Get off my plane!

AIR FORCE ONE (1997)

Reviewed By Jerry Saravia
(Original review from 1998)

Most action thrillers nowadays rely on countless explosions, dozens of special-effects, wall-to-wall cartoonish violence, and enough gunfire to give Schwarzenegger a headache. The idea is to essentially give the audience a relentless assault on the senses and nothing more; some succeed such as "Mission: Impossible" and others fail like the mediocre "Broken Arrow" and the absurd "Ransom." Then there are the rare, humanistic, character-oriented thrillers like "The Fugitive," the original "Die Hard," and the spectacular "La Femme Nikita" and "The Professional," the latter two directed by action whiz Luc Besson who also helmed the offbeat "The Fifth Element." At least those films offered more than the usual slam-bam-thank-you-mam action. "Air Force One" is exactly what you might expect - explosions and action unashamedly standing in for character and plot.

"Air Force One" is an incredulous thriller; an occasionally exciting yet overbearing, feeble-minded piece where Harrison Ford plays the President of the United States as a straight, righteous man with no flaws. As he boards the Air Force One plane, Russian terrorists hijack it and hold all the presidential aides and staff members hostage in exchange for the release of an imprisoned Russian leader (Jurgen Prochnow). Ford is the kind of President who does not believe in negotiating with terrorists, especially not one played by Gary Oldman, so he fights mano-a-mano with them instead (imagine Abraham Lincoln going mano-a-mano with John Wilkes Booth). The First Lady and her daughter are also on the plane, and their lives are in danger if Ford does not comply with the terrorists.

Except for the novelty of having the President as the hero, "Air Force One" is strictly a "Die Hard"/"Under Siege" rip-off taking place on a plane, e.g., "Passenger 57," "Turbulence," and the others before it. There's nothing here that we haven't seen before and, most definitely, better. Harrison Ford makes a decent hero, as always, Gary Oldman is terrifying to watch, and there's a wonderful supporting cast including Glenn Close, Philip Baker Hall, Dean Stockwell, etc. Let's be honest, though: what we have here is a lot of machine gunfire and a high body count as compensation for a threadbare story, and a scenario as ludicrous as the one in Clint Eastwood's "Absolute Power." Close, but no cigar.

Size is all that matters

GODZILLA (1998)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
(Original review from July 1998)

Writer-director Roland Emmerich has produced some of the biggest box-office champs in history, particularly the grossly silly though often fun "Independence Day." Back in 1998, he produced and directed the most overhyped movie event of all time, "Godzilla." "Godzilla" was so overhyped in its marketing campaign (which started a year earlier) that there was no point in seeing the movie at all - you already had. In the previews, there were glimpses of Godzilla's enormous foot destroying half of New York City's streets and close-ups of its reptilian eye, and that's about all you see in the movie, folks. After Godzilla invades New York, he inexplicably and implausibly hides in the sewer and plays hide-and-seek with army helicopters. The footage is shot at night, and it is so poorly photographed that you can barely see the huge lizard at all, only a big, blurry shadow. And then there are Godzilla's numerous babies on the loose in typical velociraptor/"Jurassic Park" fashion.

For such a lavishly expensive production with state-of-the-art special effects, you would think we would at least see this creature. Godzilla stampeding through the city of New York is a great, wondrous and scary idea but the movie never follows suit. His foot is seen crushing cars, potholes, etc. How about Godzilla knocking over the Statue of Liberty or climbing the Twin Towers or lashing his tail against Times Square billboards? Nope, the filmmakers never use their imagination in conveying the destructive nature of the beast. He mostly runs through the city and often yells, and that is about it. How does this creature hide though? How does it change size and shape throughout? And how dare they allow us to develop sympathy for the monster only to then ask us to hate it at the end when all you hear is its heart beating (a lift from 1976's "King Kong")?

Another fact lost by the filmmakers is the genesis of this creature. Godzilla was a Japanese creation, a symbol of America coming on their fort and starting a war, namely World War II and the counterattack on Pearl Harbor. This new Godzilla is simply a special-effects blur with no personality and no purpose. This is Godzilla for the 90's with anemic co-stars such as Matthew Broderick, Hank Azaria and the shrill-voiced Maria Pitillo to boot? I'll stick with the original 1955 black-and-white version with Raymond Burr, thank you. At least the fire-breathing monster of that film was destructive.

Sad end for Heather O'Rourke

POLTERGEIST III (1988)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Heather O'Rourke, the cute child of the "Poltergeist" movies who died before the release of "Poltergeist III" of intestinal stenoisis, is one of those wonderful child stars who certainly had a career ahead of her. Her Carol Anne character embodied the fears of a child plagued by evil forces. The first "Poltergeist" movie was a glorious success. The second film a complete failure (though it racked up some dollars at the box-office), and the third film a complete fiasco at the box-office and with the critics. No surprise there since "Poltergeist III" is a failed experiment in subtle horror, though it is a marked improvement over the second chapter.

This time, Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) is a twelve-year-old girl sent by her parents to live with her aunt and uncle (that explains the disappearance of both Jobeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson). The setting is a high-rise building in presumably Seattle, but I can't say for sure. Uncle Bruce Gardner (Tom Skerritt) loves little Carol Anne and loves his real daughter, Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle, in her first film role). He also loves his new wife, Patricia (Nancy Allen), referred to as Aunt Trish by Carol Anne. Patricia is the sister of Carol Anne's mom. What we have is one happy family, right? Wrong. Patricia despises Carol Anne and calls her a brat, particularly when things start going bump in the night. Uncle Bruce always kisses Donna on the lips, even when trying to calm her down during one of many endless climaxes towards the end of the movie (there is a hint of incest here, even if there isn't). To make matters worse, Carol Anne goes to a school for kids with emotional problems. One of her doctors assumes that Carol Anne induces mass hypnosis on people to make them think they are seeing poltergeists (!) Shall I re-read that last sentence? How can a doctor assume that? Where did he get his degree?

Lo and behold, Carol Anne is revisited by ghosts after going through some hypnosis by the good doctor, and one determined character, Kane (Nathan Davis, replacing the late Julian Beck from Part 2), who wants her to join them in the light. The light is the Other Side (coincidentally the subtitle of Part 2). It also involves endless shots of mirrors reflecting ghosts and other happenings. There are shots of parking garages with puddles leading to another world. And a lot of smoke and light flashes materialize. And then there are the shenanigans of Donna wanting to party with her friends instead of babysitting Carol Anne. And so on.

No imagination in terms of cinematography or real scares exists in this dull movie. High-rises can be scary but there is more character and color in those antiquated apartments in "Rosemary's Baby," made two decades prior to this movie. Skerritt and Allen seem to go through the motions. Heather O'Rourke overacts and seems too mature to wear her hair the same way she did in the first film (call it child abuse). Boyle looks like she would rather be somewhere else. Zelda Rubinstein returns yet again as the psychic Tangina, and gives a piss-poor performance. The saddest part of this film is that O'Rourke died before she could complete all her scenes. This lends further credence that Part III should not have existed.

Diluted hauntings

POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE (1986)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper did not return for seconds when a sequel was announced to the original fright film that became a box-office hit. They must have read the script and puked their own vomit monsters. "Poltergeist II: The Other Side" is an uninspired, flat sequel that will make you choke with unintentional laughter. It is a travesty.

The Freeling Family returns but with no trace of pizazz or humor. Steve Freeling (Craig T. Nelson) has grown his hair long, fancies himself a hippie, sells vacuum cleaners and wants nothing to do with televisions. Diane Freeling (Jobeth Williams) merely exists and points out to Steve that they are broke ever since leaving their haunted domicile. Carol Anne (the late Heather O'Rourke) and Robbie (Oliver Robins) are about the same, though Robbie has braces and Carol Anne talks to mysterious strangers (and how come there is no explanation of Dominique Dunne's Dana character from the original? Never mind that Dunne was tragically murdered shortly after the original's release.) They all live with Diane's mother (Geraldine Fitzgerald, in a wasted role) and before you know it, the poltergeists are back. This time, though, we get lots of smoke and fire, braces with a life of their own, a mysterious preacher named Kane (played by the late Julian Beck) , and an enormously ugly worm creature courtesy of H.R. Giger. Oh, yes, and a Vomit Creature.

"Poltergeist II" is a senseless, witless, numbingly mindless movie with no real sense of terror or purpose. The Freelings do little to provoke any sympathy as they did in the original. There is an Indian shaman (Will Sampson) and the thick-accented, terminally annoying psychic (Zelda Rubinstein) returning from the original, who are both aware that dark forces still prevail in the Freelings's original domicile. All this smacks of desperation and is similarly contrived to most horror sequels (providing an explanation, no less, of why the dark spirits wanted Carol Anne in the first place.) It is a good thing that the sweet, talented Heather O'Rourke went to the other side herself or she would have been stuck making movies like "Poltergeist II."

Godzillas vs. Transformers (in a good way)

PACIFIC RIM (2013)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

The giant robots who are roughly the size of half of a skyscraper are what initially intrigued me about the trailer for "Pacific Rim." They are massive and they walk with precision, and can run like the wind. Two pilots are necessary to operate one robot and manipulate its moves and its ability to swing a punch or use a steel sword against massive sea creatures. "Pacific Rim" is that kind of monster movie we do not see much of anymore - its added pluses are that it has a little heart and some noble heroes.

The Kaiju are the flying sea creatures who are roughly the size of one Godzilla and a half. They cause major destruction to almost every city on Earth. The Kaiju emerge from the sea with a roar that is pure Tyrannosaurus Rex X 1 million decibels and a bite that can cause real damage, not to mention a deadly acid that spews from their mouths. What are the humans to do? Build technological marvels of robotic destruction, of course, known as Jaegers (not the alcoholic drink that one imbibes, but you might like to have one after seeing this film, and I do mean that in a good way). These robots could give the Transformers a run for their Michael Bay dollars - when they stomp on the city streets, you feel it. Same with the Kaiju.

A former pilot named Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam, minus his "Sons of Anarchy" beard), who lost his brother during a dangerous combat mission with the fierce Kaiju, is commisioned by Commander Stacker Pentecoast (Idris Elba, who suffers the occasional nosebleed) to fight these raging beasts. Raleigh is reluctant until he finds a suitable, untested and ambitious pilot, Mako (Rinko Kikuchi), who as a child encountered one of those beasts. The two pilots have to have their minds in unison to operate the mammoth robots - they must be locked in a neural bridge called "drifting" (a psychic linkage).

Most of "Pacific Rim" is filled with Kaiju fighting Jaegers and vice versa. I saw the film in 3-D and the effects are truly astounding and eye-opening - there are times that you might have to grab the arms of your chair when these titanic monsters fight each other on the screen. Guillermo Del Toro (who previously helmed "Pan's Labyrinth," "Cronos" and the "Hellboy" pictures) never lets the action up though he does pause for character moments and various idiosyncracies. Still, the name of the game is unrelenting action, explosions and, eventually, a self-sacrifice. There is a chilling, nightmarish moment where Mako as a screaming, crying child hides in terror from the Kaiju in a near-apocalyptic moment of almost Hiroshima-like extremes. It is this memory that prevents her at one point from operating the Jaeger as she is ready to use its weapons to destroy the beast.

"Pacific Rim" could have used a lot more moments like that one, punctuated with traumatic memories to make us cling closer to the characters. Still, the characters are all sharply defined personalities, not automatons. Charlie Hunnam's Raleigh is a soldier who does his best to ignore his brother's death; Kikuchi's Mako wants revenge for the loss of her family but has a hard time suppressing her past trauma, and Pentecoast tries to be more calculating and remote but his past memories also sneaks up on him.
Adding to all the noise, CGI and practical effects (and 3-D effects that make helicopters look like Ed Wood's toys when placed against the monsters) is the film's disarming sense of humor (a Del Toro trademark) thanks to the two geeky scientists who seemingly have a P.h.D on the Kaiju. They are Charlie Day as Dr. Newton Geiszle (channeling Sam Rockwell), who suspects that these beasts are being cloned and may have an idea of how to defeath them, and Burn Gorman as Dr. Hermann Gottlieb who just feels that Newton is a manic personality. And the piece de resistance is Del Toro regular Ron Perlman, wearing gold-stripped shoes that have to be seen to be believed, as an underground black-market salesman named Hannibal Chau who buys Kaiju body parts!

"Pacific Rim" is an upbeat sci-fi epic that is tons of fun to watch. The film is a hark back to the old Godzilla flicks and other Japanese monster flicks with a touch of, pardon the comparison, Transformers except the Jaegers are far more impressive and almost grandiose. It does help that we sympathize with the characters enough to hope they survive all the wrath and fury of these winged sea creatures. I only wish I could spend more time with them - maybe in the sequel (reportedly, one hour of the film was cut by Del Toro that featured more character nuance). But whom am I to complain because I had a blast with "Pacific Rim." Forget "Transformers" and its sequels, Del Toro gives a summer blockbuster what it needs - a shot of adrenaline mixed with heart and pathos. A good summer cocktail, indeed.

They are here!

POLTERGEIST (1982)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

I first saw "Poltergeist" in 1982 in a packed movie theatre. It was an unnerving experience for me, and far too gory and violent to qualify for a PG rating. Mind you, I was only 11 at the time. I have seen it a couple of times since but only now do I see what a humane horror film it is. Like "The Exorcist" and others of its ilk, "Poltergeist" is a superb ghost story that makes us care for its characters because they are allowed to be themselves, and they play it straight in the face of both good and evil forces.

The characters are the Freelings, a close-knit family in suburbia. There is Steve (Craig T. Nelson), a successful real-estate agent who reads Ronald Reagan biographies and watches "A Guy Named Joe" at the same time! There is his wife, Diane Freeling (Jobeth Williams, in one of the two best roles of her career), who loves Steve and her kids deeply. The three kids include the teenage daughter, Dana (the late Dominique Dunne), who stays up at night on the phone, her younger sister, Carol Anne (wonderfully played by the late Heather O'Rourke) who has a habit of staring at the television screen, and the young brother, Robbie (Oliver Robins), who has trouble counting before the sound of thunder strikes. This is a close-knit family, but there are those nicely understated touches of humor that show more humanity than the average cutesy family you might see on Lifetime. When Diane finds Carol Anne's dead bird in the cage, she says, "Oh s**t. Couldn't you have waited until after her birthday?" Then there is the terrific scene where Diane rolls a marihuana cigarette while Steve listens to her story about how as a child, she was inadvertently kidnapped. But something is about to happen to this family, some kind of unseen force is ready to strike. The rolling clouds in the ominous sky are beginning to set in. The tree outside Robbie's house is certain to strike terror soon enough. And Carol Anne should know better than to stare at television screens for so long.

"Poltergeist" sets up its characters so well that when the inevitable evil strikes, it truly scares us. And, boy is it scary. The first indications are almost funny in a way. Chairs pile up in pyramid fashion on the table. A force pulls chairs and little Carol Anne across the kitchen floor. Lights flicker and burn with intensity. And, then the real terror begins as little Carol Anne disappears into a closet, and is somewhere in the house. Robbie is almost sucked into a tree. Steve is having trouble sleeping. Diane can smell her daughter nearby. "Poltergeist" feels like a funnier, wicked, jolting freakshow than a horror movie, and it puts "The Amityville Horror" to shame. The latter film had a sense of eerie mood but this movie really delivers with moments that will require you to cover your eyes.

Though it is directed by Tobe Hooper ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"), "Poltergeist" feels like a Steven Spielberg production (he co-wrote the screenplay). In fact, there is a lot of the mood and atmosphere of "E.T." in this film (coincidentally released the same year). Even the kids play with "Star Wars" action figures just like Elliott does in "E.T." The genial tone also recalls Spielberg's sentimental flourishes but I have the feeling that Hooper has infused it with some of his own playfulness and humanism. The scene where Diane feels Carol Anne has made contact with her soul is exquisitely rendered, delivering an emotional crescendo that will make your heart melt. That feels like a Hooper scene whereas Spielberg might have laid it on a little too thick. And Hooper's wickedness is evident in the scene where one of the paranormal investigators imagines ripping his flesh from his face thus exposing his skull.

The Freeling family feels like a real family, people you may see in your neighborhood. All the details of their lives feel right, and Craig T. Nelson and Jobeth Williams instill the parents with the right mixture of pathos and believability. Heather O'Rourke has many eerie scenes, particularly when talking to the television screen or when she notices things that her parents (and, we, the audience) do not see. Dominique Dunne has a small role but there is a funny moment where she tells off some leering construction workers with obscene body language, while her mother smiles approvingly. Oliver Robins has those precious looks of bewilderment and shock, especially with a toy clown who possesses a crooked grimace.

Emotionally involving, humanistic, magical, often terrifying, "Poltergeist" is one sensational movie, a roller-coaster ride that delivers its thrills and laughs in equal measure. But how could anyone rate this PG is beyond me. It is decidedly not for the kiddies.

1,000 dollars for a Polaroid camera

THE SPANISH PRISONER (1998)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

There is an unexpected joy I have in watching a David Mamet film - a joy mostly derived from his expert unfolding of complex, involving puzzles. Arguably, Mamet is always at his best when he directs his own screenplays as evidenced by "House of Games" and "Oleanna" - his style is simple and direct. "The Spanish Prisoner" is a terrifically entertaining film - an intriguing, finely detailed, exhilarating comic puzzle that leads from one revelation to another.

Campbell Scott stars as Joe Ross, a bespectacled scientist-of-sorts who is also a brilliant mathematician. He's also the inventor of the Process, an invention that will make his company more lucrative than ever before. Ross's boss, Mr. Klein (a laid-back Ben Gazzara), is so impressed by the Process that he holds a meeting in the Caribbean to discuss its future - a company lawyer (Ricky Jay) is on hand to look after the finances. On the Caribbean, Joe meets a typical Mamet character named Jimmy Dell (Steve Martin) who offers Joe one-thousand dollars for his Polaroid camera - this is the kind of request that should drive Joe away from Jim. Denying his request, Joe decides to accept Jim's dinner invitation in exchange for his apologetic remarks. Naturally, Jimmy Dell is the driving anchor of the movie and it would be unfair for me to explain what the plot's surprises have in store for you. Suffice to say, if you are a Mamet fan you'll anticipate many of the twists and turns the plot takes. If you have seen the Mamet-like labyrinth "The Game," you'll see some distinct similarities.

Surprisingly, "The Spanish Prisoner" works because of its characters and the sharp dialogue rather than the elaborate machinations of the plot. Joe Ross is the bland everyman whom things happen to and not always for any clear reasons. As played by Campbell Scott, the character is broadly sketched displaying no apparent flaws or weaknesses except that he's too trustworthy. In other words, he's a cipher - a trait uncharacteristic of Mamet - but Scott manages to bring some droll, subtle humor to Joe's character.

Two of the finest performances in the film are by Steve Martin and Rebecca Pidgeon (Mamet's wife). Steve Martin gives a superb, restrained performance as the seemingly rich New Yorker who asks for other simple services of Joe such as sending a book to his sister in New York. Is that all Jim wants, or is he up to no good? Martin's poise and mannered speaking are as fluent and as engaging as anything he's done in his career. Rebecca Pidgeon (an accomplished singer in real-life who also starred in Mamet's "Homicide") plays one of the sweetest, smartest women in all of Mamet's works. Her character, Susan, Joe's secretary, bears a certain affection to Joe that leads to all kinds of plot turns. Susan is sexy, intelligent, convivial, a bit annoying in the beginning but we grow to like and accept her. She is also manipulative and perhaps deceitful, but we are never sure. My two favorite scenes with Pidgeon are the airplane scene, where she discusses how you never truly know the people in your life, and a hilarious moment where she fabricates an argument with Joe to evade questions from the police.

"The Spanish Prisoner" is in many ways both akin and atypical of Mamet's former films. For one, the film is rated PG. Gone are the customary four-letter words we normally associate with Mamet and, as a result, it's also more light on its feet and less heavy than usual. Part of its lightness comes from the greenish, mossy look of the cinematography that fits perfectly with the title and the mood. Although the film is occasionally flawed and unevenly paced, "The Spanish Prisoner" is still high quality verbal entertainment. From Mamet, I wouldn't have expected less.