Les Weldon Movies

Traveling to Venice to investigate the mysterious death of his father, David, a famous archaeologist and diver, unearths a killer secret that lies beneath the Venetian waters. When a ruthless mob boss discovers his findings, David must brave the dangerous, shark-infested waters once again to recover the treasure and rescue his girlfriend.

Action icon Dolph Lundgre directs and stars in this film that finds the actor cast as a drummer who must become a hero. As the openers for a chart-topping singer at a Moscow show, Joe and his band think fame is just within reach. However, a group of terrorist has something else in mind for the concert and capture the singer -- as well as the Russian president and his daughters. Joe might be used to pounding drums, but now he has to pound the bad guys in order to save the ruler and the three women. ~ All Movie Guide

An incarcerated ex-US Special Forces operative in Russia discovers his second shot at freedom was actually an elaborate ruse in this explosive action thriller starring Dolph Lundgren. Mike Riggins was rotting in a Russian prison when he is offered immediate release if he will rescue abducted American Ana. Though Mike makes quick work of his mission, he discovers that the kidnapping story was a lie when the government, the paramilitary, and the mafia all come gunning for him. Now, as his enemies close in from all sides, Mike attempts to uncover the truth about Ana and keep her out of harm's way. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An assassin posing as a trade-show producer fixes his crosshairs on a Middle Eastern oil minister while maintaining his cover by organizing a high-profile wedding in this satirical action comedy starring John Cusack, Hilary Duff, and Marisa Tomei. A private American corporation run by a former U.S. vice president (Dan Aykroyd) is occupying the war-torn nation of Turaqistan, but a powerful Middle Eastern oil minister is preventing them from taking total advantage of the situation. In order to gain a monopoly on the lucrative opportunities that Turaqistan has to offer, the CEO of the corporation hires an evenhanded hitman named Hauser (Cusack) to take the oil minister out of the picture. Now, in order to carry out the contract without a hitch, Hauser will pose as the corporation's trade-show producer. The stakes are high and the potential for disaster is evident, though if Hauser can successfully organize the wedding of Central Asian pop-star Yonica Babyyeah (Duff), he's got a good chance of pulling it off. But sexy and resourceful left-wing reporter Natalie Hegalhuzen (Tomei) is determined to uncover the truth about what's happening in Turaqistan, and the moment she does, this carefully constructed scheme will crumble like a house of cards. Joshua Seftel directs a screenplay co-written by Mark Leyner, Jeremy Pikser, and producer/star John Cusack. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Like Lassie, another famous Hollywood pooch with a long shelf life, Rin Tin Tin was actually portrayed by numerous onscreen canines over the decades, but unlike Lassie or Benji, the first Rin Tin Tin actually experienced fantastic offscreen adventures to rival anything in the movies, before graduating to silver screen stardom. As directed by Danny Lerner, this fact-based drama recreates those events onscreen. The tale begins with Lee Duncan, a France-stationed World War I corporal who rescues a German Shepherd mother and her three puppies from a bombed-out European dog kennel. He gives the mother and two of the pups away to different owners, but keeps the third puppy (his favorite) for himself, and names the spunky canine Rin Tin Tin, after a toy that French children commonly gave to soldiers around the turn of the century. The general of the base expressly forbids Lee from keeping a high-strung dog on the premises, but Lee finds a solution by befriending one of the POWs - German dog trainer Nikolaus Egger, who agrees to train the animal despite initial resistance. Egger teaches Rin Tin Tin such amazing feats as rescuing wounded soldiers from the battlefield; later, the dog accompanies Lee back to the states and graduates to movie stardom in 14 features from 1920-31. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A crook with a conscience takes on the men who turned on him in this action thriller. Harlan Banks (Steven Seagal) is a world-class thief who has always picked his own jobs and tried to pull heists that would leave him room to help out others; he also has powerful psychic abilities and can punish a man simply with the powers of his mind. But the work keeps getting riskier, and at the urging of his girlfriend, Banks has decided to pull one final job, going in with some men who are planning a 20-million-dollar casino robbery in Las Vegas. Banks is double-crossed by his new partners, and while he gets away with the money, Banks also ends up behind bars. Now his fellow crooks want the cash and will do anything to get it, but Banks isn't eager to part with a hard-earned dollar, and with the help of Ice Cool (Anthony Criss, aka hip-hop star Treach), he busts out of prison to claim what's his. Along the way, Banks uses both his hands and his mind to even the score with the men who betrayed him. Today You Die's spectacular chase footage was shot on location in Las Vegas. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This $17 million direct-to-video production by Hong Kong director Ringo Lam is the story of a fire-obsessed serial killer (Jean-Claude Van Damme) and the recently retired cop (Michael Rooker) intent on stopping him. After finding his hair follicle at a crime scene, a secret government agency clones the killer in the hopes that the replicant will aid in the search. Although he's full-grown, the clone (also played by Van Damme) has the emotional and mental capacity of a young child. Soon the naïve replicant begins to have visions of past murders and an abusive mother, leading him to escape and seek the killer on his own. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide

While on a special assignment to Africa to photograph an endangered bird, a wildlife photographer runs into a dashing experienced stranger. Though she is engaged to her publisher, the photographer embarks upon a wild night of passion with the stranger, unaware that in so doing, she is about to become a pawn in an international struggle involving a list of the world's greatest assassins. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Swamp Diamonds is the family-trade title for the sweaty Roger Corman crime melodrama Swamp Women. Policewoman Carole Mathews dons her torpedo bra and tight jeans to infiltrate a dangerous all-female criminal gang, currently serving time in a Louisiana Prison. The ladies escape and head to the swamp, where they've hidden a fortune in diamonds. Along the way, they kidnap geologist Touch Connors (later known as Mike Connors). For a while, it looks as though the girls will get away with their perfidy and Connors will end up as alligator bait, but Mathews saves the day. The supporting cast of Swamp Diamonds is a roll-call of 1950s "tough broads": Marie Windsor, Beverly Garland, Susan Cummings, Jil Jarmyn. Watch for Jonathan Haze, future star of Little Shop of Horrors, and Ed Nelson, future talk-show host and politician, in minor roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rhubarb is an amusing, if not entirely faithful, adaptation of the H. Allen Smith novel of the same name. When Thaddeus J. Banner (Gene Lockhart), multimillionaire owner of the Brooklyn baseball team, passes away, he wills the team -- and his $30 million estate -- to his pugnacious pet cat Rhubarb. Banner's press agent Eric Yeagar (Ray Milland) finds this hilarious, until he discovers that he's been appointed Rhubarb's guardian and business manager. One of the crosses Yeagar has to bear is the fact that his sweetheart Polly Sickles (Jan Sterling), the daughter of Brooklyn team manager Len Sickles (William Frawley), is deathly allergic to cats. Still, Yeagar must keep Rhubarb with him at all times, especially when the cat turns out to be a good-luck charm for the perennially basement-dwelling Brooklyn ballplayers. Thanks to Rhubarb's inspiration, the team makes it to the Pennant Race, whereupon the plot really thickens. The first two-thirds of Rhubarb adheres to the original Smith novel, culminating with a zany sanity hearing brought about by Banner's disgruntled relatives to prove that the cat is mentally unfit to control the old man's money. But the final reels abandon the novel in favor of a Guys and Dolls-inspired plot strand, wherein crooked gamblers kidnap the cat to prevent a Brooklyn pennant win. As a result, H. Allen Smith's satiric barbs are somewhat blunted in the final scenes -- which, however, is not to suggest that the film is any less funny than before. One of the better baseball comedies of the era, Rhubarb maintains its merriment right to the end, which is capped by a cameo appearance by a well-known actor who happened to be married to leading lady Jan Sterling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide