roon_baboon Reviews

Marked for Death (1990)

A Segal film from the old school

[8/10 · 29 September 2006]

You can split Segal films into 2 categories, the early stuff (Hard To Kill, Nico) and the later stuff (Fire Down Below, Today You Die). The latter group doesn't usually even get to the cinema but the former has some real action gems. Marked for death is one of them.

This film has loads of martial arts, Yardies, drugs, black magic, Drive by shootings, people dressed like Aswad, and the big black guy from platoon who escapes from the shootout at the end by getting rotated back to America. One of the things that ruins Segal films is having too much shooting and not enough fighting, But the action is pitched just right here, with still enough shooting thrown in to spice it up. The guys playing the Yardies are fantastic and the dialogue is second to none, in fact for those IDM fans out there Luke Vibert sampled some in 'screwface'. Other than Segal and the platoon guy the only person I recognised was Danny Trejo, Hollywoods default Mexican criminal. This is an action classic folks, watch it or Screwface will give you a thousand deaths worse than mine.

The Marksman (2005 Video)

Yawn

[2/10 · 13 September 2006]

I was given this film in error when I tried to rent 'Marked for death' from Blockbuster. I can only assume a similar mix up allowed the script to get the go ahead first place. The only (literally the only) good thing I can say about this is that there was some nice lighting in places. Other than that this film was a f*****g abortion. The characters puerile, the dialogue was boring and generic, the plot was ill conceived and unrealistic. I am a big fan of the 'so bad it is good' genre (Death Wish, Commando, Exterminator, that kind of thing) but this does NOT fall into this category. This is just bad in a sense that makes it boring. My advice to you my friends is don't bother, get Marked For Death instead.

The Protector (2005)

Bit of a let down

[7/10 · 8 September 2006]

I know I shouldn't really judge this film in terms of Ong Bak but i'm going to anyway, I guess thats democracy in action or something. the fighting is absolutely awesome (which in some ways is all that matters) however in attempting to direct it more towards the western market they have made the film rather more convoluted and confusing than necessary.

The first film worked well on a low budget and I think they were simply trying too hard this time. The characters speaking English sometimes incomprehensible and the outdoor shots set in Austrailia were deeply unconvincing. Also the plot was just too complicated, involving too many scenes that were simply not needed and made the film confusing because they weren't really edited in well.

However I am being a bit of a dick, this film was made on a budget which makes a mockery of Hollywood and it is great to see some films from this area reaching the international arena. Tony Jaa is absolutely amazing and the action surpasses expectations repeatedly. I would strongly recommend this film to anyone I just hope next time Mr Goong does not feel feel he has to comply with American expectations so completely as Ong Bak was one of the best (if not the best) martial arts film since enter the dragon

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

One of the strangest ideas ever committed to film

[8/10 · 7 September 2006]

Okay if you haven't got a copy of this film here is my suggestion: hire some prostitutes (both sexes), go to a scrap yard, eat about ten or twelve handfuls of magic mushrooms and tell the hired help to crawl about f****ng wearing bits of metal and fighting each other.

There is a storyline to this nightmarish stream of images but I won't bother you with it. this film is great simply because of the world it creates, the atmosphere it gives out.

I regularly visit galleries and usually have no time for video work. I find it boring to sit through. however this inhabits some kind of weird nether region between art and 'normal' cinema and is captivating. As I have said it does have a narrative but it is hard to pick out due to the aggressively bewildering style, almost total lack of dialogue, and jumpy editing. The whole thing is shot on 16mm B/W film giving it even further abstraction and an even greater 'roughness'.

this film is an absolute masterpiece and I look forward to being able to submit a comment for 'body hammer'

Die Hard (1988)

An action film with some non ironic quality

[2 June 2006]

This is a classic action film and benifits so much from mctiernan directing that it really makes it into the realm of classic films. Apart from a very young looking Willis Playing a hard boiled new yoik cop there a tons of other ace characters. Alan Rickman is a superb villain and Hart Bochner plays Ellis: one of the funniest film characters i have ever seen (show him the watch..go on show him the watch). for me however the real gem is the films "heartwarming" moment at the end. A veteran cop who learns to kill once again, having been out of action after a mistake. In doing so he saves Willis from death. This is some classic action that is up there with predator for sheer quality.

Exterminator 2 (1984)

everything you want it to be

[8/10 · 6 May 2006]

i've read some bad comments about this film on this site, mainly from people who i think took even the first film rather too seriously. this is a brilliant piece of absurd 80's action, dutifully modelled on the superb death wish series. the "street punks" are one of the best features and resemble the b*****d offspring of the warriors and mad max 2. the exterminator himself spends most of the film going berserk with a flamethrower and at one point he operates a rubbish truck armed with remote control machine guns. the action is interspersed with ridiculous love scenes involving a stripper. although i think this film does lack some of the quality of the original i found it just as enjoyable and anyone who can appreciate the death wish series should certainly enjoy this

The Exterminator (1980)

Classic exploitation movie

[15 April 2006]

This film has everything you could want in a classic 80's exploitation film. it is based around the Death wish model of a lone vigilante cleaning up the mean urban streets single handed for no particular reason. as one commenter pointed out the editing and general production of this film is not particularly good but for me this is what makes it so great. one brilliant bit is when he pulls a black suitcase out from under his bed and inside is a special weapons cache he bought back from 'nam. later in the film the policeman investigating him (also a veteran) pulls out the same suitcase with a slightly different array of weapons. its like you get it as a gift when you leave the forces. brilliant! the whole plot of the film is fairly confusing and the end doesn't help but all in all this is a classic piece of 80's action, a must for any fan of the genre.

Inside Man (2006)

Clever, funny and, original.

[8/10 · 14 April 2006]

From the opening sequence it becomes obvious that this film benefits from superior direction, it reminds me how much this is lacking in many other big releases and hit me like a breath of fresh air. Denzil Washington is a cool hostage negotiator and Clive Owen is doing his very good cool calculating thing as the villain. It is wicked to see William Dafoe and i wish he had more scenes and Jodie Foster appears as well. There is a very well pitched humour about the film which had the audience laughing frequently but without producing an oceans 11/Guy Ritchie sort of predictability that is so common in these kind of films at the moment. Also present is the ubiquitous Lee political comments which some people find annoying but i think he makes valid points and it is another element that elevates this film above the usual releases. All in all this is definitely one of the best films i have seen for many months and i would recommend it highly (i don't normally bother writing comments). It is great to see Owen in this film as he is a fantastic actor and he seems to constantly be appearing in great stuff (sin city and closer for example) and Washinton has long been a favourite of mine.