Reviews

I am still amazed by this third part of the most prestigious mafia films trilogy ever made. This movie is absolutely stunning, terrific, unforgettable. I would say that the more the better, unlike many other franchises. The meeting between Al Pacino and Andy Garcia is also a pure moment of hapiness for any movie lover. Everything is flawless, jawdropping here. It is poignant, gripping, it grabs your guts till tears invade your eyes. I would have not guessed that after twenty years, the GODFATHER franchise could proceed in such a awesome way. It must be seen at all costs by every movie buff. A pure masterpiece.

With this little crime thriller, Tay Garnett gets back to his POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE spirit, though the plot is not the same, just the atmosphere, at least not the John Ford like line, that Tay Garnett used in many of his movies. I speak of those rough, tough manhood tales with gigantic fist fights...That was also the Tay Garnett's trademark. Nothing to do with this excellent feature which, I am sure, many movie buffs have never seen or at best forgotten. The plot is intelligent, surprising, and saves some unpredictable moments. Such a shame that this film is not better known. I am so glad to have seen it again.

Or the Magnificent Six...This very surprising action thriller adventures from a director such Val Guest has always enchanted me, but that doesn't make it an excellent, flawless film either. Val Guest will always be more famous for QUATERMASS films or his other features from Hammer Films company, or even war features - CAMP ON BLOOD ISLAND, YESTERDAY'S ENEMY- than for this one. Any only good film maker could have been made this tremendous action packed - at least in the second part - film. And I would have never imagined Christopher Lee, Hugh O'Brian and OJ Simpson - plus Peter Fonda - in the same film. Good actionner.

I am not a great comedies fan, especially French ones, but the French comedy tradition in the fifties and sixties , with the likes of Bourvil, Fernandel, Louis De Funès, was purely as excellent, terrific as the American style and the Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope, Laurel and Hardy period...So this very one is a great great job, given by a young future great French director: Henri Verneuil, whose filmography will certainly not be known for its comedies: LE CLAN DES SICILIENS, PEUR SUR LA VILLE, LE CASSE, MELODIE EN SOUS SOL.... So early in his career - Verneuil did not belong to the French Nouvelle Vague nor the same period film makers such as Philippe de Broca, Pierre Granier Deferre, George Lautner, Jacques Deray - So early, Verneuil showed his talent, his skills, despite the fact that he was a commercial director, not a true artist - unlike Jean-Pierre Melville, for instance. This story is stunning, thanks to Fernandel and his incredible performance. An outstanding French comedy gem.

Bert Gordon was definitely a great B science fiction film maker. I love all his movies, ALL OF THEM. I almost forgot this one, and what a shame. I discover it again with great pleasure. It is not lousy, it is fun; it is not stupid, it is a good time waster, especially for Bert Gordon's fans, and there are many on earth. You will easily find here his trademark: gigantic animals; the Bert Gordon's trademark. Every horror movie buff should watch this one. Lon Chaney Jr shows a wooden performance, compared to other films which he played in. But let's be honest, it is not the highlight of Bert Gordon. However, this is a must see for horror fans.

The surprise here is the Victor Mature's character, very unusual for him. A good movie from a director mostly known for TOWN WITHOUT PITY, excellent drama. This is a rather forgotten film, speaking of WW2, but it is worth watching, because engrossing enough to keep you glued to it. Not so many films evoked the Dutch element in this war, except THE BLACK BOOK and SOLDIER OF ORANGE from director Paul Verhoeven. However, some Tv movies were made about it, mostly underrated. But without the Victor Mature's character - I won't say more about it, not to spoil - I would have probably watched it only once, despite Lana Turner and Clark Gable. It is more espionage than purely gritty "front line" war feature, but why not? War was not only a matter of explosions and bombardments.

With Edgar Ulmer, the cheapest was most of time the better, far better than big huge and juicy craps, whatever the periods. This movie is a cult one, that will never get old. Edgar Ulmer was a genius for a certain period of time, he made gold with a fistful of dollars. Here, you have one of the most terrific picture of femme fatale ever made, even better than POTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, or even DOUBLE INDEMNITY. Useless also to say that Tom Neal has never been better than in DETOUR. This film belongs to the most famous and world known B pictures of all times. It was made to be an ordinary movie, and no one could foresee the reputation this movie would get afterwards. A small masterpiece.

After Fritz Lang's FURY, speaking of lynch mob, William Wellman offered us this tremendous and unforgettable western but it should be considered as a drama instead of a simple western. It is a very rare gem, a hell of a damn good film, shocking for its period, very social in its message. Director William Wellman did not speak only of aerial fighters but also social problems - HEROES FOR SALE - and this western can be watched as a social one. Hank Fonda awesome in this lead role. Of course we'll find him later for TWELVE ANGRY MEN in a very close message movie, unforgettable too. One of Wellman's best.

During the history of French TV industry, you had two "period" series that were very very successful in terms of audiences: JACQUOU LE CROQUANT in 1969 and ARDECHOIS COEUR FIDELE (1974). It is a tremendous characters study, a terrific friendship story, very rare. I admit that during the late seventies or early eighties, you hade many French series speaking of history of France, and the Revolution in particular with the unavoidable Napoleon wars veterans.... GASPARD DES MONTAGNES, JACQUOU LE CROQUANT, FABIEN DE LA DROME, ARDECHOIS COEUR FIDELE, TROMPETTE DE LA BERESINA, JEAN ROCHE COIGNET.... The actors are purely awesome, especially the two leads : Claude Brosset, Sylvain Joubert....

It takes place in a school, not high school, and it is a deep characcter study, pupils behavior among themselves. It is made by people who know very well this atmosphere: teachers or school principals.... It is very accurate, cliché ridden, sometimes disturbing if you have children of this age - between ten and fifteen - and who can live those kinds of situations. It's not brutal nor gloomy but makes you to think about it, or discover if you are not concerned. One excellent film about schools, and I am afraid it may be underrated. But I have seen movies really downbeat, harsh, depressing, concerning those children relations in a school. This one is definitely not.

The only Chinese thing I have ever liked in my life is the restaurants, dishes.... Not the movie industry. Beware, I speak of Chinese, not Korean nor Japanese...But this one is above average, though remaining very different from the Western countries atmosphere; but also different from the other Asian movies, nothing to do with movies from Japan or South Korea. No mix up of comedy and tragedy nor offbeat situations. This crime film from China looks like a very auteur film, I mean not destined to wide audiences. Dark, gritty, gripping, I was stuck to it and my interest never fell down. Yes, I recommend it.

It begins like a prison break plot, in the line of CANON CITY, CRASHOUT, BIG HOUSE USA, but it appears that this is quite different. The following plot will surprise you, because of the warden character. Not the predictable scheme of good vs evil guys. Abner Biberman made some good films for Universal Studios and this one belongs to his best. NIGHT RUNNER was good too. This is for me an underrated crime film from the fifties. I like being surprised by such daring schemes. I won't tell you the film not spoil it. Please try it, if you can purchase it; it is not so hard to get. Maybe more drama than pure gritty crime yarn.

Destined to Brian De Palma's die hard fans, or to the simple common folks who search for a good time waster. It is a fancy lousy picture, splendidly made, offering a fantastic directing work with terrific camera angles, for instance the opening long, long take, very daring for the late nineties. Brian De Palma shows here all the tricks of his trademark...Even the most stupid of the viewers would recognize De Palma's touch in this stupid story that will never let you forget SCARFACE, CARLITO'S WAY, CASUALTIES OF WAR, BLOW OUT...I insist, the story is empty, deceiving compared to the production design. Fancy but lame.... Shining only from the outside. Don't look forward.

But there are other serials from this director that are also excellent: G MEN VS BLACK DRAGON, ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL, DAREDEVILS OF THE RED CIRCLE.... Always the same hypersonic pace, that let you jaw dropped, literally, visually smashed by those astounding action scenes, that look like choreography working like clockwork. Yes, William Witney was the master of the serial genre, and even after he stopped serial in 1946 with CRIMSOM GHOST - not his best - after he left his place to Spencer Gordon Bennett at Republic Pictures, the following serials, even without him, remained very exciting to watch. Of course, in a serial, forget the plot, make it fun, and focus on the action sequences. William Lava music plus Lydecker brothers special effects do the rest. Magic serials...Then billion times better than today's super f...heroes.

The least we can say is that this movie is very daring, bold, from the producers and director, because the story is edited in such a way that the whole result puzzles many people, especially when you also include in this movie three of the greatest horror film stars: Peter Cushing, Vincent Price and Christopher Lee. And not even together in any scene. This is not a Hammer like film, despite the British production, it mixes up pop culture, science fiction, political message, horror.... Yes, you may leave after watching and being puzzled. That's why I recommend you to watch it several times. You have here three stories, three separate tales which will eventually cross. Meet. Not bad but very, very special....

Interesting, riveting, engrossing anti propaganda movie because from Netherlands - Holland - and a very unknown page of their history. I don't remind a single movie speaking of this 1946 war, involving Holland and its colonies fights. I have even never heard about it.....Only for this, it is worth the watch. I am sure it is very close to actual events, despite the unavoidable fiction elements. An awesome movie, war movie, that can not deceive any war films buffs. Strong acting, solid directing, I am so happy to have discovered it. It would have been one more film about Nazi occupation in Netherlands, I would have avoided it. But this is not the case. This lead character, the young soldier, reminded me much Benoit Magimel in Florent Emilio Siri's L'ENNEMI INTIME, a naive young soldier who slowly loses his mind, his spirit, his soul. Awesome. But prepare yourself to be shocked. You have been warned. USA film industry made films about horrors committed during war in Vietnam, so Netherlands had its films too about war in this remote part of the world.

Year 1935 was definitely the year for Rowland V Lee to speak of history of France, and more precisely Cardinal Richelieu character; because this very year, the director gave us THE THREE MUSKETEERS, also speaking of Richelieu, but in a supporting role, whilst in this movie - CARDINAL RICHELIEU - the latest is the lead character. I have always been astonished by the interest that the Hollywood film industry took for history of France. More than England.... This movie is maybe accurate and faithful is not bad at all but very talkative and destined to history goers. I don't crave for it but don't mind my opinion, that's just an opinion. Good acting and directing.

Please, don't show this film to your family in law on the day of the proposal to your bride. This is a tremendous hell of a film. Shocking, disturbing, gloomy, a film of extreme tension, suspense and brutality. But not in the way you could be afraid of. I perfectly understand that many audiences did not like this movie, it is not destined to wide audiences, but it was not the purpose either. The 2010 remake starring Jason Statham and Mickey Rourke was excellent too, and directed by the same director, this young film maker from Georgia - country. This feature belongs to the exceptional stories which we rememeber for a long long time because they are unique, awesome, unforgettable. Don't miss it.

I don't know why, but I have the feeling that this film was rather underrated when it was released, even later. No one seems to evoke this movie anymore. Not as powerful as PLATOON or even APOCALYPSE NOW, but it is riveting, grabbing your guts from the beginning till the end. Another film about Vietnam war, and rather late, because made in the 2000's. Mel Gibson works with his BRAVEHEART pal Randall Wallace. Mark Robson made LIMBO, back in 1972, speaking of soldiers wives, soldiers widows, who tried to survive after tragedy in their families. Here, you also have this kind of spirit, atmosphere. Really a true and authentic film.

Solid anti Red B flick from the early fifties, the decade of the anti Red fashion, where many action and thrillers were made in this direction. I will prefer ten million times this one to BIG JIM MC LAIN for instance, despite John Wayne's character in the good American lead role. The Edward Ludwig's film was lousy, boring, pure lame propaganda stuff, compared to this action packed little film, where the main character is precisely the villain: Barton McLane, in a role that suit him like a glove. And the director worked so little for the film industry - mostly TV one - that explains why - I suppose - not so many folks search for it. Only luck can permit you to watch this hidden gem.

This cheesy drama would have been perfect for Rock Hudson - though Arthur Kennedy is OK too - for this Universal Studios production, but 1951 was too early, because Hudson was not a star yet. The plot seems very like a Douglas Sirk's job and I am so surprised to see that the direction is from Mark Robson. I did not know the latest worked for Universal. Some elements - racial issue - had already been used by Robson with HOME OF THE BRAVE. However this is not a war film, let's say a war drama evoking the difficulties that some veterans have to deal with - here, blindness. Good drama that deserves to be known.

That depends of which point of view, but considering the history of Audie Murphy's life, the latest was not the common law abiding citizen. Not far from the end, his character says he is not afraid to kill; if you know the true life of Audie Murphy before he became an actor, this sentence seems so accurate and true. And this role was the best opportunity for him to begin in the business, and in a lead role; unlike his two first pictures that he made before. The relation between young Audie Murphy and the already vet Lloyd Nolan is interesting. And as the first film sentence says, the main character, this young delinquent, is not a Dead End Kid. No cliché here, but it's not LES HAUTS MURS either. It could have been more gritty, poignant, brutal too. Because young delinquents world is sometimes very tough, violent. This looks like a propaganda and cheesy film, but it is still interesting to see Audie Murphy between his true life war hero character and his westerns one, that will follow very soon after this movie.

This rare Sam Newfield's film brings nothing to a movie buff's knowledge. Every moviegoer can live without it, but for those who have nothing else to do, those who want to waste time, why not? It is an amusing and not so boring gumshoe plot...If you like Hugh Beaumont, maybe you'll bear it. The copy I purchased was rather good and that helps a lot to appreciate, let's be fair. The directing is also Ok, but Sam Newfield was a prolific director and that means he was a professional, despite the low budgets he had at his disposal. So, I won't say any real harm about this little detective film. It's not too long, anyway.

Poor Rock Hudson, how the hell could he be involved in such a disaster? Yes, it is not only a disaster movie, but a movie which is also a disaster. Forget TOWERING INFERNO, EARTHQUAKE, POSEIDON ADVENTURE if you wish only to appreciate this one, only a bit. Poor Rock Hudson.... I have seen some movies from the forties, fifties, also showing some avalanche scenes far better than those ones here. And this is supposed the main purpose to watch this junk. The avalanche scenes, forget the rest, forget the characters, only focus on the action elements. No, honestly, you can live without it. The worst of the disaster movies from the seventies.