Roger Edwards 5/13/17 Roger Edwards 5/13/17

The A-Team Unrated Extended Cut (2010)

Despite an excess of CGI driven action scenes, Joe Carnahan's reboot of the iconic eighties TV show The A-Team, still manages to capture elements of the original. The plans are complex but come together and there are improvised devices and munitions made from sundry items. Due to the strong cast, there is also a good dynamic between the lead characters. It's all very loud, incredibly stupid, yet surprisingly entertaining. Don't get me wrong, this far from a hidden gem. Merely an enjoyable, bombastic exercise in cinematic self-indulgence,

The A-Team are now Iraq War veterans but the essential traits of the main characters are still there. Bradley Cooper takes to the roll Templeton Peck like a duck to water. Liam Neeson is suitably gruff as Hannibal Smith. But I actually found Sharlto Copley and Quinton Jackson as Mad Murdock and Bosco B.A. Baracus, to be the most absorbing protagonists. Although the script is hardly a masterpiece its greatest strength is the interplay among the team itself. Copley performance is strong and more than just arbitrarily quirky. Jackson also had more to do than just be a bad ass and I warmed to his storyline and personal conflict.

Another aspect of The A-Team that I enjoyed was at how at times, it felt like a throwback to sixties caper movies and a variation on the heist sub-genre. The humourous undertone also did a lot to make the over the top nature of some of the set pieces a little more palatable. The plot regarding stolen plates for printing bank notes, inter-governmental department duplicity and international globetrotting is self-indulgent and at times clumsily telegraphed for those who may have been napping. But when one considers the original TV show, that to was hardly an exercise in subtlety and restraint. Overall The A-Team is sufficiently different enough not to be just straight forward PG-13 action fodder.

The Unrated Extended cut of the movie runs eighteen minutes longer than the theatrical version and mainly contains longer scenes of plot exposition and dialogue, rather than violence. One action sequence does feature some additional footage of contract soldiers being shot whilst in their car, but it happens at night and is light on detail. There are some a few more instance of stronger language, as well. Full details of the differences can be found over at Movie-Censorship.com along with screen captures. The longer running time does make The A-Team a more rounded picture and therefore this is the cut I would recommend.

Movies, Horror, The Reincarnation of Peter Proud

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975)

Movies, Horror, The Reincarnation of Peter Proud

College Professor Peter Proud (Michael Sarrazin) has a recurring dream about a man swimming on a lake late at night. A woman named Marcia (Margot Kidder) paddles a small boat out to meet him. As the man tries to climb aboard, Marcia hits him with an oar and he drowns. Perplexed and disturbed, Peter approaches Doctor Sam Goodman (Paul Hecht) who is conducting research into sleep at the College. He conducts several tests which prove that Peter’s experiences are not registering as dreams. The Doctor suggests that they’re hallucinations but Peter theorises that they may be memories of a past life. A chance viewing of a TV documentary about Massachusetts, triggers further memories, so Peter decides to go an investigate. He subsequently learns that the man in his visions is a former Tennis coach, Jeff Curtis, who died in the late 1940s under mysterious circumstances. Is Peter the reincarnation of this man? If so, didn’t he have a daughter, Ann (Jennifer O’Neil). Furthermore is Marcia, Ann’s mother, still alive?

Movies, Horror, The Reincarnation of Peter Proud

Movies, Action, Italian Exploitation, Giallo, Blazing Magnum

Blazing Magnum (1976)

Movies, Action, Italian Exploitation, Giallo, Blazing Magnum

Mainstream films are easy to recommend to people. They’re usually formulaic, work within clear parameters and they’re not controversial. Most people, when viewing such film on someone else’s suggestion, are left with a fairly simply choice. Did they like it or not? Whatever the outcome, no feathers are ruffled. No one looks at you askance afterwards and says “why the hell did you think I’d like that piece of shit”? If something like this happens, then you have clearly not recommended a mainstream film. Perhaps you’ve suggested something that’s a little more of an acquired taste. Something niche, from a very specific sub-genre. Which brings me neatly to Blazing Magnum AKA Strange Shadows in an Empty Room (1976). The US title gives the impression that this film is a hard boiled cop thriller, like so many others that followed in the wake of Dirty Harry. But there’s a clue in the European title. Yes, this movie has more than just a whiff of a giallo about it.

Movies, Action, Italian Exploitation, Giallo, Blazing Magnum

Movies, Horror, Hammer, The Revenge of Frankenstein

The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)

Movies, Horror, Hammer, The Revenge of Frankenstein

In the year 1860, Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) faces execution by guillotine for the murders perpetrated by the creature he created. With the assistance of a hunchback named Karl (Oscar Quitak) he avoids death by beheading the priest who came to give him the last rites. The priest’s body is then mistakenly buried by the authorities. Three years later, Victor, now using the name Doctor Stein, has established himself as a prosperous physician in Karlsbrück, serving both affluent patients and the poor at a paupers’ hospital. Hans Kleve (Francis Matthews), a junior member of the medical council, recognises Victor and being an admirer, seeks to become his apprentice. Victor and Hans then undertake an experiment to transplant Karl’s living brain into a new, more refined body, rather than a grotesque monstrosity the Baron has previously made. Karl is eager to have a new healthy body, especially after encountering Margaret Conrad (Eunice Gayson), the charming new assistant at the hospital.

Movies, Horror, Hammer, The Revenge of Frankenstein

Questionnaire, The Movie Questionnaire, Movies

The Movie Questionnaire

Questionnaire, The Movie Questionnaire, Movies

This movie questionnaire was originally created by Alexander from Cinemaniac Reviews. Sadly, I believe that website is now defunct. However, that doesn’t in anyway invalidate the questionnaire itself which has some very good questions about your relationship with cinema. Some of my answers to the questions posed are about films that I enjoy, as opposed to those that are considered cinematic classics. However, I have answered some questions more seriously than others, especially the one about undeserving recipients of the Best Film Oscar. I struggled with a couple of questions because I no longer go the cinema as frequently as I did 10 years ago. This is mainly due to the fact that a lot of the films I find interesting end up going straight to streaming after very brief theatrical releases. Some do not even get shown in cinemas. Hence I view far more at home. But I digress. On with the questions and answers. Feel free to comment below and share your views.

Questionnaire, The Movie Questionnaire, Movies

Movies, Exit 8, Horror, Thriller

Exit 8 (2025)

Movies, Exit 8, Horror, Thriller

Exit 8 is a sophisticated and claustrophobic psychological thriller directed by Genki Kawamura, which skilfully transforms a minimalist indie walking-simulator game into a cinematic existential enigma. This overtly metaphorical film renders the repetitive nature and drudgery of modern working life into a physical environment in which the lead character is trapped and must find a way out. A random, brutal maze filled with an atmosphere of indifference to the lab rats that find themselves trapped within. Or is it their personal guilt that has put them there? Genki Kawamura’s psychological mystery draws inspiration from the Japanese video game of the same name, as well as from the cyclical nature of Groundhog Day and endless corridors of the Overlook Hotel in Kubrick’s The Shining. Although there are jump scares and some ghoulish imagery, this is not a horror vehicle. Instead this is a disquieting psychological drama with a strong sense of morality.

Movies, Exit 8, Horror, Thriller

Movies, Theatrical Edition, Director's Cut, Director's Edition, Extended Edition, Reconstruction, Cinema

Theatrical Version or Director's Cut Part 2

Movies, Theatrical Edition, Director's Cut, Director's Edition, Extended Edition, Reconstruction, Cinema

I wrote a post 18 month’s ago regarding whether a directors cut of a film is superior by default to the version originally shown in cinemas. Obviously the answer was no and I then went on to give three examples of films where I think the theatrical release is better to lengthier or substantially altered director’s cut that was subsequently made available at a later date. This time round in this post, I would like to do the complete opposite. I shall provide some examples of films that I think are significantly improved by a longer cut or a substantially, restructured edit. Note some of these examples are technically not a “director’s cuts” but a restoration or reconstruction of the director’s original vision. I shall endeavour to highlight what specific material or broader changes make each respective film “better”. As ever, all of these examples are a matter of subjective opinion and my views are presented as such, not “fact”.

Movies, Theatrical Edition, Director's Cut, Director's Edition, Extended Edition, Reconstruction, Cinema

Movies, The Lost Continent, Hammer, Horror, Creature Feature

The Lost Continent (1968)

Movies, The Lost Continent, Hammer, Horror, Creature Feature

In 1968 the dilapidated freighter Corita hastily leaves Freetown to avoid a customs inspection. Captain Lansen (Eric Porter) has a cargo of dangerous explosives which he is smuggling so he can finally retire. His ship’s passengers also have reasons for leaving in a hurry. Dr. Webster (Nigel Stock), together with his daughter Unity (Suzanna leigh), is relocating due to his indiscretions with patients and illegal operations. Alcoholic pianist Harry Tyler (Tony Beckley) is aimlessly drifting from port to port. Eva Peters (Hildegard Knef) is fleeing from her husband with stolen bearer bonds which she intend to use to buy back her son from his evil clutches Caracas. Ricaldi (Ben Carruthers), a questionable lawyer, is pursuing Eva to retrieve the stolen bonds. First officer Hemmings (Neil McCallum) suggests that the ship should return to Freetown after an imminent Hurricane warning. The Captain asks the passengers and they are unanimous that they do not wish to return. However a mutinous crew, the bad weather and the instability of the explosives force everyone to abandon ship. The survivors find themselves adrift in a lifeboat surrounded by a strange carnivorous seaweed.

Movies, The Lost Continent, Hammer, Horror, Creature Feature

Movies, Action, Mutiny, Jason Statham

Mutiny (2026)

Movies, Action, Mutiny, Jason Statham

Jason Statham is an exemplar of the US mantra of “staying in your lane”. He makes action movies and occasionally strays into action comedies. His formula broadly works and is sufficiently lucrative to keep Mr. Statham employed. Therefore, if you watch a film in which he stars, you have a fairly good idea of what you’ll be getting. Of late, the criteria for his action vehicles have become more succinct. Jason Statham will play an innocuous character, such as a construction foreman or a bee keeper. Something terrible will subsequently befall another character who Mr. Statham has an emotional connection with in some capacity. He will subsequently hunt down those responsible and meet out death and violence. At some point the villain of the story will enquire as to how this innocuous person is so lethal. Research will then show that our Jason is in fact an ex-police officer/special forces operative/international assassin. There’s then a showdown and the villain dies. Job done.

Movies, Action, Mutiny, Jason Statham

Movies, Action, The Light at the Edge of the World, Kirk Douglas, Pirates

The Light at the Edge of the World (1971)

Movies, Action, The Light at the Edge of the World, Kirk Douglas, Pirates

The Light at the Edge of the World presented itself as an action movie upon its release in 1971. Based upon a story by Jules Verne, the Spanish American co-production was driven by its star Kirk Douglas, who curiously hired British director Kevin Billington to helm the project. This tale of a lighthouse keeper fighting a war of attrition against a group of pirates that have captured his island, was market as an adventure film ostensibly in the idiom of the authors previous works and as a pirate movie. MGM bought the rights to distribute the film in the UK on the misunderstanding that it was a family friendly production. It was not and remains so. They subsequently had to cut 15 minutes of violence and torture as well as an undercurrent of sexual assault to secure a suitable rating. Conversely, the US distributors received an arbitrary PG rating, despite the fact this is one of a handful of films that honestly depicts pirates as murderers, rapists and worse.

Movies, Action, The Light at the Edge of the World, Kirk Douglas, Pirates

Movies, Action, The Last Stand of Ellen Cole, Lin Shaye

The Last Stand of Ellen Cole (2025)

Movies, Action, The Last Stand of Ellen Cole, Lin Shaye

It’s an established action film trope. The fire team comprised of ex-military personnel, move in on their target. Only to have the tables turned by someone they don’t deem a threat. What makes it different in The Last Stand of Ellen Cole is a throwaway line of dialogue. The bested operative lies bleeding on the floor and the protagonists stands over them ready to finish them off. “Don’t, I have a cat” they feebly plead. For me that was the icing on the cake. The movie had already established it was taking the “same old, same old” and doing something different. Something fun, if taken in the right spirit. This scene tipped the balance and I embraced this film because it was being honest about what it is. This is a modern B movie that decides to give a very specific sub-genre a makeover. Furthermore, its clearly done with an affectionate wink, which is very different to sly wink. This isn’t deliberate self-knowing irony. Its just a film doing something different and possibly silly but it genuinely wants to have fun with it.

Movies, Action, The Last Stand of Ellen Cole, Lin Shaye