Point Blank (1998)
It’s Die Hard…
in a mall, with escaped convicts so it also rips off Con Air.
Is the main character an average Joe?
He’s a former Marine, ex-mercenary, ex-military adviser for the government of Sierra Leone and a Texas Ranger for 3 years. He now does some farm-work but he’s far from average.
Sidekick?
There are some convicts who are regretting the position they’re in and help him but no one ever fills up the sidekick position.
Any personal problems?
His brother Joe is in prison and he never visited him.
Is the lead character there by coincidence?
No, he actually sneaked past the police line to get in and do something.
Are there any friends or family in danger?
His brother is actually the second-in-command convict and hostage taker. There are no other friends or family in the mall.
What’s at stake and why aren’t the authorities doing anything?
That’s a bit of a guess. These are convicts and their goal is freedom or else they wouldn’t have broken out of prison. But after their breakout they go to a mall where the corporation of Howard, the leader, is located and take several people hostage after killing a lot. Howard demands some planes and there is talk about a tunnel being under the mall they will use as an escape route but the whole hostage thing didn’t make any sense. I mean, wouldn’t it have been easier if the guys responsible for the prison break also had a plane ready to fly them to another country? The authorities are standing outside surrounding the building. They can’t get in, something Mickey Rourke does manage.
Any charismatic villains?
Howard is the corporate guy and is flamboyantly gay. His boyfriend is also his bodyguard. As soon as he’s back in his office he puts on a suit. Most of the other characters, while being in a mall, stick to their prison wardrobe. There’s Joe. He’s second in command, the brother of Rudy (Rourke) and was in Con Air. The same thing goes for Danny Trejo who actually reprises his role of Johnny-23 from Con Air only with a different name.
Is it any good?
Nope. It was made when Rourkes career was at an all time low. It has a plot that doesn’t make sense and Rourke trying to do all sorts of Van Damme moves with the aid of the editing room. You can read my review here.
They are planning a remake, I would go for Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Joe Manganiello, Milo Ventimiglia, Tom Welling, Chris Evans, Chris Pine, Chadwick Boseman, Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Runner, Derek Theler, or D.J. Cotrona as Gabe Walker; and Billy Zane, Kevin Spacey, Dominic Pace, Alec Baldwin, Gil Banks, Hugo Weaving, Robert Knepper, Brian Van Holt, Travis Fine, Skeet Ulrich, or Dash Mihok as Qualen.
I think there is a way to improve The Taking of Beverly Hills, like instead an undercover Fed helped crippled a militia group and imprisoned many members including their leader. But the leader’s brother and a few members of the group plant bombs all over Beverly Hills, and threaten to set them off if the leader is not released, and the undercover fed seeks out the bombs while his partners buy him time.
Blast is good, but it would be worthwhile to note that, Agent Lisa Reed (Vivica A. Fox) finds out that Michael Kittridge (Vinnie Jones) is actually a mercenary named Skyler Talbot and had killed the real Kittridge and stole his identity to throw off authorities.
I would like to see Christmas Rush. Anyone know where to find it?
There are some sites that list it as streamable, but I don’t know how legit they are. If you own an XBMC player I would advise you to look on that network.
What is an XBMC Player? I have never heard of one.
In most cases they are mediaplayers running Android. Because they run Android they can download an app named XBMC from Google’s Play Store. XBMC allows you to search and stream movies
Don’t forget the other scenarios like Terminal Rush, Interceptor, Crash Dive, Counter Measures, 12 Rounds: Reloaded, 12 Rounds: Lockdown, Project: Shadow Chaser, Command Performance, Demolition University, Cyberjack/Virtual Assassin, Final Voyage, and Air Rage.
For Speed 2: Cruise Control, it should have been Direct to Video, and not a sequel to Speed. The lead villain should have been a pirate instead of soft ware designer turned mad bomber trying to blow up a ship.
Every time I see “Air Force One” I remember that in the Tom Clancy novels, the character of Jack Ryan becomes president. This film could have been part of the saga starring Harrison Ford, if he had continued it.