Cliffhanger (1993)

One of many movies in the 1990s to benefit from great practical effects complemented by some of the latest CGI (quality may vary, but the best moments are the ones that you don't realise have been manipulated and enhanced with effects in the editing suite), Cliffhanger remains a fantastic star vehicle for Sylvester Stallone, and a fun time for action movie fans.

Stallone is Gabe Walker, a mountain ranger shown in the opening sequence unable to save the life of a woman who falls to her death. That woman was the current squeeze of fellow ranger Hal Tucker (Michael Rooker), which causes no small amount of tension between the two. Some time passes, and it's on to the grand criminal plan at the heart of the plan. A daring plane heist by a dangerous crook named Qualen (John Lithgow) and his gang. With difficult weather conditions and cases of money dropped on the mountain range, Qualen and co. end up calling the local rangers for help, only to then force them into being their personal guides. Gabe and Hal do their best to gain the upper hand, but the odds are stacked against them. Well . . . they would be, if Gabe wasn't played by Sylvester Stallone. Obviously.

Directed by Renny Harlin, Cliffhanger is basically Die Hard on a mountain. It's a very simple, and very silly, action movie. It's also hugely enjoyable, thanks in no small part to the dedication from Harlin and his crew. There's one amazing set-piece in the first third of the movie, a plane to plane crossing performed by Simon Crane, but there's an impressive sense of scale throughout, and an enjoyable variety of threats and obstacles.

As well as having the main role, Stallone also co-wrote the screenplay with Michael France. It may not stand out as something startlingly original, but it's perfectly paced and manages to constantly hit the sweet spot between the maybe remotely plausible and the completely impossible, but very entertaining.

It's the kind of lead role sold as an action star lead role, obviously, and Stallone handles himself capably. Rooker is a decent enough supporting player, and Janine Turner also does well, playing the main female lead on the side of the heroes. On the side of the villains, Lithgow is a blast, getting himself some fantastic dialogue that he delivers with gusto. He cannot compete with others physically, but retains the upper hand with his wits and ability to mercilessly do whatever needs done to find his cash. Rex Linn and Craig Fairbrass have their share of moments, Leon has a memorable encounter with Stallone that doesn't end well, and Caroline Goodall is the one female member of the criminal gang.

You know exactly what you're getting with Cliffhanger, much like many other action blockbusters, and it's pretty much perfect when you're in the right mood for it. Bombastic music from Trevor Jones ensures few quiet moments in between the gunfire, explosions, and yelling, and it's a film best enjoyed on a big screen with a good surround sound system turned up loud.

8/10

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The Drone (2019)

If you're going to watch one movie about a possessed killer drone then it may as well be this one, a film that does a lot better with the premise than, for example, the recent reboot of Child's Play (there are a number of similarities here), and one that generally plays out much better than it probably should.

Neil Sandilands is "The Violator", a man who uses a drone to spy on females before making them his victims. Cornered by the police, the film starts off showing him being killed while holding on to his precious drone. There's an incident, of course, that puts his soul into that of the flying object, which then eventually ends up on the doorstep of a married couple, Chris (John Brotherton) and Rachel (Alex Essoe). That's when things start to get problematic, to say the least.

Directed by Jordan Rubin, who also co-wrote the script with Al and Jon Kaplan, this may not be as obviously hilarious throughout as one of their previous collaborations, Zombeavers, but it once again shows how the group have a real knack for taking a potentially ridiculous premise and managing to navigate the perfect tone throughout. The Drone starts off fairly light, despite a couple of death scenes within the first ten minutes, and it has a sense of mischief that works very nicely as small odd occurrences start to confuse the leads.

Brotherton and Essoe are both excellent in their roles, working well with one another and having a believable chemistry. Although not onscreen for long, Sandilands is allowed to make such a strong impression at the start that he casts a shadow over every minute the drone is present. Anita Briem is a lot of fun as an inappropriately flirtatious neighbour, Rex Linn does a decent enough job as a detective eventually called in to investigate the situation, and Christopher Matthew Cook somehow manages to keep a straight face during scenes in which the drone attempts to communicate with him and show him that he is actually his brother.

If you have read all of this review so far and laughed at the sheer preposterousness of the main premise, fear not. Rubin and the Kaplans are well aware of that. They play everything with a small sheen of self-awareness throughout, not stopping to point out anything in particular, but making the fun characters observe certain things, and allowing the journey to realisation to be littered with small moments of characters balking at the real explanation of events. It's a fine line, and walked well by all involved. The leads are fun and likeable, but the main premise is actually played pretty straight.

It helps that the pacing is perfect. The 82-minute runtime means it doesn't overstay its welcome. You get the set up, you get the occasional deaths, and then you get a second half that starts to build up both the bodycount and the very real threat to the leads.

Far from a perfect film, but kind of perfect entertainment (if you know what I mean). The Drone is recommended if you want a fun distraction that clocks in under an hour and a half.

7/10

Zombeavers (2014)

Rachel Melvin, Cortney Palm and Lexi Atkins are three girls named, respectively, Mary, Zoe and Jenn. They're about to spend a weekend in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Originally envisioned as a weekend of sun, swimming and sex, the plan was changed to exclude any boys after Mary discovered that her boyfriend (Sam, played by Hutch Dano) had been photographed fooling around with some other girl. The boys turn up anyway, of course, with Buck (Peter Gilroy) unable to keep away from Zoe for too long, and Tommy (Jake Weary) easily persuaded to take a trip that will allow him to snuggle up with his partner, Jenn. Unfortunately, the plans they have for the weekend are about to be interrupted by some beavers that have taken a turn for the worse. Hence the title.

When I first saw the trailer for Zombeavers I assumed that it was a joke. A lot of people did. The idea was so ridiculous that nobody could seriously make it into a movie, right? Well, that's exactly the point of the film. It IS ridiculous. And sometimes it's also hilarious.

Fair play to the cast for all going along with the humour of the film. Melvin, Palm and Atkins are three attractive young women who have to keep straight faces once the beaver terror is revealed. Palm is also responsible for any gratuitous nudity, which I'm sure the target demographic audience will be thankful for (and as I'm in that demographic, at least in terms of mental age, I know this to be true). Weary, Dano and Gilroy are all a bit harder to like, but that's not a big problem when everyone onscreen is potential beaver fodder anyway. Rex Linn is a local hunter who looks like he might at least have some decent weaponry to hand, Phyllis Katz and Brent Briscoe are the old couple living in the house nearest to the cabin. They are the only other people within a reasonable distance so you just know that they're also going to run in to some beaver bother. And both John Mayer and Bill Burr provide some laughs playing a couple of guys in a truck who inadvertently cause the whole mess.

The script, by director Jordan Rubin, Al Kaplan and Jon Kaplan, is full of fun lines, references to other movies and a thin coating of self-awareness, and the direction is on a par with any other teen-oriented horror or comedy you can think of. The soundtrack isn't exactly full of great tunes, but that's easily forgotten when you get to the fantastic song that plays over the end credits. Special effects vary from the great (a nasty transformation sequence) to the endearingly silly (the beavers themselves). Other small delights include a nicely animated opening credits sequence, one or two ingenious sight gags, and a final scene that ties in hilariously with the very first scene.

If you choose to watch Zombeavers and end up disappointed then I will be very surprised. Not that it's a GREAT film, by any means, but it certainly doesn't sell itself as anything other than the silly, blood-soaked comedy that it is.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/Zombeavers-Blu-ray-Chad-Anderson/dp/B00P56YGJU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418925590&sr=8-1&keywords=zombeavers

Breakdown (1997)

A quick note for those thinking that some Kurt Russell movies may have been missed on this journey through the filmography of the great man - don't forget that some of the movies have already been reviewed on IMDb and there are also one or two that have been reviewed here in the past (such as Executive Decision, which was reviewed as part of my Seagalathon). And now back to our normal broadcast day.

The long, quiet roads stretching through America have often been used to decent effect in thrillers (most notably, for me anyway, in the sublimely brilliant The Hitcher) and they are once again the setting for tension and unease in this enjoyable movie directed by Jonathan Mostow, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Sam Montgomery.

Kurt Russell plays an everyday Joe, named Jeff (sorry for the confusion there, I should really rewrite that bit, but we all know that I'm not going to now), who is driving on a long and tiresome journey with his wife, Amy played by Kathleen Quinlan. When the car suffers the breakdown of the title, Jeff and Amy are seemingly fortunate enough to be approached by a trucker named 'Red' (the great J. T. Walsh). 'Red' offers them a lift after he's unable to help them get the car started and, after an initial polite refusal, the couple decide that Amy should accept the lift while Jeff waits with the car. Some time later, with no help in sight, Jeff finds the fault with the car, fixes it and gets on his way. He makes straight for the predetermined meeting point, expecting his wife to be there, but finds that nobody has seen her. Jeff tries to consider the possibility that there has been some confusion between him and his wife, but things take a turn for the strange and disconcerting when he sees 'Red' driving along in his truck, gets him to pull over and then hears the man tell him that he's never met him before in his life and has no idea where his wife is. Maybe the car trouble wasn't the worst thing that could happen out on the desolate highways.

Covering a lot of familiar ground, Breakdown may cause a lot of viewers to dismiss it as tired thriller fare that's too derivative and not exciting enough to ever become a top priority in the viewing pile. I have to admit that it doesn't do quite enough to ever become a top priority, but it has a bit more to it to save it from complete dismissal.

First of all, there's the cast. Russell is always great in an Average Joe role and he's exceptionally good here, always believable even as the whole situation gets more and more perplexing. J. T. Walsh never put in a bad turn in his life, at least not that I'm aware of, and gives another fantastic performance here. Quinlan may, understandably, not get as much to do, but she's perfectly fine and the relationship between her and Russell is well sketched out and nicely done. M. C. Gainey, Jack Noseworthy and Rex Linn provide some good support and even every minor character gets enough to do to make themselves somewhat memorable.

Second, we have the direction and story from Mostow. While he's never been a director sitting atop any favourites list, Mostow is a solid talent who can do very good things with the right material. Thankfully, in the shape of the script by himself and Montgomery, this is the right material. He starts everything off in an easily recognisable reality before pushing everything gently, but firmly, into cinematic thriller territory and he has the good sense not to try to turn the everyman hero into Rambo.

Third, we have the actual setting of the film. Those miles and miles of open road. A fine environment when travelling from A to B, but a harsh and scary environment when something goes wrong.

Despite a final reel that goes for a standard "Hollywood" finale, Breakdown does enough to warrant a viewing and may even become one that people find themselves revisiting now and again, when they're in the mood for a thriller that hits all of the right notes while also feeling a bit different from the norm. Fans of Russell and Walsh will most certainly want to give it a try and fans of fun thrillers should do likewise.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breakdown-DVD-Kurt-Russell/dp/B00007LZ6F/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364191037&sr=8-1