Con Air (Wide Screen)

Advantages: Fun for its target audience, good actors
Disadvantages: stupid writing, lousy direction and no sense

<<<<< TITLE: Con Air >>>>> <<<<< RATING: *** (out of 5) >>>>> <<<<< CAST: Nicholas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Monica Potter, Landry Allbright, M.C. Gainey, Danny Trejo, Steve Buscemi, Steve Eastin, Rachel Ticotin, Dave Chappelle, Ving Rhames, Renoly Santiago, Nick Chinlund, Mykelti Williamson, Colm Meaney. >>>>> <<<<< DIRECTOR: Simon West >>>>> <<<<< STUDIO: Touchstone Pictures >>>>> <<<<< RUNNING TIME: 115 MIN. >>>>> <<<<< RATED: 18 ...
...I went to go see CON AIR at a bad time when it came out in the summer of 1997. Many people loved THE ROCK, which I thought was too over-hyped, with a stupid plot, and many good actors that did the best they could with dumb material. Then again, this is a Jerry Bruckheimer production; this is the guy responsible for many great films of the ‘80s, including BEVERLY HILLS COP, and then later went on to make the hit films CRIMSON TIDE and BAD BOYS with ... Read review

Advantages: Big names, big budget ?
Disadvantages: How many do you want?

Take a look, if you will, at Ciao's Top Five Favourite action films. Number one is, of course, Die Hard. Bravo people, so it bloody well should be. Anyone who tries telling me otherwise shall be instantly and unceremoniously evicted from the Howie C.O.T. (As if that's gonna bother you!) Number two is 'Leon'. Good choice, fellow Ciao-ers - I salute you. Some might question it's status as an all-out action-adventure but it's definately a great movie ...
...number three is The Matrix. Hmm, not sure about this one folks. A bit Sci-Fi ish to rank as a straight action movie? If The Matrix can be included in this list, then so can Aliens, RoboCop and the Terminator movies, and up against the likes of that, there really is no contest, is there? But my real bugbear, and reason for putting finger-to-keyboard this evening, is the fourth entry in this exclusive (?) list - Con-Air. CON-AIR!! People, people, have ... Read review

Advantages: An excellent action film that combines a great story good direction and fantastic acting performance
Disadvantages: Its certainly not a film for kids

...to be a decent film. Con Air certainly has all the ingredients of a decent film and once you add Jerry Bruckheimer as a producer its becoming glaringly obvious that this is going to be a very enjoyable film. The combination of some of the worst criminals in the American prison system all being put onto one flight to be transferred to a new prison, sounds like a recipe for disaster. For US Marshall Vince Larkin (John Cusack) it's the days work ahead ...
...an excellent supporting cast and Con Air is one of those films that could almost make itself. The film is certainly a classic action movie and although it didn't break any boundaries at the time it is an incredibly enjoyable film. The job of director fell on the shoulders of British born director Simon West, who later went on to direct the first Tomb Raider movie. With the help of Jerry Bruckheimer, West's debut movie seems to have worked very well. ... Read review

Advantages: see review
Disadvantages: see review

...take your eyes off it. Con Air is one hell of a bad movie...it is also going to get a five star rating from me. If you were making a list of directors who like to make action movies which go way overboard in terms of...well just about everything really, then Jerry Bruckheimer would surely be quite high up on that list. Bruckheimer is just about as excessive as they come, and each movie he makes tries very hard to outdo his previous one in terms of ...
...the best kind! Con Air may register “brain-dead” on the intellectual scale but it also just happens to be incredibly entertaining as well. Its dialogue is dumb, the plot quite ludicrous and full of holes, we are constantly asked to suspend our disbelief at some ridiculous plot twists and coincidences, the stunts are way, way, wayyyy beyond belief and the characters all so over the top that it ought to be hilarious. The fact is that Con ... Read review

Advantages: very enjoyable, action thick and fast
Disadvantages: none of any real note

Welcome, and thank you for flying with Con-Air! When the psychotic John Malkovich utters the above line, you know its time to buckle up your seat. "Con Air" is a rollercoaster of a movie, with special effects galore and action throughout. It begins with our hero Cameron Poe (played with usual vigour by Nicholas Cage). Returning home from a stint in the old Special Services, he enjoys a quiet drink with his wife and gets into a spot of bother with ...
...Whoops! Time for a spell in the local nick. The film revolves around Cage and some of the worst scum in the world being transferred between prisons. Cage is on his way home, having served his time and never seen his daughter - or so he thinks. What Cage doesn't count on initially is the fact that this particular ride home supplies its own brand of entertainment. Please sign in the following homicidal maniacs - Cyrus "the virus" Grisholm (played ... Read review

Advantages: really good actors and very enjoyable
Disadvantages: i really can't find none

...Having come home from the army to see his expecting wife Cameron Poe (Nicholas Cage) gets involved in a fight in a bar, which spills outside into the parking lot where the fight continues until Poe kills the other guy using his Ranger training. He is then sent to prison for 5 years in, his wife gave birth to their baby girl just after he is imprisoned and he is due to be released on his kids 5th Birthday. However for his flight home he is catching a lift on an aircraft carrying some of America's worst criminals on their way to a new state of the art facility. The Us Marshals are in charge of the flight with Vince Larkin (John Cusack) overseeing the operation with DEA officer Duncan Malloy (Colm Meaney). However before the flight lands in Carson City a group of cons lead by Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom (John Malkovich) and Nathan "Diamond... Read review

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