Four Brothers: A Thanksgiving Classic

 

It's Thanksgiving week, the holiday nestled  between Halloween and Christmas, that is kind of acknowledged and then quickly moved on from. Just like in real life Thanksgiving action movies are few and far between. However, even though competition is minimal, there is one movie that deserves the crown as the best action Thanksgiving movie ever.

I'm talking about 2005's Four Brothers. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Andre 3000, Tyrese, and Garrett Hedlund. With Tajiri P. Henson, Sofia Vegara, Terrance Howard, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Josh Charles rounding out the supporting cast. The four stars play Brothers hell bent on investigating and avenging the murder of their adopted mom.

Set around the holidays, the film touches on three pillars that Thanksgiving stands on. Family, although they are not blood related they were raised together under the same roof by the same woman and ARE family. They bicker, argue, and play fight with one another as brothers do. Thankfulness, the four are all grateful for one another during the trying time.

Grief, those first holidays after losing someone close to you are tough. The Thanksgiving scene highlights how much each of them miss their mother and the warmth, comfort, and steadiness she bought to their lives.

The movie has an important message about brotherhood and family. It wouldnt be as beloved as it is, if not for the action scenes as well. For the record Chiwetel Ejiofor's Victor Sweet is still a effective but highly underrated villain. 

He was ruthless, condescending, but had personality. I wish he was included more in the film. The there's the shootout at the family's house, that is heartwrenching and a damn good action scene.

The almost seven minute scene is thrilling, really has you concerned about the Brothers safety. And it shows how much they really care about one another. It really sets the tone for the rest of the movie and drives home that emotional stake for the brothers.

Some consider the film a cult classic, but I consider it a modern classic. And now that I've got the wheels spinning in your head, it's a Thanksgiving classic. So get some dessert of your choice on Turkey day (skip that pumpkin pie). Turn on the movie and enjoy the lessons the movie provides.

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Five Criminally Overlooked Adventure Movies

 

Following up on my recent blog about action adventure film's missing in Hollywood's slate these dates. I started thinking about the classics of that genre, as well as film's that are very good in their own right. However, for whatever reason it just did not connect with the audience, and have been lost in the realm of endless amounts of entertainment. So with that here are five overlooked action adventure film's that deserve more love.

5. The Phantom

The Phantom is a 1996 film starring Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Treat Williams. It's based on the pulp comic strip, following Billy Zane as the hero who has followed a 400 year family tradition to withhold justice as "The Phantom". He's racing against Treat Williams and crew for the macguffin, The Skulls of Touganda three skulls made of different raw material which provides it's holder with immense power.

The film has some corny dialogue and Zane may not have been the right guy for the leading man role, but it's structure and concept are straight adventure films. It features shootouts, sword fights, fist fights, dangerous bridges and everything else you'd look for in a an adventure movie. While similar films like The Shadow have gained popularity over the years, it's sad The Phantom is still overlooked.

4. Zathura: A Space Adventure

The 2005 film Zathura is based on the 2002 book of the same name, which is considered a "sequel" to the Jumanji book. Starring Tim Robbins, Dax Shephard, Josh Hutcherson, and Kristen Stewart in one of her earlier most famous roles. It follows the same premise as Jumanji instead of a board game based in the jungle, this one is based on space game. With all the action taking place in the main character's home, and it has been uprooted to space. 

The main characters fight off meteor showers, aliens, and other space related road blocks, they also learn about sibling relationships in the process. The film wasn't a box office success upon it's debut and has suffered the same fate going on 20 years later of being overlooked. Which is a shame as it's a rather imaginative movie featuring a lot of practical effects, and should be given a chance. 

3. Tomb Raider-2018

This updated take on the Tomb Raider film's from the early 2000's was released in 2018. Starring Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, and Walter Goggins. This film is an origin story for Lara Croft as such it stands apart from the Angelina Jolie led film's. Lara is not a formidable fighter or tomb raider just yet, and has to learn as she goes along. While learning there is more to her father Lord Richard Croft and his company than she previously was aware of.

There's some good archery skills displayed in this film. Globe trotting, and of course the usual macguffin that causes the globe trotting. Alicia Vikander hold's her own as Lara, and really grows into her role as the film progresses. It is a more realistic and gritty approach to the tomb raider world and maybe that's why people shied away from it. Which is disappointing, as they truly missed out a newer gem in the action-adventure genre. 

2. Prince of Persia

Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time was released in 2010 and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Alfred Molina, Ben Kingsley, and Gemma Arterton. Based on the video game series of the same name, it was a deliberate attempt by Disney to follow the same model as Pirates Of The Caribbean and create a new film franchise. Unfortunately thing's did not go as planned, with one contributing factor likely being the whitewashing of the cast. Something Hollywood continues to struggle with to this day with films.

Outside of that, the movie had an entertaining plot, effects, and action sequences. Complete with sword fights and chases throughout the streets of Persia. The box office returns were ok, and critics even admitted it had a few flaws but was one of the better video game adaptations. Many can agree Gyllenhaal may not have been right for that role, and that became the main story of the film. Don't listen to the naysayers, if you've never seen it give it a shot.

1. Adventures of TinTin

Based on the French comic strip, 2011's Adventures of TinTin was intended to be the first film in a trilogy series. With each film in the trilogy directed by separate high profile directors, Steven Spielberg directed the first one, while Peter Jackson was slated for the second one. I don't remember who the third director was supposed to be. The film was all CGI and starred Jamie Bell as TinTin, Daniel Craig as Ivan Sakhraine, and Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock. Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, and Toby Jones are other well known actors who rounded out the cast.

The film starts off with a bang and only picks up from there, never truly slowing down even when advancing the plot. Since it is an animated film, the action stakes are a little higher and the characters travel around the world with more ease. Resulting in several exciting chases including an airplane chase. The movie did alright at the box office, was revered by critics and actually was nominated and won several awards. Unfortunately it did not connect with audiences, and as such did not receive the popularity that it should.

Make no mistake about it, if you like a good adventure film and have not yet seen this movie. make it an priority like today to watch it.

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1993 A Great Year For Action Films

 

Happy New Year Everyone! Since 2023 is now here, I was doing a bit of research to celebrate film anniversaries on my IG page (@storybyb). In doing so I realized 1993 was a hell of a year for the action genre in films. The list of films released that year in all qualities and budget levels is actually quite impressive. To make reading the article a bit easier, I've broken the films down into categories.

Put That Work In

Both Wesley Snipes and Jean-Claude Van Damme were at the top of their respective games in the 90's. 1993 was a good year for both, Wesley showed his acting chops a bit more and Van Damme showed off his martial arts prowess. Wesley starred in three films, one we'll cover later but he starred in Rising Sun with Sean Connery and Boiling Point against Dennis Hopper.

Van Damme not to be outdone used the momentum from '92's Universal Soldier and starred in Hard Target directed by John Woo. In addition he starred in Nowhere To Run alongside Patricia Arquette. These roles carried him into '94 for some of his more well known roles.

B-Movies  

B-Movie classic Sniper starring Tom Berenger and Billy Zane which has spawned a series of follow up films in the franchise. The film spawned 8 follow ups and the latest movie Sniper: Rogue Mission (now playing on Netflix) was actually very enjoyable.

Blown Away starring the two Corey's Corey Haim and Corey Feldman and Nicole Eggert. Corey Haim starts dating Nicole Eggert's character and gets entangled in a whole web of murder and deceit. 

A little known movie called Josuha Tree or One Man Army depending on the market etc. starring He-Man himself Dolph Lundgren. It has all the B-movie ingredients random action scenes, random nudity, and a plot that makes some sense but at times doesn't. For those of you who have never heard of it, here's the trailer.

Tae-Bo founder Billy Blanks when he was still trying to make a dent in the Hollywood scene starred in Showdown. Which is clearly a Karate Kid rip-off but actually may have been an inspiration for Never Back Down fifteen years later. Billy Blanks also starred in another B-movie that year alongside pro wrestling legend Roddy Piper, Back In Action.

Another martial arts film  Magic Kid this time starring Ted Jan Roberts of Masked Rider fame. He's a kid visiting LA with his sister and staying with their uncle. Their uncle is in some trouble with local gangsters, and he must be saved by his nephew who just wants to meet his hero while in town Don "The Dragon" Wilson. 

Action Thrillers

Judgment Night an underrated gem of a movie in my opinion. The film stars Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jeremy Piven, Stephen Dorff. The four friends take a wrong turn off the highway and come across a dangerous gang led by Denis Leary. They become the hunted on the run along a Chicago neighborhood.

The Pelican Brief  based on a book by John Grisham and starring Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts. Roberts is a law student on the run who needs assistance from Denzel Washington after she uncovers some information about the assassination of political figures.

Striking Distance Bruce Willis is a Pittsburgh cop on river patrol. Several recent young ladies are murdered all with connections to him. Along with his partner Sarah Jessica Parker they set out to find the killer and the connection.

In The Line Of Fire Another political action thriller, this one starring Clint Eastwood. Rene Russo, John Malkovich and Dylan McDermott. Eastwood is a secret service agent still haunted by his failure to protect President Kennedy from assassination 30 years earlier, now he's being taunted as the current president is the next target.

The Fugitive based on the 60's TV show, Tommy Lee Jones is a U.S. Marshall hot on the trail of Harrison Ford who has been accused of murdering his wife. While he's on the run, Ford is searching for the real killer. 

Falling Down starring Michael Douglas as a man who has a  real shitty downward spiral one day (which actually is a prime example of white male fragility gone wrong) released in February of that year. 

True Romance written by Quentin Taratino and directed by Tony Scott. The film stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as two lovers on the run from damn near everybody after accidentally stealing some drugs. 

Personal Favorites

The Meteor Man starring Robert Townsend and a host of who's who in Black Hollywood in the early 90's. Next to another one of my favorites The Last Dragon, Meteor Man is one of the earliest memories I have of a Black superhero saving the neighborhood.  By the way Amazon still waiting on that Meteor Man cartoon. 

Another one of my personal favorites Only The Strong starring Mark Dacasos who should have been an bigger martial arts film star in my opinion. The movie is another clearly inspired Karate Kid film with some dash of Stand and Deliver. The movie introduced me to the Brazilian martial arts style capoeira and the infectious battle chant.

While on martial arts Oh boy, how could I forget Surf Ninjas? Starring Ernie Reyes Jr, Tone-Loc, Kelly Hu, Rob Schneider, and Leslie Nielsen. During this time I was at the height of my martial arts/ninja craze so this movie fit right in. Following two brothers and their motley crue of friends and allys on the run from some not so dangerous ninjas out to get them. It's silly, contains a lot of low brow and slapstick humor, and not the best of movies but damn it's a ride. 

Hell 1993 even bought us the often criticized, still decent but flawed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III.

Random's 

Overseas action films introduced us to Iron Monkey starring Donnie Yen who should have been crossed over and gained a bigger Hollywood status like Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The weaker of the trilogy primarily due to it's lighter tone but still enjoyable Robocop 3 was released. 

Best Of The Best II starring Phillip Rhee and Eric Roberts. Even Wayne Newton joins in the fun with a bit part. The film has a Vegas Gladiator tone to it, and while different from the first one is just as enjoyable. 

 One for the history books, the often scrutinized but a top tier bad but fun video game movie in Super Mario Bros. Which I also think was the first video game turned into a movie.

Posse starring and directed by Mario Van Pebbles, covers the story of Black cowboys during the western era. An often overlooked topic in Hollywood, still to this day. 

While we're on westerns, there's the  classic western starring Val Kilmer, Kurt Russell, and Bill Paxton Tombstone. Which revigorated the western genre.  

Heavy Hitters

When we talk heavy hitters of action movies in 1993. The cinema gods did us a huge favor that year for action films. Wesley Snipes was mentioned earlier as he was  all over the place in '93. He turned in a scene stealing run as villain Simon Phoenix against Sylvester Stallone in one of my absolute favorites Demolition Man. Stallone had us covered again that year with another action banger Cliffhanger. 

Then Stallone's old pal Arnold Schwarzenegger lit up the screen in what I think may have been one of the first forms of meta acknowledgments and jokes in a movie, the cult classic Last Action Hero. I absolutely love that movie, and consider it a classic. To this day if Demolition Man or Last Action Hero come on, I likely will stop what I'm doing and watch them.

Point of No Return starring Bridget Fonda and based on the 1990 film La Femme Nikkita. Fonda stars as a recovering addict given a second chance at life to become an assassin. After several successful missions she wants out, but that's as easy as it sounds. The film is famous for the legendary laundry chute explosion scene.

Jurassic Park One of the biggest and most technological advanced blockbusters ever graced screens that year. Directed by not only a legendary director but also a visionary in Steven Spielberg. It opened the door for Hollywood to see how CGI could help bring more stories to life. In fact Avatar has a lot to thank Jurassic Park for. It was the highest grossing movie of 1993, and 30 years later still one of the highest grossing films of all time.

There you have it, some of the masterpieces of 1993 Action films. It's an expansive and impressive list, and I'm sure I missed one or two. Either way if there are any on this list you may not have seen, do yourself a favor and check them out.

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B's Remake Series: Universal Soldier

 Hollywood is the king of recycling. Every year there are movies and TV series in development, that are remakes, sequels, or spiritual continuations of successful properties.

This often done to invoke nostalgia, connect a property to a new generation. Or the biggest reasons, money and Hollywood is out of fresh ideas. When films are remade it's often to bring famous films to a new generation. Update a film that had a good plot and just failed in execution, or the technology wasnt there to fully flesh out the film. I will be providing a series of films, I believe are ripe for a remake in my "B's Remake Series". 

Starting off is 1992's "Universal Soldier"  starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. At the time Jean was becoming one of Hollywood's reliable action stars, while Dolph was not a bankable action star but had the size, menace, and enough acting to be a bad ass foe when one is needed. The poster featuring the two with machine guns in their hand, and their target head sets (dont know the actual term for them) and the trailer was all they needed to draw audiences in.

The film follows the two as reanimated soldiers amongst a team used for a secret military program. Both go rogue in their own way against the program, and against one another. The film put Jean Claudes martial arts skills against Dolph's brute force. There is some serviceable action scenes in the film, including the opening hostage scene, and a motel shootout. The Hoover Dam scene still holds up today with the introduction of the soldiers, the scene of them repealing down the Hoover Dam face first is a cool ass visual to this day. 

Where I think the film is ready for a remake almost thirty years later, is the technology behind reviving the characters  of Jean and Dolph. DNA engineering, stem cell use, and cybernetics are even more prevalent and has supporters and opponets more today than back in 1992. Even watching the movie when I was younger, I was intrigued by the idea of the 'Unisol" program as it's called in the movie. On the DVD there is a deleted scene where Jeans character meets the doctor who oversaw the program, it does provide some context but I believe was left out for pacing purposes. As such the movie leaves just enough information to let viewers know, theres way more to the story of that program. How their chosen, how their controlled, exactly what was done to these soldiers. It's a whole mythology behind it that should be explored further.

The film could also touch on the experiences of soldiers when their in war and the mental effects of it. The effects of PTSD is hinted at in the original, but I think there just wasnt enough known about it back then to elaborate on it in the film. That could be a subplot in a remake and play a role in the soldiers going rogue. 

There was a direct sequel released in 1999, that other then starring Van Damme didnt really connect with the original. Hell it left more questions then answers, if you're trying to make sense of the connection between the two. There's also been some straight to cable and DVD interations, that dont meet the standard the first film set. With Hollywood looking for old properties to revive, now is the perfect time for Universal Soldier. 

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