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 readingDie Hard 2: Die Harder (1990)
DIRECTOR: Renny Harlin
CAST:
Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, William Sadler, William Atherton, Franco Nero, John Amos, Fred Dalton Thompson, Dennis Franz, Art Evans, Reginald VelJohnson, Sheila McCarthy, Colm Meaney, Robert Patrick
REVIEW:
Die Hard was so solidly put together that it’s no surprise that Die Hard 2 (rather unimaginatively titled Die Harder) isn’t up to the same level, but it’s a little disappointing all the same. Die Hard 2 is a serviceable, workmanlike action thriller, but it lacks a certain distinction. Continue reading
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
DIRECTOR: Richard Donner
CAST:
Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Joss Ackland, Derrick O’Connor, Patsy Kensit, Darlene Love, Traci Wolfe, Steve Kahan, Mary Ellen Trainor
REVIEW:
Stepping off the launching pad of 1987’s Lethal Weapon , 1989’s Lethal Weapon 2 is an entirely worthy sequel that in many ways actually improves on the first installment while keeping all of the same qualities. The action is bigger and more audacious, the chemistry between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover is as great as ever, and the addition of Joe Pesci adds a third spoke to the wheel that freshens things up instead of simply retreading the Riggs-Murtaugh bickering from the first film. Rare for a sequel, Lethal Weapon 2 feels just as fresh, or maybe even more so, than the original. 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.
Aliens (1986)
DIRECTOR: James Cameron
CAST:
Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein, William Hope, Mark Rolston, Al Matthews
REVIEW:
Aliens, along with James Cameron’s sci-fi hit five years later, 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day , is both among the best sci-fi action thrillers ever made, and a rare example of a sequel surpassing the original. Continue reading
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
CAST: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri, Roshan Seth, Philip Stone
REVIEW:
Just as the near-perfect action-adventure of 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark virtually guaranteed that more installments in what became the Indiana Jones series would follow, it was also perhaps inevitable that they would fall short of its high water mark. Temple of Doom is by no means a bad movie, and parts of it are as wildly entertaining as the best Raiders had to offer, but it lacks the perfect pacing and tonal balance of the first installment, and suffers by comparison. Continue reading
Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi (1983)
DIRECTOR: Richard Marquand
CAST: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Frank Oz (voice), Alec Guinness, David Prowse, James Earl Jones (voice)
REVIEW:
After 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, The Return of the Jedi feels like a disappointing downgrade. The film does the job of bringing the original trilogy, the galactic civil war, and the stories of its heroes to a conclusion and give the Rebel Alliance a grand victory, but it accomplishes this in an underwhelming manner. Little of the comparative levels of darkness and thematic depth established by Empire Strikes Back is carried over here. To be sure, there are good things to be found, but it involves sifting through a mixed bag of overly kiddie-friendly goofiness that unfortunately would in hindsight be a harbinger of what was in store for the long-gestating prequels.
Continue readingStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
DIRECTOR: Nicholas Meyer
CAST:
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Ricardo Montalban, Kirstie Alley, Bibi Besch, Merritt Buttrick, Paul Winfield
REVIEW:
WARNING: This review discusses details of the film’s plot.
After the sluggish and pretentious special effects/philosophical showcase of the highly-anticipated but disappointingly-received Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the powers-that-be returned Star Trek to the roots that had made the original television series so popular: a focus on the characters, and ship-to-ship duels that harkened back to what creator Gene Rodenberry himself had likened to “Horatio Hornblower in space”. The result has various dated elements, but remains worthy of its place as one of the better feature films featuring the original Enterprise cast.
Continue readingStar Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
DIRECTOR: Irvin Kershner
CAST: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Alec Guinness, Frank Oz (voice), David Prowse, James Earl Jones (voice)
REVIEW:
While 1977’s Star Wars (later rebranded as Star Wars Episode VI: A New Hope) was a surprise box office phenomenon, by the time the sequel rolled around three years later, Star Wars now already had a passionate fanbase waiting eagerly for any news of the next installment. The Empire Strikes Back was worth the wait, not only advancing the stories of the three principal characters and sending them on new adventures, but going into deeper, darker themes and interjecting one of the greatest shocking surprise twists in all of movie history. Empire defies the “middle chapter” curse. In fact, of the original trilogy, this is easily the strongest, most accomplished, and most mature motion picture.
Continue readingThe Godfather Part II (1974)
DIRECTOR: Francis Ford Coppola
CAST: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, John Cazale, Talia Shire, Lee Strasberg
REVIEW:
A companion piece in the true sense of the word and regarded as arguably the best sequel ever made, The Godfather Part II (which was greenlit before the first movie was even released) only further deepens and enrichens the characters and themes from its predecessor while Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo weave an even more ambitious web. Like The Lord of the Rings, The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are less a film series than one combined continuous story rightfully taken as a whole.
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