Marc Alaimo Movies
- 1996
Mysteriously rendered unconscious, Sisko, Dax, Oro, and Garak awaken to find themselves on an alternate DS9, seven years in the past. This is daunting enough, but even more perplexing is the physical state in which the four crew members awaken. Though they appear "normal" to one another, to everyone else they look and behave like Bajorans, and as such have been condemned to death for an act of treason. First telecast November 18, 1996, "Things Past" was written by Michael Taylor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Lawrence Pressman guest stars as Tekeny Ghemor, a legendary Cardassian dissident who Kira has always regarded as a surrogate father. Now dying, Ghemor reveals secrets to Kira that she may use against her people's enemies. In the course of this ritualistic soul baring, Kira begins experiencing painful memories of her real father, and of his death at the hands of the Cardassian leaders. Scripted by Robert Hewitt Wolfe from a story by Edmund Newton and Robbin L. Slocum, "Ties of Blood and Water" debuted April 14, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Star Trek: The Next Generation wrapped up its first season with this, its 26th episode. While investigating a derelict 20th century Earth satellite, Captain Picard and the crew come across the cryogenically preserved bodies of three space travellers. Before they can take further action, Picard and company are summoned to the Neutral Zone to quell a band of hostile Romulans. As the final showdown approaches, the three Earthlings revive, leading to a climax which neatly blends pathos and thrills. Cowritten by Deborah McIntyre, Mona Glee and Maurice Hurley, "The Neutral Zone" was first seen May 21, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Bob Gunton guest stars as Benjamin Maxwell, a renegade Federation starship captain. Acting on his own initiative, Maxwell makes a series of unprovoked attacks on Cardassian ships. To forestall a resumption of hositilities between the Cardassians and the Federation, Captain Picard may be forced to kill Maxwell, who happens to be an old comrade. First aired February 2, 1991, "The Wounded" was scripted by Jeri Taylor, from a story by Stuart Charno, Sara Charno, and Cy Chermak. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Originally telecast June 20, 1992, this episode was the third of Next Generation's season-ending cliffhangers. Things begin on a gruesome note when, during an archaeological investigation on Earth, the excavators come across the severed head of Lt. Cmdr. Data. In as much as Data is still alive and well, it is assumed that the decapitated relic represents the remains of a shape-changing alien. While following up this theory, the Enterprise crew passes through a time vortex, catapulting Data back to 19th Century San Francisco. As before, the outcome of this two-part adventure would not be revealed until the series returned for its sixth-season opener on September 26, 1992. Both parts one and two of "Time's Arrow" were based on a story by Joe Menosky and Michael Piller, with Menosky handling the scripting chores for part one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Sylvester Stallone tries his luck with his first cop buddy movie in Tango and Cash, directed by Andrei Konchalovsky. Stallone is Ray Tango, a Los Angeles narcotics cop who dresses in fancy suits, wears wire-rim glasses, and talks to his stockbroker more than he talks to his mother. Kurt Russell is Gabriel Cash, another Los Angeles narcotics cop who has long, disheveled blonde hair and dresses in worn-out sweatshirts. Together, Tango and Cash are the two best narcs in LA, which causes drug baron Yves Perret (Jack Palance) no end of distress. Since Yves controls a billion-dollar drug empire, Tango and Cash have to be taken out of the picture in some way. So Yves arranges for Tango and Cash to be framed for a crime. But the duo accepts a plea bargain that will give them 18 months in a minimum-security prison. Unfortunately, Yves arranges for their destination to be diverted to a maximum-security hell-hole where Yves's minions proceed to torture Tango and Cash --although they still have time to trade quips with each other. Ultimately, they escape from their torture chamber and seek out Yves and his gang. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, (more)
- 1987
The A-Team brings its five-season run to a rousing conclusion as Face (Dirk Benedict) and Frank (Eddie Velez) pay a visit to a surprisingly "sane" Murdock (Dwight Schultz), now working as a waiter in an Italian restaurant. Unfortunately, the three A-Teamers are held hostage, along with the restaurant's owner and his daughter, by mobsters who intend to murder Attorney General Liebster (Chuck Walling). Sneaking out a message written in anchovies on a pizza delivery, Murdock manages to alert Hannibal (George Peppard) and B.A. (Mr. T) to his plight. The climax is a riotous free-for-all, with guns blazing and fists flying--resulting in a near-fatality for one of the Team members! (If the opening of this episode looks familiar, that's because it was lifted virtually in toto from the first-season A-Team entry "Holiday in the Hills".) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
The fact-based TV movie The Ambush Murders was adapted from a book by Ben Bradlee Jr. Dorian Harewood plays an African-American political activist who is loyal to his ideals and faithful to his friends and family. After two white policemen are killed, Harewood is charge with the crime. 49 months and two mistrials later, Harewood remains in prison. When lawyer James Brolin offers his services, Harewood doesn't trust him any more than any of the other self-serving white attorneys who've "helped" him in the past. But Brolin digs a little deeper than his predecessors, uncovering facts and evidence that may at long last spring his client. Ambush Murders was first telecast January 5, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
The plan was to develop a Star Wars type TV series with heavy injections of Sword N Sorcery. The title of the pilot was Archer: Fugitive From the Empire (the Archer part was lopped off when the film went into syndication). Soap opera refugee Lane Caudell plays a prince on a faraway planet who has been accused of murdering his father. The deed was actually perpetrated by the king's nephew and an evil warrior, but the Prince can prove this only if he goes on a quest (naturally) to find a beneficent sorcerer. Belinda Bauer, wearing next to nothing, is the "Princess Leia/Red Sonja" of this saga. Archer: Fugitive From the Empire resulted in a very short-lived (and presumably very costly) series, which ran for about half a minute in mid-1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Dead Pool is the fifth and (thus far) the last of Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry movies. A sports pool is placing bets on which famous person will die next. Suddenly a serial killer who preys upon celebrities enters the scene, radically (and perhaps deliberately) changing the odds in the pool. As a celebrity of sorts, maverick cop Dirty Harry Callahan becomes a target of the killer, as does high-profile TV journalist Patricia Clarkson. Surprises are at a minimum in The Dead Pool; the film gets down to business quickly, moves logically if violently towards its climax (with a spectacular car-chase sequence thrown in for good measure), and delivers exactly what its fans expect. One major difference between this film and the earlier Dirty Harry epics is that the murders are committed in so outrageous a fashion that the picture seems at times to be a Freddie Krueger vehicle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Patricia Clarkson, (more)
- 1994
- R
This drama quietly comments upon urban American life while depicting the sad life of a young man gone astray who tries to reclaim his life and fails. Terry Griff has just been released from prison after serving 13 years for stabbing his abusive father in self-defense and subsequently stabbing a guard while he was in his teens. He is determined to stay clean, but it isn't easy. Living in Chicago, he calls up the sister-in-law of his best friend who died in prison. He then gets a job. He really tries. But when his parole officer rips him off, Terry tries to strangle him. He escapes into a life of crime and gets involved in a robbery with a street hustler. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Wirth, Erica Gimpel, (more)
- 1987
This made-for-TV movie is the second follow-up to the astonishingly successful Kenny Rogers as the Gambler (1980). Rogers returns as Old West gambler Brady Hawkes, while Bruce Boxleitner, Rogers' co-star in 1983's The Gambler: The Adventure Continues, is also back as Hawkes' sidekick Billy Montana. Others in the cast include Linda Gray as adventuress Mary Collins, Jeffrey Jones as Buffalo Bill Cody and George American Horse as Sitting Bull. This time around, Brady and Billy try to protect the Sioux Nation from corrupt, treaty-breaking cavalry officers who've been stealing cattle and shifting the blame to the Indians. The Gambler III: The Legend Continues debuted November 22, 1987, an occasion celebrated by a TV Guide cover story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Trailer-park teenager Lance Guest regularly escapes from his humdrum existence by playing the video game Starfighter. His expertise at this recreational endeavor attracts the attention of affable stranger Robert Preston. Before he knows what's happening, Guest is whisked by Preston into the outer reaches of the galaxy! It turns out that the Starfighter game is being played in deadly earnest in outer space, and that Guest is expected to join Preston's Star League, then do battle with the wicked Kodan forces. Guest's principal ally is the lizardlike Grig (Dan O'Herlihy--and we didn't recognize him either). His great rival is the traitorous Xur (Norman Snow). The contrast between Guest's earthbound life as the son of single-mother Barbara Bosson and his new position as Starfighter is daunting at first, but soon the boy is manning a spacecraft and zapping the baddies as though he's been doing it all his life. The Last Starfighter was clearly designed with "sequel" in mind: giveaways include the resurrection of a "dead" character and the surprisingly casual escape of the villain. While the film didn't stir up enough business to warrant a sequel, the Starfighter video game remained a much-sought-after commodity by joystick-happy "warriors" all over the country. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lance Guest, Robert Preston, (more)
- 1994
- PG13
- Add The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult to QueueAdd The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult to top of Queue
The further misadventures of bumbling Los Angeles police Lieutenant Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) are chronicled in this third installment in the popular Naked Gun comedy series. This by-the-numbers entry begins with Drebin as a happily retired house-husband called back into action when an evil terrorist organization threatens Los Angeles. As in the other Naked Gun films, this plot is merely an excuse for an unhinged, rapid-fire succession of gags, ranging from satirical lampoons of cop movies to broad slapstick, all played with a perfectly straight face. Nielsen provides his familiar combination of complete witlessness and oblivious dignity as Drebin, and the film attempts to match the earlier Naked Gun films -- and the Police Squad! television series that inspired them -- in the number of jokes. However, the film proved less successful than its predecessors, as some viewers found that the freewheeling comic style of the earlier films had solidified into its own formula, now mildly entertaining but disappointingly predictable. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, (more)
- 1974
This episode marks the first appearance of Gretchen Corbett as attorney Beth Davenport, erstwhile girlfriend of private eye Jim Rockford (James Garner). Characteristically, Beth has called upon Jim for a teeny-tiny favor: namely, to prove the innocence of her impoverished client Ann Calhoun (Patricia Smith), who is accused of killing her husband. Dutifully, Rockford heads to Parker Arizona, the hometown of Ann's late husband Kevin, in hopes of gathering new evidence. Before long both Jim and Beth find their lives threatened by a certain party who is harboring a sinister secret--in this case, the fact that Kevin Calhoun wasn't Kevin Calhoun at all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In Paul Verhoeven's wild sci-fi action movie Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a 21st-century construction worker who discovers that his entire memory of the past derives from a memory chip implanted in his brain. Schwarzenegger learns that he's actually a secret agent who had become a threat to the government, so those in power planted the chip and invented a domestic lifestyle for him. Once he has realized his true identity, he travels to Mars to piece together the rest of his identity, as well as to find the man responsible for his implanted memory. Verhoeven has created a fast, furious action film with Total Recall, filled with impressive stunts and (literally) eye-popping visuals. Though the film bears only a passing resemblance to the Philip K. Dick short story it was based on ("We Can Remember It For You Wholesale"), the movie is an entertaining, if very violent, ride. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, (more)
This Americanized remake of Lina Wertmuller's The Seduction of Mimi offered audiences the novelty of seeing Richard Pryor performing three different roles in the same film. Which Way Is Up? tells the tale of Leroy Jones (Pryor), a poor orange picker who gets fired from his job when he accidentally joins a worker's union during a demonstration. He is forced to travel to Los Angeles and abandon his family, which includes his wife, Annie Mae (Margaret Avery), and his perpetually randy father, Rufus (also Pryor). While there, he falls in love with labor organizer Vanetta (Lonette McKee), but is soon rehired by his former employers when they realize he is easily manipulated. Back home, Leroy discovers his new managerial role alienates him from his former friends as he tries to divide his time between Annie Mae and Vanetta. When he discovers Annie Mae has been impregnated by the Reverend Lennox Thomas (Pryor's 3rd role) during his absence, Leroy sets his sights on seducing Lennox's wife. The resulting film had ambition to spare, but was generally panned as an inferior remake by the critics and failed to find a mass audience. However, Which Way Is Up? gained a second lease on life via cable and home video and has become a cult favorite with Pryor's fans. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Pryor, Lonette McKee, (more)
