@~This was just too late for last issue, so a few films mentioned
@~as 'not being out yet' have been released ... Sue

                   Films of '93 by James Judge

Hello there. 'Tis a new year, we've all seen the end of the turkey
and hangovers by now and, as we have regained some semblance of
humanity, I thought I'd have a look over last year's films and
mention a few good ones that I have seen.

Before I have a wide look at the selection of films I can
remember, let me just give a quick review of two films I saw over
the Christmas period.

The first is...

               ALIVE (approx running time: 2 hours)

Sometime or another we have all heard of the accident that
happened in the 1970s where a small plane carrying about 50
passengers over the Andes crashed. The survivors then had to
survive on each other for over 100 days, making the most of what
they could and launching an epic two-man hike across the Andes to
bring help to the other members.

Well, this film is based on that story (which is true, by the
way). It looks like one of your bog standard accident films that
were all the rage in the mid to late '70s with the Airport 77,
Earthquake and many others. Well, that is where you are wrong.

I won't go into the storyline too deeply as those of us who have
heard of this will know the outcome already and for those of us
who haven't, it'll be a nice surprise when you rent the video out.

The storyline isn't all that deep when you come to think of it,
though. A plane crash, a load of rugby players, a few dead people,
a great deal of hunger and lots and lots of mountains don't
usually come up with the storyline that you could attribute to a
Tom Clancy film (Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games) but this
doesn't matter with this film.

I can't really say what made this film such compelling viewing for
me, maybe it was because there was no actors that I knew of in the
film, so they didn't steal all the lines, maybe it was just the
way the events were portrayed or maybe it was just one of those
films. I don't know.

What I do know is that with the help of the survivors of the real
crash, a great director and brilliant actors this is a film that
you miss at your peril.

With a film of this type you would imagine that the biggest part
in the film is when the people have to eat their dead friends.
That is not the case. Yes, it is a big part of the storyline (how
else are they meant to survive?) but it takes up barely 5 minutes
of the overall film.

There will be some of you out there who will not like this film, I
know. If you are looking for a Terminator 3 film go and rent out

Nowhere To Run with Jean-Claude Van Damme, but if you like any
other film this is one for you.

                            -------

The next film is...

DEATH TRAIN (approx running time: haven't the foggiest. Between
one and a half hours to two)

This film is based upon an Alistair McLean book of the same name.

The story goes like this:

In Germany a quantity of Plutonium has been stolen. A little while
after a train is hijacked (with hostages) and it carries a nuclear
bomb made with the plutonium that was stolen a while back. NATO
gets news of these two supposedly unconnected incidents but follow
it up in true NATO style. They find out about the bomb, assemble
a team of quick-response specialists, boot the German police out
of their headquarters and take over the operation.  From then on
it is a 'get on the train without exploding the bomb' film with a
couple of twists to it, but nothing special.

The only actor that I instantly recognised was the man in charge of
the operations, a very English Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the
starship Enterprise (well, I can't remember his name).
@~Patrick Stewart ... Sue

The film is adequate with a few good moments, a few bad moments
and a couple of on-the-edge-of-your-seat moments. Luckily it
doesn't drag us through a lot of political mumbo-jumbo which is
too easy to do with this type of film and instead looks upon the
actual retaking of the train and diffusing of the bomb (Jean
Childs should feel at home here).

The end is, to me, slightly hurried as if it was just a quick
bolt-on job when the director found that he had a bit more cash in
the coffers than expected, but I know this is not the case as the
end part keeps cropping up in the rest of the film - watch it and
you'll know what I mean.  Overall it was an enjoyable film but one
that won't have you gladly spending an extra œ2.50 to rent it
again. A good effort but could have been made far better.

                           -------

To other things this year...

OK, that's two recent video releases reviewed. They are both good,
but Alive is by far the better.

So, what else has the film industry thrown into our laps this
year? Well, quite a few good films actually. (As I haven't done
any research for this small article, please forgive me if I don't
mention your favourite film and every film released this year).

By far the biggest film this year is Jurassic Park which is still
(from what I've heard) packing then in in a few cinemas around the
country. If you haven't seen the film or read the book don't read
the book - you'll feel let down by the film. Wait until the film
is out on video, watch it, enjoy it then read the book. The book
is far better but the film is still very good with excellent
special effects.

Another big film this year was Sister Act with Whoopi Goldberg.
I've only recently watched it, but I'm glad I did as it was
extremely well done and very funny. Next year we should be seeing
Sister Act 2 gracing the big screen and maybe (if we are lucky)
it'll be out to rent late next year.

With Sister Act 2 in the States come another two comedy films. The
first is Wayne's World 2, the follow up to a huge film Wayne's
World. I must admit that the first film made me turn it off within
ten minutes because it was sooooo appalling, I don't see how it
was such a big success, oh well.

The other film is Mrs Doubtfire starring Robin Williams, the
funniest man around in my opinion.  Williams plays a man who
divorces his wife and loses the right to see his kids. So he can
see them he dresses up in drag as a nanny and gets a job in their
house. From the clips that I have seen it looks a wonderful film
and I can't wait for it to cross the Atlantic.

Talking of Robin Williams, Disney seem to be coming back with
a vengeance this year. Firstly there was Beauty and the Beast, then
the re-release of the Jungle Book (which was the tenth biggest
film this year!) and now Aladdin. We all know how good Disney are
with animation and visual effects so if you like that kind of
thing go and see them or rent them (apart from Aladdin which isn't
out yet). One thing about Aladdin, though, is the music. The main
ballad between the two lovers is very good and the composer did
well to get an Oscar for it.

Other films this year have been the weepy Sommersby with Jodie
Foster, the wacky National Lampoons Loaded Weapon 1 (in the vein
of Police Squad etc.), Lethal Weapon 3 (Mel Gibson, Danny Glover),
Army Of Darkness (a film that incorporates a modern man in a land
of the walking dead, a bit of humour and the standard fantasy
theme into an enjoyable film with a few good moments), Reservoir
Dogs (which won't be out on video as it was banned in this country
- too violent you see), Falling Down (Michael Douglas plays an
ordinary man who suddenly snaps and wreaks havoc across America.
It raised quite a few hackles in the States when it first came out
but luckily it didn't stop the film from coming out over here),
Groundhog Day (Bill Murray is trapped in one day until he does
everything right...), Aliens 3 (a huge disappointment to fans of
Aliens such as myself), Sleepless In Seattle (a love story
starring Tom Hanks), Home Alone 2 (this time the kid's in New
York) and, finally, In The Line Of Fire (directed by Clint
Eastwood who also starred in it and got two or three Oscars for
the film. Isn't out on video yet, but from what I've heard it is
very good).

The only other film that I can remember that I want to watch is
Dave with Sigourney Weaver. The President of America falls ill and
so a look-alike is called to take his place for a while. The only
trouble is that this look-alike is far more popular than the real
thing and Sigourney (the true first lady) is falling in love with
him.

Finally (I've remembered one more) a film that will be in the
cinemas the beginning of this year is Men In Tights - a spoof of
Robin Hood. The only decent Robin Hood film that I have seen is
the one with Kevin Costner in (Prince Of Thieves) which was very
good, but still, old Robin spoke wonderful American. The great and
revolutionary thing about this film is that Robin is a true blue
Brit, accent and all. With Rabi Tuck and his half CUT
circumcisions it looks like a very funny romp through Sherwood
Forest (well, the forest is somewhere near LA. The director (who
stars in the film) said that he didn't want to film in England
because of the weather. I'd like to ask him - where does Robin
Hood come from?).

Time to say bye for now and watch this space for a few more film
reviews (if Sue allows it). I'll leave you with my top five films
of '93:

                    1) Alive
                    2) Jurassic Park
                    3) Sister Act
                    4) Lethal Weapon 3
                    5) Aliens 3

@~Yes, I'd love more film reviews, especially those with a
@~fantasy/adventure theme. I'd also recommend Cliffhanger
@~(Stallone - tremendous scenery, meant to be in the Rockies but
@~was filmed in Italy), Last Action Hero (critics hated it, I
@~loved it) and Leap of Faith (I rate Steve Martin very highly).
@~Groundhog Day and Sister Act are brilliant.

@~Anne Fine's book Madame Doubtfire is a good read too - you'll
@~find it in the kids' section of your local library! Quite
@~different from the film (Madame Doubtfire is very much a
@~pantomime dame character - how she'd fool anyone is a
@~mystery).




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