Patriot Games (1992)

From the pen of Tom Clancy, directed by Philip Noyce comes the Harrison Ford portrayal of Jack Ryan. On holiday in London Jack is on hand when an IRA splinter group lead by Sean Bean tries to kidnap a member of the royal family. Jack gets involved and kills one of the attackers while killing the younger brother of Sean Bean. He is shot during the melee and when he is fit goes home and after the rest of the splinter group see there way to getting Sean Been out of prison the terrorism comes home for Jack Ryan.


I have not read any of the Tom Clancy books but after this film I am tempted to give them a go as they are full of action but try and keep some form of realism. Even if the realism is an extreme and could be considered paranoia and if all true is actually quite scary with terrorists in camps knowing when the satellites are supposed to be going overhead. This level of control, knowledge and the power of the attacks is extreme but makes for some good stories, might read the books and see how they compare to the films.


This film is enjoyable and has some good actors with Harrison Ford facing off against Sean Bean and the two of them playing excellent parts. With support from Anne Archer, Patrick Bergin and an early outing for Thora Birch, Samuel L Jackson and James Earl Jones give this a solid American feel as well. I really liked this film, the message and threat is now out of date but overall is still a fun Terrorist based action adventure film and a 7 out of 10 for me.

Deep Blue Sea (1999)

Film of 2012 #57

This is a much maligned film from Renny Harlin, it is a Shark attack film with the standard stuck in a tight location and an interesting idea that the sharks are stuck in as well. It is basically a monster movie and the monsters are created by man. So you follow Saffron Burrows as a scientist running experiments on Sharks trying to cure Alzheimers. As it goes it is not a bad premise, they made the sharks more inteligent so when they attack it is calculated.

The main star of the film for me is Thomas Jane as a shark wrangler with a murky past, this is only here to show he has to stay. Samuel L Jackson plays the role of supposed star and you expect him to be the hero. There is some comedy from LL Cool J and Michael Rappaport which I like and is entertaining. This film has it's flaws with what Sharks can do but then you have to remember these are no longer natural creatures.

Overall I enjoy this film and have watched it many times and will watch it again. From the fact that you can see the deaths coming and the fact that there are a few decisions made that you are like what are you doing oh yeah and Saffron Burrows is a horrible actress. However I will say a strong 3 star recommend for me on this film as it is a lot of fun.

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

Film of 2012 #56

Geena Davis stars in this film that hints a little at the Bourne Films, at the start of the film she knows she has amnesia and to a certain level has accepted this. She has hired private investigators to try and find her past, one of these investigators is played by Samuel L Jackson in a post Pulp Fiction role. He starts as a fraudster just trying to take Geena Davis for all he can, to then becoming her partner as she tries to piece together her life. As with these things there is a secret from her past that comes back to haunt her in her new life and as with all these stories there is a decision to be made whether she wants to return to her old life or the new life she has found since amnesia.

As with a lot of these films there is a point where you have to suspend your disbelief about the situation and what actually could and does happen but overall this is a lot of fun. You pretty much stay with the Geena Davis character and as she finds out things so do you as the watcher. I think that there is a level where they felt back in the 80's and 90's that small stories did not work and they need to be bigger and bigger and push the levels all the way. It works in this film as it sort of runs along the fantastical and gets more and more unreal for everybody involved. There is a nice point when it switches from the Geena Davis character on to the Samuel L Jackson character and he ends up the one not knowing what is happening.

This is a fun film without being anything mind-blowing, it is well worth watching especially if you like the Bourne films it is an older female role that I think is a different take but very similar to these stories. Overall this is a 3 star film that I think you should watch.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Film of 2012 #49

The 1994 film from Quentin Tarantino that launched his career, that launched Uma Thurman and re-launched the career of John Travolta. This film is a genre setting film that showed what Tarantino wanted to show on film and made everybody think about what they could and should see in film. The film is non-linear which must have been quite jarring to see when it came out and it said "people you do not have to do what is expected in film."

The film is a series of vignets that inter link and cross over, you have The Coffee Shop scene, Jules Winnfield played by Samuel L Jackson, Vincent Vega played by John Travolta as gangsters who are going to collect something for Marsellus Wallace played by Ving Rhames. And you have the boxer storyline with Bruce Willis as Butch Coolidge. These storys cross over and you have some excellent smaller parts playe by Amanda Plummer, Tim Roth, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette and Harvey Keitel as the Wolf the ultimate cool Mofo. There are a lot of the scenes in this film that are iconic for their time from Uma Thurman and John Travolta dancing to the gimp in the shop.

I enjoy this film, I think it is a peice of cinema history and can almost be a landmark for 1994, it is however a very styilized film that will not appeal to everybody I would say that if you want to watch modern classics then this is definetley one that you should watch, I give this a solid 3 star film, worth seeing.

Jumper (2008)

The 2008 film starring Hayden Christiensen, Jamie Bell and Samuel L Jackson, I had put off seeing this film for as long as I had not heard good things about it and I have a real problem with Hayden, the hangover from him being mis-cast as Anakin Skywalker, that us something I will have to get over. But apart from my dislike of him I just do not think he is that good an actor, he was not very good in what I love as a premise. You basically have someone that discovers they can tele-port anywhere they have seen or been, that is never quite clear.

Apart from the fact that I did not believe or like Hayden in the lead role overall this was a massively missed opportunity from what they had to begin with. The idea is awesome and the basic story line is good as well but they just try and squeeze far to much into this film, they have a story with Jamie Bell as a middle character, Samuel L Jackson as your bad guy and so many rules about the "Jumping" that they try and let go but it would be better if they had an exposition scene where an experienced jumper explained it as I spent most of the film trying to figure out the rules so was not worrying about the story of the film and with so much trying to go on I missed somethings.

Not a great film, I think that a remake or perhaps a directors cut could work, I would probably be able to get over the Hayden factor if the story worked that we bit better for me, 2 stars not worth seeing this effort.

S.W.A.T. (2003)

I have seen this film several times now and I have to say that I love it, Colin Farrell, Samuel L Jackson, Michelle Rodriguez and Jeremy Renner in big guns, explosions and crime thriller you cannot really go wrong with his film. I will admit that it is not a classic film it is to me a guilty pleasure that I can watch at any time.

You have the action of the crime thriller but you also have the part where the misfits are pulled together by Sam Jackson and they get the big job and they set the records. If you like action films then you will enjoy this it is again a film that you have to switch your brain off to enjoy like a lot of action films.

This is a 4 star film, I can watch this at any time and will watch it almost annually as enjoyment factor and can see it wherever and whenever, go and see it.