Aliens (1986)
DIRECTOR: James Cameron
CAST:
Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein, William Hope, Mark Rolston, Al Matthews
REVIEW:
Aliens, along with James Cameron’s sci-fi hit five years later, 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day , is both among the best sci-fi action thrillers ever made, and a rare example of a sequel surpassing the original. Continue reading
Ruthless People (1986)
DIRECTOR: David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams
CAST: Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater, Anita Morris, Bill Pullman
REVIEW:
Ruthless People, a product of the Zucker/Zucker/Abrahams directing triumvirate behind Top Secret, Airplane, and The Naked Gun, and screenwriter Dale Launer, is a deliciously twisted and screwball little black comedy that serves up enough twists and turns to maintain a high entertainment level through a slim 90 minute runtime that doesn’t outstay its welcome. Fans of the previous Zucker/Abrahams works shouldn’t be disappointed with what they’ve wrought here. Continue reading
At Close Range (1986)
DIRECTOR: James Foley
CAST: Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Mary Stuart Masterson, Christopher Penn, Crispin Glover, Millie Perkins, Eileen Ryan, Kiefer Sutherland, David Strathairn, Tracey Walter, R.D. Call, J.C. Quinn
REVIEW:
At Close Range is a spare, no-frills crime drama that eschews overdramatic embellishments and portrays a dark true story in unvarnished docudrama fashion. Set in 1978 and based on the story of the Bruce Johnston gang (with names changed), it centers on Brad Whitewood Jr. (Sean Penn), an aimless juvenile delinquent who gets drawn into the orbit of his sociopathic father Brad Sr. (Christopher Walken), who runs a local gang stealing tractors and mechanical parts. At first, Senior dazzles the impressionable youth, showing up in flashy cars, throwing money around, giving Brad a sniff of a life that seems a lot more exciting and glamorous than his. It’s not too long before Senior shows a dark side, but it might be just long enough for Brad to be in too deep. Continue reading
One Magic Christmas (1985)
DIRECTOR: Philip Borsos
CAST: Mary Steenburgen, Harry Dean Stanton, Gary Basaraba, Elisabeth Harnois, Robbie Magwood, Arthur Hill, Elias Koteas, Wayne Robson, Jan Rubes
REVIEW:
If a mix of down-to-earth drama about a hard-done-by family struggling during Christmastime and a supernatural fantasy involving Christmas angels and Santa Claus feels a trifle schizophrenic, One Magic Christmas manages to traverse its uncertain terrain about as smoothly as one could reasonably expect. The result is a trifle schmaltzy—what Christmas movie isn’t, unless one’s counting Die Hard—but the screenplay has a level of intelligence, it’s well-acted, and it blends modern problems with an unabashedly old-fashioned feeling.
Continue readingThe Bride (1985)
DIRECTOR: Franc Roddam
CAST: Sting, Jennifer Beals, Clancy Brown, David Rappaport, Geraldine Page, Anthony Higgins, Cary Elwes, Alexei Sayl, Phil Daniels
REVIEW:
A sort of re-imagining of James Whale’s 1930s classic Bride of Frankenstein, Franc Roddam’s The Bride might have confused audiences about what it was trying to be—-Gothic horror? Gothic romance?—-and largely fell through the cracks with a lackluster critical reception. That’s a bit of a shame, because for those who gives it a chance, The Bride is a handsomely-filmed, often atmospheric Gothic fairy tale.
Continue readingSilverado (1985)
DIRECTOR: Lawrence Kasdan
CAST: Scott Glenn, Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Kevin Costner, Brian Dennehy, Linda Hunt, Jeff Goldblum, Rosanna Arquette, John Cleese, Ray Baker, Lynn Whitfield, Jeff Fahey, James Gammon
REVIEW:
Silverado is director and co-writer Lawrence Kasdan’s homage to the classic Western, doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel—-it’s not a “revisionist Western”—-but serves up a high-spirited, joyous adventure clearly made with love for a genre that’s an increasingly hard sell these days. If you’re not a fan of the Western genre, it’s unlikely to appeal to you, but those who are may find much to appreciate.
Continue readingLadyhawke (1985)
DIRECTOR: Richard Donner
CAST: Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Leo McKern, John Wood, Ken Hutchison, Alfred Molina
REVIEW:
Action director Richard Donner (best-known for Superman and the Lethal Weapon franchise) tried to switch gears with a medieval fantasy adventure, but the result was a box office disappointment, grossing only $18.4 million against a $20 million budget (although it has since become something of a cult classic regarding it as an overlooked gem). Ladyhawke is picturesque, handsomely-filmed, and fitfully entertaining, but overall a rather campy period fantasy flick that offers some fairly facile sword-and-sorcery stuff alongside scenes veering between high adventure and slapsticky action-comedy.
Continue readingWitness (1985)
DIRECTOR: Peter Weir
CAST:
Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Lukas Haas, Jan Rubes, Alexander Godunov, Josef Sommer, Danny Glover, Patti LuPone, Brent Jennings, Angus MacInnes
REVIEW:
Witness is billed as a thriller or a crime drama, but that’s just the plot skeleton. What it’s really about at its core is love and longing, and about how the randomness of life can throw two people into contact long enough to fall in love, even if they can never truly be together. Continue reading
The Terminator (1984)
DIRECTOR: James Cameron
CAST:
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton, Paul Winfield, Lance Henriksen, Bess Motta, Rick Rossovich, Earl Boen
REVIEW:
The stars were aligned for the cast and crew that came together to make the original Terminator. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Mr. Universe, had made his break into the movie business with 1982’s Conan the Barbarian. Together with this and 1986’s Aliens and 1989’s The Abyss (both also directed by James Cameron), Michael Biehn seemed set to become a major star, but never again reached his nearly A-list heights after the 1980s. Linda Hamilton was a relative newcomer (and future, now ex Mrs. James Cameron), and like Biehn, Terminator and its sequel would be the high point of her career. And bringing it all together was a then-unknown filmmaker named James Cameron, who was previously art director for zero-budget B-movie legend Roger Corman, and his previous directorial effort had been the inauspicious Piranha 2: The Spawning. Inspired by two television episodes written by Harlan Ellison (who sued for and later received official credit), the Outer Limits episode “Soldier” (about two time-traveling soldiers who travel back in time to 1964, where they fight to the death), and the Twilight Zone episode “Demon with a Glass Hand” (about a time-traveling robot that looks human), and his own nightmare about a killer robot sent from the future to murder him, Cameron wrote the original story for what became The Terminator while sick and bedridden in Rome. Working alongside him to bring it to fruition was producer (and another ex-wife-to-be) and fellow Corman alum, Gale Anne Hurd. In the hands of this cast and crew, The Terminator exploded from the cult film it was expected to be into a sci-fi/action classic that revolutionized the genre.
Continue readingPlaces in the Heart (1984)
DIRECTOR: Robert Benton
CAST: Sally Field, Danny Glover, John Malkovich, Ed Harris, Lindsay Crouse, Amy Madigan
REVIEW:
Places in the Heart is two-thirds of a strong, involving Depression-era drama about a widow finding the wherewithal to do whatever she must to support her family with the help of an assortment of colorful characters. Alas, it’s also saddled with a superfluous third of a soap opera-esque love triangle between characters only tangentially related to the main storyline. What’s onscreen is still worth watching for fans of these kinds of low-key, true-to-life dramas, but a little more focus could have made for a more singularly powerful experience.
Continue reading