Menahem Golan Movies

While Israel is a nation that has been in the center of the public eye ever since its birth, its national cinema has received relatively little attention, and only a handful of Israeli films have received extensive distribution outside the country. Raphael Nadjari at once addresses the story of filmmaking in Israel, the politics and aesthetics behind Israeli cinema, and how the nation's film industry has grown outside the interference of the west in this documentary. A History of Israeli Cinema is divided into two parts; the first half covers the years 1932 to 1978, beginning with Zionist films shot in Palestine by Jewish directors from Europe, and the second part is devoted to 1978-2005, when filmmakers embraced what locals critics called "The New Sensibility" and features with brave and defiant Sephardic heroes gave way to more nuanced fare dealing with the spiritual, political and ethical grey areas of a nation of immigrants. Along with extensive clips from a broad variety of key films, the documentary also includes interviews with noted film critic, actors and directors who talk about cinema and its role in a nation whose story is still being written. A History Of The Israeli Cinema received its world premiere at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Armand Assante and Udo Kier star in director Ivan Nichev's tale of two warring gangs of drug dealers struggling to gain the upper hand in the lucrative Berlin drug trade. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Directed by Menahem Golan, Return From India centers inside of a chaotic Tel-Aviv hospital, where administrator Lazar (Assi Dayan) requests that a young surgeon named Dr. Rubin (Aki Avni) accompany him and his wife on a trip to India in hopes of rescuing his daughter, who had originally left for India in hopes of gaining spiritual enlightenment, but quickly found herself suffering from hepatitis. Though Lazar only wanted Dr. Rubin's presence for his medical expertise, it doesn't take long for a romance to develop between the surgeon and Lazar's wife, Dori (Riki Gal). ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

A young man's future hangs in the balance as two opposing forces struggle for his trust in this dramatic thriller from director Menahem Golan (Over the Top). Bo Brown stars as Jackie Stewart, a high-school basketball phenom poised to hit the big time. Enter Shakes Montrose (Billy Drago), a shady character bent on exploiting Jackie's talents for his own financial gain. Meanwhile, Jackie's coach is truly looking out for the young man's best interests and may be the only person who can save him. Death Game also stars Richard Lynch and Maureen Lavette. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

In this gritty drama executive-produced by Gus Van Sant, a teenaged would-be stock-car driver gets more than he bargained for when he makes a pit stop in Las Vegas to earn a little cash. Almost as soon as he arrives in the city, high-school dropout Johnny (Jesse Bradford) finds himself victimized at the slot machines by a slick little vixen. His journey to glory on the racetrack thus sidetracked, he soon falls in with a group of hoods and street urchins. Befriended by solicitous hustler Steven (Jordan Brower) and condescended to by gay-for-pay stud Eric (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), Johnny gets a quick introduction to the sleazy Vegas landscape. At first he rejects his new acquaintances, but after a disastrous liaison with a buxom young lady (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen), he finds himself the reluctant new best friend of the besotted Steven. Adamantly professing his own heterosexuality, Johnny tries to find female clients to bankroll his ticket out of town. But soon Eric arrives, promising big bucks from his wealthy male patrons, setting the stage for conflict with Steven and unexpected bloodshed. Shown during the Panorama program at the 1999 International Berlin Film Festival, Speedway Junky was the debut feature from writer/director Nickolas Perry. Daryl Hannah co-stars as an older ex-prostitute who serves as a sort of foster mother for both Johnny and Steven. The film also marked the acting debut of musical artist Warren G and features a cameo appearance from Patsy Kensit. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

This Israeli drama is based on Yaakov Shabtai's novel Past Continuous and tells the story of three men living in Tel Aviv. Caesar loves his wife and son; he is devastated that they have separated. Now he leads a miserable life in a run-down apartment shared with the sluggardly Israel, a dead-beat musician. Together the two set off to attend the funeral of their friend Goldman's father. Unfortunately, they cannot find the right cemetery. Later the story shifts to their complex love lives. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this final film in the Death Wish series, Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) returns to New York City, where he attempts to resume a normal life by proposing to his girlfriend Olivia (Lesley-Anne Down), a fashion designer. However, Olivia runs afoul of her ex-husband Tommy O'Shea (Michael Thomas Parks), a ruthless gangster, and she's killed by his henchmen. If history has taught us anything, it's that Paul Kersey does not take the death of his loved ones lying down, and soon Paul is heavily armed and ready to take out O'Shea and his goons, while the police politely ask Kersey if he has revenge on his mind (a question not unlike asking if there was a Tuesday last week). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this action-thriller, Brad Cartowski (Michael Pare) is a Navy SEAL whose wife, Marcy (Claudette Mink), has been kidnapped by a band of Libyan terrorists. The terrorists have also hijacked an airliner filled with passengers, and in exchange for the return of both Marcy, the jet, and its passengers, they're demanding the release of Carlos (Billy Drago), the leader of their organization who has been captured by American operatives. The United States warily agrees to the deal, but after Carlos is set free in Athens, he and his men decide to keep the plane -- and Marcy. An outraged Brad discovers the U.S. military is hesitant to step in and save Marcy, so he teams up with fellow SEAL Cody (Jan-Michael Vincent) to stage a rescue mission on their own. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This brutal biopic tells the blood-soaked tale of how Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll rose to become one of the most ruthless, powerful gangsters of the 1920s. Mad Dog Coll was shot simultaneously with Hit the Dutchman with Moscow locations substituting for New York. Both films basically used the same American cast and Russian crew. In the US, Mad Dog Coll was released straight to video as Killer Instinct. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The ever economy-minded Menahem Golan -- of the legendary and defunct Cannon Films -- directed this gangster saga in Moscow to take advantage of low production costs, even shooting a second gangster film (Mad Dog Coll) at the same time, on the same locations, with the same cast. Hit the Dutchman stars Bruce Nozick as Arthur Flegenheimer, a thief recently released from prison who is recruited by noted hood Jack "Legs" Diamond (Will Kempe). Flegenheimer changes his name to Dutch Schultz and, thanks to his brutal and unscrupulous ways, rises to become Diamond's right-hand man during the bleak days of Prohibition. But Dutch shows no loyalty to Diamond. He first tries to steal Diamond's moll Frances (Jennifer Miller), then he tries to take over his bootlegging enterprise. Diamond retaliates by killing Dutch's friend Noey (Eddie Bowz). It then becomes total war, with Dutch recruiting enough manpower to have a showdown with Diamond's mob. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This mundane, predictable psycho-thriller was originally conceived as a sequel of sorts to the 1989 version of Phantom of the Opera, another unsuccessful horror vehicle for Robert Englund. Filmed on location in St. Petersburg, the film stars Englund as the co-director of a prestigious Russian dance academy whose students are systematically murdered by an unknown interloper shortly after the arrival of an American student (Michelle Zeitlin) -- whom Englund perceives as a young version of his former lover, the wheelchair-bound Svetlana. By the time the clueless ingenue figures out who's responsible, half of her classmates have already been drowned, hanged or thrown from various heights. Unfortunately, the entire "mystery" hinges on a laughably transparent attempt at visual deception; it's painfully obvious from the get-go that Englund's relationship with the invalid Svetlana is remarkably similar to that of Norman Bates and dear old Mom -- something the students fail to recognize, even to the bitter end. A few red herrings are batted about, but they serve more to annoy the audience than to convolute the plot. It's hard to tell whether writer/director Greydon Clark (who graced us with the likes of Satan's Cheerleaders) wanted to draw parallels to Dario Argento's Suspiria, but he's definitely out of his league here regardless. The atmospheric locales provide some degree of class, but their somber potential is sadly wasted. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

A contemporary version of the masterpiece by Edgar Allan Poe follows a photographer (Michelle McBride) as she spies on a soap-opera star at a party in Bavaria. She must solve the crimes when several guests are murdered by someone in a skull mask and red coat. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Steve James stars in this martial-arts adventure. This time he plays former maverick NYC cop and Vietnam vet Logan Blade who currently works as a bounty hunter in pursuit of the potentially dangerous Angel, who is trying to get all of the Big Apple's gangs to unite and become a vicious death squad. To do so, he surreptitiously uses his connections with the NYPD to investigate Angel and find out the identity of the person who is really behind the scheme. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide