Quentin Tarantino's script for "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996)...
...features two bank robbers and their frightened hostage, a female teller.
So does Walt Disney's 1965 comedy, "That Darn Cat!"
One particular scene from the Disney film clearly inspired Tarantino...
...and both are equally unsettling.
(Originally posted on 1/14/21)
I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!
Originally posted on 9/27/13
Is the phrase "Quentin Tarantino Presents" before a film's title a reliable sign of quality? After watching HELL RIDE (2008), my answer to that question would be, in a word, no. And in two words, hell no. If this is any indication, then Tarantino might as well start calling people into the bathroom after he takes a dump so that he can proudly "present" the results to them.
What little storyline there is often gets lost in the seemingly random editing, or is put on hold every time some mangy old biker dudes get their hands on the non-stop parade of salacious silicone babes who seem to infest this flick like tribbles. What it all boils down to is that way back in 1976, some rival bad-guy bikers called the Six Six Sixers murdered good-guy biker Pistolero's girlfriend, and now, thirty some-odd years later, Pistolero (writer-director Larry Bishop), with the help of fellow gang members the Victors, decides to get revenge.
There are homages to Tarantino's homages, such as a mysterious box whose contents we never get to see, and a POV shot looking up from inside the box that's a miniature version of the way Tarantino shoots people opening car trunks. There's the jukebox soundtrack, featuring several truly ear-curdling songs. And of course, there's the dialogue. HELL RIDE contains stretches of dialogue that might make you wish Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega had never discussed foot massages or mentioned the words "Royale with cheese."
At one point Pistolero and his aptly-named girlfriend Nada (sexy Leonor Varela) get into a pun war that includes every possible variation of the word "fire"--she's got a fire that needs putting out, he's got the firehose, she's a fire alarm, he's a fire-eater, etc. It's a wonder they didn't manage to work "fire ants" into it somewhere. Later, Bishop starts doing the same thing with the word "business", and you start wishing you could just grab a gun and shoot at the screen like Elvis used to do.
The impression I get from this movie's publicity is that if you liked GRINDHOUSE, you should love HELL RIDE. But as far as I'm concerned, whatever you may have liked about one is sadly lacking in the other. Getting the "right" actors together and having them be super tough and spout loopy dialogue at each other doesn't make a good movie if there isn't a decent story and a solid directorial vision. HELL RIDE's problem is that it thinks it's a cool-as-hell movie to begin with, but doesn't have what it takes to actually be one.
Originally posted on 10/28/11
In THE DEER HUNTER, a game of Russian Roulette proved so overwhelmingly intense that, as I sat watching it in the theater, I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to get through it. Géla Babluani's 13 (2010) gives us an entire movie based on the game but manages only to be moderately entertaining without coming anywhere near that level of tension.
Sam Riley is Vince, an average young guy whose family--mom, dad, and two sisters--has hit rock bottom financially after the father is badly injured. Stumbling across an illicit Russian Roulette tournament involving some very high-stakes betting, Vince manages to take the place of one of the entrants in hopes of surviving to solve his family' money problems. Needless to say, this descent down the rabbit hole will be a nightmare with the spectre of sudden, violent death hovering over him every minute.
Riley gives a restrained but effective performance and makes his character easy to root for. Vince is believably freaked out during the first round while quickly getting more hardened to the game out of necessity. When he makes it to the final round, which we know he will since the opening flash-forward gives it away, he's still reluctant but his initial hesitance has been overcome by sheer desperation.
Technically, 13 is as good as it needs to be but no more, relying on the inherent fascination we derive from seeing a group of men standing in a circle, each with his gun pointed at the head of the man in front of him and then firing on command, with some surviving and others thudding clumsily to the floor. With each round the stakes rise along with the number of bullets in each gun.
Even so, we never really get that caught up in the game itself, and it's the sketchily-drawn characters who provide the most interest. As Jasper, Jason Statham is likable as usual even playing a rat who plucks his brother Ronald Lynn (Ray Winstone) out of a mental hospital to compete in the game. Winstone is an imposing figure, even more so when Ronnie's meds start wearing off and he becomes increasingly hostile both to Vince and to Jasper for using him.
Mickey Rourke is interesting to watch even when he's coasting through a role as he does here, playing a convict named Jefferson who's been whisked out of a Mexican prison and into the competition against his will. Rapper 50 Cent plays Jefferson's handler, Jimmy. Belgian actor Ronald Guttman, whom I recognized as one of the Russian defectors in THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, is Vince's sponsor in the game, and David Zayas of "Dexter" is a police detective trying to put an end to it.
Film and TV veteran Ben Gazzara is a welcome presence as Schlondorff, sponsor to his own nerve-frazzled entrant. In the small role of Vince's handler, Jack, Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård manages to convey an unspoken sympathy for Vince that makes his character more tolerable. Michael Shannon (airplane mechanic "Gooz" in PEARL HARBOR) plays the role of coldblooded game ringmaster Henry with particular relish, harshly barking out commands such as "Spin the cylinder!" and "Cock the hammer!" Gaby Hoffman, who was little "Maisy" in UNCLE BUCK, is all grown up now and plays Vince's sister Clara in a brief role.
Ray Winstone's menacing character becomes the focal point in the game's final stages and gives 13 its most gripping scenes. After the game, however, the film wanders down a pretty predictable path and finally comes to a stop after failing to find anything interesting to do with itself save for a mild attempt at some kind of irony. Director Babluani and his co-scripter Gregory Pruss really needed to throw a few more ideas around before settling for this acutely unremarkable ending.
The DVD from Anchor Bay is in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish. There are no extras.
In other hands, 13 might've been a really riveting nailbiter. As it is, it's a nifty little suspense yarn that doesn't quite make you feel like you've gotten your money's worth when it's over.
Originally posted on 12/9/11
Ever since PULP FICTION came out, various talky, quirky crime flicks have been described as Tarantino rip-offs. Or, more generously put, "Tarantino-esque." Despite all the bad things I've heard about it, I feel generous toward the talky, quirky--and fairly entertaining--crime flick CATCH .44 (2011) so I'll use the latter term. Besides, people were making movies sorta like this before QT came along, but there just wasn't as convenient a way of describing them.
Not surprisingly, the movie takes the timeline of its not-all-that-complicated story and reshuffles it all over the place just for fun. Most of the action occurs in an out-of-the-way Louisiana diner at 3:00 a.m., where three girls--Tes (Malik Akerman, WATCHMEN), Dawn (Deborah Ann Woll), and Kara (Nikki Reed, CHAIN LETTER, TWILIGHT)--are on an assignment for local drug kingpin Mel (Bruce Willis) and waiting for something to happen. When it does, people start getting blown away, including one of the girls.
We'll keep returning to the diner, with intermittent flashbacks bringing us up to speed a little at a time (a la RESERVOIR DOGS), until everything and everyone comes together at the end. Meanwhile, we rewind to the dead girl and her two cohorts getting stopped by this really weird highway cop. Only he isn't really a cop, because we just saw him shoot the real cop in the head during a routine pull-over. Ronny (Forest Whitaker in another interesting performance) is a scary and enigmatic guy whose intentions are as yet unknown, but we're pretty sure he's going to end up at that diner, too.
Writer-director Aaron Harvey manages to keep things zipping along even when he's imitating Tarantino's chatty dialogue style with long, talky scenes that have their own modest rewards while never quite bagging the elusive Royale With Cheese. A three-way Mexican standoff inside the diner (also a la RESERVOIR DOGS) after the initial shootout is nicely handled, prolonging the tension with various revelations and teasing us as to what certain characters' motivations are. Whitaker is especially good here, with Shea Whigham doing a nice turn as a twitchy fry cook with a pump shotgun. (Lovable oddball Brad Dourif also shows up for a couple of scenes as, of all things, a cop.)
Harvey's directorial style is a pleasing amalgam of lesser you-know-who mixed with a little Robert Rodriguez, making CATCH .44 easy to look at. It amazed me to discover that Harvey's only other directing credit is the absolutely wretched 2007 slasher flick THE EVIL WOODS, which is without question one of the worst pieces of dreck ever made. The difference between the two films is stunning--if nothing else, Harvey deserves some kind of an award for "most improved filmmaker."
Lurking in the background, getting talked about a lot, and popping into view for a few key scenes is Bruce Willis' "Mel" character. The PULP FICTION co-star lends his formidable presence to the film without really breaking a sweat, but by now just being Bruce Willis is enough to elevate a small film such as this to another level. We see him being a rich, cool drug lord manipulating his unsuspecting employees (such as Tes, Dawn, and Kara) like pawns, and finally emerging for a long, talky final scene with Whitaker that manages a faint hint of the Bill and Beatrix exchange at the end of KILL BILL VOL. 2. Barely a whiff of that Royale With Cheese, though.
The DVD from Anchor Bay is in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound. Subtitles are in English and Spanish. A long, talky commentary track with Harvey and editor Richard Byard is the sole extra.
CATCH .44 doles out tantalizing scraps of story to us until the pieces fall into place, and once that's done, the final scene plays out in a way that resolves all the pent-up suspense in rather predictable ways. There's no ironic twist or "gotcha" to fully justify so much story fiddling, and we realize that it was all done just to tell a very simple tale in a more interesting way. Which is okay, since it does.
The episode entitled "The Mind Reader" (S1 E40, 1959)...
...has three guest stars who had appeared or would appear as werewolves.
Michael Landon played the lupine lead in "I Was A Teenage Werewolf" (1957).
Steven Ritch was the title terror in the previous year's "The Werewolf" (1956).
And John Carradine would howl it up in the 1981 Joe Dante classic "The Howling."
This episode is a real werewolf triple-header!
Oh, and the fourth werewolf?
Chuck Connors himself, who co-starred in Fox TV's "Werewolf" (1987)!
I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!
Originally posted on 2/19/11
Stay away from out-of-the-way diners after dark, THE KILLING JAR (2010) seems to be telling us, since you never know what kind of desperate character may come walking in. And if he looks like Michael Madsen, you know you should've skipped the pecan pie and skedaddled five minutes ago.
This tense thriller by writer-director Mark Young (SOUTHERN GOTHIC) is one of those single-location movies that could easily be performed as a stage play, which means that the focus is on character and dialogue. Neither are very deep here, but they get the job done pretty well, mainly due to a capable cast.
Amber Benson (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) plays weary waitress Noreen, who dreams of getting out of Silver Lake (where the tourists don't go anymore since the lake dried up) but works in a dingy diner for ill-tempered cook Jimmy (Danny "MACHETE" Trejo). It's almost closing time on a hot night when news comes over the radio of four grisly murders not far away, with the ill-fated family's killer still at large.
A likely suspect enters as Noreen is chatting with a mild-mannered traveling salesman named John Dixon (Harold Perrineau, "Link" of MATRIX: RELOADED and REVOLUTIONS) on his way through town. The stranger is foulmouthed and surly, prompting local deputy Lonnie (Lew Temple, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS) to start Barney Fife-ing him. This proves to be a bad move, and before long "Doe" is threatening his seven terrified captives with a pump shotgun and getting crazier by the minute.
Michael Madsen does a lot of glorified cameo roles these days, so it's good to see him sink his teeth into a part that's not all that different from the kill-crazy Mr. Blonde of RESERVOIR DOGS, only without the mordant sense of humor. His "Doe" is scary dangerous in a wary, calculated way and when he goes off and gets violent, the character is coldblooded and unpredictable.
Young, whose direction is efficient without drawing attention to itself, throws a few curves at us to keep the story moving. These include the arrival of Mr. Greene (Jake Busey), a shady businessman who's there to meet a Mr. Smith, whom he's never seen before. Is it Doe, or is Mr. Smith someone else in the diner? It might even be trucker Hank (the always-fine Kevin Gage of HEAT and LAID TO REST).
Young builds a fair amount of suspense as Doe singles out his captives one at a time to terrorize and interrogate them, and people do get killed badly. Still, much of the drama is psychological, so don't expect a gorefest--aside from a couple of grisly shots here and there, you'll have to use your DVD players' frame-advance to see an exploding head or two. While none of this is unbearably nailbiting and the major plot twists are fairly predictable, the finale is nicely played and ends the movie on a satisfying note.
The DVD from Image Entertainment is in 1.78:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. A trailer is the sole extra.
THE KILLING JAR probably won't sear itself into your movie memory banks or have you swooning in cinematic ecstasy, but it's a solid little suspense thriller with some good performances and an absorbing story. Best of all, it's a chance to see an aging Mr. Blonde at the end of his rope, going mental and getting trigger-happy one last time.
Originally posted on 6/30/09
"Are we even cops anymore?"
"We're past that, brother."
Val Kilmer's character, Det. Andy Devereaux, is referring to the fact that he and his fellow cops in STREETS OF BLOOD (2009) have ventured far beyond the bounds of acceptable police procedure in their quest to stem the rising tide of drug-related crime in the hurricane-ravaged Big Easy.
But seeing that Kilmer, Sharon Stone, and Michael Biehn are appearing in this tacky, low-grade potboiler, the question he's answering might as well have been "Are we even movie stars anymore?"
Somehow, though, once I got past the possibility that this was going to be a classy, top-notch movie and lowered my expectations accordingly, I actually started to enjoy it. It's fast-moving, action-packed, and rather colorful in its depiction of the dark underbelly of New Orleans, with plenty of sleazy sex and violence to give it that neo-grindhouse appeal. Big names aside, it's not all that different from the cheap, direct-to-video action flicks I used to rent from hole-in-the-wall video stores back in the 80s.
Val Kilmer is an actor I like in just about anything, so I cut him some slack here even though he isn't all that successful at making me think he's from anywhere near Louisiana. As Andy Devereaux, a hardboiled narc trying to live up to his hero-cop father's legacy, he's a true blue cop even though he'll bend the hell out of the rules to make a bust.
Curtis "Fifty Cent" Jackson plays his partner, Stan, a family man having trouble making ends meet and feeling the temptation to pocket some of the stacks of drug money they come across. Jackson seems more comfortable playing gangstas than cops, but he does a pretty good job here even though he could still use a few more acting lessons.
Andy and Stan often butt heads with Pepe (Jose Pablo Cantillo) and Barney (Brian Presley), two really out-of-control cops who like to kill bad guys, take their cash, do their drugs, and screw their girlfriends. But the two disparate duos find themselves working together when FBI agent Brown (Michael Biehn) launches an investigation that threatens to bring them all down just as they're starting to close in on the biggest drug gang in the city, the Latin Kings, run by a stone cold killer named Chamorro (Luis Rolon).
While all this is going on, a police psychologist named Nina (Sharon Stone) is conducting interviews with the main cops in order to find out why they have such a penchant for extreme violence, including Andy's four lethal shootings in three years ("I'm a good shot," he tells her). Stone comes off like a cross between Daisy Duke on 'ludes and a slow-drawlin' Mae West, with one of the worst southern accents in film history--I live about sixty miles from where this was filmed, and I don't think I've ever met anyone who talks like her. What, did she base her entire performance on a "Deputy Dawg" cartoon she saw when she was a kid? Anyway, she's just plain awful here, but it's kinda funny so that might actually be a plus.
The action scenes are somewhat artlessly staged, the photography looks like the cameramen were hopping around barefoot on a hot sidewalk, and the editing is less than exquisite. Those minor quibbles aside, however, the movie still manages to be exciting and fun to watch. Some scenes even generate a certain raw power, such as Kilmer's blow-up during an interrogation scene with Biehn and a trigger-happy exchange between Pepe and Barney and a pimpin' lowlife named Ray Delacroix (Davi Jay) who turns out to be working with the DEA. Several of the snappy dialogue scenes crackle with tension. Jose Pablo Cantillo is a standout as Pepe, and Biehn, as usual, turns in a solid performance. The post-Katrina flood sequence is atmospheric, while good use is made of locations in and around the city of Shreveport.
The DVD from Anchor Bay is bonus-less except for the film's trailer and English subtitles for the hard-of-hearing. The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen image and Dolby Surround 5.1 are good.
Technically, STREETS OF BLOOD is a pretty slapdash affair, but that didn't keep me from enjoying it. I even watched it again and liked it better the second time because I knew what to expect and what not to expect. Even when the surprise ending was entirely unbelievable, I just accepted it as part of the film's cheapo charm. And when it was over, I almost felt like I needed to rewind the tape, pop it out of the VCR, and get it back to the mom-and-pop video store where I rented it in time to avoid a late fee. After dubbing a copy, of course.
"Tombstone" is pretty much the perfect Western...right?
Well, maybe and maybe not. Because after much extensive research and development...
...we have come up with a way to actually improve the ending of this classic.
Video by Porfle Popnecker. I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!
Originally posted on 12/31/12
A fairly interesting and involving fact-based war flick that first aired on the National Geographic Channel, SEAL TEAM SIX: THE RAID ON OSAMA BIN LADEN (2012) moves like it's on a mission to cover all the bases without lingering on anything long enough to either get boring or go very deep.
The device of intercutting interview segments into the action speeds up exposition and character development in a rather superficial way, while actual footage of terrorist attacks (including still-disturbing shots of the stricken Twin Towers) reminds us of what's at stake in this quest to take out the infamous al-Qaeda leader.
We meet Seal Team Six during a mission in Afghanistan in which an ambush takes the life of a member named "D-Punch" (Tait Fletcher), then follow their intensive training for what will turn out to be the big one. The main characters include young team leader Stunner (Cam Gigandet, PANDORUM, TWILIGHT) and his friendly rival Cherry (Anson Mount, HICK, STRAW DOGS), easygoing but tough family guy Mule (Xzibit, "Pimp My Ride", CONSPIRACY THEORY), and PLANET TERROR's Freddy Rodríguez as Trench. The story lingers on their personal accounts and long-distance exchanges with family members just enough to make us vaguely familiar with them.
On the civilian side, CIA analyst Vivian Hollins (Kathleen Robertson, HOLLYWOODLAND) explains why she's obsessed with taking out Bin Laden as new intelligence gives his possible location as a fortified compound in Pakistan. Much of the film's drama centers on the CIA's attempts to verify this intel and the decision whether or not to raid the compound without conclusive evidence, which, as history has shown, could have disastrous results.
The latter point allows the filmmakers to establish President Barack Obama as one of the film's major characters, through extensive stock footage and speech excerpts. So much so, in fact, that the whole thing begins to resemble a reverent campaign ad at times, with Obama coming off as the wise, assertive military tactician whose "go get 'em" attitude is opposed by the likes of John McCain, Mitt Romney, and (whoops) Joe Biden. Obama's generous inclusion here, in fact, even rivals the pervasive presence of Bill Clinton in the sci-fi thriller CONTACT.
As Seal Team Six trains for their mission with mock invasion scenarios, we become accustomed to the rapid-fire editing and fluid camera moves of director John Stockwell's engaging visual style. This allows him to depict the events of the big night in a way that reflects the chaos and confusion while keeping the action easy to follow, with a bit of the flavor of Ridley Scott's BLACK HAWK DOWN but on a lesser scale.
Stockwell, also an actor familiar to those who remember his starring role in John Carpenter's CHRISTINE, gives much of the film that distinctive black-and-blue look seen so often these days and uses lots of cross-cutting among various participants in the mission to build suspense. Once the raid begins, the film is riveting, conveying a real sense of the overwhelming danger and intrigue of the actual events. As far as the film's historical accuracy goes (the fact that it's highly-fictionalized is pretty obvious) I'll have to leave that to the historical experts.
Performances are adequate with a few standouts, including Robert Knepper (TRANSPORTER 3, HITMAN) as the team's Lieutenant Commander and William Fichtner being his usual awesome self as CIA boss Guidry. An outstanding techno score helps keep things moving along at a brisk pace.
The Blu-Ray disc from Anchor Bay is widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish. Included is a behind-the-scenes featurette.
SEAL TEAM SIX: THE RAID ON OSAMA BIN LADEN isn't on the same scale as the epic war films but it easily rises above the usual made-for-TV fare. With a subject of such major importance, any lesser treatment would be conspicuously cheap. Here, however, we get a modest war film that's both satisfying and, given the personal feelings each viewer brings to the experience, somewhat cathartic.
(NOTE: This review originally appeared online at Bumscorner.com in 2007.)
Rob Vega (Omarion Grandberry, YOU GOT SERVED) is a Harlem teen who dreams of being a big-time rapper. After financing his entry into a rap contest by stealing some rims off a local gangster who then tries to shoot him while he's onstage, his mom (Kellita Smith, THREE CAN PLAY THAT GAME, ROLL BOUNCE) ships him off to Puerto Rico to stay with the father he's never met until things cool off.
All of this occurs during the opening credits of FEEL THE NOISE (2007), which then becomes the story of how Rob meets his father, Roberto (Giancarlo Esposito), his stepmother Marivi (Rosa Arredondo), and his stepbrother Javi (Victor Rasuk), and how Rob and Javi combine their musical talents to create a hybrid of hiphop and Reggaeton (a combination of reggae and Latino rhythms) to produce a demo they hope will take them places.
Along the way Rob hooks up with a beautiful dance teacher named C.C. (Zulay Henao), who has her own artistic aspirations. When a sleazy record producer in a white leisure suit (James McCaffrey) comes on to C.C. with a request for "private" dance lessons, she introduces him to the guys and before long they're all on their way back to New York with the lure of a recording contract.
Originally posted on 11/30/17
Pickup trucks were a pretty rare sight back in the 1860s.
But we get a quick glimpse of one off in the distance at the end of the John Wayne western "The Undefeated" (1969).
Either it's a blooper, or some very ingenious inventor was way ahead of his time!
Video by Porfle Popnecker. I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!
Originally posted on 9/30/10
With Rapulana Seiphemo giving a deftly controlled performance in the lead role of South African crime lord Lucky Kunene, the fact-based GANGSTER'S PARADISE: JERUSALEMA (2008) isn't the sadistically violent crime thriller I was expecting. Instead of killing his way to success, university dropout Lucky gets there by using his keen business acumen against South Africa's crooked slumlords.
Not to say that the film isn't violent, because everyday life in Lucky's world can be deadly. We join him and his best friend Zakes as kids under the unsavory influence of their hood-hero Nazareth (Jeffrey Zekele), who teaches them, among other things, how to carjack for a living. These early scenes--some of which, unlike the rest of the film, are quite funny--reveal Lucky as a sensitive boy who cares for his family and wants to better himself by earning his way through college. But the lure of easy money is too strong, and before long he and Zakes buy guns and are stealing cars and robbing stores.
When Nazareth watches Michael Mann's HEAT on television one day, he gets the idea to duplicate that film's armored car robbery in the first overtly violent sequence, with the two shocked boys witnessing senseless death firsthand. Later, their criminal mentor stages a "smash-and-grab" store robbery that results in a bullet-riddled bloodbath when scores of cops and security guards show up with guns blazing. As in later action scenes, this shootout isn't designed as a flamboyantly cinematic setpiece like the ones in HEAT or SCARFACE, but is staged in a matter-of-fact style that makes it seem more realistic.
Originally posted on 12/12/18
If you've been searching for a bland, ultra-low-budget imitation of '70s blaxploitation flicks that comes off like somebody's student film, the 1984 South African thriller CHARLIE STEEL (Indiepix Films) is the pot of bad-film fun at the end of your rainbow.
Charlie (Sol Rachilo), a poor man's poor man's Shaft, is a private dick who's called into action by a rich friend whose daughter Dudu (Sonto Mazibuko) has just been kidnapped by a gang of bad guys led by the Boss (Thapelo Mofokeng) and is being held for ransom in their secluded hideout.
As a super-cool action hero, Steel leaves much to be desired, but part of his charm is the way this lanky, hangdog dude in a baggy suit and tiny Fedora, who looks like he's been around the block a few too many times, schleps around town looking for leads before stumbling into trouble and getting himself captured two or three times.
Originally posted on 1/5/17
It has one of those annoying double titles separated by a colon, as though they couldn't make up their minds, and a cover that more than whispers "direct to DVD junk." But make no mistake--BATTLE FOR INCHEON: OPERATION CHROMITE (2016) is the real thing: a lavish, impressively-produced Korean War film that begins with a suspenseful espionage mission and ends with a full-scale invasion.
Based on true events, the story concerns a group of South Korean soldiers led by special forces captain Jang Hak-soo (Lee Jung-jae) who pose as a North Korean inspection unit in order to try and locate the placement of mines in Incheon Harbor before the invasion which is to be led by General Douglas MacArthur (Liam Neeson).
Their chief obstacle in this attempt is Commander Lim Gye-jin (Lee Beom-soo), a protege' of supreme leader Kim Il-sung who's in charge of fortifying the harbor against an impending attack. Not only is Lim Gye-jin tight-lipped about where those mines are, but he's also one of those arrogant, sadistic, and supremely suspicious little bastards who always sizes you up with a sideways leer and a hand poised over his holster.
Originally posted on 3/15/16
Once again, I find myself giddy with retro-delight over another season's worth of shows from a TV series that I couldn't care less about when it originally aired. Yes, it's time again for officers Ponch and Jon, those beefcake buddies on wheels, to ride the highways righting wrongs in CHiPS: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON.
This five-disc, 21-episode DVD set from Warner Home Entertainment offers the further adventures of our favorite motorcycle cops (circa 1980) in some of the most unabashedly hokey, tacky, sometimes juvenile stories this side of those old live-action Saturday morning shows such as "Shazam!" and "The Secrets of Isis."
Indeed, most episodes involve troubled kids in need of some sympathetic adult guidance, which our stalwart heroes are happy to dispense even if it means never having an actual day off. (Does Ponch ever have time to date any of the gorgeous babes he's always ogling? Does Jon ever get to ride his horse? )