Carlito’s Way (1993)
DIRECTOR: Brian De Palma
CAST: Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, John Leguizamo, Luis Guzman, James Rebhorn, Viggo Mortensen, Adrian Pasdar, Rick Aviles, John Ortiz
REVIEW:
Carlito’s Way, an adaptation of the same-named novel and its sequel After Hours (combining material from both) is director Brian De Palma returning to the gangster trough he previously explored with Scarface and The Untouchables (reuniting with Al Pacino from the former). To that end, Carlito’s Way lacks the depth and epic scope of The Godfather, but is less cartoonish than Scarface, and provides a colorful and engaging two and a half hours for fans of the genre.
Continue readingA Bronx Tale (1993)
DIRECTOR: Robert De Niro
CAST: Robert De Niro, Chazz Palminteri, Lillo Brancato, Francis Capra, Kathryn Narducci, Taral Hicks
REVIEW:
For his directorial debut, Robert De Niro tells a coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of a Bronx neighborhood under the Mafia’s influence (the screenplay was written by Chazz Palminteri, who adapted it from his own one-man play partially based on his own childhood). A Bronx Tale could be considered a “mob movie”, but that’s more the backdrop than the focus, and the movie avoids melodramatic stereotypes. Continue reading
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
DIRECTOR: Michael Mann
CAST:
Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Russell Means, Wes Studi, Eric Schweig, Jodhi May, Steven Waddington, Maurice Roëves, Patrice Chéreau
REVIEW:
Based loosely on James Fenimore Cooper’s novel, Michael Mann’s (Manhunter, Heat, Public Enemies) The Last of the Mohicans is a sumptuous and stirring adventure, an enthralling viewing experience that should appeal to anyone who enjoys Braveheart or Rob Roy. By every conceivable standard, The Last of the Mohicans is in the same league, and it’s a grand, passionate, rousing adventure on its own merits. Continue reading
Far and Away (1992)
DIRECTOR: Ron Howard
CAST: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Thomas Gibson, Robert Prosky, Barbara Babcock, Colm Meaney
REVIEW:
For his latest venture, Ron Howard has chosen to tackle a romantic period epic, the lavishly-mounted, if narratively formulaic, Far and Away. How much appreciation one gets out of the proceedings probably depends on how much it sweeps along one’s inner romantic, but for those who fall into that category, Far and Away is a sumptuous, sweeping romantic adventure. Continue reading
The Godfather Part III (1990)
DIRECTOR: Francis Ford Coppola
CAST: Al Pacino, Andy Garcia, Talia Shire, Diane Keaton, Sofia Coppola, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, Bridget Fonda, George Hamilton
REVIEW:
The Godfather Part III is an example of the difficulties inherent in releasing a sequel to an acclaimed film series after so much time has elapsed. The 1972 original and its 1974 follow-up are rightfully regarded as one of the greatest one-two punches in cinematic history, with Part III considered a bit of a tired-out afterthought; indicative of the general lack of enthusiasm, it was the first Godfather movie not to win Best Picture, and the first for which Al Pacino did not receive an Oscar nomination. The Godfather Part III is not as bad of a movie as it’s often derided as; in fact, it’s a good one, with some tremendous moments, but it’s not a great one, and for the Godfather franchise, that’s just not quite good enough.
Continue readingDances With Wolves (1990)
DIRECTOR: Kevin Costner
CAST: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant, Tantoo Cardinal, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Robert Pastorelli, Maury Chaykin, Charles Rocket, Wes Studi
REVIEW:
With Dances With Wolves, not only did actor Kevin Costner make an impressive directorial debut (arguably one of the most accomplished, and the most ambitious and big-scale achievements by a novice director in cinematic history), he also virtually singlehandedly breathed new life into the Western genre. Once enormously popular, Westerns had been few and far between apart from 1985’s Silverado and Quigley Down Under only a month before Costner’s magnum opus, and both of those installments were far more conventional and stereotypical than what Costner has made here (Dances With Wolves could be considered a “revisionist Western” and isn’t interested in shoot-em-ups or stereotypical Cowboys vs. Indians action). But Dances With Wolves isn’t just a Western (of sorts) or an attention-catching directorial debut, it’s a great, epic motion picture that transports the viewer immersively into its world and keeps them there for over three hours. Continue reading
Quigley Down Under (1990)
DIRECTOR: Simon Wincer
CAST: Tom Selleck, Laura San Giacomo, Alan Rickman
REVIEW:
Westerns are a hard sell these days, and few and far between apart from 1985’s Silverado. Director Simon Wincer and screenwriter John Hill offer a somewhat unconventional entry that’s a Western set a bit farther west than usual, namely in Australia. Continue reading
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
CAST:
Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Allison Doody, Denholm Elliott, John Rhys-Davies, Julian Glover, Michael Byrne, River Phoenix
REVIEW:
After the general disappointment over Temple of Doom —and the film’s occasional weirdness — Last Crusade, as if deciding to play it safe, takes us back into familiar territory: Indy revisits the deserts of the Middle East in search of an ancient legendary religious artifact, the Nazis are once again the bad guys, Denholm Elliott’s Marcus Brody and John Rhys-Davies’ Sallah return, and the most exciting and extended action sequence is a duel between Indy and the Nazis in the desert. To help avoid making Last Crusade seem like too much of a retread of Raiders of the Lost Ark , we have Sean Connery thrown into the mix as Indy’s never-before-seen father. To this end, while it’s neither as original nor as fresh as Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Last Crusade is a marked improvement over Temple of Doom with a higher energy level, and the father-son relationship opens the door to some fresh material that adds a welcome spark.
The Untouchables (1987)
DIRECTOR: Brian De Palma
CAST: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith, Patricia Clarkson, Billy Drago
REVIEW:
Brian De Palma’s magnum opus The Untouchables (loosely inspired by the television series, which in turn was loosely based on historical fact) freely takes sizable liberties with the true story it loosely tells and is an unabashedly Hollywoodized saga of the 1930s clash between Treasury officers led by Eliot Ness and Prohibition-era Chicago crime lord Al Capone, but this is a case of the filmmakers not letting the facts get in the way of a good story. The Untouchables doesn’t pretend to be a docudrama, instead a rousing adventure that serves up a plucky band of underdog good guys versus the seemingly all-powerful big bad. It’s easy to get swept up in that kind of David vs. Goliath story, and The Untouchables succeeds on virtually every level, serving up colorful hissable villains, juicy dialogue, a fast-moving pace, some memorable action sequences, moments of humor and tragedy, and a crowd-pleasing triumph of good over evil. Continue reading
The Bride (1985)
DIRECTOR: Franc Roddam
CAST: Sting, Jennifer Beals, Clancy Brown, David Rappaport, Geraldine Page, Anthony Higgins, Cary Elwes, Alexei Sayl, Phil Daniels
REVIEW:
A sort of re-imagining of James Whale’s 1930s classic Bride of Frankenstein, Franc Roddam’s The Bride might have confused audiences about what it was trying to be—-Gothic horror? Gothic romance?—-and largely fell through the cracks with a lackluster critical reception. That’s a bit of a shame, because for those who gives it a chance, The Bride is a handsomely-filmed, often atmospheric Gothic fairy tale.
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