Action & Adventure > K Action & Adventure

Advantages: Its Rambo!
Disadvantages: Shows its age

Smacks of overkill, going to the extreme. The film starts all calm and mellow with Rambo going to visit one of his former Army Buddies only to discover he'd died of cancer from Agent Orange. So the film is getting it's political messages in early. Rambo is prevented entering the town by Sheriff Teasle (does he even legally have the right to deny him entry just based on his appearance? So much for Land Of The Free.) and is driven to the other side ...
...Rambo walking back into town and starts exceeding his authority right there, asking him for id, grabbing him and then claiming assault (untrue, he grabbed Rambo 1st) and arresting him on 3 trumped up charges. The vagrancy charge is so trumped up its unreal, the assault charge is a pure fairy tale as it never happened. And the only charge that might have stood was the concealed weapon which he'd have never found if he hadn't searched him. Rambo is ... Read review

Advantages: Possibly best ever Kitano movie
Disadvantages: None whatsoever

Films previous to this made by Kitano included Violent Cop, Sonatine, and Boiling Point, and if you've seen those 3, you'll notice the difference here. This film was made after his motorcycle accident which left him with a facial twitch which is evident, but one can see the change in style brought about as a result of it. Takeshi's character, Nishi, is a cop whose wife is terminally ill, and whose daughter died earlier. As he tries to deal with his ...
...partner gets shot and as a result is crippled. Nishi blames himself for this, as he was visiting his wife in hospital at the time that his partner got shot. The full story unfolds in short flashback sequences, and Nishi feels snowballing guilt. To add to his problems, he owes the Yakuza a lot in debt, and has to go about repaying it. The story is mainly about how Nishi decides to spend time with his wife who hasn't got long left to live, as he contemplates ... Read review

Advantages: It's just superb
Disadvantages: I'm not allowed to watch it every day

...enjoy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kagemusha the Shadow Warrior was released in 1980 to universal critical acclaim, winning the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for 2 Academy Awards the same year. Kurasawa couldn't get sufficient funding in Japan for this movie, so turned to the US where George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola acted as co-executive producers, giving ...
...not wipe them out. The kagemusha is presented to the generals of the clan as the way of keeping the Lords death a secret. From then on it becomes a story of the change from illusion into reality, the kagemusha haunted by dream visits from Shingen as he gradually transforms into the Lord. The only storm on the horizon comes in the form of Shingens' son who believes he should inherit the title and responsibilities of his father. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ... Read review

Advantages: Like watching a moving painting made with all primary colors
Disadvantages: Is only 3.5 hours long :(

...treasured addition to any collection. Kagemusha is important to any Kurosawa fan because as just about anyone should know, this is the movie that almost never was. After big moviemaking studios in Tokyo lost interest in Kurosawa's samurai style films, he was left with idle time that he was not working on film. Kagemusha was an idea that plagued him all through those years. He created massive, beautiful paintings that served as the storyboards for ...
...day, no one can view Kagemusha and NOT notice the intense, bizarre, surreal colors that nearly drip off the screen. This is a beautiful film and an important keeper for anyone who loves Kurosawa. Not to be missed or overlooked whatsoever. Also a nice "double-feature" companion piece to "Ran". ... Read review

Advantages: Brilliant film, few but solid extras, well packaged
Disadvantages: Not one

I saw this film first whilst in college and frankly it's been a very tough time finding a better film since. The film is basically a tale of three youths from one of Paris' run down outskirt estates who find a policemans weapon and contemplate reaping revenge for their friend who was shot during a riot. The film protrays the main three characters very well and despite their being novices when the film was made the actors (Vincent Cassel, Hubert Kounde, ...
...the film is wonderful. The black and white works extremely well in augmenting the bleak and brutal world in which the protaganists live. The camerawork is fantastic as well with some remarkable shots and editing. On top of this the music in the film is very fitting and really helps the atmosphere of the film. With strong social and political messages in the film you would think it would be a tad peachy. However, the film is wonderfully balanced and ... Read review