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I was told to check out Xtro for some lovely shots of a young miss d'Abo and proceeded to track down the film in two shakes of a donkey's tail. Can't say I regret my decision. The film isn't great, but watching something like this in 2023 comes with its own reward. And then there's Maryam...
I saw the poster when you mentioned this film on Letterboxd and it actually rocks. I'll have to check this out ASAP then.
Oh, nearly forgot to mention I finally saw Zulu the other day and loved it! Probably my favorite non-Bond score from Barry now and I don't think I was breathing during that entire back half of the film. What a rush.
Great that you finally got to see 'Zulu', it was a staple Bank Holiday movie on Telly! An absolute classic! The final siege is thrilling, and so many great character actors appear! (Trivia note, Michael Caine was actually up for the role of Hook, played by the great James Booth!)
Regarding 'Xtro', the lovely Maryam is indeed the best thing about it....every inch of her. Ahem!!
I recall the first time i saw this horror nasty i was quite surprised.
A really good all male ensemble cast, beautiful photography from Andrew Laszlo and Ry Cooder's wonderful score. One of Walter Hill's best IMO.
What an absolutely killer film this is, I love it!
Bonus points: Walter Hill directed the pilot of Deadwood (my favorite show ever) and three of the leads in the film were also in the series.
Yes, that's true. I'm ashamed to say I haven't seen Deadwood though...
You should change that. It might not be for everyone, but if it clicks for you, it's one of the best shows you'll ever find.
Absolutely mate! Still holds up well today! Cracking film. Walter Hill still remains my favourite Director. I've upgraded most of my Hill collection to bluray, recently got the new 4K one of 'The Driver', its stunning! Still holding out for 4K of 'Streets of Fire', which am expecting to look amazing! As well as 'Deadwood', Hills other claim to fame is that he is one of the Producers behind the 'Alien' series!
Right mate. One of the best action directors of all time. From seeing The Warriors on a friends rented VHS at 15 years of age back in 1981, I was hooked!
Apparently the Streets of Fire 4K is very good, but only available on Region 1 at the moment.
Yeh, theres a nice steelbook out there, but not Region 2 or free. Walter Hill, for me, is one of the few Directors with an impressive C.V. for his first 7 films, each one unique and boasting excellent storylines, action and characters! He went off the boil in the late 80's (Crossroads, Brewsters Millions!!!!) But he did get his mojo back for some later films (am particularly fond of 'Johnny Handsome' and 'Wild Bill' )
One of his films I need to check out again is 'Trespass', I recall only seeing it once and not liking it. Must give it another shot! I remember hating his sequel to '48 Hrs' in the cinema, but a recent watch on Telly , I really enjoyed it!
Yeah, what a waste for Hill to direct a comedy. And a remake at that!
Yeah I only saw Trespass the once. I wasn't impressed. I got Extreme Prejudice on Bluray the other day. Not perfect, but a good solid actioner.
I loved the idea of 'Extreme Prejudice', but not the execution! Its a bit of a mess, though Nick Nolte looks terrific as a Texas Ranger, and there's always the brilliant Rip Torn!
The bluray I have has a good interview with Hill on it!
Director Sam Peckinpahs last film. I remember seeing it in the Cinema, and not recalling much of it. My brother bought me this for my birthday a couple of weeks ago! Based on a Robert Ludlum novel (He of Jason Bourne fame!) Its a muddled C.I.A. thriller about a T.V. News reporter (Rutger Hauer) who every year invites a group of friends to a party at his house. He is informed by nefarious stranger (John Hurt) that his friends are all Soviet spies and he should expose them. But Hurts character has a different motive concerning his Boss (Burt Lancaster). It was claimed that Peckinpah was so ill he didnt direct a whole lot, and it has some of his usual Slo mo action, its all fairly muddled, and none of the characters are interesting, and it waddles to a lame showdown, its a sad farewell for one of Cinemas greatest action movie Directors!
I don't think I've ever seen that. I'm still waiting for Peckinpah's The Killer Elite to turn up on bluray.
I can't say I am that fond of that one either, mate! Particularly the daft ending with the Ninjas!
I do believe it has a new release on bluray, so I would look it up if you're really after a copy! For me 'The Getaway' is his best thriller, I must try upgrade my DVD of that! Terrific cast, and superb action beats in that one!
It was ok. Michael Keaton shines as always. Ezra Miller was hard to look past at times, due to real life events. Above all, ENOUGH with General Zod! If there is one thing good that this version of the DCEU is dead, it means no more Zod (hopefully) for a long time. It's time for WB to move on from a lot of the current DC for the long run.
Thanks mate, I will look it up. My own Peckinpah favourites are Straw Dogs, Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia and The Wild Bunch.
The Killer Elite was released on Blu-Ray in 2014 by the now defunct company Twilight Time. The disc also includes Peckinpah's 1967 TV production Noon Wine. A company called Ronin Flix re-released The Killer Elite on Blu-Ray last year--I haven't seen that edition but it seems to have most of the extras from the previous release, aside from Noon Wine. TKE isn't one of the Peckinpah's all-time best, but it's an underrated film, and as a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area I get a kick out of the film's locations.
As for The Osterman Weekend, last year the director's cut of the film was unearthed and released on Blu-Ray in Australia. Unfortunately it was an expensive limited edition and is now out of print.
Thanks for that info. Yes, I believe Peckinpah claimed 'The Osterman Weekend' was re-edited by the studio, but he claimed that for a lot of his movies ('Major Dundee' I dont think has ever been released in a proper cut!)
'Straw Dogs' is excellent, but I couldn't take to 'Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia' , but it did have a new bluray release with superb new artwork on the cover!
As you'd expect, the action is top tier, and surpass what we've seen from Bond films in recent times, IMO. The plot certainly isn't complex, but it works. The helicopter spectacle aside, it the finale kinda left me wanting more; I think the film worked best when the team was running around Paris and London.
It's been very long since I last watched the M:I films, so I don't really know how to rank this one compared to the others, but overall it's a 7.5/10 from me.
Thanks for the info @Revelator 👍
I still have that film on my watchlist, though I did watch this Morricone-scored Italsploitation with Corinne Cléry:
A film as weird as they come, but I did like it. Not a very cheerful film though, be warned.
I also had to check out The Snowman to see for myself how bad it is, and wow, it's definitely down there among the worst films I've seen in some time. You know it's not going to be a winner when 15% of the script wasn't filmed but the jarring segue shots and endless subplots that drop off a cliff without another mention were really noticeable. The film just makes no sense, offering red herring after pointless backstory, all in service of keeping a mystery that's obvious after the first act or so. Terrible. They couldn't even go with the proper Norwegian pronunciation of the lead's name in the novel, so Michael Fassbender spends the whole runtime letting everybody know his name is "Harry Hole." Hilarious.
Just heard that Gore Verbinski is to helm a remake! Its been mooted a few times, Ryan Gosling was considered for Logan, which would be an improvement on the rather wet Michael York, but it would be hard to get someone as delectable as Jenny Agutter for her role. Anyhow, a big spectacular sci fi epic, set in a future where life ends at 30, and those who reach the age are sacrificed at a Coliseum type place called Carousel to the delights of a baying audience. York is a Sandman, a type of Blade Runner, who pursues and kills those who refuse to accept their fate and Run. When he hears about place called Sanctiary, he and Jessica ( Agutter) become fugitives and go on the run to find it pursued by a relentless Sandman ( played by the great Richard Jordan)
Though the effects are not special at all, I still enjoy this film, if only for the presence of the lovely Miss Agutter!
I understand where you're coming from and while the film conveniently uses that one scene that has Miss Cléry clotheless in it, the film really isn't about that.
It is actually a character study of the despicable person that is her husband portrayed by Franco Nero. It mercilessly breaks down how horrible this guy really is by introducing a criminal on the run who is equally terrible. It is between these two ghastly figures that Cléry's character gets stuck and while it is definitely a big downer of a film, I thought it was interesting and really well-done.