Like him or laugh at him, Steven Seagal sure knew how to kick ass on-screen, and although wooden enough to make a dining table out of, he's got a blockhead appeal and a certain cinematic snap he brings to each feature.
Of course, I'm usually drunk when I press play on his movies, and it only takes me 10 seconds before I think I've seen it before—which I pretty much have seeing as all his stuff is cut from the same plot cloth—wronged hero out on his own, wanting to bust the bad guys.
When you start a film off with exploding heads, severed limbs that spray arterial blood like a garden hose, and a chainsaw fight, you can be pretty sure that a film is going to be over-the-top and live up to the word gore in its name.
Princess is definitely not your average animated movie, and it's not your average revenge flick either.
The animation style is somewhat simplistic but it works. The flashbacks that are presented in actual film—not animated segments—are jarring, and prove effective and unsettling.
If you ask most westerners what they know about Yuen Woo-ping they'll probably talk about his elaborately choreographed fight scenes in movies like The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. And for good reason; Woo-ping is one of the top martial arts choreographers in the world.
He's been around a long time, though, and he used to direct movies more frequently. Tiger Cage came out in 1988 and anyone expecting a lot of flashy kung fu and wire-work is in for a surprise if they give this movie a whirl. It features absolutely savage violence—baseball bats, headbutts, knee-biting, gunshots to the face, and bonecrushing stunts. Why settle for just shooting a guy when you can shoot him, have him fall off a building and then land on a moving bus?
Some descriptions practically beg a person who likes bad movies to watch the movie involved. Such is the case with Taarzan the Wonder Car, a film about a car designer who is murdered and comes back as a vengeful car.
Taarzan is like a psychotic Herbie the Love Bug gone completely off his medications. But don't let the movie fool you into thinking it's a bizarre automotive remake of Death Wish. In between car-delivered-justice sequences, large sections of the movie are devoted to light-hearted romantic comedy.
Sholay is a famous "curry" western, India's answer to the spaghetti westerns of Italy. A rousing combination of action, romance, drama, comedy, music, and revenge, Sholay is a western that is epic in the best sense, and it deserves to stand alongside other classics in the genre.
A Norwegian parody of Kill Bill that also spoofs numerous other films including Deliverance, Titanic, and Star Wars. Kill Buljo is as low-brow as it is low-budget. Prepare for silly action and raunchy jokes; someone will get chopped in half, cows will be molested, and Jompa Tormann will.... Kill Buljo!
A dark and brutal rape/revenge movie, Hong Kong style. Directed by Ngai Kai Lam (of Story of Ricky fame) this is a tense and disturbing thriller with a truly savage final reel.
A combination of horror and western, Left for Dead's borderline experimental filming techniques, bizarre storyline, and low budget create a very strange final product that may only appeal to a few people.
