Charles Millot Movies

When his brother is murdered, a policeman is caught between his devotion to the law and his family's desire for revenge in this action drama. Patrick Swayze plays Truman Gates, who left his backwoods Appalachian home for life as a Chicago police officer. When his brother is killed by a gangster, Truman is determined to seek legal retribution. His older brother Briar (Liam Neeson) has different ideas, however, and travels to the city to seek old-fashioned vigilante justice. Truman must now choose between his family's belief in mountain justice and the duties of his job. Though the film is not particularly action-packed, director John Irvin does provide the expected gunplay and macho confrontations. However, despite a surprisingly distinguished cast (also including Helen Hunt and Michael J. Pollard), little distinguishes the film from numerous other revenge stories with a similar outline. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Originally shown on television in two parts, the second of which takes place after WWII. Surviving escapee Major John Dodge (Christopher Reeve) is sent back to Germany by Winston Churchill to capture the Gestapo officer who ordered the machine-gunning of 50 of the captured escapees, in direct defiance of the Geneva convention. Donald Pleasance, one of the "good guys" in the original, plays the Nazi villain in the new version. Filmed in Yugoslavia, Great Escape II: The Untold Story was originally telecast November 6 and 7, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith, Le Cri du Hibou concerns Robert (Christophe Malavoy), a commercial artist who has moved to a quiet neighborhood in Vichy, hoping to escape a severe depression brought on by the unpleasant breakup of his marriage to Veronique (Virginie Thevenet). Robert finds himself spying on his new neighbor Juliette (Mathilda May), but there's little or no erotic component to his voyeurism -- she seems to lead a simple and well-ordered life, and it makes Robert feel better to watch someone so secure and at ease. Robert even goes so far as to tell Juliette how much her admires her quietly contented existence, but beneath the surface, Juliette is hardly as secure as she looks. Robert's remarks make her wonder if her life has become too placid, and she decides to break off her engagement with Patrick (Jacques Penot) to pursue a relationship with Robert. This sends Patrick into a rage, and he plots an elaborate revenge -- he picks a dramatic fight with Robert, and then goes into hiding, leading people to believe Robert killed him. The ruse fools Juliette, who is distraught at the thought that her new love might be a murderer (even though Robert has expressed no romantic interest in her). Le Cri du Hibou was adapted and directed by France's leading suspense director, Claude Chabrol. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Events in the 18th century are the concern of the Devil, who tries to maintain the balance of power between the Church and himself. The murder of the Russian Tsar, which will lead to Catherine the Great taking the throne, is not acceptable to the Devil, and he sends a minion of his, who is a double for the murdered ruler, to take his place. However, the double falls in love and eventually refuses to take the throne, which requires the Devil to have him killed also. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

L'Adolescente (The Adolescent) was the second directorial stint for French film star Jeanne Moreau. This possibly autobiographical piece is set during the early war years. Laetitia Chauveau plays a twelve-year old girl whose future is determined by the events of one long summer holiday in the country in the period just before the outbreak of the Second World War. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of the two-part story, a malfunctioning Soviet satellite has reactivated Russian "K" agents throughout France and England, transforming the agents into homicidal zombies. The New Avengers think they can rest easy upon confirming that all 250 K agents are dead--until they learn that there were actually 252. Once they have disposed of Number 251, our heroes must somehow prevent the last, unknown K agent from assassinating an equally unknown but very high-profile official, thereby launching World War 3. Parts one and two of K is for Kill were telecast in the US as a "feature film" on March 23, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the Middle Ages, the conditions endured by peasants and serfs were in some ways worse than those endured by slaves, and periodically there were peasant uprisings. Very few of these were even slightly successful. This Yugoslav film chronicles such an uprising in Croatia and Slovenia in 1573, under the leadership of Matija Gubec. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This lavishly costumed historical epic had an estimated $100 million price tag. Spectacularly photographed battle action contrasts with often plodding individual scenes that bog down the plot. Fearing his growing power, European monarchs force Napoleon Bonaparte (Rod Steiger) to abdicate as Emperor and retire to Elba, and the French are concerned they will be outnumbered by a force of combined armies from many countries in Europe. Napoleon no sooner says goodbye to his loyalist troops than he begins to rally his men and prepare for another takeover. King Louis XVIII (Orson Welles) sends Marshal Michel Ney (Dan O'Herlihy) and his men to counter Bonaparte, but upon seeing his old commander (and ally), Ney thrusts his sword to the ground and takes up arms with the deposed emperor. They all return to Paris by popular demand, defying the orders of Louis (who flees from the palace) and running the monarchy tout seul. Soon England, Austria, Prussia and Russia unite to try and stop the dictator. Wellington (Christopher Plummer) readies his troops near Waterloo, refuses to retreat anymore, and waits for Prussian Marshall Blucher (Sergei Zakhariadze) and his army to join up with the British as the only hope to stop the French juggernaut. Jack Hawkins and Michael Wilding portray key military commanders Picton and Ponosby, respectively. Napoleon and his troops cut into the Prussian and British forces dramatically, weakening their power, but three problems arise. First, Ney refuses to lead his segment of the troops onward; and second, Bonaparte's men are plagued by the wet weather, which causes
the cannon brigade to become immobilized in mud (when Wellington strategically gives Bonaparte's troops the lower ground) rendering it ineffective until late in the day. And even more calamitously, Bonaparte - growing increasingly ill -- insists on leading his men from the rear, which causes the information to become outdated as soon as it gets to him. The Russian version of this film was nearly four hours long, while western audiences saw an edited version slightly over two hours long. Unfortunately, Waterloo bombed at the box office. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This romantic tragedy concerns the Archduke Rudolf (Omar Sharif) and his mistress, the Baroness Maria Vetsera (Catherine Deneuve), and their untimely demise at Mayerling, the sight of the Austrian royal family's hunting lodge. Rudolf verbally spars with his father Emperor Franz-Josef (James Mason) about wanting to implement progressive policies for his country. Ava Gardner plays his mother Empress Elizabeth. Rudolf also contends with the fallout from a loveless marriage with Princess Stephanie (Andrea Parisy). Respectful of the centuries-old Hapsburg family rule over Austria, Rudolf soon feels he is a man born at the wrong time in a country that will not realize the need for social reform. The Prince of Wales (James Robertson-Justice), later to become Britain's King Edward VII, provides the only comic relief with his dialogue. The deaths remain a mystery, but director Terence Young suggests the two lovers made a suicide pact when they decided they could not live in a world without love where the prospects for peace were dubious at best. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Charles (Louis Jourdan) is a writer who falls for Sandra (Senta Berger) in this routine spy story. Sandra talks the writer into helping her stop her husband from kidnapping a nuclear scientist and delivering him to the Chinese. (Edmond O'Brien) gives the standout performance in this otherwise forgettable film. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

John Frankenheimer directs Burt Lancaster in the tense spy thriller The Train. Lancaster plays Labiche, a French railway inspector. Allied forces are threatening to liberate Paris, so Col. Franz von Waldheim (Paul Scofield) is ordered to move the priceless works of art from the Jeu de Paume Museum to the fatherland. The head of the museum (Suzanne Flon) attempts to convince Labiche that he should sabotage the train on which they are transporting the art. Labiche is more focused on destroying a trainload of German weapons. After his friend is killed trying to stop the train with the art, and after a consciousness-raising conversation with a hotel owner (Jeanne Moreau), Labiche resolves to save the antiquities. Lancaster and Frankenheimer had worked together previously on both Birdman of Alcatraz and Seven Days in May. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide