ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 19, 1996 TAG: 9610220059
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: It came from the vidoe store
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO
This week, the subject is action - five films, new and old, that hit most of the high spots in the popular, multifaceted genre.
Not to be confused with the current Bruce Willis theatrical release, 1995's ``Last Man Standing'' is a near-perfect video action flick. The first reel alone may set a record for shattered glass and exploding vehicles - and these aren't the usual junker Yugos and Pintos. We're talking about BMWs and 'Vettes that crash and burn gloriously. (Like most moviegoers, I love to see the destruction of cars more expensive than mine.)
Honest detective Kurt Bellmore (Jeff Wincott) and his banker wife (Jillian McWhirter) go up against corrupt cops and vicious crooks led by the despicable Snake Underwood (Jonathan Fuller). Veteran director Joseph Merhi keeps things moving at a machine-gun pace with some terrific stunt work. If the cast lacks star power, all the leads do fine work, and the whole film is a lot more enjoyable than many of its big-screen counterparts. Think Michael Mann's "Heat" on amphetamines.
Video schlockmeister Fred Olen Ray has come up with an overachiever with ``Fugitive Rage,'' a hybrid revenge/women's-prison flick. Two reasons: (1) some snappy dialogue in Dani Michaeli and Sean O'Bannon's script, and (2) a gritty performance by Wendy Schumacher in the lead. She's Tara McCormick, who takes matters into her own hands when mobster Tommy Stompanato (Jay Richardson) is found not guilty of her sister's murder. Toward the end, the action becomes unfocused and cliched, with the obligatory sex/shower scene, but this one's still a cut above the usual exploitation fare.
Though the box copy compares ``Hard Justice'' to John Woo's action films, it's little more than a slickly made gun movie about guys with bulging muscles and large-caliber weapons. Most of the story is set in a prison where ATF agent Nick Adams (David Bradley) goes undercover. Cult star Charles Napier is the evil warden. Overall, the production values are excellent, the acting is so-so, and the fight choreography is about average.
``Without Mercy'' makes no sense. That's not to say it isn't enjoyable as a bad action flick. Frank Zagarino is a Rambo-esque soldier who's traumatized in Somalia and then goes to some unnamed Asian place where he becomes a prize fighter. He gets hooked up with bad guy Martin Kove who's doing something nasty, apparently involving slavery, but I couldn't figure it out. The dialogue is no help there. It contains such inscrutable lines as, "Be careful, little Tonya, you're sitting on too many edges of the fence." I'm not sure what that means, but it doesn't sound comfortable. The shootout scenes are clumsy. The martial-arts choreography is better.
Finally, moving to the older releases at the back of the video store, we find ``Reservoir Dogs.''
Quentin Tarantino's directorial debut is still a shocker. It's not the plot - a simple story about a botched diamond robbery - it's in the elliptical way Tarantino chooses to tell the story. For better and for worse, it's a rough draft of "Pulp Fiction" with more blood-smeared characters in black suits, incessantly profane dialogue, tortuously extended conversations, sudden violence and that weird mix of emotional intensity and bizarre humor. What's lacking is the final element that made "Pulp Fiction" a hit - redemption by grace. Superb performances from an ensemble cast led by Harvey Keitel.
Next week: Horrors, Part 1, and finding hard-to-find videos!
Got a question about home video or film? Contact your favorite video columnist at P.O. Box 2491; Roanoke 24010-2491, or by e-mail at 75331.2603@compuserve.com
New releases this week
The Arrival *** 1/2
Starring Charlie Sheen, Ron Silver, Teri Polo, Lindsay Crouse. Directed by David Twohy. LIVE. 103 min. Rated PG-13 for violence, strong language.
One key to good science-fiction is balance: the proper mix of seriousness, hard science, spooky stuff and pure hokum. This one's right on the money. It's an alien-invasion tale driven by the same paranoia that's made "The X-Files" such a hit on TV, with some really creative special effects, good characters and a suspenseful story. Great stuff for fans.
- Mike Mayo
Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood **
Starring Marlon and Shawn Wayans. Directed by Paris Barclay. Buena Vista/Miramax. 86 min. Rated R for strong language, comic violence, sexual material, nudity.
Parody isn't supposed to be subtle, and the Wayans don't pull any punches in this send-up of every popular black-oriented drama of recent years, with John Singleton's "Boyz 'N the Hood" and "Poetic Justice" getting special treatment. They also take aim at other movies and racial hotspots.
- MM
Multiplicity ** 1/2
Starring Michael Keaton, Andie Macdowell. Columbia TriStar. 117 min. Rated PG-13
Keaton is very funny as himself, himself, himself and himself. He's a contractor who gets himself cloned when the demands of work and family become too much; his wife (Macdowell) just thinks he's developing a split personality. The gag is funny, but executed without much imagination. Still, Keaton makes it worthwhile. 117 min.
- Katherine Reed
The Essentials:
Last Man Standing ***1/2 PM Entertainment. 96 min. Rated R for graphic violence, strong language, brief nudity and sexual content.
Fugitive Rage ** 1/2 A-Pix. 98 min. Rated R for graphic violence, nudity, sexual content, strong language.
Hard Justice ** 1/2 New Line Home Video. 95 min. Rated R for graphic violence, strong language.
Without Mercy ** LIVE. 88 min. Rated R for violence, strong language, sexual content.
Reservoir Dogs *** LIVE. 99 min. Rated R for graphic violence, strong language.
LENGTH: Long : 113 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Marlan Wayans (left) plays Loc Dog, Shawn Wayansby CNB(vcenter) is Ashtray and Chris Spencer is Preach in "Don't Be a
Menace to South Central while Drinking Your Juice in the Hood."