Simon Rhee Movies

After bringing the story of the American soldiers who fought in the battle of Iwo Jima to the screen in his film Flags of Our Fathers, Clint Eastwood offers an equally thoughtful portrait of the Japanese forces who held the island for 36 days in this military drama. In 1945, World War II was in its last stages, and U.S. forces were planning to take on the Japanese on a small island known as Iwo Jima. While the island was mostly rock and volcanoes, it was of key strategic value and Japan's leaders saw the island as the final opportunity to prevent an Allied invasion. Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) was put in charge of the forces on Iwo Jima; Kuribayashi had spent time in the United States and was not eager to take on the American army, but he also understood his opponents in a way his superiors did not, and devised an unusual strategy of digging tunnels and deep foxholes that allowed his troops a tactical advantage over the invading soldiers. While Kuribayashi's strategy alienated some older officers, it impressed Baron Nishi (Tsuyoshi Ihara), the son of a wealthy family who had also studied America firsthand as an athlete at the 1932 Olympics. As Kuribayashi and his men dig in for a battle they are not certain they can win -- and most have been told they will not survive -- their story is told both by watching their actions and through the letters they write home to their loved ones, letters that in many cases would not be delivered until long after they were dead. Among the soldiers manning Japan's last line of defense are Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), a baker sent to Iwo Jima only days before his wife was to give birth; Shimizu (Ryo Kase), who was sent to Iwo Jima after washing out in the military police; and Lieutenant Ito (Shidou Nakamura), who has embraced the notion of "Death Before Surrender" with particular ferocity. Filmed in Japanese with a primarily Japanese cast, Letters From Iwo Jima was shot in tandem with Flags of Our Fathers, and the two films were released within two months of one another. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

With two children now needing intensive counseling, money in the Mackey household is very tight. After their patsy, Neil O'Brien (Jim Budig), is brought in for questioning about the marked money, Vic (Michael Chiklis) figures the Strike Team is in the clear, and asks them if he can take some of the loot. Shane (Walton Goggins), Lem (Kenny Johnson), and Ronnie argue about the wisdom of such a move. As Lem points out, "We said we wouldn't make the same mistakes as the dumbasses we catch." Dutch (Jay Karnes) interrogates O'Brien, and doesn't believe him when he says he found the cash, but they're forced to let him go. Aceveda (Benito Martinez) is trying to capitalize on his newfound popularity in the Korean community by cleaning up Koreatown. He assigns the Strike Team to capture Charlie Kim, a gang enforcer. The bust goes wrong, and two little kids are hit by Kim's stray gunfire as he escapes. The community blames the police, and Vic finds that Kim is always a step ahead as they try to track him down. He eventually realizes that someone is tipping the killer off. Dutch and Claudette (CCH Pounder) race to find an abused woman who has apparently taken up armed robbery. Danny (Catherine Dent) and Julien (Michael Jace) try to find two very valuable stolen chairs, with help from Taylor (RonReaco Lee), one of Vic's informants, who quickly develops an attraction to Danny. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

An undercover commando poses as a teacher to root out the neo-Nazis at a military academy in this fourth installment of the tough-love educational/action saga. At the behest of a friend, commando Karl Thomasson (Treat Williams) heads to an Atlanta academy so he can root out the racist skinheads who are running amok. As it turns out, the little white supremacists are working at the behest of the school's uber-racist headmaster, Brack (Patrick Kilpatrick). Thomasson finds an ally, or at least a bedmate, in the person of Jenny (Angie Everhart), the school's medical officer. Meanwhile, he bullies the skinheads, rallies the other students, and uncovers a plot to blow up a minority-built nuclear power plant. Although this is the fourth episode in the series, it's only the third outing for Williams, who took over from Tom Berenger in the second installment. Director Bob Radler previously helmed The Substitute 3: Winner Takes All. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Someone is trying to get to West Coast gangster Frank DaVinci in this exploitational actioner. They are doing a good job too. So far, masked murderers have killed his bride and most of his henchmen. One of those gang members killed was the lover of the voluptuous Colette who decides to hide out until things settle down. Three months pass and finally Colette is able to get in touch with Frank in Las Vegas. She tells him that she is a CIA agent and that she and he are being stalked by a renegade agent, her former boss, Jameson. He wants her because he believes that she holds a CD-ROM that contains very incriminating information about his drug-smuggling activities in Vietnam. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In Best of the Best 2, Alex Grady and his partner, Tommy Lee, turn their karate talents toward crime fighting. An illegal fighting club, headed by Wayne Newton, is a center for crime and criminals. Alex and Tommy decide to take it down but first they have to fight their way through Brakus, the big evil, and his growth protein-engorged posse. ~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide

Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren play archenemies from beyond the grave in this action film. During the Vietnam War, Luc (Van Damme), hoping to be sent home, comes upon blood-crazy Scott (Lundgren), who is starting a one-man genocide program. When Luc tries to stop Scott's carnage, Scott fights back and they end up killing each other. But now the government gets involved, cryogenically freezing their corpses and using their bodies in a secret government project call "UniSols" --turning the dead men into android fighting machines. Luc and Scott are now metallic fighting members of a robot SWAT team. But Luc begin to have flashbacks to the final moments of his life in Vietnam, as does Scott, who recalls that one of his final thoughts was to kill Luc. Meanwhile, a snoopy reporter named Veronica (Ally Walker) stumbles upon the secret of the UniSols, and soon Luc is trying to save both himself and Veronica from the wrath of Scott, who is trying to kill them both. All of the action culminates in a wild chase between a prison bus and a UniSols van, racing around hairpin turns on desert precipices. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Learning the value of teamwork, the racially diverse U.S. karate team must work through their personal troubles to successfully participate in the upcoming international competition. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

In this martial-arts adventure, the student of a kung-fu master seeks his mentor's advice after his sister is murdered. The master informs him that his slain sibling had discovered a box containing four pieces of a magical coin that when assembled will give the possessor great power. Now each of the pieces have been stolen and only the courageous student sets out to return them to the master. Several exciting fights later, the student returns with the pieces only to discover that he has been tricked and now must fight to keep the coin away from the evil hands of his own master. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide