Gift SubscriptionsAl Leong
Ex-football player Carl Weathers stars in this violent action film as Detroit policeman Jericho Jackson. The dedicated but brutal cop is plunged into nefarious doings concerning a crooked industrialist (Craig T. Nelson) and his drug-addicted girlfriend (pop-singer Vanity), breaking many people's bones before solving the case. Sharon Stone stands out in a cast of genre veterans including Nicholas Worth, Sonny Landham, and Robert Davi. Heavy on the sex and violence, this film harkens back to the glory days of 1970s blaxploitation, but is a bit too mean-spirited to be as much fun. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, (more)
Dolph Lundgren and George Segal star in this action thriller in which a man who was convicted of a crime he didn't commit escapes from prison and takes a woman hostage, not knowing she's a police officer. Meanwhile, the escapee is trying to set a trap to get revenge against the corrupt detective who sent him to the big house. The supporting cast includes Ken Foree and Bert Remsen. Also shown under the title Army of One. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
It took nearly two years after its completion for Big Trouble to reach the big screen. Peter Falk and Alan Arkin are respectively cast as a shady wheeler-dealer and an uptight family man. Strapped for the cash necessary to send his son to Yale, Arkin reluctantly enters into a murder scheme with Beverly D'Angelo. She is married to Falk, who, though he hasn't got long to live due to a heart ailment, may very well spend every penny D'Angelo has before he expires. Arkin is persuaded to kill Falk before this happens, then split the money with D'Angelo. To Arkin's amazement he finds himself the victim of a carefully prepared confidence scam engineered by Falk and D'Angelo. Now that he has a hold over Arkin, Falk gets the poor fellow mixed up in yet another "perfect crime". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Alan Arkin, (more)
Playing in a manner that can be conservatively described as larger than life, Kurt Russell plays a macho truck driver who agrees to go to the San Francisco airport and pick up his friend's (Dennis Dun) fiancee (Suzee Pai, freshly arrived from China. Suddenly, a gang of Chinatown toughs kidnap the girl right before Russell's eyes. After a wild chase sequence, Russell discovers that the girl has been abducted by a genuine, bonafide sorceror (James Hong), the ghost of a 3000 year old warlord. And that's just for starters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, (more)
With only a few days before their high-school graduation, it looks like airheaded rock star wannabes Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are doomed to flunk all their finals. The boys' long-suffering teacher (Bernie Casey) gives them one more chance. If they can ace an oral exam on the topic of how a famous historical personality might react to modern times, they will be allowed to pass. If not, Ted's dad will plunk the boy into military school, thereby breaking up the boys' garage band permanently. Bill and Ted receive unexpected aid from a very unexpected source: Rufus (George Carlin), an Emissary from the Future. It seems that in Rufus' time, Bill and Ted's rock music is the basis of all society-and if their band is aborted, Rufus' world will no longer exist. Thus, Bill and Ted are whisked off in a time machine (actually a telephone booth) to retrieve a few historical characters--including Joan of Arc, Abe Lincoln, Napoleon and Beethoven--as "eyewitnesses" for their crucial oral exam. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure inspired both a sequel (Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey) and a Saturday morning cartoon series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, (more)
If you've seen TV wrestling, you know what a "caged" bout is. In Cage, it's for real; two testosterone-pumped behemoths are placed in a cage where they duke it out to the death. Lou Ferrigno plays Billy Thomas, the muscle-bound Vietnam vet who is finagled into cage-fighting by a group of mobsters. Scott Monroe (Reb Brown), the man whose life Billy saved in Nam, finds himself (through a series of ludicrous plot twists) facing his former savior in the dreaded cage. We suppose this was meant to be taken seriously, but audiences didn't get the hint; Cage has been greeted with raucous, derisive laughter ever since its 1990 release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lou Ferrigno, Reb Brown, (more)
Canadian Mountie Louis Burke (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is assigned to a bizarre case where prison inmates are being murdered. Sent to the jail to investigate while undercover as a prisoner, Burke is hot on the trail until one of his former busts, the Sandman (Patrick Kilpatrick), is transferred to the same prison. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Robert Guillaume, (more)
It's Christmas time in L.A., and there's an employee party in progress on the 30th floor of the Nakatomi Corporation building. The revelry comes to a violent end when the partygoers are taken hostage by a group of terrorists headed by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), who plan to steal the 600 million dollars locked in Nakatomi's high-tech safe. In truth, Gruber and his henchmen are only pretending to be politically motivated to throw the authorities off track; also in truth, Gruber has no intention of allowing anyone to get out of the building alive. Meanwhile, New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) has come to L.A. to visit his estranged wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), who happens to be one of the hostages. Disregarding the orders of the authorities surrounding the building, McClane, who fears nothing (except heights), takes on the villains, armed with one handgun and plenty of chutzpah. Until Die Hard came along, Bruce Willis was merely that wisecracking guy on Moonlighting. After the film's profits started rolling in, Willis found himself one of the highest-paid and most sought-after leading men in Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, (more)
- 1994
- PG13
In this futuristic martial arts drama based on a popular video game, Los Angeles has been transformed into a watery New Angeles after a long-threatened earthquake devastates the West Coast. Billy Lee (Scott Wolf) and his brother Jimmy (Mark Dacascos) are two martial arts experts who were raised by a woman named Satori (Julia Nickson) after the death of their parents. Satori has come into possession of one half of a magic amulet; if joined with the other half, it gives whomever possesses it remarkable powers. However, the other half of the charm is now held by Koga Shuko (Robert Patrick), a martial arts master and business tycoon who is obsessed with ruling New Angeles. Satori gives her half of the amulet to Billy and Jimmy, hoping they can keep it safe while trying to win the other half away from the unscrupulous Koga Shuko. In their adventures, the brothers encounter Marian (Alyssa Milano), the leader of a gang called "The Power Corps," and Linda Lash (Kristina Malandro Wagner), Koga Shuko's beautiful but deadly female bodyguard. George Hamilton and Vanna White appear in cameos as themselves, and Andy Dick has a small role as the Smogcaster. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Patrick, Mark Dacascos, (more)
Forbidden Warrior is structured loosely on a popular Asian myth. The story concerns Seki, an attractive woman who discovers that she can utilize an ancient book of spells in order to accomplish just about anything. She must master these spells before the book falls into the hands of those who mean to do some serious damage with it. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Matiko, Kang Sung, (more)
- 1992
- R
R.J. Moore (the son of Roger) stars as gun-runner Kane, who becomes the target of three female super agents in this acton film from Andy Sidaris. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dona Speir, Roberta Vasquez, (more)
- 1990
- R
I Come in Peace is a silly, derivative science fiction exploitation thriller which is a triumph of style and skillful direction, despite a plot that steals elements from numerous good films and mixes them with some appallingly bad acting. Jack Caine (Dolph Lundgren) is a not-by-the books police officer investigating the death of several people, including his partner, by a gang called the "White Boys." All the victims seemed to have died of drug overdoses, but Jack thinks that there is something more sinister afoot. His investigation reveals a plot by aliens who use the bodies to extract a chemical that is sold to addicts on their home planet. Originally entitled Dark Angel, I Come in Peace, while silly and confusing, has great production values and some excellent special effects. The main reason to see this film is because of the expert direction by former stunt-man Craig Baxley who manages to keep the action moving at a fast pace and tie up the loose ends of the threadbare story. The cinematography by Mark Irwin is outstanding and shows that imagination and a good visual sense can overcome a limited budget and a bad plot. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolph Lundgren, Betsy Brantley, (more)
LA cop Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson), whose wife has recently died, is a loose cannon with a seeming death wish. This makes him indispensable in collaring dangerous criminals, but a liability to any potential partners. Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover), a conservative family man who wants to stay alive for his upcoming 50th birthday, is partnered with Riggs. As Riggs gets to know Murtaugh and his family, he begins to mellow, though his insistence on using guerilla tactics to catch criminals is still (put mildly) above and beyond the call of duty. The main villain is The General (Mitchell Ryan), a drug dealer responsible for the death of the daughter of one of Murtaugh's oldest friends. The General is also in charge of a deadly, militia-like gang of smugglers. Adding fuel to the fire is The General's chief henchman, played with all stops out by Gary Busey. Moviegoers familiar only with the relatively tongue-in-cheek Lethal Weapon sequels may be amazed to find out how dangerous and unpredictable Riggs is in the first Lethal Weapon -- and how likely it seems that Murtaugh might not survive until fade-out time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, (more)
In this routine spoof of government and media foibles, Sunny (Goldie Hawn) is an ordinary cocktail waitress, someone who graduated in the top 75% of her class. When she dramatically prevents the assassination of a visiting dignitary, an Emir (Richard Romanus) from an Arab country. the event puts her dead center at a whirlwind of media attention, and she gets her a job in the protocol department of the government -- nothing that cocktail waitressing can really prepare one to do. Sunny's nemesis is the evil Mrs. St. John (Gail Strickland) who does not appreciate her inane blunders, and with a few cohorts, she schemes to ship Sunny off to join the Emir's harem, in exchange for a military base in his country. The daffy ex-cocktail waitress is not also blind and deaf, and before long, she suspects that something underhanded is in fact, underfoot. Now she has to find out what it is and how to stop it. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Goldie Hawn, Chris Sarandon, (more)
In this better-than-average kick-boxer foray, Brandon Lee (son of famed martial-arts film star, Bruce Lee) stars as a young art student who happens to witness a drug murder and is placed in protective custody by federal agents. It's not too long before he realizes that the only real protection he can count on is his own martial-arts training. This film is rated R for violence, sex and profanity. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brandon Lee, Powers Boothe, (more)
Girls, guns, and gold are the key ingredients of this action adventure drama. Donna (Dona Speir) and Taryn (Hope Marie Carlton) are a pair of beautiful D.E.A. agents working out of Hawaii. After their successful efforts in cracking a major drug ring, Donna and Taryn are recruited to deliver some badly-needed vaccine to the Philippines. However, their mission of mercy takes a sharp left turn when the agents fall into the middle of a plot by Capt. Andreas (John Aprea) to recover a fortune in gold which was stolen by the Japanese during WWII and hidden on an island off the coast of the Philippines. Leading ladies Dona Speir and Hope Marie Carlton were both centerfold models for Playboy magazine, and director Andy Sidaris gives them plenty of opportunity to display the charms that made them famous; this was their third picture together as Donna and Taryn, and while Carlton would drop out of the series after this movie, Speir would star as Donna in another four films for Sidaris. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dona Speir, Hope-Marie Carlton, (more)
An aspiring writer faces up to the responsibilities of marriage and family in this romantic comedy from writer, director, and producer John Hughes. Despite the misgivings he pours out to best friend Davis McDonald (Alec Baldwin), Jake Briggs (Kevin Bacon) marries high-school sweetheart Kristy (Elizabeth McGovern). After an abortive attempt at graduate school in New Mexico, the couple settle in suburban Chicago. Jake fakes his way into a job as an advertising copywriter, while Kristy settles into her own corporate job. The couple face the typical ups and downs of any new marriage, especially after Davis visits with a bimbo on his arm, regaling his pal Jake with tales of the good life. A few years later, Kristy decides to stop taking her birth-control pills -- and tells Jake about it three months later. Plagued by doubts, unfulfilled ambitions, and images of a fantasy girl (Isabel Lorca) he once spotted in a club, Jake resists the idea of fatherhood. Then he finds out he has low sperm count and, his manhood thus challenged, lines up for fertility clinic-assisted stud duty. The birth doesn't go as smoothly as Jake expected, however, setting the stage for climactic realizations. Edie McClurg, who played the nosy school secretary in Hughes' Ferris Bueller's Day Off, makes a cameo appearance as an officious neighbor. In addition, a who's who of other Hughes alums and Hollywood stars lend their faces and voices to a series of closing-credits shots in which each suggests a name for the titular baby. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth McGovern, (more)
- 1992
In this futuristic sci-fi fantasy, a police officer is assisted in stopping crime by a giant mechanical dinosaur. The great creature was transformed from a child's toy by an enigmatic time traveler. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Joan Chen, (more)
- 1987
- R
An alcoholic Vietnam vet who has lost both his wife and his job as a cop while struggling to adjust to civilian life in southern California heads out for unintentionally hilarious revenge against the newly immigrated Vietnamese drug lord who slaughtered his best friend and his family in this campy "Rambo-esque" actioner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1991
- R
Featuring plenty of high, hard kicks, and flailing furious fists, this martial arts actioner tells an exciting tale of vengeance as a tough American street fighter stalks the streets of L.A.'s Chinatown in search of the organized criminals responsible for his guardian's death. Movie newcomer Jeff Speakman makes an appealing action hero, with fluid direction from genre veteran Mark DiSalle. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Speakman, John Dye, (more)
A crime fighter created in the 1930s and popularized in movies, pulp novels, and a radio show starring a young Orson Welles, The Shadow came back to life in 1994 in this slick, well-cast production. Alec Baldwin stars as Lamont Cranston, a murderous opium dealer reformed by a Tibetan mystic, who teaches him how to use his keen mental powers to manipulate others. As penance for his past misdeeds, Cranston masquerades as a degenerate New York City playboy by day and secretly plays the heroic Shadow by night, staving off evildoers with a network of agents and a cab-driving sidekick (Peter Boyle). A greater challenge arrives when Cranston must fight Shiwan Khan (John Lone), the final descendent of Genghis Khan, who has received training from the same Tibetan master who instructed Cranston. Shiwan plans to use atomic weapons to take over New York and then the world. At the same time, Cranston meets socialite Margo Lane (Penelope Ann Miller), and, although he's instantly enamored of her, he discovers that her psychic abilities render his secret identity vulnerable. The Shadow was directed by former music video creator Russell Mulcahy, whose feature film debut Highlander (1986) was a cult classic. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alec Baldwin, John Lone, (more)
Based on the popular television series created by Rod Serling, this film of horror and the supernatural tells four separate stories--each by a different director: John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante and George Miller. In one, a bigot is taught a lesson when he is transported to experience the lives of three different victims of prejudice and intolerance. Another takes a trip to an old-age home where the arrival of a special man turns some of the residents into youthful people once again. In the third, a woman befriends a timid young child who turns out to be a maniacal brat with bizarre powers. The final segment shows how a man with an aversion to flying has a rough time when he panics and then sees a strange creature on the wing outside his window seat. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Aykroyd, Jeff Bannister, (more)
