Reviews

This film is a gorgeous little gem from a more innocent age, the landscapes, the characters, and the horse itself, all blend to make an extremely watchable, and yet short film. Many user reviews have been dismissive of this film due to the differences between it and the original novel. But I say, who cares! I have never read the book, but I have seen a 1990's film version which is more faithful, with the inclusion of the Ginger story line, so go and watch that and stop moaning! I found this an incredibly moving story and I thoroughly enjoyed Black Beauty's journey, which goes full circle in a sad but slightly rewarding way, which is enough to leave you with a sense of satisfaction, albeit with a tear in your eye. This movie crams a lot into its 90 minutes, and the pace is fast, but somehow gives the viewer time to soak up the emotional road our equestrian hero is thrust along, including all the ups and downs he has to endure. Highlights for me are when Beauty ends up on the Continent after being sold to a travelling circus, and thereafter gifted to a humiliated hussar by his estranged lover, becoming in the process a war hero, after the horse charges with its mortally wounded master into the enemy cannon. More sad times follow as Beauty is brought and sold, finally almost expiring due to his ill treatment, but just as the old horse drags heavy coals up a steep road, and the tired animal is close to death, redemption comes at last. The final words are very sad, as it gives you the feeling that so much of the horse's life has been used without any real joy, and yet we see the old warrior sent to pasture in a field where horses live out their final days. I wish more films were made like this today, the music is very good and invokes the broad hills and mountains that feature so prominently (Ireland and Spain were used as the filming locations)

This film is a character study of the highest order, Channel 4 made many movies in the early 80's, most have been forgotten but some have become timeless, sadly this beautifully crafted piece seems to be included in the former. The acting and plot are top notch, and you find yourself engrossed in every aspect, from the gorgeous scenery to the intrigues of the time (when western Europeans were sitting by like vultures over a crumbling Ottoman empire). Charles Dance plays a ruthless English conman, but instead of hating his cold and aloof mannerism, somehow you find yourself being drawn to his way of thinking. Helen Mirren is as dependable as always, and Ben Kingsley, playing a double-dyed, almost treacherous, half Greek, spy for the Ottoman authorities, manages to repulse and sympathise in equal measure. A very satisfying movie.

At my age I just wanna grab a beer and sit down to a good movie, not much to ask! A Talking Cat, seemed like a good idea at the time so I chucked it into the DVD player, let me tell you, I was unprepared for such an exciting roller-coaster of emotion. The great Eric Roberts voice's Duffy (A talking cat) in an audio style which (from my submarine days)reminds me of the underwater telephone! The gist of the story is about 2 Brady bunch type families who are brought together by Duffy's Mary Poppins-like magical powers. Duffy has a near fatal accident near the end, but survives with the help of a badly fitted bandage wrapped around his head. I can recommend this film to anyone, its almost perfect, beautiful photography, faultless performances by an A-list cast, a plot that makes 'The usual suspects' seem like an episode of Teletubbies, special effects that would give George Lucas a few sleepless nights and Eric Roberts proving that he is up there with Olivier, Gielgud and Heston.

This is a strange little movie, as mentioned before, it has the feel of a wartime propaganda picture, especially with its very strong pro-American, brothers-in-arms message. 'They were not divided' was in fact released in 1950, well after this kind of film was out of fashion, but having said that, the portrayal of the 3 main characters (an American, a Brit and an Irishman, serving with the Guards regiment)is warm and affectionate, and although underplayed, succeeds by involving the viewer to care about their friendship and feeling their pain and joy depending on the situation. They find themselves in every major European battle post D-Day, and in-between their love lives. The ending of the film was very sad indeed, and although we have become attached to the lead characters, we are not exposed to any over-sentimental tripe, the camaraderie feels genuine, almost real. It ain't The Dirty Dozen or The Longest Day, but it has a long forgotten quality which is sadly lacking in war movies of this day and age.

Troubles, is set between 1918 and 1921 and brilliantly captures a period in Irish history which witnessed the rapid and violent rise of the IRA, culminating in the overthrow of the British administration and total destruction of the once privileged, Anglo- Irish Ascendancy class (Protestants with English ancestry). The main characters are an English officer, Major Archer (Ian Charleston), Anglo-Irish landowner,Sir Edward Spencer (Ian Richardson) and local Catholic girl, Sarah (Emer Gillespie). The series begins with Archer paying a visit to his fiancé Angela, who resides in a decaying Irish Hotel with her eccentric family, the Spencer's. The head of the family Sir Edward Spencer, is a good natured, but fiercely loyalist aristocratic. A widower, he has 3 other children, Ripon, a wastrel (and draft dodger), and teenage twins, Charity & Faith. The hotel also includes an assortment of long term residents (senile English ladies), Sir Edward's blind mother, the twin's creepy teacher, Ryan, and a lazy and untrustworthy butler, Murphy.

Archer has not seen Angela since they had met in Brighton during the war, during which, he was wounded. However her reassuring correspondence during the conflict helped to keep him sane.

His stay at the hotel and Angela's distant behaviour confuse the battle weary soldier, but he does meet Angela's friend, Sarah, who he finds a breath of fresh air in the eccentric surroundings. Archer decides to break off the engagement with Angela, only to find out she has died the next morning. After the funeral Archer decides to leave, but Sir Edward and the twins insist he returns, this he agrees to, mainly because of his interest in Sarah. By the time of Archers second visit, the political situation in Ireland has deteriorated so much, that British Auxiliaries (an army of ex- officers recruited to fight the IRA) have been billeted at the hotel. This act further alienates Sir Edward within the community, although he is ignorant to the changing situation. Archer becomes besotted with the alluring but mysterious, Sarah. She explains to Archer, the troubles from an Irish Catholic point of view, but for his part he can't quite understand the madness that is taking a hold both locally and throughout Ireland. Archer meets Sarah again in Dublin and they talk of the Spencer family, with whom she is good friends. Archer returns to the hotel and and helps Sir Edward in his quest to restore the building to its former glory, which includes destroying the cats who have overrun the place. During this time Archer gets to know Major Bolton (Sean Bean), who is commander of the Auxiliaries. He dislikes Bolton's attitude, which is extremely prejudiced against the local population, but as an neutral onlooker to the turmoil in Ireland, Archer understands the point of view of all sides, making him seem the most informed. The Auxiliaries leave the hotel to take up a more defencive position in town, a move which exposes the building to encroaching Republican activities. Sir Edward's harvest is destroyed in an arson attack, and even though Archer persuades him to hand over one of his fields to the peasants, the Republican movement has now become too entrenched in the local mindset. Sir Edward's once paternal presence over his tenants is now increasingly viewed as an unwelcome and alien oppression. His eccentric loyalist activities in the district, once tolerated and quietly ridiculed are now seen as the acts of a collaborator and enemy agent. Anonymous notes start arriving, bearing threats, and the twin's pet rabbit is killed and left as a warning. A grand ball is arranged at the hotel to which, the Auxiliaries are invited. On the night of the ball, the Auxilleries become an immediate nuisance, firing off their guns and abusing the waitresses. A drunk Ryan is told to leave the party by Archer, Sarah dances with Bolton much to the annoyance of Archer, and the twins are almost raped by 2 Auxilleries. Early the following morning, the twins seek sanctuary in Archers bed after hearing a commotion downstairs. Archer investigates thinking it may be the IRA, but finds Sir Edward alone and bruised. He explains he has been fighting with Sarah and Bolton, and this had occurred as a result of jealously. Sir Edward also admits to Archer that Sarah has been his mistress. This is a total shock to Archer who had no idea about the clandestine affair. Events further deteriorate, when Sir Edward and Archer find that Ryan has slaughtered Sir Edward's favourite pigs before running away. The staff are forced to leave the hotel by the IRA, and Sir Edward takes on a siege mentality, which results in a young IRA volunteer being fatally shot in the grounds. Finally all the residents are forced to leave for their own safety. Sir Edward leaves with the twins, while Archer remains to guard the empty hotel with a young Auxiliary, who informs Archer that Sarah had eloped to Dublin with Bolton. The IRA sneak into the hotel and abduct both the Auxiliary and Archer. Archer regains consciousness and finds himself on the beach buried to the neck in sand. The tide almost drowns him, but a party of former residents rescue him at the last minute. Archer leaves Ireland with the others. The hotel is burnt to the ground by Murphy who is consumed by the flames. The final scene is set shortly after the end of the Troubles, with Archer visiting the hotel ruins and reminiscing about Sarah.

The tone of the series is one of claustrophobia, there are disturbing warnings of events taking place outside the hotel, and although they seem distant and irrelevant at first, they are creeping ever closer, and will inevitably consume the Spencers'.

Ian Charleston, gives a near perfect performance, and Emer Gillespie, smolders as the stunningly beautiful Sarah. Also noteworthy are, Sean Bean as Bolton, the prejudiced but realistic officer, and The twins who add a nonchalant humour to what is quite a dark story.

Films of the Filipino Z-Movie genre are always tricky to rate, I mean they aren't just bad, they are REALLY BAD! However, they have plenty of mindless violence to keep you on your seat for 90 minutes, and the plots are so basic that a 4 year old can keep up with the proceedings! This obvious 'Death Wish' rip-off is no exception. When you mix Silver Star productions with director, Teddy Page, you know you're gonna get value for the $1 you spent on the video!

Enough background already, let's get to the plot (if you can call it that!). So, we see a couple of love birds having a picnic in the park, when they are attacked by a gang of local thugs, who want to do sex with the girl, the boyfriend gets killed and the girl escapes to her house (probably 2 feet from the park), where she runs screaming towards her dad, the gang in hot pursuit, kill the girl as well as wounding her dad. BIG MISTAKE!... Her pop is Silver Star's own Terminator.... Richard Harrison! (this time playing Mark Collins, ex Vietnam vet). At this point you know there ain't gonna be no survivors, and to make his point Harrison dons his trademark, red Steve Austin tracksuit, and sets out on a one man Crusade! After wiping out the gang responsible for killing his daughter, Collins decides to kill anyone he perceives as scum! He kills drug dealers, he kills muggers and he kills rapists (who seem to be round every corner in the Philippines).

Unknown to Collins, he has been watched by a powerful drug baron, Bill (Mike Monty), who has decided to kidnap Collins's wife, to get our hero to bump off his rivals. When Collins returns home he finds his wife gone and a list of demands from the anonymous abductor, strangely enough, he will also be paid for his services! Enter Silver Star's favourite leading lady... Ann Milhench, who plays Liza, a sexy, but unconvincing, ex hit woman. She has been sent by the kidnappers to help Collins on his mission of murder! (we eventually find out that her son is being held by the kidnappers, so she is in the same predicament as Collins). Together they destroy just about everyone in the city. Liza is killed on one of the missions, but before she expires, gives Collins information about the kidnappers. Collins learns that Bill is behind the kidnap and has used him and Liza (with a Zee) to clean out the competition!

Now exposed, Bill calls Collins to inform him his wife will be freed and he will also get paid. But as his wife shows up (in a rust- bucket car), a bomb in the vehicle explodes, killing her! (this doesn't make much sense, but what the Hell!). Collins cranks up the body count in his vengeful fury, eventually fighting his way into Bill's stockade (or golf course by the look of it!), and in the final (blink and you will miss it!) battle, blows him up with the help a mini rocket launcher strapped to his wrist!

As in 'Fireback's' end credits, we get a pointless screen shot epilogue about Collins handing himself in to the authorities, and serving a life sentence! This film stars all the usual crowd from the U.S. ex-pat, cocaine snorting community, and the dialogue and random plot are as diabolically hilarious as always! Mike Monty has some of the best lines (all unintentionally side-splitting!), such as, "I need you to recruit more pimps, and pushers"!

Blood Debts, should be released on DVD, the film is appallingly bad in every way imaginable, the script could have been written on the back on a Coco Pops packet and the location doesn't look anything like the USA (where it is supposed to be set). But when all is said and done, the action starts in the first minute and finishes at literally the last second, with no letting up in-between. It's a film that doesn't need a strong plot, we want shooting and killing.. and that's what we get! One minor complaint are the name's, I mean Collins's wife is credited as 'Mark's Wife' and calling the chief villain 'Bill' is not very sinister, perhaps 'Bill Zager' or 'Bill Fortuna' but not just 'Bill'.....please!

Anyhow that aside, it's a very easy and ultimately rewarding film to watch. You will never forget it, that's for sure! What about the cast? The question is, are they ashamed of themselves for appearing in this crap? Let's hope so!

The big problem with Hollywood 'story telling' in the 21st century, is that in the present age, we can easily check the truth of a historical incident online, without wandering home ignorant to the facts! When I saw this film I was sceptical, just because of Ben Affleck's participation (I mean, Spielberg, he ain't!) But my fears were confirmed within the first 20 minutes, yes it must have been scary at the time, but hello, even the crazy Ayatollah was not going to do more than try to humiliate the Yanks a little...his followers were not ever going to massacre any Europeans or Americans, he would have known it would have spelt disaster for his country! But more than this, I was aware of the true story of this time, and I was treated to a shameless work of fiction which dismissed The Canadian assistance and totally ignored the British help even to the point of saying 'The Brits and Kiwi's won't help us'! Erm...not true!, As for the escape scene, the reality is the fugitives were brought tickets and got on a plane..simple, there was no band of US hungry assassins out to capture anyone!

I first heard about this film when reading about the upcoming Oscar nominations, so falling victim to the massive hype the film was receiving, went to see it. The films starts off interestingly enough, a black man and his family seemingly living a middle class existence in New York in the 1840's (I'm sure plenty of us thought all blacks were still slaves at that time in America). Our hero plays the fiddle for a living and is kidnapped by unscrupulous showman who trick him into performing in Washington DC, and sell him to slave traders who ship him to Georgia. By now he has gone through the usual 'Roots' rites of passage stuff, and is quickly sold off to a number of slave masters, good and bad. As the film drags on to the end, all the same clichés appear until his friend from New York shows up to free him from a nasty slave owner. After the film finished I could not help thinking this was not a big screen epic, more of a Fox TV movie, it was cheap, the characters had no depth and the plot was simple and stretched out, it never made me want to read the original narrative, and is a very poor relation to other much more cinematic films, such as the excellent 'Amistad'. The message of the film speaks volumes about the film makers, "lets use a slave story and we can reap the awards" (just as Holocaust film makers use the same tactic). Don't waste your money, you will be bored to tears by this film which at best, should be on at 3pm on a weekday afternoon.

I remember back in the summer holidays about 1980 (before we had the TV series repeats in England)I couldn't believe my luck that MGH was coming up after the break, it all sounded so good, and looked like it would be good spooky fun for this 13 year old. Sadly even at that age I remember being disappointed with the end result. Flash forward to 2013, I thought I would watch it again. Maybe I was expecting something different back then, who knows!...but no! same result, but I can tell you why this time. I think as an English person watching, I expected fun and frolics in the mother country, but instead was treated to obviously fake British accents and a fake landscape as well....obviously California! Still I guess I can't argue..it is cult, I'm just warning you!

Being slightly drunk and a bit bored, I popped down Video City and purchased 'Fireback' in a moment of weakness. The box promised, a big weapon, a Rambo type mission, and displayed the tag line, 'They thought he was dead, They thought they were safe, They were wrong, DEAD wrong!'. so I parted with my £1.99 and shuffled home to check it out!

Boy was I in for a shock! Everything about this film was BAD! I'm telling you, the script was obviously written by a retarded 5 year old. Name's such as 'Panther', 'Cat Burglar', 'Digger' and 'The man with the golden hand' add to the juvenile feel, and the plot is all over the place. The dubbing is atrocious, and the budget is non existent! The Vietnam stuff was over in 3 minutes and I never saw the big gun after that! The rest of the movie is supposed to be set in the USA, even though you can hear monkeys, parrots and other jungle noises in the background!

It turns out that this film was directed by Teddy Page and released by Silver Star productions, both based in the Philippines. Teddy is an old hand at this type of no-budget action adventure, known as Filipino Z-Movies. He tends to use the same American ex-pats in all his films (Richard Harrison, Ann Milhench, Mike Monty, Jim Gaines and Bruce Baron), and fills in the blanks with Filipino extras (AKA Cannon fodder). His movies are infamous for ripping off successful Hollywood action films on a shoestring budget.

The prologue introduces our hero, Jack Kaplan (Harrison), who is demonstrating the new 'One-Man Army Gun (codename Omega) to U.S.(?) troops at a jungle camp in Vietnam. The gun itself is what I was waiting to see in action!..I was on the edge of my seat as Kaplan demonstrated (to a rather bored audience of Asian looking U.S. grunts!) the gun features, Multi calibre, built-in radio, infra-red telescopic sites, grenade launcher, mini missile, rapid-fire, surface-to-air, blah blah!... you get the picture! Seconds later the camp is attacked by the Vietcong and Kaplan is taken prisoner (this is the last time the gun is featured!).

After the titles roll, we get a schmaltzy poolside introduction to the film's chief bad guy, Duffy Collins, and his attempt to woo (and do!) Kaplan's wife, Diane (Ann Milhench). "I brought her flowers, but she wasn't interested" It's all heartfelt stuff, I mean her husband has been in Vietnam for years, and Duffy is sincere in his desire to make Diane happy, so what's the beef?? Anyhow he gets nowhere, so he kidnaps her when he can no longer contain his lust. Does he force her to do rumpy pumpy? ..Nope!... He just keeps her prisoner in his luxury villa until she is ready to drop her knickers!

Back in Vietnam, a rescue team have been sent to snatch back Kaplan, and they have got to be the worst trained Navy Seals ever, they sneak towards the enemy camp shouting the plan to each other. But still somehow succeed in surprising the entire army, killing everyone, plus retrieving Kaplan.

Back in the States (?), After a pointless and dreadfully acted hospital scene, the doctor agrees to release Kaplan, our hero makes his way home, only to discover Diane is not there! Without checking to see if she has gone shopping, he goes to the nearest bar and tells the first person he see's "I'm looking for my wife, Diane!". This amazingly produces results, when a police informer called Digger, puts Kaplan on the right trail (for a few dollar's of course!). His first call is at 'The man with the golden hand's' place (yep, he has a golden hand!). After a quick punch-up Kaplan gets TMWTGH to spill out the name, "Eve"! Jack goes to the sleazy club, where Eve works as a stripper, and visits her dressing room after the show. He immediately drills her for information, trying to throttle her in the process! She feeds him some data and he leaves. Eve gets on the phone to Duffy, who is startled that Jack is alive, and sends his top hit men to kill him before he can rescue Diane!

Jack (dressed more like Dirk Bogarde from Death in Venice, than a man on a dangerous rescue mission) plays cat and mouse for the next 15 minutes, accidentally or deliberately killing any mug sent to stop him! One guy he has just bumped off, is belatedly ordered to "TALK", while a would-be assassin with a sharp walking stick comes off worse when Jack strangles him with the weapon.

Meanwhile Digger is killed by the MWTGH, who thrusts his lethal hand into the unfortunate informer! This death gets the police involved, and police chief (Mike Monty) tells his boss "Digger helped me to put a lot of criminal's behind bars"! So now the cops go looking for Kaplan (because they think he will lead them to the real killer!)

Jack see's his face plastered across the newspapers and tries to hide, but Eve picks him up and takes him round her place, She patches up the wound he received from walking stick man, and after unsuccessfully trying to seduce him, Kaplan again demands information about Diane. He has walked into a trap! TMWTGH is in the house and in the ensuing fight Eve is accidentally killed by the assassin!

TMWTGH, Panther and Cat Burglar are all eventually destroyed by Jack, but Diane is also killed while attempting to escape from Duffy's place! The police launch a ridiculous manhunt to stop Kaplan ("He's escaped into the jungle"!), and after killing his pursuers in a First Blood rip off, dresses as a Ninja and kills Duffy in slow motion with a Samurai sword! The epilogue states 'Jack Kaplan was sent to prison and died of a heart attack'!

I first bumped into this film last year on the Movies 4 Men channel (known for its dubbed or appallingly cheap films), I tuned in at the end and I was horrified that Doug McClure's character stated his intention to take a young boy into the Mountains with him!(I saw the film was dubbed but wasn't expecting such behaviour from our hero-even if the message had been lost in translation!)Anyhow I got bored last week and saw the film was back on so I decided to watch it again. It was worth every second!......It was full of unintentionally classic scenes...I could not stop laughing!

Firstly the plot is dreadful (blah blah gold rush, blah blah dead man's promise, blah blah sick boy etc..)but so many scenes are bad that it seems as if the film is a comedy! I loved the Bar fight scene, it went on for hours and was so fake that i was on the floor laughing!, then the sick boys dad is tortured by Indians (or Eskimo's?)but they look more like Russians!, and Doug McClure (poor man's roving American in 1970's Euro films)has to promise the dying Man that he will find his sick boy and take him to the Mountains!....The boy is meanwhile captured by the bad guys who talk very loudly about what to do with him!...he manages to escape and gets in a fight with a terrifying house trained bald eagle who does more staring than tearing!, It must be said also that this is not a 'Call of the Wild' rip off.....because they couldn't even be bothered to put a dog in the film (let alone a Wolf or a Hellhound!)..well, apart from some flea bitten Alsatian who gets killed within 5 minutes!, The film seems to last for 25 hours and you end up saying ...'come on', 'look behind you'! or 'It's the bloody Sheriff you idiot'! But please watch it , you won't regret it!