Movie Renter's
Guide
Current Movies - Part 18 - February, 1997
By John E. Johnson, Jr.
Ratings: | ||
Extraordinary | ||
Good | ||
Acceptable | ||
Mediocre | ||
Poor |
"Chain Reaction", Twentieth Century
Fox, 1996, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at measured
aspect ratio (laserdisc) 1.77:1, Surround Sound, AC-3, 1 Hr 46
min, Rated PG-13; Keanu Reeves, Morgan Freeman; In Chicago, at
the Hydrogen Energy Project, Alistair Barkley is working on a
method for converting water to its components, hydrogen and
oxygen, so that the hydrogen can be burned as a clean fuel.
Machinist Eddie Kasalivich (Reeves) discovers the secret that
makes the process energy efficient. The group readies to put the
formula on the Internet so that the world can have a clean, low
cost fuel. Someone out there does not particularly care for this
idea, and the laboratory is destroyed. Eddie and a young
physicist are framed for the disaster and escape, with the FBI
and CIA on their trail. Paul Shannon (Freeman), who heads the
project, promises to bring them in alive. This film could have
been so much better, but unfortunately the flow (delivery,
timing) is not well done, and it just does not jell.
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | yes |
Sex: | no |
Language: | the "S" word |
"The Trigger Effect", Gramercy
Pictures, 1996, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at
measured aspect ratio (laserdisc) 1.71:1, Surround Sound, THX, 1
Hr 35 min, Rated R; Kyle MacLachlan, Elisabeth Shue, Dermot
Mulroney; The electricity goes out. No big deal, right? The
problem is that it went down in the entire city. No power, no
communications. Matthew and his wife Annie ask their friend Joe
to stay with them until the power comes back on. It stays off,
and off, and off. Havoc breaks out, and an intruder breaks in.
People lose trust in one another. Here is another movie that had
potential, but it was not exploited fully. It appears to be
somewhere in California, perhaps L.A. and it seems to be hot. So
why have fires in the fireplace? And, I don't think this much
unrest and paranoia would have occurred in just a few hours. We
are used to power outages, and it just does not happen this way.
Sorry, no sale.
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | yes |
Sex: | no |
Language: | the "F" and "S" words |
"Phenomenon", Touchstone Pictures,
1996, Color, Filmed in Panavision and presented at measured
aspect ratio (laserdisc) 2.27:1, Surround Sound, AC-3, THX, 2 Hr
3 min, Rated PG; John Travolta, Kyra Sedgwick, Forest Whitaker,
Robert Duvall; George Malley (Travolta) is minding his own
business, working at a small town auto body shop, when, on the
night of his 37th birthday party, a blinding light from the sky
knocks him unconscious. He awakens to find that he now has
extraordinary mental powers. Reading several books each day does
not scare him, but discovering that he has the power of
telekinesis does. It scares the neighbors and the FBI too, and he
realizes that having a brain on overdrive can be a real problem.
The only person in town who seems to understand is Doc (Duvall),
but even he is awed by the changes in his long time friend,
especially when George starts beating him at chess. This is one
of Travolta's best works to date. I think he does much better at
this type of story than with high speed action movies.
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | (almost no use of surround) |
Photography: | |
Violence: | no |
Sex: | no |
Language: | the "S" word |
"Bullet", New Line, 1996, Color,
Filmed spherically and presented at measured aspect ratio
(laserdisc) 1:35:1, Surround Sound, 1 Hr 36 min, Rated R; Mickey
Rourke, Tupac Shakur; Butch "Bullet" Stein (Rourke) is
released from prison, having served time for armed robbery.
Immediately, he and his friends go back to their old ways of
drugs and theft. Tank (Shakur) is the local dealer in heroin.
Bullet stabs one of Tank's gang members, and Tank tries to poison
Bullet with bad drugs. The rest of the film (in fact, the whole
film) wallows in a miasma of despair, violence, and dysfunctional
family. It's scary, provocative, well acted, but not much of a
plot.
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | extreme |
Sex: | explicit |
Language: | the "F" and "S" words, and then some |
"Gotti", HBO Pictures, 1996, Color,
Filmed spherically and presented at measured aspect ratio
(laserdisc) 1:35:1, Surround Sound, 1 Hr 57 min, Rated R; Armand
Assante, William Forsythe, Anthony Quinn; The story of "The
Teflon Don" - John Gotti (Assante) is presented on film
(originally made for cable television). When New York mob boss
Carlo Gambino dies of a heart attack, Paul Castellano is made the
head of the Gambino family, instead of Gotti's mentor, Neil
Delacroce (Quinn). Castellano is assassinated, and Gotti becomes
the Don. Sammy Gravano (Forsythe) is Gotti's chief executioner.
They get away with a great deal of activities that the FBI would
prefer to nail them for. Gotti's flamboyant manner does not help
his situation with the mob, and finally, some incriminating FBI
audio tapes set the stage for the final chapter of the Gotti
saga.
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | mob executions |
Sex: | no |
Language: | the "F" and "S" words, and more |
Rental movies viewed but not formally
reviewed:
"Fled":
(Good plot but the script was a joke.)
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Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
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