Action Movie For The Day - Jack Colton and Joan Wilder return for more fun in THE JEWEL OF THE NILE (1985)

When friends get together....

Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner return as adventurer Jack Colton and romance novelist Joan Wilder in The Jewel of the Nile, the sequel to their smashingly fun film, Romancing the Stone. Danny DeVito also returns as the meddlesome Ralph, a thief who crossed paths with the duo in Stone. Jewel of the Nile is a good if not great follow-up. The action moves from the jungles of South America to the African desert. Still there is plenty of action and humor as the trio still have wonderful chemistry. Douglas handles all the required stuff while Turner is engaging and sexy as ever. Devito gets most of the laughs. Stand-out sequences include a wild chase through the streets of a crowded town and a fight between Jack and a huge African tribesman. Plus you can never go wrong with the catchy theme song, When The Going Gets Tough as sung by Billy Ocean. I dare you to listen to the video below and not hum along.
B-

Jack has that look like..you have got to be kidding me...

The lovely Joan Wilder...

Ralph looking a little pissed...

Jack and Joan having a good time with their new friend Jewel...


The pair escape in a fighter jet....how cool is that

The lovely couple finally tie the knot...

Check out the video below of the theme song....
http://youtu.be/rcqWUSBoH4I

Action Movie For The Day - THE ROCK (1996)

Awesome movie. Sean Connery proves that he's still can kick some ass and Nic Cage is good in his first action role. Plus any movie with a line like "Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and f**k the prom queen" has to be good. The plot has a former marine general (Ed Harris) holding several hostages at Alcatraz Prison until his demands are met. Sean Connery is a former prisoner who successfully escaped from the Alcatraz and goes in with a team of Navy Seals to help diffuse the situation. Nic Cage is on hand as an FBI chemical specialist to handle the bad guys lethal rockets. The Rock is balls to the walls action from the word go.
B+

Ed Harris as General Hummel


Nicolas Cage trying to do the right thing...


Sean throwing down with some major firepower..




I always loved the trailer when the announcer hypes it up by saying.."This summer, Get ready to rock!" Awesome!

Action Movie For The Day - FIRST BLOOD (1982)

Had to go back and watch the original after watching the newest one. And it is amazingly still awesome. In fact, better than I remember. Stallone is perfect as John Rambo, a Vietnam war vet who while traveling cross country gets on the wrong side of a small town sheriff (Brian Dennehy) and his deputies. When the law pushes him, Rambo pushes back--hard. There are so many reasons why this is the best one of the series. I know the new one has way more carnage and blood and all that. But First Blood actually has a good story with great characters. Dennehy is wonderful as Sheriff Will Teasle, a no-nonsense guy who refuses to back down; Richard Crenna as the stoic Colonel Trautman, who comes very close to the William Shatner style of acting, and of course Stallone who delivers all the required muscle and efficency at killing but also provides some good acting. And compared to the new one, he is positively Chatty Cathy for his debut as Rambo. And that terrific music score. One of the best action films ever made. First Blood is awesome. A classic. And has some of the best quotes ever.

B

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Teasle: Are you telling me that 200 of our men against your boy is a no-win situation for us?


Trautman: You send that many, don't forget one thing.


Teasle: What?


Trautman: A good supply of body bags.

Action Movie For The Day - THE LAST SAMURAI (2003)

I know I haven't been posting my action movie for the day in about a week now. Sorry for that. But here to re-start things again is my favorite film from 2003. The Last Samurai.

My personal favorite film from 2003. It came out the same time as the last Lord of the Rings- The Return of the King. And I actually found Samurai to be the better film. With a solid performance by Mr. Cruise, an excellent story, and terrific action scenes The Last Samurai delivers. Ranks right up there with Braveheart and Gladiator.

Action Movie For The Day - THE HIDDEN (1987): A cool, sci-fi flick from the 80's

Cool 80's sci-fi/action flick about a mysterious FBI Agent (Kyle MacLachlan) arriving in LA to track down a serial killer with the help of veteran LA detective Tom Beck (Michael Nouri). But it seems the killer is not who he seems and once the fed lets Beck in on the secret..that they are actually hunting an alien who is jumping from body to body, the fun really begins. For an 80's flick, The Hidden holds up remarkably well. MacLachlan and Nouri make an effective odd couple duo and the action scenes are extremely exciting. A bonus is Claudia Christian as a stripper who is one of the bodies the alien uses for a little bit. She is a sight to behold, looking gorgeous but also deadly as she packs an automatic machine gun with grenade launcher. Car chases, shoot outs, cool music score, and a little humor make The Hidden a winner.

B+
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Man, she is packing some serious firepower..

Doctor: Detective Beck. No one deserves to die like that. I don't care what the man's done.


Cliff Willis: He killed twelve people, wounded twenty three more, stole six cars, most of them Ferraris. Robbed eight banks, six supermarkets, four jewelery stores and a candy shop. Six of the ones he killed he carved up with a butcher knife. Two of them were kids. He did all that in two weeks. If anyone deserves to go that way, it sure in the hell was him.

Action Movie For The Day - DOOMSDAY (2008)

Exciting throwback to the Escape from NY and Mad Max films of old. When a virus breaks out in Scotland, the entire country is quarantined from the rest of the world. Years later when the same virus breaks out in London, an elite unit led by bad ass Eden Sinclair (a tough Rhona Mitra) is sent into Scotland to find a cure. Of course the team runs into survivors of the virus who have become violent and cannibalistic. This film mixes the elements of Escape from NY and Mad Max and throws in some Resident Evil. Mitra kicks ass as Eden. She doesn't say a lot but she can throw down with the best of them. I enjoyed it.

B









 

Action Movie For The Day - DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (1971) Sean Connery returns as Bond after a one film absence

After a one film absence, Sean Connery returns as Bond and it's a nice welcome back. After a solid pre-credit sequence where Bond tears apart casinos and resorts looking for Blofeld, it becomes business as usual. For this mission, 007 goes undercover as a diamond smuggler to find out who has been stealing diamonds out of Africa to use for god knows what. Once again Connery is in top form as Bond, dispensing one liners as quick as he throws punches. Charles Grey makes an okay Blofeld. But Jill St. John is a sight to behold as Bond girl Tiffany Case-beautiful and tells it like it is. Forever has some cool action scenes and a nice change of pace having the film set in America, specifically Las Vegas. Not one of Connery's best Bond films, but it's still pretty good. And look for Natalie Wood's sister Lana as Plenty O'Toole, a fetching Bond girl.

B-


James Bond: "Weren't you a blonde when I came in?"
Tiffany Case: "Could be"
James Bond: "I tend to notice little things like that-whether a girl is a blonde or a brunette".

Action Movie For The Day - DR. NO (1962) - The first James Bond film

The first James Bond film is a good, if not great entry. Sean Connery is perfectly cast as 007. There are no hi-tech gadgets or sensational over-the top action but a simpler adventure which has Bond dealing with bad guy Dr. No. Set in Jamaica this movie is filled with gorgerous scenery and the women are very beautiful. Ursula Andress is drop dead gorgeous as Honey Rider and Zena Marshall as the scheming Miss Taro is quite the beauty also. A fine start for the longest running movie series in history.

B-


Slyvia: "When did you say you had to leave?"
James: "Immediately...almost immediately".






 

Action Movie For The Day: THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT (1996)

You see this is why there should be more women driven action pictures. Women can make credible action heroes just like men, if not better. Geena Davis is awesome as Samantha Cain, a women suffering from amnesia, who is living the quiet life with her young daughter and dating a nice guy. Samantha has hired low rent private eye Mitch Hennessey to solve the mystery of her past. When a man shows up at Samantha's house to kill her, her reflexes takes over and she kills him. It seems Samantha was a former CIA assassin named Charlie Baltimore who was left for dead. Well the bad guys want to finish the job this time and soon Charlie and Mitch are on the run, taking down bad guys left and right. This movie kicks ass and Geena Davis rocks it as the super assassin Charlie. If you thought Uma Thurman was one lethal lady in Kill Bill, you need to check out Charlie. Deadly with her hands and even deadlier with a gun. She mows down the bad guys with lethal efficiency. Samuel Jackson holds his own as the wise cracking detective Mitch, who gets in on the action later on in the movie. They end up making quite the team. I brought up Uma, because Kill Bill seemed to borrow a little of the plot from this film. A wronged lady comes back to exact revenge and to save her little girl. And this film delivers all the action you could want and then some. Loaded with devious bad guys, snappy one liners, awesome gun battles and fight scenes, Long Kiss is a must see. And also has a very cool music score that brings more energy to the already fantastic action scenes. Good selection of songs too. Geena shows she can hang with the big boys Mel, Arnie, Bruce and Sly quite easily. From the writer Shane Black of Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout.
B+



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Mitch Henessey: What I'm saying is, back when we first met, you were all like "Oh phooey, I burned the darn muffins." Now, you go into a bar, ten minutes later, sailors come runnin' out. What up with that?

Action Movie For The Day - LETHAL WEAPON 2 (1989)

This is back before Mel Gibson went off the deep end and was making some good action movies.
Actually one of the rare sequels that tops the original. Bigger action, loads of humor, great villians, and the chemistry between Mel and Danny is solid. The boys take on dirty South African diplomats that is on from the opening chase scene. And by bringing in Joe Pesci, LW2 ups the humor quotient. One of the best sequels and best action flicks ever made.

B+

Murtaugh: "I'm going die on a toilet, aren't I?"
Riggs: "Guys like you don't die on toilets."

Action Movie For The Day - TRUE LIES (1994)

After the dismal action film Last Action Hero the year before, Arnie decided to re-team with James Cameron for the wildly exciting flick True Lies. And all is forgiven as True Lies is awesome. He plays secret agent Harry Tasker who battles terrorists all over the world with his sidekick Tom Arnold. But its a secret life as his wife thinks he's a computer salesman. Jamie Lee Curtis is a hoot as his unknowing wife. Well when the bad guys target Arnie and his family, look out. True Lies is filled with over the top action mayhem such as an exciting shoot-out in a Washington hotel bathroom and then a chase on horseback. And the amazing finale involving some fighter jet action as the bridge running to the Florida keys is demolished. Which carries over to Arnie flying one of the jets and taking out the bad guys in a high rise. Look for Bill Paxton in a funny role as a smarmy car salesman and Eliza Dushku as Arnie's rebellious daughter. Oh and Charlton Heston as Arnie's boss. Good stuff.
B+

 
























And check out this nice pic of Jamie and her little friend

Action Movie For The Day - TAKEN (2008)

Liam Neeson is kick ass ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills who goes on a tear in Paris to find his kidnapped daughter Kim (played by Maggie Grace). She and her friend are vacationing in Paris when they are abducted and forced into prostitution. Mills go ballistic and comes to Paris to find his daughter. He tears through bad guys like a vicious animal that won't stop until his daughter is safe. Liam will remind you of an older Jason Bourne with his lightning fast reflexes and taciturn demeanor. He's all business and very efficent at what he does. Top notch action thriller that delivers. Can't wait for the sequel.

B+


Bryan: I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.



Marko: [after a long pause] Good luck.