082 - Predator

Synopsis: Arnie flexes his muscles and kills everything in sight

Director: John McTiernan

Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Elpidia Carrillo, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura

Date: 1987

How viewed: Lovefilm rental

Rating: 2/5

David Meyer says:
Great trash wallows in the gutter while gazing at the stars. And this is stellar trash.

I say:

I watched this a few months ago and, at the time, just couldn't think of anything positive to say - but I watched it again this afternoon, and sort of relaxed into it. What I can say is that it does do exactly what it says on the tin: a team of Commandos, on a mission 'over the border' in a Central American jungle to ostensibly free hostages taken by a guerrilla group, find themselves hunted by an extra-terrestrial warrior. The film is completely macho (big guns and bigger muscles), makes no logical sense (the clue to fooling the alien is to cover yourself in mud!), is completely predictable (the 'A' team get taken out one by one), contains every cliche going, fails to build up any tension at all, and the extra-terrestrial looks like a man in a lizard suit or a rasta on steroids. Hey ho, some people like it...

081 Robin and Marion

Synopsis: The later life of Robin Hood

Director: Richard Lester

Actors: Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn, Nicol Williamson, Robert Shaw, Richard Harris

Date: 1976

How viewed: Lovefilm

Rating: 4/5

David Meyer says:
Only the English ... could write the characters with depth and great affection, never settle for a cheap or superficial resolution to any scene, make the costumes, settings, politics, and battles historically accurate, and join it all together with a saga of enduring love.

I say:

This was a surprisingly enjoyable and impressive film about the later life of Robin Hood. The film opens with Robin and Little John fighting the crusades abroad, and becoming increasingly annoyed with King Richard's brutality. On Richard's death, they head back to Nottingham, but after 10 years away, much has changed - Maid Marion has become a nun, and little remains of the Merry Men and the hideout in Sherwood. But the Sherriff is still there and the old animosities soon return when he kidnaps Marion. As David Meyer says, it's a really interesting take on the Robin Hood legend, and everything feels very accurate - it's muddy and dirty and bloody. It's also got a stellar cast - not only those listed above, but also Ronnie Barker as Friar Tuck (perfect!), Denholm Elliot, Kenneth Haigh, Ian Holm, etc. The only distraction was that (bizarrely) Connery kept reminding me of Andy Hamilton!