OK so now its time for another list and this one is my pick of the top 10 films I think are the most underrated and it might be tricky to try and nail this right down to the most underrated of all but I will do what I can. And again these are just my choices so you can all disagree with them and say "that film is load of crap etc" and I don't necessarily think all these films are great either but they are films I enjoy all the same.
Anyway so let's get started.
10. Last action hero
Right well at the top of the list is this Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie which was panned on its original release and its reputation hasn't be improved much today. However I just think this film is really entertaining and in a way it
was a bit ahead of its time in its post modernism and the way in which
it poked fun at the action film genre.
And the story itself focuses on a young boy, Danny Madigan (Austin O'Brien) who spends his time ditching school and going to the movies and he is back fan of the cinematic action hero, Jack Slater (Arnie) who's films are a big box office hit. Danny however after being given a magic ticket by his local cinema's projectionist (Robert Prosky) the ticket then transports Danny into the film itself and he get's up caught in Jack's adventures but things get complicated when Danny and Jack come up against an evil henchman (played by Charles Dance).
The story is pretty nonsensical of course and yeah Austin O'Brien is quite annoying at times in his role as Danny which makes easy to see why some people might hate it. However the film does feature some funny jokes, even if they are pretty obvious in their corniness and the action in the film is alot of fun as it was directed by John McTiernan. McTiernan himself said that he felt the film was somewhat rushed in production and it also was released too close to Jurassic Park, which left it unable to compete with the success of Steven Spielberg's dino blockbuster.
So for me Last Action Hero has alot more to offer than people give it credit for, its funny, entertaining and even quite intelligent for an action movie and as such I think it deserves a place on the list.
9. Superman III
OK next up is Superman III, which even today its not well regarded as its often seen as comedy vehicle for Richard Pryor rather than an actual Superman film and Christopher Reeve himself was seen to be sidelined here as well. However I think this is a really enjoyable and underrated entry in the Superman series and I will get on to a bit more as to why in a bit.
As for the story well it sees Superman take on the villainous Ross Webster (Robert Vaughan) who recruits the help of computer whiz Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) into trying to destroy Superman. And Gus ends up managing to give Superman a piece of synthetically made Kryptonite which affects his mind and ends up turning Supe into a bad guy who doesn't care about saving anyone. However Superman eventually has a dual with himself in a junkyard as he literally faces a split version of himself in the form of Clark Kent and Clark eventually defeats the evil Supe and becomes the good Superman again and he flies off to take care of Webster who has now created a supercomputer with Gus's help to take down Superman once and for all.
So yeah I have to say that I don't think Superman III deserves the stick it get's from audiences today as it is alot of fun. And yeah OK it does have an excessive amount of slapstick in it and there are some really stupid moments such as the opening sequence as well as the scene where Gus hacks computers remotely and causes all sorts of weird stuff to happen such as the red and green men in the traffic lights to suddenly fight another! And yes just maybe Richard Pryor does hog the screen a whole lot more than Christopher Reeve does.
However the film does do well on other fronts especially concerning Clark Kent as they finally start to make him a more assertive character than he previously was and he appears to be more self assured than before. And Reeve shares a nice onscreen chemistry with Annette O'Toole who plays Lana Lang, Clark's romantic interest in the film and they have some amusing moments where they keep talking at cross purposes. Another good scene in the film and what is often regarded as one of the film's better received moments is when the bad Superman fights against his good self in the form of Clark Kent in the junkyard. And I also think that the film's climax while its pretty silly its good fun especially when we see Superman trying to dodge Webster's missile attacks from his supercomputer.
And yes Richard Pryor probably mugs the camera a bit much at times but he also has some fun in the film as well and he delivers one of my all time favourite lines from any film where one of Gus's co-workers at Webster Co asks him how many sugars he wants in his tea and Gus says "One and a half!". Not to mention there is also the scene where Pryor turns up in Smallville and goes to one of the smaller Webscoe offices and hacks into the computers there but first he has to take care of the security guard, who happens to be Brad Wilson, one of Clark's high school rivals and the two of them get pissed together and we see Pryor wear an enormous cowboy hat!
So Superman III for me definitely the most underrated of the Superman films and it stands head and shoulders over Superman IV and I'd dare say its even better than Superman Returns and Man of Steel and so that's why its on the list.
8. The Matrix Reloaded
So next we have The Matrix Reloaded which is a film that also has been given a bit of a hard time by critics and fans of the original Matrix film also as it seen to be pretentious, confusing and dull. But out of the three films I'd say it was the second best and still a very enjoyable film that is packed with some good action scenes in it aswell.
As for a bit about the story well it takes up the action six months or so after the events of the first film with Neo (Keanu Reeves) now at the height of his powers in the matrix as "the one" and is also happily in love with Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss). However all is not right as Earth's last city, Zion is due to fall under attack from the war like machines called the sentinels and Neo is the only they have to try and stop the war. Not only that Neo has to contend with a ressurected Smith (Hugo Weaving) after he destroyed him in the first film and how has the ability to clone himself in the Matrix, Neo must find a way to stop him and end the war if he can by reaching the source of the Matrix itself.
Its easy to see why at times Reloaded get's alot of stick given its the film's first 40 minutes or so are a mixture of boredom and uncomfortable-ness as Zion get's into a big rave and we are given some dull exposition. But after that the film really does start to get going and we are treated to some great action scenes with Neo kicking some ass particularly in the burly brawl scene where Neo takes on a hundred Smiths. Then there is arguably the film's best sequence which is the freeway scene when Morpheus fights an agent to try and protect the keymaker who they need to access the source on Zion. The film also has some amusing secondary characters such as the Merovingian, a powerful program within the Matrix who loves talking in French and refers to it as being like "wiping your arse with silk!".
But yes to be fair the film is undeniably pretentious especially during Neo's scenes with the Architect of the Matrix who talks in the most incomprehensible manner possible. Also not to mention that the Architect keeps overusing words such as "vis-a-vis" apropos" and "concordantly" when the whole time you want to just shout at him "JUST SPEAK PLAIN ENGLISH!!!".
But I still think despite any of its flaws that The Matrix Reloaded is still underrated and it has some great action scenes in it and for the most part its an enjoyable sequel that maybe deserves a little more credit than it gets (or doesn't).
7. Rocky V
Up next is Rocky V which is often considered the worst of all the Rocky films and when you stack it up next to the others its easy enough to see why. However as an actual film I think it is suprisingly not bad at all and quite an entertaining drama which saw the Rocky series come back down to earth after the fantasy nonsense we had seen in Rocky III and IV when Rocky was living off his wealth and celebrity.
And to quickly sum up the story it centres on Rocky's retirement from boxing after he finds out he has suffered brain damage from his fight with Drago and to make matters worse Rocky loses his fortune and goes bankrupt due to his good friend Paulie (Burt Young) getting involved a dodgy deal with their lawyer. After this Rocky is forced to go back to living on the streets of his home city in Philadelphia where he has start all over again with his wife Adrian (Talia Shire) and his son Robert (Sage Stallone). However Rocky's luck takes a turn for the better when he meets a young and ambitious boxer, Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison) who Rocky trains and Tommy starts to work his way up the rankings but at the same time he also gains the interest of the unscrupulous boxing promoter George Washington Duke (Richard Gant) who comes between Rocky and Tommy and at the same time Rocky starts to neglect his own son.
It is fair to say that yes Rocky V is the weakest of all the Rocky films but at the same time its still does deserve some credit for grounding Rocky back into reality after what we had seen previously. And as a melodrama the film actually doesn't do that badly as it deals with Rocky's own personal struggles of going back to the streets and losing his wealth and fame. Stallone also enjoys a good onscreen relationship with his own son, Sage Stallone, who sadly has since passed away.
But yes despite that it still suffers from being overly sentimental at times and Tommy Gunn is a pretty one dimensional character whom you never really care about as he is ultimately too easily lead by Duke to be considered as a fighter with real individuality. Duke is also a pretty annoying character in the film also and you are glad at the end when you see Rocky punch his lights out!
However despite its shortcomings Rocky V is still a very enjoyable film and quite an underrated one in its own right too.
6. Strange Days
Next is Strange Days which is one of these films that appears to have slipped through the net over the years but it is actually a really good thriller and film in its own right.
The story of the film focuses on an ex-cop, Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes) who now is on the streets as a cyber dealer of sorts who sells mini-disc tapes of recorded memories of events from people's lives which they experience through an electronic device worn on the head called a SQUID. However Lenny comes under threat when he get's caught up in the events surrounding the death of a well known rapper, Jeriko One (Glenn Plummer) as a prostitute, Iris, who Lenny formerly knew, escapes the clutches of two police officers who gunned down Jeriko and she ends up giving the recording of the event on disc to Lenny. And from here its a case of Lenny trying to solve what was behind the murder and how can he save himself from the two cops hellbent on destroying the evidence.
This is film I liked since I had seen it on release almost 20 years ago and it remains an absorbing thriller which has some really good suspenseful moments in it as well such as the scene Lenny and his friend, Mace (Angela Bassett) try to escape the two psychotic cops who very nearly burn them alive in Mace's car. It also has some moments of humour as well which lightens the film's dark tone with Lenny being a bit of a screw up but ultimately a good guy who is caught up in a bad racket. The film also has a really good supporting cast with Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore and Michael Rappaport.
There are one or two things that does mar the film such as its ridiclously over the top ending and there are some overly pretentious moments of political commentary that you feel the film makers are really too quick to throw in your face. But if you can forgive its misgivings then Strange Days remains a really engrossing and gripping thriller which is well worth checking out.
And that's it for Part 1 and I'll be back soon with Part 2.
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