Hot Shots Part Deux (1993) Review

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(More customer reviews)Hot Shots: Part Deux! is an amazing rarity---a sequel that's actually superior to the first movie. (Not that Hot Shots! was bad; it was quite funny and enjoyable in its own right.) Like the second Star Trek film, this sequel gels all of the good elements from its predecessor and discards whatever didn't quite click. In this case, the supporting cast made the movie even more than Charlie Sheen as its troubled hero Topper Harley. Returning are the late great Lloyd Bridges, this time as the president, and Valeria Golino as the lovely Ramada. Joining Topper are his former CO (Richard Crenna), a no-nonsense tough-guy soldier (Miguel Ferrer), a cool blonde CIA operative (Brenda Bakke) and Ramada's hapless yet scornful spouse (the wretchedly hilarious Rowan Atkinson).
Abandoned for no apparent reason by Ramada, Topper seeks inner peace at an Asian monastery, kicking the crap out of whoever steps into the fighting arena with him. His former CO finds him and asks Harley to go on a mission to find the men who went to find the men who were sent to find the men---you get the idea. In a filmed spoof of both other films (Rambo, Terminator II) and real-life events (President George the elder Bush's unfortunate vomiting into the lap of a Japanese official), Hot Shots Deux is funny, fresh and at times even more insane than a Leslie Neilsen movie, without the tendency to bog down that usually plagues this type of sight comedy.
Sheen, of course, deserves plenty of credit for the movie's success, for he breathes life into the potentially cardboard lead role. Crenna does an excellent if off-the-wall reprise of his colonel character from Rambo. Bridges is sickeningly funny as the semi-lunatic president who's had more parts replaced than a '71 Volkswagen and may be a couple cards shy of a full deck. Gorgeous Golino and beautiful Bakke duke it out---literally, in an homage to American Gladiator. Ferrer, not known for comedic parts, is deadpan, Joe-Friday hilarious as the hard-bitten Harbinger, especially when he goes to pieces during a battle. Atkinson is acerbic and despicable as Ramada's self-absorbed and undeserving husband. Toss into this mix a dead ringer for Saddam Hussein (with a lisp!), and the result is one crazy ride, almost as insane as the one Topper endures with the CIA blonde on a squeaky bed. Some of the humor is risque but nothing is flat-out offensive; it's not a movie for young children, but teens and adults alike should enjoy it very much.
In summary, this is that rare sequel that stepped well beyond the confines of its previous version, and was much funnier. Highly recommended for an hour and twenty-eight minutes of viewing pleasure.

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In this hilarious "Hot Shots!" sequel, former renegade pilot Topper Harley (Charlie Sheen) is once again recruited for a secret mission.This time the country's incompetent president (Lyod Bridges) sends him to the Middle East to resue U.S. hostages and the countless men who have already been sent in to rescue them.Pining for his former lover (Valeria Golino) in a Buddhist temple, Topper manages to pull himself together and sets out on his laugh-laden, action-packed task.

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Every Which Way But Loose (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)Okay, okay, before I start getting e-mails up the waz detailing the differences between monkeys and apes, I know Clyde (the main character in the film owns an orange, male ape) wasn't a monkey, but `Clint and his orangutan' just didn't have the same zing...Every Which Way But Loose (1978), directed by James Fargo, who, back in the mid to late 70's seemed to have a promising career, working with Eastwood earlier in 1976's The Enforcer, but after the predictable and hokey 1982 Chuck Norris martial arts actioneer Forced Vengeance, he soon found himself relegated to the domain of the small screen, directing episodes of such 80's television shows as The A-Team, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, and Hunter. Starring in the film is Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven), one time Eastwood co-habitator (that means they shacked up together, but never got hitched) Sondra Locke (The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Gauntlet), Geoffrey Lewis (Salem's Lot, Bronco Billy), and one of the more curmudgeonly actresses I've ever seen in Ruth Gordon (Rosemary's Baby, Harold and Maude). Also appearing is Beverly D'Angelo (National Lampoon's Vacation), Bill McKinney (The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Gauntlet), and John Quade (Bad Company, High Plains Drifter) as Cholla, leader of the Black Widows, what has to be the most inept biker gang ever committed to celluloid...
Eastwood is Philo Beddoe, a truck driver who earns a little extra income as a bare-knuckled fighter in what appear to be unsanctioned street fights, with his friend Orville Boggs (Lewis), a tow truck driver as his sort of manager (well, not really manager, but Orville researches the opponents and makes the bets). Philo, along with his pet orangutan Clyde, and Orville live with Ma Boggs, a cantankerous old biddy who's constantly complaining about how Clyde defecates all over the place, and constantly steals her Oreos. Anyway, life seems to be going alright, that is until Philo falls for a country singer named Lynn Halsey-Taylor (Locke). After making the bumpity bump between the sheets and accepting a good deal of money from Philo (there is a name for women like that, but she did give Philo a rather convincing sob story), Lynn mysteriously up and leaves without so much as a how do you do, headed back to Denver...which prompts Philo to pick up and take after her, with Orville and Clyde in tow. Along the way they make a few enemies in a couple of cops who carry a grudge way to far (just let it go boys, you'll live longer) and also in a particularly lame biker group calling themselves the Black Widows, led by their portly leader Cholla (John Quade), both groups in pursuit of Philo for what we in the business like to call payback (which also happens to be the name of a really good Mel Gibson film based on a Donald Westlake book). Philo does finally find Lynn, the cops and the bikers find Philo, and Philo finds himself with the opportunity to face off against the legendary street fighter Tank Murdock, supposedly the best there is...
The production notes state that when this script was originally presented to Eastwood, it was done so in the hopes that he would pass it along to Burt Reynolds...but Eastwood, who was looking for way to break from the western genre that launched him into stardom, liked it so much he decided he wanted the role himself. Also, many around him at the time, especially the studio executives at Warner Brothers, tried to dissuade him from making the film as they didn't think it would fly, but, after the film's release it ended up being the top grossing film of Eastwood's career, so successful it spawned a popular sequel...I often wonder how many wonderful films got quashed by know nothing studio execs because the script didn't have the juice of someone like Eastwood behind them...anyway, this film is just a good time, and doesn't tend to take itself too seriously. Eastwood carries the movie, with his laid back machismo, but he did have a bit of competition in the ape and Ruth Gordon who tend to steal most of the scenes they're in (probably my favorite scene is when Ma's home alone, confronted by the biker gang searching for Philo, and is forced to use her shotgun which I think is similar to what someone might use to hunt elephants). Also, I know many people would probably like to credit individuals from `da hood' with starting the whole wearing your baseball cap crooked fad, but I contend it was actually Geoffrey Lewis' character Orville that made it popular. Locke did well, but I always felt she exuded an inherently creepy quality (check out the confrontation scene between her character and Philo near the end), no matter what film I saw her in (she appeared in like seven of Eastwood's films, that is until the relationship took the last train to splitsville), and here is no different. Maybe it's her excessively large eyeballs, or her borderline albino condition...and I really can't review this film without mentioning the soundtrack. Normally, I don't listen to country and western music, but I really did enjoy its' usage in here, featuring performers like Eddie Rabbitt, Mel Tillis, and Charlie Rich...also Locke performs one or two number surprisingly well...and the memorable theme used for the Black Widow gang...I found myself humming along every time they made their appearance in the film.
The wide screen (1.85:1) picture looks very good on this DVD, and the Dolby Digital 5.1 sound comes through reasonably clear. Special features include a theatrical trailer for the film, production notes, and a filmography for Eastwood. I would've liked to seen a cast commentary included, as I think everyone had a great time making the film, and probably could have shared some wonderful anecdotes, but whatever...this film was followed by the equally popular sequel Any Which Way You Can (1980).
Cookieman108


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Cadence (1991) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have seen that many people have been in search of the song and lyrics to Harry Stewart's "End of My Journey" from the movie Cadence. This song, and a pretty good version of "Chain Gang" make this movie unforgettable. There is a website dedicated to the "End of My Journey" song due to it not being available on any soundtrack recording.
http://www.freehomepages.com/cadence
Enjoy!

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Martin Sheen makes his directorial debut with this prison drama set on a United States army base in West Germany during the 1960s. As punishment for drunken, rebellious behavior, a young white soldier is thrown into a stockade populated entirely by black inmates. But instead of falling victim to racial hatred, the soldier joins forces with his fellow prisoners and rises up against the insanely tyrannical and bigoted prison warden.

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Hot Shots (1991) Review

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(More customer reviews)This kooky movie mainly parodies Tom Cruise's Top Gun, but pokes fun at Dances With Wolves, and many others. This is the story of Lt. Topper Harley (played by Charlie Sheen), who is trying to overcome the ghosts that haunt his life. But, the U.S Government needs Topper to fly in a secret mission to destroy a nuclear plant in Iraq. But, between evil capitalists, an insane admiral (Lloyd Bridges), and a band of strange and incompetent pilots, this is bound to be a far from normal mission! [Color, released in 1991, with a running time of 1:24.]
This is an extremely funny, extremely offbeat movie from that king of funny, offbeat movies - Jim Abrahams. If you are familiar with Mr. Abrahams' other movies, Airplane and The Naked Gun, then you know just what kind of zaniness he is capable of. Well, this movie lives up to the standards set by those other Abrahams hits.
The story is quite funny, with lots of slapstick, sight gags, and all around silliness. My daughter bought this movie with her own money, and enjoyed it immensely. In fact, the whole family did. We highly enjoyed this movie, and highly recommend it!


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Recruited to join a top-secret mission for the Air Force, a renegade pilot (Sheen) finds himself coping with an incompetent admiral (Bridges) and a carefully-selected squadron of flyers who are either inept or half-blind.He also winds up in competition with the corps' model of military perfection (Elwes) for the heart of the base's sultry psychiatrist (Golino)

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Galaxy Quest (1999) Review

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(More customer reviews)In December of 1999, director Dean Parisot unleashed what is arguably the funniest sci-fi/comedy film of all time, "Galaxy Quest", which focuses upon the dissatisfied lives of five actors who had starred in a long-cancelled sci-fi television series of the same name. Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) played ship's captain Commander Peter Quincey Taggart. Gwen DeMarco (Sigourney Weaver, who is no stranger to sci-fi with her roles in the "Alien" films) played Lt. Madison. Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman, also known for his roles as Hans Gruber in the 1988 film "Die Hard" and Professor Snape in the two "Harry Potter" films) played Dr. Lazarus. Fred Kwan (Tony Shalhoub) played ship's engineer Tech Sgt. Chen and Tommy Webber (Daryl Mitchell) played ship's pilot Laredo. Following the cancellation of the TV series, none of the actors had found descent acting jobs. Instead, they were relegated to appearing occasionally as their former "Galaxy Quest" characters at fan conventions and infrequent commercials. Especially frustrated is Alexander Dane, a trained Shakespearean actor who cannot escape the stigma of having said those immortal words, "By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged!"
The film begins at a "Galaxy Quest" convention where the quintet is preparing to appear. Unbeknownst to them, not all of the conventioneers dressed as aliens are pretending. A group of uniformed "aliens" approach Jason (dressed as Commander Taggart) saying that they are in dire need of his assistance. Jason quickly agrees and assumes that the group is planning to pay him to appear as Commander Taggart at a fan-function. Following a night of drinking at his home, the "aliens" arrive in a limousine (per Jason's request) to escort him to their function. The "aliens", calling themselves Thermians, are Mathesar (Enrico Colantoni), Teb (Jed Rees) and Laliari (Missi Pyle). While en route to their function, Teb recites the lengthy history of Thermia to Jason, but Jason (who has a hangover) falls asleep. (Jason doesn't take the Thermians seriously; instead believing that they are simply "Galaxy Quest" fans.) Jason awakens to what he believes is a very elaborate set mimicking the NSEA Protector from the "Galaxy Quest" show. Mathesar (who always refers to Jason as Commander Taggart) tells him that the Thermians want him to negotiate a peace treaty with General Sarris (Robin Sachs). Instead, "Commander Taggart" orders the Thermians to fire upon Sarris' ship. Assuming that he has completed his performance, Jason tells Mathesar that he is ready to return home. Mathesar escorts him to an empty room and leaves. Jason, not understanding what is happening, is suddenly enveloped within a strange substance and raised to the ship's exterior where he sees millions of stars in deep space. He is suddenly shot from the ship, then finds himself standing next to his swimming pool at home. Jason finally realizes that the Thermians are real extraterrestrials, and that they mistakenly regard the "Galaxy Quest" show (which they received in deep space) as being historical fact.
The other four "Galaxy Quest" actors are busy filming a commercial for the opening of an electronics store and are disgusted because Jason isn't there. Jason arrives late and tells them about his experience with the Thermians, but they think he has lost his mind. Jason tells them that the Thermians want him to return and that he wants them to come also. They initially reject it, but change their minds when they mistakenly believe that it's a paying job. Gwen, Alexander, Fred and Tommy are whisked away to the Thermian's NSEA Protector, along with another actor named Guy Fleegman (Sam Rockwell), who had played a bit part on the original "Galaxy Quest" show. With that, the most important role for each of the washed up "Galaxy Quest" actors begins!
Dean Parisot, along with writers David Howard and Robert Gordon, created a brilliant and engaging spoof of the show "Star Trek", its conventions and trekkies with "Galaxy Quest". Tim Allen equated with William Shatner (Kirk), Alan Rickman with Leonard Nimoy (Spock), Sigourney Weaver with Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Tony Shalhoub with James Doohan (Scotty) and Daryl Mitchell with George Takei (Sulu). Other sci-fi comedy spoof that predate "Galaxy Quest" (such as "Ice Pirates", "Pluto Nash" and "Spaceballs") are no where near as good, engaging or funny.
All of the actors in "Galaxy Quest" performed their roles exceptionally well. Two actor who played significant minor roles were Patrick Breen, who played the Thermian named Quelleck, and Jeremy Howard, who played the young and very helpful "Galaxy Quest" fan named Kyle.
I highly recommend purchasing "Galaxy Quest" on DVD, which has superior picture and sound quality, and includes several deleted scenes, trailers, biographies, the feature "On Location in Space" and production notes. "Galaxy Quest" is a film that can be watched many times while never becoming tiresome. Sit back and remember those immortal words, "Never give up! Never surrender!" as you are whisked away into the fantastic world of "Galaxy Quest"!

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Blu-ray Features:- Galactopedia- Historical Documents: The Story of Galaxy Quest- Never Give Up. Never Surrender: The Intrepid Crew of the NSEA Protector- By Grabthar's Hammer, What Amazing Effects- Alien School: Creating the Thermian Race- Actors in Space- Sigourney Weaver Raps- Deleted Scenese - Thermian Audio Track- Theatrical Trailer HD

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The Last Starfighter (25th Anniversary Edition) (1984) Review

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(More customer reviews)Has it really been 25 years since this movie was released?
That was my first thought when I heard this movie was being released on Blu-ray. My second thought was that my ever burgeoning Blu-ray collection would be increasing by at least one more movie in August.
I will discuss the plot later in this review but I am suspecting that most customers checking this Blu-ray catalog item out on Amazon are perhaps more interested in the Picture and Audio and the special features.
I have never seen the HD-DVD but have read that the HD-DVD transfer was simply horrible and was bracing myself to be disappointed with the quality of the Blu-ray release.
While the transfer is a far cry from anything that anyone would cite as reference quality with a lot of the scenes suffering a smoky look at times, the colors are OK with some distinct black and white levels, but on other occasions muted too much. Still it is an improvment over the previous DVD release, though it''s questionable if this should be enough to double-dip.
The audio has some nice surround and great bass but again is also somewhat average, so if you are expecting an audio track to rival more recent movies you will likely be disappointed.
The highlight of rhe special features is the audio commentary between director Nick Castle and production designer Ron Cobb. This is evidently an old audio track but the two seem to have an enjoyable time. There is also a Making of featurette called "Crossing the Frontier" and, as one would expect with a movie touring itself as a 25th Anniversary Edition, a new featurette that includes cast and crew looking back on the movie and their roles as mentors.
The movie follows the adventures of Alex Rogan (played by Lance Guest). Living in a trailer park and with a beautiful girlfriend Alex spends his time mastering a video arcade game in between doing oddjobs for his neighbors. However, after a particularly successful game at the controls, he is visited by a mysterious character. It turns out that the video game is used as a recruiting tool of sorts to locate those who would be great intergalactic fighter pilots.
Before Alex knows what has hit him the bewildered teen is whisked off across the galaxy and discovers that what was once just a video game is now all too real.
Yes, it's good old 1980s cheese and the early CGI effects are much less impressive now than they were 25 years ago, but for a pure fun movie that does not take itself too seriously you can do much worse :)

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War, Inc. (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)I almost skipped this one as a political annoyance until I saw the star power supporting it: Ben Kingsley, Marisa Tomei (a personal favorite), John Cusack, Joan Cusack, and more. That cast simply won't let a movie be bad. They couldn't if they tried.
Despite an apparent attempt to be ordinary entertainment, this one rises above all the usual categories. Do you want a cynical mockumentary of Haliburton-style war profiteering? Got it. Do you want pointed jabs at operations funded by Congress's "black budget?" Check. Do you want satirical assaults on simplistic sloganeering from every possible direction? It's there. Add in a babe like a pre-meltdown Britney but with hotter hotpants and a bucket of slapstick, and you're headed in the right direction. For example, a major character's name is "Uckmee Fay." Speakers of pig-Latin, please take note.
They set the tone from the very first scene. Chevy Chase delivers a "Mission Impossible" style of assignment to a high-class assassin, via video, while seated on American Standard's finest. Later, Joan Cusack shows up in the role that she has perfected - the prim, cheery, and murderous psychopath. There's a lot more, too. I laughed all through, even (maybe especially) when I knew that outrage would have been the "appropriate" response.
This one really grows on me the more I think about it. It doesn't whap you upside the head with humor, politics, or even its sappy moments. Instead, it tickles you with not-quite-too-much of social commentary, current events, goofy jokes, visual gags, and enough more to hold it all together. I liked it more a few hours later than when I walked out the door, and lots of movies have the opposite effect on me.
-- wiredweird, reviewing the theatrical release
PS: See it some time soon. The topical humor in this one might age badly unless the The Powers That Be keep providing background to preserve its freshness.

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Recreating his role as a hitman, John Cusack gives a hilarious performance in War, Inc., a political satire set in Turaqistan, a Country occupied by an American private corporation run by a former U.S. Vice President (Dan Aykroyd). In an effort to monopolize the opportunities the war-torn nation offers, the corporation's CEO hires Hauser (Cusack) to kill a Middle Eastern oil minister. Now, struggling with his own growing demons, the assassin must pose as the corporation s Trade Show Producer in order to pull off this latest hit, while maintaining his cover by organizing the high-profile wedding of Yonica Babyyeah (Hilary Duff), an outrageous Central Asian pop star, and keeping a sexy left-wing reporter (Marisa Tomei) in check.

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