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Basic RANK=313

Category : Action
Description :
During a U.S. Army Rangers training mission, something goes wrong and all but two of the group are shot dead. The two survivors are suspected of murdering the others. John Travolta plays a former Ranger brought in to interrogate the survivors and find the murderer.

Plenty of plot twists keep it interesting. The attraction between Travolta and his love interest is somewhat tragic and unbelievable. In several scenes involving Travolta and Samuel Jackson its difficult not to see them as Vinny and Jules in Pulp Fiction. SLJ has a formulaic character.
Barely passable.
  		Viewing Status
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First seen
in 6/2003
 
 
Battlefield Earth RANK=48

Category : Action
Description :
Absolute shocker.
- John Travolta as an alien? Don't make me laugh.
- Learning to fly a harrier in less than 24 hours? BS.
- Aliens that come to earth to mine gold? They can travel billions of light years across space in the blink of an eyelid, but they can't even transmute other metals into gold when they need it? Rubbish!
I guess the alien costume was the only way Travolta could hide his gut.
Sorry Dan, but again I must disagree with your opinion. This movie takes itself too seriously.
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First seen
in 9/2000
 
 
Behind Enemy Lines RANK=713

Category : Action
Description :
Top movie about a downed US Navy pilot having to survive in Bosnia during the civil war in the early 90s.
Gene Hackman treds a well-trodden path playing the tough old fleet Admiral, and his character could have been cut and pasted from nearly any other movie he's ever been in.
Much more impressive is Owen Wilson, who definitely looks the part and does a great job during the precious moments between action scenes.
The moral see-saw is the Admiral's desire to save his own downed pilot versus exposing a NATO mistake that could jeopardise the peace process and thereby endanger thousands. It's the Yanks we're talking about, so there's no guessing as to what his decision finally is. But thankfully this is partly offset by some anti-U.S. rhetoric from the Admiral's superior officer in NATO.
The writers have achieved balance between action, rest, and suspense.
Filmed on location in the Slovak Republic, not too far away from Bosnia, the scenery looks authentic and is at times attractive in its own right.
  		Viewing Status
SeenInCinema is True
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First seen
in 3/2002
 
 
Being John Malkovich RANK=317

Category : Comedy
Description :
Weird.
A puppeteer with a part time job at a filing company (on floor 6.5 of a building) moves a filing cabinet and finds a portal into the mind of actor John Malkovich.
Tension is due to... surprise surprise.. a love triangle.
Strangely interesting.
  		Viewing Status
SeenInCinema is False
SeenOnVideo is True
SeenOnTV is False
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First seen
in 2/2001
 
 
The Beverly Hillbillies RANK=13

Category : Comedy
Description :
The movie remake of an old TV series.
Partly, vaguely, briefly funny.
A crap movie.
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First seen
in /1993
 
 
The Big Hit RANK=783

Category : Action
Description :
A Great Movie! It's a riot. The comedy is just pure humour. The fight scenes are well done, but not gratuitous.
A bunch of contract killers take on an extra bonus hit, and things do not exactly go according to plan.
The TraceBuster scene, the dairy creamer gag, and the Few Good Men quote are hilarious. This film still finds some time for some acceptable chemistry beteen the target and one of the hitmen.
  		Viewing Status
SeenInCinema is True
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First seen
in /1998
 
 
Big Trouble in Little China RANK=100

Category : Comedy
Description :
Okay, Okay, I was late in seeing this one. I only watched it because a few people I know were blabbing about how funny it was and saying "Indeed!" in high pitched voices.
A truckee gets involved with the kidnap of his friend's fiance by an evil god-like chinese wizardy guy. OK - that's not a very good description, but trying to describe this crazy movie in any logical way in impossible. Just watch it. You'll see.
Not exactly one of the best movies I've ever seen, but some of the special effects look hot.
Mostly martial-arts fighting with some magic thrown in.
Imagine Mortal Kombat but with some actual acting, humour and style.
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SeenInCinema is False
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First seen
in /1998
 
 
Black Hawk Down RANK=691

Category : Action
Description :
Ridley Scott just does not make bad movies.
After the first 25 minutes the remainder of the movie is absolutely riveting, non-stop action and suspense.
An excellent action movie.
It gets a bit PrivateRyanish sometimes, but I guess it's just the same message being told a different way.

Eric Bana was right on target in his role. His personal style is still detectable underneath his stoic Delta Force character. Putting on a fake American accent griped me a bit though. Australian actors having to fake american accents to get parts is like a actress having to blow the director on the casting couch to get a part - it's degrading, unnecessary, and I would like Hollywood to mature to the point where the practice is no longer expected or accepted.

Ah who am I kidding? I'm struggling to find anything wrong with this movie. Sure there's been a lot of hoop-la about whether they got the facts right about what actually happened in Somalia that day, but in an action flick do we really care?
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First seen
in 3/2002
 
 
Blade RANK=526

Category : Action
Description :
This is your usual You Are The Chosen One story (abbreviated to YAtCO in later reviews) with the Destiny parameter set to "Kill all the vampires"!
Wesley Snipes is some sort freaky half-Vampire guy whose blade can kill vampires (who are all around us today, didn't you know?).
There's some OK fight scenes and a memorable scene in a underground rave club whose patrons are.. shall we say.. rather long in the tooth? :-D (Sorry, Ob Joke)
  		Viewing Status
SeenInCinema is True
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First seen
in 11/1998
 
 
The Bourne Identity RANK=735

Category : Action
Description :
A ripsnorter of a spy flick!
Matt Damon is believeable as a man who wakes up to find himself on a fishing trawler and has lost all memory of who he is and how he got there.
A small mysterious metal cylinder embedded in his hip provides the first clue to his identity - The Bourne Identity.

Franka Potente could build an entire career based soley on her ability to run away from police, since that's the only thing I've ever seen her characters do. Ms Potente retains the foxy appeal she displayed in Run Lola Run. Despite being the token love interest for the hero, she does say a few smart lines here and there.

I get the feeling that Robert Ludlum's original novel goes into more depth on the sidelines, such as the origin and operations of whichever shadowy arm of the US CIA is pulling all the strings. There may be more history behind the bloke they stay with for one night near the end than we are shown. I'm kind of interested in those aspects, but I can also see why they were left out.

I gave this movie almost the same rank as The Long Kiss Good Night, because, let's face it, they are almost the same plot. TLKGN is funnier, but doesn't have quite the same impact as this.

Good pace, chase scenes are passable, quick fight scenes. Acceptable performances from both lead characters. Great script. Overall my impression is of a well balanced and carefully executed movie.
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First seen
in 10/2002
 

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