Release date: 2004-08-24
Run time: 118 min.
Price: $19.99
Review Gold / Jef Films/Mvd:
Actors & Directors
- Ti Lung
- Jackie Chan
- Chia-Liang Liu
Review The Legend of Drunken Master / Buena Vista Home Entertainment:
Release date: 2004-01-13
Run time: 84 min.
List Price: $44.98
Price: $42.73
Review Detention (2003) (Spanish) / Lions Gate:
Actors & Directors
- Denzel Washington
- Tony Shalhoub
- Bruce Willis
- Edward Zwick
- Annette Bening
- Sami Bouajila
Run time: 125 min.
List Price: $9.98
Price: $39.98
Review Siege (Spanish) (Sub Rpkg) / 20th Century Fox:A high-profile action/exploitation thriller set in the present, The Siege is really a fantasy that extrapolates from major terrorist attacks. Denzel Washington is FBI special agent Hubbard, "Hub" to his friends, whose anti-terrorist task force must track down the terrorist cells responsible for a spate of bombings in New York. His partner is an FBI agent of Arabian extraction (played convincingly by Tony Shalhoub), proving not all Arabs are bad guys-a point the film should be lauded for making again and again. Thrown into the mix is a CIA spy (played almost kittenish at times by Annette Bening), whose ties to the terrorists appear to be at the center of the conflicts. When the bombings escalate out of control, the President institutes martial law, sending in General Devereaux (played with impenetrable countenance by Bruce Willis) with tanks and troops to ferret out the terrorists. Echoes of Japanese-Americans in internment camps ring out as Arabs, including the son of the Arab-American FBI agent, are herded into a stadium. Periodic audio-montages of "man in the street" sentiments anchor the material in the present and show how serious and relevant the material is. But finally what we have is a taut and entertaining popcorn movie, giving itself the humanistic nod when it can. -Jim Gay When a crowded city bus blows up in Brooklyn and a campaign of terror begins to make it's bloody mark on the streets of New York, it's up to FBI special agent Anthony "Hub" Hubbard (Washington) and U. S. [+]Army General William Devereaux (Willis) to find out who's responsible and put an end to the destruction. Together, they face explosive danger at every turn when they team up towage an all-out war against a ruthless band of terrorists.
Actors & Directors
- Harrison Ford
- Greg Kinnear
- Sydney Pollack
- Julia Ormond
- Phillip Noyce
- Nancy Marchand
- John Wood
Price: $39.80
Review The Harrison Ford Collection (Witness, Sabrina '95, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger) / Paramount:When Samuel (Lukas Haas), a young Amish boy traveling with his mother Rachel (Kelly McGillis), witnesses the murder of a police officer in a public restroom, he and his mother become the temporary wards of John Book (Harrison Ford), a detective who's been assigned to solve the crime. After suspect lineups and mug-shot books yield nothing, Samuel, in the most memorable scene of the film, recognizes the murderer as a narcotics agent whose picture he sees in the precinct. Once Book realizes that the police chief is in on it, too, he whisks Samuel and Rachel back home to Amish country, where he himself goes into hiding as a plain Amish man. The juxtaposition between the life of the Amish and the violence of inner-city police corruption work surprisingly well for the story, and Kelly McGillis as the falling in love widow gives an almost perfect performance. Directed by Peter Weir, the film is extremely successful in drawing the viewer into its world and, accordingly, is immensely entertaining. The only thing that mars its polish is the one-dimensional, almost cartoonish handling of the upper-echelon police corruption-a subtler, more realistic treatment of this aspect of the story would have rendered the film near perfect. -James McGrath.
Actors & Directors
- Katherine Heigl
- Morris Chestnut
- Everett McGill
- Eric Bogosian
- Geoff Murphy
- Steven Seagal
Run time: 100 min.
Price: $9.98
Review Under Siege 2: Dark Territory" (in Spanish) / Warner Home Video:The success ofUnder Siege made a sequel mandatory according to Hollywood's rules of maximum revenue, and as sequels go, this one's not half bad. Steven Seagal returns as former Navy SEAL and skilled chef Casey Ryback, who's trying to spend quality time with his niece on a cross-country train trip. But as luck and action-movie formulas would have it, the train has been hijacked by a demented genius (Eric Bogosian) who is using the train as a moving platform to seize computerized control of a top-secret U. S. satellite that is capable of causing earthquakes from space. Seagal has to stop the train or the villain (whichever comes first), and the action is fast and furious on its way to a high-speed climax. He's not as wacky as Tommy Lee Jones in the first Under Siege, but Bogosian has got a delirious quality that serves the comic-book plot, and action fans get more than their fill of dazzling stunts and special effects. -Jeff Shannon.
Actors & Directors
- James Cameron
- Tom Arnold
- Bill Paxton
- Jamie Lee Curtis
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- John McTiernan
- Charlton Heston
Price: $29.98
Review The Arnold Schwarzenegger Collection / 20th Century Fox:We know Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn't take himself too seriously-just see Twins and Jingle All the Way-but let's face it, Ah-nold is at his best when he's kicking butt and dropping cynical smart-ass quips. This set collects five of his most testosterone-driven classics: all action, all the time. The beefiest he-man to flex a bicep in Hollywood was never one for words, and he proved just what a strong, silent type could do as the tough, terse killing machine in The Terminator, the taut little low-budget sci-fi adventure that made his name. When he returned to the part in the high-gloss, effects-laden sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day, he was too much a hero to go back to villain roles, but don't expect a kinder, gentler Arnold: the doomsday battle with his high-tech, quicksilver nemesis is a nonstop barrage of car wrecks, explosions, and knock-down, drag-out pummeling. In Predator he's the flesh-and-blood prey of an alien hunter, turning the tables with good-old-fashioned human ingenuity. Total Recall finds him a Joe Average worker of the future whose destiny brings him to the revolutionary struggle on Mars and unlocks a secret planted deep in his mind-after busting a few heads. In True Lies, Arnold's third film with action movie wunderkind James Cameron, he only pretends to be Joe Average, but under homebody attitude beats the heart of a superspy: James Bond with the physique of Mr. Universe. Together these films complete a portrait of the quintessential Schwarzenegger badass: tough, terse, take no prisoners. And just a hint of a self-effacing wink. [+]-Sean Axmaker.
Actors & Directors
- Anita Mui
- Johnny To
- Michelle Yeoh
- Siu-Tung Ching
- Damian Lau
- Anthony Wong Chau-Sang
- Maggie Cheung
- Woo-ping Yuen
List Price: $45.99
Price: $43.69
Review Michelle Yeoh Action Series / Tai Seng Video Marketing:
Creator: Various Artists
List Price: $9.98
Price: $50.00
Review Hard-Boiled / Fox Lorber:
Actors & Directors
- Henry Hathaway
- Cesar Romero
- Bella Darvi
- Gilbert Roland
- Lee J. Cobb
- Kirk Douglas
Run time: 112 min.
Price: $39.98
Review The Racers (1955) / 20th Century Fox:
Actors & Directors
- George P. Cosmatos
- Richard Crenna
- Charles Napier
- Steven Berkoff
- Julia Nickson-Soul
- Ted Kotcheff
- Sylvester Stallone
- Peter MacDonald
Run time: 293 min.
List Price: $34.98
Price: $36.90
Review Rambo Trilogy (Widescreen Edition) / Live / Artisan:Six hours of monosyllabic John Rambo high jinks, best savored in surround sound (for the bone-rattling explosions) and with your brain on pause (for everything else). Sylvester Stallone's second signature character, after Rocky, a seething ex-Green Beret killing machine, went from Viet-vet victim in the original picture, First Blood, flipping out over the ingratitude of his beloved homeland, to a muscle-bound terminator in Rambo III, mowing down Commies in the deserts of Afghanistan. You should consider bypassing the boxed set in favor of just the middle chapter, Rambo: First Blood Part 2, written by James Cameron and directed by George Pan Cosmotos. It's the most balanced and satisfying of the three films: Rambo is dropped back into 'Nam to rescue some POWs, and the action builds steadily in scale and ferocity. Each fireball seems to be bigger than the last. Of all the recent headbanger action movies, only the first Die Hard offers more bang for the buck. The underrated character actor Richard Crenna (a standout sleazebag in Body Heat), as Rambo's military mentor and staunch defender, is the series' secret weapon, providing some welcome human ballast. -David Chute.
Release date: 1998-04-20
List Price: $4.99
Price: $39.99
Review Bruce Lee: Man the Myth the Legend / Unicorn Video:
Actors & Directors
- Corey Yuen
- Jet Li
- Chuen-Hua Chi
- Damian Lau
- Eric Tsang
- Sung Young Chen
- Jing Wong
Run time: 87 min.
Price: $9.95
Review Legend of the Red Dragon / Sony Pictures:A distraught warrior (the charismatic Jet Li) forces his toddler son to choose between a sword and a wooden horse. If he chooses the sword, together they will fight the corrupt government that killed their family; if he chooses the horse, the warrior will send him to join his mother-in hell. Thus begins The New Legend of Shaolin, a wild Hong Kong fantasy. Though the opening sounds grim, the movie shifts ahead seven years and becomes increasingly comic as its plot unfolds. The story centers around a map tattooed on the backs of five boys; it leads to treasure from the Ming dynasty that a heroic sect hopes to use to reestablish the Shaolin temple, which the government destroyed. Meanwhile, Li is forced by poverty to become the bodyguard of a blowhard merchant, who doesn't realize that his bride-to-be is part of a mother-daughter team of notorious thieves. Meanwhile, a villain deformed by a poison that gives him invincible powers is hunting down the five boys, one of whom is the merchant's son. As is usually the case with Hong Kong cinema, the filmmakers have crammed in enough stuff to fill several ordinary movies. [+]The exaggerated stoic conversations between Li and his 7-year-old son, both of them stone-faced and painfully serious, are extremely funny, as are the bizarre bits when the bride's mother masquerades as a ghost. And on top of all this are at least seven spectacular action sequences that are both comic and exciting. A prime example of the unique joys of Hong Kong pop culture. -Bret Fetzer.
Actors & Directors
- Sam Bottoms
- Makoto Yokoyama
- Masakatsu Funaki
- Fred Williamson
- Bas Rutten
- Alexandra Kamp-Groeneveld
Run time: 92 min.
List Price: $44.98
Price: $39.95
Review Shadow Fury (Spanish) / Lions Gate:
Actors & Directors
- Fred Williamson
- Lou Castel
Review Mr. Mean / Wea-Des Moines Video:
Actors & Directors
- Marisa Pavan
- David Miller
- Roger Moore
- Cedric Hardwicke
- Pedro Armendáriz
- Lana Turner
Run time: 110 min.
List Price: $19.98
Price: $41.99
Review Diane (1956) / MGM (Warner):
Actors & Directors
- George Clooney
- Julia Roberts
- Brad Pitt
- Catherine Zeta-Jones
- Steven Soderbergh
- Ed Kross
Run time: 125 min.
List Price: $58.97
Price: $56.02
Review Ocean's Twelve / Warner Home Video:Like its predecessor Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve is a piffle of a caper, a preposterous plot given juice and vitality by a combination of movie star glamour and the exuberant filmmaking skill of director Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight, The Limey). The heist hijinks of the first film come to roost for a team of eleven thieves (including the glossy mugs of Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, and Don Cheadle), who find themselves pursued not only by the guy they robbed (silky Andy Garcia), but also by a top-notch detective (plush Catherine Zeta-Jones) and a jealous master thief (well-oiled Vincent Cassel) who wants to prove that team leader Danny Ocean (dapper George Clooney) isn't the best in the field. As if all that star power weren't enough-and the eternally coltish Julia Roberts also returns as Ocean's wife-one movie star cameo raises the movie's combined wattage to absurd proportions. But all these handsome faces are matched by Soderbergh's visual flash, cunning editing, and excellent use of Amsterdam, Paris, and Rome, among other highly decorative locations. The whole affair should collapse under the weight of its own silliness, but somehow it doesn't-the movie's raffish spirit and offhand wit soar along, providing lightweight but undeniable entertainment. -Bret Fetzer.
Actors & Directors
- Antonio Fargas
- Jack Hill
- Kathryn Loder
- Peter Brown
- Terry Carter
- Arthur Marks
- Pam Grier
Run time: 275 min.
List Price: $24.96
Price: $75.00
Review The Pam Grier Collection: Coffy, Foxy Brown, & Friday Foster / MGM (Video & DVD):
Actors & Directors
- Joe Lewis
- Chuck Norris
- Isaac Florentine
- Bob Wall
- Joe Lewis
- Isaac Florentine
Run time: 120 min.
List Price: $29.95
Price: $39.95
Review Life and Legend of Bob Wall:Perhaps no man in the history of the martial arts has been as fortunate as Bob Wall. He has trained with the best Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Joe Lewis, and Gene LaBelle. He has taught some of Hollywoods most influencial celebrities from Steve Mc Queen and Elvis Presley to many many more. He was part of Chuck Norris's famous West Coast Team Of Champions and he has become one of the most successful men ever in martial arts. On this DVD/VHS he tells you all from his lessons on life from Chuck Norris and Muhammid Ali, Elvis Presley, and Bruce Lee to his experiences with Jean Claude van Damme and Steven Seagal. But perhaps his biggest claim to fame was his role in Enter The Dragon where he played the evil Ohara. You will see behind the scenes footage, never before seen by the public, watch Bruce and Bob practise the famous spin kick sequence plus loads more that you will just not believe. He talks about the only five subjects Elvis was interested in. How he met Steve McQueen and how good was elvis really. A totally fabulous DVD/VHS that you will watch over and over again just to see the rare footage of his early fights in the 1960's and from the making of Enter The Dragon.
Actors & Directors
- Stanley Tong
- Athena Chu
- Siu-Wong Fan
- Michelle Yeoh
- Rongguang Yu
- Emil Chau
Run time: 109 min.
Price: $39.99
Review Project S / Tai Seng Video Marketing:This popular and beloved film, produced by Tsui Hark and directed by Ching Siu Tung, is a standout in the Hong Kong supernatural-action genre and spawned many sequels and copycats. A Chinese Ghost Story stars Leslie Cheung as Ning Tsei-Shen, a timid and likable tax collector. Looking for a place to stay the night, he comes upon a spooky abandoned temple occupied by a tough Taoist swordsman (Ma Wu). Despite his warnings, Tsei-Shen stays anyway. Later he encounters a beautiful maiden (Joey Wang) who he quickly falls in love with. Unfortunately, she is a ghost who is being forced to trap men for an evil spirit who feeds on their souls. A Chinese Ghost Story has been widely praised for infusing the genre with humor, action, romance, and inventive special effects. Memorable images include an attacking mile-long tongue and a cloak opening to dozens of ghastly decapitated heads. The final battle in hell is said to have inspired scenes in Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness. And the film has its share of homage: A group of crusty zombies are reminiscent of the skeletons in special-effects guru Ray Harryhausen's 7th Voyage of Sinbad-and they are eliminated by Tsei-Shen in comedic slapstick fashion, not unlike the style of Charlie Chaplin. [+]Cheung and Wang are a likeable romantic pair, and Ma Wu creates a hilarious character who breaks out into song and a martial arts dance when drunk. The DVD transfer is topnotch, with the film's misty mood lighting and fluttering gowns appearing layered and crisp. It's a must-see for Hong Kong action film fans. -Shannon Gee Former Miss Malaysia and current butt-kicking Hong Kong action star Michelle Yeoh leaped to international attention costarring alongside Jackie Chan in Supercop. The film was actually the third installment of Chan's successful Police Story series, but that didn't stop cagey producers from turning out Supercop 2 as a solo vehicle for the lean, lithe Yeoh. She travels from mainland China to Hong Kong to "advise" local cops on a Chinese drug lord and discovers Rong Guang Yu (from Iron Monkey and Rock and Roll Cop), her former lover and now the leader of a militia-style gang in partnership with her quarry. Yeoh is in fine form, kicking off the picture with a thrilling close-quarters battle in a high-rise hotel, but the complicated plot of high tech crime, double crosses, and conflicted loyalties strangles the action and slows the film despite such action highlights as an impressive three-man raid on a well-armed criminal den. (Jackie Chan's jokey cameo as a cop in drag doesn't really help matters. ) The film finally regains its energy in an explosive free-for-all bank heist climax, in which the painful English dubbing becomes all but unnoticeable as bullets fly, bodies crunch, and balletic Michelle Yeoh moves like a dynamo. -Sean Axmaker.
| Browse Action Stars:
Models & Brands:
Gold, The Legend of Drunken Master, Detention (2003) (Spanish), Siege (Spanish) (Sub Rpkg), The Harrison Ford Collection (Witness, Sabrina '95, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger), Under Siege 2: Dark Territory" (in Spanish), The Arnold Schwarzenegger Collection, Michelle Yeoh Action Series, Hard-Boiled, The Racers (1955), Rambo Trilogy (Widescreen Edition), Bruce Lee: Man the Myth the Legend, Legend of the Red Dragon, Shadow Fury (Spanish), Mr. Mean, Diane (1956), Ocean's Twelve, The Pam Grier Collection: Coffy, Foxy Brown, & Friday Foster, Life and Legend of Bob Wall, Project STop headlines: Real Estate: Keeping Tabs On 'This Old House': Now in its 28th year, 'This Old House' has helped transform dozens of houses. But what does it really cost to be part of this DIY club? ›17:21 9 Oct, Tue Capital Sources: Mike Huckabee, Unplugged: The former Arkansas governor struggles to raise money, lags behind the GOP presidential front runners in the polls and has been maligned by Bushs former counsel. Why he keeps on keepin on. ›18:16 11 Oct, Thu Border fence blunder: It causes flooding: Flooding caused by a border security fence in southwestern Arizona shows the structure is being built too quickly and without regard for the environment, critics say. ›23:25 25 Aug, Mon Drugs: Meet Mexicos Suspected Queenpin: Sexy, stylish and female. Meet Mexicos unlikely druglord suspect. ›22:00 10 Oct, Wed As Americans fill trains, frustration grows: Looking up at a list of delayed trains at Boston's crowded South Station on a summer afternoon, Peter Pesis asks why passenger trains in the United States are so slow, so crowded and so prone to delays. ›15:58 27 Aug, Wed Car hits Playboy Mansion twice: One man appears determined to crash the party at the Playboy Mansion. ›10:20 McCain touts drilling agenda from oil platform: Republican presidential candidate John McCain visited an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday to call for increased offshore drilling that he claims would lower the cost of food and heating homes. ›20:21 19 Aug, Tue Drugs: Meet Mexicos Suspected Queenpin: Sexy, stylish and female. Meet Mexicos unlikely druglord suspect. ›22:00 10 Oct, Wed Brazil Indian reservation targeted for breakup: The future of Brazil's traditional Indian cultures was under challenge on Wednesday as Brazil's Supreme Court began hearing arguments on whether to break up a vast Amazon reserve. ›22:55 27 Aug, Wed Melting Arctic opens shipping frontier: Rapidly melting ice on Alaska's Arctic is opening up a new navigable ocean in the extreme north, allowing oil tankers, fishing vessels and even cruise ships to venture into a new realm. ›22:28 21 Aug, Thu Merriman to play despite 2 torn ligaments: It appears the Chargers will have their main defensive lightning bolt after all. ›00:54 Feisty puppy scares off bears in back yard: A 15-pound cocker spaniel-poodle mix named Pawlee scared off a mother bear and her two cubs Sunday morning after they strayed into his owners' back yard. ›21:10 26 Aug, Tue Gross: Banks Claim the Credit Crisis is Over. It's Not.: Banks insist their credit problems are over. Why on earth do investors believe them? ›21:31 9 Oct, Tue Court: EPA air pollution rule is illegal: A Bush administration rule barring states and local governments from requiring more air pollution monitoring is illegal, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. ›02:00 20 Aug, Wed 'Mercenary is a Slanderous Term': The founder of Blackwater defends himselfand his company. ›03:32 13 Oct, Sat Bush steps up subpoena fight: The Bush administration is raising the stakes in a court fight that could change the balance of power between the White House and Congress. ›22:22 27 Aug, Wed The 'Dog Whisperer' Wins Another Convert: A few minutes with Cesar MillanTVs Dog Whispererwas all it took to win back a skeptic. ›18:28 10 Oct, Wed Thousands stage anti-war protest march: A column of people three blocks long, led by members of the Iraq Veterans Against the War, streamed from the Denver Coliseum on Wednesday in an anti-war protest march to the Pepsi Center. ›03:12 History buff? Great battlefield tours: The stakes were high, but many wars helped shape civilization as we know it today. History buffs can take battlefield tours to appreciate evocative military sites, from Gettysburg to Waterloo. ›20:41 27 Aug, Wed Can the Youth Vote Save Obama?: With the Hillary juggernaut growing in strength every day, Barack Obama is hoping Iowas youth can help keep him in the game. ›14:47 8 Oct, Mon Book Excerpt: Vegetable Dishes I Cant Live Without: A book excerpt by Mollie Katzen. ›21:49 6 Oct, Sat Hirsh: Democracy's Strange Bedfellows: The champions of democracy often share an overly romantic view of how quickly it can flower in hostile soil. ›16:56 11 Oct, Thu No bull! Cows have a built-in compass: A study of Google Earth satellite images has revealed that herds of cattle tend to face in the north-south direction of Earth's magnetic lines. ›21:46 25 Aug, Mon Doris Lessings Nobel Prize: The unpredictable curmudgeon has written about everything from feminism to sci-fi to cats (twice). ›15:18 12 Oct, Fri |
