The Strongest Man In The World (1975)

The third, and last, of the Disney "Dexter Riley" movies sees a lot of the same names returning to make another romp that may not be quite as good as the previous two movies but still remains relatively entertaining from start to finish.

Kurt Russell returns as Dexter, Joe Flynn is the Dean once more, Michael McGreevey is Schuyler again and the great Cesar Romero is back to play A. J. Arno. Dexter once again finds himself accidentally benefiting from a happy mistake in the science lab - this time it makes him incredibly strong. So strong that he accidentally breaks his shoe-laces, pulls off door-handles and bends lampposts and such. This amazing discovery leads to one obvious decision being made, the dean approaches a popular breakfast cereal company and agrees to represent them at a televised weight-lifting competition against their main rival.

Vincent McEveety is the director this time around, working from a script by his brother, Joseph L. McEveety, and he keeps things moving along nicely. It's just a shame that the film doesn't have as many enjoyable moments as any of its predecessors. In fact, the group of kids feel as if they're just on the sidelines for most of the time with the focus moving to Joe Flynn having fun as the dean, Phil Silvers as the head of the rival breakfast cereal company and Michael McGreevey being at risk because everyone thinks that he has the details of the formula in his head. Oh, and there is some time spent with A. J. Arno and Cookie (Richard Bakalyan, also returning). But there's very little time actually spent with Dexter, and even less time spent with Dexter AND the gang.

The performances are all well and good, completely in line with the other films featuring these characters, and things never come to a grinding halt but it's not all that exciting either, even when it gets to the big finale of the weight-lifting competition. Perhaps that's due to the knowledge of what happened in the other two movies, perhaps it's due to the knowledge that this is a Disney family movie. Whatever the reason, things wind towards the ending with little sense of excitement and fun. The whole premise feels as if it hasn't been used to its full potential.

Yet don't let the negatives stop you from giving this a watch if it's on the TV and the weather outside is dreadful. There is enough here to make it worth a watch and you almost owe it to yourself to "complete the set" if you've seen any of the other Dexter Riley movies. It's an inoffensive, okay movie. Nothing more and nothing less.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Strongest-World-Region-Import-NTSC/dp/B0000DZTN4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346363021&sr=8-1

Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972)

A fun sequel to the popular Disney film The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, this takes many of the same characters and has fun with some, yep, invisibility.

Kurt Russell is playing Dexter Riley once again and he and his friends are still getting by at school when they're not listening in on the meetings being held by the dean (Joe Flynn, also returning). There's a big science project happening, with students attempting to create something that will win a hefty cash prize for the school, and there's also the return of smooth criminal A. J. Arno (Cesar Romero).

It's a case of "the gang's all here" once again with Russell in the lead role, Robert Butler directing and Joseph L. McEveety handling the writing duties and that's not necessarily a bad film when it comes to undemanding family fare such as this. Kids getting hold of an invisibility formula makes for easy entertainment and Romero plays a great villain. The supporting cast - featuring Joe Flynn, Alan Hewitt, Jim Backus, Michael McGreevey, William Windon, Richard Bakalyan, Joyce Menges and Ed Begley, Jr - all do a good job and they're all likeable enough.

It's light, it's bright and pretty inoffensive and at first I was going to mark the movie down for being a bit . . . . . . . bland. But the more I thought about it, the more I considered what a good time I'd had watching the thing. When Kurt Russell first realises that he's managed to create an invisibility formula it leads to some varied effects and some unbelievable wholesomeness (really, as a teenage boy with an invisibilty formula I know what my first idea would be, sorry but it's true). However, things soon pick up with a great set-piece involving the dean in a game of golf, oblivious to the help that he's receiving. Then it's pretty much non-stop fun as things move towards an extended chase sequence in the third act.

Okay, if you're cynical or just not in the right mood for this film then you can easily pick it apart and sneer at the way in which it aims to just amuse and entertain the whole family but I must have been in the right, receptive, frame of mind for it because I was kept entertained throughout.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Now-Dont-Region-Import-NTSC/dp/B0000DZTN0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345847209&sr=8-1

The Barefoot Executive (1971)

Ahhhh, those innocent and happy days when fresh-faced Kurt Russell was a big star for the Disney studio and it was okay to laugh at chimpanzees dressed up and being amusingly near-human. Alright, it's easy to look at these Disney movies from the past now and dismiss them as nothing more than time capsules full of some dubious content choices but I have to admit that, putting aside the whole humanised monkey aspect of the thing, I enjoyed this film quite a bit.

Kurt Russell plays Steven Post, a young mail delivery boy (Post! Delivery boy! See what they did there?) who wants to further his career with the TV network that he works for. Nobody else thinks he's capable of this but he finds a golden opportunity landing in his lap when his girlfriend (Heather North) ends up looking after a chimpanzee and that chimpanzee shows an uncanny, and unfailing, ability to pick the top rated TV shows. Armed with this information, Steven starts to make a name for himself but everything relies on people not realising that the programming is being picked by a monkey.

It runs for just over 90 minutes, it has a chirpy song over the main titles, Kurt Russell is as likeable as ever and there's a cute monkey. Yes, this adds up to easily enjoyable Disney fare. The supporting cast also features Joe Flynn, Harry Morgan, Wally Cox and a young John Ritter and they're all entertaining in their roles.

The screenplay by Joseph L. McEveety is pretty simple stuff and the direction from Robert Butler is decidedly average but the movie doesn't suffer because of these things. It's a simple film, one that doesn't need any major flourishes to keep things moving along nicely, and it's something that remains very easy to spend some time with even in this day and age of ever-increasing channels, decreasing viewing figures (barring the major, "unmissable" events it's obvious to most people that greater and greater choice has led to a decrease in the quality of programming and a more fractured audience share for big companies) and the knowledge that at least some of the programming for TV nowadays IS being picked by monkeys, surely.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Barefoot-Executive-Region-Import-NTSC/dp/B00077BPF0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1344952782&sr=8-2

The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969)

It's another Disney movie starring a young Kurt Russell but this time around he gets a starring role, and a superb job he does with it too.

Russell plays Dexter, a typical high school teen who has a good heart but doesn't apply himself as well as he should. One day he ends up in an accident involving water and a computer (nothing too harmful, this is a Disney movie in which mild electrocution is just a fright as opposed to something potentially fatal) and from then on he is supersmart. He has somehow absorbed the abilities of the computer, much to the great pleasure of his Dean (Joe Flynn). Now he can travel the world and promote the school. He can also pick winners at the horse racing, much to the pleasure of crooked A. J. Arno (the great Cesar Romero). It's not long before the thoughts of just how Dexter's knowledge can be used put him in danger and it's up to his old friends to help save him from being unplugged.

Now I know that this movie can divide opinion. A lot of people can't help but view it with nostalgic fondness while others view it as typical, overly sweet, Disney fare from the era. I never actually saw this when I was a kid so this was my first viewing and I STILL really liked it. Oh, there's no denying that it IS typical, overly sweet, Disney fare from the era but it's also brisk entertainment from start to finish and great family fun.

The cast are all fantastic. Russell excels in the title role and the supporting cast - Joe Flynn, Cesar Romero, William Schallert, Alan Hewitt, Richard Bakalyan, Debbie Paine, etc - all do well with the material, written by Joseph L. McEveety.

Director Robert Butler keeps everything ticking over nicely, after an awful opening credits sequence (the title song is still something that I am trying to scrub out of my mind), and the film has a great mix of breezy fun, mild tension in places and, of course, life lessons.

I was going to end this review by explaining how the film works better as a mix of sheer entertainment and also a bit of a "time capsule", I was going to say that the movie doesn't stand up when compared to modern family movies but that it is still a bit of fun you could happily watch on a rainy afternoon. Then I realised that I was about to lie. The film may have that "time capsule" element to it but it also easily stands up alongside any other family movie you could choose to watch. There will, of course, be some better than this movie but there will also be a lot that just aren't as much fun. This is, thanks largely to the cast and the high concept, a solid piece of entertainment.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/The-Computer-Wore-Tennis-Shoes/dp/B00007GZZT/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341996393&sr=8-1&keywords=the+computer+wore+tennis+shoes