THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY (1980)

Outwardly, Hoskins character looks like a businessman, but in reality he's the head of the biggest syndicate in London.  He's currently working on a huge real estate deal with the American mob that's gonna make him richer than god.  So it'd be a bad time for something negative to happen.  Something like...ohh, your right hand man getting stabbed to death, a bomb going off in your restaurant, your underlings stealing money from the IRA and a guy getting nailed to the floor.  Stuff like that could ruin your day.

THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY is a good film.  Interesting camerawork, strong direction, Bob Hoskins snarling, forward moving story, great looking vintage cars, Helen Mirren lookin' good, a young Remington Steele, solid acting all around.  The only trouble I had is that main theme song ("Taken") was so goddamn awesome that the movie just couldn't live up to it.  When that song started at the beginning of the film I was totally taken back, cause that's like a werewolf knight riding a battle-scarred dragon and killing zombies with a long sword montage music!  Yeah, there was a good amount of violence, but there wasn't anything that could rival that song.

Worth a watch.

SILENT RAGE (1982)

Made at the height of the slasher movie craze, SILENT RAGE is one of the scariest non-horror movies of the 1980's.  I remember watching it as an innocent, unsuspecting kid and it scaring the crap out of me!  The film starts out with a sweaty dude laying in his bed looking as crazy as a shit.  Next thing you know he's chopping up people with an axe!  Finally, small town cop Chuck Norris kicks his ass, but then some mad scientists at the hospital try out an untested rejuvenation serum on him which makes him even crazier!  Even worse: now if you shoot or stab him he just heals right up like it was nothing!

At the time, SILENT RAGE was almost too much for my innocent little brain to take.  Watching it now though, it's not nearly as scary as I remember it, but it's still a mildly interesting film.  Chuck Norris is likeable enough, but other than one or two scenes he never gets to kick any ass.  Which is disappointing cause the number one reason you're gonna watch a Chuck Norris movie is to watch him kick ass.

Average pace, topless Chuck Norris, a couple of women topless, annoying sidekick that's suppose to be funny but isn't, 80's clothing, rowdy bikers, lame music, interesting early 80's Dallas area settings (at one point Chuck even drives by a Skaggs Alpha Beta grocery store), vintage Pizza Inn pizza box.

Worth a watch for Chuck fans.

Skaggs Alpha Beta grocery store

HELL IN THE PACIFIC (1968)

During WWII two soldiers (one American - Lee Marvin, one Japanese - Toshiro Mifune) find themselves on the same small uninhabited Pacific Ocean island.  At first, things are really tense with them staying super quite and hunting each other all over the joint.  Then things die down (including the tension) and they kinda just tolerate each other.  Finally they become friends.  Awww.

The idea for HELL IN THE PACIFIC is amazing.  The amount of things that a talented writer (or group of writers) could have happen here gives me butterflies in my stomach just to think about!  In this age of remakes HELL IN THE PACIFIC is one that needs to be remade for sure.  Shit, you could have an entire series of these films.  I love the idea of two enemy WWII soldiers, but how about a Predator vs. an Alien?  No spoken words just two epic hunters hunting the fuck out of each other!  Vampire vs. werewolf.  John Wick vs. Barry Berkman.  The wookalar from THE PRIVATE EYES vs. the Humungus from THE ROAD WARRIOR?  Billy Bob Thornton from "Fargo" (s1) vs. John Lithgow from "Dexter" (s4).  The serial killer zombie dude from SILENT RAGE vs. Leatherface? Jason vs. Michael? Colonel James Braddock vs. Green Beret John Rambo?  John J. Rambo vs. the Wolverines?  Austin Powers vs. Ace Ventura?  A Krite vs. Stripe the gremlin?  Predator vs. Dog the Bounty Hunter?  One-thousand George Romero zombies vs. 10 Brian Keene "The Rising"-style zombies?  The Terminator vs. John Wick?  Pumpkinhead vs. Rawhead Rex?  Hannibal Lecter vs. Pee-Wee Herman?  Magnum P.I. vs. the Creature from the Black Lagoon?   This could go on forever!!

Anyway, back to HELL IN THE PACIFIC.  Awesome start, slowing middle and horrible ending.  There's an alternative ending on the DVD and it's just as horrible!  Overall, worth watching barely since it's an interesting idea and it looks like both leads gave it their all.  Too bad the writers couldn't come up with enough interesting stuff to fill the entire running time...or who knows maybe this was an anti-war movie?  It was made in 1968.  Ehh, either way it's still not as exciting as I had hoped.