Blade Runner: The Final Cut Review

 

Blade Runner: The Final Cut

Director: Ridley Scott

Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Rutger Hauer, Daryl Hannah, Brion James, Joanna Cassidy, M.Emmet Walsh, William Sanderson, Joe Turkel & Edward James Olmos

Running Time: 117 mins

Release: 23^rd November 2007 (Final Cut) & 9^th September 1982 (original release)

The film is set in a future LA and the year is 2019. The plot focuses on a retired Blade Runner Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) who get's called back into action to 'retire' four Nexus 6 replicants who have escaped and hijacked a ship backed to earth seeking there maker Dr. Eldon Tyrell (Turkel) whilst he falls in love with Rachel (Sean Young) a Nexus 6 replicant. This film is an absolute classic masterpiece marrying sci-fi and noir perfectly with brilliant themes and the most majestic gorgeous production i've seen to grace screen. Also there are two endings the Final Cut is more of a ambiguous ending whilst the Theatrical ending is more clear cut, I saw the theatrical version a few years ago.

When people talk about Harrison Ford they mainly talk about his big three film; Blade Runner, Star Wars Trilogy and The Indiana Jones films and I have to say this my absolute favourite character that Ford portrays. He's quite cynical and embittered and despite being human he does not feel it or express that he's human but as the film develops he becomes more alive, if you see the film you know what I mean. Ford is perfect as Deckard, it's effortless for Ford he's got charm and is a brilliant protagonist and though Deckard is a Blade Runner he's very much a gumshoe and one of the best. One small thing they also keep intact with Deckard in the film is his fascination with replicant animals.

Rutger Hauer is absolutely perfect as Roy Batty the enigmatic, charismatic leading rouge Nexus 6 replicant who's near the end of his 4 year lifespan who is seeking he's creator to extend his and his lover Pris (Daryl Hannah) lifespan. I must say for an antagonist you sympathise with and he feels very human much more so than Deckard and expresses a lot of emotion and is a very nuanced performance and the final showdown between Deckard and Batty is an absolutely timeless classic scene and really sums up the whole film. In a way Batty helps Deckard regain his humanity. He has some the best lines in the film and is a memorable character and Hauer always makes a fantastic villain. You can tell he really enjoys the role.

Sean Young plays the Nexus 6 Replicant Rachel who's an experiment for Tyrell and the first Nexus 6 Replicant that Deckard meets and he's entranced and encapsulated by her and gradually develops feelings for her as she does for him despite being a replicant, it shows that she's coming towards the end of her own lifespan. She really brings out the human side of Deckard and Sean Young is extremely beautiful in the film, it's a pity she never did a film on this level after Blade Runner.

I cannot write this review without mentioning J.F Sebastian played by William Sanderson a actor I have never really heard of before. He's Tyrell's genetic engineer who designed the replicants and is fascinated by them and makes his own toys as he calls them 'friends' he has a skin condition that makes him look older than he appears it's called Methuselah Syndrome. To me Sebastian comes across as a completely innocent child like man who unwittingly gets involved into Batty and Pris's scheme to meet Tyrell.

Daryl Hannah plays the strikingly beautifully and extremely dangerous Pris who's Batty's lover, in some parts there's some innocence to her especially with her scene's with Sebastian from there initial meeting, but I think it's used to mask her dangerous and unpredictable nature.

Joanna Cassidy plays Zhora a Nexus 6 replicant that Deckard hunts, she tries to mask being a replicant with the career of being an exotic dancer, Deckard gets to her by using the cover of being a entertainment agent and there chase scene is simply amazing.

Brion James plays the fourth replicant that Deckard hunts Leon Kowalski, he's impervious to pain,except death, he's brilliant in the role and one of James finest, he was also in another film I love Southern Comfort as the redneck Trapper that the national guard troopers capture, he's equally brilliant in that role. The Voight Kampff test scene which is the opening scene is brilliant, the VK test is used to detect Replicants it analyses the subjects emotional reaction to certain emotional based questions.

Edward James Olmos plays Gaff a police detective who says so little who is assigned to help Deckard in some capacity to hunt the Replicants. He does not talk that much in the film but he has a big presence in the film and has a unique look which helps with his dress sense and contacts, he has a tendency to make origami figures.

Joe Turkel plays Tyrell, the head of Tyrell industries who created the replicants to use as slaves in off world colonies, with the Nexus 6 models he implanted them with the ability to develop human emotions to make them more human and cruelly also gave them a four year life span. You can tell he's fascinated by his creations and says they are 'more human than humans' as they are incredibly advance. This is the only film I have seen Turkel in and he's absolutely brilliant.

To wrap up the casting M.Emmet Walsh plays Bryant Deckard's former boss who brings him out of retirement for the assignment of retiring the replicants, as Deckard is his favourite Blade Runner and he knows he gets the job done. I have seen this film in it's whole entirety twice now and I have only realised Emmet Walsh was in this now, he's a fantastic character who has a great range of roles and a collaborator with the Coen Brothers he features in Blood Simple and Raising Arizona.

I first saw this film on DVD first and this time on Blu-Ray and boy what an upgrade !, it's like watching it for the first time all over again and it looks like it was made just last year, it's up there with Alien & Chinatown in best quality Blu-Ray's the image is so crisp and clear and really brings the film to life and you can see all the immense amount of detail that was put into the film. Being this is the Final Cut it has the added subtle special effects to enhance the film.

The Production all around is majestic and beautiful in every single aspect from the sets, miniatures, costumes and props and damn I have never seen light used as beautifully as in this it really adds to the atmosphere of the film. The future LA depicted the city as a scrawling, neon-lit, dark, dank capitalist city in decay and ridden with poverty drenched with rain and it looks absolutely beautiful. Tyrell's building, Sebastian's apartment and Deckard's apartments are my favourite sets.

The advancement of technology plays a massive part of the film as there's a lot of commercial advertising for technology in the film which adds to the capitalism element of the film, despite the film being made over 30 years ago the technology feels very fresh I love the old style monitors and the VK test and Deckard's signature gun and the flying cars !.

The score by Vangelis is divine is one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard I absolutely love it and if you have seen the film and heard the soundtrack you know where each track plays, unfortunately the full soundtrack is very rare to get and there are many releases of the soundtrack which have different tracks on them I have the 12 track OST with the original poster as the cover.

The film has so many themes, technology, morality, life, death, human existence, what it means to be alive, society and man playing god, there's so many more I could mention.

I absolutely love this film it's one of my absolute favourites and I am surprised I have only seen it twice if you love sci-fi and or noir this is quintessential viewing it's an absolutely amazing film and my favourites Ridley Scott film just above Alien.

Chinatown Review

 

Chinatown

Director: Roman Polanski

Stars: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Diane Ladd, & Darrel Zwerling

Running Time: 130 Mins

Release: 20^th June 1974

The film is set in 1937 LA and the story focuses on Jake Gittes (Nicholson) a young ambitious gumshoe who deals with marital cases. One day a woman Evelyn Mulwray (Ladd) comes into his office and asks him to investigate her husband Hollis Mulwray (Zwerling) who's the head of building LA's water supply system of having an affair with a young woman. The story is later published in the press and is a complete scandal and Gittes finds out he was hired by an imposter, at this time the real Evelyn Mulwray (Dunaway) comes into his office to tell him that that she is suing him for defamation.

Clues suggest a scandal in LA's government, despite there being an ongoing serious drought and a expensive proposal to build a new dam, The Water and Power department is dumping fresh water into the ocean during nightfall. The dam proposal is opposed by Hollis himself who cites a potential disaster because of the weak geological formations in the rocks embedded into the land of where it is going to be constructed. It is laughed at and ridiculed at a public hearing and later Hollis's body washes up on the shore and is suspected of drowning. What starts off as a simple murder case becomes so much more and to say anymore would simply spoil the plot though you can say the typical tropes of a noir film are involved, deceit, corruption and murder.

I have not seen Jack Nicholson in all that much the only thing I have really seen him in is the 1989 Tim Burton 1989 Batman film of which he stole the show and in this he's much younger and Nicholson is absolutely brilliant in the role he's everything a gumshoe on film should be: ambitious, self assured, determined, intelligent and like many others be in way over his head. He brings real conviction to Jake Gittes, he makes Jake feel like a real a person, sometimes you like him sometimes you don't he's very authentic and really makes you think that you know him and he even has a regular guy charm to him, he's gotten lost in the role and it's amazing to see, he steals every scene he's in. It should be noted we see the film from his perspective so he's never not in a scene.

Granted too I have not seen Faye Dunaway in much either, in fact I have not seen her in anything before. Like Nicholson she's perfect in this. At first you think she's a femme fatale but there's so much more to her than that, she has that unique property of mesmerizing and encapsulating you as Evelyn, she glues your eyes to the screen whenever you see her, she is a very complex character and Dunaway really does her best in this, you can tell she gave it her all.

Also we have Noah Cross, played by John Huston, Evelyn's father who was Hollis's business partner who fell out with him over there different opinions of the dam, he's a charismatic character but also whom's very creepy and controlling and know's how he gets what he wants, I think he looks a bit like Max Von Sydow and his performance reminded me of Sydow's performance in Minority Report, it's quite easy to make comparisons.

There's a lot of supporting characters but there's too many to list but they each add there own element to the film the one i'll point out is Burt Young's Curly, Jake's client from the start of the film whom knows he's wife is cheating and later in the film when we see Curly again, we see his wife with a black eye. There's also you fair share of dirty corrupt cops in Roy Jenson's Mulvihill and Perry Lopez's Escobar.

This film does not try to gloss over the theme's in this noir film like classics did which only suggested at the acts, this one shows them and it's incredibly raw and for it's time when it was released in 1974 it was pretty controversial. With this film being a neo-noir film (being made after the B&W period) it really fits in with the all time greats like Double Indemnity, Murder my sweet and The Killers.

The film is incredibly authentic and they really went into detail in the costumes, sets, interiors and cars it's outstanding that they went to all this effort to convey that the film is set in 1937. If you have not heard or recognised any of the actors or knew of the film's release date you would think it would have been made much earlier then again with the language and the themes in the film and some of the violence would break that illusion as it would be censored at that time, but if it was not they would be like Chinatown.

I see Chinatown as what noir could have been in it's heyday if it was not censored and as I said before it's up there with the greats and demands a repeated viewing.

I really have to say this film looks incredibly beautiful, this is my first time seeing it and on Blu-Ray to boot and the image looks incredibly sharp and subtly vibrant it looks simply outstanding and Polanksi has done an absolute brilliant job filming this, he really knows how to shoot a film and every shot is beautifully done right from the beginning shot in Jake's office to the final shot in Chinatown at the end, I have never been this impressed by a film visually since I saw The Master. I particularly love the shots of the seafront in the film it's spectacular.

I cannot wrap up this review without commenting on the absolutely beautiful and spellbinding soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith who's music evokes the golden period of Noir from the opening of the Paramount logo and the intro credits I was hooked it really sweeps you in and it's oh so beautiful, I really do need to own it.

I will surely watch this film many times in the future it's perfect in every way; superb acting, a brilliant well thought out story, a cracking script, brilliantly shot for it's time it really blew my mind, superb production values, a brilliant albeit dark perfect ending and a spectacular soundtrack.

This film is an absolute classic neo-noir I have fallen in love with it, Noir is the best un-hollywood-ending genre there is and this one is one of the best it stays with you long after the credits roll your jaw is on the floor and the final line sums up the film completely 'Forget about it Jake, it's Chinatown'.

To Live and Die in LA Review

 

To Live and Die in LA

Director: William Friedkin

Stars: William Petersen, Willem Dafoe, John Pankow, Debra Fruer, Darlanne Fluegel, John Turturro, Robert Downey Sr & Dean Stockwell.

Running Time: 116 Mins

Release: 7^th January 1986

The film is a about a US Secret Service Federal Agent Richard Chance (Petersen) who plays a deadly game of cat and mouse with Rick Masters (Dafoe) a artist and counterfeiter who killed his partner Jim Hart (Michael Greene), Chance is willing to break the law to get Masters along with his hesitant new partner John Vukovich (Pankow).

As there is a lot of actors in this i'll first comment on the acting.

Most people recognises Petersen from CSI, but before that he did movies albeit only a few of them and the most famous two are this and Manhunter which just came out the year after this (To Live was released in 85' in the states).

Richard Chance is a hot headed adrenaline junkie who enjoys life and is willing to take risks, he loves his work and Petersen plays the part very well indeed. Even though he's a lawman he's willing to break it to get what he wants be it bribing his informant Ruth (Fluegel), stealing money and driving down the wrong side of a busy highway. He does not seem to care about anyone at all, he has no connection to them aside from work, almost everything he does is for work, he lives for the job. He seems detached from the people that surround him It's a terrific performance and Chance has some of the best quotes in the film.

He is partnered with John Vukovich, an agent who's not used to the antics of an agent like Masters and he's much more hesitant and by the book, it's the old buddy cop chestnut aside this is not a buddy cop film and Masters and Vukovich are not really friends, if Chance had it his way he would go it alone. I have never seen Pankow in a film before so this is the first time that I have seen him in a film and it's a brilliant performance and feels very realistic and his reactions in the iconic car chase scene is perfect, it really shows he's never been in that situation before.

Willem Dafoe, excels at playing any role especially the villain, forget Spiderman that's a pantomime role, I saw him in Wild at Heart and he was incredibly nasty, sleazy, gross, demented and occasionally funny as Bobby Peru, he stole the show. His role as Masters is much more controlled and sane than that of Peru and I find him even better in this.

Rick Masters is a brilliant artist who finds his skills work perfectly in the field of making counterfeit money and if he's art is not perfect in his vision he'll burn it and with money if he gets it back and it's already been handled he'll burn it. Masters is incredibly intelligent and charismatic & is all about the business and how to play his hand in his favour always looking at the situation in the long run rather than the immediate future. He's a very ruthless businessman and if any of his clients try to screw him over or don't pay him,they are quickly dealt with, no one f**ks with Masters. Like Masters says 'The fact is if you don't come up with the front money, your not for real.

Like Chance he has no real connection to the people around him, they are all business partners and he's artificial like him, but he does not enjoy the life, he enjoys the thrill of the hunt, the chase and almost getting caught, his life is routine and he's impassive he records sex tapes with his 'girlfriend' Bianca Torres (Fruer) and expresses no emotion within them or with her, when you see them on camera together. He's also sexually ambiguous. He steals every single scene he's in and he's the perfect foil for Richard Chance and now Dafoe has secured himself to be one of my favourite actors.

In supporting roles we have Ruth (Fluegel), Chance's informant and sex slave who works at a counter of a strip bar whom Chance threatens with revoking her parole if she holds out on him, she's desperate to get away from LA and she's had enough of Chance squeezing her. Masters 'Girlfriend' Bianca (Fruer) is in a completely different relationship with Masters she is in it for business and the sex they have is just a part of there business relationship and she's just as ruthless as Masters, a female version of him and she's very easy on the eyes just as Fluegel is.

This film also features John Turturro, an absolutely fantastic actor as Masters friend and criminal associate Carl Cody, he's less intelligent than Masters but just as crafty and what he says in the prison phone with Masters is just piss in the wind but absolutely brilliant he says it with absolute conviction and when Chance meets him to give him an offer to lower his sentence is pure class and steals the scene I love the line 'if your looking for a pigeon, go to the park'. He also features in

the brilliant airport chase scene.

Dean Stockwell, an actor whom I have not heard of before plays Masters slimy attorney Bob Grimes, of whom Vukovich and Chance contact undercover as businessmen to make a deal with Masters to bag him. He's fantastic and like Masters he's looking out for himself. We also have Robert Downey Sr (yes Jr's father) as Chance's thorn-in-the-side superior Thomas Bateman.

Friedkin has done a stunning job filming this, i've never seen a Friedkin film in full before, though I have seen some of The French Connection and I really should revisit, I have not seen The Exorcist nor his recent film Killer Joe.

There's a lot of brilliant scenes in this film and among my favourites are the counterfeit scene in which we see Masters make fake notes it's brilliantly well executed and I know Friedkin aimed for top accuracy on what you see, there's no dialogue at all in this scene it's just Masters making notes and it's fantastic, the chase scene in the airport with Chance chasing Carl is amazing and it has that amazing piece playing in the background if you have seen the trailer you know what I mean, I was a bit disappointed that it was not used as much as I would of liked it to have been, personally.

Of course I cannot forget the audacious, realistic, taught, thrilling, edge-of-your-seat-suspense car chase it's amazing and it was all filmed and it took six days to film and I was really surprised with the amount of shots used to show the action and I loved how it just kept building up the ante till they got away, I cannot say any more without spoiling it.

I have mixed feelings on the soundtrack, some part of me likes it and some parts of me don't. It's done by an 80's band whom i've never heard of called Wang Chung. Being honest I don't much like the actual pop songs in the film but I love the instrumentals and the synth tracks they are perfect for the film.

I was really surprised by this film, it was not completely what I was expecting from seeing the trailer but I absolutely loved it, it's incredibly well acted with Dafoe stealing the show, great dialogue and shot beautifully with great themes going throughout one of the biggest being counterfeit itself in the lead characters life, it demands repeat viewings to get it completely and I cannot end this review without saying it has one of the ballsiest ending I have seen for a film and Hollywood would never dare to do such an ending again, I highly recommend this film it's a brilliant, character rich, taught action thriller.

Maniac Review

 

Maniac

Director: Franck Khalfoun

Stars: Elijah Wood, Nora Arnezeder, America Olivio, Megan Duffy, Jan Broberg, and Sammi Rotibi

Running Time: 89 Mins

Release: 15^th March 2013

A remake of the 1980's slasher of the name. This film is about Frank (Wood) a young single man who restores mannequins in his mother's (Olivio) mannequin store, as a child Frank was neglected by his mother who was loose with men and he did not like it so he stalks the streets of LA in the dead of night preying on women that remind him of his mother, brutally killing them ans scalping them for his mannequins, he then meets a french photography student Anna (Arnezeder) who forms an unlikely friendship with and whom he hopes can help suppress his psychotic tendencies as well as have a normal relationship with her, but being with her it only makes it stronger.

At it's heart Maniac is a love story, an unlikely one between Frank and Anna, to go into this further I'll talk about the acting.

Granted I have not seen Elijah Wood in much aside the Lord of The Rings, The Hobbit an Unexpected Journey and Sin City. I know that Wood get's a lot of flack for his acting but personally I have no problem with him and find him to be a great actor who seems to be moving into the genre of Horror with this and Cooties which I hope is coming out soon. Anyway back to Wood in this.

I think he's perfect as Frank a seemingly ordinary man who's a psychopathic serial killer whom has relationship issues with women whom wants to be respected, loved, noticed and appreciated and have a relationship with a woman and it's these qualities that make him human, that makes you sympathise and relate too him. Also in the fact that we see Maniac from his perspective which i'll go into later on. Frank's not really given a back story to his neglect as a child but it is hinted at in the few flash back scenes in the film as his mother was constantly with men, not raising him right. Though in the first flashback we learn as to why he scalps the women, he's fascinated with women's hair he loves combing it and touching it and by putting the hair on the mannequins and dressing them similar to his victims he then 'owns them'.

He hunts and kills the women that remind him of his mother be it in there sexual openness or appearance, he gets sexually excited by the women and killing them(well aside one, you'll see what I mean when you see it) as it fulfils his need. Curiously in the opening scene of the film we see Frank stalking a young woman that's come out of a club and he see's a young man touch her sexually and he says angrily 'Leave Her Alone', well to himself and it hints at that in some part he wants to protect her, like she is his.

He also suffers from migraines when he feels stressed, or well when his darker side tries to claw out , the medication suppresses it for a time being. Wood's delivery is perfect,he acts and talks exactly as if he was a psychopath it's very natural and it really surprised me and in some parts Frank reminds me of Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver. This is the first film wherever I have encountered a sympathetic serial killer, so kudos to that.

This film is a two hander as there is really only two main characters Frank and his love interest Anna.

I have never seen Arnezeder in a film before this is the first thing I have seen her in and she's brilliant in the role. She is pivotal to the film as she gives Frank that hope, that inkling that he can be normal as she likes being with Frank and they share the same interests and outlook and she is fascinated by mannequins and to Frank she's not like the other women he see's or kills she gives him hope that he can be normal, they first meet when Frank see's her outside his shop taking pictures of the mannequins and there friendship develops from there and the scenes between them are brilliant it gives you a real sense that it could work between them.

Most of the film is shot in PoV (Point of View) of Frank so we see everything he does from his eyes which adds sympathy to him, this means we don't see Frank for the most of the film, but we see a lot of his hands which are bruised from the cleaning pad he uses to clean the blood off his hands. And it's shots brilliantly from his perspective. Khalfoun has done a spectacular job and the killing scenes of when we see from Frank's eyes stabbing, slice and scalping his victims are particularly nasty especially the scalping's they made me wince, the sound helped in that and the effects were very visceral throughout and I am used to gore and when he slices a woman's ankle my jaw was on the floor !.

I love the scene where Frank is watching the dancer in the window, I was encapsulated it was beautiful. From PoV we see Frank's state of mind when we see the mannequins covered in blood when they should not be and when they appear in public and when he see's himself as a mannequins the last hallucination is incredibly nasty I was not expecting that at all.

The scenes that I absolutely loved from Frank's perspective was his date with Anna that was perfectly executed especially towards the end of it without giving it away. Also the exhibition scene were Frank goes to the Exhibit to see his mannequins on display and the incredibly beautiful photo's that Anna took, you really sympathise with him in this scene as he mingles with the patrons of the exhibit, the curator Rita (Broberg) especially she treats him like he was nothing, having no respect for what he does and she get's his name wrong and when she finally seems to take an interest in what he's saying she moves and (Minor Spoiler) when Frank meets Anna's boyfriend Jason (Rotibi) in the bathroom he completely disrespects him by saying he's just another gay friend Anna is friends with and wipes his hands on Franks's jacket, you could tell he was arrogant and chauvinistic.

I love how LA looks in the film, well how Maniac depicts it a vibrant, beautiful,faceless, neon nightmare this is really shown in the scenes where Frank is driving in the van and in the subway scene.

There's references to other films throughout including The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, Psycho, Young Frankenstein and even the original Maniac and one shot which duplicates the poster of the original film, and one major one which i'll discuss in a second.

The soundtrack is nothing short of spectacular it's absolutely spellbinding and suits the film and atmosphere to a tee and it's mostly synth,when you think of Maniac you'll immediately think this soundtrack if you have seen the film, it marries the film perfectly and every track suits the film I especially love Juno which is done by Rob who scores the film featuring vocalist Chloe Alper it sums up the film perfectly. I am most definitely getting the soundtrack.

It also features “Goodbye Horses” by Q Lazzarus which was famously used in a iconic scene of The Silence of The Lambs and of course comparisons could be made between Buffalo Bill and Frank and it's used in a equally iconic scene in Maniac when Frank kills his date Lucie (Duffy) he goes back to hers and she wants to have sex with him and she puts this song on as it's her favourite song and it plays throughout and forever it'll be seared into my brain it's a tense, memorable, brutal scene and how it was shot was perfect it was seamless.

There's themes in this horror film including, loneliness, relationships, sex,obsession and love and I was surprised how deep it is for a horror film, now after viewing this film I can see the comparisons between this and Taxi Driver personally in the characters and the depiction of LA. This film exhumes style and substance and is incredibly visceral with a beautiful tragic love story buried beneath a horror film ,with a superb soundtrack. I highly recommend this film if you have a strong stomach and like a bit more to your horror.

Year of The Dragon Review

 

Year of The Dragon

Director: Michael Cimino

Stars: Mickey Rourke, John Lone, Ariane, Raymond J.Barry, Caroline Kava, Dennis Dun and Victor Wong.

Running Time: 134 Mins

Release: 16^th August 1985 (US)

Firstly I must say Mickey Rourke is one of my absolute favourite actors of all time, well has been since 2012 when I saw Angel Heart for the the first time, that absolutely blew me away, his performance is one of the best I have ever seen, it was the film that kickstarted my interest in Mickey Rourke I had seen him in Sin City when I was a bit younger but I did not take that much notice, then again back then I did not pay much attention to films. It was only when I saw Angel Heart that I took notice of his film history and I found out that the 80's was his heyday all the way from Heavens Gate to Jonny Handsome and unfortunately after his bad boy behaviour and return to boxing (of which was always his passion and really good at) and some duds in the 90's of which made him fall out of favour with Hollywood, though in recent years he has now completely turned it around with performances in Sin City and The Wrestler. I am keen to see most of the films from his heyday and revisit and visit some of the films he has done in recent years, of which now brings me to Year of The Dragon.

The plot is a about the most decorated cop in New York Stanley White (Rourke) who's also became a bigot from his experience during The Vietnam war, who is now put in charge of Chinatown which is rife with corruption, injustice and untouchable triads of which Stanley wants 'to make the rice boil over' and a young, ruthless head of a chinese Mafia and leader of the community Joey Tai both men break the rules and there will be casualties on all side in there unavoidable bloody conflict.

The film is a slow pot boiling, taut thriller which is very talky with burst of brutal violence and it's an absolute masterpiece of a film that leaps onto the screen and is completely unforgettable. To me feels like a companion piece to The Deer Hunter as it deals a Vietnam Veteran in White of how the war has taken it's toll on him and his wife, I honestly did not expect that element to be in this film, but it works incredibly well. There's also a comparison in that White is of Polish heritage and that the men in The Deer Hunter are Russian.

The main reasons I wanted to watch this film 1) It's a Michael Cimino film and 2) it's got Mickey Rourke and it surpassed my expectations exceedingly. Of which now leads me to the acting.

Yet again Rourke proves to me that he is one of my all time favourite actors with his performance as Stanley White, it's simply amazing, he plays a reckless, insensitive, uncaring, sometimes unlikeable bigoted cop who can not be bought out nor settle for how things are with the relationship between the police and the big Triad families in Chinatown, he goes against his superiors who are comfortable with how things are and they are fantastic scenes. He is completely relentless, of course he has his faults as seen in his frayed broken relationship with his wife Connie (the brilliant Caroline Kava). You can tell Rourke was passionate about his role and had fun with it and was completely lost in his character which only a few actors can pull off. Also I should add White's hair colour (well Rourke's hair dye) changes quite significantly in the film first off it's completely grey/white and in the very next scene it's brown with some grey streaks in it, I think that Rourke, well Cimino wanted White to be considerably older than Rourke was at the time he was 33 the same age as Lone at the time. I rank his performance in this just beneath Angel Heart which i'll be reviewing in the near future.

Admittedly I have only seen John Lone in Rush Hour II aside this and after looking him up he's only been a few films which is an absolute shame as he blows everyone out of the water in this even Rourke which is really saying something ! He is very cold, merciless, ruthless and intelligent and has a brilliant presence on screen every scene he is is in he steals, also what I like about his character that even despite he is the villain in the film there's some good to him like in one scene when he's talking to Television News Journalist Tracy Tzu (Ariane) when she asks him about the triads than he brings up why they never talk about the good things that he as a businessman has done for the community of course it's all just for face, but good nether the less in my opinion. When he goes to Thailand though it's completely different picture he is incredibly chilling. He's a brilliant match for Rourke's White they have a great hate chemistry. His goal is to change how the Triads operate in Chinatown by separating ties with the Italian Mafia and taking the most of the profits rather than share it with there cohorts which the previous heads have done of course this upsets the Elders in the triads.

Ariane got a lot of flack for appearing in this film, mostly for the part that she's not an actress but a model and a very beautiful one at that and granted, this was her first film and she only appeared in a handful of films then stopped acting. In this she plays Tracy Tzu an american chinese Television News Journalist and for the most part I think she does very well, I had no problem with it at all, throughout the film she has a love hate relationship with White. He has an affair with her as his relationship is broken with his wife and he gives her information about the triads which will expose them and further her career, I thought there relationship was done very well as it shows they are human and that they have her faults.

In supporting roles we have Victor Wong as Harry Yung the former head of the Triads before Joey Tai takes over, despite being a triad he seems to be the voice of reason to me in the group of the heads of the Triads he is also in Big Trouble Little China as Egg Shen of which another co-star was in and that is Donnie Dun (who played Wang Chi) who plays Herbert Kwong an undercover rookie police officer who infiltrates the Triads to help White expose them he handles his performance in one scene in particular he reminds me of Al Pacino in Serpico.

The final notable supporting character is StanleyWhite's friend Louis Bukowski a superior cop that's a friend of White's wife, he tries to reason with White to not go against the triads in Chinatown of course White does not listen to him but Bukowski does not hate him like the other superiors in the precinct.

I mus say there was not much music in this film but I loved all the tracks especially the one when Tai is in the hoodlum place which is a pivotal scene. The theme by David Mansfield is also incredibly brilliant it suits the film completely pity it's not been released.

Also this film has one of the most unexpected deaths in my opinion but the next scene is one of the most unintentionally funny scenes I have ever seen in a film, once you've seen it you'll get what I mean !.

This film is also beautifully shot using a wide range of shots my favourite being the ones behind Stanley when he is walking it makes you feel that your walking behind him also there's a great use of panoramic shots throughout and most of the interiors were sets which brings me to a comparion between Cimino and Sergio Leone they tended to shoot everything at a grand scale and liked to have there way with the budget of the film when it comes to shooting which I see in a good light they have a vision of how they want to shoot it: at a cinematic grand scale and Cimino get's it here and it's amazing Tracy's apartment is set atop a tower I thought it was real it looked that good and it was beautiful and had a incredible view.

There's also quite a few quick edits and shots in the action orientated scenes which work really well for the film. Also this film goes at a quicker pace than The Deer Hunter though I had no faults with that i'll have to see Heavens Gate and see how it compares.

I must say I absolutely love this film and it's a strong recommend if you like a slow burning character rich thrillers. It excelled my expectations and I did not expect it to be at the scale it was it's just a pity this is not released on Blu-Ray it's well worth it and we only got the DVD here in the UK in 2012 of which i watched it on.

The Master Review

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Review

The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug Review

Director: Peter Jackson

Stars: Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Sir Ian Mckellen, Orlando Bloom, Luke Evans, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Benedict Cumberbatch, Aidan Turner, Ken Stott and many many others !
Running Time: 161 Mins
Release: December 13 2013

I must say it surpassed my expectations and to me felt like The Empire Strikes Back of the trilogy something i never felt with The Lord of The Rings trilogy. Plot-wise i am not going to say much on the plot but i'll say it continues shortly after The Unexpected Journey with Bilbo, Thorin and Gandallf still on the run from Azog and his company of Orcs and Wargs and taking refuge in the house of Beorn (Mikael Persbrandt) who's a skin changer (shape shifter) who does not like Dwarves then through Mirkwood where they encounter the giant spiders and the elves and there imprisoment and escape via The Barrel Riding and there journey through Lake-Town with The Bard (Luke Evans) and the parting of the company while some stay behind in Lake-Town while the others head to Erebor to reclaim there kingdom and vanquish Smaug (Benedict  Cumberbatch)............

I did not give to much away as i don't want to spoil it for you but i'll go indepth into some of the scenes that really are standout to to me and have key importance to the plot but first and foremost i must mention the new characters that are introduced in this film.

And a very interesting subplot that i did not see coming or expected. Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) is a completely original character whom was not in the book but was made for the film for an interesting subplot and to kick-start the elves involvement in The Hobbit Properly. We have never seen a female elven warrior before and she is very strong and independent and can hold her own not needing any help whatsoever  and strikingly beautiful you see this throughout the film and Lilly is perfect for her and there's an internal struggle for her: stay with the elves in Mirkwood or help Middle Earth when they capture the Dwarves who bring there trouble with the orcs at there doorstep as she knows that Sauron will return from a orc they keep alive and also the subplot has a part into this, she develops feelings for Kili (Aidan Turner) as he does for it starts in Mirkwood when she saves his life from a giant spider that's about to kill him and he is unarmed (she saves him numerous times in the film) and there heartfelt meeting when she puts in his cell and she speaks with him and he tells her about his stone that his mother gave him it's a brilliant scene and you can tell that is the point they start making goo-goo eyes at each other and it's a great reversal from the usual damsel in distress scenario and when she hears that Kili who had an arrow go through his leg when the Dwarves made there escape from Mirkwood when he was attempting to open the gates to let his companions out,which had a Morgul poisoned tip dart and it would slowly and surely kill him ( he gets weaker from that point of the film until she saves him in Lake-Town in a scene that reminds me of when Arwen saved Frodo in Fellowship of The Ring, the scenes are very similar). It's not just a ploy either to get more women to see the film and there relationship development is not forced either,it's great they both have the same problem: they have loyalty to there race yet they have feelings for each other of which they are both of different races it's something i did not expect to see and it's brilliant that Jackson explored this before Legolas and Gimli became friends in The Lord of The Rings, that in the rare instances that an elf and a dwarf can get along but clearly in a different way ! and Lilly & Turner have great chemistry and i'm very keen to see there relationship explored and develop further in There and Back Again.

Also the film brings Legolas (Orlando Bloom) back into the fray and i feel he is simply in the film for some familiarity and to be a complete bad-ass orc killer and that's not a bad thing !, despite that Bloom is quite a bit older than he was in The Lord of The Rings and he still looks the part despite  they've done him up very well and in this film he's a lot more ruthless and not so friendly with the Dwarves ( i love the scene where he searches Gloin and finds drawn pictures of his wife and son it's brilliant and Legolas's reaction is priceless) and his fight scenes in Lake-Town are brilliant and brutal. It's also hinted that Legolas and Tauriel have feelings for each other but it's never stated how far and besides Thranduil would never let them be together. I am pleasantly surprised that they add a lot to the film.

The last of the elves is Thranduil (Lee Pace), Legolas's father he has a lot more screen-time and still does not like the Dwarves as he finds them greedy after Thorin's grandfather caught the attention of Smaug with his horde of treasure and brought death and destruction he is completely merciless and does not want involvement with Middle Earth and only watches his borders and we even get to see an old grisly war wound which he conceals on his face !. I would like to see him further in There and Back Again or in other Middle Earth films.

The Bard (Evans) is the final new character (well in human form) and he plays him very well and i did not expect him to play such a big part in the film as he does in this as he helps the Dwarves, well it's Balin (Stott) who warms to him, sympathize with him and to get his fellow Dwarves and the Bard to get along, it's later revealed that his ancestor made a final stand against Smaug using a large crossbow weapon with special metal arrows that could kill him and this leads him on the path to continue in his ancestor's footsteps, he's also leading a rebellion against the master of the town (Stephen Fry) who's more like a dictator and he plays the role very well and it's quite comedic too.

The biggest new character is Smaug (Cumberbatch) and he really dominates the film in the last 45 minutes or so and he is magnificent and incredibly well detailed and frightening, Cumberbatch's voice really does add to the character and makes him far more sinister, he is a very intelligent & cunning beast, the long scene between him and Bilbo reminds me of Gollum/Smeagol & Bilbo scene from An Unexpected Journey it's just as truly special and magical as that scene and is well worth the wait it's brilliant as Bilbo tries to outwit him and fails whilst trying to get the Arkenstone, it's really edge of your seat excitement

The regulars as i call them do very well in there part and some are further developed .ie Bilbo, Gandalf,Thorin, Balin, Kili and Gloin the others not so much but my favourite is still the walking hazard that is Bofur !.

You can tell that the One Ring is starting to effect Bilbo (Freeman) especially in the Spiders of Mirkwood scene where he loses the ring whilst fighting the Spiders and freeing his friends (and where he gets the name Sting for his sword, as it 'stings' the spiders) and when he finds the ring he see's it on the floor and when he finds it and about to pick it up this albino spider-crab like thing which scuttles the one ring beneath it it sends Bilbo into a blind rage killing the creature brutally just to get the ring, not in self defense but to regain possession it just shows the lengths he'll go to get it and he is disgusted as to what he did, throughout the film Bilbo becomes more courageous to save his friends and fulfill his contract to steal the stone in Erebor, i noticed that this film was not as focused on Bilbo as much as the first one and more about Middle Earth and you can tell Freeman is still having fun in the role.

Another major character development is Thorin (Armitage) where we see as he and his party draw closer too Erebor he becomes more concerned with the Arkenstone than his companions highlighted in the scene when Thorin heads into Erebor and finds Bilbo and quizzes him if he has the stone without asking him if he's okay and won't let him pass till he see's the Arkenstone, also he calls Bilbo 'the burgular', his companions still call him Bilbo and in one pivotal scene Balin takes Thorin to the side and says to him that he is Bilbo and he is one of them and has been a great help to them without him they would of not got that far as they have and it seems that Balin is the father figure of the group and i love the short scene between Bilbo and Balin before Bilbo heads into the halls where Smaug sleeps and where Balin tells him that he is impressed with the courage of Hobbits.

Gandalf (McKellen) is more on his own this one going to Dol Gondur with some aid of Radagast  to find the Necromancer and to prevent him bringing back Sauron......

I cannot write this review without mentioning the amazing special effects blended pefectly with the practical and i noticed some of the Orcs were humans in prosthetics and the sets are absolutely gorgeous and theres a wide variety this time from musty, dark and dank forests, to the grand gothic halls of the Dwarves and the bright and very natural beauty of Mirkwood and the gloomy, eerie derelict Dol Gondur i wish i could visit them. Smaug is a fantastic feat he beats Gollum by a long shot he's unprecedented in scale and detail and animation, the standard has been set and is hard to top.

It was shot very beautifully and there was a wider range of shots used i.e POV in the barrle chase scene some shots looked if they were from the Dwarves view swashing and turning in the water, i loved the scene it was very long and very exciting and fun with the Dwarves tossing weapons to each other to fend off the orcs and even Thorin saves Legolas's life by throwing an axe at an orc and hitting it square in the chest !, Legolas does not notice it though, it was effect laden this scene but it worked very well indeed and i loved how Lake-Town looked a mix of Medieval architecture and steampunk and looked mostly practical which was brilliant and Erebor is a real sight for the eyes ! that's all i can say without spoiling it for you and the action scenes are brilliant and amazing and really sweeps you in, the soundtrack is equally impressive to An Unexpected Journey if not better and the costume design a major part of a fantasy film which i have never commented on it before but it's absolutely fantastic and everything was well detailed i hope they do a Lord of The Rings/Hobbit film exhibition in future as i would love to see the costumes.

One thing that stands out to me in Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit films is they're is themes and you don't get that much in fantasy films they just care about the spectacle, action and set pieces whilst these films have rich characters and themes at it's heart it's about, courage, friendship, love,  making a difference in the world & standing up for others and learning to get along you don't see this often and it's unprecedented in these films compared to other fantasy films, i know this review is very long and i could talk about it for hours but i am simply lost for words and even after There & Back Again i hope we see more of Middle Earth on screen which in my mind is the one  Fantasy Realm that rules them all.

I am certainly getting the Blu-Ray.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Review

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Director: Peter Jackson

Stars: Martin Freeman, Sir Ian Mckellen, Richard Armitage, Sir Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, James Nesbitt, Aidan Turner, Ken Stott, Adam Brown etc.

Running Time: 169 Mins

Release:14^th December 2012

I saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, quite recently this I have to say it's amazing it lives up to Lord of The Rings in every single way it's beautiful. As you know of the plot I don't really have to mention it but its pacing is perfect for splitting it into three parts which now really does not annoy me, I also should say I've never read the book but I played the Gameboy Advanced Game that came out back in 2004 which had the basic plot it was quite bare bones.

Firstly I must mention the large ensemble cast; a mix of British, American Australian, and Kiwi actors, being honest I only knew of about half the actors in the film I recognises Ken Stott, Richard Armitage, Christopher Lee, Martin Freeman, Sir Ian Mckellen, James Nesbitt, Aidan Turner (it's great to see him in something post Being Human), Hugo Weaving, Sylvester McCoy, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis & Lee Pace (Thranduil). McKellen is on reliable form as Gandalf though a bit younger than he was in Fellowship, I really enjoyed Martin Freeman as a young fresh faced Bilbo Baggins who goes on a adventure that will forever change him in ways he could never imagine, there's a lot to the Hobbit from Bag End, Christopher Lee is still perfect as Saruman, Lady Galadriel (Blanchett) and Elrond (Weaving) have not changed at all but what really stole the film for me was Radagast (first time I've seen Sylvester McCoy in anything aside Doctor Who) completely batty and insane and very likeable Thorin (Armitage) and his Dwarven Party Companions, my favourites being; Bofur (Nesbitt), Bombur (Stephen Hunter) Fili (Dean O'Gorman), Kili (Turner), Dwalin (Graham McTavish), Balin (Stott) and Ori (Adam Brown) it was a bit hard to recognises some of the actors under all the prosthetics. I love the scene when the Dwarves go to Bilbo's home and eat him out of house and home ! it was was brilliant and well choreographed it must be very hard to give each Dwarf a personality but they pull it off very well you can tell one apart from the others by there personality, look and weapons and they were very funny in some parts I love the complaining about food part in Rivendell ("Where's The Meat ?") you can tell Thorin is the leader of them. Also Andy Serkis was brilliant in his one scene as Gollum he's a different creature here from in Lord of The Rings but still pitiful and schizophrenic and when he plays Riddles with Bilbo it's cinematic magic gold it's great seeing Gollum again and now I have more lines to say in Gollum's voice. Also I loved the intro scene of the Old Bilbo and Frodo hours before his 111th Birthday ( I think that's how old he Is) luckily Elijah still looks the same as he does to reprise the role he does not age !.

The whole film was shot beautifully and it really showed off New Zealand's beautiful landscape I know people complained about the special effects being dodgy I had no problem they looked perfect to me. One thing I liked about Lord of The Rings that's not here is the Orcs and Goblins being people the prosthetics but that's only a small problem.

The set pieces are amazing I love the flashback Moria battle scene, Dwarves vs Trolls, The Wargs chase scene and Goblin Town Escape and the final battle scene between Thorin and Azog they were brilliant and I love the stone giant fight that was a complete surprise they were quite brutal as well with heads getting lopped off ! I loved the Radagast scene when he's in his hut and finds the necromancer ! The creature,costume, weapon & set designs are brilliant I must admit I love Elven swords, they look so elegant and deadly !

The music I have to say I found it better than the music in Lord of The Rings and that's a real feat, of course Howard Scored this too and there's elements of the original score in this too which is beautiful I heard echoes of 'Concerning Hobbits' and 'The Bridge of Khazad-dum' I'll definitely get the soundtrack and I'm really excited to see the sequel (of which now I already have done). It bought Middle Earth back to me I remembered the ghost that Radagast see's in the ruins is The Witch King and the Morgul Blade, Sting, Orcrist and Glamdering I remembered them well.

John Carpenter's The Thing Review

John Carpenter's The Thing

Director: John Carpenter

Stars: Kurt Russell, Keith David, T.K Carter, Richard Dysart, Wilford Brimley, David Clennon, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat, Joel Polis & Thomas G. Waites

Running Time: 109 Minutes

Release: 26^th August 1982.

In the winter of 1982, in Antarctica, a sled dog is being chased by a Norwegian helicopter and one of the men is firing at it, trying to stop it as they know what it really is....., they reach the American base where the dog tries to hide and the copter is in close pursuit and it lands and a man aboard continues the chase firing at the dog and the helicopter explodes due to a grenade which the Norwegians threw in close proximity, the norwegian is shouting at them In his native tongue and continues firing at the dog and unfortunately for him he accidentally shoots Benning's (Maloney) in the leg which causes the Station Manager Garry (Moffat) to shoot him in the head and slowly over time The Thing starts to assimilate the crew one by one unleashing paranoia, terror and death in it's wake.........

That's all I am saying on the plot of the film as I don't want to spoil it for you and I must say that this is an absolute sci-fi horror classic and it's the first time I have seen the film in it's whole entirety, i've never seen the first half hour of the film. This film has brilliant,characters, script, score, setting and special effects.

The main character of the film is MacReady played by Kurt Russell (who's collaborated with Carpenter four times), he's the manly man Helicopter Pilot who just wants to sit in his shack on the base and get drunk. He's the character we root for in the film to survive and outwit the invader, of course he feels cabin fever like the rest of the of the crew as events unfold at the base and he is a complete badass and rocks an awesome beard.

The other significant character is Childs the mechanic played Keith David and throughout most of the film he's at odds with MacReady, there's not that much trust between them as the film develops, hell no one trusts anyone at all as Thing plant's suspicion and paranoia in there minds by ripping peoples clothes (i'll get into this later) and sabotaging the equipment. Child's does not believe what's going on in the early events of the film but get's shocked quite a lot in the film especially in the sofa tie up scene but he's equally charismatic and cool as MacReady.

The other main player is Blair (Brimley) the biologist who examines the remains of when Thing assimilated the dogs and knows what The Thing is doing and what it would do if it reached civilization, he's the first to get Cabin Fever and is the most severe but you understand what he does early on as he does not want The Thing to escape.

Everyone else is brilliant in there roles and you feel as if they are the characters and that they have known each other for a long period of time and the tension between them feels real, my favourite character of these characters is Garry my favourite scene with him is in the sofa scene his line at the end is incredibly funny and the only one real instance where there is humour in the film, I also like Nauls (T.K Carter) whom I think is the youngest member of the group and you may recognise him from Southern Comfort another film I love, he played Cribbs in that. Also Palmer's (Clennon) reaction to seeing Norris Thing's head on spider legs is priceless it's so perfectly timed.

Now this leads me to the actual Thing itself, it is a parasitic alien life form that supposedly crash landed on earth 100,00 years ago and The Norwegian Research team find The Thing and take it back to it's base (to see what happens watch the 2011 prequel, titled The Thing, it's okay but not on the same level as this). It assimilates its prey which can be any living animal or human by either ingesting and absorbing it's prey by revealing itself and using it's tentacles to pull it in it's prey and ingests them imitating there image, behaviour and faults and it's DNA to hide itself so that it can blend in and hide & wait till one other life form or assimilates them by spreading it's DNA in food assimilating them from within so that the host does not even know that they have been assimilated. It only reveals itself when it's assimilating by ingestion or when it feels it's being attacked. It also can detach a part of it's body to survive and hide and find a new host and bullets can't hurt it it's near unstoppable, if it assimilates a human it does not drink or smoke as it does not want to damage it's DNA but it can adapt.

It can't stand the heat, it thrives in the cold and tends to rip through the hosts clothes if it ingests them and you would need to really pay attention to some-ones behaviour to tell. To this day people still talk about the ambiguous ending as it's one of the most classic, original endings to a horror film.

The Special effects are simply amazing and very gory and grotesque and are done by the brilliant Rob Bottin who's not worked in films since 2002 which is shame as he does amazing grotesque special effects. In this film his effects are really utilized to there full effect is when The Thing reveals it's form are truly horrifying, creepy and very well detailed the only one I will reveal is The Dog I was not prepared for it as I never saw it before and it's one of the most creepiest, grotesque forms in the film and what it does to the other dogs is truly horrifying. Bottin is known for the slow transformations like he did in The Howling and it's the same case here but faster the slowest transformation was the dog, but I am speechless that they were done in 82' and still hold up well today.

The setting of the Antarctica is perfect as it's very isolate and desolate and reminds me much of Space and The Nostromo in Alien it's a staple in sci-fi horror films these days and it looks beautiful well the whole film is as I watched it on Blu-Ray and it looks simply stunning.

The music is equally impressive and no it's not done by John Carpenter, but Ennio Morricone  who is famed for doing westerns and I found it quite unusual that he scored this but it's perfect for the film it really adds to the atmosphere and really builds the tension throughout the film and in most parts in eerie and I must add they use Stevie Wonder's Superstition perfectly for irony !.

All in all it's a masterpiece of a film and along with Carpenter's finest films which he was famed for in the 70's and 80's and this is undoubtedly one of his best films.

The Deer Hunter Review

The Deer Hunter

Director: Michael Cimino

Stars: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage, John Cazale, Meryl Streep, Chuck Aspegren and George Dzundza.

Running Time: 182 Mins

Release: 27^th February 1979

Set in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania, it focuses on three young men; Michael (De Niro), Nick(Walken) and Steven (Savage) the film opens with them enlisted into the army to fight in Vietnam and there final day at work which is also the eve of Steven's wedding to Angela (Rutanya Alda) of which there is a party after which also doubles as the guys leaving party and then it's to Vietnam …..

I am not going to spoil the film but if you've seen it you already know what happens and if not your in for a complete treat. This is the only film (as of yet) that I have seen that's been directed by Cimino and I am very keen to see his other films most notably Heaven's Gate and Year of The Dragon. I now know that he is known for slow burning character driven films and that he's been lambasted by some film critics for it most notably Heavens Gate. In this films case the Wedding Day takes an hour well from them leaving work to there final hunt after Steven's wedding, I have no problem with this but I know for some people it would be too slow but it shows how the friends are quite frat boyish and immature before the war and the devastating effect it happens on them after the war.

I think it works very well as we get to to know these characters and there relationships they feel incredibly real. The main three leads in my eyes are De Niro, Walken and Streep who plays Linda the woman both Nick and Michael fall for.

Michael is the strongest of the three men both physically and mentally and of course De Niro is on fine perfect form, Michael is not so laid back as the other men he's more serious and reserved not letting his emotions get the better of him and this strengthens when he returns from Nam which has scarred him mentally, he is perfect in every single scene of the film. It's outstanding work especially in the Russian Roulette scene which i'll go into later.

I was very surprised by Christopher Walken I have never seen him in a serious dramatic role before well not in a whole films running length but I must say he stands head and shoulders above everyone else performance in this film and he is at the heart of the film well the pivotal character in my eyes, he's fantastic in all his scenes like in the Russian Roulette scene and the hospital scene were he completely breaks down when he can't remember his parents it's incredibly raw and realistic. This film has made me look out for more films with Walken in it.

Being honest I have not seen Meryl Streep in anything much before aside the Series of Unfortunate Events film when I was a kid. She's brilliant in this that's for sure and quite beautiful. She is torn between Nick and Michael and it's not just for a love story in the film either it's very realistically done it shows the effect the war in Nam has on her and her relationships with them.

This film has a great supporting cast too especially in the late great John Cazale's Stan, one of Nick, Steve and Michael's friend from work he's very cowardly, insecure and very unpredictable, he does not fight in the war with the others he stays at home in the town and he does not much change before or after the war, I feel if he's slightly embittered that he did not fight in the war, but it's good that he did not as he would be very unpredictable and John Cazale plays him perfectly tis a shame that this is his last film, he was dying of cancer when he made this and died shortly after he had completed filming, so now I'll be looking for other films he was in. I know he was in The Godfather films and Dog Day Afternoon so I really need to see those.

I have never seen John Savage in anything before either but he is brilliant in this as the war has really taken it's toll on him both physically and mentally and it's a very honest performance he's the one we see the least of the three men.

I am surprised that this is Chuck Aspergren's only film he's a complete natural fit with the other actors in the film, he plays Axel, he is not really an actor he was in fact a real life Steel Mill worker, and he's known in the film to saying 'F*****g A!'

Also Kudos to George Dzundza as John who's at the heart of my absolute favourite scene of the film it's so heartbreaking, poignant and beautiful. On the eve of Steven's wedding they are all in their local bar and he starts playing the piano there and it's one of the most beautiful pieces of piano I have ever heard and as he plays the camera goes to each characters face and how they react to his playing they are completely mesmerized and encapsulated and as a viewer I was too !.

Never before in a film have I seen performances that have said so little and expressed so much.

The most iconic scene of course is The Russian Roulette scene where Steven, Nick and Michael are taking prisoner by the Vietcong and forced at gun point to play Russian Roulette with them betting on whom would be the winner it's shocking. The scene is terrifying,brutal, searing, tense, uncomfortable and really puts you on the edge of your seat. All the actors in the scene are outstanding especially Savage, Walken and De Niro as they are forced to do the unthinkable, Steven is most effected by this and just the facial expressions that Nick does really gives you an insight to how they are feeling and Michael is the strongest in this scene, he has to be strong for them so that they can find a way to escape, De Niro really steals the scene he expresses so much emotion even laughing in the face of captors like the devil as he's about to pull the trigger, of course he knows what he's doing. When you see this scene for the first time it'll be forever seared into your memory and retinas you'll never forget it.

Stanley Myers was responsible for the music in The Deer Hunter but it's John Williams who performed the main theme which was written by Myers, there are great songs from the period in it as well as some traditional Russian songs I would love to get the soundtrack to this.

Cimino has done an outstanding job directing this it's a absolute, masterpiece and a brutal, searing, honest, tragic depiction of the Vietnam war, I highly recommend this film.