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To me DH3, is almost a Bond film. Big plot, great Villain, crazy henchman
All the elements are there.
@Thunderfinger
Absolutely, can't wait for the sequel in a little over half a year.
Let them come.
What's cool about that? Sounds extremely boring.
It's a very masculine buddy cop film with loads of mindless action scenes. Clearly not an intellectual one. Having said that, Die Hard 4 wasn't that different.
Outside of my "holy trinity" of fictional heroes(Bond, Indy, Batman), I would say John McClane is my favorite "poor man's James Bond" so to speak and he would be in the top five or so favorite characters of mine, the others being either Captain America and/or sometimes Arnie(there's The terminator flicks, Commando, Total Recall, True Lies..The man's a brand in and of itself).
Back to Die Hard, I like others have mentioned love the first four films, all classic action adventures starting off small but escalating in scope as the series progressed. For me the problem with the fifth DH film is that it feels like only 3/4 of a DH film. It's like there's a whole act missing some where and also there is no brutal physical one on one showdown with McClane or his son and any of the villains, the scuffle with Yuri at the end and earlier the goons in the hotel barely count. I was hoping the big, bald bearded Henchman with OCCP tattooed on his back would have some kinda throw down with McClane or son, but all we get is a shootout and he gets blown up. I miss the fights with Karl(DH), Grant/Stewert(DH2) , Targo(DH3, although that fight seems to have been hacked to pieces it seems longer and more brutal that it actually is) and Mai/Rand(LFODH).
Those are just some of my thoughts on the whole Die Hard franchise. Now the last movie I watched from last night....
The Street Fighter's Last Revenge(1974)- Starring Sonny Chiba. This is actually the final film in Chiba's infamous Street Fighter trilogy, and so far the only one I've seen in full. I've heard some say it's the weakest entry in the series as far as the brutality goes (the first film had Chiba castrating a villain with his bare hands) but for me I already feel like this one is gonna be my favorite. A lot of people have said the third film has a more Bondian feel or influence than the others. There are some SPOILERS in my review.
I watched both dubbed and original Japanese subtitled versions and would recommend staying away from the dub although it's pretty easy to find in full on YouTube, the Japanese version was harder to track down and in my opinion is infinitely better. The dub removes and rearranges some scenes and the translations are so bad the plot is almost incoherent. The Japanese version is where it's at. As for the plot, story and characters, Sonny Chiba plays Takuma Tsurugi (Terry in the dub) "the man who makes the impossible possible", who's basically a fighter/mercenary/Troubleshooter for hire who does jobs mainly for the Yakuza who for some strange reason feel it's better to try to cheat Tsurugi out of his payment and thus earn his wrath. As the title says, this is a revenge movie.
The plot of the films concerns a MacGuffin, a tape recording( in the dub it's for a secret cheap way to make synthetic heroin/ in the original Japanese version it was tape of a secret recording of corrupt government officials admitting to bribes from a powerful Chemical company, which the Yakuza intend to use as blackmail). Tsurugi retrieves the tape but is double crossed which sets off his quest to not only get paid, but also get his revenge on the Mobsters who betrayed and tried to kill him.
Tsurugi is clearly an anti-hero but it's fun rooting for him. Some good chop-shocky fights. Chiba does his best Bruce Lee impression, although to be fair Chiba is a legend in his own right, the Japanese Bruce Lee. There are some shades of Lupin the third, with the use of disguises in this film, and even Golgo 13(a character that Chiba would also play). We even have Tsurugi in a white dinner jacket for one sequence, a nice nod to Bond. The plot is complicated when a disillusion prosecutor(who has his own secret Okinawan fighting techniques) learns of the tape and when stonewalled by his superiors decides to cut a deal with the Yakuza. Enter the beautiful femme fatal, Aya, who's the sister of the Yakuza boss, who uses sex to get what she wants and finds herself caught in a love or more accurately sex triangle between Tsurugi and the prosecutor in the bid to recover first the tape and then the cash. We also have a classic Bondian style henchman named Black, a former Chicago Mafia enforcer who wears a mariachi/matador style outfit with a big sombrero who can pull iron chain links apart with his bare hands, punch through brick walls, and even has a hidden laser weapon that he doesn't really get the chance to fully utilize before Tsurugi put's it out of commission.
Lots of good fights scenes IMO, and this isn't just normal fisticuffs, we have goons getting pouched so hard, the fist actually smashes into opponents stomach/chest with very bloody/graphic results. Necks and heads are smashed and there's also the use of secret Karate death tricks involving pressure points where some one can be hit and have only a certain amount of time to live or try to counter act the technique using the same pressure points. Think kinda like "the five point exploding heart" technique from Kill Bill. That said, the most memorable scene in my opinion is the showdown with Black at a crematorium. Tsurugi takes the mob's money and tells them if they want it back to meet him at a certain crematory. The scene captures the spirit of the film and '70s really well. It's practically cheesy/goofy seeing Chiba fighting a guy in Mariachi outfit and punching out walls, wooden tables, and coffins lids like they were made of balsa wood, but the scene changes tone from silly to downright coldblooded and dark when the Mariachi finds himself knocked into a casket and kicked rolling into the oven which slams shut on him and then amidst the frenzied, horrified screams of the goon who knows what's about to happen, Tsurugi calmly walks to the back of the oven and turns it on, a viewing port fills with raging flames and the roar and hiss of the burners as the Mariachi goes dead silent as he is consumed, followed by a chilling image of Tsurugi's shadow cast on a wall in the light of the raging crematory's flames. Pure coldblooded, with Aya even remarking "It was too cruel". The scene feels almost like it could have been from an unmade follow up to OHMSS or something straight out of LTK.
Honestly I had fun watching this movie and look forward to watching the other two films in the trilogy when I get the chance. I would recommend it if you like '70s style Karate/kung fu/ fighting type films or Yakuza capers.
Took my niece to see this today. She loves animals, so this was right up her sleeve. Good animation, some really funny scenes, all in all a good time.
Very good film. I was taken by how deep and adult it's story and themes were. I enjoyed it a lot.
So did I! Very intellectual for an animated film.
It was awesome. My favorite Disney film since The Princess and the Frog. Certainly their best output of the 2010s.
Elvis Presley in his prime, alongside the lovely Ann-Margret (his first wife), rocks in this cocktail-themed cheesy musical romcom (hey, if it's the sixties, I'd watch them!). If you like a film that you don't place much attention to details and just want to have fun with it, then this is right up your alley.
Serious/Brooding/Realistic movie lovers who detest the opposite side of the fence should avoid this at all costs. ;)
Continuing on with my Die-Hard-athon, I put in this 2007 comeback film. 12 long years in the making, it teams Willis's McClane with a nerdy computer hacker (Matt Farrell, played by long-time Apple Computer ad boy Justin Long). Farrell has got himself mixed up in a plot by a group of dejected cyber geeks, led by Timothy Olyphant's Thomas Gabriel (and ably supported by his squeeze/sidekick, the amazing Maggie Q, playing Mai Lihn), who attempt to bring down the entire US infrastructure by destroying the computer networks which run it.
It's a fantastic plan, and as in the previous films, is masterfully constructed. However, the perpetrators failed to consider the capabilities of one man. You know the name.
This is a very good installment in the DH series. The action is top notch. In particular, the shoot-out when McClane visits Farrell's apartment is one of the best in the series, and still gets me going every time. The chase in the police car with helicopter in pursuit is also very inventively done. There are some great moments featuring parkour, made famous in the prior year's CR - while not done as well here, it's still fantastic to see.
The cast is all top notch. Willis is a slower, older, more jaded McClane, but he still has the goods where and when it counts. Long is superb as the scared but rebellious dweeb. Mary Elizabeth Winstead knocks it out of the park as McClane's estranged daughter who possesses a lot of her dad's feistiness. Maggie Q is credible (and quite lovely) as a bad babe, and Olyphant is serviceable as a dejected mastermind, but he of course pales in comparison to some of the great villains this series has served up in the past. Cliff Curtis deserves a mention as the overwhelmed head of the Govt's cyber security division.
The film starts in very cool and high tech fashion, with some nerds being killed by computer explosion and moves forward quickly without any respite. It has this modern feel to it throughout, and I credit director Len Wiseman with updating the look. A few minor complaints - there is a fight scene with Maggie Q which stretches the bounds of credibility, as does the finale with McClane and a fighter jet - I wish they wouldn't feel the need to make him into a superhero as his character is far more interesting when grounded in (semi) reality. Moreover, this was the first PG rated DH film, and it's a damn shame. McClane without the F bombs is half the man he used to (and should ) be. Michael Kamen is missed too, although Marco Beltrami does his best.
Still, a welcome addition to the legendary series, even if not quite up to the quality of the original trilogy. Far better than the tragic debacle that was to ensue a few yrs later.
Die Hard (1988)
I finally got round to seeing the original, and still obviously the best of the DH series. From the opening scenes as McClane arrives at LAX, you know you’re in for something special, as Michael Kamen’s excellent (and iconic) score gives us advance clues.
Bruce Willis is brilliant as John McClane here. He’s obviously much younger, with more hair and energy, and that makes a difference. He also radiates his naturally smooth wise cracking but distinctly blue collar working class (replete with venerable sleeveless ‘wife beater’) cool. More than all of that though is his humanity & vulnerability, which is readily & most apparent in this film out of them all, and that’s really what drew us to him in the first place.
What can be said about Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber that hasn't already been said? This is the first movie I’ve seen him in since his passing, and what a truly definitive performance he gives here - one for the ages. Perhaps the first ‘yuppie’ villain in an action film, flashing his slick hair cut, fancy double breasted suit, Filofax personal organizer & knowledge of world affairs.
Everyone else is also excellent in this film too, including Bonnie Bedellia as successful & independent wife Holly, Alexander Godonov as vengeful brother Karl, Reginald VelJohnson as humane cop Sgt. Powell, Hart Bochner as greasebag financier Ellis, William Atherton as ambitious journalist Richard Thornburg & of course Robert Davi as Agent Johnson (no, the other one).
This is the only DH released during the Reagan era, and while it’s very contemporary even now (especially in pacing and action scenarios), it is also very much of its time. There are a lot of platitudes peppered throughout, such as Wolfang Puck, Rolex, M&A etc. etc.. The film is allowed to ‘breathe’ in places, which also probably wouldn’t happen today (there are slower moments in between all the nail biting action). The chemistry between McClane & Powell is palpable and natural, and is allowed to develop over the course of the film - which grounds it.
I’ve always been partial to skyscrapers and films that utilize them effectively. Towering Inferno, MI-GP, and of course this, the grand poobah of them all & a benchmark film that reinvented the genre in many ways. Its influence is still felt today, and it proves that one doesn't need to have a massive budget to create a classic for the ages.
Holy shit. I waited for 6 months to watch this film, and it did not disappoint. Probably the most gorgeous film I've ever seen, Inarritu is a friggin genius. The opening battle sequence and the bear attack scene, which I heard so much about, are absolutely fantastic. Brutal and intense stuff. Dicaprio delivers a career defining performance, and Tom Hardy has never been better. This film is just off the charts. Goes straight in my top 5 of 2015, and is one of the most intense cinematic experiences I've ever had.
First up The A-team god this movie is so awesome. It's honestly just men being men and it's just such a great film awesome acting and an awesome direction just I love this movie so much. The film goes by at a brisk pace and never lets up. The only issue is it was a box office bomb so no sequel but maybe that is a good thing considering the diminishing returns of The jaws franchise (it's been so long since I have seen 2-4 and honestly I don't want that as the film is so perfect for what it is. Just a good solid popcorn film filled with action excitement and adventure
Up next Jaws batman begins live free or die hard unsure the order
I didn't mean what happens, I meant exactly what I asked: what's "cool" about "90 minutes of Bruce Willis machine gunning everything that moves" - instead of that being boring, which it sounds like to me like I said.
Obviously I didn't assume the movie would be "intellectual" anyway, whatever "intellectual" means in this context.
I had to check about 4 since I didn't remember if I had seen it or not - apparently not. I have seen the first 3 multiple times, and found them entertaining. Might re-watch the first some day, maybe even the 2nd, likely not the 3rd.
I assume by "gorgeous" you mean how it looks, and if so that's mainly thanks to Emmanuel Lubezki, not Iñárritu.
Which one?
I know some would have preferred if MM-FR would have won some of those, but I personally think the Revenant had its number.
I'm most happy about DiCaprio getting best actor though.
Yeah but how do the predators survive if they can't you know what in Zootopia - how? How?