Stephen Lang Movies

Adapted from an Ernest Hemingway story by Hemingway's longtime friend and associate A. E. Hotchner, After the Storm spent years in development before filming of the movie version began in 2000, several years after Hotchner's death. Set in the Bahamas in 1936, the story concerns a young fisherman on the lam from gangsters, who stumbles upon a fortune in jewels from a yacht sunk in a recent storm. This sudden windfall results in nothing but unhappiness and betrayal for the fisherman -- and for everyone else who embarks upon the treasure hunt that consumes most of the action. When After the Storm failed to secure a theatrical release, it was licensed to the USA network for its first American TV showing. The R-rated video version was released on May 29, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When con man Eddie Dash (Richard Pryor) is released from prison he's told to fulfill the required 100 hours of community service as the bodyguard/escort of a recently released mental patient (Gene Wilder). It's not too long before Wilder figures out a way to make a little dough at the expense of his impaired charge. Together they manage to get involved in an inheritance scam that's loaded with troubles and trials for all. It's apparent to most viewers that the Richard Pryor appearing in this film is a far cry from the actor most have seen previously; this is the first film undertaken by Pryor following a very serious illness. ~ All Movie Guide

A paraplegic ex-marine finds a new life on the distant planet of Pandora, only to find himself battling humankind alongside the planet's indigenous Na'vi race in this ambitious digital 3D sci-fi epic from Academy Award-winning Titanic director James Cameron. The film, which marks Cameron's first dramatic feature since 1997's Titanic, follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a war veteran who gets called to the depths of space to pick up the job of his slain twin brother for the scientific arm of a megacorporation looking to mine the planet of Pandora for a valued ore. Unfortunately the biggest deposit of the prized substance lies underneath the home of the Na'vi, a ten-foot-tall, blue-skinned native tribe who have been at war with the security arm of the company, lead by Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Because of the planet's hostile atmosphere, humans have genetically grown half-alien/half-human bodies which they can jack their consciousnesses into and explore the world in. Since Jake's brother already had an incredibly expensive Avatar grown for him, he's able to connect with it using the same DNA code and experience first-hand the joys of Pandora while giving the scientific team, led by Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) and Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore), some well-needed protection against the planet's more hostile forces.

On a chance meeting after getting separated from his team, Jake's Avatar is rescued by Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), a Na'vi princess, who brings him into her tribe in order to give the humans a second chance at relating to this new environment. When word gets out of his increasing time with the alien species, Quaritch enlists Jake to do some reconnaissance for the company, as they'd like to persuade the tribe to move their home before taking more drastic measures to harness the treasure hidden below. Yet as Jake becomes one with the tribe and begins to understand the secrets of Pandora, his conscience is torn between his new adopted world and the wheelchair-bound one awaiting him when the psychic connection to his Avatar is broken. Soon battle lines are drawn and Jake needs to decide which side he will fight on when the time comes. The film was shot on the proprietary FUSION digital 3D cameras developed by Cameron in collaboration with Vince Pace, and offers a groundbreaking mix of live-action dramatic performances and computer-generated effects. The revolutionary motion-capture system created for the film allows the facial expressions of actors to be captured as a virtual camera system enables them to see what their computer-generated counterparts will be seeing in the film, and Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning Weta Digital visual-effects house supervises Avatar's complex special effects. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Former Starsky and Hutch star Paul Michael Glaser warmed the director's chair for Band of the Hand. The film zeroes in on five juvenile delinquents who are plucked from their various detention facilities and unceremoniously dumped in the wilds of the Everglades. The boys begin to panic until hardcase Vietnam veteran Stephen Lang arrives. Lang explains that they've been paroled in his custody, and that it is his task to teach them how to work as a team in order to survive. The logic of this plan is to whip the boys into an elite vigilante unit, then sic them on the various drug dealers of America. The film features early performances by Lauren Holly and Larry Fishburne and Bob Dylan can be heard singing the title song. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Crime Story was a valiant attempt by Miami Vice producer Michael Mann to present a compelling police drama series in a serialized fashion. Introduced as a two-hour TV movie on September 18, 1986, the weekly, hour-long series was initially set in Chicago in 1963. Dennis Farina, a former cop in real life, starred as Lt. Mike Torello, head of the windy city's Major Crime Unit (MCU), who carried on a blood feud with young, ambitious gangster Ray Luca (Anthony John Denison). Assisting Torello in his efforts was prosecuting attorney David Abrams (Stephen Lang), a mobster's son who had "seen the light" and switched sides. Others on Torello's team included Sgt. Danny Krychek (Bill Smitrovich), and detectives Nate Grossman (Steve Ryan), Joey Indelli (Bill Campbell), and Walter Clemmons (Paul Butler), while Luca was backed up by his faithful but dangerously stupid henchman Paulie Taglia (played by John Santucci, who, in a perverse spin of the Dennis Farina situation, had been a genuine criminal before turning to acting).

Halfway through season one, Luca and Paulie moved to Las Vegas, only to be closely followed by Torello and his men, who had become federal agents. The season ended with literal bang, as Luca and Paulie took refuge in a small house in the Nevada desert that turned out to be smack-dab in the middle of a nuclear testing site. Miraculously, the two gangsters managed to survive an atomic explosion with nary a scratch, and spent the series' second and final season playing a game of hide and seek with the Torello forces. Ultimately, the "good guys" bearded their prey in Mexico. In the course of events, Torello's marriage to his wife, Julie (Darlanne Fluegel, broke up, whereupon he entered into a relationship with Inga Thorson (Patricia Charbonneau). Also, both the cops and the robbers had brief encounters with the mob's "big boys," portrayed by such diverse actors as Joseph Wiseman and Andrew Dice Clay. Although the ratings for Crime Story were mediocre, NBC had faith in the series and kept it alive for two years. Like many other Michael Mann productions, the series was rich with authentic period detail, and came equipped with wall-to-wall vintage music, including the theme tune "Runaway", re-recorded (and recreated) by its original artist, Del Shannon. But for all of NBC's promotional skills and Michael Mann's production expertise, the series never caught on (more's the pity), and last aired on May 10, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Astonishingly, gangster Ray Luca (Anthony John Denison) and his doltish henchman Paulie (John Santucci) have managed to survive the atom bomb explosion that ended season one of the serialized cop drama Crime Story. This allows the duo to resume their criminal activities, ever keeping one step ahead from relentless federal agent Mike Torello (Dennis Farina) and his men. Since the series is still taking place in the 1960s, chasing mobsters remains far easier than catching them, even when an overambitious Kefauver-like senator begins hauling in Luca's cronies to appear before the Organized Crime Commission. Meanwhile, Torello's private life is still in tatters, as proven when his ex-wife, Julie (Darlanne Fluegel), marries another man, played by David Soul -- then prevails upon Torello to rescue her husband from kidnappers merely for "old time's sake." Adding insult to injury so far as Torello is concerned, Luca is given immunity in exchange for his cooperation with the Crime Commission, and soon is back in Vegas pulling his old underhanded tricks. This compels one of Torello's strongest allies, liberal prosecutor David Abrams (Stephen Lang), to resign in disgust, leaving the "good guys" still another man short. Eventually, Luca overplays his hand and is hauled in on racketeering charges -- but manages to slip through Torello's fingers one more time, thanks to an unexpected incident in faraway Vietnam! It is not until the series' three-episode finale that Torello finally corners the fugitive Lucas in Mexico -- but though this is the end of the series, is it really the end of the Torello-Luca blood feud? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In 1984, actor Dustin Hoffman starred in a critically-acclaimed Broadway revival of playwright Arthur Miller's classic Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Death of a Salesman. A year later, Hoffman and most of his fellow cast members starred in this made-for-TV production, the first English-language film by German director Volker Schlondorff. Hoffman stars as Willy Loman, an aging salesman who has lost his job because of encroaching senility. Now living on handouts provided by his friend Charley (Charles Durning), Willy's lifelong delusions of success and greatness awaiting just around the corner for he and his family have been shattered, and he's considering suicide. As he reflects on his life and the failed promise of his sons Biff (John Malkovich) and Happy (Stephen Lang), Willy finally confronts some unpleasant truths about both sons, particularly Biff, a one-time athlete who has become a kleptomaniac. One of the best of the many filmed versions of Miller's seminal work, Death of a Salesman (1985) won several awards, including a Golden Globe and an Emmy for Hoffman. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Martial arts star Steven Seagal stars in this action drama as Jack Taggart, an undercover agent working for the Environmental Protection Agency. When an EPA representative is murdered in a small Appalachian community, Taggart is sent in -- posing as a handyman working with a Christian relief agency -- to find out what happened. Taggart discovers that Orin Hanner (Kris Kristofferson), a powerful local businessman, has been illegally dumping toxic waste which has been leading to serious health problems among children in the area; it seems that the murdered agent knew too much and was killed to keep him quiet, a scenario the unscrupulous Hanner would be all too willing to repeat. Taggart becomes involved with Sarah Kellogg (Marg Helgenberger), a woman whose father also died under circumstances that trace back to Hanner. Harry Dean Stanton co-stars as Cotton, former member of The Band Levon Helm plays a preacher, and country music stars Travis Tritt and Randy Travis appear as themselves. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this highly-charged police drama, Officer Michael Rhoades is becoming increasingly disturbed by the amount of white-on-black violence that has been escalating in his quiet town. He is especially disturbed that much of that interracial brutality is coming from the police. Rhoades calls they FBI but lacks sufficient hard evidence to warrant their involvement. Still determined, Rhoades launches his own investigation, but it is his young partner DeBruler whom makes the shocking discovery that connects the police department with a violent gang of locals. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Director Ron Maxwell and producer Ted Turner return to the glory and tragedy of the Civil War in this historical drama, a prequel to Gettysburg, which examines the early days of the conflict through the experiences of three men. Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels) left behind a quiet life and a career as a college professor to become one of the Union's greatest military minds. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (Stephen Lang) was, like Chamberlain, a man of great religious faith who served in the defense of the Confederacy. And Gen. Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall), who led the Confederate army, was a man who was forced to choose between his loyalty to the United States and his love of the Southern states where he was born and raised. As Chamberlain, Jackson, and Lee are followed through the declaration of war and the battles at Manassas, Antietam, Frederickburg, and Chancellorsville, the film also introduces us to the many supporting players in the epic tale of the war between the States, among them the women these men left behind, among them Fanny Chamberlain (Mira Sorvino) and Anna Jackson (Kali Rocha). Based on a novel by Jeff Shaara, Gods and Generals also features a new song written and performed by Bob Dylan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Hubert Selby Jr. was a powerful and influential literary figure whose best-known novels, Last Exit to Brooklyn and Requiem for a Dream, dealt with the dark underside of life in a way that was bleak and often shocking, but also laced with compassion and understanding for the tortured lives of his characters. Selby only completed the eighth grade when he became a merchant marine and contracted a severe case of tuberculosis from infected cattle. While Selby survived thanks to bootleg antibiotics, he lost a lung and had to give up his physically punishing work at sea. Selby took up writing and developed a unique style that helped make his first novel, 1964's Last Exit to Brooklyn, a critical success and a controversial best-seller. However, Selby developed a massive appetite for alcohol and drugs which derailed his career, and by the time he published his second book, 1971's The Room, Selby was all but forgotten. However, Selby's work developed a passionate following in Europe, and was rediscovered in the United States after a successful film adaptation of Last Exit to Brooklyn was released. Hubert Selby Jr.: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow is a documentary which explores the life and work of this unlikely literary icon, and features extensive interviews with Selby as well as his friends and admirers. Interview subjects include Lou Reed, Henry Rollins, Richard Price, Nick Tosches, Ellen Burstyn, Darren Aronofsky, Uli Edel, Amiri Baraka, and Jerry Stahl. Robert Downey Jr. serves as narrator. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide