Reviews

Think of films with "II" in the title and some horrors spring to mind. Bad Boys II is nothing like the original cop movie which the characters Marcus and Mike, played by Martin Lawrence and Will Smith, have a bad ass partnership in. This movie is as far from the original make up as it could be. It would have been better to of not called this film Bad Boys II as the viewer arrives with pre-conceived expectations from the original movie.

I got the impression that perhaps Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson had lifted dare I say the car chase scenes from other movies. The highway smash up chase, seemed all too Luc Besson "Ronin" / "Taxi", and the attempted sealing of a small economy car "Die Hard".

Personally I love good car chase scenes, and seeing as within 35 mins of the film run this happens for quite a chunk of the action - I would expect it to be the best. It was a disappointment - ask the question, why cant Mike's Ferrari out run a truck fully laden with a car transporter? (Mike's character doesn't come across from the original movie as somebody who would ditch a Porsche for one!) Why can the 4x4 just push its way out of the pile of cars? what happened to low ratio gear box and foot to the floor? OK its make believe but if you want your viewer to believe - make it real! As as for the dubbed "revving" sounds - please.....

This movie, would be better is the timing was cut short by 30 minutes it too long and I found myself thinking, get to the end.

In the UK this film is rated ages 15 and above, the movie does have its fair share of blood and cuts with scenes of chopped up bodys, headless torsos, and people being dismembered. A little strong for some younger viewers.

Overall if you rented the movie, you just take it back. If you bought it, oh well, there's always ebay.

This Bond movie for me is the best. Not for the plot, which is in itself nothing special. Its the car chase in Spain. This for me makes the whole movie something worth watching. It took the motoring world back to loving the Citroen 2CV6. Bond, played by Roger Moore is in Spain spying on villa when he is discovered and caught. Escape is of course true bond style with a car chase - of course to make matters worse Bond's Lotus is blown up before he even gets in to it. With true Bond dry humor they make off in the little yellow Citroen 2CV6. Now this car has twin cylinder 602cc engine, a top speed of 71mph and only 28.5 horse power!

The chase is spectacular - twisty zig zag bends down a Spanish hill side and in hot pursuit are a fleet of Peugeot 504 cars, themselves now a classic. Numerious crashes, air bound maneuvers and gun fire make it unforgettable. The little 2CV take to the off road, demonstrating the amazing suspension system of Citroen. Even when the car tips over, the locals push back on to its wheels, push start and their away!

If you watch this film, you'll understand the humor and comedy factor of this chase. Brilliant.

This is true classic British comedy of the 80's By the Sea is an hour long TV special, which combined with The Picnic (1975), featured as a double bill on the BBC Video Laserdisc release. Although there were several years apart in the making of both of these, the cast remains the same.

By the Sea was made in Dorset, England along the coast between Bournemouth and Swanage. Ronnie Barker plays the part of a saucy old Gentleman who always game for a bit of slap and tickle, and Ronnie Corbitt the young man bringing his girl friend along on the family holiday.

Family is the word for this, the whole plot is set around their holiday. The opening scene is Swanage bay, or as we get to know it "Tiddly Cove".

The most fantastic thing about this short film is the script. There are no words! Music, sound effects, and murmurs and noises like "ah!" are all that exist. It works so well, and a truly international language anybody can understand.

Typical Two Ronnies humor throughout this, made even more special by the family, notably Madge Hindle playing the shy and slightly geeky companion. Barbara New plays the Aunt, and adds her touch of magic as well.

If you can find a copy, get it !

The Young Americans is set in London in the mid 1990s. The plot basically surrounds the London drugs trade and the British Police's crack down on it. Well what could be easier than that? Add Harvey Keitel as an American 'visiting adviser' from the DEA and a few shady characters.

In whole its not a bad film, its over ten years old now and was obviously low budget! A scene where a Ford Granada explodes it clearly goes bang, and just as well because I doubt they could afford another to do it again.

Cropping up in the film is a character called Chris who adds the love elements to the movie, played by Craig Kelly, who later finds more TV fame in the UK version of Queer as Folk.

The annoying thing about this movie is the over acting "British" voice, making Harvey Keitel sound very American and the British officers toffy noised! For a movie made and set in London it is a poor feature.

Biker Boyz was, or I was hoping, to be filled with punchy effects, high drama story line and hero's. This I felt was far from the case. The plot is thin, and more suited to daytime soap. The opening of the film, starts in a biker's burn out, and biker's bar. The music gives it some punch and I hoped this would up the uplift in the movie.

For me, as a biker, and I'm sure other viewers of this movie will be too, I was truly disappointed in the poor shooting of this film. Shots that were supposed to be fast burning races, looked like 50mph. The next poor point for the film was the wardrobe. Now any biker worth his due, allegedly racing flat out to the red line is going to equip himself with the best protective leathers and crash helmet. The wardrobe for the bikers looked like it came from a mail order fashion catalog, and simply wasn't convincing that the actors and stunt men were real bikers at all. Don't get me wrong there are some impressive stunts, and they would be justified if this wasn't a movie but a documentary television show.

This has to be a true classic movie for anybody. Parton, Fonda, Tomlin play the three main characters set in a big business office block, "Consolidated". Dolly Parton is excellent, portraying the country girl, Jane Fonda as the divorced housewife's first job role, and Lily Tomlin as the bosses stepping stone. The film is full of one line crack jokes which can be missed on the first time you watch it. Do watch the movie a few times, and soon you'll pick up on how funny the lines are "Violet, did you get my Memo?", "I did Roz, I tore right through it".

Later in the film the plot is well underway and animation is combined successfully with Tomlin's scene of a Snow White type character!

I loved this film, and my laserdisc copy is always on the top of the pile. A good all rounder to be watched over and over, and I sometimes find myself using those punch lines.

Dolly Parton provides the "9 to 5" opening music, which sets the movie off to a good pace.