Matt Johnston Movies
The true story of the formation of the Texas Rangers provides the backdrop for this youth-oriented Western. In 1875, after the Civil War, Leander McNelly (Dylan McDermott) organizes the Texas Rangers to battle the outlaws terrorizing Texas, notably crime kingpin John King Fisher (Alfred Molina). With a team of experienced gunmen (Robert Patrick and Randy Travis) and enthusiastic but green recruits (James Van Der Beek, Usher Raymond, and Ashton Kutcher), McNelly and his Rangers bring law and order to the wild Texas plains; McNelly must also keep order among his charges when two rangers fall in love with the same woman, Caroline Dukes (Rachael Leigh Cook). Tom Skerritt and Vincent Spano are also featured in the supporting cast; the screenplay, adapted from a script by John Milius, was at one time set to be filmed by Sam Peckinpah, shortly before the legendary Western director's death in 1984. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Van Der Beek, Dylan McDermott, (more)
Despite his status as a major action star, Sylvester Stallone has made a number of attempts to remodel himself as a comic actor; one of his more infamous efforts in this direction was Stop! or My Mom Will Shoot!. Police detective Joe Bromowski (Sylvester Stallone) has just broken off his relationship with his girlfriend (and fellow police officer) Gwen Harper (JoBeth Williams), so Joe's mother Tutti (Estelle Getty) decides it's time to pay him a visit. Tutti proceeds to make Joe's life miserable by nagging him about his clothes, cleaning his apartment, washing his gun, tagging along on investigations, and somehow getting involved with a gun-running organization that the police have been trying to infiltrate. After this film, Stallone would stay away from comedy until 1997, when he played a cameo in another unenthusiastically received film, An Alan Smithee Film -- Burn, Hollywood, Burn. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Estelle Getty, (more)
Producer Joel Silver, director Tony Scott, and screenwriters Shane Black and Greg Hicks team up for this gridiron-set action thriller. Bruce Willis stars as Joe Hallenbeck, who was once a top-of-the-line Secret Service agent but has since become an alcoholic, flea-bag detective. While performing the chores of a two-bit shamus, he discovers his wife Sarah (Chelsea Field) is having an affair with his best friend. Joe is hired to protect Cory (Halle Berry), a stripper who has been getting death threats; Joe begins to sober up when Cory is blown to smithereens. Cory's boyfriend, Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans), was at one time a NFL football quarterback, but was thrown out of the game for gambling and addiction to Demerol. Smelling something fishy, Joe and Jimmy begin to investigate further and discover layers of corruption in professional football circles, leading up to Sheldon Marcone (Noble Willingham), a corrupt team owner who wants to pay off legislators to legalize gambling on pro football games. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Damon Wayans, (more)
- 1991
- R
In the early '90s, Brian Bosworth made the seamless transition from football bad boy to onscreen bad ass. In Stone Cold, the Boz plays cop Joe Huff, a brute force specialist. The FBI contracts him to take down a biker gang known as the Brotherhood, who have been implicated in drug trafficking and several murders. Joe assumes the personality of John Stone and goes undercover. His mission seems not to bust the gang but rather to kill with excessive force. Before he can take the law into his own hands, however, he has to get in with the gang's leader, the impressively tough Chains. The Boz doesn't disappoint, and he gets his chance in the final confrontation where he takes on several score of the Brotherhood in the street battle to end all street battles. ~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Bosworth, Lance Henriksen, (more)
At the end of Highlander, Juan Ramirez (Sean Connery) died and Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) was rendered mortal. "Highlander 2: The Quickening begins in 1999 when Connor solves the problem of an ever-depleting ozone layer on the earth by devising a giant shield around the entire planet. The earth is saved, except for the fact that it is now a continual 99 degrees, and the earth is plunged into 24 hours of darkness. 40 years later, Connor is an elderly man with liver spots, heading out for the opera. Then there is a flashback of Connor recalling his halcyon days on the planet Zeist hundreds of years earlier. Back on Zeist, Connor and Ramirez led a futile coup against the ruling dictator, Katana (Michael Ironside), that caused them to be banished to Earth. Back in the future, Katana sends a pair of wacky goons to kill Connor. When Connor lops off their heads, he is now young again...and immortal. Just the right time to meet the attractive scientist Louise Marcus (Virginia Madsen), who has discovered that the shield around the earth is no longer needed since the ozone layer has repaired itself. But, unfortunately, the shield is in the clutches of an evil cartel who wants to control the earth's resources. Connor and Louise team up to battle the cartel while Katana sends out more emissaries to get Connor. Ramirez, although supposedly dead, also makes an appearance in the 21st century -- garbed in full Scottish regalia. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, (more)
- 1984
Three ultra-marathoners are on a 72-mile race in the New Mexico desert when they encounter a group of weekend-warrior survivalist types who want to "play with the little runner boys." The runners are in the race of their lives when the demented trigger boys won't leave them alone in this Deliverance descendant. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronny Cox, Lois Chiles, (more)
