David Tress Movies
- 1994
In Hawaii, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is the guest of Matt Kinkaid (Ken Howard), patriarch of a powerful and influential island family. At present, Kinkaid is supervising the political campaign of his son Jeff (Ted W. Henning) in an upcoming senatorial election. The younger Kinkaid's opponent obviously revels in "playing dirty"--and he's harboring a secret that threatens to tear the Kinkaid clan apart. Needless to say, murder is the logical extension of politics in this case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Filmed just before the Rodney King incident, Extreme Justice is a violent tale of "police procedure" gone bonkers. Troublesome LAPD cop Jeff Powers (Lou Diamond Phillips) is assigned to an elite squad headed by his old friend Dan Vaughn (Scott Glenn). Ostensibly organized to collar violent repeat offenders, Vaughn's men actually comprise a "Death Squad." Always careful to cover their tracks, the squad seldom brings 'em back alive. Powers' dilemma: should he turn in his buddies, or should he uphold their rather direct but undeniably effective deterrent to urban crime? Extreme Justice was withdrawn from distribution after the Los Angeles riots. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lou Diamond Phillips, Scott Glenn, (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)
- 1985
- PG
The "movers and shakers" in this weak comedy limned by Charles Grodin do not refer to a religious sect, but the big-wigs in Hollywood who determine how the next many millions are to be spent. Two parallel stories occupy center stage. On the one hand, Joe Mulholland (Walter Matthau) has made a promise to a dying producer that he would put together a film on "Love in Sex." The problem is that there is no script to go with that title -- a minor hurdle by Hollywood standards. On the other hand, Herb Derman (Grodin) is hired to make up the story, but he is neck-deep in marriage woes and will have a hard time holding down his personal life long enough to write. Mixed into both of these tales are parodies of behind-the-scenes Hollywood at its worst. These scenarios are helped along by a fine cast of actors and actresses. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Matthau, Charles Grodin, (more)
One of a string of Ramboesque films dashed off in the '80s, Missing in Action is yet another entry that attempts to exploit the lingering public bitterness over the outcome of the war in Vietnam. Colonel Braddock (karate champion Chuck Norris) travels to Vietnam on a mission to recover lost POWs. A former POW himself, Braddock has the saavy and bad temper to kill droves of communists at a time, not to mention the inclination. Together with former war comrade M. Emmet Walsh, he sets off for the POW camp where Americans are supposedly still held. Of course, there are lots of nameless, faceless Asian communists, and of course, every one of them dies in violent fashion. The chop-socky, shoot-em-up, explosion-a-minute action quickly wears thin. Missing in Action is a crass, dopey film that ultimately fails to connect with anything interesting in the realm of fact or fiction. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chuck Norris, M. Emmet Walsh, (more)
- 1982
When a baby suffering from multiple disabilities is electrocuted, the child's father Gerald Preston (Jim Antonio) is suspected of murder. Quincy (Jack Klugman) cannot believe that his old friend Gerald is capable of so monstrous a crime, and says so publicly. But a new, politically ambitious pathologist named Walter Ross (John Rubinstein) is determined to prove Gerald's guilt--no matter what steps he must take. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
After a teenager suffering from Tourette's Syndrome dies in a fall, Dr. Arthur Ciotti (Michael Constantine) shows up in the autopsy lab and makes an unusual request of medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman). Ciotti wants to take possession of the dead boy's brain in hopes of finding a cure for Tourette's. It turns out that Ciotti has been campaigning for years to persuade the pharamaceutical company which employs him to finance similar research, but to no avail; there simply isn't enough "profit" in something as rare as Tourette's. As the story progresses, Quincy becomes a staunch crusader on behalf of government-funded research for "orphan" diseases. This episode and its eighth-season followup "ive Me Your Weak" were instrumental in the ultimate passage of the real-life Orphan Drugs Act. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
In the latest in a long line of outlandish get-rich-quick schemes, Angel (Stuart Margolin) poses as a hit man named "Mr. Jones" and accepts a $10,000 contract. Of course, Angel has no intention of killing anyone, and every intention of absconding with the money. But things quickly go sour when Angel's would-be victim is apparently murdered by someone else. Once again forced to extricate Angel from the mess he's gotten himself into, Jim (James Garner) discovers that both the US Navy and the Russian KGB have taken a special interest in the murder--and while he's trying to figure out why, Jim must also solve the mystery of his dad's stolen blue jeans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
