Red Sonja is a 1985 sword and sorcery/action film the film was based on the sword wielding Marvel Comics character Red Sonja.  The film is now 25 years old the movie begins with Red Sonja’s family being slaughtered by the evil Queen Gedren’s (Sandahl Bergman) army because Sonja rejected the Queen’s sexual advances towards her.  Sonja survives the attack after being violently raped by Gedren’s troops, she gives Queen Gedren a souvenir of that night when she strikes Gedren with her own scepter giving her a brutal scar on the evil queen’s face.  Later that night, Sonja is visited by a spirit who grants her the strength to seek her revenge.  The story then moves to a large temple full of white robed priestesses. They are getting ready to destroy the Talisman, used by the Creator to forge the world. This dangerous artifact’s destructive power increases from exposure to light and the priestesses intend to destroy it before it gets out of control.  However, Gedren now wearing a gold mask to cover her scar and her aide Ikol (Ronald Lacey) attack with their army. The warrior priestesses resist, but are ultimately subdued by Gedren’s forces.  Gedren takes the Talisman, but not before proving the myth that only women can touch it and survive. Gedren orders the remaining priestesses to be imprisoned in the vault which was to hold the Talisman in darkness forever.  One of those priestesses Varna manages to escape, she doesn’t get far before she’s mortally wounded by an arrow in the back.  Wounded she literally falls into the arms of the mighty Lord Kalidor (Arnold Schwarzenegger).  She begs him to help find her sister Red Sonja (Brigitte Nielsen).  Sonja has been training with a Chinese sword master when Kalidor informs Sonja about her sister. Sonja arrives just in time for Varna to tell her about what happened at the temple.  Before dying Varna urges her sister to find the Talisman and destroy it, or else the world will be shattered with storms and earthquakes.  Sonja swears she will do as she asks just as Varna dies, Sonja cremates Varna’s body on a funeral pyre and then begins her journey to Berkubane Queen Gedren’s Kingdom of Eternal Night.  After the funeral Sonja notices a storm in the distance, indicating someone is using the Talisman.  Kalidor offers to help, but Sonja tells him that she does not need the help of a man.  She rides to the now ruined kingdom of Hablock. There she meets the young Prince Tarn (Ernie Reyes Jr) a cocky and overconfident child and his loyal and robust servant Falkon (Paul L Smith). They tell Sonja that Gedren destroyed Hablock and its army with the Talisman because Prince Tarn would not to surrender to Queen Gedren. Tarn announces that he is raising a new army to crush Gedren and invites Sonja to join, she declines after being told by Falkon that the quickest way to Gedrens realm is through Brytags toll road and goes her own way with Kalidor surreptitiously following her.  Sonja soon arrives at Brytags toll road where Lord Brytag (Pat Roach) self appointed ruler of the mountain passes takes an unhealthy interest in Sonja very unhealthy for Brytag because Sonja challenges him to a sword fight and slays him.  Surrounded by Brytags men Sonja prepares to defend herself when Kalidor suddenly attacks from the rear. more…

Robocop 2 is now 20 years old the film begins with a Media Break news report which shows that living conditions in Detroit have not improved since the introduction of RoboCop (Peter Weller) a cybernetic police officer constructed from the body of Officer Alex Murphy.  RoboCop has brought success to police work in Detroit however the police force are on strike because their parent company Omni Consumer Products (OCP) have cut their salaries and benefits.  At the same time a new highly addictive designer drug Nuke has exploded in use on the streets.  The drug is supplied to Detroit by a mysterious cult leader Cain (Tom Noonan) who uses brutal terror tactics to his advantage.  One tactic includes the assassination of the Surgeon General during a conference where he warns of the dangers of Nuke.  An ambitious psychologist Juliette Faxx has been working on a project that could potentially replace RoboCop with an improved model.  Her attempts so far have failed on all levels because the deceased men who are transformed into cyborgs all destroy themselves due to the psychological trauma involved.  The mayor of Detroit finds himself in a precarious situation the city financial deficit has grown to an obscene amount and OCP is now threatening to buy Detroit out like they would any other company.  In old Detroit a group of criminals rob a gun store, RoboCop responds to the call and discovers the criminals are Nuke addicts, he interrogates the gang’s only survivor for the location where the drug was bought. Murphy goes there and breaks into building finding a Nuke production lab. Among the workers, Murphy sees Cain himself. Though Murphy and his partner Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen) are able to take out several of the lab’s guards, Cain escapes. Cain’s junior operative a teenager named Hob (Gabriel Damon) takes a pot shot at Murphy knowing that the cyborg’s programming will not allow him to shoot at a child.  Murphy and Lewis set up surveillance at a video arcade where they spot Hob meeting with a police officer Duffy.  After Hob opens fire on the police unit sent to the arcade, Murphy moves in and apprehends Duffy who had been selling information on police car dispatches to Hob who plans to ambush them.  Murphy brutally beats and interrogates Duffy demanding to know where Cain is. Duffy finally gives up the location, he is later killed horrifically by Cain in reprisal.  RoboCop drives to Cain’s hideout where he is quickly disarmed and captured by Cain.  He is bound to a table and dismantled piece by piece by the gang, he is later dumped in front of his police precinct.  OCP assumes charge of his repair however they delay the process, citing the expense involved.  more…

The Hunt for Red October is a 1990 film based on the novel of the same name by Tom Clancy.  It was directed by John McTiernan The Hunt for Red October opened in on 2 March 1990 grossing $17 million on its opening weekend more than half its budget.  The film went on to gross $200 million worldwide.  The film is now 20 years old the film begins with Captain Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) commanding officer of Red October, a new Soviet submarine whose caterpillar drive renders it undetectable. Ramius receives orders to take the boat to sea for exercises with the submarine V.K Konovalov commanded by his former student Captain Tupolev.  Ramius murders political officer Ivan Putin (Peter Firth) the one man not under his command and the only man aboard besides himself who knows the sub’s orders. He then burns the orders and replaces them with his own set of orders and then tells the crew they will conduct nuclear missile drills off America’s east coast. The Dallas commanded by Commander Bart Mancuso (Scott Glenn) an American submarine on patrol nearby, detects Red October but loses contact once Ramius engages the silent drive. The next morning CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) briefs US government officials on the departure of Red October and the threat it poses.  Officials in the briefing, learn that the Soviet Navy has been deployed to sink the Red October, fearing Ramius may plan a strike against the US.  However Ryan thinks Ramius plans to defect and leaves for the North Atlantic to prove his theory before the U.S Navy is ordered to sink Red October as well.  As the Red October approaches Thor twins (undersea canyons) its caterpillar drive fails making the Red October no longer silent.  The chief engineer of the red October discovers the problem with the caterpillar drive it has been sabotaged by a member of the crew.  Because of this the Red October comes under attack by Soviet forces and begins risky maneuvers through the undersea canyons.  Seamen Jones a sonar technician aboard Dallas, plots an interception course.  Ryan arranges a hazardous mid ocean rendezvous to get aboard Dallas, where he convinces its captain Commander Bart Mancuso (Scott Glenn) to contact Ramius to determine his intentions. more…

The Untouchables is a 1987 crime drama directed by Brian De Palma and written by David Mamet. The Untouchables opened in June 1987 where it grossed $10,023,094 on its opening weekend which ranked it the sixth highest opening weekend of 1987.   The film is now 23 years old, Prohibition in the United States has led to an organized crime wave in the 1920s and early 1930s.  The problem is most serious in Chicago where gang leader Al Capone (Robert De Niro) has almost the whole city even the Mayor of Chicago under his control and supplies poor quality liquor at high prices.  Treasury agent Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) is put in charge of leading the crusade against Capone and his empire. Ness’s initial strategy is to conduct raids using a large squad of uniformed officers, but his first attempt fails when he breaks into a warehouse storing umbrellas not liquor.  Embarrassed over his failure Ness walks home, on his way home Ness has a chance encounter with Jimmy Malone (Sean Connery) an incorruptible Irish beat cop who understands the way Capone does business.  Ness decides to ask Malone for his help.  Malone urges Ness to become as ruthless as the gangsters if he wants to take them down “He pulls a knife you pull a gun.  He sends one of yours to the hospital you send one of his to the morgue. That’s the Chicago way and that’s how you get Capone”.  With corruption running rampant throughout the Chicago police force, Malone suggests that Ness recruit directly from the police academy in order to find team members who have not yet had a chance to come under Capone’s influence.  Italian American trainee George Stone (Andy García) is enlisted for his superior marksmanship and calm reactions under pressure.  Joined by Treasury accountant Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith) detailed to Chicago from Washington, Ness has built an incorruptible team capable of combating Capone.  Their first raid takes place in the local post office whose storeroom is used to house Capone’s illegal liquor.  Malone and most of the police know where the alcohol is, but they leave it alone because no one wants to cross  Capone and his gang.  The raid succeeds without incident though Capone later kills the man who had been in charge of the storeroom with a baseball bat.  As the four pick up steam and become noted by the press, Wallace begins to probe the finances of the Capone organization.  He believes that a feasible method of prosecution is through a tax evasion charge if nothing else. At one point, Ness is visited by a Chicago alderman who is also under Capone’s control.  The alderman tries to bribe Ness into dropping the investigation but Ness angrily rejects the offer and throws him out in full view of the team. As he leaves, he mockingly refers to them as “untouchable” and says that Capone who is known as a cop killer can get to anyone he chooses, one way or another.  more…

Conan the Barbarian is a 1982 action/adventure fantasy film by director John Milius.  The film is now 28 years old.   The film is set during the prehistoric Hyborian Age as a young boy, Conan is instructed by his father (William Smith) on the importance of steel to their people and its relationship with their god Crom.  Soon after a group of warriors led by Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones) systematically destroys Conan’s village. Thulsa Doom’s lieutenant Thorgrim, whacks the villagers with his hammer their dogs kill Conan’s father and Rexor another lieutenant of Doom’s steals the sword of Conan’s father.  Conan’s mother is beheaded by Thulsa Doom in front of Conan with the sword Rexor stole. They sell the children into slavery after the village is rampaged.  Conan is forced to push The Wheel of Pain for years, years later now an adult and extremely muscular Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is trained as a swordsman and then freed by his masters. Conan meets two thieves Subotai (Gerry Lopez) a Hyrkanian archer and Valeria (Sandahl Bergman) who becomes his lover. The three break into the fortified temple used by a doomsday cult to steal a large jewel called “The Eye of the Serpent” and Conan discovers that this cult is associated with the warriors who destroyed his village and their leader, Thulsa Doom. The three become drunk after celebrating their new found wealth and are captured by soldiers of King Osric of Ophir (Max von Sydow).  He offers them a fortune to return his daughter (Valérie Quennessen) to him who has been seduced into joining the cult and he fears that she may be charged with assassinating him.  Motivated by his hatred for Doom, Conan leaves Subotai and Valeria to seek out Thulsa and get revenge.  Arriving at the Mountain of Power, Conan attempts to disguise himself as a priest but a suspicious guard instead brings him to Thulsa Doom. Conan is beaten by Rexor and Thorgrim and Thulsa Doom demonstrates the power of flesh by making a young girl jump to her death. Doom orders that Conan be crucified in the desert on the Tree of Woe to contemplate what he has heard. When Valeria and Subotai find him, they take him to a haunted Stonehenge like cemetery called the Mounds and ask Akiro (Mako) the wizard who resides there to revive Conan.  He agrees, but explains that the demons who power the magic involved will “extract a heavy toll” though he does not explain what it may be.  With Conan now revived the three of them enter the Mountain of Power through a gorge that Akiro told Subotai about.  Once inside they witness a cannibalistic feast by its members and Thulsa Doom’s transformation into a giant snake.  They wreck the harem with brute force and disrupt the cannibalistic orgy. After they grab the princess and escape Doom shoots Valeria with a poison arrow and she dies in Conan’s arms. He cremates her at the Mounds after taking the Eye of the Serpent from her corpse.  He hen prepares for battle with Thulsa Doom’s army. more…

The Delta Force is a 1986 action film the film is now 24 years old.   The film begins with an American operation to rescue American hostages being held at the US embassy to Tehran. The operation is being aborted after a fatal helicopter crash with the US Delta Forces evacuating to their C-130 transports. Among them is Major Scott McCoy (Chuck Norris) who against orders rescues his wounded comrade Pete Peterson (William Wallace) from a burning helicopter before the team finally evacuates. McCoy expresses his disgust for the politicians and military hierarchy that forced the mission to launch despite the risks and announces he is resigning his commission.  Five years later a group of Lebanese terrorists armed with machine pistols and AK-47s hijack American Travelways Boeing 707 Flight 282 from Athens to New York City.  Taking all passengers and crew hostage the group from the New World Revolutionary Organization led by Abdul Rifi (Robert Forster) and Mustafa (David Menachem) force Captain Roger Campbell (Bo Svenson) and his crew to fly the plane to Beirut Lebanon.  Once there they make demands to the United States government that if not met will result in the death of the hostages. During the crisis they separate the Israeli passengers from the Americans by forcing the flight attendant to identify them against her will. When the plane lands in Algiers for refueling the terrorists bring a dozen additional men on board and surrender the female hostages and children in exchange for the fuel.  Meanwhile Delta Force led by Colonel Nick Alexander (Lee Marvin) and McCoy are deployed to resolve the crisis.  Once the female hostages are evacuated they launch their assault on the aircraft only to discover too late that there are additional hijackers and inadvertently alert the terrorists.  Abdul kills one hostage a US Navy diver named Tom, taking the other two US divers with them as well as dozens of male Jewish passengers on board to Beirut.  more…