Everyone’s got one of those movies that they’re willing to die on a hill for. Now, I’m not necessarily saying guilty pleasures. Those are usually really bad movies that people just can’t help but like. Those end up becoming cult classics of sorts. I’m talking about movies that people find to be legitimately good, even if most critics and audiences would STRONGLY disagree. Every critic’s got one or two and every audience member has one. Me? I’ve got more than just a few. Let’s dig in.
Alien 3
If you’ve read my blog at all over the last decade, you know that I’m an ardent defender of Alien 3. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why people don’t like this movie at all. The killing off of two beloved characters from James Cameron’s movie off-screen more than rubbed people the wrong way. People really do like their happy-ish endings, and rightfully so. Aliens had a fairly positive and hopeful ending. Then Alien 3 happened, and threw all of that out the airlock. Yes, Alien 3 was a very troubled production with constant script re-writes throughout the shoot to the point where David Fincher left the project. But there’s some really good stuff in here, though. The acting in the film is Oscar-worthy, be it from Sigourney Weaver, Charles Dance, Danny Webb, Ralph Brown, or Charles S. Dutton. The acting is top-tier. The atmosphere is dark, gothic, and oppressive, which is perfect for this kind of movie. The first movie felt claustrophobic. This one has that, but also feels agoraphobic at the same time. Tight corridors, but the facility is huge. Whether you watch the theatrical cut or the extended Assembly Cut, it’s clear that David Fincher wanted to do something different with this movie. Did he succeed? Not particularly. Fox Studios kept getting in the way. Still, with a haunting score by Elliot Goldenthal, Alien 3 is one of the most under-appreciated movies of the last 40 years. I will always go to bat for this film.
Clash of the Titans Remake
This entry doesn’t just go for the remake of the classic Clash of the Titans from 1981, but also the sequel, Wrath of the Titans. There is no arguing that the original Ray Harryhausen picture is a classic. The use of stop-motion animation was the best that it had ever been at that point, coupled with a classic story from Greek mythology. I will never get tired of it. I will also never get tired of the 2010 remake starring Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, and Ralph Fiennes. Yeah, it uses a lot of CGI, especially with the creatures like Medusa and the Kraken, but the CGI is pretty well done. It’s also more of an action movie. But the movie’s pacing keeps it from getting boring and the perf0rmances from Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes are worth the price of entry alone. The movie is very slick, but it’s also a ton of fun. The sequel is even more nuts when they actually bring in Kronos, THE Titan. These movies aren’t trying to be more than fun action flicks, and I think they deliver on most counts.
The Crow: City of Angels
When The Crow was released back in 1994, it was a sleeper hit, and I think some of that had to do with the fact that Brandon Lee was tragically killed during the production of the film. I think that allowed the film to have more of an emotional impact with fans around the world. But even if he had lived, the movie was still really good in its own right. It’s a great story about a man returning from the dead to avenge the murder of him and his girlfriend. It had a great cast, great action, memorable characters, and outstanding music. The movie would end up getting a few sequels and a remake that’s going to be release in June. Of all the sequels, City of Angels is the best. That said, it’s not a particularly GREAT movie. Far from it, it’s got issues which stem from being a sequel to a cult favorite. City of Angels features Vincent Perez as Ashe Corven, who was murdered along with his son after witnessing a gang commit a brutal crime. The story plays out almost the same way as in the first film, but the visual style is a bit different. Vincent Perez does the best he can with what he’s got, but the character just doesn’t have the same charisma that Lee’s Eric Draven did. Yet, for all its faults, The Crow: City of Angels is still a decent enough film that manages to entertain.
Ong-Bak 3
When Ong-Bak showed up in 2003, it unleashed a new martial arts superstar on the world in Tony Jaa. His use of Muay Thai was unlike anything the West had seen in a long time. It was one of the most celebrated martial arts flicks of the early 2000s. To be fair, the story in Ong-Bak was not particularly great, as the movie was more of a vehicle to show-case the physicality of its lead star, and deliver it did. Amazing stunt-work and bone-crunching fight sequences made up a movie that showed that Tony Jaa could go toe to toe with the likes of Jackie Chan and Jet Li. He followed that movie up with an even better action flick in Tom yum Goong(The Protector). He would go back and not only star in but direct two more Ong-Bak movies that acted as prequels to the original. The second movie had really outstanding fights, especially with a variety of different weapons, but narratively, it was a mess. Ong-Bak 3 was the least action-packed of the bunch and had a more supernatural element to it. There was still some decent action, but it wasn’t on the same level as the previous films. Most fans didn’t really like the direction the movie took. Understandable, but it showcased a different variation on Muay Thai that, again, we had never really seen before. Ultimately, the more I watch it, the more I like it, because it did something different. It didn’t always succeed, but at least it tried.
Dune 1984
With the release of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune Part II, I figured it would be fitting to put David Lynch’s film here. For all the problems that the 1984 adaptation of Dune has, and there are MANY, you can’t really fault the visual imagination on display here. It is a visually interesting movie that is as grand as it is flawed. Like the newer movies, this version is stacked with quite the cast that includes Kyle MacLachlan, Patrick Stewart, Dean Stockwell, Sting, Sean Young, Everitt McGill, Jose Ferrer, Virginia Madsen, and Jurgen Prochnow. The problem here, is that Universal Studios wanted David Lynch to compress the book into a 2.5 hour movie. It didn’t work. The movie glossed over a LOT of information and narrative beats that are important in Frank Herbert’s novel. In fact, the 1984 movie completely misses the point of the book, which was a cautionary tale about Messianic figures and the dangers that they pose. Still, I found this movie to be very entertaining and it has a great soundtrack by Toto. Denis Villeneuve’s movies are better in every way, but David Lynch’s movie from 1984 is a perfect example of the batshit insanity that was the 80s.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
When it comes to Disney’s Star Wars, the Sequel Trilogy, it’s a serious mixed bag. Episode VII was fairly well received, despite feeling too familiar to the original film from 1977. The Rise of Skywalker, the final film in the franchise, ended up being a total dud as Star Wars films go. I enjoyed on a certainly level, but even as someone as forgiving as I am when it comes to Star Wars, couldn’t help but notice that Disney completely dropped the ball, and that was a result of trying to appease fans who didn’t like The Last Jedi. This was the film in the trilogy that split fans right down the middle. You either loved it, or you really hated it. I fell into the camp that really loved it. I loved it because it took massive risks with its narrative. Killing the Emperor-like figure half-way through the trilogy? Nobody saw that coming, and it was a brilliant move. Not everybody liked what they did with Luke, but the things that DID work, really worked. The dynamic between Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren and Daisy Ridley’s Rey was outstanding. It’s one of the main bright spots of the Sequel Trilogy. Unfortunately, for all the risks that Rian Johnson took with this movie, Disney and J.J. Abrams would end up rolling back in Episode IX, which ended the entire Skywalker Saga on a whimper instead of a bang. The Last Jedi still slaps, though.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Now, we come to a movie which is universally accepted as a bad movie. After the box-office success of The Voyage Home, Shatner wanted to direct a Star Trek movie of his own, so he Star Trek V. The problem: The movie that he wanted to make was NOT the movie that Paramount wanted. They also didn’t want to spend the money. They wanted another movie that was as comedic as Star Trek IV. Shatner wanted to do something more thought-provoking, like The Motion Picture, where it was more about ideas than action or one-liners. You do see some of that in this movie, and those are things that kind of work. It’s the constant tonal shift into slapstick comedy that doesn’t. What the film does have going for it is an interesting antagonist in Sybok, played brilliantly by Laurence Luckinbill. There is a scene in which he, Spock, McCoy and Kirk discuss what’s at the center of the galaxy. He also tries to get the crew to confront their pain, which leads to one of the strongest and emotional moments in Star Trek. When the movie works, it works, but like the Enterprise itself, the movie is constantly falling apart at the seams. This is going to be a very unpopular opinion, especially amongst Trekkies/Trekkers: I’d rather watch this than Star Trek IV any day of the week.
Terminator: Salvation
James Cameron’s second directorial effort not only kick-started his career, but it also launched Arnold Schwarzenegger into super-stardom: The Terminator. The movie was a hit and it spawned a sequel that many consider to be even better: Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The ending to T2 left a door open for a possible sequel, even though it could’ve been a definitive ending. So…Warner Bros. decided to go ahead with one without James Cameron(He lost the rights to the franchise by this point). Terminator 3 wasn’t a bad movie, but it felt like a fairly standard action flick. The ending of the film was ballsy as hell, though. Salvation takes place entirely during the war between mankind and the machines. There’s no time travel gimmickry going on here, it’s more of a war movie, and I think it works…somewhat. We’ve seen glimpses of the Future War in the previous movies, so to see it take place front and center sets this one apart from the others. Yeah, it feels like a generic post-apocalyptic movie at times, but the action’s good, the acting’s well above-board, and the music by Danny Elfman is pretty good. I rather like this one.
Mortal Kombat 2021
When the original Mortal Kombat game came out in 1991, it was clearly inspired by movies like Bloodsport and Big Trouble in Little China. It was a revolutionary game that has continued to evolve over 30 years. In 1995, New Line Cinema released the first live-action adaptation of Mortal Kombat into theaters. It was surprisingly well-received by many people, which is bizarre considering that it was PG-13, meaning there was no gory fatalities or any of that. Yet, it managed to capture the spirit of the game completely. The second movie came out in 1997 and…it was a complete dumpster fire. Yet, I found it to be a lot of fun…for the wrong reasons, hence the term, “guilty pleasure.” Well, since Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, there had been talk of making another movie. When Kevin Tancheroen put out his Mortal Kombat short film, it re-energized excitement for a new live-action project. While the Machinima short series Mortal Kombat Legacy lasted only two seasons, it was still really solid. Well, Warner Bros and New Line got a new film ready to go for 2021, simply titled: Mortal Kombat. This movie had all the gore and ultra-violence that was missing from those first two movies. While the film certainly has its issues, particularly with its lead character, the action is pretty solid. Hiroyuki Sanada and Joe Taslim as Scorpion and Sub-Zero respectively, steal the show. They are easily the best parts of the movie. Them and Kano, played by Josh Lawson. I actually found this adaptation of the video-game to be pretty damn solid, really. A second movie has finished production, but a release date has yet to be announced.
These are just a handful of movies that I’m willing to defend until my last breath. For all the haters: Come at me, bro.