Deja Vu (2006) – Tony Scott

I do enjoy a Denzel Washington/Tony Scott team-up and this temporal thriller ends up being a lot more fun than I remember from the first time I saw it. Scott’s constantly moving camera, saturated colours, and tight editing are on full display here as the story follows ATF agent Doug Carlin (Washington) as he investigates…

6 Underground (2019) – Micheal Bay

Micheal Bay films can be very hit-and-miss, and when you factor in his almost seizure-inducing editing style you know the film is going to have a certain look and pacing, To be fair, there are Bay films I do enjoy, but unfortunately even with Ryan Reynolds exuding as much charm and humour as he can,…

Split Second (1992) – Tony Maylam

It’s the far distant year of 2008, and global warming has caused flooding throughout London, but Detective Harley Stone (Rutger Hauer) has more problems than that, something is stalking the wet streets ripping people’s hearts out. Paired with a nebbish new partner, Dick Durkin (Alastair Duncan) the cops try to figure out who the killer…

Navy Seals (1990) – Lewis Teague

Navy Seals features a very recognizable cast, Micheal Biehn, Charlie Sheen, Dennis Haysbert, Rick Rossovich, Bill Paxton, Joanna Whalley. Unfortunately, the script is less than stellar, and Teague, while a capable director, has never been given a budget or script that has served him as well as they should. It’s a b-movie, with a solid…

Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare (1968) – Yoshiyuki Kuroda

As much as I loved 100 Monsters, Spook Warfare almost disappointed me as much. It feels like a bit of a goofy film, and I get that this is the point of the series, the same way Godzilla went from a dark film to ‘who is he fighting this time?’ It starts out promisingly enough,…

The Lord of the Rings (1978) – Ralph Bakshi

The summer of ’84 was one of the defining summers of my life. It saw a lot of changes in my life, and was also the first time that I read The Lord of the Rings. I was swept up in the world, and was delighted that I’d read all three books so quickly, and…

Fire and Ice (1983) – Ralph Bakshi

Ralph Bakshi paired up with his good friend, famed fantasy artist Frank Frazetta and delivered 1983’s Fire & Ice. An animated rotoscoped sword and sorcery adventure, this film feels more in line with the 70s style of animation and storytelling, despite the rise of Dungeons & Dragons at the time. An evil ruler, Nekron (Sean…

The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981) – William A. Fraker

There are a few things to redeem the 1981 iteration of the Lone Ranger story, it has a score by John Barry, and features Christopher Lloyd as the film’s baddie. But beyond that, this one is pretty horrible. The story, while violent, isn’t layered, sophisticated or much stronger than a grade-school tale. And that’s to…

The Substitute (1996) – Robert Mandel

Its action sequences are flawed, and don’t look anywhere as near as cool, and sharp as they could, but 1996’s The Substitute (which spawned three increasingly bad direct-to-video sequels) is packed with familiar faces. The cast is led by Tom Berenger, and includes Raymond Cruz, Luis Guzman, William Forsythe, Rodney, A. Grant, Ernie Hudson, Marc…

Young Guns II (1990) – Geoff Murphy

The amount my life changed between the first Young Guns, released in 1988, and Young Guns II in 1990 makes the movies themselves feel years upon years apart. Seeing that there was only two years between them is rather shocking seeing how many things happened in the space of that time. Rewatching it now Young…