Bruce Spence Movies

A criminal looking to go straight finds an unusual obstacle in his path in this crime thriller from Australia. Jack Barrett (Colin Friels) is a hired killer who has spent years snuffing out the lives of strangers at the behest of the Sydney Mafia. Jack has lost his taste for violence and wants to get out of the game, but while trying to sell his gun collection at a pawn shop, Jack makes the acquaintance of Billie Finn (Bojana Novakovic). Billie is a university student who is writing her master's thesis on organized crime, and when she guesses what Jack does for a living, she becomes a near-constant presence in his life, wanting to know everything about murder for profit and the men who pay him for his talent. While Jack is initially wary, he develops a soft spot for the nervy student, and he tells her a bit about what she wants to know. However, Jack's superiors soon get wind of his new friend and her project, and they begin to suspect she's learned more than they'd like, and they assign Jack a final hit -- kill Billie. Solo was written and directed by Morgan O'Neill, who won the assignment as part of a screenwriting contest sponsored by Miramax Pictures and Live Planet. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

3rd Rock From the Sun's French Stewart steps into the shoes previously filled by Matthew Broderick in this straight-to-DVD sequel to Disney's Inspector Gadget. Arch-nemesis Dr. Claw is back to his evil ways, causing havoc for Inspector Gadget and the citizens of Riverton. Adding an additional twist is G2 (Elaine Hendrix), a new robot cop who provides a little crime-fighting competition to Gadget. Directed by Alex Zamm, Inspector Gadget 2 also stars Caitlin Wachs. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Moya and her crew take refuge from their enemies in "Tormented Space," so named because of the physical and emotional battering endured by anyone traveling through it. Landing on a semi-civilized planet to gather supplies, the crew members find themselves in the middle of a power transition between current prefect Falaak (Bruce Spence) and his hand-picked successor Gaashah (Ivar Kants). What should have been a peaceful stopover turns into a nightmare when Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black), her mind clouded by bizarre and disturbing hallucinations, apparently murders Gaasha. Before long, the rest of the crew are at each other's throats -- the result of the sting from an insect which robs its victims of their free will. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

David Parker directed this campy send-up of Italian muscle-man movies that owes more than it should to Woody Allen's 1966 Japanese spy spoof What's Up, Tiger Lily? In a framing story, two film company executives (Bruce Spence, David Argue) resign from the company to start their own revival theater. They decide to re-open the theater with the same Italian sword-and-sandal epic that closed the theater down years ago. But in revenge for the two employees having quit on him, their ex-boss sends the theater a copy of Hercules -- but in Italian and without subtitles. In order to go ahead with the film screening, the two film entrepreneurs have to improvise a running English soundtrack for the film as it unspools in the projection booth. In their fractured version of Hercules, Hercules is now a nightclub performer who is snubbed by the nightclub owner's daughter Labia, because she is in love with Testiculi. And as the film unspools, the boys in the booth have to keep up the dubbing, no matter if it makes sense on the screen or not. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Dot Bloom (Lyn Pierse) is a 32-year-old Jewish woman who contemplates whether she should choose a man to settle down with in this light romantic comedy. She aspires to be a serious writer while making a living writing for a popular soap opera. With her politically active mother off helping the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, Dot's Aunt Esther (Ruth Yaffe) looks out for her favorite niece. She turns down her suggestion to date a gynecologist and hooks up with the boring, divorced attorney Karl (Kim Gyngell), an old college friend. Alistair (Bruce Spence) is a charming but shy computer devotee who asks her for a date via cyberspace, but she neglects to read her E-mail. Dot goes through a number of comedic circumstances as she experiences the unpredictability of the dating game. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In a slightly padded but well-acted and relevant drama, an Australian mining company and a group of aboriginals go to court to settle a dispute over sacred land that the company wants to mine. When the Ayers Mining Company sets out to begin construction of its mine with bulldozers and earth-movers, the Aboriginals physically block the work because the site is exactly where the green ants will gather to dream (a 40,000-year-old legend) and it cannot be disturbed. The company tries the usual means of getting their way -- through bribes and arguments -- but nothing budges the men who came to defend the land. Once in court, it is quickly apparent that tribal laws and customs and beliefs are very different than Western laws -- and how the issue will be resolved is sticky indeed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This unexciting story is about a woman who leaves her husband for an interlude of illicit romance and crime. The film begins with two parallel sequences: the fashion model Christine (Angela Punch McGregor) is at home, bored with her married life to Peter (Louis Jourdan) a wealthy businessman, and while those scenes play out, a silver-suited biker is on the prowl. Soon the biker steals a Rolls and follows Christine home, where in quick order they trash her house, take off together, and later rob a post office dressed as clowns. As the film cuts between Peter, Christine, the biker, and Peter's secretary, it is difficult to tell who really has the upper hand, who is actually in control, and who is being manipulated. Unfortunately, this guessing game becomes less interesting as the events in the film become less plausible, and the lack of surprises or shocking scenes -- especially to modern audiences with well-constructed shock absorbers -- makes for a dull 90 minutes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Poorly acted, unintentionally funny in parts, and with transparent literary pretensions, this horror film is about a well-established screenwriter who loses the ability to distinguish between his fantasy world and the real world -- with disastrous consequences. As he ruminates on his place in any world and loses his grip, he also loses his wife (not misplaced, she leaves him) and his children's respect, and critics tear him apart. The final undoing of this screenwriter is a deadline that must be met at all costs -- and the costs turn out to be too great. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Norman Panama's penultimate directorial effort, Barnaby and Me was originally filmed for Australian television. The title character is a talented Koala Bear, who is to Australian fans what Benji is to Americans. Pausing in his escape from a vengeful mobster, American con artist Caesar falls in love with Juliet Mills, whose daughter Sally Boyden keeps Barnaby as her pet. The kooky koala teans up with Caesar for a series of picaresque adventures. It's hardly The Sting, but it's easy to take. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a children's novel by Ivan Southall, this sentimental story is an account of a boy stricken with polio during World War I. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

In this 1976 Australian retelling of The Wizard of Oz, two teens are dancing at a rural gathering when the girl Dorothy (Joy Dunstan) is knocked unconscious. In her delirium, she imagines she is hitchhiking to attend the final concert of a rock star known as "The Wizard" (Graham Matters). All the characters from the classic children's tale appear on her journey, transformed into modern-day Australian characters. The Scarecrow is a somewhat dim-witted surfer-lad (in Australian lingo, a "surfie"), a cowardly biker is, of course, the Cowardly Lion, and so on. This musical is not designed for younger children, and is instead suitable for mature teens and young adults. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide