Categorie archief: Films

Death Race

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Written by: Paul W.S. Anderson
Cast: Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Ian McShane, Tyrese Gibson

Year / Country: 2008, USA, Germany, UK
Running Time: 106 mins.

Death Race is supposed to be a remake of Death Race 2000, a Roger Corman produced cult gem from the seventies. While there is certainly resemblance; it is all about a gladiator-like futuristic car race, there are many differences as well. Death Race 2000 was a cynical, humoristic and over the top look at the future, while Death Race doesn’t seem to be more than a straightforward action flick. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, the target audience just might be a little different.

In 2012, a financial crisis threw the Western world into chaos. Jensen Ames (Statham) is an ex-racer who is framed for murdering his wife. In jail he has to replace legendary driver Frankenstein in the internet hit ‘Death Race’. While Ames makes a great Frankenstein, the real monster is warden Hennessey (Joan Allen) who directs the deadly race to make a killing from the broadcasting. But Ames is not one to simply play ball. He has an escape-plan to execute, a conspiracy to solve and enemies to exterminate.

The plot is very predictable, but the concept works well enough to forgive the film this flaw. It seems that in every movie director Anderson directs, he does one thing extremely well and a lot of other things very wrong. In this movie it is the action that blows off the screen. The internet streaming footage is also fabulous. His writing skills leave a lot to be desired though. This is mainstream Hollywood work.

Statham has become quite the badass action star. I preferred David Carradine in the Frankenstein role in the original, but Statham is nevertheless okay. However, Tyrese Gibson is a lousy replacement for Machine Gun Joe. Watching Sylvester Stallone in that part was a thousand times cooler, though it is not entirely Gibson’s fault. The script doesn’t give him much to work with. In the acting department, there is great support from Joan Allen as queen bitch and Ian McShane as Ames’ biggest supporter.

That leaves one comment to be made; the ending is excruciating. But since the largest part of the film is about racing, this movie can be called a modest success. It is certainly the best thing Anderson has done in years.

Rating:

Biography: Paul W.S Anderson (1965, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK) gained some notoriety in his native England with his ultra-violent feature debut Shopping in 1994. Its relative success allowed him to direct action / sci-fi films in Hollywood, including the financially successful Mortal Kombat. In 2002 he resurfaced another video game adaptation, Resident Evil. He next was given the helm for the long-awaited film adaptation of the popular Dark Horse comic book, AVP: Alien Vs. Predator.

Filmography (a selection): Shopping (1994), Mortal Kombat (1995), Event Horizon (1997), Soldier (1998), The Sight (2000, TV), Resident Evil (2002), AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004), Death Race (2008), Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), The Three Musketeers (2011), Resident Evil: Retribution (2012), Pompeii (2014), Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016), Monster Hunter (2020)

A Bullet for the General

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Damiano Damiani
Written by: Salvatore Laurani (story), Franco Solinas (adaptation)
Cast: Gian Maria Volonté, Klaus Kinski, Martine Beswick, Lou Castel

Year / Country: 1966, Italy
Running Time: 113 mins.

Zapata Westerns are a subgenre of the Spaghetti Western. They deal with political themes and play against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution between around 1910 and 1920, the years of the famous Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, after whom the genre is named. Famous examples include; Sergio Curbucci’s Companeros and The Mercenary, and Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dynamite. A Bullet for the General is an early contribution to the genre and is regarded as one of the best.

It deals with a group of cutthroat bandits, led by El Chuncho (Volonté). Their job is to steal guns for the revolutionary general Elias. During a violent train raid, they pick up young American Tate (Castel), who they take along with them as a welcome addition to their crew. What they don’t know is that Tate is secretly an assassin hired by the Mexican government to kill Elias with the golden bullet he carries with him.

Starring two actors familiar in the Spaghetti Western genre, namely the man with the characteristic laugh Gian Maria Volonté (Ramón Rojo in A Fistful of Dollars and El Indio in For a Few Dollars More) and, Klaus Kinski (The Great Silence, and also For a Few Dollars More), it became extremely popular in Europe, though butchered for both political and content reasons in overseas markets. The film makes many references to the Vietnam War. The character Tate for example is meant to represent the CIA’s interventions in Latin America.

A Bullet for the General is a fiesta with guns. Composer Luis Enriquez Bacalov (Django, Il Postino, Kill Bill) has provided a cheerful musical score, while El Chuncho and his bandits kill more Mexicans than the Wild Bunch. This is how a revolution works; misery and death contrast with joy and celebration. It is only difficult to sympathise with these hard characters. My general thought during the movie was therefore; ‘so, let’s kill this general and get it over with.’ A lot was made up by the excellent action and production design, and the final scene also delivers some heartfelt (and needed) emotion.

Rating:

Biography: Damiano Damiani (1922, Pasiano, Italy) is an Italian screenwriter, director and actor. He won awards for several of his films, such as the Mafia drama The Pizza Connection. In the eighties he also made the renowned mini-series La Piovra (The Octopus) about a prosecutor’s battle with the Mafia. This successful series ran for eight series on RAI Uno and turned out to be one of Italy’s best selling series abroad.

Filmography (a selection): The Hit Man (1960), Lipstick (1960), The Empty Canvas (1963), Strange Obsession (1966), A Bullet for the General (1966), The Day of the Owl (1968), The Most Beautiful Wife (1970), How to Kill a Judge (1974), A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975), Goodbye and Amen (1977), A Man on His Knees (1978), The Warning (1980), The Octopus (1984, mini-series), The Pizza Connection (1985), The Inquiry (1986), Massacre Play (1989), Angel With a Gun (1992), Killers on Holiday (2002)

The Great Silence

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


Director: Sergio Corbucci
Written by: Mario Amendola, Bruno Corbucci, Sergio Corbucci, Vittoriano Petrilli
Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus Kinski, Frank Wolff, Luigi Pistilli

Year / Country: 1968, Italy / France
Running Time: 101 mins.

A spaghetti western in the snow? Now that is distinctive and that’s exactly what The Great Silence is. Besides its Fargo-like landscape, the ending is another element that sets it miles apart from its contemporaries. You definitely don’t see that one coming!

Director Sergio Corbucci clearly has a political streak, as he already demonstrated in earlier films and does again here. The misuse of the law by populists to eliminate the people they hate forms the core of the story. That said, Corbucci never neglects style. Right from the opening – a brutally bloody ambush shoot-out in the snow – it’s obvious this is going to be a kick-ass western. Corbucci’s films are certainly comparable to Sergio Leone’s, only with more blood, grit, and brains splattering across the screen.

Storywise, The Great Silence is essentially a revenge movie. The ‘Silence’ of the title is a mute ranger who hunts the vulturous bounty killers profiting from the ‘dead or alive’ law of the time. Silence always provokes his enemies into drawing first, ensuring the law can’t touch him. The truly ‘great’ character, however, is Tigrero, played by the terrific Klaus Kinski. This evil, weaselly bastard is impossible not to love to hate, and he alone already lifts the film above the average B-western. Beautiful cinematography and Ennio Morricone’s haunting score do the rest.

Rating:

Biography: Sergio Corbucci (1926, Rome – 1990, Rome) was, alongside Sergio Leone, one of the most prominent directors of spaghetti westerns. Born and raised in Rome, Corbucci played a crucial role in popularizing the genre, particularly through his iconic films Django (1966) and The Great Silence (Il Grande Silenzio, 1968). He frequently collaborated with actor Franco Nero, crafting memorable characters and stories that helped define the genre’s unique style. His B-movies are characterized by brutal violence, surrealist and apocalyptic production design, black humour and politically left symbolism. Corbucci was a fanatical Marxist and many of his films show the hopelessness of the revolution. He kept working in Italy throughout his career and most of his films were barely released abroad. He died in Rome in 1990.

Filmography (a selection): Foreign Earth (1954), Water’s Love (1954), Supreme Confession (1957), Angel’s Sky (1957), Duel of the Titans (1961), Toto, Peppino and La Dolce Vita (1961), The Son of Spartacus (1963), Grand Canyon Massacre (1963), Django (1966), Navajo Joe (1966), The Mercenary (1968), The Great Silence (1968), Compañeros (1970), Bandera Bandits (1972), The White, the Yellow, and the Black (1975), The Payoff (1978), Super Fuzz (1980), My Darling, My Dearest (1982), Days of Inspector Ambrosio (1988)

Predators is geen Aliens…

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

…maar wel een vermakelijke actiefilm. In dit vervolg op het origineel uit 87’ neemt een groep strijders het op tegen drie pussyfaces op een tropische planet ver ver weg. Op de meesterlijke actie-horror Predator is nooit een echt goed vervolg verschenen. Deel 2 uit 1990 begon aardig, maar verzande al snel in een wat saai sci-fi avontuur. De afschuwelijk beroerde Alien Versus Predator films moeten we het maar helemaal niet over hebben.

Producent Robert Rodriguez en regisseur Nimród Antal (Vacancy) wilde met Predators voor Predator maken wat Aliens destijds was voor de originele Alien. Hier slagen ze gedeeltelijk in. Ze hebben een aardige cast bij elkaar gehaald die zeer overtuigend zijn in hun stoere rollen. Zelfs gratenpakhuis Adrien Brody doet het heel aardig als aanvoerder van de bende. Tuurlijk is hij geen Schwarzenegger, maar wie is dat wel? Andere mooie rollen zijn weggelegd voor Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Oleg Taktarov, Danny Trejo, Louis Ozawa Changchien en Mahershalalhashbaz (spreek uit ma-hershalal-hash-baz) Ali. De showstelers zijn echter Laurence Fishburne, wiens karakter zich al 10 seizoenen op de alienplaneet schuilhoud, en Walton Goggins (Shane uit The Shield).

Qua actie heeft de film aardig wat te bieden. Een scene in het begin waarin bloeddorstige Predator-honden de groep aanvallen mag er zijn en ook een aantal 1 op 1 gevechten later in de film zijn zeer aardig neergezet. Toch valt het aantal echt memorabele scènes en dialogen wat tegen vergeleken met de klassieke Predator. Dit is natuurlijk geen verrassing. Zo’n unieke groep macho spierbundels krijg je nooit meer bij elkaar (The Expendables is een ander verhaal) en het momentum van een dergelijke film voor de eerste keer maken is onmogelijk te forceren. Maar de echte liefhebbers van sci-fi actie, waaronder ikzelf, komen met Predators goed aan hun trekken.