Reviews of bad, good, and straight to DVD action movies
Dir: Richard Park / Y.K. Kim Starring: Y.K. Kim Run time: 84 minutes SPOILER WARNING: Miami Connection is best watched without knowing anything about it. If you plan on watching it, only read this review afterwards. Miami Connection is a fascinating action movie for many reasons. First, the film was 'lost' for many years, disappearing … Continue reading Miami Connection review
Dir: Justin Lin Starring: Vin Diesel, John Cena, Michelle Rodriguez, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges Run time: 145 minutes WARNING: THIS REVIEW HAS A BIG SPOILER IN IT. I was a latecomer to the Fast & Furious series. That's because I wrote the whole franchise off early on, as a string of daft movies about street racing. … Continue reading Fast & Furious 9 review
Dir: Sam Hargrave Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Rudhraksh Jaiswal, Randeep Hooda, Golshifteh Farahani, David Harbour Run time: 117 minutes At the time of writing this review, Extraction has been viewed on over 99 million Netflix accounts, making this the most-watched single piece of entertainment on the service. For a plot-light action caper with a cast largely … Continue reading Extraction movie review
Dir: David A. Prior Starring: Ted Prior, Cameron Mitchell, Troy Donahue Run time: 88 minutes This low budget, straight to VHS action movie has a legendary reputation among b-movie enthusiasts for being both utter pants and incredibly enjoyable. It’s a lesson in ineptitude but it’s also sincere - a car crash made by people who … Continue reading Deadly Prey movie review
Dir: Jackie Chan Starring: Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, Sammo Hung Run time: 106 minutes The best Jackie Chan movies have the same common ingredients: charmingly cornball humour, death-defying stunts and incredibly choreographed fight sequences. There are times when Chan’s output weights the run time towards just one of these areas, to the detriment of the … Continue reading Project A movie review
Dir: Stanley Tong Starring: Jackie Chan, Anita Mui, Francoise Yip Run time: 90 minutes It’s unlikely that Jackie Chan aficionados would pick this garishly ‘90s action romp as their favourite of the Hong Kong legend’s filmography. Rumble in the Bronx might not be remembered as fondly as such barn burners as Police Story, Drunken Master, … Continue reading Rumble in the Bronx review
Dir: Adrian Grunberg Starring: Sylvester Stallone Run time: 89 minutes Rambo: Last Blood is not a Rambo movie. Tonally it feels closer to the xenophobic Taken movies, where an old white guy with 'skills' takes on a legion of nasty foreigners from a scary different country. I hate that kind of movie and everything they … Continue reading Rambo: Last Blood movie review
Dir: Sylvester Stallone Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Graham McTavish Run time: 91 minutes The fourth entry into the Rambo canon had an interesting production history. For years, Sylvester Stallone was hesitant to return to the character. There was also the matter of the series' original studio Carolco closing its doors after the third film … Continue reading Rambo movie review
Dir: George P. Cosmatos Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Charles Napier, Steven Berkoft Run time: 96 Minutes I recently finished David Morrell's novel First Blood, the story that gave birth to the Rambo character. It's a dark, meticulously crafted tale of survival against tremendous odds. It also dives headfirst into the murky topic of post-Vietnam … Continue reading Rambo: First Blood Part II movie review
Dir: Paul Verhoeven Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O' Herlihy, Kurtwood Smith Run time: 102 minutes One of the grandmasters of action cinema, it's hard to truly quantify how influential Robocop has been to movies in general. Paul Verhoeven's satire of corporate greed is what happens when a director is allowed to pursue a … Continue reading Robocop movie review
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