Uri Gavriel Movies
In the aftermath of a deadly attack on American forces in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, diplomats are slow to act, but meanwhile, FBI special agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) assembles a secret team of U.S. counter-terrorism investigators to enter the city and find the criminal behind what has quickly become an international incident. The crew, however, finds their attempt to capture the perpetrators stalled by bureaucracy and their presence unwelcome. Desperate to gain the trust they need to accomplish their mission in just five days, the team enlists the aid of a Saudi Arabian police officer (Ashraf Barhoum), but as the agents infiltrate the dark and complex world of the Saudi crime scene, they find that the perpetrator's next target may be them. Directed by Peter Berg, The Kingdom also stars Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, and Jason Bateman. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, (more)
Director Benny Torati's bittersweet ensemble film Desperado Square spins a tale of respect, long-lost loves and village history amongst a settlement of Greek Jews near Tel Aviv. On the one-year anniversary of the respected elder statesman Morris Mandabon's death -- and on the eve of a schedule memorial in his honor -- his eldest son, Nisim (Nir Levi), dreams that his late father is beckoning him to reopen the family movie theater that had closed several years previously. Drawing his brother, George (Sharon Reginyano), into the scheme, the two set out to fulfill their father's wish. Their mother, Signora (Yona Elian), provides fierce opposition, which intensifies when she learns that her sons intend to screen the sexually charged Bollywood film Sangam. She reacts as such due the film's portrayal of a love triangle that has more than a passing resemblance to her own life -- she was madly in love with Morris' brother, Avram (Mohammed Bakri), but was affianced to Morris through an arrangement of families. After her engagement to Morris, Avram disappeared in order to stay out of the way. And, to further complicate matters, Avram arrives in the settlement in order to participate in his brother's memorial. As a result, the family is forced to come to terms with its past, as well as revisioning its future. Desperado Square premiered in Israel in 2000 and was included in the programs of several Jewish film festivals in both the United States and abroad in 2001 and 2002. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Joe Lara, best known as TV's Tarzan, must protect the fetus of the last fertile woman on Earth in this silly post-nuke science fiction film. Much of the action is obviously Terminator-inspired, as John Ryan plays an evil cyborg chasing the heroes around an old factory. Israeli director Boaz Davidson, best known for sex comedies like Lemon Popsicle and The Last American Virgin, injects some interesting touches into the familiar proceedings which should keep action fans happy. It's obviously low-budget, by-the-numbers filmmaking, but it's not bad for its type. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Lara, Nicole Hansen, (more)
- 1993
- R
Four American college girls are on a vacation trip in Europe. They rent a van and drive from Greece to Turkey. However, someone plants drugs in their van, and at the border the drugs are discovered and the four are arrested and thrown in prison. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lori Jo Hendrix
Although it claims to be "suggested by an Edgar Allen Poe" story, this British production is basically a remake of Karl Freund's 1932 The Mummy -- but with nude shower scenes. Tony Curtis, in the Boris Karloff role, becomes obsessed with a young blonde woman whom he believes to be the reincarnated spirit of an Egyptian princess. She begins having nightmares, hallucinations, and starts hearing voices, while people around her suddenly start turning up brutally murdered. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1992
This implausible action film stars Michael Pare as a soldier who must rescue the CIA-director's daughter (Janis Lee) from a Turkish prison camp. In the process, Pare is temporarily blinded but uses his psychic abilities to defeat a group of Arab terrorists attempting to steal plutonium to blow up the world. Director Bob Misiorowski handles the action scenes fairly well, but the silly premise seems to have been patched together from several different scripts, none of them very good. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1992
- R
Ted Post directed this account of a former government agent (Michael Dudikoff) who must rescue his brother, a diabetic, from his Iraqi abductors. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Tommy Hinkley, (more)
- 1991
- R
In this action film, Hammer (Rob Lowe) and Dean (Gale Hanson) meet and become fast friends at a Navy training school. When the impulsive Hammer marries the woman (Tracy Griffith) Dean is pining for, the two go their separate ways. However, when the United States suspects Iraq of possessing the capability of launching biological warfare, the two friends are brought together again for one last mission. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
In Cover-Up, an espionage thriller, someone attacks a U.S. military installation in Israel and steals a secret "package" destined for the CIA. Mike Anderson (Dolph Lundgren) is in the country to report on the incident, and he runs into old acquaintances: the military attache, and his old romantic interest Susan (Lisa Berkely). Meanwhile, Susan has become engaged to the attache. Lou (Louis Gossett Jr.), a military official, is trying to cover up some of the facts regarding the raid, and when Mike begins to get too close to the truth he becomes a target. Cover-up has all the ingredients of a top-flight action adventure, but it is ruined by the wooden performance of Lundgren in the central role and a convoluted, overly complicated plot. However, the film moves with great pace and energy and should please action fans. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolph Lundgren, Louis Gossett, Jr., (more)
- 1990
- R
When his scientist father is kidnapped by Middle-Eastern terrorists, Matt Harman (Raphael Sbarge), a championship motocross contestant, is designated by his dad's captors as the ideal courier. Western governments agree that the boy can serve as a go-between, and he is all prepared to deliver a special computer chip to the terrorists. He is accompanied in his travels by a lovely female secret agent and a local Middle Eastern spy who has the rare distinction of also being royalty. Together, they work to save his father and disappoint the terrorists. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raphael Sbarge, Catherine Stewart, (more)
A pair of American pilots are forced to cooperate with their Soviet counterparts on a mission to destroy a Middle Eastern nuclear weapons site in this predictable, low-budget action sequel. The first Iron Eagle's rebellious fly boy Cooper (Mark Humphreys) has returned, as has his gruff mentor Chappy (Louis Gossett Jr. as yet another military man). They must work with two Russian pilots, one of whom is a beautiful woman that handsome young Cooper naturally sets out to woo. An extended build-up, including the requisite government conspiracy, leads to the climactic final battle. Average-at-best production values fail to elevate the film above a derivative screenplay, although the film did find enough success to produce further installments in the series. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis Gossett, Jr., Mark Humphrey, (more)
A seat-of-the-pants militia attitude gets a boost from this conventional drama about the heroics of a teen son anxious to free his father from captivity in a small Middle Eastern nation. Doug's (Jason Gedrick) father is an Air Force pilot who was shot down on a mission near the border of an Arab country and is now held hostage. Failing adequate U.S. intervention causes a desperate Doug to enlist his school chums in a wild plan to essentially sneak away with two Air Force jets and take off on a mission to rescue his father. He convinces the veteran Chappy (Louis Gossett, Jr.) into flying one plane, while Doug himself flies another (he learned how to pilot from his father). Yes. If audiences believe all this, then the ending should come as no surprise either. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis Gossett, Jr., Jason Gedrick, (more)
- 1984
Robert Mitchum plays as U.S. ambassador to Israel whose efforts at reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians run afoul of the somewhat questionable ambitions of security advisor Rock Hudson. Meanwhile, Mitchum's wife Ellen Burstyn embarks upon an affair with a PLO leader. When this fact comes to Mitchum's attention, he refuses to pay the prescribed "hush money", sparking a deadly chain reaction. You may need a microscope to discern this, but The Ambassador was adapted from Elmore Leonard's crime novel 52 Pick Up. Though a more faithful-to-the-source cinemazation of the Leonard book was lensed in 1986, The Ambassador remains the better of the two versions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Ellen Burstyn, (more)
- 1984
The innate morality of a ballet teacher is under attack in this message movie about the evils of a society that refuses to protect a potential victim because no violence has yet been committed against her. While this premise is worthy, director Raphael Rebibo's protagonists tend to be cardboard cut-outs, either very good or very bad. Ronit (Anath Atzmon), a divorced ballerina with a young son, witnesses a woman being raped. Outraged, she decides to testify against the rapist in court, but the accused man's brother, a gangster, begins to threaten her when she refuses to accept a bribe to not testify. He is careful never to leave any proof of his threats or his violence and succeeds in terrifying Ronit, who is under pressure from her ex-husband and current boyfriend to forget about testifying. With nowhere to turn for help, she faces a very difficult decision. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anat Atzmon, Uri Gavriel, (more)
- 1983
- R
In this political drama, Hannah Kaufman, a Jewish-American attorney, must defend Selim Bakri, a young Palestinian suing Israel for the right to live on his Left Bank ancestral land. The government's lawyer, a cocky Israeli attorney, is Hannah's lover and the father of her unborn child. Conflict ensues when Hannah and Selim also become lovers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jill Clayburgh, Jean Yanne, (more)
In this weak musical with derivative songs and routine acting, the Kuni and Muni Lemel twins are off to Egypt to bring an Israeli Torah to a Jewish community in Cairo in exchange for valuable antique coins. More important than the story of the film is the fact that this was the first time that an Israeli production crew shot scenes in Egypt. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mike Burstyn
- 1982
Four men whose combined intellect does not reach into the triple digits decide to steal a safe full of foreign currency -- not from a local bank, but from the police station. Based on a real-life incident, the screenplay for this slapstick comedy-drama was co-written by a policeman (Haim Merin), lending a certain voice of authority to the setting, and the director Jacob Goldwasser. The comedic high point of the film is when the four thieves bumble and bang their way through the police station, while the policeman on guard duty slumbers on in blissful ignorance. The thieves may be running on more muscle than grey matter, more chemicals than Dow, and more luck than forethought, but they pull off the supposedly impossible robbery. From that point onward though, luck dwindles away as their greed surpasses their grasp of how to follow up on their success. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Uri Gavriel, Moshe Ivgi, (more)
Yaky Yosha's 1982 Israeli drama Kvish Lelo Motza (aka Dead End Street) observes the trials and travails of a young prostitute named Alice (Anat Atzmon) who is thrust into jail alongside her pimp and hustler boyfriend. In desperation, Alice devises a scheme to save both of them: she will take the steps necessary to free herself, then set about raising the money to save her beau. However, she fails to anticipate the arrival of a documentary crew comprised of husband and wife Yoram (Yehoram Gaon) and Miri (Gila Almagor), who insist on filming her as she undergoes rehabilitation; when Yoram begins to fall hard for Alice, it draws the ire and chagrin of Miri, who begins to seethe with jealousy. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anat Atzmon, Yehoram Gaon, (more)
