Based on real life events of a failed Vietnam war mission followed by some chaotic rescue attempts, Bat*21’s strongest asset is its anti-war undertone.
Kuukausi: heinäkuu 2016
#461 Vice Versa (1988)
Superior one of the two very similar body switching movies (the other one being Like Father Like Son) of the late 80s, Vice Versa is a perfect vehicle for Judge Reinhold, who’s portrayal of a 12-year old feels spot on throughout the movie.
#460 Like Father Like Son (1987)
Based on the utterly silly premise of body switching, Like Father Like Son’s generic approach ends up an passable movie experience of a few hits – and multiple misses.
#459 Youngblood (1986)
A victim of its own predictable genre, Youngblood fails to portray skilful hockey, but does better in its portrayal of the mindset of the juvenile small town athletes.
#458 Get Smart, Again! (1989)
Based on the 60s TV series, some of Get Smart Again’s visual gags surprise with their cleverness, but everything else in this made for TV movie feels badly outdated.
#457 The Kiss (1988)
Standing above average in the often flawed horror genre, The Kiss also has its flaws – loose plot ends to name one – but in total it’s entertaining enough to spend 90 minutes on.
#456 Doin’ Time on Planet Earth (1988)
Adam West as a cult leader aiming to leave the earth with a spinning restaurant, DTOPE was obviously aimed as a cult classic, but ultimately is just not weird and/or good enough.
#455 My Favorite Year (1982)
The comedy based on an ageing silver screen star and Mel Brooks’ own experiences of the golden age of television offers plenty of great characters, fun and substance.
#454 Tank (1984)
This being one of the lesser known 80s movies so I expected a light-hearted military farce with some sort of special tank as the centerpiece. Quite the opposite, this movie is more of a adventure and coming-of-age drama for both the father (James Garner) and the son (C. Thomas Howell).
The movie starts off a bit slow and keeps you guessing of the genre and things to come. When things start happening, they sort of make sense but are merrily over exaggerated and ridiculous, with bad cops, a hidden labor camp and reaching the point of no return by going berserk in town with the military tank.
As much as I loved the nonsense of escaping the police with a Sherman tank and them not able to keep up, the movie couldn’t get me interested in events and lagged more and more towards the end.
Tank was written by Dan Gordon who would go on to write Gotcha (1995) and Surf Ninjas (1993), a movie that still has eighties written all over it, despite the later release date.
Summary : Has tank, bad cops, explosions and mayhem, but fails to create any substantial interest to the plot or the characters throughout its running time
#453 Next of Kin (1989)
A box office failure when released, Next of Kin has aged tremendously well this hillbilly-sicilian family feud ultimately lead by awesome Liam Neeson still feels fresh.
#452 The Punisher (1989)
The Punisher is a stylish action movie adaptation hindered mostly by the main character that seems in comparison to its comics original a little bit off throughout the movie.
#451 Gross Anatomy (1989)
Starting from that lame poster, Gross Anatomy is one of those movies that have fail written all over them. Relatively unknown cast combined with medical theme usually spells for bad comedy, but Gross Anatomy totally surprises by bringing to the table some actually working, unforced drama with some very light comedy touches to it.
While the drama itself is predictable, Gross Anatomy gets right its mood and the narrative. The viewer is right there in the same hall with the students getting their pep talk to prepare for the semester and standing for the first time in the formaldehyde fumed anatomy room with dozens of embalmed cadavers wrapped in plastics to be opened and dissected by none other by themselves.
The eeriness and intensity is there, but it once again feels unforced and falls in nicely with the theme.
Equally well established is the way the characters react both to the external and internal pressure of having to cram in mind boggling amount of anatomy, all to be quizzed at any given moment and of dealing with whatever demons they might have haunting them.
There’s some unnecessary drama involved, but it doesn’t really take away from the fact that Gross Anatomy feels fresh, and is definitely one of those rare medical dramas of the 80s worth your while and not to be overlooked.
Gross Anatomy gets right the essence of being a first year med student, and is ultimately much better than the sum of its parts
#450 Victory aka Escape to Victory (1981)
A bastard child of The Great Escape (1963), Victory shares the same dated look & feel, and is an unrealistic, unnecessary depiction of an event that never took place.
#449 The Mutilator aka Fall Break (1984)
Pretty much as goofy as they come, The Mutilator’s limited charm is in its gory, Bad Taste level gore – but everything else here is just as unoriginal and dull as you’d except.
#448 The Man with One Red Shoe (1985)
Loaded with first row Hollywood talent, the lousy script of goofy spies trying to out-goof each other is without aim or true menace, and gives none involved any chance to look good.
#447 Street Smart (1987)
A thriller of a reporter getting tangled in a web of lies seems lame at first, but becomes worth your time in the act two, thanks to the chilling acting work of Morgan Freeman.