Prime Time: Terminal Rush (1996)

It may have taken me far longer than anyone would have expected, but I finally decided to take the plunge and check out a Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson action vehicle. Maybe not one of his best films, as I have now gathered from some other reviews written by those who have seen more of his work, but one of them nonetheless.

Wilson plays a cop named Jacob Harper, with a history that included a very successful spell in the army (of course), who ends up heading in to the Hoover Dam to fight against terrorists that have taken it over. Michael Anderson Jr. plays the main villain, Harrison Dekker, but the bigger treat is that his main henchman is played by ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper.

What this film wants to be, in case you hadn’t guessed already, is yet another riff on Die Hard. One man against a group of terrorists, a main plan that might actually be a distraction from another plan, and some family issues to be solved between the start and end of the movie (although it’s handled here in the most cursory manner). It’s no Die Hard though, and I would have to say that it doesn’t even do a very good job of being a lesser Die Hard wannabe, unlike half a dozen other titles I could mention that you would already be familiar with.

Part of the fault must lie with the director, Damian Lee, and writer, Mark Sevi. The script is weak, few of the characters stand out, and the choreography of the action isn’t that impressive. There is also no good sense of the location, with any geography being thrown out the window to focus on shots that try, and fail, to hide the low budget.

Another main fault is, unfortunately, the leading man. Wilson does okay when he gets to show off his considerable fighting prowess, but he’s not good when required to do some actual acting. You could say that about many action movie stars, and the main thing is really how they handle themselves in the fights, but Wilson is sadly worse than most, mainly due to him also lacking some much-needed charisma. Anderson Jr. and Piper do their bit to help, with Piper the absolute highlight (it’s impossible to not want more screentime for him once you see him take off his sunglasses to reveal black eye make up, like some kind of brilliant Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker gag), but there isn’t really anyone else worth mentioning, although one or two key characters do help to move the plot along.

It moves along at a decent enough pace, tries to keep odds stacked against our hero for most of the runtime, and is elevated every time Piper is front and centre, but I cannot recommend this one. If you are after some action fare that used to fill up the “straight to VHS” shelves then you could do much better than this. Even Wilson fans tend to agree that he has a number of other movies you should prioritise ahead of this one. Maybe I will even get to one of them soon enough. 

4/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

They Live (1988)

Ahhh, good ol' John Carpenter. Despite strong competition from a number of extremely talented people, he remains my favourite director of all time. I've tried to see every feature that he's ever helmed, from Dark Star to The Ward, and I've seen most of his output more than two or three times. In fact, I usually mention Halloween, The Fog or The Thing whenever I am pushed to list any kind of horror movie Top 10. The man has supplied me with an embarrassment of cinematic riches over the years and They Live is yet another.

Based on the short story, "Eight O'clock In The Morning", by Ray Nelson, They Live is a blend of sci-fi, action and horror that tells the tale of a drifter (played by Roddy Piper, the character is never named in the film, but listed as Nada in the end credits, ) who arrives in a city and just wants to get himself a job and then some money in his pocket. He ends up working on a building site with Frank (Keith David) and Frank then shows him a place where he can get a meal and rest his head at night. Times are hard for a lot of people so the kindness is much appreciated. While things start to look up for our lead character it's not long until a complication arises in the form of a pair of sunglasses. Not just any sunglasses. These sunglasses are made from a special material that allows anyone wearing them to see the awful truth. Humans are being kept docile and compliant by an alien race. They use subliminal messages to keep people in their place and the only way to get things back to normal is to find out where the main signal originates from and destroy the source. Thankfully for the human race, our hero is willing to give it a go, but not without some help from a woman named Holly (Meg Foster) and, of course, Frank.

As well as directing and adapting the story for the screen, John Carpenter also supplies another cracking synth score (this time with the help of Alan Howarth) and once again shows how to make the most of every dollar of a film budget. I'm not saying that the movie looks like a blockbuster, or that it's even perfect, but the visuals do a fine job of showing what needs to be shown and giving a sense of the all-encompassing nature of the alien infiltration, thanks to some canny work from the art department and special effects team.

Ex-wrestler 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper does a solid job in the main role. He's not going to get any Shakespearean roles, but he's able to convincingly chew bubblegum and/or kick ass. Keith David is always great and in this movie . . . . . . he's great. Meg Foster has one of the more thankless roles, but she makes quite an impression and holds her own in amongst all the testosterone. Speaking of testosterone, this is the film that has a brawl between Piper and David that seems to go on for half the movie. It starts off as good fun, then gets boring, then gets into thorough overkill territory and then keeps going for so much longer that it becomes good fun again.

As relevant today as it was back in the late '80s, They Live is a film that will always resonate with those who despair at the ever-increasing gap between the poorest sections of society and the richest. The fact that it has supporting turns from Peter Jason, George 'Buck' Flower and Raymond St. Jaques (who may not be as instantly recognisable as the other two, but who gives a great performance) and one of the greatest one-liners in sci-fi horror history just adds to its ability to hit the sweet spot for genre fans.

8/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share