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The best way to enjoy this 1997 thriller is to forget the much better film that inspired it (1973's The Day of the Jackal) and get whatever kicks you can from this heavy-metal remake. It's not bad as hokey thrillers go, but all of the original film's suspenseful finesse has been traded in (not traded up) for bigger, bolder action and nonsensical plotting. It's as if Hollywood had forgotten to create excitement without resorting to overblown action and heavy hardware, but there's ample compensation in the casting of Bruce Willis and Richard Gere. Willis is the elusive assassin known only as the Jackal, whose latest target (he uses a cannon-sized gun that's anything but inconspicuous) may be the first lady of the United States. Gere plays a former IRA terrorist who is recruited by the deputy head of the FBI (Sidney Poitier) to trace the Jackal's maneuvers, and Diane Venora offers some gutsy support as a Russian-born agent who assists Gere on his mission. The movie has fun turning Willis into a master of disguise, and Gere adds much-needed gravity to counter the plot's escalating absurdity, but this is the kind of film that falls apart if you think about it too much.--Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (88)

This really ain't a bad movie...
Okay, here we go. Bruce Willis stars as some assassin called "The Jackal" who has to blow the first ladies' head right off. Then, the F.B.I. finds out about this whole operation from a Russian who was zapped by the K.G.B. so they have no other choice but to release an ex-I.R.A. sharp-shooter named Declan Mulqueen. What's that? You expected more?! Oh, no, no, no. That is the entire plot. And although it sounds like a crappy plot that has more or less been done about a million times, The Jackal is truly a great film. I consider it to be the 2nd greatest action film of 97 (The first being Face/Off of course). I really would have given the film 5 stars had it not been for the boring lovey-dovey scenes between Richard Gere and the two women in this flick who carry a gun. His old girlfriend (who is a great shot.) and Major Valentina Koslova (played and voiced with a pretty good Russian accent by Diane Verona). But I'd have to say that the best thing about this movie is the way-cool, too-good-to-be-true music score! Carter Burwell did the music for the movie (he also did the great score to "Fargo"). So, if you haven't seen this movie yet...go rent it! And if you're a real die-hard-action-movie-lover...go buy this movie right now!!! You won't be disappointed!!!

great performances all around make this great movie
Another remake, a great movie - Day of the Jackal with the brilliant Edward Fox - so I tended to cringe in anticipation, but surprisingly this film scores a bullseye because of solid performances from Richard Gere, Bruce Willis, Sidney Poitier, Mathilda May (Lifeforce) but most especially from Diana Devora (the 13th Warrior, FX).

Gere plays Declan Mulqueen, an IRA terrorist who is in prison. He and Mathilda May were former lovers and worked with Willis, but he betrayed them. Diana Devora is a Russian intelligence officer, Valentina Koslova. She is working with Carter Preston US intelligence officer (Sidney Poitier) in taking down Russian Mafia. Only the Mafia wants to strike back and send the Jackal - Willis - on a assassination to make a statement by killing the First Lady. Devora and Poitier get Gere out of English jail, on a temporary leave, to help track down Willis. Willis is a master of disguise, so only Gere stands a chance of tracking him down before he completes his mission.

It's fast paced, yet leisurely plots Willis preparations for the kill. Well done from start to finish. Not better than the original, but just as enjoyable. Excellent soundtrack as well.

A Movie That Should Be More Popular
I personally love this movie. This movie features Bruce Willis as the Jackal, an assassin hired to kill a high level U.S. Government official. The Jackal has many identities, costumes, and contacts to help him along the way. The FBI, obviously trying to stop the Jackal before he kills, turn to the one type of person most unlikely to help them.... a terrorist. Deklin Moqueen, played well by Richard Gere, is enlisted to stop the Jackal due to their past history together. There are some shocking twists and turns along the way before the end. The end result is a movie that is unnecessarily being torn apart by critics, but will always have a nice spot in my DVD collection.

Note: Jack Black makes an appearance in this movie. This is one of the first movies I remember seeing him in. I won't give away what happens to him, but it definitely left an imprint in my mind.

Edge of Your Seat Suspense
Bruce Willis really is believable as the legendary Assassin by the name of the Jackal. This movie takes you from Europe to the USA to Canada and back. There are so many scenes where you bristle with anxiety due to Willis' intense manner.

This may be the best Willis performance ever. The movie is violent, yet, it is to an extreme, not gorey violence but it reflects the violent nature of the legend. Richard Gere is cast well, a little less believable than Willis, yet he does a good job of being intense in tracking Carlos the Jackal. The issue here is what will Jackal do next? Can he be stoppped?

Jack Black plays a very believable role of a somewhat bystander who meets a very violent end. You may want to close your eyes for that one.

I recommend not drinking any caffiene before this movie because it creates an edge right from the beginning. What was telling to me was that every interaction that Willis has creates tension, whether or not he is violent, you feel he may be at any time.

This movie of course is not for everyone yet it is not an action thriller that is silly in nature with gratuitous violence. It seems more of a lesson of the violent nature of the worst criminals in the world.

Use Once & Destroy
Not too good, not too bad, "The Jackal" is one of those average action movies that brings nothing new but it`s a competent and mildly pleasant product nonetheless. The plot is derivative and predictable, the characters are bland, yet director Michael Caton-Jones chooses some decent actors (Bruce Willis, Richard Gere), a neat soundtrack (Massive Attack, Primal Scream, Moby) and some decent action sequences that manage to deliver a minimum level of entertainment value. As far as popcorn movies go, there`s certainly worse, so this is a fair choice to spend a couple of mind-numbing hours.
Watchable but forgettable. ... Read more

Reviews (125)

A well-done movie in a non-Hollywood way
I wasn't expecting to be enthralled when I went to this movie (it was husband's choice movie night), but after the first five minutes of the film, I was thoroughly hooked. I came out of the theater feeling like I'd actually seen one of the first above-average movies of the year.

In this movie, Harrison Ford plays a 1960s Soviet sub captain who is brought in to command the Soviet navy's new nuclear submarine after the original captain (Liam Neeson) is removed from the position for political reasons. Neeson stays on the ship as second in command, and Ford is forced to contend with the crew's loyalty to Neeson. Problems plague the submarine before it even leaves drydock, leading the men to begin calling it "The Widowmaker."

This movie isn't told from an American point of view, and doesn't restrict itself to American ideals. The drama is played out without being biased by Hollywood notions of hero vs. villain or a formulaic plot. It really seems like this movie was true to the historic event it was based on.

The characters were portrayed well by everyone in the cast, including Harrison Ford, who was cast against type. Ford turns out a really good performance as the domineering captain and manages to escape his celebrity and really descend into the character. I actually forgot I was watching a Harrison Ford movie. Liam Neeson is solid as well, and the crewmembers without exception turn out convincing performances.

Director Kathryn Bigelow delivers a strong and well done movie with "K-19: The Widowmaker". In a sea of forgettable fluff, this movie rises above typical Hollywood and achieves something special.

Flawed but decent submarine drama
In the sub-genre of submarine dramas, K-19, The Widowmaker doesn't compare with great films such as Das Boot or The Hunt for Red October. Based on a true story that isn't as gripping as those other films, it has limited potential to begin with. So, of course, the couple of serious flaws that K-19 possesses quickly undermines that potential.

K-19 follows the maiden voyage of the Soviet Union's flagship nuclear submarine, whose initial captain (Liam Neeson) is replaced by a new captain (Harrison Ford). During a series of drills, Neeson and the rest of the crew are leery of their new leader, but after a dangerous but successful test of their limits, the new captain earns the crews, (but not Neeson's) trust. However, when a radioactive leak is discovered and the fate of the ship is up in the air, no one knows whose lead to follow.

One of my biggest problems with this film is the first third of it, illustrating drill after drill with a loud, suspenseful soundtrack that tries to make the mostly harmless drills seem more dangerous. The film here seems to be preparing the audience for an inevitable attack from an enemy. All it serves to do in the end is to be misleading so that when that inevitable attack never happens, it proves to be a let down. Also, and perhaps even more annoying, are the poor Russian accents. Everyone, including Ford and Neeson, have wavering accents that are sometimes Russian, sometimes American, and sometimes something else entirely. In fact, without even a single word ever spoken in Russian, the film's authenticity suffers. You never forget that these are all Americans playing Russians. Perhaps if the casting director found more Russian actors for the supporting roles, and the director maybe placed some Russian dialogue in the beginning (such as The Hunt for Red October did), It would have been more convincing.

Still, the film is not without merit. Once the radiation leak is discovered the film becomes more interesting and well worth your time. It truly was a harrowing event and the tension finally begins to build here. It's just too bad it took an hour of false tension to get there. If emphasis on the drills had not been pushed as it was, and the atmosphere more authentically Russian, this could have been a solid four star film doing justice to the true events.

It's worth a rental as it is, but stick to Das Boot or other submarine thrillers to fill your DVD rack.

Great Movie!!!
This is a great movie and is far superb to U-571. The story is exellent and just about everything is exellent. I recommend this to any submarine movie collector or just a person who likes a good story.

An Exciting Submarine Movie
Veteran actors Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson star in this thrilling film about a Russian nuclear submarine and its crew during the height of the cold war. Ford stars as Captain Alexi Vostrikov, a by-the-book, bend and no break commander of the Russian submarine K-19. Neeson stars as Captain Mikhail Polenin. Polenin is the exact opposite of Vostrikov. He is well liked by the crew and is willing to take advice from them.

The K-19 is the newest is Russian submarine technology. Capable of firing missiles up and down the American coast, the submarine and its crew set off on their maiden training mission.
The crew successfully fires the test missile, but soon another problem develops. The crew soon realizes that their nuclear reactor which powers the ship has developed a severe leak which threatens to possibly destroy the ship.

Volunteers are chosen to go inside the reactor area to try to fix the leak by welding pipes to bypass the leak, but these men soon are suffering from radiation exposure. Meanwhile, an American destroyer has come upon the crippled sub and has offered assistance. Vostrikov is determined not to seek help from the "enemy" Americans, and the K-19 does manage to contact another Russian sub and the crew is transferred.

I thought this was a very good movie. Neeson and Ford do very good jobs as the Russian captains, although I didn't care too much for the fake Russian accents. The special effects, especially the underwater shots of the K-19 are excellent. I've been a fan of submarine movies for a long time, and I rate this movie alongside others such as "U-574", "Crimson Tide", and "The Hunt for Red October". It is full of excitement and will definitely captivate you throughout.

Sometimes reality is far worse than Hollywood
I became a fan of the "sub" genre after seeing movies like U-571 and The Hunt for Red October. While U-571 was sort of a pastiche of all the other submarine films that went before it, it made me an immediate fan. It also made me realize just how contrived spaceship movies are.

Unlike the other films, K-19 - The Widowmaker is about a real incident (like the supposed Red October incident) in which a Russian nuclear submarine's reactor nearly had a catastrophic meltdown just off the eastern coast of the United States in the 1960s. Scary stuff.

As a result of this gritty reality, K-19 is powerful in a way that Titanic was powerful. It doesn't matter if the movie isn't quite realistic - the events are so horrible that tension is rife throughout the film. Or at least, it should be.

K-19's initial launch is a debacle. In short, the submarine never has a chance to be successful - the men are inexperienced and costs are cut, such that K-19's crew is lucky that it even works at all. Add in the ship's doctor getting run over by a truck, the failure of the christening bottle to break against the sub's hull, and the firing of the chief engineer and it's hard to disagree with the notion that the ship is cursed.

The new captain aboard Alexei Vostrikov, played by Harrison Ford, pushes the sub to its limits. The tension rises as he forces the crew to do random drills, forces it to dive to near crushing depths, and rise right through the arctic ice. This by far is the most exciting part of the film - there is no enemy except Vostrikov, and it's nail biting after witnessing the poor construction of K-19. Ultimately, K-19 fires its test missile, signaling a message to America that the Russians could launch a nuclear strike if they wished.

Then the sub is pushed to its limits once again, beyond what even Alexei could have feared. They are to patrol the eastern seaboard, right near a NATO base. The ship's original captain, Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson) disagrees. Indeed, he disagrees with everything Vostrikov does because he puts the men at risk. I couldn't help but feel contempt for Polenin, who seems so attached to his crew that he no longer has the stomach for war. I'm not sure if that was the director's intent.

Unfortunately, the second half of the film drags. The ship's engines begin to overheat and the inexperienced chief engineer concocts a plan to pipe coolant into the system from the ship's freshwater tanks. Failure means a nuclear explosion "a hundred times worse than Hiroshima."

And so we have a long, slow, miserable, sometimes disgusting foray into the effects of radiation poisoning on the human body. The men who go in have naught but chemical suits rather than radiation suits to protect them. That is, they have no protection at all. So they are exposed for 10 minutes a time in an attempt to minimize the radiation poisoning.

Not only doesn't that tactic works, the radiation leak spreads throughout the submarine. Alexei's choice: accept help from the Americans and save the men or sacrifice his crew to retain Soviet secrets. This decision takes a loooong time to resolve. The movie loses a lot of its momentum, almost becoming a different film that's a lot more like The Andromeda Strain.

What was most striking about this part of the film was how it's been cribbed in other genres. I couldn't help but be reminded of Wrath of Khan, my favorite Star Trek film. Similar to K-19, an officer takes it upon himself to enter the highly lethal radiation chamber in order to "sacrifice the few to save the many." It's chilling to imagine that real human beings had to make that choice. It certainly changed my perspective on Wrath of Khan. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Ultimately, the Russians on board were treated like traitors instead of war heroes. The men weren't fighting any enemy but the politics of Russia itself, and as such they could never leave the disaster of K-19 as heroes. The movie wraps up with what happened to them afterwards, after the fall of the U.S.S.R. At least 27 of the crew died from radiation poisoning.

K-19 is a depressing movie that is torn between being an action submarine flick like U-571 or a disease epidemic battle for survival like Andromeda Strain. It's not as good as either film, but the fact that it's based on real-life events leaves a chilling reminder that sometimes reality is far worse than anything Hollywood can dream up. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

This web ain't getting any wider . . .
I don't know if its just me, but it seems the past couple of months have been BIG-BUG movie crazy. What with SPIDERS, EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS and THEY NEST, B-Movie producers have jumped on the creature feature bandwagon with a vengeance. Now, comes ARACHNID.

Produced by the great Brian Yuzna (he, responsible for the classic RE-ANIMATOR and SOCIETY) and directed by Jack Sholder, this movie had potential. On a good day, Jack Sholder can deliver the goods with gems like THE HIDDEN, but on a bad day just witness the king-stinkers that are WISHMASTER 2 and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2. Unfortuanately, for the producers of ARACHNID, Mr. Sholder was having a really bad day when he was filming this one. For all of the movies good intentions, it ultimately fails to deliver on any level ' it isn't cheesy enough, fun or scary ' just dull.

The story is simple. A viral outbreak on a remote island brings together a team of doctors, soldiers, etc to investigate. The main culprit is a probable spider bite from a previously unkown form of arachnid. Unkown to them, but shown to us in the opening reel, the actual arachnid is an alien being that has crash landed on earth. Thrown into the mix is hard as nails pilot Alex Reid who has a secret (haven't they all?) and Chris Potter as the Indiana Jones-esque hero of the piece, who quite shockingly takes a shine to the spunky Reid. Together, they fight their way through 90 minutes of tedium. Most of the cast show up to become either covered in spider webs or just dragged into the jungle by an assortment of Steve Johnson effects work (which is quite effective on what is obviously a low budget). Infact, the actual main spider of the title is excellent ' a cross between Johnson's own SIL design from SPECIES and a Starship Trooper bug. The problems arise when the arachnid is asked to move around and attack. The jerky movements come across as lumbering and awkward ' as it ultimately becomes as menacing as a paper bag.

The direction is lifeless and lacks energy. This kind of film needed to be fast moving, funny and self aware. Instead, we get a dull ALIENS retread with stock characters (The tough female. The foul-mouthed commando. The expert who meets his fate at the hands of the creature he so admires. The dashing hero who . . etc.) and played out scenarios that put the cast in stupid situations. It really is a big shame, as the talent behind the camera is excellent (and in front ' all of the cast are very good), its just that the finished product resembles another in the long line of creature-amok films that clog up video stores everywhere. Am I missing something? That wasn't the point, was it?

The disc (this refers to the UK Mosaic Movies release ' I'm not sure what the US disc offers) adds a trailer and a boring photo gallery. (Gee, thanks for the extras!). The picture is fine, with sharp cinematography adding an expensive look to the movie. Infact, all-in-all, ARACHNID is an okay time-waster with nothing special or inventive up its sleeve ' just a well filmed, nicely polished flick with above average anamatronic effects. If you like big monster movies, then maybe give it a whirl. It's not too bad ' just frustratingly average.

COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE
Poor Jack Sholder. He directs one of the finest sci-fi films of recent years (THE HIDDEN) and now he goes straight to video in this laughably scary movie. You have to credit Chris Potter (Valentine) and Alex Reid (Mercer)--at least they spoke English. Sholder manages to stage the spider sequences effectively but everything else is derivative nonsense. For a movie of this kind, the special effects are passable, but there should have been more spider contact. And of course, the ending smells for a sequel? Didn't I read somewhere that there is an Arachnid 2? Oh, well, for a ninety minutes of frivolous popcorn fun, settle for this 50's B movie.

Schlock fans might enjoy.
I was in a schlocky mood last night, so I decided to catch Arachnid, which had a premise that sounded like schlocky fun. Well, I was about right. The movie's never really suspenseful or exciting, but it has enough icky moments and man vs. spider action to make it a watchable timewaster.

The story is about as silly as you'd expect, with a stealth fighter crashing into a spaceship, which crashlands on a small island. We actually get a brief glimpse at an alien that flickers in and out of transparency. Then it's killed by a giant spider. What the movie never makes clear is the spider's origin. Was it mutated by the spacecraft crash somehow, or was it on board the ship and was freed by the crash? Anyway, an expedition is formed to investigate a virus that came from that island. As a precaution, lots of guns are brought along, and you can sort of guess what happens from there.

I've always had a soft spot for horror films set on desolated jungle islands (Zombie, anyone?), so it's natural my curiosity would get the best of me with this film eventually. Arachnid was about on par with my expectations; basically, the story, acting, and direction are mostly second-rate, but the movie is sometimes enjoyable if you're in the right B-movie mood. And to director Jack Sholder's credit, he does try to use the island setting to as much of his advantage as possible.

The action scenes are pretty standard, which is a little surprising considering this is helmed by the man who gave us The Hidden, which had some fine action sequences. There's a lot of running around, getting stuck in webbing, and a few gun battles, but nothing spectacular by a long shot.

The effects are surprisingly not bad for a straight-to-video release. The giant spider is somewhat convincing, even if it only makes basic movements. Most of the effects appear animatronic, and I don't really recall much in the way of the CGI, barring the opening, of course.

The performances are nothing very notable, with Alex Reid coming off extremely annoying as the cocky pilot. Looking at the way she's dressed, it's obvious the filmmakers were aiming for some Tomb Raider parallels. Personally, I would have switched lead roles between her and Neus Asensi, who delivers a much better performance, and it doesn't hurt that she's hot, as well. Probably the only other actor worthy of note is Rasil Isyanov as a spider expert.

Arachnid is pretty much by-the-book. You know what you're getting if you actually decide to watch it, so to be disappointed by anything less would be rather foolish. Hey, the movie turned out to be slightly better (or a better way to put it would be more enjoyable) than I thought it would be.

Pardon me if I am among few Voices of Cheer, *but* ......
Come on now, folks !! [ NO guys, *not* (quite) in the way the Better of Us CAN in Good Conscience hit on especially lovely, quality girls !! ] This IS, y' know, what IS, in the vernacular, a "campy" movie, *not* Schindler's List, right ? Right !! That establishes the groundwork, for instance, for a Gorgeous Woman to plunge up to her Buxom Assets into a Black, Stinky, Goo, feeling **something** frighteningly knawing on her boot. Thus, in The True Tradition of all Combination Superchick / Damsels in Distress, our honey not only hollers for extrication from her peril, but suffers stuck to her Hero in her Already Revealing Shirt by Sticky "Spider Silk". ( Can _you_ say, Toby McGuire and Kirsten Dunst ?? ) In short, We Men have a Nice LONG Look at her loveliness in her Nice White Brassiere !! Works for Me !! Last word, please: there *are* those movies that are meant *not* to be taken so seriously ... where we are to Leave Our Cerebellums Behind ... and Yield To The Willing Suspension of Disbelief.

Arachnid: A Twisted Web of Illogic
ARACHNID is your basic Big Bug movie that picks off its victims one by one until the very last one, usually the Handsome Young Scientist (Chris Potter) somehow saves the day. This movie's basic premise is such a mess that not even some fairly interesting special effects can compensate. A Stealth pilot chases what seems to be a semi-transparent UFO that flew inexplicably out of a waterspout. His plane crashes and he bails out to land on a tropical island. Now this is weird enough but when he explores the island, he sees what is the ET-like pilot of that UFO, who is promptly killed by a huge spider. At this point, the audience does not know, and soon will not care, whether this is a UFO or Big Bug movie. Soon an airplane crashlands on the island. The passengers are a mixed bag of native islanders, good-looking women, a geeky entomologist (who has a great scene in which he is caught in a spider's cocoon and can still take the time to pontificate on the minutiae of his predicament) and assorted gun-toting guards.
ARACHNID goes seriously astray when it hovers between one kind of film and another. Eventually, it devolves into your standard thing-versus-victims movie. The only actor of note is Chris Potter, who had a minor reputation as the son of Kwai Chang Caine in television's KUNGU FU: THE NEXT GENERATION. Apparently, the call for his modest acting talents was barely sufficient for him as the dashing lead. You can easily skip this movie since there is nothing here that you had not seen done better in dozens of Grade Z monster pics. ... Read more

Reviews (170)

A Major Step in the Right Direction
I've read a lot of negative reviews based on how reviewers felt the Omega Code compared to secular big budget films. The problem with comparing Omega Code with these films is that the producers never intended or pretended that it would be a secular big budget film. It was intended to be a soul-winning, prophecy based movie.

Another area of "grief" in the reviews seemed to be that it did not include prophetic events like the the mark of the beast and people being "Left Behind" as in other movies. Here again, the purpose was not to include every end time prophecy but to give a fictional set of probabilities related to the use of the fairly new discovery of the Bible encodings which have and still reveal the current happenings like the newspaper.

REMINDER: Low budget means less money to spend on a myriad of sound and special effects. What is being underplayed is the fact that the christian community pulled together from the grassroots and made it possible for this movie to be in the limelight or reviewed at all.

No, everything was not perfect but it most certainly a step in the right direction and an encouragement for all aspiring writers, directors, actors and producers to know that there is an audience out there for Bible based films.

Was this deliberately hilarious, or what?
It's been a long time since I've seen a movie quite this terrible. After about ten minutes I realized I was watching an unintentional comedy directed by some jackass zealot. Notice that during the previews all the movies are religious. "Crosswalk Entertainment".

It begins with a man (Michael Ironside, prostituting himself for cash) shooting a monk SITTING BEHIND A F**KING LAPTOP with a silencer and then being apprehended by to men who give him his hat and let him go. These guys are angels. Praise the Lord.

It spirals into the worst cinematic attempt at a Biblical message I have ever seen. The funniest parts involve the Antichrist, this idiotic English guy who can't act and takes over the world in, ah, about a week. But wait! Jesus comes to save the day! That is, once the 90210 looking protagonist breaks down his satanic doubt and PRAYS! This is bust a gut comedy.

Turn on Lifetime TV instead. The quality is about the same.

Skip This- Watch "Left Behind" Instead
I'm a Christian, and I like the idea of more Christian friendly films. But this is a terrible mess. For a Christian movie, it seems to have (relatively) high production values, but the redeeming value is in its cover art. You know that's a problem, when the cover is literally the best thing about it. Skip this one.

Disappointing
I prefer Meggido over this one any day.

Worst...movie...ever
I've made it a point to try and see as many of the films in the IMDB 'bottom 150'. I wasn't surprised to see The Omega Code in that esteemed list. It's a dreadful film that hasn't found any niche. Born-again fundamentaloonies never took to it because it isn't 'biblically accurate.' Most sane people dismissed it off-hand. If it didn't completely bomb at the box office, it's because of it's 'limited theatrical release' and the fact that it was [messed with]so well by TBN. Now there's your 2.7 mil at the box office. The TBN crowd (read: instant gratification evangeloonies) flocked to see this croaker. They also put money in Benny Hinn's pockets. Enough said.

Well, it didn't take me long to get a hold of this. Most video stores have this stored away somewhere. This is pure MST2K stuff, people. The acting is wooden, the plot is nonsensical and it's just totally pointless. Was this supposed to make me drop to my knees and praise the Lord?

I was too busy laughing. Avoid! ... Read more

Description

Based on the terrifying true story of one ship and the nine stowaways hiding beneath its decks. When their existence threatens the captain?s career, a means must be found of disposing of them - and so the hunt is on. There can be no survivors who might tell the tale of this deadly voyage. ' 'A chilling, nerve-jangling film.' ' (N.Y. Daily News) ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Disturbing...
HBO prides itself--with some justification--on its hard hitting, made for cable fare. "Deadly Voyage," based on a real-life incident, in which several African stowaways on a cargo ship to France (and ultimately, they hope, to the U.S.) are caught by the crew and brutally murdered. The lone survivor sees to it that justice is eventually served, but not before a harrowing escape that stays with you well after the film is over.

The racial theme is but one of the many explored here. The murderous crew are post-Communist Russians and Romanians whose desperate attempt to preserve their jobs (if the stowaways are discovered they'll likely be sacked by the international shipping firm they feel lucky to have found work with). It thus becomes a battle of wills between representatives of two desperate camps. (At one point, a Russian sailor asks the Africans how much they make a day in their home country. Told that the Africans make about $3.00 a day, he responds that in contemporary Russia and the Ukraine, they could only make $1.00. This kind of one-downsmanship suggests that the real reason they resort to murder has less to do with race--although that certainly is a factor--and more to do with the dehumanizing effects of poverty and social turmoil.

The pacing of "Deadly Voyage" could have been better. The fact that it's relatively low budget does show. Despite the fact that it is a very well acted film, we probably could have used a little more time to get to know the characters before it all explodes. Still, the filmmakers have done a remarkable job working under obvious time and budget constraints. There are moments in this film that could break your heart.

Excellent film
This movie is a very intense and emotional film. Omar Epps is great in this movie. It is based on a true story. ... Read more

Reviews (125)

A well-done movie in a non-Hollywood way
I wasn't expecting to be enthralled when I went to this movie (it was husband's choice movie night), but after the first five minutes of the film, I was thoroughly hooked. I came out of the theater feeling like I'd actually seen one of the first above-average movies of the year.

In this movie, Harrison Ford plays a 1960s Soviet sub captain who is brought in to command the Soviet navy's new nuclear submarine after the original captain (Liam Neeson) is removed from the position for political reasons. Neeson stays on the ship as second in command, and Ford is forced to contend with the crew's loyalty to Neeson. Problems plague the submarine before it even leaves drydock, leading the men to begin calling it "The Widowmaker."

This movie isn't told from an American point of view, and doesn't restrict itself to American ideals. The drama is played out without being biased by Hollywood notions of hero vs. villain or a formulaic plot. It really seems like this movie was true to the historic event it was based on.

The characters were portrayed well by everyone in the cast, including Harrison Ford, who was cast against type. Ford turns out a really good performance as the domineering captain and manages to escape his celebrity and really descend into the character. I actually forgot I was watching a Harrison Ford movie. Liam Neeson is solid as well, and the crewmembers without exception turn out convincing performances.

Director Kathryn Bigelow delivers a strong and well done movie with "K-19: The Widowmaker". In a sea of forgettable fluff, this movie rises above typical Hollywood and achieves something special.

Flawed but decent submarine drama
In the sub-genre of submarine dramas, K-19, The Widowmaker doesn't compare with great films such as Das Boot or The Hunt for Red October. Based on a true story that isn't as gripping as those other films, it has limited potential to begin with. So, of course, the couple of serious flaws that K-19 possesses quickly undermines that potential.

K-19 follows the maiden voyage of the Soviet Union's flagship nuclear submarine, whose initial captain (Liam Neeson) is replaced by a new captain (Harrison Ford). During a series of drills, Neeson and the rest of the crew are leery of their new leader, but after a dangerous but successful test of their limits, the new captain earns the crews, (but not Neeson's) trust. However, when a radioactive leak is discovered and the fate of the ship is up in the air, no one knows whose lead to follow.

One of my biggest problems with this film is the first third of it, illustrating drill after drill with a loud, suspenseful soundtrack that tries to make the mostly harmless drills seem more dangerous. The film here seems to be preparing the audience for an inevitable attack from an enemy. All it serves to do in the end is to be misleading so that when that inevitable attack never happens, it proves to be a let down. Also, and perhaps even more annoying, are the poor Russian accents. Everyone, including Ford and Neeson, have wavering accents that are sometimes Russian, sometimes American, and sometimes something else entirely. In fact, without even a single word ever spoken in Russian, the film's authenticity suffers. You never forget that these are all Americans playing Russians. Perhaps if the casting director found more Russian actors for the supporting roles, and the director maybe placed some Russian dialogue in the beginning (such as The Hunt for Red October did), It would have been more convincing.

Still, the film is not without merit. Once the radiation leak is discovered the film becomes more interesting and well worth your time. It truly was a harrowing event and the tension finally begins to build here. It's just too bad it took an hour of false tension to get there. If emphasis on the drills had not been pushed as it was, and the atmosphere more authentically Russian, this could have been a solid four star film doing justice to the true events.

It's worth a rental as it is, but stick to Das Boot or other submarine thrillers to fill your DVD rack.

Great Movie!!!
This is a great movie and is far superb to U-571. The story is exellent and just about everything is exellent. I recommend this to any submarine movie collector or just a person who likes a good story.

An Exciting Submarine Movie
Veteran actors Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson star in this thrilling film about a Russian nuclear submarine and its crew during the height of the cold war. Ford stars as Captain Alexi Vostrikov, a by-the-book, bend and no break commander of the Russian submarine K-19. Neeson stars as Captain Mikhail Polenin. Polenin is the exact opposite of Vostrikov. He is well liked by the crew and is willing to take advice from them.

The K-19 is the newest is Russian submarine technology. Capable of firing missiles up and down the American coast, the submarine and its crew set off on their maiden training mission.
The crew successfully fires the test missile, but soon another problem develops. The crew soon realizes that their nuclear reactor which powers the ship has developed a severe leak which threatens to possibly destroy the ship.

Volunteers are chosen to go inside the reactor area to try to fix the leak by welding pipes to bypass the leak, but these men soon are suffering from radiation exposure. Meanwhile, an American destroyer has come upon the crippled sub and has offered assistance. Vostrikov is determined not to seek help from the "enemy" Americans, and the K-19 does manage to contact another Russian sub and the crew is transferred.

I thought this was a very good movie. Neeson and Ford do very good jobs as the Russian captains, although I didn't care too much for the fake Russian accents. The special effects, especially the underwater shots of the K-19 are excellent. I've been a fan of submarine movies for a long time, and I rate this movie alongside others such as "U-574", "Crimson Tide", and "The Hunt for Red October". It is full of excitement and will definitely captivate you throughout.

Sometimes reality is far worse than Hollywood
I became a fan of the "sub" genre after seeing movies like U-571 and The Hunt for Red October. While U-571 was sort of a pastiche of all the other submarine films that went before it, it made me an immediate fan. It also made me realize just how contrived spaceship movies are.

Unlike the other films, K-19 - The Widowmaker is about a real incident (like the supposed Red October incident) in which a Russian nuclear submarine's reactor nearly had a catastrophic meltdown just off the eastern coast of the United States in the 1960s. Scary stuff.

As a result of this gritty reality, K-19 is powerful in a way that Titanic was powerful. It doesn't matter if the movie isn't quite realistic - the events are so horrible that tension is rife throughout the film. Or at least, it should be.

K-19's initial launch is a debacle. In short, the submarine never has a chance to be successful - the men are inexperienced and costs are cut, such that K-19's crew is lucky that it even works at all. Add in the ship's doctor getting run over by a truck, the failure of the christening bottle to break against the sub's hull, and the firing of the chief engineer and it's hard to disagree with the notion that the ship is cursed.

The new captain aboard Alexei Vostrikov, played by Harrison Ford, pushes the sub to its limits. The tension rises as he forces the crew to do random drills, forces it to dive to near crushing depths, and rise right through the arctic ice. This by far is the most exciting part of the film - there is no enemy except Vostrikov, and it's nail biting after witnessing the poor construction of K-19. Ultimately, K-19 fires its test missile, signaling a message to America that the Russians could launch a nuclear strike if they wished.

Then the sub is pushed to its limits once again, beyond what even Alexei could have feared. They are to patrol the eastern seaboard, right near a NATO base. The ship's original captain, Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson) disagrees. Indeed, he disagrees with everything Vostrikov does because he puts the men at risk. I couldn't help but feel contempt for Polenin, who seems so attached to his crew that he no longer has the stomach for war. I'm not sure if that was the director's intent.

Unfortunately, the second half of the film drags. The ship's engines begin to overheat and the inexperienced chief engineer concocts a plan to pipe coolant into the system from the ship's freshwater tanks. Failure means a nuclear explosion "a hundred times worse than Hiroshima."

And so we have a long, slow, miserable, sometimes disgusting foray into the effects of radiation poisoning on the human body. The men who go in have naught but chemical suits rather than radiation suits to protect them. That is, they have no protection at all. So they are exposed for 10 minutes a time in an attempt to minimize the radiation poisoning.

Not only doesn't that tactic works, the radiation leak spreads throughout the submarine. Alexei's choice: accept help from the Americans and save the men or sacrifice his crew to retain Soviet secrets. This decision takes a loooong time to resolve. The movie loses a lot of its momentum, almost becoming a different film that's a lot more like The Andromeda Strain.

What was most striking about this part of the film was how it's been cribbed in other genres. I couldn't help but be reminded of Wrath of Khan, my favorite Star Trek film. Similar to K-19, an officer takes it upon himself to enter the highly lethal radiation chamber in order to "sacrifice the few to save the many." It's chilling to imagine that real human beings had to make that choice. It certainly changed my perspective on Wrath of Khan. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Ultimately, the Russians on board were treated like traitors instead of war heroes. The men weren't fighting any enemy but the politics of Russia itself, and as such they could never leave the disaster of K-19 as heroes. The movie wraps up with what happened to them afterwards, after the fall of the U.S.S.R. At least 27 of the crew died from radiation poisoning.

K-19 is a depressing movie that is torn between being an action submarine flick like U-571 or a disease epidemic battle for survival like Andromeda Strain. It's not as good as either film, but the fact that it's based on real-life events leaves a chilling reminder that sometimes reality is far worse than anything Hollywood can dream up. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

IN THE ARMS OF ....
I take OCTOPUS for what I think its producers wanted: a corny, old-fashioned let's run from the giant monster movie. Sure, it's effects are no where near what a larger budget would have entailed. But, still, there are some pretty neat shots, especially of inky's mouth! Jay Harrington as Turner, is so inept and bungling, it had to be intended. How many times does the slippery terrorist slip away? And poor guy won't shoot a gun in cold blood? Remember---he's not a special agent..he's an analyst. David Beecroft as the demoted captain has a world-weary edge that gives his performance both a sharp and comic bend. And with all the crew going psycho after the octopus attack, it certainly lends credence to the government's psychological profiling attempts. The addition of the ocean liner as the climactic finish also bends convention wisely. And, hey, we had to let Turner be heroic at SOMETHING!!!
Corny but I had fun!

Can't believe it, but I actually liked this movie.
As schlock fans may have noticed, there have been a glut of straight-to-video creature features released the past few years. Most of them have been crap, some have been kind of fun, but without a doubt, Octopus is the most enjoyable of them all. Granted, this isn't saying much, but I'm almost to say this; I actually liked this movie quite a bit, and when it comes to the sea monster genre, the only movie of the past few years to have this beat is Deep Rising, so it's not surprising to see there are plot similarities between the two.

Both films feature a giant octopus and an oceanliner that's attacked by said animal. But the majority of Octopus is set on a submarine transporting a a dangerous terrorist named Casper (Ravil Issyanov). Playing his escort is Jay Harrington as young CIA agent Roy Turner. The captain of the sub, Shaw (David Beecroft), is a rather grizzled veteran, judging from his initially aloof and sarcastic demeanor. Given the movie's title, it's no surprise to see that the sub will be attacked by a giant sea creature and massive chaos will ensue.

For what it is, Octopus is a pleasant gem. This is a monster movie with plenty of action, suspense, humor, and even likeable lead characters. Now how often can you say that about a STV release? Oh, certainly, it's not without its flaws. The story's about as silly as you'd expect and the final scenes defy logic, but it's all in good fun. Really, the only things about the movie that truly bothered me were some of the sets, which are given a cheesy-looking green lighting, which is something that's always been a pet peeve of mine.

From an action point-of-view, director John Eyres does a fine job, given obvious budgetary restraints. The opening chase/shootout delivers quite a few large-scale explosions and flipping cars, though Eyres does shake the camera during this scene too much for my tastes. The rest of the action's even more relentless, with more fun gunplay, shaking sets, and an exhilarating finale set onboard a cruise, an elaborate setpiece involving not only a large ship, but also a helicopter and a submersible.

Once the mayhem begins, there's almost no point of let-up. So it's a good thing the cast has a good sense of chemistry that makes them rather endearing, with nice, unforced humor that's good for some belly laughs. Faring the best are Jay Harringotn as the inexperienced CIA agent and David Beecroft as the grizzled captain, a mismatched pair that grows on you. Rounding it out as a trio is Carolyn Lowery as an enthusiastic oceanographer. Oh, she's hot, too, and almost a dead-on for a young Virginia Madsen (and does anyone else find it amusing Lowery was also in Candyman, as Madsen's rival?)

Most of the special effects and sets are really quite good, so long as you remember that is was probably shot on a low budget without any major players. The monster is the kind of effects work that you know is obviously CGI, but gets more of the "that's pretty cool" response than unintentional laughter. Hey, by the time I saw the tentacles wrapping around an oceanliner, threatening to drag into the sea, I was completely won over.

Octopus isn't the kind of movie that will any major awards, but it's a fun, unpretentious way to spend 100 minutes. The winning mix of action, adventure, and horror adds up to excitement that not even some big-budget blockbusters could compete with.
*** 1/2 out of *****

A good movie
In Octpus a nuclear submarine care toxic chemicals is ground at the botttom of the sea. The radiaoctive materials in to the ocean mutate octupus. That grow to godzilla sized porportins.

This move in my opion is a mondern day version of peter Benchly class movie the Beast. Thilled with action, gore and adventure. Rate R for gore bad language and violence. The CIA gut is histirical. If you like thise she action packed octpusus 2.

BRILL
THIS MOVIE IS GREAT GOOD SPECIAL EFFECTS GOOD ACTION GOOD PLOT MUST BUY NOW
P.S SEQUEL IS POOR CASH IN NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS ONE

8 Arms of Awesome Action!
Incredible action! Incredible characters! Incredible effects! Incredible octopus! Incredible plot! Incredible villain! Incredible ending! Incredible movie!

Those are the top 8 incredible reason to love OCTOPUS! Do the Rock-topus, baby! ... Read more

Reviews (88)

This really ain't a bad movie...
Okay, here we go. Bruce Willis stars as some assassin called "The Jackal" who has to blow the first ladies' head right off. Then, the F.B.I. finds out about this whole operation from a Russian who was zapped by the K.G.B. so they have no other choice but to release an ex-I.R.A. sharp-shooter named Declan Mulqueen. What's that? You expected more?! Oh, no, no, no. That is the entire plot. And although it sounds like a crappy plot that has more or less been done about a million times, The Jackal is truly a great film. I consider it to be the 2nd greatest action film of 97 (The first being Face/Off of course). I really would have given the film 5 stars had it not been for the boring lovey-dovey scenes between Richard Gere and the two women in this flick who carry a gun. His old girlfriend (who is a great shot.) and Major Valentina Koslova (played and voiced with a pretty good Russian accent by Diane Verona). But I'd have to say that the best thing about this movie is the way-cool, too-good-to-be-true music score! Carter Burwell did the music for the movie (he also did the great score to "Fargo"). So, if you haven't seen this movie yet...go rent it! And if you're a real die-hard-action-movie-lover...go buy this movie right now!!! You won't be disappointed!!!

great performances all around make this great movie
Another remake, a great movie - Day of the Jackal with the brilliant Edward Fox - so I tended to cringe in anticipation, but surprisingly this film scores a bullseye because of solid performances from Richard Gere, Bruce Willis, Sidney Poitier, Mathilda May (Lifeforce) but most especially from Diana Devora (the 13th Warrior, FX).

Gere plays Declan Mulqueen, an IRA terrorist who is in prison. He and Mathilda May were former lovers and worked with Willis, but he betrayed them. Diana Devora is a Russian intelligence officer, Valentina Koslova. She is working with Carter Preston US intelligence officer (Sidney Poitier) in taking down Russian Mafia. Only the Mafia wants to strike back and send the Jackal - Willis - on a assassination to make a statement by killing the First Lady. Devora and Poitier get Gere out of English jail, on a temporary leave, to help track down Willis. Willis is a master of disguise, so only Gere stands a chance of tracking him down before he completes his mission.

It's fast paced, yet leisurely plots Willis preparations for the kill. Well done from start to finish. Not better than the original, but just as enjoyable. Excellent soundtrack as well.

A Movie That Should Be More Popular
I personally love this movie. This movie features Bruce Willis as the Jackal, an assassin hired to kill a high level U.S. Government official. The Jackal has many identities, costumes, and contacts to help him along the way. The FBI, obviously trying to stop the Jackal before he kills, turn to the one type of person most unlikely to help them.... a terrorist. Deklin Moqueen, played well by Richard Gere, is enlisted to stop the Jackal due to their past history together. There are some shocking twists and turns along the way before the end. The end result is a movie that is unnecessarily being torn apart by critics, but will always have a nice spot in my DVD collection.

Note: Jack Black makes an appearance in this movie. This is one of the first movies I remember seeing him in. I won't give away what happens to him, but it definitely left an imprint in my mind.

Edge of Your Seat Suspense
Bruce Willis really is believable as the legendary Assassin by the name of the Jackal. This movie takes you from Europe to the USA to Canada and back. There are so many scenes where you bristle with anxiety due to Willis' intense manner.

This may be the best Willis performance ever. The movie is violent, yet, it is to an extreme, not gorey violence but it reflects the violent nature of the legend. Richard Gere is cast well, a little less believable than Willis, yet he does a good job of being intense in tracking Carlos the Jackal. The issue here is what will Jackal do next? Can he be stoppped?

Jack Black plays a very believable role of a somewhat bystander who meets a very violent end. You may want to close your eyes for that one.

I recommend not drinking any caffiene before this movie because it creates an edge right from the beginning. What was telling to me was that every interaction that Willis has creates tension, whether or not he is violent, you feel he may be at any time.

This movie of course is not for everyone yet it is not an action thriller that is silly in nature with gratuitous violence. It seems more of a lesson of the violent nature of the worst criminals in the world.

Use Once & Destroy
Not too good, not too bad, "The Jackal" is one of those average action movies that brings nothing new but it`s a competent and mildly pleasant product nonetheless. The plot is derivative and predictable, the characters are bland, yet director Michael Caton-Jones chooses some decent actors (Bruce Willis, Richard Gere), a neat soundtrack (Massive Attack, Primal Scream, Moby) and some decent action sequences that manage to deliver a minimum level of entertainment value. As far as popcorn movies go, there`s certainly worse, so this is a fair choice to spend a couple of mind-numbing hours.
Watchable but forgettable. ... Read more

Reviews (88)

This really ain't a bad movie...
Okay, here we go. Bruce Willis stars as some assassin called "The Jackal" who has to blow the first ladies' head right off. Then, the F.B.I. finds out about this whole operation from a Russian who was zapped by the K.G.B. so they have no other choice but to release an ex-I.R.A. sharp-shooter named Declan Mulqueen. What's that? You expected more?! Oh, no, no, no. That is the entire plot. And although it sounds like a crappy plot that has more or less been done about a million times, The Jackal is truly a great film. I consider it to be the 2nd greatest action film of 97 (The first being Face/Off of course). I really would have given the film 5 stars had it not been for the boring lovey-dovey scenes between Richard Gere and the two women in this flick who carry a gun. His old girlfriend (who is a great shot.) and Major Valentina Koslova (played and voiced with a pretty good Russian accent by Diane Verona). But I'd have to say that the best thing about this movie is the way-cool, too-good-to-be-true music score! Carter Burwell did the music for the movie (he also did the great score to "Fargo"). So, if you haven't seen this movie yet...go rent it! And if you're a real die-hard-action-movie-lover...go buy this movie right now!!! You won't be disappointed!!!

great performances all around make this great movie
Another remake, a great movie - Day of the Jackal with the brilliant Edward Fox - so I tended to cringe in anticipation, but surprisingly this film scores a bullseye because of solid performances from Richard Gere, Bruce Willis, Sidney Poitier, Mathilda May (Lifeforce) but most especially from Diana Devora (the 13th Warrior, FX).

Gere plays Declan Mulqueen, an IRA terrorist who is in prison. He and Mathilda May were former lovers and worked with Willis, but he betrayed them. Diana Devora is a Russian intelligence officer, Valentina Koslova. She is working with Carter Preston US intelligence officer (Sidney Poitier) in taking down Russian Mafia. Only the Mafia wants to strike back and send the Jackal - Willis - on a assassination to make a statement by killing the First Lady. Devora and Poitier get Gere out of English jail, on a temporary leave, to help track down Willis. Willis is a master of disguise, so only Gere stands a chance of tracking him down before he completes his mission.

It's fast paced, yet leisurely plots Willis preparations for the kill. Well done from start to finish. Not better than the original, but just as enjoyable. Excellent soundtrack as well.

A Movie That Should Be More Popular
I personally love this movie. This movie features Bruce Willis as the Jackal, an assassin hired to kill a high level U.S. Government official. The Jackal has many identities, costumes, and contacts to help him along the way. The FBI, obviously trying to stop the Jackal before he kills, turn to the one type of person most unlikely to help them.... a terrorist. Deklin Moqueen, played well by Richard Gere, is enlisted to stop the Jackal due to their past history together. There are some shocking twists and turns along the way before the end. The end result is a movie that is unnecessarily being torn apart by critics, but will always have a nice spot in my DVD collection.

Note: Jack Black makes an appearance in this movie. This is one of the first movies I remember seeing him in. I won't give away what happens to him, but it definitely left an imprint in my mind.

Edge of Your Seat Suspense
Bruce Willis really is believable as the legendary Assassin by the name of the Jackal. This movie takes you from Europe to the USA to Canada and back. There are so many scenes where you bristle with anxiety due to Willis' intense manner.

This may be the best Willis performance ever. The movie is violent, yet, it is to an extreme, not gorey violence but it reflects the violent nature of the legend. Richard Gere is cast well, a little less believable than Willis, yet he does a good job of being intense in tracking Carlos the Jackal. The issue here is what will Jackal do next? Can he be stoppped?

Jack Black plays a very believable role of a somewhat bystander who meets a very violent end. You may want to close your eyes for that one.

I recommend not drinking any caffiene before this movie because it creates an edge right from the beginning. What was telling to me was that every interaction that Willis has creates tension, whether or not he is violent, you feel he may be at any time.

This movie of course is not for everyone yet it is not an action thriller that is silly in nature with gratuitous violence. It seems more of a lesson of the violent nature of the worst criminals in the world.

Use Once & Destroy
Not too good, not too bad, "The Jackal" is one of those average action movies that brings nothing new but it`s a competent and mildly pleasant product nonetheless. The plot is derivative and predictable, the characters are bland, yet director Michael Caton-Jones chooses some decent actors (Bruce Willis, Richard Gere), a neat soundtrack (Massive Attack, Primal Scream, Moby) and some decent action sequences that manage to deliver a minimum level of entertainment value. As far as popcorn movies go, there`s certainly worse, so this is a fair choice to spend a couple of mind-numbing hours.
Watchable but forgettable. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

warning - bad dvd
The 1-star rating is for the DVD produced by Fox Lorber.

I am always eager watch to a Nicolas Roeg film, who directed what is one of my favourite films - 'Walkabout'. All the more so when Michael Gambon, a brilliant actor, is in it. Unfortunately, I could not watch this DVD. The quality of the picture is bad beyond belief. Do not attempt to purchase this. How can people manufacture this? Have they no shame?

good roeg, bad fox lorber
Roeg fans will like this film. It doesn't have all of the bravura of a Eureka, while at the same time it does have the chamber elements of Insignificance. Note, however, that the Fox Lorber DVD is horrible: it's in the 1.33 aspect ratio, and looks like a poor tv video master -- blurry, smeared, jittery. So not only is it pan-and-scan, but it's a poor pan-and-scan!

Excellent Actors and Acting
This is an excellent story set during the Romanian Revoluation of 1989. The actors are superb, Patrick Malahide (my favorite), Michael Gambon, Sonia Braga, Nicholas Grace. I was really captivated by the flashbacks, and by the dining table servings. I have watched it several times and will still continue to watch it. Thank you very much for an excellent movie. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Action romance novel to the big screen
Move over Bruce Willis and Steven Seagal; here comes Rob Lowe. This has the ruthless bad guy frustrated by ex-military reluctant hero. There are "stay in the car scenes", and "I do not believe you" scenes. Lots of bombs and explosions and water. Tempered by gushy love and unrequited love on a verbal level.

Basic story line is an international art thief hires hit men with lots of equipment to recover a statue. Parallel to this is the story of a woman who thinks her husband is boring and goes on vacation. Too bad for both groups as hubby shows up to recover wife and just happens to have extraordinary military skills.
Will the bad guy get the statue?
Will the lovers get together?
Or do the all get wet under pressure?

Badly Written and Boring
Escape Under Prssure was one big bore. A group of eighth graders could have written something better.

The dialog is just plain stupid. I understand that the writer of this movie has gone back to working for a lawn maintenance company, and is given nothing more complicated than trimming shrubs.

Entrapment, and ..Baywatch
Like a gruesome car wreck, this movie holds your attention.... An American couple on board a Greek ship, find themselves in the middle of a dramatically overplanned international scheme to steal a valuable Greek artifact. It wasn't so much the implausible plot, but the laughable similarities to some of the movies we know and love-and yes the Hasselhoffian manner in which John Spencer (Rob Lowe) manages to exert himself in his efforts to save the day. This Hollywood mutation was however, fairly entertaining. Highly recommended for a 3am veg-fest. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Billington saves it
Culled from the Jilly Cooper novel of the same name, "The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous" left me wanting to read the book again -- it's far better. Although Stephen Billington is a perfect choice as Lysander, I suppose it's just impossible to condense 700 or so pages into 3 "episodes" as this video does and maintain a true sense of the original story. There was obviously a lot cut out, both in terms of scenes and characters, from the book. Most irritatingly, Lysander is now a tennis pro instead of the polo-playing, basically career-less individual he is in the novel. I can't imagine enjoying this film if you aren't a huge Jilly Cooper fan -- I would find it very confusing had I not read the book first. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

This web ain't getting any wider . . .
I don't know if its just me, but it seems the past couple of months have been BIG-BUG movie crazy. What with SPIDERS, EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS and THEY NEST, B-Movie producers have jumped on the creature feature bandwagon with a vengeance. Now, comes ARACHNID.

Produced by the great Brian Yuzna (he, responsible for the classic RE-ANIMATOR and SOCIETY) and directed by Jack Sholder, this movie had potential. On a good day, Jack Sholder can deliver the goods with gems like THE HIDDEN, but on a bad day just witness the king-stinkers that are WISHMASTER 2 and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2. Unfortuanately, for the producers of ARACHNID, Mr. Sholder was having a really bad day when he was filming this one. For all of the movies good intentions, it ultimately fails to deliver on any level ' it isn't cheesy enough, fun or scary ' just dull.

The story is simple. A viral outbreak on a remote island brings together a team of doctors, soldiers, etc to investigate. The main culprit is a probable spider bite from a previously unkown form of arachnid. Unkown to them, but shown to us in the opening reel, the actual arachnid is an alien being that has crash landed on earth. Thrown into the mix is hard as nails pilot Alex Reid who has a secret (haven't they all?) and Chris Potter as the Indiana Jones-esque hero of the piece, who quite shockingly takes a shine to the spunky Reid. Together, they fight their way through 90 minutes of tedium. Most of the cast show up to become either covered in spider webs or just dragged into the jungle by an assortment of Steve Johnson effects work (which is quite effective on what is obviously a low budget). Infact, the actual main spider of the title is excellent ' a cross between Johnson's own SIL design from SPECIES and a Starship Trooper bug. The problems arise when the arachnid is asked to move around and attack. The jerky movements come across as lumbering and awkward ' as it ultimately becomes as menacing as a paper bag.

The direction is lifeless and lacks energy. This kind of film needed to be fast moving, funny and self aware. Instead, we get a dull ALIENS retread with stock characters (The tough female. The foul-mouthed commando. The expert who meets his fate at the hands of the creature he so admires. The dashing hero who . . etc.) and played out scenarios that put the cast in stupid situations. It really is a big shame, as the talent behind the camera is excellent (and in front ' all of the cast are very good), its just that the finished product resembles another in the long line of creature-amok films that clog up video stores everywhere. Am I missing something? That wasn't the point, was it?

The disc (this refers to the UK Mosaic Movies release ' I'm not sure what the US disc offers) adds a trailer and a boring photo gallery. (Gee, thanks for the extras!). The picture is fine, with sharp cinematography adding an expensive look to the movie. Infact, all-in-all, ARACHNID is an okay time-waster with nothing special or inventive up its sleeve ' just a well filmed, nicely polished flick with above average anamatronic effects. If you like big monster movies, then maybe give it a whirl. It's not too bad ' just frustratingly average.

COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE
Poor Jack Sholder. He directs one of the finest sci-fi films of recent years (THE HIDDEN) and now he goes straight to video in this laughably scary movie. You have to credit Chris Potter (Valentine) and Alex Reid (Mercer)--at least they spoke English. Sholder manages to stage the spider sequences effectively but everything else is derivative nonsense. For a movie of this kind, the special effects are passable, but there should have been more spider contact. And of course, the ending smells for a sequel? Didn't I read somewhere that there is an Arachnid 2? Oh, well, for a ninety minutes of frivolous popcorn fun, settle for this 50's B movie.

Schlock fans might enjoy.
I was in a schlocky mood last night, so I decided to catch Arachnid, which had a premise that sounded like schlocky fun. Well, I was about right. The movie's never really suspenseful or exciting, but it has enough icky moments and man vs. spider action to make it a watchable timewaster.

The story is about as silly as you'd expect, with a stealth fighter crashing into a spaceship, which crashlands on a small island. We actually get a brief glimpse at an alien that flickers in and out of transparency. Then it's killed by a giant spider. What the movie never makes clear is the spider's origin. Was it mutated by the spacecraft crash somehow, or was it on board the ship and was freed by the crash? Anyway, an expedition is formed to investigate a virus that came from that island. As a precaution, lots of guns are brought along, and you can sort of guess what happens from there.

I've always had a soft spot for horror films set on desolated jungle islands (Zombie, anyone?), so it's natural my curiosity would get the best of me with this film eventually. Arachnid was about on par with my expectations; basically, the story, acting, and direction are mostly second-rate, but the movie is sometimes enjoyable if you're in the right B-movie mood. And to director Jack Sholder's credit, he does try to use the island setting to as much of his advantage as possible.

The action scenes are pretty standard, which is a little surprising considering this is helmed by the man who gave us The Hidden, which had some fine action sequences. There's a lot of running around, getting stuck in webbing, and a few gun battles, but nothing spectacular by a long shot.

The effects are surprisingly not bad for a straight-to-video release. The giant spider is somewhat convincing, even if it only makes basic movements. Most of the effects appear animatronic, and I don't really recall much in the way of the CGI, barring the opening, of course.

The performances are nothing very notable, with Alex Reid coming off extremely annoying as the cocky pilot. Looking at the way she's dressed, it's obvious the filmmakers were aiming for some Tomb Raider parallels. Personally, I would have switched lead roles between her and Neus Asensi, who delivers a much better performance, and it doesn't hurt that she's hot, as well. Probably the only other actor worthy of note is Rasil Isyanov as a spider expert.

Arachnid is pretty much by-the-book. You know what you're getting if you actually decide to watch it, so to be disappointed by anything less would be rather foolish. Hey, the movie turned out to be slightly better (or a better way to put it would be more enjoyable) than I thought it would be.

Pardon me if I am among few Voices of Cheer, *but* ......
Come on now, folks !! [ NO guys, *not* (quite) in the way the Better of Us CAN in Good Conscience hit on especially lovely, quality girls !! ] This IS, y' know, what IS, in the vernacular, a "campy" movie, *not* Schindler's List, right ? Right !! That establishes the groundwork, for instance, for a Gorgeous Woman to plunge up to her Buxom Assets into a Black, Stinky, Goo, feeling **something** frighteningly knawing on her boot. Thus, in The True Tradition of all Combination Superchick / Damsels in Distress, our honey not only hollers for extrication from her peril, but suffers stuck to her Hero in her Already Revealing Shirt by Sticky "Spider Silk". ( Can _you_ say, Toby McGuire and Kirsten Dunst ?? ) In short, We Men have a Nice LONG Look at her loveliness in her Nice White Brassiere !! Works for Me !! Last word, please: there *are* those movies that are meant *not* to be taken so seriously ... where we are to Leave Our Cerebellums Behind ... and Yield To The Willing Suspension of Disbelief.

Arachnid: A Twisted Web of Illogic
ARACHNID is your basic Big Bug movie that picks off its victims one by one until the very last one, usually the Handsome Young Scientist (Chris Potter) somehow saves the day. This movie's basic premise is such a mess that not even some fairly interesting special effects can compensate. A Stealth pilot chases what seems to be a semi-transparent UFO that flew inexplicably out of a waterspout. His plane crashes and he bails out to land on a tropical island. Now this is weird enough but when he explores the island, he sees what is the ET-like pilot of that UFO, who is promptly killed by a huge spider. At this point, the audience does not know, and soon will not care, whether this is a UFO or Big Bug movie. Soon an airplane crashlands on the island. The passengers are a mixed bag of native islanders, good-looking women, a geeky entomologist (who has a great scene in which he is caught in a spider's cocoon and can still take the time to pontificate on the minutiae of his predicament) and assorted gun-toting guards.
ARACHNID goes seriously astray when it hovers between one kind of film and another. Eventually, it devolves into your standard thing-versus-victims movie. The only actor of note is Chris Potter, who had a minor reputation as the son of Kwai Chang Caine in television's KUNGU FU: THE NEXT GENERATION. Apparently, the call for his modest acting talents was barely sufficient for him as the dashing lead. You can easily skip this movie since there is nothing here that you had not seen done better in dozens of Grade Z monster pics. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

a film about mistaken idenitdy means this film is a mistake
Not at all a well done thriller boring and rather unclear about a young man`s visit to russia and is mistaken for a killer. Too many loopholes with the plot to be actually taken seroisley. A bad film all the way not worth anything to write about it. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Disturbing...
HBO prides itself--with some justification--on its hard hitting, made for cable fare. "Deadly Voyage," based on a real-life incident, in which several African stowaways on a cargo ship to France (and ultimately, they hope, to the U.S.) are caught by the crew and brutally murdered. The lone survivor sees to it that justice is eventually served, but not before a harrowing escape that stays with you well after the film is over.

The racial theme is but one of the many explored here. The murderous crew are post-Communist Russians and Romanians whose desperate attempt to preserve their jobs (if the stowaways are discovered they'll likely be sacked by the international shipping firm they feel lucky to have found work with). It thus becomes a battle of wills between representatives of two desperate camps. (At one point, a Russian sailor asks the Africans how much they make a day in their home country. Told that the Africans make about $3.00 a day, he responds that in contemporary Russia and the Ukraine, they could only make $1.00. This kind of one-downsmanship suggests that the real reason they resort to murder has less to do with race--although that certainly is a factor--and more to do with the dehumanizing effects of poverty and social turmoil.

The pacing of "Deadly Voyage" could have been better. The fact that it's relatively low budget does show. Despite the fact that it is a very well acted film, we probably could have used a little more time to get to know the characters before it all explodes. Still, the filmmakers have done a remarkable job working under obvious time and budget constraints. There are moments in this film that could break your heart.