Review: Original "TOP GUN" is Still a Bad Movie

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 33 of 2022 (No. 1845) by Leroy Douresseaux

Top Gun (1986)
Running time:  110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – PG
DIRECTOR:  Tony Scott
WRITERS:  Jim Cash & Jack Epps Jr. (based on the magazine article, “Top Guns,” by Ehud Yonay)
PRODUCERS:  Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Jeffrey Kimball (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Chris Lebenzon and Billy Weber
COMPOSER:  Harold Faltermeyer
Academy Award winner

DRAMA/ACTION

Starring:  Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt, Michael Ironside, Tim Robbins, John Stockwell, Barry Tubb, Rick Rossovich, Whip Hubley, James Tolkan, Adrian Pasdar, Meg Ryan, and Clarence Gilyard, Jr.

Top Gun is a 1986 action and drama film directed by Tony Scott and starring Tom Cruise.  The film was inspired by an article entitled, “Top Guns,” which was written by Ehud Yonay and published in the May 1983 issue of California Magazine.  Top Gun the film focuses on a daring young U.S. Navy pilot who is a student at an elite fighter weapons school where he competes with other students and learns a few things from a female instructor.

Top Gun opens on the Indian Ocean aboard the vessel, the “USS Enterprise.”  The story introduces United States Naval Aviator, Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise), and his RIO (Radar Intercept Officer), Lieutenant Junior Grade Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards).  While on a mission flying their fighter aircraft, Maverick and Goose have an encounter with a hostile aircraft.  As a result of the incident, Maverick and Goose are invited to the U.S. Navy “Fighter Weapons School” in Miramar, California (also known as “Fightertown U.S.A.”).  The top one percent of naval aviators (pilots) get to attend Fighter Weapons School, also known as “Top Gun” (or “TOPGUN”).

Naval aviators have to complete a five-week course of classroom studies and flight training (called a “hop”).  The top graduating aviator receives the “Top Gun” plaque.  Maverick's rival for Top Gun is top student, Lieutenant Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer), who considers Maverick's attitude foolish and his flying dangerous.  Maverick also becomes romantically involved with Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood (Kelly McGillis), an astrophysicist and civilian instructor, an unwise move for both.

Will Maverick earn the Top Gun trophy?  Or will his reckless ways and tendency to disobey orders endanger those around him and cost him his future.

Until recently, I had never watched Top Gun, not even a minute of it.  From the first time I saw a trailer for it, I thought Top Gun looked stupid, although I was a Tom Cruise fan at the time of its release (as I still am).  I only recently watched it in preparation for seeing the long-awaited sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, which has a good looking trailer and has received glowing early reviews.

But I was right.  Top Gun is stupid.  It is poorly written, especially on the character drama end.  Writers Jim Cash & Jack Epps Jr. are credited as the film's screenwriters.  The film's credited “Associate Producer,” the late Warren Skarren (1946-90), was a screenwriter known for rewriting the screenplays of big Hollywood projects (such as Beetlejuice and the 1989 Batman film).  Skarren apparently did some heavy rewriting for Top Gun's shooting script.  However, the film seems to be made from the parts of several screenplays that were combined to form a new script.  That especially shows during the character drama scenes, which are sometimes awkward, sometimes nonsensical, sometimes inauthentic, and sometimes all three at the same time.

To me, the film looks poorly edited (which was Oscar-nominated), once again, mainly on the drama scenes.  The film's musical score, composed by Harold Faltermeyer, is mostly atrocious.

However, the flight action sequences and the aerial stunts are quite good.  When the film is in the air with those fighter jets or when Maverick is riding his motorcycle, Top Gun can be entertaining and invigorating.  The drama is just so bad that it makes me forget the film's good stuff.

In 2015, Top Gun was added to the “National Film Registry” because it was considered “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”  For me, the only reason that would be true is because of its lead actor, Tom Cruise.  I think Top Gun is the film that made  Cruise a celluloid god.  He became his generation's biggest movie star and remains so.  Top Gun began a decade (1986-96) that gave us “peak” Tom Cruise.  Yes, he is still in his prime, but that was the decade that saw him give his most acclaimed and memorable performances, and in 1996, he began his most successful film franchise with the first Mission: Impossible.  Yes, Cruise has given other memorable and acclaimed performances, but never so many as in that time period of 1986 to 1996.

So Top Gun is significant because of Tom Cruise.  He is so handsome and fresh-faced here, and his youth, dynamism, and screen presence save this thoroughly mediocre film.  Even with the great action sequences, this film would have been at best a cult film had any actor or movie star other than Tom Cruise been the lead.

Yeah, I could talk about the other actors who were in Top Gun, but what they did could not rise above the mediocrity of this film's drama – both in screenwriting and in directing.  Tom Cruise – in a fighter or on a motorcycle – is Top Gun.  As much as I am a fan of his, however, I wouldn't watch this shit again.  But yes, I will see Top Gun: Maverick.

4 of 10
C
★★ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, May 25, 2022


1987 Academy Awards, USA:  1 win: “Best Music, Original Song” (Giorgio Moroder-music and Tom Whitlock-lyrics for the song “Take My Breath Away”); 3 nominations: “Best Sound” (Donald O. Mitchell, Kevin O'Connell, Rick Kline, and William B. Kaplan), “Best Film Editing” (Billy Weber and Chris Lebenzon), and “Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing” (Cecelia Hall and George Watters II)

1987 Golden Globes, USA:  1 win: “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (Giorgio Moroder-music and Tom Whitlock-lyrics for the song “Take My Breath Away”); 1 nomination: “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Harold Faltermeyer)

2015 National Film Preservation Board, USA:  National Film Registry


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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The Return of "Top Gun" - in IMAX 3D

“TOP GUN” TO BE RELEASED IN IMAX® 3D FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME

THE CLASSIC FILM RETURNS TO THE BIG SCREEN EXCLUSIVELY IN SELECT IMAX 3D THEATRES FOR A LIMITED ENGAGEMENT BEGINNING FEBRUARY 8, 2013

“TOP GUN” Debuts on Blu-ray 3D™/ Blu-ray 2D™ Two-Disc Set February 19, 2013

“Top Gun,” Paramount Pictures’ 1986 classic from director Tony Scott, producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Tom Cruise, takes off on a new adventure with an exclusive six-day 3D engagement in select IMAX® theatres beginning February 8, 2013. The film has been re-mastered for the IMAX® 3D release and subsequent debut on Blu-ray.

TOP GUN was re-mastered for the big screen from high-resolution original negative scans and painstakingly converted to 3D by Legend3D under the supervision of the film’s director, Tony Scott. Rendered in 3D, the film’s complex, long shots reveal extraordinary depth and clarity, allowing viewers to explore every detail of the action. From the spectacular aerial dogfights to the intense close-ups in the cockpits, each frame enables the audience to feel a part of the story.

The story of an elite group of pilots competing to be the best in their class and earn the title of

“TOP GUN” captured the imagination of a generation and earned a worldwide box office of over $350 million upon its release. The film stars Tom Cruise as Maverick and Kelly McGillis as his civilian instructor. The film also stars Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards and Meg Ryan.

The “TOP GUN” Blu-ray 3D disc presents the film with pristine high definition picture and sparkling sound in spectacular 3D for the ultimate home viewing experience. The Blu-ray 2D includes the re-mastered film in high definition, along with a six-part documentary on the making of the movie, a behind-the-scenes featurette, interviews with Tom Cruise, commentary by producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Tony Scott, co-screenwriter Jack Epps, Jr. and more. The two-disc set available for purchase also includes a digital copy of the film and will be enabled with UltraViolet technology.


About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.

About IMAX Corporation
IMAX, an innovator in entertainment technology, combines proprietary software, architecture and equipment to create experiences that take you beyond the edge of your seat to a world you’ve never imagined. Top filmmakers and studios are utilizing IMAX theatres to connect with audiences in extraordinary ways, and, as such, IMAX’s network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event films around the globe.

IMAX is headquartered in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles, with offices in London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing. As of Sept. 30, 2012, there were 689 IMAX theatres (556 commercial multiplex, 20 commercial destination and 113 institutional) in 52 countries.

IMAX®, IMAX® 3D, IMAX DMR®, Experience It In IMAX®, An IMAX 3D Experience®, The IMAX Experience® and IMAX Is Believing® are trademarks of IMAX Corporation. More information about the Company can be found at www.imax.com. You may also connect with IMAX on Facebook (www.facebook.com/imax), Twitter (www.twitter.com/imax) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/imaxmovies).

"An Evening with Tom Cruise" Announced for Dec. 17 2012

FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER ANNOUNCES AN EVENING WITH TOM CRUISE, CELEBRATING SOME OF HIS MOST ICONIC CHARACTERS, CULMINATING WITH A SNEAK PREVIEW SCREENING OF JACK REACHER

All proceeds for the screening will go to the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s 50th Anniversary Fund

The event will kick-off a career retrospective, ALL THE RIGHT MOVES: THE FILMS OF TOM CRUISE, taking place December 18-20th

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced that they will host An Evening with Tom Cruise on Monday, December 17th, taking a look at some of Cruise’s most iconic character work in a conversation with moderator and New York Film Festival Director of Programming, Kent Jones. The event will be followed by a sneak preview screening of Cruise’s new film JACK REACHER, in which he plays a tough ex-military investigator out for justice – a character that audiences have come to love from the three-time Academy Award® nominated actor. Tickets are $50 and $35 and all proceeds from the event will go to the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s 50th Anniversary Fund, which supports the new education program and emerging filmmaker initiatives. Tickets go on sale Monday, December 10th. The event will be held at the Rose Theater, (5th floor of the Time Warner Center, Broadway and 60th street). Visit Filmlinc.com for more information.

“Tom’s body of work is defined by the bold characters he plays so brilliantly and his collaborations with filmmaking’s most venerable directors. Tom consistently chooses smart and exciting projects and we are pleased to present audiences with a first look at his newest role, Jack Reacher,” said FSLC Executive Director Rose Kuo. “We are honored to host this exciting evening and to support our 50th anniversary fund to benefit education and emerging artists.”

An Evening with Tom Cruise will kick off a film retrospective that reunites fans with a selection of Cruise’s most beloved characters. The retrospective, ALL THE RIGHT MOVES: THE FILMS OF TOM CRUISE, runs December 18-20th and will include a seven-film tribute to some of his most extraordinary work: BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, JERRY MAGUIRE, THE LAST SAMURAI, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, RAIN MAN, RISKY BUSINESS and TOP GUN.

"It's incredibly fortunate that the Film Society chose the opening week of JACK REACHER to pay tribute to Tom's incredible talent and accomplishments” said the film’s director Christopher McQuarrie. “I've had the great luck to find myself working with an incomparable actor in this extraordinary role at the peak of an unparalleled career."

After his big screen debut in ENDLESS LOVE (1981), Cruise made such an impression on director Harold Becker in the military drama TAPS (1981) that it inspired Becker to give him a larger role in the film, that of Cadet Captain David Shawn. Cruise’s performance in TAPS effectively launched his career, leading him to be cast in Francis Ford Coppola’s THE OUTSIDERS (1983) alongside a group of celebrated young actors that collectively became known as “the brat pack”. Since then, from his iconic slide across the floor of a suburban Chicago living room in RISKY BUSINESS (1983) to his considerably riskier footwork atop a Dubai skyscraper in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE—GHOST PROTOCOL (2011), Cruise has spent a remarkable three decades as the world’s most popular movie star, and one of its most adventurous and unpredictable actors.

An instant pop culture sensation for his role as the fighter pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in TOP GUN (1986), Cruise quickly cemented his serious dramatic credentials opposite Dustin Hoffman in RAIN MAN (1988) and in Oliver Stone’s BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (1989) where he earned his first Academy Award® nomination as well as a Golden Globe for Best Actor. Cruise has since earned two more Academy Award® nominations – Best Actor for Cameron Crowe’s JERRY MAGUIRE (1996) and Best Supporting Actor for Paul Thomas Anderson’s MAGNOLIA (1999), with both films earning him Golden Globes for the critically acclaimed performances. His career has been singular in working with the most noteworthy directors such as Coppola, Stone, Stanley Kubrick in EYES WIDE SHUT (1999), Steven Spielberg in MINORITY REPORT (2002) and WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005), and Michael Mann in COLLATERAL (2004), while breaking box-office records in blockbusters like THE LAST SAMURAI and the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE series.

Tickets for the Monday, December 17th conversation and Jack Reacher screening will be available beginning Monday, December 10th. The event will be held at the Rose Theater, on the 5th floor of the Time Warner Center (Broadway and 60th street). Tickets will be sold for $50 and $35, and all proceeds from the event will go to the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s 50th Anniversary Fund, which supports the new education program and emerging filmmaker initiatives. Visit www.filmlinc.com for additional information.

Special Two Film Package available for the films in the retrospective, ALL THE RIGHT MOVES: THE FILMS OF TOM CRUISE, running from December 18-20. Tickets on sale today, visit Filmlinc.com. All screenings will take place at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam).


Films, Descriptions & Schedule

An Evening with Tom Cruise featuring a Sneak Preview Screening of Jack Reacher

Fresh from his biggest worldwide success to date with Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol and about to hit screens in the hotly anticipated Jack Reacher, we are pleased to welcome three-time Academy Award® nominee Tom Cruise for a career-spanning conversation moderated by New York Film Festival Director of Programming, Kent Jones, followed by a special advance screening of Cruise’s latest film, Jack Reacher, directed by Christopher McQuarrie. All proceeds from the event will go to the Film Society’s 50th Anniversary Fund, which supports the new education programs and emerging filmmaker initiatives. Info on the fund can be found at FilmLinc.com/50Fund.

Jack Reacher
Christopher McQuarrie, 2012, USA; 130m

From The New York Times bestselling author Lee Child comes one of the most compelling heroes to step from novel to screen—ex-military investigator Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise). When a gunman takes five lives with six shots, all evidence points to the suspect in custody. On interrogation, the suspect offers up a single note: “Get Jack Reacher!” So begins an extraordinary chase for the truth, pitting Jack Reacher against an unexpected enemy, with a skill for violence and a secret to keep. Written for the screen and directed by Oscar-winner Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects). Co-starring Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, Werner Herzog, David Oyelowo and Robert Duvall!
*Mon. Dec 17, 7:00PM

BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (1989) 145min
Director: Oliver Stone, Country: USA

Cruise earned the first of three Oscar nominations for his transformative portrayal of disillusioned Vietnam vet Ron Kovic in Oliver Stone’s shattering portrait of the loss of American innocence.
*Wed. Dec 19, 9:00PM

JERRY MAGUIRE (1996) 139min
Director: Cameron Crowe, Country: USA

Cruise earned his second Best Actor Oscar nomination as the eponymous high-powered sports agent whose existential epiphany loses him all but one client (Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding, Jr.) in Cameron Crowe’s wry American success story.
*Thurs. Dec 20, 8:45PM

THE LAST SAMURAI (2003) 154min
Director: Ed Zwick, Country: USA

Ed Zwick’s visually majestic, old fashioned Hollywood epic stars Cruise as a disillusioned Civil War vet (Cruise) hired to train conscript in Japan’s first modern army, caught between the past and present of a rapidly changing nation.
*Thurs. Dec 20, 3:30PM

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (1996) 110min
Director: Brian De Palma, Country: USA

Finding himself the only survivor of a mission gone awry, secret agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) must unravel the conspiracy in the film that launched the successful franchise, directed by master of suspense Brian De Palma.
*Thurs. Dec 20, 6:30PM

RAIN MAN (1988) 133min
Director: Barry Levinson, Country: USA

As a slick yuppie unexpectedly reunited with his autistic older brother (Dustin Hoffman), Cruise more than holds his own in Barry Levinson’s beloved 1988 Oscar-winner.
*Wed. Dec 19, 6:00PM

RISKY BUSINESS (1983) 98min
Director: Paul Brickman, Country: USA

When mom and dad leave town, an enterprising Chicago teen (21-year-old Cruise in his star-making role) gets in over his head with a kind-hearted prostitute (Rebecca De Mornay) in writer-director Paul Brickman’s sparkling coming-of-age comedy.
*Wed. Dec 19, 3:45PM

TOP GUN (1986) 110min
Director: Tony Scott, Country: USA

Cruise flew into the danger zone (and sent sales of Ray-Bans and leather jackets soaring) as a hotshot Navy pilot romancing his civilian instructor (Kelly McGillis) in producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Tony Scott’s prototypical ‘80s blockbuster.
*Tues. Dec 18, 8:30PM


Film Society of Lincoln Center
Under the leadership of Rose Kuo, Executive Director, and Richard Peña, Program Director, the Film Society of Lincoln Center offers the best in international, classic and cutting-edge independent cinema. The Film Society presents two film festivals that attract global attention: the New York Film Festival, having just celebrated its 50th edition, and New Directors/New Films which, since its founding in 1972, has been produced in collaboration with MoMA. The Film Society also publishes the award-winning Film Comment Magazine, and for over three decades has given an annual award—now named “The Chaplin Award”—to a major figure in world cinema. Past recipients of this award include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, and Tom Hanks. The Film Society presents a year-round calendar of programming, panels, lectures, educational programs and specialty film releases at its Walter Reade Theater and the new state-of-the-art Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center.

The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from Royal Bank of Canada, American Airlines, The New York Times, Stella Artois, the National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts. For more information, visit www.filmlinc.com and follow #filmlinc

Director Tony Scott Dead at 68 - A Bits and Bites Extra

Producer and director Tony Scott is dead at the age of 68.  He died Sunday, August 19, 2012 of an apparent suicide in Los Angeles.  Entertainment Weekly's website has more details.  Tony Scott was born in 1944 in North Shields, North Tyneside, England (United Kingdom).  His older brother is the Oscar-nominated director, Ridley Scott.

Scott's first feature film was the vampire movie, The Hunger (1983).  Scott would go on to direct such films as Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, True Romance, and Crimson Tide, movies which marked him as one of the greatest action movie directors in the history of Hollywood filmmaking.  Beginning with Crimson Tide in 1995, Scott would direct a total of five films starring Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington, including the recent Unstoppable (2010).

Negromancer sends our condolences to Tony Scott's family and friends.  R.I.P., Mr. Scott.

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Review: "The Last Boy Scout" is Still Cool (Happy B'day, Tony Scott)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 13 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Last Boy Scout (1991)
Running time: 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR: Tony Scott
WRITERS: Shane Black; from a story by Shane Black and Greg Hicks
PRODUCERS: Joel Silver and Michael Levy
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ward Russell
EDITORS: Stuart Baird, Mark Goldblatt, and Mark Helfrich

ACTION/CRIME/DRAMA with elements of comedy

Starring: Bruce Willis, Damon Wayans, Noble Willingham, Chelsea Field, Taylor Negron, Danielle Harris, Halle Berry, Bruce McGill, Chelcie Ross, Joe Santos, Bill Medley, Verne Lundquist, Dick Butkus, Lynn Swann, Billy Blanks, Morris Chestnut, Badja Djola, and Eddie Griffin

As the 1990’s opened, the skyrocketing budget of Hollywood film productions was the story about which the entertainment news media couldn’t stop talking. The Bruce Willis headliner, The Last Boy Scout, was the talk of the town from the moment screenwriter, Shane Black, became the first person to sell a script for one million dollars, which he did with The Last Boy Scout Script. After the Hudson Hawk debacle, which saw that super expensive flick, also starring Willis, become a box office dud (although it’s one of my favorite movies), The Last Boy Scout looked like another over-priced dud. However, released during the 1991 holiday season, it became a modest hit, grossing just under $60 million against an estimated production budget of about that much.

Willis is Joseph Cornelius Hallenbeck, Joe for short, a disgraced Secret Service agent who now moonlights as a private detective – a down and out, cynical private dick. Damon Wayans is James Alexander Dix, Jimmy Dix for short, a disgraced former MVP quarterback for the pro football team, the L.A. Stallions, thrown out of the league because he gambled. They meet when Joe accepts a job acting as a bodyguard for Jimmy’s girl friend Cory (Halle Berry), a stripper who dates rich men.

When Cory is murdered in a gangland style hit and a friend of Joe’s is killed by a car bomb, the two come together to solve the murders. What they discover is that both their former employers: Senator Calvin Baynard (Chelcie Ross) who got Joe fired and Sheldon “Shelly” Marcone (Noble Willingham) who owns the Stallions, are united in a shady and deadly deal to legalize gambling on professional football. What Joe and Jimmy find themselves in is a deadly game of life and death that is as bone-crushing and bruising as any football game, and it’s a game that also comes with bullets flying.

The script by Shane Black, who reinvented the cop-buddy action flick with his script for Lethal Weapon, penned a script for The Last Boy Scout that is all over the place. Set in Los Angeles, it shows his love for Raymond Chandler’s private eye stories, but this is more a crime drama than a film noir-ish detective tale. It’s a violent action comedy, and buddy action flick like 48 Hours, in which two men are forced into the situation of being partners and have a hard time warming up to one another.

Besides, it’s genre pedigree, the script is mostly haphazard, as it tries to shoehorn serious human drama into a violent detective/conspiracy framework. The movie jumps around a lot. Sometimes, it’s a melodramatic tale of a broken family. Sometimes, it’s a high-octane action comedy. Sometimes, it’s a shootout picture. Then, it’s a drama again, but a few minutes later, someone has to be shot in the head. A few minutes later, everyone has jokes.

What makes this movie work, ultimately, is director Tony Scott. Riding high off such late 80’s action hits as Top Gun and Beverly Hills Cop II, he was one of Hollywood’s very top action directors, but he was (and still is) an all-around, very skilled filmmaker. Scott is the one who makes just about every one of Black’s genre conventions work. The film comes together slowly, but when it does, it’s with a bang. By the end, The Last Boy Scout is fun and exciting, with a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor because Black is somewhat spoofing the sub-genre he helped to create. Shamelessly and gratuitously violent, it’s the gun violence that keeps this from being an exceptional film.

Willis and Wayans have tolerable film chemistry, and like the film, it takes a bit for them to warm up to each other and get in synch. When all comes together, it’s a doozy – rollicking, hilarious fun for men who love movies. Their performances, like this movie, aren’t worthy of a long-cinematic memory, but when the appetite calls for an action flick, there are worse choices… much worse.

6 of 10
B

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

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Tony Scott's Skill Undeniable in "Unstoppable"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 92 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Unstoppable (2010)
Running time: 98 minutes (1 hour, 38 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of action and peril, and some language
DIRECTOR: Tony Scott
WRITER: Mark Bomback
PRODUCERS: Eric McLeod, Mimi Rogers, Tony Scott, Julie Yorn, and Alex Young
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ben Seresin
EDITOR: Robert Duffy and Chris Lebenzon
COMPOSER: Harry Gregson-Williams

ACTION/THRILLER

Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Ethan Suplee, Kevin Dunn, Kevin Corrigan, Kevin Chapman, Lew Temple, Elizabeth Mathis, Meagan Tandy, Jessy Schram, and David Warshofsky

Unstoppable, a new action thriller, is the fifth collaboration between Oscar-winning actor, Denzel Washington, and director Tony Scott, known for his stylish action movies and thrillers. The two have made some entertaining films (Crimson Tide, Man on Fire), but Unstoppable is truly a fine piece of work. It is a nail-biter, an edge-of-your seat thriller, and a heart-stopping movie that has many in the audience clapping, cheering, and laughing. Unstoppable is the great summer movie that somehow missed the summer.

The film focuses on Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington), a veteran locomotive engineer, and Will Colson (Chris Pine), a rookie train conductor. As the old guy being put out to pasture and the new guy who got in because of family connections, respectively, the two naturally find tension and conflict between them. That is put aside when a half-mile freight train ends up on the loose with no humans onboard to control it. The runaway train is headed for the Stanton Curve in Stanton, Pennsylvania, at 70 miles per hour, and it is carrying combustible liquids and toxic chemicals. Any train hitting the Stanton Curve at more than 15 miles per hour will derail to disaster. When all attempts fail to stop the locomotive, Barnes and Colson are the only people who can stop the train, but can they get to it in time?

I find it strange to write that Unstoppable is a Denzel Washington movie that is actually not quite a Denzel Washington movie. Of course, Washington is, as usual, good, and so is Chris Pine. The veteran Washington doesn’t steal thunder from his younger costar, as Pine’s Colson has plenty of opportunities to be heroic and shine. Both Barnes and Colson, however, are regular guys; they’re working stiffs. They are not necessarily hero types, although they do heroic things, and that serves this movie well, because, as I just said, this is not just a Denzel Washington movie. Unstoppable is a runaway-train-of-doom movie.

Director Tony Scott and screenwriter Mark Bomback (Live Free or Die Hard) have transformed the locomotive into something as exciting and as mesmerizing as any Hollywood movie star. Scott not only makes the threat of annihilation by train seem real, but also the working class small towns threatened by the train and the gritty train yards where the mechanical beast originated.

This movie probably won’t win any Oscars, although composer Harry Gregson-Williams’ pounding, textured score (which at one pointed mimicked the sound of a panicked heartbeat) should get some consideration. With this film, Scott puts forth a directorial effort that doesn’t take second place to any of this year’s most popular action-oriented films like Alice in Wonderland and Inception. Bomback has fashioned a story that we need now – the tale of two men way over their heads and out of their league who put their lives on the line for people they don’t even know. Without a load of fancy CGI, Scott has reminded us that real world threats are every bit as scary as aliens and evil wizards.

Tony Scott has crafted a superb film. It’s one of those good movies we’re always demanding. Unstoppable, don’t stop yourself from seeing it.

8 of 10
A

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Review: Third Time is Not a Charm for Washington/Scott in "Deja Vu"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 251 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Déjà vu (2006)
Running time: 128 minutes (2 hours, 8 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and terror, disturbing images and sensuality
DIRECTOR: Tony Scott
WRITERS: Bill Marsilii and Terry Rossio
PRODUCER: Jerry Bruckheimer
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Paul Cameron
EDITOR: Chris Lebenzon
Black Reel Award nominee

SCI-FI/THRILLER/MYSTERY with elements of action

Starring: Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, Paula Patton, Adam Goldberg, and Jim Caviezel, Bruce Greenwood, Erika Alexander, Matt Craven, and Elden Henson

Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington), ATF agent, is investigating a cataclysmic explosion of a New Orleans ferry that is possibly a terrorist attack. Carlin also happens upon the homicide of a young woman named Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton) that may be tied to the ferry bombing, and that’s when Carlin begins to believe that he has some kind of emotional connection to Claire. It’s déjà vu – that unsettling feeling that he knows someone he’s never met and recognizes a place he’s sure he’s never been.

Then, Carlin meets FBI Agent Andrew Pryzwarra (Val Kilmer) and a small team of physicists who have apparently opened a window through which they can view the past. That’s when Carlin falls down the rabbit hole (or through a wormhole, so to speak) that will point him to the identity of the bomber and bring he and Claire closer. But by tampering with the past, will Doug Carlin save Claire’s life or will he cost them both their lives?

Déjà Vu is the third collaboration between Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington and director Tony Scott (after Crimson Tide and Man on Fire), and because they have such a good rapport, this preposterous sci-fi, mystery thriller manages to be a tasty popcorn flick in spite of the holes in the plot. The film is by-the-book Scott and Washington. Déjà Vu looks like Scott’s usual work, complete with burnished photography and lots of fancy editing and camera cutting. Washington does his usual determined, confident, cocky-but-sensitive law enforcement/military type. This movie isn’t Oscar bait; it’s a Denzel Washington action/thriller vehicle helmed by a director and producer (Jerry Bruckheimer) who both know how to do action/thriller vehicles for A-list movie stars.

As for the science fiction (time travel) behind Déjà Vu: it’s the kind material we get from movies on the Sci-Fi Channel. The difference is Déjà Vu has a bigger budget and big Hollywood names behind it instead of the usual Sci-Fi Channel suspects: some minor character actors and a team of filmmakers that generally works on the periphery of the movie industry. Déjà Vu gives lots of thrills and edge-of-your-seat suspense, but it all seems so predictable and ill conceived that it might well be a made-for-TV sci-fi movie that got lucky and received a theatrical run. In the end, this movie may be remembered for its absurd and outlandish sci-fi concept and not much else. Otherwise, Déjà Vu is a Denzel Washington movie that even Washington fans can wait for on DVD.

5 of 10
C+

Saturday, December 16, 2006

NOTES:
2007 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Breakthrough Performance” (Paula Patton)

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Review: "Man on Fire," the Second Tony Scott-Denzel Washington Joint

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 58 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Man on Fire (2004)
Running time: 146 minutes (2 hours, 26 minutes)
MPAA – R for language and strong violence
DIRECTOR: Tony Scott
WRITER: Brian Helgeland (from the novel by A.J. Quinnell)
PRODCUERS: Lucas Foster, Arnon Milchan, Tony Scott
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Paul Cameron (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Christian Wagner
Image Award nominee

DRAMA/CRIME/THRILLER with elements of action

Starring: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Marc Anthony, Radha Mitchell, Christopher Walken, Giancarlo Gianni, Rachel Ticotin, Jesús Ochoa, Mickey Rourke, and Angelina Peláez

The new Tony Scott-directed Denzel Washington-starrer, Man on Fire, is not two movies disguised as one film, nor is it simply a revenge film, as many have said early in the film’s release. It’s as much a drama about a man fighting for something and someone he loves as it is a pay-back-the-bastards flick.

Washington is John Creasy, a burnt out alcoholic counter insurgency, military type who takes a job protecting Pita (Dakota Fanning), the young daughter of a wealthy man in Mexico City. The city has seen a wave of kidnappings of rich people, where upon the kidnappers extort millions of dollars from the victims’ families. But Creasy and Pita are ambushed; the kidnappers shoot Creasy and escape with the child. After the money drop off is botched, the kidnappers claim to have killed the girl in retaliation. Still recovering from his wounds, Creasy goes on a mission to find everyone involved in the kidnapping, from top to bottom, and kill them all.

In the early part of the film, we meet Creasy, but learn very little about him. Director Tony Scott quickly shows us just enough of the growing relationship between Creasy and Pita in hopes of getting us to believe that the soldier of fortune becomes attached to the precocious child he’s supposed to protect. If their bonding, we’ll also buy that Creasy is going to become an angel of death to all those involved in harming Pita. Scott, who has a history of directing flashy action pictures like Top Gun, True Romance, and Crimson Tide, actually succeeds in weaving a fairly touching short story of a killer bonding with innocence. It’s the rest of the cast that gets in the way.

From the parents to the cops, it’s a parade of characters who are just barnacles on the interplay between the veteran Washington and the newcomer Fanning’s character interplay. Sometimes, it also seems as if the story either can’t live up to its premise or to the fact that the leads can pull off the story.

The second half of the film, the alleged revenge movie, is not so much on fire as it is on simmer. It’s a cool burn with some very effective scenes, and Man on Fire is at this point probably one of the quietest intense thrillers in a decade. As fancy as the camera work and film editing is, Washington makes the “man on a mission” part of the film work. The photographic tricks and effects are just the icing on Denzel’s cake. He plays his character as quiet and patient, but also relentless and ruthless. He’s surprises and shocks. It’s fun to watch an actor work a post-MTV revenge flick like a cool 70’s Eastwood payback movie. If you can’t get into what he’s doing in this film, you’re jaded.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
2005 Image Awards: 2 nominations: “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (Denzel Washington) and “Outstanding Motion Picture”

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