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ferryman-999
Reviews
Sartana nella valle degli avvoltoi (1970)
Above average spaghetti
I liked William Berger in this film and I liked the story. The final gunfight was very exciting. It was something like the one in For a Few Dollars More.
The ending wasn't all that funny, though and I thought the film dragged somewhat in the middle. The jailbreak was good and so was the hunt through death valley. I think many of the same people who were in Sabata were in this film although I am not sure.
The theme song "King for a Day" was very good and fitted the film. All spaghettis should have good music and this one does.
Der Commander (1988)
Excellent acting, good action scenes - well worth watching!
Warning! There are SPOILERS in this review. Warning!
I was pleasantly surprised by this film. I only bought the video because Lee Van Cleef was in it and I had expected to find that he and Donald Pleasence would be the only redeeming features of yet another bad action film. I couldn't have been more wrong.
The plot was exciting and fast-paced, with the tension kept up throughout the film. Particularly good was a scene where people keep getting shot as they try to steal a 'floppy disk' (actually a CD-ROM). One character goes into the room, blows the safe and gets the disk, only to be shot by another character, who then is shot by Mason (Manfred Lehmann). Suddenly the view switches to another gun pointing in the room...
Another thing about this film is that it had the feel of a Leone Spaghetti Western about it, with amoral characters ready to do just about anything for money. It didn't try to explain the characters -- a mistake many bad films make -- but let the actors and the action show us what manner of people they were. The dialogue was generally good, only flagging now and again, particularly in the scene where Henry Carlson (Donald Pleasence) meets an old colleague who is investigating whether he (Carlson) has links to the drugs trade. The only bits that didn't quite come off were the scene where after Ling, a woman who Mason liked, died in battle, Mason started blindly shooting and shouting 'Murderers' and a scene where a snake bit one of the mercenaries who came with Colby. For some reason, I have never seen a film that has had a credible scene involving snakes. Snakes can be deadly, certainly, but they are made out to be a bigger menace than they are. The merc who found the snake in the back of the transport lorry should have simply stood up because he should have been wearing good boots. He then could have dropped a box on the snake. He could have even thrown his shirt on the snake and beat it with his rifle. I am surprised that the merc panicked in the way he did. Also, snake venom doesn't work *that* quickly.
The acting was generally good and, as expected, Lee Van Cleef and Donald Pleasence shone through as the geniuses they were. Don't listen to those who say that Lee Van Cleef was past his prime; his delivery and presence were as perfect as ever. I was also very impressed by Lewis Collins. He held his own with Lee Van Cleef and Donald Pleasence. I rarely watch television and so had never seen Lewis Collins in 'The Professionals', but after seeing him in this film, I will look for others in which he appears.
The action scenes were also generally well done. This film managed to capture some of the chaos of war: the best laid plans being undone as soon as the battle begins. Further, there were no Hollywood-style scenes in which the 'hero' pulls off some impossible bit of action in battle, rescuing someone or even everyone or in which someone dies 'heroically'. All but one of the people who went with Colby died, and only a few of those deaths were even vaguely heroic. For instance, Ling died because she looked down at a companion who had just been shot instead of keeping her attention on the battle. That's exactly the sort of way one would expect to find someone dying in battle. There were a few things that didn't come off right, though. One was the nuclear explosion: I don't care that it was a 'mini-nuke', it still should have had more kick than that. The other was the sound of the pistols; they sounded like starting pistols. As well, the actors looked too clean after having been out in the field at least one night and having been in battle. Go out in a muddy field for only a few hours and you won't look that clean. This is, however, a common failing of films. In low budget films, it is probably easier to deal with continuity issues if the actors remain clean.
The cinematography was very good; it captured the atmosphere of everywhere from a drug lord's house to a jungle very nicely. The music was just right: low-key and slightly exotic, not dominating the film or being used as substitute for acting or action.
All in all, I would recommend this film to anyone who likes action, amoral characters, and good acting. It is well worth it.
Planet of the Apes (2001)
What a waste of time and money. Give this one a miss.
***This review contains spoilers.*** You have been warned.
I gave this film a 2 out of 10 which means it wasn't *entirely* bad: some of the make-up was reasonable and the music didn't make me ill. That's it for the film's redeeming features.
As for the awful bits, where do I start? Let's see:
(1) An ultra-politically correct message hangs round this film like a 52,000 ton battleship. We're supposed to bring away the message 'Let's all live together in a nice, warm, and fuzzy multicultural society in which each individual has his own special little contribution to make, etc, etc'. If I wanted to hear such a message, I would read the PC rubbish the UK government puts out. If the apes and humans have to all 'sing from the same hymn sheet', who will determine what the music and words of that hymn are? Who dictates what is in and what is out in this 'multicultural blending'? Living in so-called harmony is *NOT* some 'intuitive, natural' thing -- someone is going to lead, lots of someones are going to follow and that is just the way things are -- and any film that ignores this is just pushing another insipid 'feel-good' fairy story.
(2) I object to the insults to men. Both the woman scientist who is in charge of the genetically-modified apes on the ship and Ari (Helena Bonham Carter), the woman-ape 'human rights' activist, make comments about men either being insensitive or making women miserable. It's a sure bet that no such comments would have been allowed if they were to have been made about women. When is Hollywood going to give up its love affair with feminism? When is it going to see that films that contain such insulting material drive men and women -- and I am a woman -- away?
(3) The plot, such as it was is a mish-mash. This film could have gone the straight-forward science fiction route, or gone down the path of satire, but instead, it is neither one nor the other. All that happens is that the pilot, Captain Davidson (Mark Wahlberg), goes from one pointless bit of so-called action to another. The plot is also riddled with illogic. Certainly I don't expect films to be completely logical or even mostly so, but I do expect them to have at least a passing acquaintance with logic. How in the blue blazes did horses get on the planet? If the apes are so non-technological, how did they get the armour they wear and how do they manage to build houses and other things? How did the apes even manage to dominate the planet if they are terrified of water?
(4) The ending is idiotic. Yes, I know there are x number of possible explanations for Davidson going back in time to Earth to find an 'Ape' Lincoln statue and a world populated by apes, but so what? Certainly I don't want a film to tell me everything -- I want to read between the lines -- but I want some lines, just a few, between which to read. It is clear this 'surprise' ending was just tacked on for the shock effect. It didn't even shock me, though, it just bored me.
(5) The acting was boring, boring, boring. Does anyone ever bother to portray a character these days, instead of a few traits labelled 'hero' and 'villain'? The human characters, including Davidson, haven't even the depth and presence of onion skin paper. The apes are just plain silly, and that includes General Thade (Tim Roth). So what if the make-up makes the men look like apes of some sort? It takes acting to make a man into an ape, and acting was clearly beyond anyone in this film.
(6) The atmosphere was as bland as low-quality white bread (the type sold so that the masses can always afford something that at least looks bread-like). Part of this is down to the sets, which were surprisingly uninteresting and even minimalist for such a big budget film. Funny thing is that in the low-budget European films of the sixties and early seventies, the sets, although clearly crude, managed to convey a wonderful sense of time and place. It is clear that today's sets are just bad money thrown after a lack of imagination.
(7) The 'action' sequences were boring. What I wouldn't give to see a film with the flair for violence that the Spaghetti Westerns had. If there's a fight, I want to see some blood, some guts, some death and pain. The fight sequence at the end looked as if the humans and apes were just slugging it out in a Saturday night pub fight, and a nice, mannerly fight at that. Grown chimpanzees are said to be strong enough to rip a human's arm out of its socket. That would have made a good scene. And why in the world did Davidson wait until after the apes started recovering from the effects of the explosion to tell the humans to go out kill them? The whole point of stunning your enemy is so that you can slit his throat while he is helpless. Doesn't anyone know anything about fighting dirty these days?
This list isn't comprehensive: I almost certainly have left out other reprehensible bits. I can't be bothered, however, to make a complete list. Let's face it, this film is a waste of time and money.
Ehi amico... c'è Sabata. Hai chiuso! (1969)
Excellent entertainment and as always, Lee Van Cleef is magnificent.
Except for one character (Alley Cat, the jumping Indian) and a few bits of dialogue, this film was excellent. Unlike some of the Spaghetti Westerns, it kept true to the tongue-in-cheek nature of the genre while still presenting a gritty, violent story. I particularly like the portrayal of Banjo's relationship with Jane, which accurately compares and contrasts the mercenary sides of men and women.
Lee Van Cleef was, as always, always, always, excellent. Magnificent. How could Hollywood have ever neglected such a wonderful actor? Even when merely walking around a room, he commanded complete attention and gives insight into the character. William Berger couldn't have been better as Banjo. Indeed, he played the 'I'll take any side as long as I can get lots of money out of it' type of character much better than Clint Eastwood did.
The dialogue goes on a bit in a few places but other than that, works very well. The music is not exceptional, but the main theme is catchy and for all its 'pop music' somehow fits the film.
La resa dei conti (1967)
An excellent film with wonderful acting.
I thought this film was excellent. It was better than the Leone Spaghetti Westerns in that the characters felt more real -- it is not just that they have friends and family but that they fit into a social structure. The Mexican peasant, Cuchillo, is presented as more than some 'cartoon' who could only choose between being a bandit or a priest in the manner that Tuco was portrayed in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Jonathan Corbett is not just an enigmatic hunter of outlaws, but a many-sided character who even has political aspirations.
Further, the acting is very good. Lee Van Cleef, as usual, is magnificent. He portrays Jonathan Corbett not only as a smart man, but a humane man. The peasant, Cuchillo, could very easily have been played as some Guevara-clone, but Tomas Milian brought him to life.
The only part with which I have some minor quibble, oddly enough, is the music. I realise it is by Morricone and while the score is good, it sounds a bit too much like the one for The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly in some places. It lacks the originality that one expects from a Morricone score.