was a step down from the first two, though it has a marvellous score!
This was a huge success in Norwegian cinemas, but despite a few good scenes this wasn t very interesting.
(Erik Poppe, 2016) English title: The King s Choice.
This was also a huge success in Norwegian cinemas, and it is easier to understand. Interesting story, competent film making and a stellar cast all over including( and especially) Jesper Christensen as King Haakon VII of Norway during the German invasion in 1940.
I thought this one was alright. Nothing spectacular, but an interesting story to base a film on.
Gone is the lovable drunk Dynamite Harry , this version of Harry is crass , pompous and short tempered , the villains are master Hansen and the danish rent-a-thug Biffen - who btw starred in five Olsen films.
Hansen is sick and tired of Olsen stealing his thunder in the world of crime.
Also funny seeing Valborgs driving teacher going bananas on the roads lol
Back to the Future 1. Timeless classic. No flaws.
From Russia with Love and Goldfinger. Pacing was a bit off I found, but still top 10 entries for me.
Really good final entry in an overall enjoyable series. Donnie Yen is great as always. It's a fairly simple us-versus-them story with an obvious "all white folks are bad" agenda, but I can easily set that aside while having a lot of fun with the fights. Recommended.
This is a solid film. The first thing that gets one's attention is its overall style. Pace, look, editing, sound... this is some cool stuff, for sure. Whether it's people moving through crowds, firing guns, praying, or forging documents, there are plenty of pleasant visual and aural touches to take in. The moody cinematography, in which even daylight shots look bleak, is also enjoyable. I also like how the opening scene and a good part of the next scene have no dialogue at all. No need for talking when Chow Yun-Fat walks into a nightclub dressed in a suit and tie, wearing white gloves and carrying a bunch of guns.
The action scenes are good. They didn't strike me as outstanding, but are no doubt enjoyable. There is some grit and there is that always welcome touch of balletic grace. And the firing sound of the pistols is so delightful.
The story is simple enough. In some aspects, it's pared down to its essentials to the point it is almost abstract, which itself holds a certain charm. The film never actually explains how Lee became so skilled at killing people (to the point Wei blackmailed him into working for him) without ever before finding himself in a position to question his own morals. I guess one can assume he has a military past, but it's not that important.
The two leads are excellent. Chow Yun-Fat's face is magnetic: it has a quiet, wistful quality-- it has emotional content. He's easy to root for. Mira Sorvino is equally good, with loads of presence, an intensity of her own and a world-weary, disillusioned quality. Had she played a hitman or something in another film, I would've watched it for sure. These two also have terrific chemistry. They form a bond over their regrets and longing to redeem themselves. The scenes in which this connection is developed are undeniably some of the best in the film, and I wish there had been more of them. It's not that there isn't enough of that to make the film enjoyable and their relationship believable, it's just that more would've been even better. I understand the extended cut has more to offer in that respect, so I intend to get my hands on it.
I liked how the film isn't about action for purely pragmatic purposes. It's about a moral code. It's nothing necessarily new, but it's a theme that will never grow old. I also enjoyed how when Lee and Zedkov come across each other at the end, there is a sense of tension between them. Even though Zedkov appreciates what Lee did for him, there is a barrier that separates them; they are of different worlds. Wisely, the filmmakers don't try to make the moment too long-winded and emotional. For Lee, it's not about earning his gratitude, but about doing what's right. Speaking of Zedkov, I would've also liked to get a more detailed glimpse into the character. I'm not sure that that would've been more important than expanding the relationship between the leads, though.
The scene in which the titular replacement killers arrive at the airport is fantastic. The music, the look, the slow motion. The tilted camera approaching them as they open the locker.
The very last scene of the film is utter perfection. Great acting. A tender, emotional moment that I felt was cleverly designed to feel just a little too brief and fleeting. It's observed with a touch of distance. They leave you wanting more of it, which is paradoxically very satisfying. And then Lee puts on his dark sunglasses and vanishes. The end.
If I remember correctly, I tried watching The Killer with Chow Yun-Fat a few years ago, but I never finished it. Regrettably, I think I stopped watching just as it was getting really interesting. The scene with the blind woman oblivious to the fact the two other people in the room were holding each other at gunpoint was fairly imaginative (hope I'm talking about the right film). The Replacement Killers probably doesn't reach those heights of creativity, and it clearly takes significantly after The Killer, but it is competent and enjoyable nonetheless. I didn't finish watching The Killer because if I remember correctly, there was an annoying piece of music that played repeatedly, and it put me off the film. It was grating. But I'll give it another try one of these days.
I also want to watch more films with Mira Sorvino. I'd only really seen her before in an episode of House, M.D. She made a very positive impression here, and there are other films she made around the same time as this one that I'd be interested in watching.
This is the fourth Antoine Fuqua film I've watched. The other are The Equalizer, The Magnificent Seven and The Equalizer 2. I'm also fairly familiar with Training Day.
I leave you with this lovely piece of the film score of The Replacement Killers, by Harry Gregson-Williams.
P.S.: I can't believe I wrote this much
Haven't seen this in decades and it's as enjoyable as i remember.
Anthony Hopkins plays British Agent Phillip Calvert who is also a Commander in the RN...! So far so Bondish! This even has Bob Simmons doing the action/stunt arranging, so the Bond connections are there to see. Based on Alistair McClean's novel this was to be a series of films but it apparently sunk at the box office.
As expected, the action is great (the Helicopter sequence is really well done) and Hopkins does a good job. This also has a Barryesque theme music by Angela Morley which is terrific.
Shot in some wonderful locations on the Scottish coast this is a taut little action thriller. It's free to watch on youtube if anyone fancies it.
Really liked this one, watching it a couple of years ago or so. Need to read the book at some point too!
Yeah me too. I've never read an Alistair McClean book!
Really enjoyable thriller! Hopkins is great, as is the ever wonderful Robert Morley!
Like to correct you on the music though, its by Walter Stott, really catchy main theme!
The only Alistair Maclean novel i have read is Where Eagles Dare! Pretty good if i recall!
Another Mackean adaptation i enjoy on film is Fear is the Key!
I had several Alistair McClean books (older editions, both hardcover and paperbacks) gifted to me years ago, but I've yet to read them. I also recently purchased Puppet on a Chain for my Kindle, and plan on reading it very soon. The film adaptation of the book was released the year after When Eight Bells Toll, and features Vladek Sheybal in one of the roles! Worth a watch if you haven't seen it. That film is available on Youtube as well.
Really need to read (and watch) Where Eagles Dare at some point.
Yeah i keep seeing the music credited to Angela Morley but you're right, in the film credits its Walter Stott....perhaps he did a Walter Carlos/Wendy Carlos type change later on in life..???!!!
Yep, Robert Morley is great in it. When i watched the film as a youngster the bit where he traps the goons head in the trapdoor was one thing i never forgot!
Ha! I was right! Checked google and it says Walter Stott had sex reassignment to become Angela Morley! Well that clears that up! :D
Good sleuthing!
Did it say what other scores Angela did?
Thanks!
Watership Down and Peeping Tom are two prominent ones.
a Cary Grant comedy directed by Blake Edwards. Really not that much of a story. Tony Curtis as a snobbish lieutenant (maybe his alter ego from his later role in THE PERSUADERS?) manages to illegally patch (by pilfering supplies from other sources) a bombed WW II U.S. Navy submarine helmed by Grant together, later taking on board a group of U.S. female nurses, with the requisite complications, and so on. Nothing great, but fun.
Not a great film, but certainly very interesting and it gave me a new view on this man and his tragedies.
I was afraid this would be a sort of VERTIGO rip-off, as Hitchcock originally objected to. Especially after watching DRESSED TO KILL recently, with its obvious PSYCHO references. But it is better than just a rip-off. Listening to the music during the Blu-ray menu and later, the opening credits, I thought, "Ohmygod, they even copied Hitchcock's music!" But they didn't copy. It is really Bernard Herrmann! And it fits, and considerably elevates this movie above so much average fare of the era. Ultimately, recommended. And I never realized before how cute and pretty and what a good actress Geneviève Bujold was (or still is, if she's still active).
One of my top 5 actors of all time. Have you seen him in The Sica's Ieri Oggi Domani? A brilliant actor that worked with brilliant director in a superb time and place to be an actor.