Repeats

Return of the Seven (1966)

Oh how the mighty magnificent have fallen.

With sequels you have to worry that what you are about to see is someone just cashing in on a previous box office success rather than trying to tell a good story. Unfortunately this is a clear case of the cash ins. Yul Brynner is the only returning cast member for what is essentially a sub par rehash.

Without the excellent cast and interesting characters of the original there is not much left to like about this film. Bandits come and kidnap all the male villagers to make them work on rebuilding a church and then Brynner and chums ride in to have some gun fights. Gun fighters being recruited by dredging the local prison in an early scene is an apt metaphor for the writing process of this film.

2/5, just say no to pointless sequels kids.

Aiming for the horse

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

For a western this movie has a number of unusual elements. It is one of the first American films to be heavily influenced by the work of Akira Kurosawa, in this instance a remake of Seven Samurai transplanted into the old west. In general films in the western genre are often about the individual as a loner or outsider, usually in conflict against the majority such as in High Noon or Shane. As hinted in the film's title this film is more about the group or community and as such it actually did really good business in the Soviet Union.

John Sturges directs Yul Brynner and a cast that includes what was a number of young up and coming actors at the time such as Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn and Robert Vaughn. The plot is fairly basic, bandits are harassing a Mexican village and representatives are sent north of the border to buy guns and hire men to protect the village. What the film does well is it's portrayal of the hired guns, these gun men are not romanticised chivalric knights of the west nor cynical anti heroes but somewhere in between. Good performances from the cast, epsecially Brynner and (for the most part) interesting back stories elevate this above a run of the mill western.

Unfortunately the film does seem a little dated, the famous theme music is a bit over bearing to modern ears and the plot is a little simplistic but over all I still give it a 5/5.

Take away

The Fourth Kind (2009)

Milla Jovovich stars in this horror movie about alien abduction that claims to be based on “real events” and to include “real interview” footage as well as some “real police video”. The reality is that the film relies on cheap lies to try and get easy scares. It is not based on real events and all the supposedly real footage is fake, with coincidental holes in the recordings when something involving the aliens is supposed to happen.

What could have been an interesting premise, is the central character a reliable witness or is she going nuts, is completely trodden over with the ham fisted attempts at shocking the audience. I also think that there is some room for exploration of the idea of faux reality in fiction and the possibilities of viral marketing but this is not a good example.

2/5 from me, any random x-files rerun is probably worth watching over this.

Wrong turn at the dvd aisle

Wrong Turn at Tahoe (2009)

I wish I had known this was a direct to DVD release before I had seen it, then I could have saved myself 90 minutes. Tahoe is essentially a bad Tarantino knock off that some how got Cuba Gooding jr. and Harvey Keitel to be in it. Harvey Keitel actually seems really old now.

There is about one good scene in this film when Joshua and Vincent confront Mickey about his lie but other than that there is very little to like. All attempts and witty or clever dialogue fall flat on it's face and the characters are really not that interesting or explored very well.

I give this a 2/5

Bronson

Death Wish (1974)

Charles Bronson plays a liberal architect whose wife is killed and his daughter assaulted and he then goes on a killing spree (after a short working holiday). While this film was supposedly very shocking when released there really does not appear to be much to it now. Vigilantism can be a really interesting subject but the script for Death Wish is not interested in moral complexities, just shooting some muggers.

Because the movie is so basic it is hard to find a lot to say about it. Charles Bronson is not the sort of actor with a lot of depth to his performances either which does not really help matters here, he does not seem to care that his wife is killed. The film does enough not to be boring but other than that I can not find much to praise it on.

I give this a 3/5.

Who is watching?

Watchmen (2009)

Adaptations are always a sticky subject. When, if ever is it alright to deviate or change the source material you are working from? Do we just want to see a moving version of a book/comic or do we want to see a visual interpretation of it? There are some adaptations like starship troopers which have pretty weak links to their source material but there are others where the new medium and changes made end up having greater depth than their source material such as The Guns of Navarone. I am not sure there is any real answer to this other than you have to judge the finished product and see if it retains the feeling and themes of the source material and is an entertaining film or not.

Various people have labelled Watchmen as unfilmable and original creator Alan Moore is especially hostile to adaptations that take liberties with his work following past run ins with Hollywood. In this instance the film makers have stayed largely faithful to Moore's original work but have made some slight changes to make the film more "contemporary" with energy issues being included as a motivator for the "bad" guys. I am not really sure this is either necessary or improves the film in anyway, if anything maybe it makes the plot a little more specific than general in allegory which is not a good thing in my opinion. What the adaptation does do well is retain the moral ambiguity of the original when I am sure there was a temptation by some people to turn complex anti heroes into heroes.

Going with a largely unknown cast is definitely a bold step but pays off well with good performances all round. The direction is solid, even if it owes a lot to the original art of the comic. Special effects in the film are good and the sets and costumes retain the atmosphere of the comic well. Action and plot keep the movie ticking along nicely and it does not run into pacing problems with a 3 hour run time.

Over all everything fits together very nicely (especially the soundtrack) but nothing is overwhelmingly good so I give Watchmen a 4/5.

Back stabbing

Once upon a time in America (1984)

In my last blog I talked about studio executives not going nuts and leaving Airplane! uncut, well on it's state side release the opposite happened for Sergio Leone's final film. When Leone's final cut came in at over 3 hours long the studio panicked and went on an manic cutting spree. The film's narrative relies heavily on it's flash back sequence to make sense so when the movie was cut down to a 2 hour run time and the remaining scenes were shown in chronological order the film bombed. One critic is said to have called the studio cut the worst film of the 80s and the directors cut the best film of the 80s.

The film centres on the story of a young group of hoodlums in their childhood and exploits during the prohibition era from the point of view of the gang member that betrays the others. As with many crime stories this is a tale of friendship, betrayal and the destructive nature of greed (a common theme in Leone's works). Despite the long run time the film does not drag and there is another excellent and haunting score from Ennio Morricone. There are some good performances from the cast which includes Robert De Niro and a very young Jennifer Connelly.

While this is a very good film it falls short of being a great film as it lacks the stand out cinematography as well as the tension and atmosphere of Leone's other work. What in America does have is a mysterious nature to it's plot that it manages to maintain well until the final moments and does not bash the audience over the head with a solution.

I give it a 4/5