The Liquidator

Taylor Made Bond Spoof
As soon as you hear the wonderful voice of Shirley Bassey behind the credits, you know you are treading on Bondian territory and unfortunately, Director Jack Cardiff's 'THE LIQUIDATOR'-1966 never got to see its own series due to poor box office. With a screenplay by Peter Yeldham based on a novel by John Gardner who would scribe future James Bond novels in the eighties, actor Rod Taylor plays Boysie Oakes , an average bachelor who gets recruited by British Intelligence represented and played by Trevor Howard to be an assassin eliminating rogue and problem agents. Turns out that Oakes can't stomach the job so he recruits another assassin to do his work. When that guy is killed and Oakes goes AWOL with actress Jill St. John who is drop dead gorgeous and lethal, things get complicated. What ensues is a series of vignettes which veer on the verge of slapstick but never enter into the crude shenanigans that bogged down a number of spy yarns such as Director Val Guest's 'WHERE THE SPIES...

Good fun for all
Having seen this movie but once, decades ago; it was so long ago i completely forgot about the beginning wartime episode, none the less, it remained firmly lodged in my memory as great entertainment. Rod Taylor is totally believable as a bumbling sort of hero or liquidator if you please. Trevor Howard is excellent as always as Colonel Mostyn. Jill St. John was good as Iris. Wilfrid Hyde-White who was excellent in "My Fair Lady" was equally so in this production.

The plot, direction and dialogue are well done and the film transfer is very good, no doubt a result of it being filmed in Panavison.

As a teenager when this came out my fondest memory from this film is of the bar in Boysie Oakes flat. I wanted one of those for years.

Other notable roles for Mr. Taylor include, Dark of the Sun, Bearcats (short lived TV series), Fate is the Hunter, Giant and of course the original Time Machine.

When serious spy movies such as the Bond...

A Great Movie
This is such a fun movie to watch & one that any Rod Taylor fan should add to the collection.

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Civil Love

Add this to your list of favorites!
Once in awhile you come across a love story to be added to your list of favorites. For me, "Civil Love" is one of those movies.

Rachel and her two children must find a way to survive on their own after the death of Rachel's husband a year earlier. A soldier for the Union Army during the Civil War, Rachel's husband was killed by enemy soldiers. When faced with a proposition to remarry the local sheriff, will Rachel do so, even if it means being married to someone she doesn't love? And what will she do about the stranger she found injured in her barn? After all, the stranger is a Confederate soldier - just like the ones who killed her husband.

Daniel recently escaped from a Union Army prison. A Confederate soldier from Georgia, Daniel is shot in his attempt to return home. Will he survive the brutal cold? Will he be able to outrun the two men relentlessly searching for him? What happens when he collapses in a barn, only to discover later it is the barn of a woman...

A Romance First and Foremost
This story provides an interesting premise for a love story, and for the most part, it delivers.

The set-up is not totally unfamiliar: a single mom with children, isolated, trying to make a go of it in a primitive enviroment. Along comes a handsome(once he shaves) mysterious stranger in need. The added relish, it's the Civil War; he's of the enemy that killed her husband, and he's recently escaped from a brutal prison.

It's a great plot for interesting interactions, and an ever present feeling of danger looms overhead, makes it all the more romantic. Can he be trusted? Will the authorities catch up to him and kill him? Can the heroine resist the growing feelings she's developing?

In general, the filming, sets, and acting are fine. It's a tad low budget, and in places, it comes across like TV show and the costumes a bit stagey looking. The outdoor shots with the cold were much better, and the music flows fine with the scenes, which can be problem...

Good idea for a story but.....
I love the civil war era and so was excited to see a new movie from the era...but with all the information about the 1860's couldn't somebody have done some research? The costumes are awful. Totally awful!! There was no synthetic fabric in the 1860's. Also no zippers and the styles were totally wrong. Besides that the mom seemed way too young to have kids that old. The Confederate soldier has no southern accent but one of the men hunting him did. The wood chopping scene...it was obvious that the wood was already split. I gave it 2 stars because it was a sweet love store.

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Having A Wild Weekend

More Like "Dave Clark 1"
This film, which is a cross between A Hard Days Night and the Marx Brothers, focuses almost completely on Dave Clark as stuntman (and alleged kidnapper) Steve and his relationship with meat poster girl Dinah. The other four members of the band are in the background, partying at their pad, attending a fancy dress ball, and keeping the authorities on a wild goose chase while Steve and Dinah experience one adventure after another on their way to Dinah's dream island. In fact, I don't think Lenny Davidson says one word throughout the picture. On their way they meet a group of half-stoned beatniks, an eccentric older couple, and other interesting folks. The film tries to bring depth to most of the characters, except the Dave Clark 4 who remain rather vacuous fun boys. At the time, the Dave Clark Five were promoted as a cleaner cut, non-smoking, drug-free and athletic alternative to the Beatles (probably only the latter was true, as the band members were former gymnists). Clark's...

British Invasion Gains Another Lasting Milestone
The American title of the Dave Clark Five's movie, "Having a Wild Weekend" seems to utilize a bit of the advertising menace which makes a great amount of the plot of their film, known in Great Britain and previously available under that title, "Catch Us If You Can." "Having a Wild Weekend" kind of draws attention to the Beatles' first movie, "A Hard Day's Night." So, as the adage goes, what's good for the gander. The Warner Archive has now brought us an American DVD of the film which is the first movie for director, John Boorman who would very soon later helm the fabulous "Point Blank" starring Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson, and also later "Deliverance," "Excalibur" and "The Emerald Forest," all very fine motion pictures. I would not say "Having a Wild Weekend" is superior to the Beatles' movie(s) directed by Richard Lester, but they were certainly given due accolades at the time they were released. The Dave Clark Five movie, thanks to Warner Archive, is getting some new insight...

A good romp but not enough Mike, Lenny, Denis, or Rick.
I have seen the movie several times and have enjoyed it but it falls short of the mark. There is too much Dave (character Steve) and not enough Mike, Lenny (who plays a mute), Denis, or Rick. The soundtrack has some good songs but only two from the LP of the movie. The rest of the supposedly original soundtrack is not there. Instead there is music from older albums. To me this is a great disappointment. I happen to think that the album is the best the group ever recorded and would have made the movie so much better. In fact at times the music in the movie adds nothing to the production of the film. In fact it takes away from the overall quality. For example, at the masquerade ball the song "I Can't Stand It" from the Epic LP "Coast To Coast" keeps repeating the same verse again and again. It became annoying. Why didn't the group put another song into the scene? It was a dance scene and they wanted the action to continue. They could have played the...

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The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean

"Law is the handmaiden of Justice."
This is not only my favorite western, but it is also one of my favorite films. I don't buy a lot of videos to own, but I had to have this one in my permanent library. When the DVD comes out I'll be sure to get it, too.

When I first saw this in the theaters in '72 I was attracted by the action, the humor, and the sentimentality ( I still can't keep a dry eye when I watch the final scene with the watch bear....) As I got older I realised that there is a lot more to this movie. There is a consistent theme about Law and Justice, and the distinction between them.

When we first see Roy Bean he is a petty outlaw, less than a man. He has total contempt for law and justice, which he doesn't distinguish between. Then, when he first becomes a "Judge", it is in dubious title only- to fill his own pockets. As time goes on he intuitively dispenses true Justice in the name of the Law. By the final climactic scene, when asked who he is , he replies simply, "Justice." He...

A Texan Reviews John Huston's Judge Roy Bean
This ace of a flick really catches the spirit of the old judge who made his own law west of the Pecos. They don't make small colorful eccentric little films like this much these days. Everybody in the movie is right on the money too. A beautiful Jaqueline Bisset stars as the judge's tough assertive daughter. This must have been one of her earliest roles, and she turns in a fine endearing performance. And of course there are too many great names in this movie, Ned Beatty, Roddy McDowell, Stacey Keach, Tony Perkins, and of course Paul Newman as the judge himself. Do yourself a treat and pick this one up! You'll be glad you did.

A timeless treasure by one of Hollywood's greatest directors
The 60's and early 70's produced several great comedic westerns i.e. Cheyenne Social Club, Dirty Dingus Magee, McClintock, Great Scout, The Rounders, Evil Roy Slade, Support Your Local, etc. The list goes on and on. Those movies were all great, but pretty much one dimensional and set the tone for some collective disappointment over the content of Judge Roy Bean.

There are some great hilarious moments in this film but I never really got it until recently. It's actually a love story above all else, and a comedy, as well as John Huston's own statement about the retreating old west. If you view it in that context you'll be very impressed. If you're looking for pure comedy you may find that it drags in moments. However, this is the last time you'll get to see Paul Newman with that devilish Eddie Felson/Ben Quick light in his eyes, he was made for the part as a self-appointed and self-styled Judge/philosopher that dispenses justice to just about everyone that wanders through his town...

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Danger!! Death Ray!

Save your money!
Picked this up as an MST3K fan - I was curious what the unedited version of the movie was like. I knew that as a manufactured on demand movie from a little known DVD company I shouldn't expect much, but the END OF THE MOVIE IS MISSING! There is a good two minutes missing from the end of this DVD (fans of the just-released MST3K version will back me up on this) - the scene after the laboratory is destroyed and super-spy Bart Fargo tosses is wrist-watch/two-way radio out the window when his bosses try to call him back home is entirely missing. Beyond that, the transfer's not that bad looking. Would be great if a cleaned up version in its original widescreen were to be released - the movie itself is cheezy fun. Just a shame that this DVD doesn't contain the whole movie.

I give it two thumbs up
I think the movie was just great. The actor Gordon Scott played this scene was out standing , and I wish there was more actors like him.



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Karate-Robo Zaborgar [Blu-ray]

Prepare for Crazy
Holy cow, I just saw this movie, and it is absolutely, amazingly, unpredictably fun. I was in the mood for something a little silly, and a movie about "a motorcycle that knows karate" which reminded me of Ultraman seemed about right. This movie did not disappoint, and in fact blew my mind. This is a hilarious movie, written and played with tongue firmly in cheek, that takes itself serious enough to drive the story and characters to their absurd and awesome ends, yet is clearly designed to smack a smile right on your mug and keep re-plastering it there over and over again. I had no clue what was coming, and I suspect that that is the best way to experience this. It looks something like a cross between a standard sci fi Japanese B-movie and an unbelievably well-produced episode of the Power Rangers--and I mean that in a good way (you may have to just see it to know how that somehow works so well). But it feels more like Shaolin Soccer or something in that vein. If you are...

GO ZABORGAR GO!
Wow. Sushi Typhoon did something that alot of recent reboots have not been able to accomplish, they kept the heart of the show intact. In the process of "modernizing" old shows, reboots throw in high tech special effects, glamorous actors, adult sexuality but unfortunately lose all the charm of the original. Zaborgar was a childhood favorite of mines. I'm so glad that this update retains all the campy, goofy, heartfelt goodness of the original without compromising for the jaded audiences of today. All the characters from the old series are back in this neat, entertaining movie!

Crazy Zany Robot Romp
Indescribable... This movie has it all.. Transforming Robots who is also the brother of the main character who gets kicked out of the Police Force but seeks justice for his Father's death against a league of Evil Cyborgs bent on creating the ultimate Giant Robot.. But the adventure spans a whole generation of characters... It's madness and totally fun!

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