Released: October 2017

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Rated R

Run Time: 164 Minutes

Dstributor: Warner Bros/Sony Pictures

Genre: Science Fiction/Thriller

Cast:
Ryan Gosling: ‘K’
Harrison Ford: Deckard
Dave Bautista: Sapper Morton
Jared Leto: Niander Wallace
Robin Wright: Lieutenant Joshi

When Blade Runner was released back in 1982, it was not widely accepted by audiences or critics.  In fact, the movie flat out bombed at the box-office.  Why?  There were a number of reasons.  One: The infamous production problems that the film had prior to release had something to do with it.  Two:  It was very unconventional for a science fiction film.  It didn’t play out like your typical Star Wars or Star Trek film.  In fact, the film didn’t have very much in terms of action.  I think that when people saw that Harrison Ford was in it, that it was going to be an action movie.  The fact is, is that Blade Runner had more in common with the detective noir films of the 30s and 40s than it did with the modern day action flick.  The film was deliberately paced to be a slow-moving detective movie set in a dystopian future.  It was based on Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep story.  Over the years, the film would develop a cult following, and with Ridley Scott releasing no less than 5 different of the film, Blade Runner is considered by many to be one of the greatest science fiction films ever made.  So….35 years later, we have a new Blade Runner film: Blade Runner 2049.  Does it stack up well against it’s predecessor?  The short answer is yes.  Very much so, as a matter of fact.

30 years after the events of the first film, Blade Runner 2049 is set in a world where all the ecosystems have failed entirely, leaving many folks to leave the planet they used to call home.  However, thanks to the genius of one Niander Wallace, synthetic forms of vegetation and meat were created to sustain human life.  Also, since the fall of the Tyrell Corporation, who used to build humanoid machines known as Replicants, Wallace also took over that industry.  Used for mostly slave labor, the Replicants were mostly outlawed, with the exception of some who were allowed to remain employed by the police force as Blade Runners.  A Blade Runner is a special unit tasked with hunting down and eliminating rogue Replicants.  ‘K’, a Replicant Blade Runner is sent to find a particular rogue unit by the name of Sapper Morton.  What he discovers at Morton’s farm will change everything that he knows.  I’m not going to divulge anymore of the story at this point.  Why?  A mystery once solved is not quite as interesting.  The stuff that happens in this film will challenge you in ways that you never expect.  There are twists and turns that you will not see coming.  Just when you think you have a bead on something, the movie yanks the rug out from under you.  It’s never blatant, even though you are given subtle clues and hints about what you see and what it means.  Like the original film, there is a purpose to everything that you see.  It’s absolutely wonderful and surprisingly heartfelt at the same time.  It’s a fantastic story that expands upon what we already know from the original Blade Runner.

I want to stress that like the original Blade Runner, 2049 is not an action movie.  It has action in it, but that is not the focus of the film.  The focus of the film, like any good mystery and detective story, is about piecing together clues and following the bread crumbs to a particular resolution.  I love that aspect of the film, because it doesn’t hold your hand or spoon-feed you information.  Like the original film, this one requires you to pay attention and to put the pieces together yourself.  It answers certain questions left by the original film, but again, I won’t spoil it for you.  The action that we do get is surprisingly brutal, but it doesn’t last for very long.  It’s not without purpose, as I have said before, but you have to set your expectations properly.

From a visual standpoint, this movie just kills it.  It’s one of the most beautiful films that I’ve seen put on screen.  Whereas the original Blade Runner kept the visuals restrained to one city, 2049 opens up into a much larger world, so we can see the damage that was done by years of warfare and various other disasters.  From Los Angeles to Las Vegas, each location has its own unique identity.  Even the smaller sets like Wallace’s main room is incredibly detailed.  Morton’s farm feels like a real place that could actually exist.  It doesn’t hurt that a lot of these sets were built.  CGI is used for specific purposes in certain scenes, but reduced to a minimum during character scenes.  It’s an absolutely stunning film to behold.

The acting in the film is superb.  Everybody who is a part of this project really should be commended for delivering some incredibly powerful performances here.  Of note is Ryan Gosling as ‘K’.  I will fully admit that I’m not the biggest fan of Gosling’s.  But his performance in this film is extraordinarily nuanced and straight-forward.  Harrison Ford returns as Deckard, and…well….it’s Harrison Ford playing one of his most iconic characters.  Of course, he’s awesome.  The events of the past 30 years in the film have left the character somewhat broken and withdrawn.  When ‘K’ finally meets up with Deckard, it’s astonishing.  Robin Wright, who plays the police lieutenant, is hard to read at first.  She’s someone who is harsh, and yet is someone that actually cares about what happens to the world around her, and doesn’t want to see things collapse.  Jared Leto’s character of Niander Wallace, is an unusual one.  The character, and as a result, Leto,  don’t show up in the film very often, but when they do, there is a surprising amount of gravitas being thrown around.  Jared’s really good at playing psychotic characters, but this is definitely one of his more restrained, yet, eccentric roles.  The character is absolutely mysterious.  We don’t know much about him or what he really wants, and the movie never really answers that question.  That’s a good thing.

If there’s truly one glaring negative about the film that I can point out, it’s with the inclusion of Edward James Olmos’ Gaff.  This guy was mysterious in the original film and surprisingly creepy.  Here, he’s relegated to a retirement home and doesn’t offer very much, not even information on where Deckard may be hiding.  You could cut out that character entirely and nothing would have been lost, save for a few minutes of exposition.  Aside from that, though, the rest of the film is absolutely phenomenal.  Denis Villeneuve has proven YET again that he is a master film-maker.  With the films he’s made, I would put Denis up there with the likes of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese.  He has an incredible amount of respect for the source material and it shows in every single frame.

Now, I saw this after the film opened in theaters, and the film bombed at the box-office.  I honestly wish I could say I was surprised, but I’m not.  Movies like this have a very hard time finding an audience on release.  It really takes time for movies like Blade Runner to find a footing.  I expect the film will actually do better on home video than in theaters.  Again, it’s a very unconventional science fiction film.  I find that these kinds of science fiction movies are the best.  They’re the best, because they actually demand something of the audience.  Patience and a willingness to pay attention to details are required for films of this sort.  If you don’t have much of an attention span or just want something quick and easy like Star Wars, Blade Runner isn’t for you.  The Blade Runner films are much smarter than people give them credit for and really deserve all the praise that they have been getting.  I can’t say enough about this film, except that it’s quite possibly the movie of the year in my current estimation.  Do I recommend this film?  Yes.  Yes.  Hell, yes.

My Final Recommendation:  This is a movie for smart and patient people only.  9.5/10.

WARNING!  THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!  READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!

For 40 years, Star Wars has delighted fans of all ages from around the world.  George Lucas crafted a stellar piece of space opera that shattered box-office records and remains one of the greatest films ever made and changed the way movies were made.  The first sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, is regarded as one of the greatest sequels of all time.  The Original Trilogy would come to a satisfying close with Return of the Jedi.  But this would not be the last time George Lucas would visit the galaxy so far, far away.  In the summer of 1999, the first of the Prequel Trilogy was released: The Phantom Menace.  Attack of the Clones would follow three years later and capping off with the darkest entry in the series to date: Revenge of the Sith.  After Episode III was completed, Mr. Lucas declared that there would be no more movies.  7 years later, he sells his company and the Star Wars franchise to Disney for 4 million bucks.  The possibility of a seventh Star Wars film was irresistible.  5 years after that, we have our first film in a new trilogy: The Force Awakens, which would re-united the old cast members from the Original Trilogy: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher.  Introducing new characters such as Kylo Ren, Finn, Poe Dameron, Captain Phasma, and lovable droid BB8, The Force Awakens blasted onto movie screens in December of 2015.  With a record-breaking release, Episode VII began to take the franchise in a new direction.  With the success of Episode VII, production would soon begin on the next film in the trilogy.  Also in production was the first in a new series of spin-offs and stand-alone films in the franchise: Rogue One.  But the film that is one everybody’s wishlist this year is The Last Jedi, the second film in the new trilogy.

After the death of Han Solo at the hands of his son, Kylo Ren, Rey confronts Ren in a vicious lightsaber battle that Rey would win by tapping into the Force.  After the destruction of Starkiller Base, Rey would take the Millenium Falcon and Chewbacca and find Luke Skywalker on a distant and unknown planet.  At this point, the main story for The Last Jedi is still spotty, but Rey begins her training as a Jedi, despite Luke’s failure with Kylo Ren in the past.  While the main purpose for Luke being on this particular planet is unknown at this point, it’s been widely assumed that he was looking for some specific artifact or knowledge in order to confront Supreme Leader Snoke.  At the same time, The First Order is moving to annihilate what remains of the Republic and the Resistance.  This is the entry where answers will start being answered, like who Rey is and who her parents were/are.  While I’m certain that some answers will be given, others will remain secret until Episode IX.  The trailer that just dropped looks amazing.  It looks like this film is going to be much different than I was anticipating, which is a good thing.  Episode VIII is reportedly going to be the longest entry in the entire series, so there must be an incredible amount of story that was written for this particular entry.  Ultimately, I’m very curious as to what happens and why Luke said that it was time for the Jedi to end.  It’s very ominous and could mean several things.  Maybe that what he was taught by Kenobi and Yoda is incorrect and has been for thousands of years.  In both trailers for Episode VIII, we see a table with a number of books on it.  This is the first time that we’ve seen books in the the films, tv series, and video games.  Did Luke find what he was looking for?  Or did he find something that scares him?  Who, or what, is Supreme Leader Snoke?  As I said before, I doubt that The Last Jedi will answer all these questions, but hopefully it will point us in the right direction.

Sadly, as everybody knows, Carrie Fisher passed away in December of 2016.  She finished her scenes for Episode VIII, but she was slated to have a more involved role in Episode IX.  As a result, Episode IX is in the process of being re-written.  I’m wondering how they are going to address this issue.  The can’t recast the role, as Leia is Carrie’s most famous and iconic role.  They won’t do a CGI character, because there’s no way they could get anyone who could perform the character as well as Carrie.  However, they can’t exactly have her riding off into the sunset, so to speak.  The only real way that I know of to give the character a proper send-off is ultimately to kill her.  But how do you do that so you can not only give the character and Carrie Fisher a proper send-off, but respect the fans as well?  Ultimately, the film is two years away, so they will have to time to properly address that issue.  Carrie’s passing will ultimately still cast a shadow over the film, no matter what they do.  I just hope that they are respectful to the character, because both Leia and Carrie have meant so much to so many people.

After Episode IX, where do we go from here?  Next year, we will be seeing a stand-alone origin story for Han Solo, which has undergone some directorial changes, but hopefully will flesh out the character a bit more.  Before Episode VIII hits theaters in two months, we will be getting a new Star Wars video game: Battlefront II.  The new single-player campaign is supposed to take place from the perspective of the Empire/First Order.  Also, over the next few years, we will be seeing more books and video games.  The movies will hopefully be about Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Boba Fett, at least, from what I’ve been reading.  I’m not sure how much of that is true, but it looks like the next few years will be very interesting for Star Wars.  That includes a new season for Star Wars: Rebels and a possible live-action series set between Episodes III and IV.  At this point, it’s mostly speculation on my part, but I have to say:  As a fan, I couldn’t be more excited for more Star Wars.  Star Wars: The Last Jedi flies into theaters on December 15, 2017.  I hope you’re all as excited about it as I am.

Author: David J. Moore

Published: 2016

Publisher: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.

A while back, I reviewed David J. Moore’s World Gone Wild: A Survivor’s Guide To Post-Apocalyptic Movies.  I said that if you were into that particular genre, as I am, then that book is the book to get.  It had nearly every post-apocalyptic movie reviewed and cataloged.  The way it was set-up made it easy to read and to find a particular movie that you wanted to learn a bit more about.  It also featured a number of interviews with actors and directors, which helps shed more light into the film-making process.  I gave the book a very high recommendation.  World Gone Wild was published back in 2014.  Two years later, Mr. Moore follows it up with action-packed book about…well…action movies.

At 560 pages, The Good, The Tough, and The Deadly is 130 pages longer than David’s previous book.  It’s to be expected, actually.  The post-apocalyptic genre, even with all its movies, is nowhere near as large as the action genre.  The thing you have to also understand is that many of these movies fall under different sub-genres as well.  As a result, if you’ve read the previous book, some titles that were mentioned in that book will also appear in this one.  The format for The Good, The Tough, and the Deadly is very similar to the previous book.  There are a few difference in this book, however.  World Gone Wild was a book that took Mr. Moore about 8 years to put together.  The reason is that he watched all those movies and reviewed them himself.  That is an enormous undertaking for just one person.  So, for The Good, The Tough, and The Deadly, Mr. Moore enlisted the aid of several contributors to help watch and review these movies.  As a result of that collaboration, it took 2 years to put this book together.

In some ways, it actually helps this new book more because we have the opinions of multiple people instead of just one.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy reading Mr. Moore’s reviews, but having different kinds of personalities helps diversify opinions.  Not everybody is going to agree with what these guys have to say.  Sometimes I don’t.  Like I said in my review of World Gone Wild, this world would be a very boring place if everybody agreed with each other.  I don’t even always agree with some of Mr. Moore’s opinions on certain movies.  However, before I get ahead of myself here, I want to talk about the format of the book.  Like World Gone Wild, the reviews are set up in alphabetical order, so some movies that may be part of a series aren’t always going to be next to each other.  Also, the book doesn’t cover every action movie out there.  How could it?  The genre is a constantly expanding and evolving one.  Half of the action movies that I’ve got in my personal collection aren’t even covered here.  Also, David is looking at genre-specific actors.  So, action movies that star the likes of Liam Neeson, Matt Damon, and Denzel Washington are not included.  Instead the book focuses on people like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mark Dacascos, Chuck Norris, Cynthia Rothrock, Don “The Dragon” Wilson, and Scott Adkins.  These folks essentially define the genre and helped make it into what is today.

In addition to the vast number of reviews, there a great number of interviews with some of the cast that I’ve mentioned as well as several directors including Jesse Johnson.  Some of my favorite interviews include Scott Adkins, Kane Kosugi, Don Wilson, Mark Dacascos, and Cynthia Rothrock.  You gain a little more insight into their backgrounds as actors and martial artists and how they got certain roles that put them on the map.  It’s not only revealing and informational, but it’s also entertaining.  Some of these guys and gals have some very interesting anecdotes about some of the projects that they’ve been a part of.  It’s not all fun and games.  Like the previous book, we’ve also got a lot of images of posters(some of which are foreign) and behind-the-scenes of certain films.

Coming back to the reviews section of the book, it’s set up very much the same way as World Gone Wild, except without the ranking system.  Fair warning:  These aren’t exactly really in-depth reviews, they just cover the basics of the film and have a general opinion of the film.  This is done to keep the book at a fairly brisk pace and not make it bloated.  Now, some reviews are a bit longer than others, because of the film being discussed.  Sometimes, it pays to go a little further in-depth, because the film in question may have a lot more to offer than just explosions and violence.  Some of my favorite reviews are the ones that are being torn to shreds by David and company like Alienator.  Personally, I’d like to think I’m a little more forgiving, but I’ve also been witness to some serious shit.

After the review part of the book, there’s a section in which the review are split up according to certain actors including Richard Norton and Scott Adkins.  For most of these actors, the film that represents them best is going to be highlighted in bold.  Afterwards, there is a list of ALL the reviews in the book.  The final page in the book is reserved for acknowledgements and thank yous.  Overall, this is a very extensive book.  I’m a huge action movie junkie, so a lot of these movies and actors I have heard of and seen at times.  But there are some movies mentioned in there that I haven’t heard of at all, that I need to seek out.  For instance, I know about Olivier Gruner, but I haven’t seen any of his movies, so I need to rectify that as soon as possible.  Seeing some of my favorite martial arts films like Ninja Assassin in here was pretty damn cool.  The only nitpick that I have with this book is that there are a few typos here and there, but nothing that is really bothersome.  Although, I will say that Avenging Force being released in 2986 is kind of funny.  I know it’s a simple mistake, but when I saw that, my first thought was:  “The author’s a time-traveler, now?  I wish I could do that.”  I’m kidding of course.  I have nothing but respect for Mr. Moore.  The effort went into making these books is extraordinary.  I would absolutely recommend this book to any fan, no matter how casual, of the action genre.  It’s not the most complete, but neither is the genre, which is still expanding and growing.  There is SO much out there, that Mr. Moore couldn’t possibly fit everything into a single book.  This book comes with my highest recommendation.

The Good, The Tough, and The Deadly: Action Movies and Stars can be found on Amazon for $45 or your regional equivalent.

Released: October 2017

Director: Martin Christopher Bode

Not Rated

Distributor: Vision Films

Genre: Action

Cast:
Mark Dacascos: Gus
Brandon Rhea: Doc
Matthias Hues: Frank Radowsky
Mike Möller: Benny
Mike Leeder: Joachim “Joe” Weller
Wolfgang Rhiem: Hans-Georg Sturm
Verena Konietschke: Nicole Schweizer

Over the past few months, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing some pretty decent independent movies.  Movies like Fist 2 Fist, Weapon of Choice, and Paying Mr. McGetty have all been really, really good.  I even managed to catch a German film called One Million K(l)icks, which was mostly fantastic.  Some of the best action movies I’ve seen all year have been straight-to-video or released digitally.  Now there was a film that I’ve been keeping an eye on for a while now.  It’s had issues with post-production for the past couple of years, but it’s finally seen a release on video as of this writing.  The film I’m speaking of is Ultimate Justice, a new action-thriller featuring the talents of Mark Dacascos, Matthias Hues, and newcomer Mike Möller.  It was pitched by some websites as a low-budget Expendables-type film.  So, now that the film has finally been released, how is it?

The film opens as Gus’ team are hunting down a criminal who has taken somebody hostage and attempt to rescue the hostage.  After the hostage is retrieved, several members of the team are captured.  Gus disobeys orders and goes back to retrieve them, which results in the deaths of two members.  After the fiasco, Gus leaves the security team that he helped build.  Some time later, Gus and his former commander, Hans, sell the firm to somebody.  Several years later, Hans is married and has a child.  That night, Hans and his family are attacked leaving him for dead with his wife raped and murdered and his daughter kidnapped.  After learning of this, Gus decides to re-assemble his team.  The story, while formulaic and predictable at times, isn’t awful.  In fact, there was a twist in the film that I didn’t see coming.  It was a surprisingly hefty twist.  I’m not going to spoil, but for those who have seen the film will know what I’m talking about.

So….does Ultimate Justice deserve to be called an Expendables-type film?  Unfortunately, no, and it’s not because of the film’s low-budget and independent nature.  The Expendables had characters that you genuinely liked and were performed by an all-star cast.  Most of the characters in Ultimate Justice are…well….expendable.  There are a couple of standouts here, and thankfully, most of them are the good guys.  Mark Dacascos is one of the best American martial arts actors in the industry, and he’s okay here.  Brandon Rhea plays Doc, who has a mean streak as he tortures people for information.  Brandon’s acting isn’t the greatest, but he sells the character with sheer physicality.  Matthias Hues, who played the evil alien in Dark Angel(I Come In Peace)gets a shot at playing a good guy here, and he does quite well.  The guy’s huge so he is not lacking any physical presence.  Mike Möller, plays Benny, the shortest guy in the group, but probably the most agile.  I’ve seen Möller before in One Million K(l)icks, and the guy can move like there’s no tomorrow.

Unfortunately, the acting is hamstrung by some of the worst dubbing and ADR I’ve ever heard.  A good chunk of the actors in the film are German and you can tell that they are speaking in German, but the sound that’s supposed to be coming out of their mouths is a poor attempt at an American accent.  Dubbing in a film can be good if it’s done right.  I picked up Ultimate Justice on DVD, but there was no option to see the film in it’s original language, which was German.  Obviously, you had some actors that could speak English like Mark Dacascos and Brandon Rhea, but everyone else should have just stuck to speaking German.  I’ve gone on record saying how much I fucking hate dubbing in foreign movies.  I will always prefer to watch the film in its original language whenever possible.

The action in the film is clearly what people come to movies like this for.  The action in Ultimate Justice is actually very good.  I think the camera could have been a little less shaky, but it’s not the worst I’ve ever seen.  Mike Möller choreographs the fights in the film and he’s really good.  He’s also one of the biggest highlights of the film.  For a guy that’s less than 5 and a half feet tall, he’s like a human tornado.  He’s one of the new up-and-coming martial arts superstars that people should pay attention to.  Most of the actors get their moment to shine.  Matthias Hues uses his size to advantage and throws and kicks people through walls.  The one guy that really gets the short end of the stick, however, considering his martial arts background is Mark.  For a film where he gets top billing, he doesn’t use his martial arts background as much as one thinks he should.  I’ve seen him in a lot of other movies and he’s got one hell of a repertoire.  He’s also a good actor, but instead of throwing down with his hands and feets, he mostly uses guns.   I will say this, though:  The movie doesn’t pull any punches.  Nobody is safe and anybody could die at any time.  I really loved that sort of unpredictability.  It’s just something that I think could’ve been used in a better movie.

At the end of the day, Ultimate Justice isn’t a complete waste of time.  The action is fantastic with some excellent fight choreography.  Unfortunately, the film is truly let down by some highly questionable dubbing and the complete misuse of Mark Dacascos’s talents.  It’s not the worst movie I’ve seen, but it’s definitely not one of Mark’s best.  He can do better.  He has done better.  That being said, if you can ignore the god-awful dubbing, there is quite a bit to enjoy here, especially if you’re an action junkie.

My Final Recommendation: This is not The Expendables movie you’re looking for.  7/10.