Ben Cross Movies

Director Rick Schroder tries his hand at horror with this nightmarish shocker about an ancient Greek warrior attempting to rescue his wife's soul from the underworld while fending off the hounds of hell. His bride Demetria (Amanda Brooks) poisoned on their wedding day by a jealous rival, crestfallen Kleitos (Scott Elrod) rallies the troops and storms the underworld, where Hades has already laid claim to Demetria's soul. The deeper Kleitos and his warriors venture into the underworld, the greater the danger of falling victim to Hades' snarling pack of vicious hellhounds, who are quickly closing in from all sides. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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, Rovi

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, Rovi

Set in the year 1882, director Pinchas Perry's adaptation of Irvin D. Yalom's fictional 1992 novel finds a depressed Friedrich Nietzsche seeking out the advice of pioneering psychoanalyst Josef Breuer for help in battling mental malaise. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The muscle-bound Swedish screen icon Dolph Lundgren, who rose to fame as boxer Ivan Drago in Rocky IV and held the title role in The Punisher, makes his sophomore directorial effort with the straight-to-video actioner The Russian Specialist (aka The Mechanik), a U.S./German co-production. Nick Cherenko (Lundgren), a Soviet Special Forces agent living and working in Russia, must flee the country when bloodthirsty gangsters massacre his wife and child. On the lam with his safety on the line, Cherenko escapes to Los Angeles, where he slips into a quiet, nonchalant life as an auto mechanic -- that is, until he is offered a massive amount of blood money to hunt down a kidnapper who abducted a young Russian heiress and to bring the girl back to the arms of her parents unscathed. Cherenko refuses -- until he discovers, by wild coincidence, that the kidnapper is the same Mafioso who rubbed out his next of kin. Packing heat, Cherenko does an about-face and hightails it to Russia to see that justice is served. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Planned for years, but plagued by problems such as the death of director John Frankenheimer before production had even begun and the exiting of star Liam Neeson, the fourth installment of the Exorcist saga finally got off the ground with Paul Schrader (Affliction, Auto Focus) behind the camera and Stellan Skarsgård filling the shoes left empty by Neeson. But the pitfalls didn't stop there, as Morgan Creek decided against their initial approach assigned to Schrader after seeing his finished cut, and hired Renny Harlin to reshoot the film with extra gore and head-spinning nastiness. The first prequel in the series, Exorcist: The Beginning is based upon events occurring before the first film. Playing the character made famous by Max von Sydow in the earlier films, this entry finds Skarsgård as a young Father Merrin facing true evil for the first time in Africa in the wake of World War II. When a young local boy begins to behave strangely, it becomes more and more apparent to Merrin that the child is a victim of demonic possession. Boasting a first-time screenplay by best-selling novelist Caleb Carr (The Alienist), Exorcist: The Beginning features a supporting cast headed by Izabella Scorupco (GoldenEye) and James D'Arcy (Master And Commander). ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

This drama was the ninth in a series of made-for-TV features dramatizing famous stories from the Bible. Solomon (Ben Cross), the son of David (Max Von Sydow), inherits his father's kingdom and becomes the ruler of Israel. While Solomon consolidates power through his marriages, it is his intelligence, sense of justice, and desire to see his people live in peace that earns him the respect and admiration of his subjects. Solomon also stars Vivica A. Fox as the Queen of Saba, Anouk Aimee as Bethsabea, and Maria Grazia Cucinotta as Abishag. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Adventure lovers longing for an invigorating dose of cinematic excitement are invited to embark on a thrilling quest for a mythical treasure in this globetrotting tale starring Ben Cross, Peter Weller, and Ione Skye. John and Michael Shannon (Weller and Cross respectively) are estranged siblings with the common goal of traveling to the Sahara to unearth the mythical Tower of the Firstborn. When John goes missing on his quest, his daughter, Diane (Skye), abandons her post in the secret archives of the Vatican to follow the clues that could save her father's life. Now, as Diane teams with Dr. Neal Hogan (Guy Lankester) to find her father in the vast desert landscape, the secret of Christianity's greatest mystery is finally within reach. Acclaimed composer Ennio Morricone provides a sweeping score for this tale of ancient intrigue and breathtaking excitement. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Airplane travel is a precarious thing at best, and despite the billions of miles traveled safely, the notion of being trapped in a thin metal shell miles above the ground with someone who deliberately imperils lives never fails to chill. In this thriller, serial killer Ryan Weaver (Ray Liotta) gets loose in the plane which is taking him to prison. Suicidal, he manages to kill or incapacitate the pilot, copilot and navigator, only to have his death wish thwarted by the brave actions of flight attendant Teri Halloran (Lauren Holly). Teri manages to keep the plane in the air and more or less on course with groundside help from air traffic controller Sam Bowen (Ben Cross). Teri is Weaver's favorite type of victim and he has made her believe that he may be innocent. Will she be able to resist the killer's sinister charm and save the plane? ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Michael Anderson directed this TV movie version of Jules Verne's oft-adapted science fiction classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Richard Crenna stars as Henry Aronnax, a marine biologist, who, along with his crew, must confront the maniacal genius Captain Nemo (Ben Cross), helmsman of the Nautilus. Paul Gross and Julie Cox also star. This film should not be confused with the other 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea TV movie that aired the same year and starred Michael Caine and Patrick Dempsey. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

The tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is always ripe for retelling. In this rendition, the sexy Richard Gere is Sir Lancelot, threatening to supersede the aging King Arthur (Sean Connery) by winning the love of his young wife Guinivere (Julia Ormond). This update of the age-old legend succeeds on the strength of Gere's happy-go-lucky sex appeal, Ormond's gorgeous period costuming, and Connery's unbeatable wry nobility. The script focuses on the triangle of the three principals: the older man's reluctance to relinquish his love and power to the younger man destined to supplant him; the young woman torn between her loyalty to her aged husband and her love for his rival; the young man balancing the demands of loyalty to his sovereign with the rewards of true love. This beautiful production forgoes the legend's usual elements of magic and fantasy, leaving Merlin the Magician completely out of the picture. ~ Laura Abraham, Rovi