Nicolas Cage

Birdy

Birdy (1984) “Birdy” DVD cover looked somehow very familiar, by neither Martin database nor my memory could reveal the fact that I rented this film. I also looked at the few pictures on the back of the DVD box and read the description of the film. Again, it looked very familiar but I couldn’t remember if I so it or not. So I decided to take. It turned out that I haven’t seen it before…

Directed by: Alan Parker
Genres: Drama, War
Cast: Matthew Modine, Nicolas Cage, John Harkins, Sandy Baron, Karen Young, Bruno Kirby, Nancy Fish, George Buck, Dolores Sage, Robert L. Ryan, James Santini, Maud Winchester, Marshall Bell, Elizabeth Whitcraft, Sandra Beall
IMDB raintg: 7.2
My rating: 8.5 [rate 8.5]

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National Treasure

National Treasure (2004) I am a bit slow on catching up big movies lately, but I’m trying my best. Today I finally watched “National Treasure“.

Directed by: Jon Turteltaub
Genres: Adventure, Action
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, Jon Voight, Harvey Keitel, Christopher Plummer, David Dayan Fisher, Stewart Finlay-McLennan, Oleg Taktarov, Stephen A. Pope, Annie Parisse, Mark Pellegrino, Armando Riesco, Erik King
IMDB raintg: 6.6
My rating: 6.5 [rate 6.5]

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Windtalkers

Finally I watched “Windtalkers” on DVD. Once I have missed it in the cinema due to a poor and boring theatrical trailer, I wanted to rent in on DVD, but never had the nerve to take it, preferring other films.

This movie turned out to be different from what I expected. It was good in those areas which I was expecting to suck, and bad in those that I was expecting to shine.

There were plenty of war scenes and they were almost properly done. Lots of gun fire, explosions, and battle action and of these were at a loss without any strategy. It gets boring to watch a bunch of guys firing a bunch of guns and running all over the place. There was no clear distinction between allies and enemies. There was no clear distinction of a plan. Targets weren’t clearly marked for the audience. All the attention was given to soldiers, their ammunition and the scenery of the battle field. Airplanes and ships were mentioned briefly, each with their own impressive shots. But again, no attention to what and where they were doing in connection to the battle field.

There was some good acting, but not by Nicolas Cage. In fact, everyone else did better than him. His character appeared very shallow and faceless. One of Cage’s worst roles that I have seen.

Plenty of good photography and sound effects. I haven’t noticed any music except for that played by the characters, so I if it was there it must have been very good and natural. Plenty of good photography. Oh, I’ve mentioned it already, but it was really good.

Overall, I’ll give this movie a firm 6 out of 10.

The Rock

Watched some good old action on DVD – “The Rock“. It is based on an old story of some cool marine kernel stealing some chemical weapons, taking hostages, setting base ins some secure location (like a prison), and demanding some money off the government. The details vary from film to film, but the main story holds still for many movies.

Anyway, the story is not the point of the film, because it is weak and well-known, and everyone can tell that noone is blowing up anything after like 3 minutes of watching it. The point of the film is entertainment. And this film provides a good portion of it. Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage team up nicely against Ed Harris and David Morse. There is plenty of shooting, fighting, and cool talk.

There could have been more destruction and hot women. Patriotic propaganda could have been cut out too without affecting the film that much. Photography and camera work were brilliant. Some frames from the movie could have been done into excellent posters. For example, the fighter jet in the hangar with huge American flag, or the reflection of the flag in the wet tarmac together with few running marines. These were just beautiful. There were plenty more there.

Anyway, I’ll give this film a 7 out of 10, since it measure pretty much to the level it claimed. It could have been better, but I have seen a lot worse.

Gone in Sixty Seconds

“Gone in Sixty Seconds” was on TV. I had to leave before the end to go to work, but I remember it pretty well from the time when I saw it in the cinema.

It’s a nice crime and action film, which lacks crime and action. It’s a film about great cars and their steallers, but there are not so many car chases and exciting driving. Pity.

Many famous people play in there – Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, Delroy Lindo, Robert Duvall,Vinnie Jones and few others. All this film lacks is some action and spice in the dialogs. Even Cage stayed away from his usual dramatic senbernar look (also known as Silvester Stallone look). It’s a pity when so little separates an averagely good film from a category killer.

6/10.