Saturday UPDATE

"Eastwood protects his real life ex wife, in this fast moving action film."

Eastwood runs the Gauntlet to protect a Hooker.

"Eastwood has to be in my top 3 best action heroes of all time, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Clint Eastwood. Eastwood has a reputation of having a fast paced production which normally means filming is finished within a month and a half. At a time Eastwood used to cast his then wife Sondra Locke in almost all of his earlier films. In this one she plays a hooker that has to testify in court (I won't say who). Eastwood plays detective Ben Shockley, he is assigned to protect her and drive cross country to make sure she gets to the trail alive."

"Everybody is out to get the hooker and only one man stands in their way, Eastwood. When you see Clint Eastwood's name to a film you normally expect an above average film and this one doesn't disappoint!"




Andrew

The Maniac Cop series: Maniac Cop 3

"Now onto the final film of the series and perhaps considered the worst in the series. Director William Lustig went so far to take his name off of the film and now the Blu-ray simply says Alan Smithee. Lustig left production because he refused to film any more scenes as the budget was stretched to it's limit he couldn't do the scenes he wanted to. So the film was finished by producer Joel Soisson. The film contains stranger elements not seen in the Maniac Cop series before from Voodoo to Cordell finding love."

The Plot;

The film opens with a Voodoo priest practicing Voodoo on a severed head, this then miraculously brings back Cordell, it then shows the same shot (previously shown in Maniac Cop 2) of Cordell smashing his hand through the coffin. We are then shown a firing range where we see the return of Detective Lieutenant Sean McKinney played by Robert Davi with police officer Katie Sullivan played by Gretchen Becker. They shoot a few targets and talk about Katie's nickname she has been given "maniac". She then leaves to go on duty. This is one of many scenes that is described by director William Lustig as "filler" because of his rough cut that only reached 51 minutes they had to add scenes to pad out the running time.

Mckinney and Sullivan have a quiet chat.

McKinney arrives at a crime scene where a body is beheaded and has a chicken crammed down his throat. McKinney then realizes out of nowhere that it is a voodoo ritual and the chicken signifies the soul to take flight from the body. 

Meanwhile police officer Katie Sullivan is trying to stop a hostage situation, two cameramen film the events taking place. Officer Katie Sullivan shoots the robber and goes to help the hostage only to be shot in the head. The cameramen then decide to air the footage edited, which looks as if officer Katie is helping the robber only to get shot. She is now then named the new "Maniac Cop". She is then rushed to the hospital and by this time she is brain dead. Detective Lieutenant Sean McKinney sees the news report and doesn't believe officer Sullivan did it, so he decides to try and clear her name. The robber played by Jackie Earle Haley is now on life support. 

Crazy aim!

Now Cordell (Robert Z'Dar) walks the streets in search of the person who resurrected him he finally meets the voodoo priest. The priest said his soul was restless and the only way he could have brought him back was if he wanted to return. Cordell then sets out to get officer Katie from the hospital and return her to the voodoo priest to resurrect her. Detective Sean Mckinney now knows Cordell is alive, he sets out to take him down once again for one last time.

Cordell goes into the hospital and breaks out Katie with the help of the robber. McKinney while in the hospital starts to see the bodies Cordell is leaving behind. This then leads to McKinney having a relationship with Doctor Susan Fowler, both of them team up to stop Cordell. 

Cordell helps a crook.

The next scene and best scene in the whole film in my opinion is when McKinney is on a gurney and it slowing rolls across the hallway towards the robber and his goon friends then suddenly bullets blast through the covers. Cordell then gets a hold of Officer Katie and brings her to the Voodoo priest. McKinney then asks doctor Susan Fowler if she can survive without the oxygen tubes, she replies she cannot. 

John Woo style.

McKinney and the doctor then track down Cordell and the Voodoo priest, the voodoo priest admits to resurrecting Cordell. Cordell then forces the priest to attempt to resurrect her by saying his one line in the film, "finish it" but with no luck due to her soul being at peace. Cordell then kills the priest and the entire church goes up into flames, McKinney and the doctor struggle to get out while Cordell grabs Officer Katie's body while in flames. They then escape and the church explodes into a fireball.

Their love burns externally!

Both now think Cordell is dead and not coming back but they are wrong, while they are in the ambulance Cordell drives up to the right side of them and starts to ram the car while he is still on fire. He then grabs hold of the car door and doesn't allow them to escape, McKinney then gets an oxygen tank from the back and throws it through the back window of the car. He shakes Cordell off the car and speeds off while Cordell gives chase literally pushing cars out of the way with his bare hands!

A chase to the death.

Both cars eventually crash at the docks and just as Cordell is about to kill both McKinney and the doctor in the car, the Oxygen tank ignites from the flames and it explodes. McKinney and the doctor get out, McKinney slowly walks up to the car. He picks up Cordell's arm and while it is still on fire lights his cigarette with it, they both walk away.

Need a light?

The final scene is Cordell lying in a bodybag on a gurney, the camera pans in and his arm moves. This is obviously hinting at another sequel. 

Just as maniac Cop 2, this film is given the best possible treatment on Blu-ray by creator William Lustig's film label Blue Underground.

Blu-ray extras;


The Blu-ray comes with a 25 minute making of documentary mostly the director, writer and producer bad mouthing it. Also it comes with a bunch of deleted and extended scenes.


4/5


Blu-ray Picture Quality;


The original negatives have been scanned at 4K and downgraded to 2K for Blu-ray. Just as Maniac Cop 2 the film looks as if it was filmed just yesterday, perfect.


5/5


Blu-ray Audio Quality;

Blue Underground has given the film a 5.1 dts hd master audio. I did notice some scenes were slightly hard to hear and muffled but other than that it sounded great.


4/5


This film is truly a mess but not as bad as you would think. Most of the stunts and action scenes are well executed but the story is just scraping the bottom of the barrel by this point they just made a film for the sake of making money. As shown in the Blu-ray extras the film is literally Bride of Maniac Cop. Without the return of Robert Davi as McKinney the film would not be as nearly enjoyable.


Recommended to fans only



"That wraps up the Maniac Cop series!"




Andrew

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot UK Blu-ray coming June 23rd!

"The lesser known Eastwood film is coming to Blu-ray from British distributor Second Sight. This is well worth a watch especially for Jeff Bridges performance."

"I know another company in the US that not many people are fond of have already released it but for those who don't like limited editions and like original artwork, this is the one to buy!"


Andrew

Thursday UPDATE

"Two classics arrive."

"I decided to finish up both of my collections of Quentin Tarantino and John Carpenter, these were both the last titles I needed. I am not a big fan of Jackie Brown but I did like it enough to buy it, I don't remember much about it and honestly I am looking forward to seeing it again."

"In the mouth of madness is considered to be the last best directed film from John Carpenter and I agree. Village of the damned was a poor remake and Vampires was just plain bad. Sam Neill was a great casting choice in this one and this is the second film he has appeared in that John Carpenter directed him in, the other is a great comedy called memoirs of the invisible man. Some may find it strange but it is a great and smart film"

 

"Also I forgot to mention the Jackie Brown Zavvi exclusive steelbook is very nice."



"Look out for my review of the poorly received Maniac Cop 3 tomorrow."




Andrew

The Maniac Cop series: Maniac Cop 2

"Now, so maybe you were wondering why I didn't mention the name of the killer in my review of maniac cop. Well I decided not to spoil the film but since this is the sequel it has already been revealed, so I will be using the killer's name from now on."

"Alright let's get this review started. Now to start off this is considered mostly by fans of the series the best film in the series due to it having a bigger budget, more fast paced and bigger action set pieces. Also not to mention it is the favourite film of director William Lustig's trilogy."

The Plot;

The film takes place straight after the events of the end of Maniac Cop when the killer cop Matt Cordell is plunged into the New York river, they thought he was dead. They thought wrong. Matt Cordell quickly starts his rampage again across the city and is on a mission to find Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell) and Theresa Mallory (Laurene Landon) who attempted to kill him. Theresa Mallory is under mental examination by officer Susan Riley.

Both Jack and Theresa still believe Cordell is alive and still after them but no one else does. In a dark night Jack Forrest buys a newspaper from the newsstand and then suddenly a knife is quickly pierced through his neck and kills him.

Insert Groovy caption here.

We are then introduced to the main character, Detective Lieutenant Sean McKinney played by the great Robert Davi. He is a cop that doesn't play by the rules but seeks justice. He is out to get Turkell the serial killer who targets strippers. Meanwhile Theresa Mallory is ready to go live on TV to talk about Cordell. Officer Susan Riley thinks she shouldn't go alone so she offers to go with her. They both get in the taxi but it only makes it a few miles down the road when the tyres puncture. The Taxi Driver pulls over to fix it when Matt Cordell comes around the corner and gives chase to the girls, Mallory jumps into the drivers seat and drives off. 

You have the right to remain silent... Forever!

The chase is frantic and relenting going down public footpaths smashing into objects until it gets into a crash. Cordell handcuffs Susan to the wheel while she is standing outside of the car. Mallory then gets thrown through a glass window by cordell, she then picks up a chainsaw and a huge fight begins. Cordell brings out his trademark sword and begins to fight with her only to leave her with a broken neck at the end. 

The Car that officer Susan Riley is handcuffed to is then pushed down a steep hill while she is hanging for her life outside of the car. This stunt has to be one of the most dangerous I have ever seen, so many close calls. The car comes to a crashing stop and the officer is given medical attention.

Meanwhile the Serial Killer Turkel played by Leo Rossi has found his next victim and is ready to kill. He breaks into the strippers flat and is ready to lunge a knife into her when the police arrive, suddenly Cordell comes in and kills both officers. He then helps Turkell get away and they go back to his apartment. 

Mine is bigger.

Strangely Officer Cordell develops a friendship with Turkell as both have the same interests in killing people. Turkell decides to leave the apartment and goes out to find his next victim, he then gets caught at a stripclub by Detective Lieutenant Sean McKinney.

Turkell is jailed and officer Susan Riley is put in charge to look after the inmates. Cordell then finds out what has happened and starts a gory police station massacre and breaks out the inmates and recruits them to break into the prison where he was sent and killed on death row.

Cordell breaks into the station and kills the three inmates that killed him on deathrow while he is set on fire. Turkell then loses his mind and stabs cordell in the back. While this is happening Sean Mckinney has tracked down the commissioner Edward Doyle (Michael Lerner) who says over a PA system that he admits it was set up and his case has been reopened. Cordell then fights with Turkell and breaks through a solid brick wall and falls 50 feet into a prison truck and explodes.

Insane finale!

The final scene is then Cordell's funeral in which he gets full honours and is recognized as a fallen hero. Mckinney and Riley attend the funeral, Mckinney throws Cordell's badge into the grave and walks away. After a few minutes the camera pans in and Cordell's hand breaks out of the coffin and takes the badge.

A fallen hero.

 
Director William Lustig who owns the film label Blue Underground has given Maniac Cop 2 the best possible treatment on Blu-ray.

Blu-ray extras;

The Blu-ray comes with a 45 minute documentary on the making of maniac cop, which covers everything you would want to know. An audio commentary with director William Lustig and Director of Drive Nicolas Winding Refin. A 30 minute Q and A session with director William Lustig and also a deleted scene in which it shows Evil Dead director Sam Raimi as a news reporter.


5/5 


Blu-ray Picture Quality;

The original negatives have been scanned at 4K and downgraded to 2K for Blu-ray. The film looks amazing, everything is perfect. There is no scracthes, debris or any digital manipulation.


5/5 


Blu-ray Audio Quality;

Blue Underground has given the film a 7.1 dts hd master audio. It sounds equally as perfect as the picture quality. 


5/5



This film marks the departure of the classic slasher elements the first had but ramps up the action and violence. In my opinion it is a much more fun film than it's predecessor and has a lot more replay value.


Highly Recommended! 



"Don't forget Maniac Cop 3 will be reviewed on Friday, Stay tuned!"




Andrew

New Blu-ray announcement, Rush Hour 2!

"Rush Hour 2 has finally been announced for release on August 12th after a 4 year wait!"

Andrew

Tuesday UPDATE

"Just a quick update showing what arrived today."

"I have been in the action mood lately so I decided to go with these."

"In my opinion both of these titles are underrated; The Rookie and Drop Zone."

"The Rookie is one of those later buddy cop films that were released in the early 90s, without Eastwood the film would be unwatchable but his presence and charisma in this one makes it a must see for fans or action lovers." 

"Ah, Drop Zone released in 1994 when the parachuting craze started to fade out. Most notably Terminal Velocity was released in the same year which featured similar stunt work. It may not be up there with Snipes' best action films but is certainly an enjoyable popcorn action film. Highly recommended just to see Snipes and Busey fight it out." 

"lastly, the last title I got is Bullet to the head. like most of Stallone's recent output it was blasted by critics. This is a blind buy for me so i will be putting up my views and thoughts of the film within this week, though I am a chomp for Stallone and Schwarzenegger films!"

"Don't forget my next update tomorrow will be my review on the above average sequel, Maniac Cop 2. Stay Tuned."


Andrew