Sidney J. Furie Movies
Toronto-born Sidney J. Furie is a graduate of the prestigious Canadian Broadcasting Corporation TV-director talent pool. Promoted to producer before the age of 25, Furie worked on such Canadian video series as Hudson's Bay. In 1957, he produced, scripted and directed his first theatrical feature, A Dangerous Age. Moving his base of operations to England in 1960, Furie turned out several critical successes along the lines of The Young Ones (1961) and The Leather Boys (1962) before striking box-office gold with the 1965 spy thriller The Ipcress File (1965). He followed this triumph with such stylistic Hollywood-financed delights as The Naked Runner (1967), Big Fauss and Little Halsy (1970), and Lady Sings the Blues (1972). After several disappointing years "distinguished" by such losers as Gable and Lombard (1976), Sidney J. Furie climbed back on the "A" list with 1986's Iron Eagle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Sidney J. Furie directs this elegiac war drama concerning four high school gridiron stars who enlist in the Marines to fight in Iraq, and the troubles the survivors face upon returning to the United States. Four young soldiers went in, but unfortunately not all of them returned home. The ones who did are faced with both survivor's guilt, and the problems of blending back into a society that doesn't seem to care about the sacrifices they've made. As the temptation to join their fellow Marines back on the battlefield intensifies, they struggle to find a reason to remain with their loved ones back home. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark O'Brien, Curtis Morgan, (more)
A Vietnam veteran-turned-holy man returns to Saigon, only to be confronted by a former war buddy who forces him to own up to his blood-soaked past in this drama from director Sidney J. Furie. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Ironside, Ally Sheedy, (more)
A routine sortie turns into a struggle for survival for a U.S. patrol on assignment in Iraq in director Sidney J. Furie's action packed war film. They've gone through training, and now these young soldiers will be forced to put everything they learned in boot camp to the ultimate test when Fedayeen fighters with superior knowledge of the local landscape engage them in close quarters combat of the deadliest kind. With their ammunition dwindling and hope for back-up fading fast, the only thing keeping these desperate soldiers going is pure survival instinct. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Curtis Morgan, Zan Calabretta, (more)
When you blow the whistle on police corruption, you'd better be ready to fight for your life, as honest cop Frank Gannon (Dolph Lundgren) learns in this action-packed effort from veteran director Sidney J. Furie. Though years of service on the Direct Action Task Force have earned honest cop Gannon the respect of his peers, it's every man for himself when Gannon reveals corruption that leads to the highest ranks and the Feds implicate him in a dangerous drug scam. With only rookie cop Billy Ross (Polly Shannon) to back him and less than 24 hours to prove his innocence, Gannon must survive the most grueling day of his life if he is to clear his name and make the guilty pay for their crimes. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolph Lundgren, Polly Shannon, (more)
- 2002
If one didn't know better, one might suspect that the weekly, 60-minute PAX Network series Just Cause was really the theatrical feature Erin Brockovich with different clothes and characters. Richard Thomas headed the cast as celebrated civil attorney Hamilton Whitney III, who maintained a suite of posh offices in San Francisco. Whitney's sense of serenity and decorum was shattered when he hired feisty single mom Alex DeMonaco (Elizabeth Lackey) as a paralegal. Having been thrown into prison because of her ex-husband's financial shenanigans, Alex managed to get a law degree via the internet, but her trumped-up felony conviction prevented her from practicing law on her own. Thus she latched onto the uptight Whitney, and together these two wildly divergent crusaders set about to right all manner of wrongs and to tilt at the windmills of corporate greed and political corruption. Along the way, Alex endeavored to fully clear her name so that she could reclaim custody of her beloved daughter Mia. Just Cause debuted September 15, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Thomas, Elizabeth Lackey, (more)
Call it "Die Hard in a School," director Sidney J. Furie's Detention stars Dolph Lundgren as Sam Decker, a teacher who gets more than he bargained for on his last day on the job. Monitoring an after-school detention class filled with a ragtag bunch of young ruffians, Decker suddenly discovers that the school has been taken over by a gang of terrorists. Little do they know, Decker is a former Marine. With the odds stacked against them, Decker and his students attempt to thwart the bad guys' plans and make it out of the school alive. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolph Lundgren
Armand Assante is an ex-cop turned undercover crime fighter in this intense, high speed action film from Director Sidney J. Furie. Dejected by the failure of an undercover drug bust involving some dirty cops, Jack Cunningham (Assante) must protect the only surviving witness if there is any hopes of clearing his name and cleaning the streets of an increasingly drug-infested city. As time winds to a close and the bad guys move in for the kill, Jack's chances for survival in an urban nightmare grow as dim, though there may be one last hope of turning the tables if he can just find a good place to hide. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Armand Assante
The members of Echo Company, lead by rookie captain Ramsey (Casper Van Dien), experience a disastrous tragedy when several Marines are killed by friendly fire during an assault in Vietnam. Three decades later TV documentarian Kathleen Martin (Carre Otis) brings six of the survivors back to Vietnam to confront their issues and make peace with their former enemies -- but the enemy these days is Ramsey, whom they hold to blame for the deaths of their comrades. Via flashbacks and on-the-scene battle footage, the men come to realize a painful reality, one that results in new violence in the rice patties. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Casper Van Dien, Carré Otis, (more)
One of the most venerated institutions in higher learning also proves to be one of the most devious in this campus thriller, directed by veteran B-movie helmer Sidney J. Furie in the vein of 1999's The Skulls. The Fraternity stars Dawson's Creek and Skulls II alum Robin Dunne as Alex, a young college student indoctrinated into one of the more prestigious houses of Greek brotherhood at Runice Academy. But when a brother turns up dead, the fraternity's once-hallowed halls become rife with suspicion, paranoia, and fear, and it's up to Alex to find out the truth about his brethren. The Fraternity also features Treat Williams. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Treat Williams, Robin Dunne, (more)
Veteran hack director Sidney J. Furie directs the silly straight-to-video comedy Rock My World. The aging stuffy English aristocrats Lord and Lady Foxley (Peter O'Toole and Joan Plowright) have fallen on hard times, so they loan out the use of their mansion to the American rock band Global Heresy. When the band's bass player mysteriously disappears, Nat (Alicia Silverstone) shows up to replace him. Then the servants don't show up, and the Foxleys are forced to pose and a maid and a butler in their own mansion. The culture class between the conservative English and the reckless Americans is played for comedy, leading to an ending where the power of rock & roll transforms both cultural groups. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Joan Plowright, (more)
They say you shouldn't take rides from strangers, and a young woman gets an especially vivid reminder of why in this thriller. Sonia (Danielle Brett) is a college student whose relationship with her fiancé has begun falling apart; after an especially ugly argument with her boyfriend, Sonia hitches a ride home with Jim (Casper Van Dien), a truck driver. At first, Sonia thinks of Jim as her knight in shining armor, but before long it becomes obvious that Jim is not the good Samaritan he seems to be, and when he becomes involved in a dangerous game of tag with another motorist, Sonia realizes her situation has gone from unpleasant to potentially deadly. Also shown as A Friday Night Date, Road Rage also stars Chuck Byrn, Joseph Griffin, and Catherine Oxenberg. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Casper Van Dien, Danielle Brett, (more)
Rodney Dangerfield co-wrote and stars in this comedy about a businessman who learns that when it comes to marriage, strength is in numbers. Monte Peterson (Dangerfield) is a real estate developer whose business acumen exceeds his success in romance; after finalizing his third divorce, Monte heads to Utah, where he discovers a small town called Redwood Springs. There, Monte finds an estate for sale which would be an ideal location for a ski resort. While closing the deal, Monte discovers that there are a few strings attached -- Brother Wallace, the late owner, was a member of a little-known religious sect, and his will specifies the new owner must join the church. Monte isn't too thrilled when he's told buying the land would mean giving up tobacco, liquor, and gambling, but he cheers up considerably when he learns that the sect embraces polygamy, and that Brother Wallace's three lovely young widows -- Stephanie (Judy Tylor), Virginia (Kate Luyben), and Emily (Angelika Baran) -- would be happy to marry him. Soon Monte picks up another piece of land next door, and two more wives to go with it, Sarah (Emmanuelle Vaugier) and Megan (Anita Brown). But Preston Gates (John Byner), a crooked real estate man, has been buying up most of the town on behalf of gangster Tony Morano (Andrew Dice Clay), and soon Preston and Tony are trying to figure out a way to take Monte's new resort away from him (and his spouses) before Tony's boss Don Giovanni (Jerry Stiller) gets angry. My Five Wives also stars Molly Shannon, John Pinette, and Rob Deleeuw. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rodney Dangerfield, Andrew Dice Clay, (more)
Some people just shouldn't have children, and this offbeat thriller shows why. Jack (Bruce Greenwood) and Ann (Daryl Hannah) are a married couple whose lives seems nearly perfect, and they couldn't be happier when, after months of trying, Ann discovers that she's going to have a baby. Jack is understandably distraught when Ann is kidnapped, and he's later told that she's been killed. Actually, the truth is considerably more disturbing -- a psychotic doctor (Vincent Gallo) and his wife (Jennifer Tilly) want a child but have been unable to conceive, so they kidnap the pregnant Ann and attempt to falsify her death, intending to keep her until her child is born, and then raise the baby as their own. Hide and Seek was also released under the title Cord. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daryl Hannah, Jennifer Tilly, (more)
Two men on the wrong side of the law find their shifting alliances put them in grave danger in this crime drama. A.K. (Casper Van Dien) and Ray (Rick Fox) are a pair of strong-arm men collecting debts in New York City for a powerful gangster based in New Orleans. But they soon discover there is plenty of high-stakes action in New York, as they get sidetracked from their original assignment by a project of their own. As A.K. and Ray try to outrun Hackman (Daniel Pilon), a top New York Police Department detective, and Bailey (Catherine Oxenberg), a beautiful but ruthless cop with an agenda of her own, they find that they're also under the gun of their boss' other enforcers. Star Casper Van Dien and leading lady Catherine Oxenberg wed the same year The Collectors was released; they also starred in another film together that same year, The Omega Code. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Casper Van Dien, Rick Fox, (more)
In this high-tension drama, Ray Mercer (Peter Weller) is a former cop who was kicked off the force and sent to prison after it was discovered that he embezzled $4,000 from the police officers' pension fund. Shortly after he's released on parole, Ray and his wife Rebecca (Tia Carrere) decide to get a divorce and head to Las Vegas where they can get it over with quickly. Rebecca wants to visit a casino, but Ray's conditions of parole forbid it; while he waits for her outside as she gambles, he hands a few bucks to a casino hostess and asks her to play a slot machine for him. Ray thinks good luck is finally with him when the machine pays off a $450,000 jackpot, but that's just before a group of ambitious thieves circle the casino to pull a massive robbery. The local police are convinced that Ray is somehow in on the crime; he jumps in to help in hopes of clearing his name, and he discovers evidence that suggests that the owner of the casino, Charles Atlas (Dennis Hopper), may have engineered the robbery on his own operation. Also released as Cold Cash and Showdown, Top of the World features Peter Coyote and David Alan Grier in supporting roles. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Weller, Dennis Hopper, (more)
In this suspense drama, Michael Dudikoff plays a lawyer who becomes romantically involved with a married woman (Marlee Matlin). When a confrontation turns violent, the lawyer accidentally kills the cuckolded husband in self-defense; the late husband was a millionaire, and now his wife has now taken possession of his fortune. But does she truly love the lawyer, or was he merely being used as part of a clever scheme to get her hands on the money? The supporting cast includes Sophie Lorain and Steven Morgan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Sophie Lorain, (more)
- 1997
In this made-for-television drama, a wife and mother completely loses her memory. Now it is up to her husband to court her and try to get her to fall in love with him again so he can bring his family back together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jaclyn Smith, Robert Clohessy, (more)
This silly, over-the-top action film has a great hammy performance by Gary Busey as the insane leader of a militia group intent on revenge against the government for doing psychotropic experiments on them after Vietnam. Busey also had his privates mutilated by a Viet-Cong prostitute, so he's a vicious razor-blade rapist, too. Lorenzo Lamas and Kristen Cloke are FBI "mindhunters" trying to stop him, but they lose their badges because of evil boss Roy Scheider, who still blames Lamas for his career troubles after a botched Ruby Ridge-type standoff. There are way too many plot threads dangling everywhere -- including the hesitant romance between Lamas and Cloke -- and the screenplay seems to reference every news item concerning the FBI in the last ten years to no good end. Still, those in search of mindless shootouts and hissable villains will find enough to enjoy over beer and pork rinds. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorenzo Lamas, Gary Busey, (more)
The fourth entry in the Iron Eagle series follows the return of General Charles "Chappy" Sinclair (Louis Gosset Jr., who deserves better) as he trains a Dirty Dozen-style team of juvenile delinquents to improve their quality of life by flying planes and combatting evil. This time the Air Force itself is the enemy, as the intrepid teens uncover a conspiracy involving biological weaponry. When Chappy contacts his old friend, General Kettle (Al Waxman), he learns the General is in on the action. Along the way, the group manages to combat some ill-prepared drug dealers as well. This installment is better than the second or third, but that's not the highest of praise; Iron Eagle IV is a dumb-dumb fantasy for fourteen-year-old boys who don't yet have their learner's permits, much less their pilot's licenses. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis Gossett, Jr., Jason Cadieux, (more)
Tempered with action and adventure, this romantic comedy centers on a pair of rivalrous government agents from different agencies who are forced to team up to stop a wicked crime lord. The FBI agent is a beautiful sexy woman while the handsome DEA agent oozes machismo. Both of their employers are in competition because the department responsible for the crook's arrest will be the one who receives all of his wealth. The woman goes overboard when she nearly marries a Russian mafioso's son because his father works closely with her target. The wedding is spoiled by a terrible shootout that causes the crime lord to mark her for death. Fortunately the woman and the DEA agent convince the hit man performing the task to team up with them. Together, the three form an unstoppable force. Plenty of explosive, violent action ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Ian Griffith, Tia Carrere, (more)
Rodney Dangerfield plays it cute in this comedy directed by veteran director Sidney J. Furie. Dangerfield plays Chester Lee, a man so anxious for a promotion that he agrees to coach a girl's soccer team his company is sponsoring. If the team has a winning season, Chester will get his promotion. The only problem is that Chester knows nothing about soccer and the team is incompetent. If Chester doesn't get his raise he won't be able to marry his sweetheart Bess (Illene Graff), so he persuades his son Matthew (Jonathan Brandis), who is an expert soccer player, to don a wig and join the team as one of the girls. With Matthew on the team, they make their way to the championship, but Bess discovers the ruse and forces Chester to chose between her and the job. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rodney Dangerfield, Jackée, (more)
- 1991
- R
Football hero Boomer Hayes (Ken Wahl) finds he is in the middle of a looting scheme in this non-stop actioner. Billionaire and owner of LA's pro football team, Bat Masterson (Robert Davi), has arranged a fake toxic chemical spill to provide an opportune situation for his group of ex-cops to plunder an evacuated community in Beverly Hills. Surprised by the state of things when he comes out of the bathroom, Boomer soon grasps the opponent's play and takes it upon his able-bodied self to tackle the situation. Luckily, he not only has the support of his girlfriend, Laura (Harley Jane Kozak), but ex-cop and bad-turned-to-good guy Ed (Matt Frewer) also decides to play on the home-team. With a plethora of explosions and stunts, it shows how the heroes semi-effectively defend their lush neighborhood. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Wahl, Harley Jane Kozak, (more)
