Glenn Morshower Movies
A quickly forgotten chapter in United States military history is relived in this harrowing war drama from director Ridley Scott, based on a series of Philadelphia Inquirer articles and subsequent book by reporter Mark Bowden. On October 3rd, 1993, an elite team of more than 100 Delta Force soldiers and Army Rangers, part of a larger United Nations peacekeeping force, are dropped into civil war-torn Mogadishu, Somalia, in an effort to kidnap two of local crime lord Mohamed Farah Aidid's top lieutenants. Among the team: Staff Sgt. Matt Eversmann (Josh Hartnett), Ranger Lt. Col. Danny McKnight (Tom Sizemore), the resourceful Delta Sgt. First Class Jeff Sanderson (William Fichtner), and Ranger Spec. Grimes (Ewan McGregor), a desk-bound clerk getting his first taste of live combat. When two of the mission's Black Hawk helicopters are shot down by enemy forces, the Americans -- committed to recovering every man, dead or alive -- stay in the area too long and are quickly surrounded. The ensuing firefight is a merciless 15-hour ordeal and the longest ground battle involving American soldiers since the Vietnam War. In the end, 70 soldiers are injured and 18 are dead, along with hundreds of Somalians. Black Hawk Down was voted one of the top ten films of the year by the National Board of Review prior to its limited Oscar-qualifying release. On the basis of his work in this film, co-star Eric Bana, a relatively unknown Australian actor playing Delta Sgt. First Class "Hoot" Gibson, won the lead in director Ang Lee's version of The Hulk (2003). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, (more)
- 2000
The body of a woman, infested with bugs and insects, is found in the desert. Grissom (William L. Petersen) does not follow the conventional wisdom that the woman's husband is responsible. In other developments, a missing person's car turns up unexpectedly at a bus station, several valuable art treasures are stolen, and Warrick (Gary Dourdan) is suspected of gambling while on duty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
During a flight to Vegas, an obnoxious and obstreperous first-class passenger dies mysteriously. Everyone on board the plane has a slightly different version of the incident, and some of them appear to be hiding something. Grissom (William L. Petersen) comes across evidence that the victim was murdered, and intends to use all the resources of the CSI unit to verify his suspicions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
An 18-year-old girl and her four-year-old sister are the only survivors when a suburban Las Vegas family is brutally slain. All evidence indicates that the family was butchered by the members of a cult. But in the course of his investigation, Grissom (William L. Petersen) -- who was the first authority on the scene after the surviving girls summoned help -- suspects that the solution to the crime may be even more disturbing than he wants to believe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
This two-part, four-hour miniseries adaptation of Dean Koontz' best-seller Sole Survivor begins with a plane crash that takes the lives of the wife and daughter of reporter Joe Carpenter. No sooner has Carpenter absorbed this tragedy than he begins receiving evidence that the air tragedy may not have been the accident it first seemed to be. At least, that is the story of Rose (Gloria Reuben), the only survivor of the crash. Following up on Rose's firsthand account of the events, Joe is led to the mysterious Quartermass Organization, where secret experiments are being conducted to imbue innocent youngsters with the power to heal, perform mind-transference feats over thousand of miles, move objects through sheer will power -- and, from time to time, to commit murder. Although John C. McGinley is cast as the nominal villain, hero Joe Carpenter would be well advised to watch his back whenever "heroine" Rose is around. Dean Koontz' Sole Survivor was originally telecast on September 13 and 14, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Zane, John C. McGinley, (more)
John Cusack plays Myrl Redding, a horse trader who locks horns with a rancher who has callously mistreated two of his horses, as well as their handler, a Crow Indian. When the law gives Myrl no justice, he is forced to take matters into his own hands, leading to a cycle of violence and chaos. The Jack Bull was written by Cusack's father, Dick, who also plays a small part as the jury foreman in the film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cusack, John Goodman, (more)
- 1997
If it worked for Speed, it'll work for Runaway Car--or at least, that seems to have been the philosophy behind the making of this highly derivative made-for-TV actioner. Having suffered through an unusually rotten day on the job, timid nurse Jenny Todd (Nina Siesmaszko) heads to the garage where her 1978 Rambler Hornet is being repaired. Here she meets neurotic computer programmer Ed Lautner (Judge Reinhold), who asks her to give him a ride home. En route, Jenny picks up her baby nephew, as well as an unexpected hitchhiker: wiseguy skateboarder Dex Strang (Brian Hooks), whom Jenny may or may not have caused to suffer a nasty fall. Once the "dramatis personae" is established, the situation goes from bad to horrendous: The brakes jam, the door latches lock, the accelerator sticks at 100mph, and our wide-eyed heroine finds herself at the wheel of an out-of-control death machine, dangerously zooming through the busy city streets, barely avoiding crashes and collisions at every corner. The film's abundance of thrills, spills and impossible coincidences come to a climax of sorts when a police helicopter attempts to rescue Jenny's screaming nephew. Based (believe it or don't) on a true story, Runaway Car rolled off the Fox network TV-movie assembly line on January 21, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judge Reinhold, Nina Siemaszko, (more)
In this action drama, Harrison Ford plays James Marshall, a onetime combat hero in the Vietnam War who is now President of the United States. While visiting the former Soviet Union, Marshall gives a speech in which he supports a get-tough attitude against both terrorists and a right-wing general and war criminal from Kazakhstan imprisoned in Moscow, earning him few friends in the Eastern Bloc. While flying back to the United States aboard Air Force One, Marshall and his staff discover that one of the journalists returning with them is actually Ivan Korshunov (Gary Oldman), a Kazakhstani terrorist, who hijacks the plane with three associates and holds the president hostage -- with his wife and daughter on board. Marshall must use his strength and intelligence to keep the terrorists at bay and devise a plan to allow his family to escape to safety, while on the ground the vice-president (Glenn Close), the secretary of defense (Dean Stockwell), and the attorney general (Philip Baker Hall) grapple over what to do and how much control to take in this crisis. Slam-bang action sequences and plot twists fly fast and furious in this nail-biter from director Wolfgang Petersen, who previously generated suspense under water (rather than in the air) with Das Boot. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, (more)
The cautionary phrase "It could happen to you!" was seldom more appropriate than in this two-part, four-hour TV movie, inspired by a true story and based on actual court transcripts. The story begins in Fayetteville, NC in 1985, when Army sergeant Tim Hennis (John Corbett) is accused of murdering the wife and children of an Air Force captain. A combination of overzealous prosecution from the District Attorney's office and pressure from the armed forces and the media makes a swift conviction a fait accompli, though Hennis and his family continue to protest his innocence. Refusing to give up on the case, Hennis' defense team presses its own investigation, ultimately turning up a maelstrom of hitherto unknown evidence, surprise rebuttal witnesses, and a startling eyewitness testimony. First telecast by ABC, Innocent Victims was originally shown on January 21 and 22, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hal Holbrook, Rue McClanahan, (more)
- 1995
Sketch artist Jeff Fahey returns in this made-for-television sequel. Jack Whitfield stars as Fahey, a police artist whose latest job is to help blind rape victim Emmy O'Connor (Courtney Cox) come up with a description of her attacker. The rapist is also a serial murderer and Emmy is the only one to survive after one of his attacks -- but the murderer isn't through with her yet. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1995
- R
A crazed hunter starts stalking a group of friends on a hunting trip when they enter his territory. Lots of poor action and acting, even for direct-to-video. ~ Sean D. MacLaggan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad Johnson, Brion James, (more)
- 1995
The ongoing war between the Narn and Centauri threatens to escalate throughout the universe. G'Kar implores Sheridan to fight on the side of the Narns. Elsewhere, Ivanova must negotiate with the Lumati, a hostile alien species, and Londo begins to allow his newly acquired power to supercede his good judgment. Paul Williams guest-stars as Taq. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, "Acts of Sacrifice" first aired on February 22, 1995. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, (more)
- 1995
The Alien Nation series continues with this made-for-television science-fiction thriller. In keeping with the original premise, the film is set in the near future on a planet Earth that is integrated with aliens. Alien detective Francisco and his human partner Sikes return, this time to investigate a mysterious child and her keeper. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1995
No sooner has Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) launched his investigation of a millionaire's kidnapping than the Feds take the case out of his hands. A two-bit criminal (Paul Ben-Victor) who is no stranger to the precinct may hold a vital clue to the abduction. And, on his own, Bobby Simone (Jimmy Smits) extends a helping hand to the ailing ex-prizefighter (Brad Sullivan) who first got Bobby interested in raising pigeons as a hobby. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In a change-of-pace role designed to prove that she could carry high-concept genre films as well as character-driven dramas, Meryl Streep headlined this fast-paced adventure as Gail, a whitewater rafting guide. For a vacation, Gail is accompanying her son Roarke (Joseph Mazzello) and workaholic husband Tom (David Strathairn) on a river trip. Gail and Tom are experiencing marital troubles and contemplating divorce, but their problems take a back seat when they encounter some menacing rafters led by Wade (Kevin Bacon). After Tom saves Wade from drowning, they discover that the men are murderous fugitives using the river as an escape route. Kidnapped by the killers, Gail's forced to leave her husband stranded on shore and guide the villains through the "Gauntlet," a raging confluence of rivers that few rafters ever survive. Meanwhile, Tom proves to be wilier than anyone suspected, following the raft on foot and plotting his family's rescue. Following a quartet of popular B-grade thrillers, director Curtis Hanson attempted to break partially out of the genre with The River Wild, which, despite the presence of a psycho killer, played as more a stunt-filled action movie than a murder mystery. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon, (more)
The seventh Star Trek feature passed the torch to a new crew. Decades after the original "Trek," the skipper of the fourth USS Enterprise is Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), who investigates a massacre at a science outpost. The only survivor is Dr. Soran (Malcolm McDowall), who perpetrated the event to cover up his invention: a bomb he launches into a nearby sun, exploding it. As Soran escapes with Klingon cronies, Picard learns that Soran's plan is to summon a heavenly energy ribbon called the Nexus. Those who enter it live forever with every wish fulfilled. Attempting to stop Soran, Picard ends up inside the Nexus, where he discovers former captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), believed to have been killed in an accident 78 years earlier. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, (more)
Comedian Pauly Shore goes to boot camp in this comedy adventure set in Chad. It was filmed on location in the California and Arizona deserts. Shore is cast as Bones, a dreamer who wants to open his own stereo shop with his best friend Jack. To earn the cash, Bones talks Jack into joining the Army reserves. In boot camp, they are trained as water purifiers. While in camp, they meet the feisty Christine who takes no guff from men and Fred who is afraid of everything. The foursome are called to active duty and positioned in the deserts of Chad. Through a great mix up, they find themselves driving a water tanker behind Libyan enemy lines. There they must extricate themselves and eventually save the day. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pauly Shore, Andy Dick, (more)
- 1994
Confessions: Two Faces of Evil is a "ripped from today's headlines" TV movie. Jason Bateman and James Wilder play a couple of mixed-up youths, both of whom confess to killing a cop. Investigator James Earl Jones is assigned to separate fact from fancy. Commendably, the film avoids concentrating on the scuzzier elements of the story; the emphasis is on the police, as they endeavor to see that justice is served. Confessions: Two Faces of Evil originally aired on January 17, 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
A bombardment of deadly rays forces Captain Picard to order an evacuation of the Enterprise. While attempting to clean up the damage, Picard and the remaining personnel must also contend with a band of interstellar hijackers. Marie Marshall guest stars as Kelsey, the devil-may-care leader of the crooks. Originally telecast on April 3, 1993 (breaking a five-weeks rerun streak), "Starship Mine" was written by Morgan Gendel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
This made-for-television drama first aired on NBC and was made shortly after the tragic stand-off in Waco, Texas when a conflict between the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and a group of cultist led by charismatic leader and self-proclaimed messiah David Koresh turned into a bloody battle that left the believers' compound burned and many dead. Soon after the dust settled, investigations revealed that the bloodshed may have been unnecessary. Filmed on location, near Tulsa, Oklahoma, the film recounts events before, during and after the catastrophe. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Daly, Dan Lauria, (more)
Corporate women launch a bitter courtroom battle when their avaricious employer tells them that they will lose their jobs if they do not get sterilized. The fight takes the women through a disillusioning jungle of government red tape. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Based on a story by Richard Lupoff (a short filmization of the same story earned an Oscar nomination for 1990), 12:01 centers on a member of the personnel department in a science lab, who discovers that the world has become somehow trapped in a strange time warp that causes the same 24-hour period to repeat itself. During the course of that endlessly repeated day, Barry Thomas, the only one who seems to be aware of what's happening, must somehow figure out how to put time back on its normal course and solve the murder of a physicist, Lisa Fredricks (Helen Slater) with whom he is infatuated. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1993
The seemingly heartbroken parents of a murdered child make a sheriff suspicious, in this made-for-television drama. Park Overall and Robby Benson star as The Sims, a couple whose infant daughter is kidnapped and later found dead. By all accounts the Sims appear to be the victims, but when another child in the Sims family is found dead several years later, the local sheriff (Frederick Forrest) becomes suspicious. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
Andrew Davis directed this exciting thriller starring Steven Seagal, sans ponytail, and featuring electric, over-the-top performances by Gary Busey and Tommy Lee Jones. This action saga takes place on the battleship USS Missouri, about to be decommissioned from service after a visit from George Bush. When Bush departs the vessel, a band of terrorists overcome the remaining skeleton crew and take over the ship, under the ruse of holding a surprise birthday party for the ship's commander, Captain Adams (Patrick O'Neal). The band is led by Strannix (Jones), a disgruntled ex-CIA operative, and his right-hand man, the psychotic Krill (Busey). The terrorists plan to steal the ship's store of nuclear warheads, transfer them to a stolen North Korean submarine, and sell them to a Middle Eastern country. Unfortunately for Strannix, he has overlooked the ship's cook, Casey Ryback (Seagal). Ryback is a much-honored Navy SEAL who, because of a minor scandal, is quietly completing his twenty-year tour in the galley of the Missouri. Forced into action, Ryback, along with the woman who jumped out of Captain Adams' birthday cake (Erika Eleniak), knocks off the bad guys one-by-one while crawling inside the bowels of the ship. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Seagal, Tommy Lee Jones, (more)
