Action & Adventure > E Action & Adventure > Emmerich, Roland > up to 5 GBP

Advantages: Action-packed Adventure
Disadvantages: The Horrors of war

...their favourite male actor and the name Mel Gibson will crop up time and again. I'm as susceptible as any woman; the combination of his good looks, startlingly blue eyes and his acting talent makes him a favourite in my eyes. So it's no surprise that over the years I've probably seen every film he has made. My video collection houses about 50% of all his films, I dread the day when I finally have to go over to DVD because to replace each film would ...
...to the cinema is no longer a pleasure to me with cramped seating and long films with no intervals. The last film of his I saw at the cinema was "The Patriot", released in 2000, not one of his best films but certainly worth watching for reasons I will sum up later. Synopsis ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The year is 1776 and the war for American Independence is well underway stirring up young people across the South to join up to the rebel cause. Benjamin ... Read review

Advantages: Good historical links and great acting
Disadvantages: Not for younger viewers.

The film tells the story of Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), a war veteran who has settled down for a life with his family of 5 children, unfortunately his wife passed away and now he devotes his life to protecting those who he loves. The British are invading under General Cornwallis and threaten to destroy all that is dear to Benjamin, not just his country, more importantly, his family. As much as Benjamin fights the cause of going to war with the ...
...into it, largely due to the fact his son Gabriel (Heath ledger) has decided to join the army to follow in his fathers footsteps. The war eventually arrives at Benjamin's doorstep, and when one of his sons is killed by an unruly lieutenant Martin realises he must fight to rid the British from his land. Him and Gabriel ride to find all the support they can from the local villages and form a Militia, Martin realises an open plain battle is not the ... Read review

Advantages: see review
Disadvantages: see review

...occasional cheesy action move sequel. Universal Soldier was one of the better ones, which also starred one of Hollywood’s B-list Arnie stand-ins Dolph Lundgren, so naturally, Hollywood being what it is, a few years later Universal Soldier 2 made an appearance - twice as cheesy, half as good... For those who managed to skilfully avoid the original Universal Soldier movie the concept revolved around a new plan to save hundreds of American lives by ...
...a movie like this, but Universal Soldier 2 is quite a painful example of the cheesy B-movie genre. I’m somewhat at a loss as to where to begin in all honesty, it really is quite atrocious on so many counts. It starts off well, with explosions, a high speed water chase, bulging biceps, gratuitous use of heaving bosoms, a huge bad guy and cheesy lines a-plenty - enough to give it a 3 star rating for this kind of movie anyway. Then it all goes wrong ... Read review

Advantages: Great characters
Disadvantages: -

...seeing the first series of Ultimate Force I eagerly awaited the release of Series 2 and I have to say that it didn't fail to deliver. Like the first series, this series is again based around 'red troop' a troop of SAS soldiers. In terms of characters very few changes have been made Alex Leonard who left at the end of the first series is replaced by the cocky and loud-mouthed Louis Hoffman (who is first seen in Series 1 Episode 3) and BOX, whose ...
...Akhurst), who provides a love interest for Red Troop's charismatic Staff Sergeant Henno Garvie (Ross Kemp). This series is more explosive than the last on many levels with more bullets flying and more people falling especially in the opening episode where Red Troop find themselves in a blue on blue situation on a ship docked in Southampton and have to come to terms with the fact that it isn't only those on the other side that are falling. Other ... Read review

Advantages: Ridiculously exciting, OTT extravaganza
Disadvantages: Morally disgusting

...his earlier Rocky Balboa. However, Rambo IV is still a ridiculously exciting, if politically disgusting, high-octane, uber-violent romp. Easily the equal of many of the fiercest horror films of recent times in terms of sheer gore and depravity - necks are ripped open, children are flung left and right, heads explode, innards spill to the dirt - the picture is considerably harsher than its predecessors. It is, though, just as moronic as the previous ...
...Religious, Cultural and Military Might. Rambo IV does nothing to reverse this trend, with Stallone being very open about the film's Christian values (a shame-faced attempt to ape Mel Gibson's success with similar audiences) and the piece as a whole stands as a justification for any amount of imperialist rampaging. That said - nauseating and barbaric it may be, but, much like the final third of Mark L. Lester's 1985 Commando, it's impossible not to ... Read review