Death Wish is quintessential 1970s crime and grit and with the performance of Charles Bronson makes it a classic in its own right. It’s a fairly thought-provoking flick as well about vigilante justice and its effect on society.
The Italian Job may have an iconic chase sequence and a strong performance by the wonderful Michael Caine, but having now seen this twice, I didn’t think it was anything especially entertaining yet still watchable.
No Mercy, as it stands, is not a memorable film but passably entertaining nevertheless though I wasn’t buying the relationship with Gere and Basinger.
Twilight is a perfectly watchable neo-noir crime drama thanks in large part to a great cast with Newman, Sarandon and Hackman giving great performances, however the script isn’t the best and really not much memorable with the direction either.
Film NOir: The Dark Side of Cinema IX comes to Blu-ray and includes: Lady on a Train, Tangier and Take One False Step and features audio commentaries and trailers.
Mystery Men had some potential but the execution and script made for a less than entertaining experience, although some of the jokes at least got a chuckle out of me, but after that I found it rather dull at times.
Escape from Alcatraz is an all around entertaining suspense-thriller, pretty simple and straight forward though enough character development to get the viewer to care about these men.
Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema X delivers three more noir films from the 1950s with boxing being the common theme. Titles include Flesh and Fury, The Square Jungle and World in My Corner.
The Great Caruso debuts on Blu-ray through the Warner Archive Collection program featuring a new 1080p transfer, a documentary and trailer.
Hudson Hawk isn’t as bad of a movie as it’s been made to be, but certainly not great by any stretch as some of the humor, not to mention the overcomplicated story, doesn’t always work.
Terror Squad debuts on Blu-ray through Kino Lorber and includes an interview with actor Kavi Raz and the theatrical trailer.
Steele Justice based on the title alone should’ve made for a fun and entertaining action schlock and while there were elements, there wasn’t enough to make this a worthwhile viewing especially with a lead that had no personality.
Ants is another eco-horror thriller TV movie from the late 1970s and is pretty much on par with the likes of Tarantulas and Terror Out of the Sky, meaning passably entertaining but not much more than that.
Terror Out of the Sky is another made-for-television attack feature that has elements of entertainment even I didn’t find it especially thrilling or scary, but it’s okay as a time waster.
Tarantula: The Deadly Cargo is a pretty dull movie and has most of the feels of a made-for-tv flick from the 1970s. I do think this one in a group setting you might find some entertainment but watching it alone it wasn’t scary or suspenseful.