Michael Ironside Movies
Canadian actor Michael Ironside has specialized in tough, steel-fisted villainous film roles. Ironside played the ruthless brain-splitting cult leader in Scanners (1981), the unethical cop in Cross Country (1983), and the megalomaniacal cyborg in Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1984), among other wicked characterizations. He was also seen as Dick Wetherly in Top Gun, 1986's biggest hit, and as General Katana in Highlander II: The Quickening (1991). He also appeared in such TV series as ER and SeaQuest DSV: 2032. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideThe fourth installment of the Terminator series follows an adult John Connor (played by Christian Bale) as he attempts to organize a human resistance force which could prove to be mankind's last true hope in the war against the machines. Opening in the year 2018, Terminator Salvation finds John Connor's certainty about the future shaken by the sudden appearance of a mysterious stranger named Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), whose last memory is of sitting on death row and awaiting execution. Unable to determine whether Marcus was sent from the future or rescued from the past, Connor begins to wonder whether there is still any hope left for the human race as the robots grow more powerful and aggressive than ever before. It appears that Skynet is preparing a devastating final attack designed to eliminate the human resistance once and for all, leaving Connor and Marcus with no choice but to strike back at the cybernetic heart of Skynet's operations. Once there, the two battle-scarred soldiers discover a devastating secret regarding the potential annihilation of all humankind. Anton Yelchin fills Michael Biehn's shoes as a young Kyle Reese in the first installment of a planned Terminator trilogy from director McG (Charlie's Angels). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, (more)
An FBI agent on the trail of a serial killer attempts to capture the madman with a little assistance from his would-be victims in director Jennifer Chambers Lynch's supernatural police thriller. FBI agents Elizabeth Anderson (Julia Ormond) and Sam Hallaway (Bill Pullman) are on the trail of some killers when they arrive in a small desert town to investigate a vicious mass shooting on the highway. The witnesses are an overzealous cop, an unreliable junkie, and an eight-year-old girl. For some reason agents Anderson and Hallaway can't comprehend, the pieces of the puzzle just don't seem to fit together. Later, when the minute details concealed by each witness finally start coming into focus, the two agents discover that sometimes the truth comes at a very substantial cost. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Pullman, Julia Ormond, (more)
Wrong Turn director Rob Schmidt takes the helm for this thriller inspired by the grim true-life exploits of an alphabet-obsessed New York serial killer and starring Timothy Hutton, Cary Elwes, Eliza Dushku, and Michael Ironside. When Rochester, NY-based police investigator Megan Paige (Dushku) discovers that ten year old Carla Castillo was brutally raped and murdered in nearby Churchville, she becomes convinced that the department is dealing with a serial killer. Paige is a driven detective whose devotion to her job often crosses the border into obsession. Her fiancé, Kenneth Shine (Elwes), is a lieutenant with the Rochester Police Department, and as both jockey for the same promotion, the cracks in their relationship begin to show. Later, when Megan becomes haunted by visions of Carla and fails to solve the case, a concerned Captain Gullikson (Tom Noonan) takes her off of the case. Suffering a nervous breakdown shortly thereafter, Megan is diagnosed with adult onset of paranoid schizophrenia and placed in a psychiatric hospital, where she promptly breaks off her engagement to Kenneth.
Two years later, Megan has returned to the precinct as a records clerk, and Kenneth is now the head of the department. Over time, Megan begins developing a friendship with wheelchair-bound Richard Ledge (Hutton). When a local girl named Wendy Walsh is abducted, raped, and murdered in Webster, Megan convinces Kenneth to let her ride along with Detective Steven Harper (Tom Malloy) as an advisor to the case. But the gruesome nature of the case once again prompts strange visions for Megan. Now she is haunted by two murder victims, and to make matters worse, she's beginning to develop embarrassing involuntary ticks and stops taking her medication. As the hallucinations get worse and the case starts to run cold, Megan struggles to find the one piece of evidence that will lead them to the killer before her dark side takes over once again. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Two years later, Megan has returned to the precinct as a records clerk, and Kenneth is now the head of the department. Over time, Megan begins developing a friendship with wheelchair-bound Richard Ledge (Hutton). When a local girl named Wendy Walsh is abducted, raped, and murdered in Webster, Megan convinces Kenneth to let her ride along with Detective Steven Harper (Tom Malloy) as an advisor to the case. But the gruesome nature of the case once again prompts strange visions for Megan. Now she is haunted by two murder victims, and to make matters worse, she's beginning to develop embarrassing involuntary ticks and stops taking her medication. As the hallucinations get worse and the case starts to run cold, Megan struggles to find the one piece of evidence that will lead them to the killer before her dark side takes over once again. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eliza Dushku, Cary Elwes, (more)
Bones director Ernest R. Dickerson takes the helm for this episode of Showtime's Masters of Horror series concerning two morbidly curious teenagers who come face to face with the ultimate nightmare. Obsessed with the prospect of seeing a real dead body, two teenage boys break into a mortuary and prepare to stare death in the face. Their victimless crime yields unexpectedly horrific results, however, when a ferocious vampire (Michael Ironside) emerges from the darkness to feast on some fresh blood. Subsequently transformed into bloodthirsty vampires, the two teens must now choose between embracing a life of nocturnal terror and sacrificing themselves for the sake of their fellow man. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Ironside, Arjay Smith, (more)

- 2006
- R
- Add Vampire Wars: Battle for the Universe to QueueAdd Vampire Wars: Battle for the Universe to top of Queue
The low-budget, direct-to-video sci-fi/horror fest Vampire Wars: Battle for the Universe opens in the year 2210. After draining the life from millions of human bodies, bloodsuckers not only worm their way across the face of the earth but sit poised on the edge of conquering the universe. To squash the problem for all time, intergalactic rulers order the assembly of V-SAN crews, or anti-vampire sanitation teams, to cruise the galaxy and stamp out the undead. The rough riders on the Hieronymus Unit - men and women prized for their brutality and their bull-by-the-horns, take no prisoners mindset - have among them Quintana (Natassia Malthe), a half-human, half-vampiress endowed with psychic powers that enable to foresee her prey; Captain Nicholas Churchill (Joe Lando), and second-in-command Damian Underwood (Dominic Zamprogna) - who, together, have enough force to meet the vampires on a level playing field. But they unknowingly careen head-first toward a nasty trap led by the vampire captain, Muco (Michael Ironside), which risks extinguishing the Hieronymus crew for eternity and giving the vamps limitless power. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
A Vietnam veteran-turned-holy man returns to Saigon, only to be confronted by a former war buddy who forces him to own up to his blood-soaked past in this drama from director Sidney J. Furie. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Ironside, Ally Sheedy, (more)

- 2006
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Michael Ironside, Costas Mandylor, and Alexandra Paul attempt to avert disaster when a volatile volcano threatens to turn New York City to ashes in director Robert Lee's made for television disaster film. A volcano has been discovered beneath the Big Apple, and it's about to blow. As the impending eruption continues to build in intensity, a bold group of unlikely heroes band dig a series of underground tunnels designed to safely filter the lava away from residential areas. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Costas Mandylor, Alexandra Paul, (more)
This loose update of John Griesemer's biting and satirical 2001 anti-war novel No One Thinks of Greenland features American Pie starrer Jason Biggs as Corporal Rudy Spruance, a young man enlisted in the U.S. military in the late 1970s, at the height of the Cold War between the States and the Soviet Union. Though he's supposed to be transferred to Hawaii, Rudy is instead thrown out of a plane on a quasi-vacant airstrip in an unspecified location. He hits his head, loses consciousness, and comes to in a local infirmary - only to have doctors inform him that: A) He isn't in Hawaii, he's on a military base in icy Greenland, and B) His name isn't Rudy Spruance, it is Martin Pederson. The bombastic, ignorant base commander, Corporal Lane Woolwrap (Jeremy Northam) dismisses Rudy's assertions of mistaken identity and hands him his mission: to start a propagandistic newspaper used to generate morale among the troops. Instead of doing this, Rudy happens upon an isolated, top-secret building that houses some long-kept secrets related to government malfeasance - well aware of the implications of his discovery. Natascha McElhone co-stars as Woolwrap's girlfriend. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Biggs, Jeremy Northam, (more)
An orphaned drifter recently released from the hospital and seeking gainful employment finds that sometimes fate can play cruel tricks on the desperate in a tightly wound tale of adultery, deception, and murder starring Peter Coyote and Lucas Black. Nat Banyon (Black) is an orphan just looking to get back on his feet after an extended convalescence in a Wyoming hospital. When by chance Nat spots a bad car accident and bravely acts to save the life of the car's eccentric driver, Herman Finch (Coyote), the grateful wheelman kindly extends an offer of work to the young drifter, with the understanding that room and board will be provided free of charge. Assigned the task of cleaning up Finch's rundown Deepwater motel in exchange for a street-worthy car, Nat sets about performing his duties while slowly becoming aware that, in this ramshackle motel, nothing is as it seems and no one can be trusted. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucas Black, Peter Coyote, (more)
Five students driving through the desert encounter the inescapable stench of death in director David Payne's retro-inspired slasher/monster/supernatural horror hybrid. The highway has been inexplicably closed, forcing five young travelers into a mysteriously abandoned travel oasis where they are soon confronted with disturbing visions of maimed travelers. Disturbed by the grisly series of visions and determined to escape the spooky motel and diner before whatever killed the previous customers returns, the frightened travelers soon meet a frantic stranger who claims to have recently lost his wife to a terrifying entity that seems to hover between life and death. As the night falls, a blind grad student with heightened senses proves the only hope for survival as the body count begins to rise and the smell of death becomes too suffocating to endure. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Devon Gummersall, Derek Richardson, (more)
American filmmaker Tim Hunter (River's Edge) directs the dark comedy The Failures, shot in HD video with a script from first-time screenwriter Hal Haberman. Chad Lindberg plays William, an alcoholic who works as a parking lot attendant. He makes up comic book stories about antidepressant drugs that come to life in the form of superheroes Depressor (Michael Ironside) and Elatia (Heather Marie Marsden). Ashley Johnson plays Lilly, a former cheerleader who starts to hate life after her mother commits suicide. William and Lilly start up a romance of sorts. The Failures was shown at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival as part of the market screenings. It also stars Babylon 5 cult figure Claudia Christian. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ashley Johnson, Chad Lindberg, (more)
Phillip Roth's action/disaster film Maximum Velocity concerns the efforts of a group of military men and scientists to thwart an oncoming storm that would devastate the planet. He group must utilize a still unproven new weapon to dissipate the storm before all is lost. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wendy Carter, Gregor Toerzs, (more)
Brad Anderson directs the psychological thriller The Machinist, a production of Spain's Filmax company. Christian Bale plays Trevor Reznik, a factory lathe operator who has developed a serious case of insomnia. Lack of sleep has already started to wear down on his brain and his body. When he's involved in an accident at work, his co-workers turn against him. He starts to find strange notes in his apartment and see people that apparently aren't there. Jennifer Jason Leigh stars as call girl Stevie. The Machinist premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, (more)
In the conclusion of Justice League's second-season opener, the Justice League has been imprisoned on a giant artificial moon, built in the shape of Superman's old Krypton foe Brainiac. It turns out that the Leaguers are mere pawns in a pact between the sinister Brainiac and the mercurial Darkseid, which involves exchanging Superman's DNA for the safety of the planet Apokolips. Before the final showdown between Superman and Darkseid, the other League Members have forged a self-protective alliance with the members of the New Genesis. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Ironside, Corey Burton, (more)
Dylan (Kevin Sorbo) and his crew conduct a search for a missing space colony. Also joining the search is Constantine Stark (Michael Ironside), the "patriarch" of a small band of freedom fighters and the ancestor of a legendary guerilla leader. Dylan's confusion over the fact that he has never heard of Stark or his followers gives way to terror when a deadly virus figures into the proceedings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Ian David Diaz' horror film Fallen Angels concerns a supposedly haunted girls' school. A horrific fire occurred at the school, and now, five years later, one of the survivors of the fire is going back to the school at the behest of a Hollywood agent who thinks this kind of press would help create a career. When the horrible truth of the place is revealed, everyone involved gets more than they bargained for. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
At the Millennium Building in NYC, the elevators have a problem... they just can't stop killing people! Pregnant women, skater dudes -- they're all on the menu for these possessed motorized beasts. As elevator repairman Mark Newman (James Marshal) delves deeper into the mystery, everyone from his boss to the building manager stand in his way. His only help comes from Jennifer Naomi Watts, a nosy reporter that smells a cover-up when she sees it. As the "accidents" pile up, the President and FBI get involved as the heroic couple come face to face with technology gone horribly, horribly wrong. Down is a direct remake (shot for shot at times) of director Dick Maas' early 80's cult flick The Lift. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Marshall, Naomi Watts, (more)
In this noir-flavored thriller, Desmond Craine (Stephen Baldwin) is cursed with insomnia; on nights when he can't sleep, he takes long walks through the city streets, hoping to clear his mind and allow himself to relax. However, quite the opposite occurs one evening when he unwittingly becomes a witness to murder, and suddenly getting a good night's sleep becomes the least of his worries. Dead Awake also features Michael Ironside and Macha Grenon. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Baldwin, Macha Grenon, (more)

- 2001
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The seventh in the series of films loosely based on a short story that appeared originally in Stephen King's Night Shift, Children of the Corn: Revelation continues the saga of a Nebraska town where the young citizens all fear a mysterious higher power that emerges from the ever-present cornrows. FBI agents have come to the mysterious town in an attempt to capture a serial killer that is hiding in the town. While there, the officers stumble across a force more powerful and evil than any serial killer. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudette Mink, Kyle Cassie, (more)
Navy SEAL Brascoe (Dan Andersen), is forced out of the service in disgrace after being framed by his partner Cody (Olivier Gruner) regarding a conflict gone wrong. Now a civilian without direction, Brascoe learns that his bad luck hasn't run out yet: His young son is dying from cancer and Brascoe needs $5 million to finance a radical new treatment that may save his life. Brascoe asks an arrogant billionaire, Baker (Michael Ironside), for a donation, but is stiff-armed by burly body guards. Desperate for the money, Brascoe rounds up a gang of crack thieves -- including Sparks (Michael Madsen) and Brady (Grand L. Bush) -- to steal the cash from Baker. The heist completed, Brascoe's men are slaughtered one at a time -- but it's not by a vengeful Baker. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
A pair of minor league crooks discover they're playing way out of their league when they have to face off against a legion of supernatural beasts in this tongue-in-cheek horror opus. Two low-level thieves think they've discovered a big score when they manage to steal a rare and ancient artifact that's long been held in a secret tomb. However, they don't realize just how big an item they've lifted until they realize that the relic is capable of summoning up demonic spirits; taken from its sanctuary, the artifact lets loose a legion of monsters upon the world, and the thieves are forced to turn to an angel of the dark world in order to send the demons back from where they came. Rodney Rowland and Kevin Patrick Walls star as the thieves in over their heads, while the supporting cast is dotted with horror and exploitation film notables, including Karen Black, Robert Davi, Brad Dourif, and Michael Ironside; former teen pop singer Deborah Gibson also appears in a cameo role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Rowland, Kevin Patrick Walls, (more)
In this steamy thriller, Taylor Lewis (Patrick Bergin) is a district attorney who is assigned to prosecute Angela Carter (Joan Severance) when she's accused of murdering her husband -- who just so happens to be the mayor's cousin. However, the longer Lewis investigates the case, the more he begins to question the widow's guilt; what's more, he imagines he may be compromising his integrity when he finds himself falling in love with her. Cause of Death also stars Michael Ironside and Larry Day.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Bergin, Joan Severance, (more)

- 2000
- R
- Add Crime + Punishment in Suburbia to QueueAdd Crime + Punishment in Suburbia to top of Queue
Recalling both The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) and American Beauty (1999), this teen drama recounts the trials and tribulations of one very dysfunctional family. Roseanne Skolnik (Monica Keena) is a popular high school student who is dating Jimmy (James DeBello), the football captain. She also lives in a family where her embittered mother Maggie (Ellen Barkin) is plotting to murder Roseanne's violent drunken stepfather Fred (Michael Ironside). After a smashed Fred rapes her, Roseanne starts plotting her stepfather's demise too. She ropes her boyfriend into doing the deed, and soon she finds herself under arrest and on trial for the crime. With all of her friends shunning her, she confides in her creepy voyeuristic neighbor. This film was screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monica Keena, Vincent Kartheiser, (more)
A boy's world is turned upside down when his parents split up in this emotional drama. When Vicky and Benjamin Walling (Stephanie Zimbalist and Corbin Bernsen) file for divorce, their son Jeremy (Robin Dunne) finds himself caught in the middle of an emotional tug of war. Benjamin has decided to stay in his hometown of Detroit with his oldest son Buddy (Will Sanderson), while Vicky is moving to Windsor, Canada, and is taking Jeremy with her. Jeremy has trouble fitting in at his new school, and he begins attending a support group for children of divorced parents. At his meetings, Jeremy meets Beth (Catarina Scorsone), a girl whose tough-as-nails exterior hides the fact that she's still coming to terms with her folks' breakup. Jeremy and Beth start dating, and he decides to give the school's track team a try, where he has to deal with a very demanding coach (Michael Ironside). Between his parents, his brother, his girlfriend, and the track coach, Jeremy finds himself in a position where he isn't sure how to satisfy the demands of everyone around him -- or even make himself happy. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicholas Treeshin, Corbin Bernsen, (more)
This futuristic animated adventure is based on the graphic novel The Melting Pot, created by noted comic artists Kevin Eastman, Simon Brisley, and Eric Talbot and published by the creators of the well-known graphics magazine Heavy Metal. In a distant universe, the acronym F.A.K.K. (Federation Assigned Ketogenic Killzone) is used to designate places of extreme danger to all life forms. In a bid to keep out unwelcome visitors, the quiet civilization of Eden has designated itself as F.A.K.K., level two. However, a lunatic named Tyler (voice of Michael Ironside) invades Eden, and when he discovers Eden's secrets -- life-preserving if respected, deadly when abused -- he lays waste to the civilization, leaving behind only a female warrior named Julie (voice of Julie Strain). Julie sets out to find Tyler, determined to see the secrets of Eden returned to safety and eager to take her revenge for the slaughter of her people. Unlike the 1981 film Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal 2000 tells one long story rather than several shorter ones; in keeping with the first movie, it does features a soundtrack by a number of noted rock bands, including Monster Magnet, Pantera, Days of the New, Insane Clown Posse, System of a Down, Coal Chamber, and others. Heavy Metal 2000 was released in Europe as Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Ironside, Julie Strain, (more)
































