Action – Page 8 – Yesterday's Movies

48 Hours

March 27, 2015March 27, 2015temporalparadox1 Comment

Before watching the movie:

I think I first heard this existed in some kind of Eddie Murphy retrospective. I just remember an interview clip of Murphy talking about being awed at getting the chance to work with Nick Nolte. This looks like a slight revision of the “buddy cop” formula, where in this case, one of the chalk and cheese pairing isn’t a cop but a convict, presumably with the connections the one who is a cop needs.

Buddy cop wasn’t played out in the early 80s, but I think it was still well established at the time. What comes to mind right now is that the two-year later Beverly Hills Cop seems like a streamlined version of this premise without the buddy cop dynamic, merging the streetwise fast-talker character with the unshakeable detective character. It’s highly likely from the similarity and proximity that Murphy got Beverly Hills because of this movie.

I’m not sure I’ve seen Nolte in anything other than Lorenzo’s Oil, which I saw in a science class in high school. I don’t remember much of it, but I do know it’s clearly a very different film from this. Continue reading →

The World is Not Enough

November 28, 2014temporalparadox1 Comment

Before watching the movie:

In some families, Christmas starts the moment the Thanksgiving desserts are cleared away, or sooner. However, I prefer to give it a few days before slowly creeping into the season. So here’s an action spy flick starring James Bond and notable Bond girl Dr…. ah.

I don’t think there’s a movie out there so tenuously linked to Christmas, but if this doesn’t count, the honor would probably go to Die Hard.

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King Solomon’s Mines

September 5, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

King Soloman's MInes. Golan-Globus 1985. — King Soloman’s MInes. Golan-Globus 1985.

Before watching the movie:

This is clearly a cash-in on the Indiana Jones franchise, but it’s a response to a pulp adventure pastiche with one of the original pulp adventurers. I don’t know much of anything about Allan Quatermain (I’m discounting everything I might remember from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen because it’s a bouillabaisse of literary big names with little regard for detail) other than that he’s the inspiration for a lot of more recent adventure throwbacks.

I guess I saw him in The Three Musketeers, but I don’t really have a very strong impression of Richard Chamberlain yet. I have a hard time keeping the Musketeers that aren’t D’artagnan straight.

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Red Dawn

August 14, 2014August 15, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

Even in the 80s, as the cold war thawed, open warfare between the US and Soviet Union seemed likely. However, apparently it seemed plausible that a Soviet invasion could be resisted by guerrilla teens, so fear of the red menace was probably eroding.

I’m finding it interesting to track depictions of the Enemy over the decades. I know the 90s had trouble giving up the Soviets as stock villains, but I haven’t previously noticed a shift in how Russia was treated before the breakup. It’s often just a looming shadow of calamity, like an anvil held over one’s head with a fraying rope. Here, however, is a take on what happens when the rope snaps.

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Patriot Games

April 24, 2014April 25, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

Terror plot, Harrison Ford, action, that sort of thing. I expect it to be exciting. I’m looking forward to it, but not in ways that seem to be able to fill a page.

I should probably be comparing this to The Hunt for Red October, but I didn’t even remember that Jack Ryan in that film was Alec Baldwin (I was remembering Martin Sheen for some reason).

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Flash Gordon

March 28, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

I’ve been wanting to see this movie ever since I learned while reviewing Highlander that Queen did music for it. That is the biggest selling point of this movie for me, and will likely be the best thing about it, even if it does turn out to be an effective update of a campy adventure serial. I’m just not sure this sort of thing can be done seriously anymore.

I was surprised to learn from the box that Flash is a football player. Some quick research showed that in the original comics, he was a polo player, so that’s not a big change. I never picked up on him being an athlete. I should probably invest more time in familiarizing myself with source material.

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The Hard Way

February 20, 2014February 21, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

One more Michael J. Fox movie from the set I found years ago, which I believe completes it. I previously covered For Love Or Money and Greedy, and now, finally, this one. Possibly the one I was most interested in, if I recall correctly.

Here we have a slick Hollywood actor shadowing a tough cop to research a role, much to the annoyance of said cop, who is played by James Woods. I’m not sure I’ve seen anything Woods has done in live action, but I’m quite fond of some of his voice performances, and I’m looking forward to getting to know him on camera.
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Small Soldiers

February 14, 2014temporalparadox2 Comments

Before watching the movie:

So. Toys come to life. War toys are violent. This sounds familiar. But it has a cult following, it’s been praised for its writing, it has some familiar names I like, and I’m in the mood for a violent comedy right now.

The marketing is entirely focused on the living toys, so I actually have no idea what the overall aesthetic of the movie is. I really want it to be stop-motion style toys in a live-action environment, but I expect I will be disappointed. For one thing, I want them to be in 12 frames per second, but that would clash with the live action as stupidly as the ED-209 did in RoboCop.

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The Golden Child

October 17, 2013October 18, 2013temporalparadox1 Comment

Before watching the movie:

I first heard of this movie as the project that made Eddie Murphy back out of Star Trek IV. It was probably for the better, since the comedy of that movie comes from the serious characters being dumbfounded by the 20th century, and a wisecracking, street smart native would have made it more farcical.

Besides that, I know what the blurb says, about a social worker searching for a Tibetan boy destined to save the world, and I recall there being some kind of prop/replica in the quiet footpath with movie memorabilia at King’s Island before they replaced that area with something more interesting for their target clientele. Probably a gift shop, I don’t remember.

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Bad Boys

July 19, 2013temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

Action movie, probably some laughs but not exceptionally comical, though I think Will Smith and Martin Lawrence both have a comedy background. The main thing I know about this is that its sequel is widely considered the best action movie ever made, or something to that effect. But I’m not watching Bad Boys II right now.

There’s something in the summary about the two guys having to switch lives for some reason? Not sure how that works, but that should make things interesting. There’s a lot of room for comedy in them criticizing each other’s impressions. Otherwise, it looks like a pretty standard bit of fun with explosions.

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