Volunteers from all branches of the Allied forces made up the Australian 2 Special Force Unit, which carried out a total of 284 missions during World War II. Tight, suspenseful Attack Force Z effectively dramatizes one such sortie. Five tough commandos attempt to rescue the survivors of a downed American plane on a Japanese-held island in the southwest Pacific. Their leader is Captain P. G. Kelly, played by a youthful Mel Gibson. It's Kelly's first time in charge, and his fellow commandos, especially renegade Lieutenant J. A. Veitch (John Phillip Law, the cute Soviet sailor in The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!), won't let him forget it. Kelly and Veitch's conflict raises both the mission's and the movie's tension quotient. [+]

Humphrey Bogart is in familiar territory as an American expatriate in the Middle East, selling arms to the Syrian rebels under the nose of the occupying French army in 1925 Damascus. Bogie's Harry Smith, dressed in a modest cream suit and natty bow tie, is a hustler in a shady world of brittle alliances where the sound of mortar and gunfire never lets up. His nemesis is incorruptible French officer Lee J. Cobb, who is no gentleman when it comes to his lady (Marta Toren), a European beauty who catches Smith's eye. This mercenary, unsentimental Casablanca knock-off is dominated completely by a Bogart who has kissed romance and redemption goodbye. His ruthless, increasingly desperate performance makes up for the chilly Toren and the generally bland supporting cast (the exception is the animated Zero Mostel), and lights a fire under the film. -Sean Axmaker.

Chuck Norris fans will find Lone Wolf McQuade to be one of his best. Playing a rebellious Texas Ranger, Norris single-handedly wipes out an entire gang of horse thieves-and that's just the opening scene. From there the plot involves arms smuggling, McQuade's daughter being kidnapped, and a dwarf in an electric wheelchair. But the movie's real trump card is a face-off between Norris and David Carradine of the TV show Kung Fu, who plays a badass villain with a penchant for argyle sweaters (though truth be told, Norris's wardrobe is very 1980s as well). Barbara Carrera makes a suitable bad girl/love interest and science fiction fans will enjoy some familiar faces (Robert Beltran, who would later be part of Star Trek: Voyager, and William Sanderson, a supporting actor from Blade Runner). All in all, an action-packed romp with a reverent, almost mythological view of the Texas Rangers. -Bret Fetzer.

Marvel Comics always seems to come up short in the comics-to-movies transition, often because their adaptations veer away from both their comic book feel and their original story. This lesser-known conversion-which didn't even air in some parts of the country back in 1978-is the most faithful of the '70s Marvel adaptations, from a lead actor who looks the part to specific sets and some moderately decent effects. Peter Hooten stars as psychiatrist Stephen Strange, an unwitting heir to mystical powers which aging sorcerer Lindmer seeks to bestow on him (it's his destiny). When the evil Morgan LeFay is sent by an evil demon from another dimension to snuff out the aging sorcerer and begin the takeover of Earth, Linder fends her off as his pupil, Wong, seeks out Strange for his initiation into the mystic arts. When the reluctant Strange learns that one of his patients, student Clea Lake, has become an unwitting pawn in this cross-dimensional war, he tries to save her and then attempts to fend off LeFay before she bridges the gap between dimensions. Admitted, this movie is more suited to fans of the comic than to outsiders, but that said, it is the Marvel adaptation most likely to entice people into investigating its source material. Hooten delivers an appealing performance as the compassionate Strange; his acting is what drives this piece. John Mills is decent as Lindmer, and Anne-Marie Martin emphatically plays the victimized Lake, but Jessica Walter is a bit too cold and distant as sinister sorceress LeFay, despite her cool, icy stare. Luckily, Paul Chihara's moody electronic score (reminiscent of Goblin's music in Dario Argento films) adds tension to the movie. You can tell the filmmakers were setting up a series that never came, and it's too bad because there was a lot of potential here. [+]

When they say they don't make 'em like they used to, they're talking about 20th Century Fox's exhilarating The Mark of Zorro, starring Tyrone Power as the caped one, Linda Darnell as his love interest, and Basil Rathbone at his scurrilous best as Zorro's nemesis. More textured than the 1920 original with Douglas Fairbanks, this 1940 version has Don Diego/Zorro (Powers) returning from Madrid to defend his father and rally the caballeros (noblemen) against Los Angeles's corrupt new governor (J. Edward Bromberg), intent on taxing the peons to death. If this all sounds like an Old California redo of the classic Adventures of Robin Hood, that's because it is. Powers has a field day as Don Diego, the "fancy clown" betrothed to the governor's niece, Lolita (Darnell). Don Diego the effete snob performs silly parlor tricks, peers through pince-nez, and yawns disdainfully at one and all. Power's cowardly alter ego is so believable, his transformation to masked superhero becomes all the more thrilling. Imagine Captain Pasquale's (Rathbone) shock when, in the film's brilliantly choreographed showdown, this annoying fop turns out to be a world-class swordsman. Director Rouben Mamoulian, known for great period melodramas, does a skillful job of alternating garrison intrigue with big action scenes, including a nighttime ride that climaxes with Zorro on horseback leaping off a bridge. In the romantic highlight, Lolita confides her innermost desires to a suspiciously worldly friar. [+]

Set in the era when China was just beginning to establish relations with Europe, Once upon a Time in China 3 is a mixture of politics, intrigue, broad comedy, and kung fu action. Charismatic Jet Li stars once again as Wong Fei-hung, a legendary Chinese hero who is a doctor, a pacifist, and an amazingly skilled martial artist. Like many Hong Kong films, this movie has a woefully complicated plot: in summary, a kung fu competition not only sparks a bitter rivalry between different martial arts associations, it also becomes the linchpin in an assassination plot. But this leaves out Wong Fei-hung's increasingly romantic relationship with his aunt (played by Rosamund Kwan), the rehabilitation of one of the villain's henchmen, and the introduction of a steam engine to a Chinese factory, among other subplots! Once upon a Time in China 3 is not the strongest in the series-the subtitling is unusually clumsy, the editing is rough, the plot is confusing, and the melodrama is more crudely played than in the other films-but there's still a clear, raw authority to the storytelling that is a hallmark of director-producer Hark Tsui (Peking Opera Blues, Green Snake). Though it seems to have been made in a rush, Once upon a Time in China 3 will still reward devotees of Hong Kong films, and the frequent and wild fight scenes will appeal to action fans. -Bret Fetzer.