Movie Renter's
Guide
Current Movies - Part 12 - August, 1996
By John E. Johnson, Jr.
Ratings: | ||
Extraordinary | ||
Good | ||
Acceptable | ||
Mediocre | ||
Poor |
"12 Monkeys", Universal Pictures,
1995, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at measured aspect
ratio (laserdisc) 1.80:1, Surround Sound, 2 Hr 10 min, Rated R;
Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt; It is the year 2035 and
most of the world's population has been decimated by a virus that
emerged in 1996. James Cole (Willis) is a convict who is sent
back in time (in exchange for a reduced sentence) to locate the
source of the virus so that the future survivors can find a cure.
He is supposed to end up in 1996, but . . . whoops . . . it's
1990, and he finds himself in a psychiatric hospital (Baltimore
County Hospital) where he is examined by psychiatrist Kathryn
Railly (Stoew). After being introduced to the hard cases in the
ward, and meets Jeffrey Goines (Pitt), he escapes, only to be
captured and thrown into isolation. He is whisked back to 2035,
questioned and sent back to the proper year . . . with a side
trip to the trenches of WW1 . . . and finally manages to convince
Dr. Railly that he is not delusional. Apparently the Army of the
12 Monkeys is supposed to have released the virus, but there is a
strange twist with Mr. Goines and his father, a renowned
biologist. Sounds like a great plot doesn't it? Unfortunately,
the movie stinks with the tired old future-psycho-fi, steamy
boiler rooms, and slow motion exit wounds. Editing is way too
choppy. It had potential, but . . . sorry . . . no cigar folks.
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | yes |
Sex: | no time for it |
Language: | the usual R rated vulgarity |
"Eye for an Eye", Paramount
Pictures, 1996, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at
measured aspect ratio (laserdisc) 1.76:1, Surround Sound, Dolby
Digital AC-3, 1 Hr 42 min, Rated R; Sally Field, Kiefer
Sutherland, Ed Harris; Karen McCann (Field) is stuck in traffic
on her way home to her youngest daughter's birthday party. One of
her other daughters, Julie, is getting things ready, when an
intruder, Robert Doob (Sutherland) breaks into the home, rapes
and murders her. Doob is captured, and the DNA evidence is clear,
but his attorney gets the case dismissed because the defense was
not given part of the sample. Doob murders another woman, and is
released yet again. Karen plans her revenge, in spite of a non
supportive husband, Mac (Harris). This film plays upon the
dissatisfaction of the American public with the justice system.
We are tired of being victims, of having violent criminals
released on technicalities, unsympathetic judges, lawyers who
have forgotten that their purpose is to see truth emerge and
justice being done, rather than just winning their case, etc.,
etc. I guess we rely on a Constitution that is outdated. The
founders did not anticipate drugs and guns in school, or
pornography hiding under the free speech amendment. They did not
anticipate that the average life span would double, allowing
people to spend what would have been more than an 18th century
lifetime as career politicians, and Supreme Court Justices to
make important rulings that affect us all, well into their
dotage. The movie will make you sad, then angry, then pleased.
But in the final analysis, it is a mediocre production that could
have been much better.
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | (The digital transfer is one of the best I have ever seen) |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | rape and murder |
Sex: | see above |
Language: | I think I will make a one-button macro for the "F" and "S" words |
"Father of the Bride
Part II", Touchstone Pictures, 1995, Color, Filmed
spherically and presented at measured aspect ratio (laserdisc)
1.78:1, Surround Sound, Dolby Digital AC-3, 1 Hr 46 min, Rated
PG; Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, Martin Short, Kimberly Williams;
George Banks (Martin) having seen his daughter Annie (Williams)
married and settled down, decides to cut loose and maybe travel a
bit with his wife. Annie announces her first pregnancy, and
George is feeling old. His wife Nina announces her own pregnancy,
and poor old George has to forget about living the good life.
Franck (Short) is back to do the baby shower and decorate the new
baby's room. George's daughter and grandson are born on the same
night, while he and Franck run back and forth between the two
hospital rooms to hold the ladies' hands (Annie's husband is on
his way back from a business trip overseas). George finds that
the good life was right there in front of him all along. Even
though this is not as good as Part I, it is still a nice daddy's
movie, with some great laughs about every 15 minutes or so. If
you are a parent with a marriage aged daughter, like we have,
your eyes might even get a little misty now and then.
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | no |
Sex: | no |
Language: | no |
"Dead Presidents",
Hollywood Pictures, 1995, Color, Filmed spherically and presented
at measured aspect ratio (laserdisc) 2.30:1, Surround Sound,
Dolby Digital AC-3, 1 Hr 59 min, Rated R; Larenz Tate, Keith
David, Chris Tucker; Anthony Curtis is about to graduate from
high school in New York. His friends are into drugs, pimping, and
other such things. He decides to join the Marine Corps and tour
Viet Nam (1960s, during the war). It changes him greatly as a
person, not to mention teaching him the deadly skills of a
warrior. He comes home to his girlfriend who has already given
birth to their child, and she becomes pregnant with their second.
He can't find a decent job. Together with some other vets, he
plots to heist a huge load of currency that is scheduled for
shipping to Washington, D.C. The film drags along for most of the
way, but the Viet Nam portion is riveting. P.S., if you are
wondering about the title of the movie, take a look at whose
pictures are on the currency.
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | (too many glitches) |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | extreme; graphic decapitation |
Sex: | explicit |
Language: | from the gutter |
"Broken
Arrow", Twentieth Century Fox, 1996, Color, Filmed
spherically and presented at measured aspect ratio (laserdisc)
2.27:1, Surround Sound, Dolby Digital AC-3, THX, 1 Hr 48 min,
Rated R; John Travolta, Christian Slater, Samantha Mathis; Vic
Deakins (Travolta) is nuts, but his best friend Riley Hale
(Slater) does not know it . . . yet. They fly a Stealth bomber
with two nuclear weapons on board, as part of a training mission
for ground control to attempt tracking them with the
radar-invisible capabilities of the bomber activated. Deakins
trashes the Stealth after ejecting Hale, and dropping the weapons
by parachute onto the Arizona desert floor. Park Ranger Terry
Carmichael (Mathis) discovers Hale "trespassing" and
then helps him chase down the bad guys and disarm the nukes. The
story is ok, the acting is passable, but it is action director
John Woo who makes this movie exciting. Lots of moving camera
shots, plus custom made guns, and 60,000 rounds of ammunition
definitely hold the attention. Other than that, it is a typical
nuclear weapon blackmail film.
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | yes, lots of exit wounds |
Sex: | no |
Language: | the "F" and "S" words |
"Mr. Holland's Opus", Polygram,
1996, Color, Filmed in Panavision and presented at measured
aspect ratio (laserdisc) 2.32:1, Surround Sound, Dolby Digital
AC-3, 2 Hr 23 min, Rated PG; Richard Dreyfuss, Glenne Headly, Jay
Thomas, Olympia Dukakis; In the mid-1960s, Glenn Holland
(Dreyfuss) is trying to write a symphony, but the reality of
paying the bills forces him to take a job teaching music at John
F. Kennedy High School, in Portland, Oregon. At first, he hates
it, because the students are unresponsive, and the Principal
(Dukakis) chides him for his lack of enthusiasm. Then he finds
that he has the touch for inspiring motivation and ends up
staying at the school for 30 years, touching the lives of
everyone around him. The Physical Education coach, Bill Meister
(Thomas) talks him into letting the football players sing and
dance in a George Gershwin tribute that brings in enough money to
continue the music program. He tutors a shy clarinetist who ends
up the State Governor, and generally becomes a very well liked
teacher, but fails to understand his deaf son and his wife Iris'
(Headly) frustration. However, it all turns out well, except that
Dreyfuss didn't win Best Actor, for which he was nominated in
this superb motion picture.
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | no |
Sex: | no |
Language: | mild |
Other laserdiscs viewed but not formally reviewed:
"Richard III": (Shakespeare does not translate well to the 1930s)
© Copyright 1995, 1996, 1997
Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
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