Harder to kill

Die Hard gave us an action hero who can be hurt, who has doubts, and who would be happy to let the authorities handle it if they weren't so incompetent. John McTiernan had already proved with Predator that he could handle the 80s-style muscular action men (and introduce some twists to the formula), and with this movie he introduced a new subgenre of Western action: "Die Hard on a plane/train/ship/etc." Sadly none of the imitators would be as good.

Pretty much a perfect storm of an action movie.

Thrice punished

Poor old Frank Castle. His adventures on film have all been pretty bad. I had never seen the first one as a teen (probably the only time it could be somewhat enjoyable) and satisfied my curiosity when it was on TV. The Punisher reminded me that Dolph Lundgren belongs in the Christopher Lambert school of truly wooden acting, Louis Gossett Jr. can exhibit some charisma even in a dreadful film, and Nancy Everhard whom I remember from somewhere (maybe the series Reasonable Doubts?) is a nice-looking lady.

Hoverboards

They were pretty much the only thing I remembered from Back to the Future Part II. It was darker than my memories and better too, although not quite as good as the first. The Blu-ray transfer looks amazing.

Twice the nostalgia value

When Back to the Future was released, if offered a hefty slice of 1950s nostalgia. Watching it yesterday, I realized another 30 years will soon have passed since 1985, and 80s nostalgia was very much in effect. Huey Lewis, Van Halen, Walkman... ahhhh.

As a film it is of course still impeccable entertainment, guaranteed to lift your spirits. This time around I particularly liked Crispin Glover and Lea Thompson's performances. To no one's surprise, the Blu-ray looks and sounds great.

I remember parts II-III as somewhat less entertaining. But it's been much longer since I last watched those, and now that I have the whole trilogy it will be revisiting time soon.

Rambo 1-2

A TV channel is showing the Rambo movies, and I watched most of First Blood and Rambo: First Blood Part II (I managed to miss the beginning both times). First Blood is still a decent film and recognizable as the story of the novel, even though I do prefer the book version. Part II is mostly awful: it's poorly directed and looks like a cheap Cannon film. As far as I can remember, the quality would go still lower in part III.

KHAAAN!

Whoever guessed tonight's movie shall win no prizes.

Odds are Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan is the best Trek movie not only now, but for all time. It's been beautifully remastered for HD - reputedly the most extensive restoration work of the six films with the original cast. I had no complaints.

Carpenter's masterwork

John Carpenter's, that is. I am, of course, talking about The Thing, which may be my favorite horror movie of all time. It stood up to a 5th or 6th viewing brilliantly, and the BD release reveals all kinds of new detail. Rob Bottin's spectacular creature effects do not suffer at all from the high-def treatment.

Apocalypse Australia

A couple of days ago I watched two films set in Australia after a nuclear war: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and On the Beach. I was slightly sad to discover that either Max or I have changed since my youth, as I found that film only average, with some great stunt work. I think this BD is not a keeper.

On the Beach I had not seen but knew the basic story, not from the novel but a Finnish song. It proved to be one of the most chilling films I've seen. I wonder how it got made in 1959.

Your clothes... give them to me, now

Ah, The Terminator. Good practical effects, Arnold's best role, cold and effective score, more chilling than future entries in the franchise... it's all good. We can be happy that O.J. Simpson was not selected as the T-600.

80s Day II: Electric Boogaloo

This time I got distracted by something or other and only managed two movies: Gremlins and The Living Daylights, both previously unseen. Both worked well.

Gremlins was funny and had groovy creature effects, and Timothy Dalton was a fine 007, kind of foreshadowing the grittier approach of Daniel Craig. It feels silly to say that Maryam d'Abo was a believable Bond girl, but I'll say it anyway. The film was fairly faithful to the short story, even though it only offered enough material for the Bratislava defection scene. This was the last Bond in the (very loose) Cold War continuity, with General Gogol making a brief appearance.

It started with a red dawn

This whole idea originated a couple of weeks ago when my summer holiday was ending and I decided to watch movies that were somehow thematically linked. The first batch was an 80s day, during which I saw Red Dawn, Highlander, Romancing the Stone, and Sixteen Candles (which I actually had never seen and enjoyed greatly).

Red Dawn had some pretty nice replica Soviet vehicles, including a T-72 that looked so good the CIA got interested. Physical effects, models, and actual moving vehicles always have more charm than CGI. And the Finnish Jatimatic SMG made an appearance; I guess it was more popular in Hollywood than in real life. Highlander had unconvincing swordfights, wooden Christopher Lambert, flamboyant Sean Connery, and Queen. Somehow it still more or less worked. Romancing the Stone was no Raiders of the Lost Ark then or now, but mostly entertaining nevertheless and Kathleen Turner was smoking hot.

As I said at the time: truly, a decade among decades!