The Untouchables "If you wanna keep a secret, don't tell the boss!"

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I thought I would get another post in before the end of the month, so I'm doing another revisitation post and this one is on the action thriller, The Untouchables, which I've re-done a few years ago but figured I would update it anyway.

So, 35 years onward, let's take another look at this action classic and see how it fairs! 

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!

STORY

So, the film is set during the prohibition era in Chicago in 1930, where Al Capone (Robert De Niro) reigns supreme and has most of the city under his control, and he supplies liquor at high prices.  One of the bar's in the city however refuses to buy Capone's beer, and as a result the bar is destroyed in an explosion by Capone's men.

Meanwhile, bureau treasury officer Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) who has been summoned to stop Capone, and he organizes a raid on Capone's warehouses, only to find that he has been set up as the warehouse crates contain Japanese umbrellas.  Humiliated in the press, Ness soon is met by the mother of a girl who killed in the explosion in the bar, who insists that he stop Capone now.  Ness is then compelled to meet up with one of the tough beat cops, Malone (Sean Connery), whom he met on a walkway bridge the night before, he asks Malone for his help, but Malone refuses as he doesn't want to risk his life (which was the reason he walks the beat).

Ness however is soon met by Malone again who tells him he will help him get Capone, and they set about putting together a small team of men, which includes a bureau accountant Oscar Wallace (Charles Anthony Smith) and police trainee and sharpshooter, George Stone (Andy Garcia).  Together the men successfully launch a raid on one of Capone's warehouses, where they impound the liquor and arrest the men.  As a result Capone, at one of his dinner parties, kills the manager of the warehouse in full view of his men, with a baseball bat.

Capone then sends his main enforcer, Frank Nitti (Billy Drago) to intimidate Ness, by sending him a friendly warning about his family.  Ness then sends his wife and his daughter away from their home, and at the same time Malone arrives on the scene with news that of a big international shipment coming in over the Canadian border.  Ness and his men travel to the border and with the help of the Canadian Mounties they raid the liquor shipment. Ness kills one of Capone's men in self defense during the raid, and Stone is injured in the arm by a gunshot.

Ness also interrogates one of Capone's men, George (Brad Sullivan), who they captured, and initially refuses to talk, but Malone takes the dead man who Ness killed earlier and shoots him in the head, after which George panics and cooperates.  On hearing the news of the raid, Capone is furious and orders Ness to be killed as well his men and his family.  As a result Nitti smuggles himself into the Chicago police station, disguised as a police officer, he shoots Oscar and George dead in a lift.  Enraged by this, Ness storms into Capone's hotel and confronts him on the stairs, but Malone restrains and takes him away, leaving Capone yelling abuse at Ness.

After this the DA (Clifton James) whom Ness was using to prosecute Capone, decides to drop the case. Malone angry at Ness's defeat tells him to stall the DA as he will try and find out the location of Capone's bookeeper, Walter Payne (Jack Kehoe) with whom if they capture him, they can force him to testify against Capone.

Malone meets with his police chief, Mike Dorsett (Richard Bradford) whom leaked the info about the previous shipments, and forces him to reveal the whereabouts of the bookeeper.  However before Malone can meet with Ness to tell him the info, Nitti sets up an ambush at Malone's whom and shoots him down with a machine gun.  Ness soon arrives at Malone's apartment, and with his dying breath, Malone tells Ness that the bookeeper is a on train.Ness with Stone then heads to the train station where he has a gunfight on the stairs of the station with Capone's men who guard Payne, who they kill and take Payne to stand trial.

Payne is soon put on trial and testifies against Capone in court and during the trial Capone consults with Nitti, and Ness notices that Nitti is wearing a gun inside his jacket.  Ness tells the court bailiff to escort Nitti outside the courtroom, where Ness searches him and takes away his gun, but Nitti reveals he has a permit for it, written by the mayor of Chicago.  Ness however also takes a pack of matches from Nitti's jacket, which reveals the address of Malone's apartment, which leads Nitti to flee in panic, shooting the bailiff.

And from here Ness engages Nitti in a cat and mouse gunfight on the rooftops as Ness tries to get revenge for the deaths of Malone and Oscar while his court case with Capone hangs in the balance... 

THOUGHTS 

The Untouchables was critically acclaimed on its release and its easy to see why as it is a very solid, polished and highly entertaining crime thriller.  There has been in the past before it plenty of crime films, but in the Untouchables we got a great mix of drama, action as well as moments of humour that make it stand out.

The film however is of course based on real life events but it also does take some liberties with the truth as well but I will get more into them later in the review and for the sake of Hollywood sensationalism you will always get some distortions of the truth.  Regardless of this though the film still is well crafted and has a largely fine script by the acclaimed playwright, David Mamet.   

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section will contain strong language and spoilers!) 

Performance wise the film is mainly very good and its features a strong solid cast.

However I have to start with Kevin Costner, who while he is a very decent and competent actor, I feel his performance here as Eliot Ness is a bit wooden and stilted at times and he lacks the intensity required to play the character.  This is not however to say that he doesn't have some good moments in the film as he certainly does have some good scenes and overall his performance isn't bad.

And to mention a few for starters there is the scene where Ness first meets Malone on a bridge as Ness throws away a piece of paper with a message from his wife saying she's proud of him and Malone tells off Ness for throwing his garbage away.  And in the scene Ness reaches into his jacket pocket for something but Malone stops him and places his truncheon on the jacket and he asks "OK pal, why the mohashka??  Why are you packing the gun?!" and Ness says "I'm a treasury officer!" and Malone takes a moment and says "Alright, just remember what we talked about now!" and walks off.

This however leaves Ness in a state of anger and disbelief and he walks after Malone and says "Hey, wait a minute! What the hell kind of policemen you got in this god damn city? You just turned your back on an armed man!" and Malone says "You're a treasury officer" and Ness sharply says "How do you know that?!  I just told I was??" and Malone says "Who would claim to be that, who was not?? Hmm?".

Then there is perhaps Costner's best scene in the film where an associate of Capone's, Alderman (Del Close) tries to brive Ness in his office.  And in the scene, Ness suddenly cuts off Alderman's bribe offer and asks Malone, Stone and Oscar to come into the office.  And Ness tells Alderman "In roman times, when a when a fellow was convicted of trying to bribe a public official, they would cut off his nose, and sew him in a bag with a wild animal, and throw him in a river" and Ness crumples up Alderman's bribe envelope and tells him "You tell your master that we must agree to DISAGREE!" and he throws the enevelope at Alderman.  And Alderman warns him "You're making a mistake" and Ness says "Yeah I know, well I've made them before I'm beginning to enjoy them!" and he grabs Alderman by his jacket and says "And you tell Capone, I'll see him in hell!" and he throws him out.

Another good scene is just after (SPOILER!!) Oscar is murdered by Nitti, Ness storms into the hotel where Capone is staying and he sees Capone walk down the stairs with his men and his young son.  And one of Capone's goons walks toward him and says "Something you want in here?" and Ness says "My friend was killed today" and the goon says "I  don't care!" and Ness says "You don't care...." and decks the goon and he says "Now he does!".

And Ness challenges Capone "Come on here, Capone! You want to fight? You and me, right here?! That's it, come on! What's the matter? You afraid to come out from behind your men, you afraid to stand up for yourself?!".  And this pisses off Capone, who says "You wanna do it now?!  You wanna do the mat right now?!" and Ness shouts "Yeah! Come on, you guinea son of a bitch!" which riles Capone even more and he shouts "You talk to me like that infront of my son?!  Fuck you and your family!" and Ness goes for his gun but Malone suddenly arrives and restrains him and they leave.

Then there is the gunfight between Ness and Nitti, which kicks off with Ness finding a pack of matches from Nitti's jacket and he lights one and from the back of the pack he sees the address of Malone's apartment, which Ness immediately susses that Nitti killed him.  And Ness says "1630 Racine....you know I had a friend that once live there...!" and Nitti pulls his gun out and does a runner and Ness chases up onto the rooftops.

And after Ness prepares to arrest Nitti, he says to him "They're gonna burn you, buddy!" and Nitti says "Oh yeah?" and Ness says "Yeah!  I'm going to see you burn, you son of a bitch, because you killed my friend!" and he pushes Nitti away.  And Nitti taunts Ness by saying "He died like a pig" and Ness grabs Nitti and says "What did you say???" and Nitti again says "I said your friend died screaming like a stuck Irish pig. Now you think about that when I beat the rap!".  And as Nitti walks away, a furious Ness suddenly walks up behind him and pushes Nitti off the rooftop to his death and Nitti screams as he falls to the ground and Ness shouts at him "DID HE SOUND ANYTHING LIKE THAT????!!!".

Then there is the scene where Ness speaks to the judge in his office and shows the judge the juror list that was taken from Nitti's pocket showing they had been bribed but the judge refuses to accept it as evidence.

So, in the scene, the judge after looking at the list dismisses it and says "This constitutes no evidence, it has no provenance. I'm not about to allow..." and Ness interrupts him and says "Your honor the truth of the case is that the man Capone is a killer and he will go free and there is only one way to deal with such men and that is to hunt them down. I have.  I have foresworn myself. I have broken every law I have sworn to uphold, I have become what I beheld and I am content that I have done right! Now that must be stopped and you must...!". And the judge interrupts him and says "I will be judge of what I must do, Mr Ness!" and Ness turns to the others and says "Will you excuse us?" and Stone opens the door and he and the DA and Capone's defense lawyer all leave.

And last of all is the final scene where Ness clears out his desk and is about to leave his office and Stone comes in and says his goodbyes. And Stone says to Ness "So, I guess this is goodbye" and Ness smiles and says "Goodbye, George" and Ness takes out Malone's pocket watch and Stone says "Mr Ness, I think he would have wanted you to have that" and Ness says "No, he would have wanted a copy to have it" and he gives it to Stone with a handshake and says "I'm going home" and leaves. And as Ness leaves, the reporter, Scoop, from earlier in the film asks him "Mr Ness, the man who put Al Capone on the spot. Any comment?" and Ness says "I just happened to be there when the wheel went round" and Scoop asks him "They say they are going to re-appeal prohibition. What will you do then?" and Ness smiles and says "I think I'll have a drink" and he walks off.

Sean Connery next up puts in a terrific performance as the tough veteran cop, Malone, who helps Ness in bringing down Capone for which he won an Academy award for best supporting actor.  And despite the lapses in his so-called Irish accent, Connery is great throughout and his final scene certainly packs an emotional punch for audiences.

Connery has his share of great moments in the film and he gets the best dialogue and it would be hard to mention all his great scenes so I will confine myself to a few and for starters there is the scene where Malone meets with Ness in a church.  And the two of them sit together and Malone says to Ness "You said you wanted to get Capone. Do you really wanna get him? You see what I'm saying is, what are you prepared to do?" and Ness says "Anything within the law" and Malone says "And THEN what are you prepared to do?!  You see what I'm saying?  If you are gonna open the ball on these people you have to be prepared to go ALL the way!  Because they are not gonna give up the right until one of you is dead!".

And Ness says "I wanna get Capone, I don't know how to get him" and Malone says "You wanna know how to get Capone? This is how you get him.  They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue.  THAT'S the CHICAGO way! And that's how you get Capone!  Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that? I'm offering you a deal. Do you want this deal?".  And Ness says "I have sworn to capture this man with all legal powers at my disposal and I will do so!" and Malone takes a moment and says "Well, the Lord hates a coward" and he shakes hands with Ness and says "Do you know what a blood oath is, Mr Ness?" and Ness says "Yes" and Malone says to him "Good, cos' you just took one!".

Then there is the scene where Malone and Ness try and recruit a rookie cop for their team down at a training firing range and Malone questions, an Italian American, George Stone (Garcia).  And in the scene Malone asks Stone "Where are you from, Stone?" and Stone says "From the South side" and Malone says to him "Stone. George Stone. That's your name? What's your REAL name?!" and Stone says "That is my real name" but Malone persists "Nah, what was it before you CHANGED it?!" and Stone takes a moment and says "Giuseppe Petri".  And this angers Malone, who says "Jeez, I knew it!  That's all you need, one thieving wop on the team!" and George asks him "Hey, what's that you say?" and Malone carrying a clipboard prods it against George's chest saying "I said you're a lying member of a no-good race!".  And this prompts George batter the clipboard out of Malone's hands and he points his gun at Malone's chin and says "Much better than you, you stinking Irish shit pig!" and all of a suddeny Malone is impressed and says "Oh, I like him!".

Another good scene is when Malone and Ness along with Stone and Oscar go on their first raid on Capone as they prepare to break into one of Capone's liquor warehouses.  And Malone says to Ness as they stand outside the warehouse door "If you walk through this door now, you're walking into a world of trouble and there's no turning back, you understand?" and Ness says "Yes, I do" and Malone then takes an axe and smashes the door in and unlocks and they go in and raid the warehouse.  And as Malone says to workers "All this stuff is impounded!  You're all under arrest!" and as the manager walks up and says "Hey this isn't good!  This isn't right!  You got a warrant?!" Malone replies "Sure, here's my warrant!" and he hits him twice in the stomach with the butt of his shotgun and Malone says to the others "How do you think he feels now? Better? Or worse?!".

Another good scene is when Malone turns up to see Ness outside his home with news of Capone's latest shipment at the Canadian border. So, in the scene Ness angrily says to Malone "I wanna hurt the man, Malone. I wanna take the battle to him! I wanna HURT Capone!" and Malone says "Well, then a Merry Christmas! Cos we've got some good news!" and he says to Stone "Tell him" and Stone says "We just got word of a big international shipment coming through" and Malone says "We got the time, the place, the whole shebang" and Ness says "Well, what are we doing standing around here then?". And as the men start to run off, Ness asks Malone "How do you come by this information?" and Malone says "Oh, that's the second rule of police work. If you wanna keep a secret, don't tell the boss!".

Then we have the scene where Malone confronts the police chief, Mike Dorsett as he presses Mike to find out where they can find Capone's book keeper, Walter Payne.  And in the scene the two of them argue loudly and Malone shouts at Mike "Mike, they ruined this town!  And for 20 years I can't eat my food with the shit that's goin' and saying I'm a cop!" and Mike shouts at him "Bullshit!  Fuckin bullshit!".  And Malone shouts at him "I need to know where this guy is and I need to now, or I'm gonna rat you out for all the shit that I know you've done in your life!  I'm gonna turn you over!" and the two of them start to fight, which ends with Malone slamming Mike against a wall and taking out his gun.  And Malone says to Mike "Right, let's cut the woofing, pal!  You tell me, or you goin' to hospital or the fuckin morgue!". 

And last of all there is the scene where one of Capone's thugs sneaks into his house armed with a switchblade and as he tries to creep up on him, Malone suddenly turns around carrying a sawn-off shotgun.  And Malone laughs saying "Isn't that just like a wop?!  Brings a knife to a gunfight!" and Malone starts to chase the thug out of his apartment and he shouts "Get out of here, ya dago bastard!  Go on!  Get your ass out of here!" only for him stop at his door and see Nitti from a distance with a Tommy gun, who opens fire on him....

Robert De Niro here also does a fine job as Al Capone and for the role he put on 30 pounds in weight (half the weight he put on for "Raging Bull") although he still does have some hammy moments in the film himself, however overall when it comes to play a sinister gangster, few do it better than De Niro.

And De Niro has quite a few good scenes in the film, too that include the film's opening scene where Capone is about to be shaved and some newspaper reporters stand over him asking some questions.  And one of the reporters asks Capone "And what do you say to those about your reputation is that you control your business through violence.  That those that don't purchase your products are dealt with violently".  And as the barber is about to shave Capone, Capone flinches a little at the question, which accidentally causes the barber to cut his chin but Capone puts him at ease and says "Its alright" and Capone says to the reporter "I grew up in a tough neighbourhood. We used to say, "You can get further with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word."  And in that neighbourhood it might've been true.  And sometimes your reputation follows you.  There is violence in Chicago of course, but not by me and not by anybody I employ.  And I'll tell why, because it's not good business".

And to paradoxically show Capone's real nature there is the scene where Capone, not long after Ness's first successful raid on the gangster's liquor warehouse, Capone addresses his men at a dinner party.  And in the scene Capone addresses his men and says to them that his main passion in life is baseball and he sets up a scenario about the importance of teamwork while walking around holding a baseball bat.  And Capone says to the men of the imaginary baseball player "If his team don't field... what is he? You follow me? No one. Sunny day, the stands are full of fans. What does he have to say? "I'm goin' out there for myself!".  But... I get nowhere unless the team wins!".  And Capone stands behind the warehouse manager who was raided and proceeds to beat him to death with the baseball bat.  

Then we have the scene where Capone learns that Ness and his men seized control of his international shipment at the Canadian border, which enrages him further.  And Capone furiously addresses his men, shouting "I want you to get this fuck where he breathes! I want you to find this nancy boy Eliot Ness, I want him DEAD! I want his family DEAD! I want his house burned to the GROUND! I wanna go there in the middle of the night and I wanna PISS ON HIS ASHES!".

Then there is the scene where Ness confronts Capone at his luxurious hotel (Capone's that is!) and in the scene Capone taunts Ness angrily and he says to him "You fuck, you got nothing!  You're nothing but a lot of talk and a badge!  You ain't got nothing in court, you ain't got the bookkeeper!  And if you were a man, you would a done it by now!  But you ain't got a thing!  Young punk!".  

And last of all is the scene where Capone attends an opera and the press surround him and ask about the court case against him and he turns to address them. 

So, Capone tells them "I'm gonna tell you something. Somebody messes with me, I'm gonna mess with him. Somebody steals from me, I'm gonna say you stole. Not talk to him for spitting on the sidewalk. Understand? Now, I have done nothing to harm these people but they are angered with me, so what do they do, doctor up some income tax, for which they have no case. To speak to me like me, no, to harass a peaceful man. I pray to god if I ever had a grievance I'd have a little more self respect". And Capone makes to leave but then he turns back and says to the press  "And I'll tell you one more thing, you have an all out prize fight, you wait until the fight is over, one guy is left standing. And THAT'S how you know who won!". 

 

Andy Garcia next up is also very good as the young rookie cop, George Stone (aka Giuseppe Petri) who helps Ness in their attempts to take down Capone.  

Garcia's performance doesn't quite stand out as much as the others in terms of his scenes, so he kind of takes a bit of a back seat when it comes to alot of dialogue.  Although his most notable scenes are his first when Stone meets with Ness and Malone at the firing range.  And in the scene Malone taunts Stone by saying to him "I said you're a lying member of a no-good race!" and Stone knocks Malone's clipboard out his hands and pulls a gun on him and says "Its much better than you, you stinking Irish shit pig!".  However, Malone is impressed by Stone's grit and he says to him "You just joined the treasury department, son!" and Stone smiles and says "Yeah, ok".  

Another scene is where Stone tells Oscar the plan as they take Capone's official they have worked out a deal with to keep him safe. So, in the scene as the men walk, Stone says to Oscar "The car's in the yard. When ya get him there, don't answer the phone. We'll call, let it ring..." and Oscar says "...twice!" and Stone says "We'll call..." and Oscar finishes "...from the corner" and Stone says "Anyone comes to the door..." and Oscar says "...come out shooting!" and Stone asks "You got it?" and Oscar says "I got it!". And Stone grins and says "You enjoy the tactical aspects of law enforcement, Oscar?" and Oscar says "Oh yeah, more diverting then accounting!". And the Capone official, George says "I've been good to you, you gotta good to me" and Stone says "Look, we've made a deal and we're gonna stick to it, OK?".

 

Then there is the scene where after Oscar has been killed by Nitti, Ness and they are stunned by the loss and Ness is on the phone to the DA who is dropping the case and after Stone says to Ness they have what they need to get Capone. So, he says to Ness "Mr Ness, we got a ledger here listing payments to Chicago City officials. We got Al Capone, Frank Nitti..." but Ness says "I think that's enough for today" and Stone continues "If we don't stay on top of it..." and Ness says "That'll do. Thank you" and Stone says "Well, I'd like to request to stick around" and Stone walks off and says "We gotta bust these guys" and Ness says "I know we gotta".

And lastly there is the scene near the end where Stone walks into Ness's office after Capone's trial is over and Stone says to Ness "I want to thank you for this" i.e. his opportunity and Ness says "No, thank you".  And as Ness takes out Malone's callbox key and pendant of St Jude, Stone says to Ness "Ah, Mr Ness, I think he would have wanted you to have this" and Ness says to him "No, he would have wanted a cop to have it" and he gives the pendant to Stone and shakes his hand and Ness walks out.

Charles Martin Smith also does very well in his role as the FBI accountant, Oscar Wallace, who is part of Ness's "Untouchables" team and he provides a bit of humour to the film with Wallace being so nerdily obssessed with his task to try and get Capone for income tax evasion.

And Smith's good scenes include the one where Oscar introduces himself to Ness and tells him he has an idea to get Capone and he shows Ness a statement and says to him of Capone "He has not filed a return since 1926!" and Ness blankly says "A return" and Oscar says "An income tax return!".  And Ness looks at Oscar and says "What do you do at the bureau, Mr Wallace?" and Oscar says "Oh, I'm an accountant!" and Ness starts to laugh and says "Would you excuse me for a second?".  

Then there is the scene where Ness and the others fly in a plane to the Canadian border and Oscar suggests to Ness that they should try and prosecute Capone for income tax evasion.  And Oscar says to Ness "You know he's making over 3 million dollars a year?.  But he's paid no taxes, nothing's in his name. If we can establish any payments to him, we can prosecute him for income tax evasion".  And Ness, who is sleepy says "What?" and Oscar shows Ness Capone's accounts book and he says "I said we can prosecute him for income tax evasion!".  And Ness looks at the book and says "Try a murderer for not paying his taxes?" and Oscar says "Well its better than nothing!" and Ness asks "Alright, how do we link him to the money?" and Oscar says "I don't know" and Ness gives him back the book and says "Go to sleep, Oscar!".  

 

And last of all is the scene where Stone tells Oscar the plan as they take Capone's official they have worked out a deal with to keep him safe. So, in the scene as the men walk, Stone says to Oscar "The car's in the yard. When ya get him there, don't answer the phone. We'll call, let it ring..." and Oscar says "...twice!" and Stone says "We'll call..." and Oscar finishes "...from the corner" and Stone says "Anyone comes to the door..." and Oscar says "...come out shooting!" and Stone asks "You got it?" and Oscar says "I got it!". And Stone grins and says "You enjoy the tactical aspects of law enforcement, Oscar?" and Oscar says "Oh yeah, more diverting then accounting!". And as the lift arrives, it opens and an attractive women smiles at Oscar and steps out and Oscar looks after her and says "Oh yes, far more diverting than accounting!".

Billy Drago is also pretty good as Frank Nitti, Capone's second in command, who is not afraid to get his hands dirty and do Capone's dirty work as he targets Ness's men.  Drago also plays the very sinisterly too even if his depiction of Nitti isn't factually accurate (but then few Hollywood films are!).

And Drago's two main good scenes are firstly the one where Nitti parks outside Ness's house and issues him a friendly warning of sorts.  And Nitti says to Ness "Nice house, I said nice house!  You live there?!" and Ness stops and smiles and says "Yes" and Nitti who notices Ness carrying a present asks him "Little girl having a birthday, huh?".  And Ness suddenly becomes suspicious and Nitti says "Nice to have a family" and Ness says "Yes, it is" and Nitti suddenly becomes more sinister and says to him "A man should take care, make sure nothing happens to them!" and he drives off quickly.

And lastly there is the scene where Ness chases Nitti across the rooftops of the courthouse and Ness finally arrests Nitti but just before that Ness sees Nitti dangling on a rope as he tries to break through a window below and Ness is about to shoot him but stops himself and Nitti then looks up and grins as he sees Ness.  So Nitti says to Ness "Well here I am, treasure man, come on, arrest me!  What are you waiting for?!  Don't just stand there, arrest me!" and he holds out his hand, which Ness grabs who warns him "Don't push me!".  And as Ness removes Nitti's jacket and gun he tells him "I'm gonna come see you burn, you son of a bitch, because you killed my friend!" and Nitti says "He died like a pig".  And Ness says to Nitti "What did you say???" and Nitti taunts him "I said your friend died screaming like a stuck Irish pig.  Now you think about that when I beat the rap!". And after this of course, Ness pushes Nitti off the roof to his death below.

Richard Bradford is very good as the corrupt police chief, Mike Dorsett, who secretly slips info to Malone about Capone's shipments.

And Bradford's most notable scene is when Malone confronts Mike over the whereabouts of Capone's book kepper, Payne.  And in the scene the two men run into a back alley while it rains heavily and Mike says "Where are we goin' for a swim?!  Get out of the rain, you fool!" and Mike angrily asks Malone "What?!  What?!".  And Malone says "I need just on more piece of information" and Mike says "One more?!  I just risked my life for ya!" and Malone says "I need to find that bookkeeper" and Mike says "You're crazy!  I warned you to get out of town, if they find out it was me I'm dead!".  However Malone continues to press Mike "I need to find that book keeper!" and Mike angrily shouts "Your fuckin nuts, man!  Your fuckin out of your mind! And I tried to save your life". 

And as they continue to Malone angrily says to Mike "I need to know where this guy is and I need to now, or I'll rat you out for all the shit I know you'd one in your life!  I'm gonna turn you over!" and Mike stares at him and says "This is dead man talkin to me" and Malone says "Is it?!" and Mike says "You're dead" and tries to walk away but they start fighting.  And Mike appears to gain the upper hand and shouts "Who the hell do you think your are?!  I'll have your ass hangin from the flagpole in the mornin!". 

And last of all Patricia Clarkson does well as Ness's wife, Catherine, who's role in the film is rather small but she still does well with what she is given.  And I will mention two of her scenes with the first where Ness reads the paper about the bar being blown up at the start.  And Catherine says to Ness of the bombing "Yes, I heard it on the radio, but now its time to go to work" and Ness get's up and straightens Ness's shirt and his puts her hand through his hair "You'll make a good first impression" and they hug and she says "I love you, Eliot" and then she smiles and pushes him away and says "Now shoo!".  

And the second scene is where not long after Ness scores his first big raid on Capone as he seizes the shipment at the Canadian border, Ness after visits Catherine in the hospital as he looks at their newborn baby. 

So, in the scene Ness with joy looks at his baby son and says "This guy, he's so serious" and Catherine says "Well, he should be as he's got a lot on his mind" and Ness asks "He does? Like what?" and Catherine "Like what is his first name" and Ness says "Well, John, I thought we agreed John" and Catherine says "And I guess his second name will be long!". And Ness smiles and says "No, it will be Edgar. It will be John Edgar!" and Catherine laughs and says "I don't think so!". Catherine then asks Ness "Are you being careful?" and Ness smiles and says "Careful as mice" and Catherine asks "Are you making progress?" and Ness smiles again and says "Progress? Mrs Ness, I think your husband just became the man who got Al Capone!" and they kiss.

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Finally moving onto the direction, Brian De Palma does a great job here with the film as he is an expert at cranking up the suspense during the film's tense action scenes especially in the scenes where Ness and his men raid Capone's men at the Canadian border, Malone's demise, the train station shootout and finally Ness's cat and mouse chase of Nitti. 

De Palma also proves his skills again when it comes to creating interesting and eye-catching visual compositions in the scenes, particularly the opening scene where we see an overhead shot of Capone sitting in a barber's chair surrounded by reporters and his men. He's also great at framing actors such as in the scene where Ness and Malone meet in a church and Malone is one the left side of the frame and Ness is on the right and makes great use of the anomorphic format. So, its a great effort from De Palma overall and the film's pacing is tight throughout also.    

As for the film's score by the legendary Ennio Morricone, its simply terrific and its main theme is very memorable and the score also has plenty of other highlights that include the Ness's raid at the Canadian border, the gunfight at the train station and also Ness's pursuit of Nitti over the courthouse rooftops.  And for me it easily stands out as one of Morricone's very best scores overall although he would go on to provide a similar score in the Clint Eastwood thriller, In the Line of Fire but for me this score is far better.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for flaws....yeah OK as good as The Untouchables might be it still does have a few. 

And to start off it has to be said like quite a few Hollywood films, it heavily fictionalises the real life events behind Ness and Capone.  And in the film it depicts Ness as almost single handedly bringing down Capone and successfully prosecuting him for income tax evasion.  However in reality Ness had very little to do with Capone's actual prosecution in court as he had various grand jury cases before he was imprisoned. Ness is also depicted as being happily married to his wife but in reality his marriage was fraught with tension and difficulties as he himself struggled with alcoholic issues in his later years and would go on to die from a heart attack in 1957 at the age of 55.

Another historical inaccuracy is the depiction of Frank Nitti in the film as Nitti is portrayed as more of an enforcer or a middle management figure like a capo, when in fact he was in actually Capone's second in command (or technically speaking an under boss) and he headed the strong-arm and muscle operations, so while its possible he might have performed the odd hit, it seems unlikely he would have done it himself.  Also Nitti in the film is killed by Ness, which is again fictional as in reality, Nitti died years later, after he took over control of Capone's organisation, he later took his own life in 1943 in order to avoid prison.  In fact Nitti was portrayed more accurately in the crime film, Road to Perdition, 15 years later, by Stanely Tucci as a head business man and 2nd in command, rather than a heavy.

In reality Ness also had a larger team of men with him, and not just four men, as in reality he had a team of 50 men which was eventually reduced to 11, and it seems very unlikely four men alone could bring down Capone's whole organisation! So, again this is a prime example of taking liberties with the truth but then it would have been more hectic to have 50 guys on the screen to deal with than 4 I guess.

As for the film itself flaw wise I felt at times David Mamet's script somewhat overly simplified the events of the film, as he makes things happen rather quickly and simply.  As an example in the scene where Malone takes Ness on their first liquor raid, they do it out of the blue, almost on a whim, rather than plan it out or make a choice, and Malone coveniently catches Oscar walking into the room, where he promptly hands him a gun, and before we know it, they go on the raid! To be fair though, the point of the scene was as Malone said, they know the location of Capone's liquor manufacturing, just no one will cross him. However its funny how Malone says to Ness "Everybody knows where the booze is!" well except Ness himself! 

Actually I have to correct an error I made in my original post where particularly at the end where Capone's defence lawyer decides to instantly change his plea from not guilty to guilty, simply because Capone shoves him.  This is NOT the case at all (and apologies for that!) because in the film as the judge decides to switch the juries due to the jurors being bribed by Capone and I'd assume since they would switch juries, the other jurors would not be bribed and would therefore probably not bring in a "not guilty" verdict, so Capone's lawyer recommended that he plead guilty. 

However there is an additional error here in the film because apparently a defense lawyer cannot have the power to directly overturn the defendant's verdict as he would need to really have his client's consent before doing so.  So again Capone's lawyer makes a rather rash decision without even consulting with Capone in the first place! 

I also felt throughout the film that Oscar kept making his case that they could prosecute Capone for income tax evasion, yet Ness seems to ignore this until later, and its almost like Mamet is trying to remind us of this and throw it in our faces as to how they eventually prosecuted Capone!  Yes I think we get it, David!

Another daft scene in the film for me comes when Ness during his raid at the Canadian border shoots one of Capone's thugs, who doesn't speak English but Ness afterward shouts at the dead man "What are you deaf?!  Didn't you hear what I said?!  What is this??!! A game???!!".  However Ness has just shot the guy dead so surely he must realise the man could not hear him since he's now deceased!  Its a moment in the film that always kind of bugged me.

And last of all I found it strange how Nitti murdered three people during Ness's chase of him yet none of this really gets back to Capone in the courtroom and the court is not adjourned or anything either!  I mean his right-hand man has just killed three people but nothing is really made of it given that Capone is in direct control of this man, yet he has just ran amok shooting people!  Although Ness probably was keeping it quiet during the court proceedings anyway.  I also found it quite convenient how Nitti was able to land neatly into a diagonally parked car as he fell to his death but that's another thing!   

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up The Untouchables is still a highly enjoyable, suspenseful and engrossing thriller, and after 35 years is still as entertaining as it was on its release with some very solid performances from its cast and great action scenes from De Palma as well as a terrific score by Ennio Morricone. And despite the film's various historical inaccuracies, they don't detract from the film's qualities and its still an excellent thriller worth a look.

And I will rate The Untouchables:

9 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back probably next month if not before then with another post.

Till then, bye for now!

The Negotiator "I am NOT going to jail today!!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, figured I would get another post in just now while I am on some kind of a roll for the first in a while lol. So, this post is another revisit of one of my older ones, which is of the police crime thriller, The Negotiator starring Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey. 

So, after almost 25 years, how does The Negotiator stand up??? Well let's find out!

So, the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!

STORY 

So, the film is set in Chicago and starts with top hostage negotiator, Danny Roman (Jackson) who manages to defuse a hostage crises at the start of the film involving a man who holds his daughter hostage.  

Later on Danny at a party for one of the fellow officers, meets with his partner, Nathan Roenick (Paul Guilfoyle) who warns that large amounts of money have been taken from the department's disability fund.  Danny is also a member of the board to do with the fund and Nate warns him that other members may be involved too and that he has an informant but he keeps quiet about who it is.  Danny agrees to meet Nate later on, but when he does he finds Nate has been murdered and the police arrive quickly afterwards.  

And from here things go from bad to worse for Danny as Internal affairs take over the investigation of the murder, which is lead by Inspector Niebaum (J.T. Walsh).  Niebaum's investigations soon uncover that Nate was murdered by a gun recovered from a case that Danny had previously worked on, also as they search Danny's house they find evidence of an offshore account, which has amount of money that matches an amount embezzled from the fund.  After this comes to light, most of Danny's fellow officers refuse to believe his innocence and his police chief, Al Travis (John Spencer) asks for Danny's gun and badge.

Danny is soon faced with serious charges, which leaves him little choice but to go and question Niebaum at his office about the fund and the possibility of his being set up.  Niebaum however refuses to listen and as Danny is about to be turfed out the office, Danny takes Niebaum hostage along with his admin assistant, Maggie (Siobhan Fallon), police commander Grant Frost (Ron Rifkin) and a con-man Ruddy Timmons (Paul Giamatti).  

The building is soon put into lockdown with the police (which includes his own police unit) and the FBI securing the area.  Danny then contacts the police to inform them of his conditions, which include finding Nate's informant and to summon another top hostage negotiator, Chris Sabian (Spacey).  Danny requests Sabian as he is outside the whole matter and is also known to negotiate as long as possible without using force.  As Sabian arrives on the scene a long night lies ahead for everyone as Danny tries to get to the bottom of who set up him and do what he can to try and clear his name before his own people try to take him out....

THOUGHTS 

The Negotiator to this day is a still a very effective albeit far fetched thriller and it features a fine cast as well as two great performances from the leads.  And while it isn't the most probable of story lines the fact it is so well paced and put together is what helps The Negotiator be an engrossing film.  The hostage setting also allows for the action set pieces to be effectively set in the one place and it almost has the feel of a Die Hard film (except with the cop being the terrorist, well sort of!) especially there is a slightly claustrophobic feel given that everything is centered around Niebaum's office.  The story itself was said to be partly based on the pension fund scam that took place in the early 90's at St Louis Police Department.  Although for me the pension fund scam is the least most interesting aspect of the film and its action and set pieces are what really make the film work in the end.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain strong language and spoilers!)   

So, moving onto the performances everything is top notch as the film has a great cast.

And to start off with Samuel L. Jackson, who is terrific in his role as Danny Roman, a top negotiator who is framed for a murder he did not commit and he ends up having to take drastic measures to try and clear his name.  

Jackson has quite a few highlights in the film such as the scene at the start where Danny neutralizes a hostage crisis as a man, Omar holds his daughter at gun point and Danny gains the man's trust enough to let him into the apartment, so Danny can signal his team to take the man out the picture.

So, in the scene Danny tells a joke to Omar about marines and he says "Omar... A Marine and a sailor are taking a piss... The Marine goes to leave without washing up... The sailor says, "In the Navy... they teach us to wash our hands... The Marines turn to him and says... and Omar joins in "In the marines they teach us not to piss on our hands!". Danny then signals the police snipers out the window to take the shot and they shoot Omar in the shoulder and allows Danny to grab the shotgun and hold Omar at gunpoint as his team enter.

Another scene is where Danny talks to his wife, Danny tells her he promises he won't pull anymore crazy stuff as a negotiator and he says to her as he takes her hand "Listen listen. Danny Roman is a married man now. No more crazy shit. You see this?  That is the bus.  You see the bus?  That's crazy on the bus!".    

Then there is the scene where Danny confronts Niebaum in his office and says to him "A man has the right to face his accusers, doesn't he, Inspector? We need to talk" and Niebaum sighs and says "Alright talk" and Danny asks "I need to know what's going on?" and Niebaum scoffs and says "You killed your partner and you are about to be formally indicted for it". Danny insistent says to Niebaum "You haven't answered my question! Nate told me you were involved and I wanna know how. Look me in the eye and tell me you weren't involved. LOOK ME IN THE EYE, GODDAMN IT!!". Niebaum growing tired of Danny says "Look you in the eye for what?! Look tell it to the judge! We're done! Get him out of here!". And Danny struggles with one of Niebaum's men and grabs the gun from him and points it at Niebaum and says "You don't feel like talking?! Well, we're gonna stay here until you do! Because I am NOT going to jail today!".

Another good scene is where Danny questions Niebaum once he has taken him hostage and he can tell instantly that Niebaum is lying.  And in the scene Danny says "I know you're lying cos I'm reading your eyes.  A quick lesson in lying, see this is what us real cops do!  And neurophysiology tells us if your eyes go up to the left then your accessing the visual cortex, which means you are telling the truth.  So if your eyes go up and right then you are accessing the brain's creative centers and we know you're full of shit!".

Another good scene is where Danny talks to one of his own unit's members, Farley, who becomes nervous when he tries to talk Danny down, he toys with Farley and asks him "Now did you ever dress up as a little school girl and get your ass spanked??!".  And as he threatens to kill someone if Farley says no again, he teases him and asks "You know any jokes, Farley?" and Farley without thinking says "No..." and Danny yells "NO?! You just cost someone their life, Farley!  Game over!" and he fires his gun and then shouts into his radio "You can't talk me down!  You can't make me change the deadline.  NOW GET ME SABIAN!!!".  

Then there is the scene where Danny first meets with Sabian and Sabian asks him "Now what am I doing here?" and Danny says "Before Nate was killed, he told me the men involved are from my precinct. Guys I know. Guys I might call friends". Sabian then asks "And?" and Danny says "And you're not. When your friends betray you, sometimes the only people you can trust are strangers".

Then there is the scene where Sabian returns to Danny after his own team go over Sabian's head and try and take him out but fail, so Sabian confronts him.

And in the scene Danny tries to make Sabian see reason as to what happened "The rules of engagement state "Don't breach if the hostage-taker is willing to kill in retaliation." I think I've proved I'm willing to do that. Things are not what they seem, Chris. You saw what they did. They didn't tell you they were coming in because they want me dead". Sabian warns Danny "One more gun goes off and I give the order to move in myself, you understand?" and Danny requests "I need you to turn the electricity back on, so I can turn on the computer and look at Niebaum's files. I also want food and blankets for the hostages" and Sabian bargains and says "I need a hostage, nothing less" and Danny relents and as he stands behind Frost he tells Sabian "Take Frost".  

WARNING: BIG SPOILER COMING UP!!!

And then there is the scene where the FBI decide to take over the situation from the police and Sabian makes a last ditch attempt to get Danny to surrender as he goes in to see him. And in the scene, Sabian says to Danny "Beck says yoυ fired first and Νiebaυm was an accident" and Danny tells him "Νiebaυm Was no accident. Ηe was assassinated. Ηe's got three bullets, center mass. Look" and Sabian looks at the chair with the bullet holes on it and Danny says "Come on, Chris. Yoυ gotta admit something's going on". Sabian however says "It doesn't matter. Two cops are dead and yoυ killed one. I need to get you and these hostages out of here before they come in". 

Danny then walks away and Sabian follows him and says "Let's end this, Danny!" and he grabs Danny, who turns around and pins Sabian to the wall and then pushes him into a room to show the cop that Danny allegedly killed is still alive and taped and gagged. Danny then tells Sabian "Now they had to believe I was capable of that! There's only one dead copy up, killed by the men who tried to set me up! Now, you were wrong about me but what if I'm right about them??".  

And last of all is the scene where the corrupt police officers follow Danny and Sabian to Niebaum's house where Danny searches Niebaum's computer for the files that would incriminate him and as they enter, Danny taunts them. So, Danny says "Ηow could yoυ dυmb fucks let somebody get you on tape?!" and one of the cops, Hellman grows impatient with Danny and says "Come on. Listen to you. Why don't yoυ stop this shit and come out?!" and Danny taunts him more and says "All right, keep talking' asshole. Yoυ've already done everything wrong. Yoυ left me alive, me against you, and I Won!".

Kevin Spacey even though he has since become a disgraced actor due to the sexual harassment cases made against him, he is still excellent here as Chris Sabian, the hostage negotiator who is called on by Danny, who tries to diffuse the situation.  And Spacey's best scenes come with his one on one encounters with Jackson or when they talk on the radio. 

And Spacey's notable scenes include his first one, which is quite amusing as Sabian tries to talk his wife out of the bathroom who takes offense at a remark her daughter said, and Sabian sighs saying "You know I once talked a man out of blowing up the Sears tower but I can't talk my wife out of the bedroom or get my kid off the phone!". And his wife from the bathroom says "That's because there's no one standing behind you with a big gun!" and Sabian says to himself "Well, that's debatable!".  

And Spacey's first scene as they talk to each other on the radios sets the tone of their relationship very well, when they talk about Shane and how Sabian reads histories and biographies and Danny says "Well you shouldn't believe everything you read in books" and Sabian replies "Well I don't just read one book on a subject.  I try to read different books to get the facts and decide for myself what happened" and Danny quite impressed says "Yeah all the books, yeah that's good. You're much better at this than Farley you know?".   

And Spacey shares another good scene with Jackson after the police attempt to make their first assault and fail, and he says to Danny "Oh I'm sorry did you want something?!  Do you think killing a man gives you the power to negotiate with me?  That it will give you time?  Don't you fuckin count on it!  Right now I'm the only thing between you and a whole army just itching to walk in here and take you out!  So you tell me something, Danny.  Why should I get in their way?!  Make me believe why I should deal with you ever again??!". 

Another good scene is where the FBI take over the situation to the protest of Sabian who tries to reason with them as the senior agent says they are going to go in full breach. So, Sabian warns them "Don't do it. Listen. Yoυ breach, everyone's gonna die! Understand that? Everyone's gonna die! Maybe that's what some of you wanna have happen, bυt I don't! I was brought here to save this man's life and bring him out' all right? There's no reason to jeopardize hostages!" but Beck, who's heard enough shouts "Shut the fuck up!!". But the agent simply says to Sabian "You're off, Sabian" and Sabian looks at him and the other officers "I can't believe this. I'm just surroυnded by people who wanna go in and kill him. This is the guy yoυ called your friend! I got nothing invested in this! I wonder why that is! Maybe someday we'll find oυt".   

WARNING: BIG SPOILER COMING UP!!!

And last of all is the scene where the corrupt cops turn up at Niebaum's house and Danny taunts them and after that, Frost appears on the scene and its revealed he is the mastermind behind the setup who wards off the cops and sends them outside. And in the scene Sabian bluffs Frost into believing he wants in on the disability fund scam. 

So, in the scene Sabian says to Frost "Do you like westerns, Frost? I can't get enough of them. My favourites have always been the ones where the hero dies at the end. You remember Shane, Danny?" and Danny puzzled asks "What?" and Sabian says "I think you're right, Danny. Shane dies at the end" and he suddenly shoots Danny in his side, who falls down and he says to Frost "So you killed Nathan and I killed Danny. Only I hold the evidence, so I think I'm in a pretty good position to negotiate". So, as Frost admits to setting up Danny and spending most of his take from the fund, Sabian negotiates to taking 35% of the funds he doesn't have and he says to Frost "You should have been a negotiator" and hands over the floppy disks allegedly containing the incriminating files and Frost crushes them and shoots Niebaum's computer before leaving. 

The supporting cast are also great which includes J.T. Walsh who gives a rather sinister performance as the Internal affairs investigator, Niebaum, who Danny captures and questions during the seige.  This was one of J.T. Walsh's last performances of his career as he sadly passed away in 1998, the year of the film's release.  

And J.T. has a couple of notable scenes that include the one where Danny questions Niebaum over his investigation into the disability fund scam. So, Danny asks Niebaum "When did you first find out Nate was investigating the fund?" and Niebaum takes a moment and says "I first found out that Nate was investigating the fund after I spoke to you after he was killed" and Danny smiles and says "You're lying and I KNOW you're lying". And Niebaum smiles and says "Oh, you know it, huh? You can read my mind, is that it, Roman?" and Danny shakes his head and says "No, I'm reading your eyes. The eyes cannot lie". 

So, Danny asks Niebaum again "Now let's try this again. What's favourite TV show?" and Niebaum warily says "I'm not gonna play your stupid fucking game, Roman" and Danny teases him and says "Why not, Niebaum? Are you afraid we'll catch you in a lie?". So, Danny asks him again "When did you find out Nate was investigating the fund?" and Niebaum quickly says "After I spoke with you" and Rudy, who is also handcuffed and captive in the room says "Now that was a fuckin lie if I ever saw one!" and Niebaum angrily says "Fuck you! I never blinked once your fuckin pig!". Danny then asks Niebaum "One last question. Do you know who killed Nate?" and Niebaum eyes dart up and down and he leans forward and says firmly to Danny "You!".

And last of all is the scene where Danny interrogates Niebaum again and asks him "Who killed Nate? They killed Nate, Niebaum! Don't you think they'll kill you too?!" and Niebaum says nothing and Danny snaps and shouts "FUCK IT!" and he opens the door to a room next door where the window is blown out a police chopper circles outside. And Danny drags Niebaum's chair toward the room as Niebaum shouts "What the fuck are you doing?!! I know nothing! Don't put me in that room!".

However as Danny continues to drag Niebaum into the room, Niebaum finally relents and shouts "OK! OK! Just don't put me in that room! Νate came to me With taps. I went to the guys who were implicated in the taps. They offered me money to lose the evidence. I did it. Okay? It was a one-time deal! They offered the same thing to Nate. They killed him". Danny then asks "Who's on the taps?!" and Niebaum says nothing and Danny yells "WHO'S ON THE FUCKIN TAPS??!!" and Niebaum shouts "ALL YOUR FRIENDS! Argento, Hellman" and Niebaum says "That's bullshit!" and Niebaum insists "I have proof! I have taps talking about how they took money out of the fund". Danny then asks "Where are those taps?! Are they on the computer?" and Niebaum says "No! I have them somewhere safe!". 

Paul Giamatti is also really good in his role as Rudy Timmons, a former con-man who is one of Danny's hostages.  

Giamatti also gets some good dialogue in the film such as the scene where after he has been taken hostage, he sits on the floor, handcuffed and Danny recognises him and says "You're Rudy Timmons. You're a rat for the rat squad. I arrested you for credit card fraud back in 92. Don't you remember?". And Rudy smiles and says "Oh, yeah I remember you. Hey man! The last time I saw you, you were a clean cut boy in blue. What happened to you, man?" and Danny says "Well. that's what we're here to find out, Rudy".

And then there is the scene where Rudy becomes angry and impatient at being held captive and he says  "This nothing to with me and Maggie. So you gotta let us go. Once you familiarize yourself with the chains of bondage you prepare your own limbs to wear them.  Abraham Lincoln said that and I believe him.  So you have gotta get me the fuck out! NOW!!". And Niebaum tells Rudy "Just keep calm and quiet, we can handle this" and Rudy angrily says to him "Don't tell me to be quiet and don't tell me you can handle this because none of you have been in a situation like this before!" and Niebaum says "Just shut the fuck up" and Rudy angrily shouts "Fuck you!!".  

 And also later on when Danny tells them that they have apparently found Nate's informant, Ruddy yells in relief and says to Niebaum "Yes! Congratulations Maggie. You are free to go! Inspector, fuck you very much! Thank you! Thank you! Let my people go!!" and he shakes his handcuff and says" Come on, man give it up!".  

And last of all is the scene where after the breach is over and the hostages released, Beck questions Rudy who refuses to talk over what he knows. Rudy tells the cops "I know what the fuck was going on. Alot of shit happened out here" and Al, the police commander says to him "You must know something" and Rudy remains stubborn and says "Yoυ know something? I would really like to help' bυt my lips are sealed. Frankly, I don't trust any of you fucking guys and I'm very disappointed in all of yoυ!".   

Ron Rifkin is also very good in his role as Commander Frost, who Danny takes hostage and Danny asks him what he thinks and Frost says . So Frost says to Danny "Dan, what do you think you can do? Take a look at that screen. They think yoυ're a killer, Danny. They're gonna try to take you out.
What do yoυ think Sabian can do? Ηe can't do anything to stop this". And Danny asks Frost "What about you, Frost? Do you think I killed Nate?" and Frost after a pause says "I don't know what to think, Danny.  But I'll tell you this, Danny boy.  What you're doing isn't helping".

And last of all is the scene near the end where Frost reveals himself to be the ring leader behind the fund scam as he enters Niebaum's house and orders off the corrupt cops there. 

So, in the scene Frost arrives and tells the corrupt officers "Stand down! Put your weapons down and move you asses out of here!". And Danny surprised says "Frost?!" and Frost says "Yeah. Danny' it's me, Frost. Yeah, Danny, I'm ordering them off. I'm locking them oυt now. It's just yoυ and me' buddy.
Listen, Danny, I know you're scared. I know you don't trust anyone. A lot of shit Went down. I don't even understand some of it myself. Come on oυt, Danny. Yoυ have my sυpport". 

And as Frost moves into the house, Sabian who has been watching him enter the house using a broken piece of glass from a mirror suddenly appears and holds Danny at gunpoint and bluffs Frost into believing he wants in on the scam. So, after Sabian shoots Danny, he says to him "I want in. I want 60 percent of everything you've taken" and Frost says "I can't give you what I don't have. Yoυ see, I spent a lot of my take. I don't know how mυch Allen' Ηellman and Argento have. We used a lot of it to set Roman υp". So the two men negotiate down as they both agree on 35% of the take and Sabian says to him "You should have been a negotiator" and he hands over the disks, which Frost crushes in his hands and shoots Niebaum's computer before leaving and going outside where a whole squad of cops wait for him. And Frost says to them all "Danny Roman is dead. He's been shot" but then we hear Sabian's voice come over the police radio as he helps Danny up. 
 
David Morse is also good in his role as the gruff and hotheaded Commander Beck, who is in full favour of taking Danny out.  

And he gets some good moments such as when he attempts to make an assault on Danny and he tells one of his sniper men, Palermo to take a shot if he gets Danny in view and one of snipers say he has a shot, but is reluctant to take it and Beck yells "Don't tell me copy!  Just pull the fucking trigger!". However the sniper says "Sir, I cannot take that shot!" and Beck angrily tells Palermo "Bring it in, Palermo. You are relieved" and Palmero puts down his rifle and steps away. 

Then there is the scene where Beck raises his concerns to Sabian over how Danny will manipulate the situation as he is one of them, and he says "You don't know this man, lieυtenant! Ηe's manipulating this situation. Look what he did to Palermo. Ηe's gonna fυck With every single fucking one of you....if we give him enoυgh time and he knows yoυ'll do it. Ηe knows how yoυ fucking work!!".

WARNING: BIG SPOILER COMING UP!!

And last of all is the scene near the end where Frost reveals himself as the mastermind of the disability fund theft and Nate's murder and framing Danny for it. And as Frost stands infront of his fellow police officers, having been rumbled, he attempts to take his own life with his gun but Beck quickly shoots him in the shoulder and Frost falls down on the ground. And Beck then approaches Frost and cuffs him on the ground and tells him "You're not getting off that easy!"

And finally John Spencer is also very good in his role as the police chief Al Travis, who is forced to give up Danny as the charges of murder are filed against him.

And there are a couple of scenes worth mentioning for Spencer that include the one where Travis brings Danny into his office to relinquish his gun and badge. 

So, Travis reluctantly says to Danny "Sit down, Danny. Danny' I'm gonna be honest with yoυ. I don't know what to think....but I don't have any choice...υntil this Internal Affairs investigation is complete.
So your gυn and your badge".  Danny insists "Chief you know I'm being set up. Nate told me his informant knows who's involved. You help me find him, this all goes away" but Travis just gives him a look and Danny takes out his gun and badge and puts them down along with a single bullet from his gun. 

And lastly there is the scene where Travis questions Maggie, who is reluctant to talk to the police after Danny has escaped with Sabian. Travis says to a silent Maggie "Yoυ gotta help us out here. I know What you're feeling. I know you sympathize with Danny...but we need to stop him before he does something dangerous. Yoυ don't want anyone else hυrt, do you? Yoυ know something, yoυ don't tell υs' that's obstruction of jυstice! Wanna go to jail?!". So, Maggie finally says "He want Niebaum's house" and Travis asks "Why did he go there? Maggie, why did he go there?" and Maggie remains silent. 

Regina Taylor also does a good job with her smaller role of Karen, Danny's suffering wife who is having to deal with the emotional strain of Danny's hostage situation.

And I will mention a couple of her scenes that include the one where Karen is brought to the police scene to be questioned. So, Sabian introduces himself to her and Karen says "Do you know, Danny?" and Sabian says "No" and Karen tells him "Doesn't it matter to you that he didn't do those things. You have to help him" and Sabian tells her "I have no idea of his innocence. So, if you want to help answer Tonray's questions and we'll get someone to drive you home and Karen insists "No! I'm NOT leaving!". Sabian tells Karen "Mrs Roman, you bring tension and emotion to a scene that already has too much of both" but Karen insists "I am NOT leaving my husband!" and Sabian gives in and says "Fine, just go with Tonray answer his questions and stay in case we need you.". 

And lastly there is the scene where Sabian tries to bluff Danny by pretending he has found Nate's informant only for it to backfire. So, after Sabian has been found out by Danny, Danny's team members express their disgust. And Sabian shouts at them "I don't know who's innocent! That's what I'm trying to find out!" and Karen angrily tells Sabian "Don't bring me in here to be a part of one of your charades again!" and she slaps him in the face and storms out. 

And last of all is Siobhan Fallon as Maggie, Niebaum's office assistant who is held hostage by Danny during the siege. 

And Fallon has some good scenes that include the one where Danny introduces himself to Maggie, whom he has cuffed and he asks "You're Niebaum's secretary right? What's your name?" and Maggie corrects him and says "My name is Maggie and I am his assistant". Danny then says "Well don't be scared. I'm kind of familiar to situations like this" and Maggie irritated tells him "I'm not scared. I've been mυgged twice, once at gunpoint. Guns are not new to me....but I'd rather avoid them if I get the chance".

And lastly there is the scene where Maggie is annoyed when Frost insists that Maggie be let go as she is a woman while she tries to settle down tensions between Niebaum and Rudy. And Maggie says to the men "All right, that's enough. Ηe's gonna hear yoυ oυt there, and he's got the gun' so he's in charge. Both of you just pipe down now!". Frost then says to Danny "Danny, I think you should let Maggie. She's a woman..." and Maggie annoyed interrupts and says "I didn't ask to be let go because I'm a woman. I hate that crap. Me and him should be let go because we had nothing to do with this.
- It's between you cops. - We have nothing to do with this!".

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

As for the director, F Gary Gray (but what does he F stand for???) does an excellent job here as he skillfully builds up the suspense as the film progresses.  And despite the film clocking in at 2 hours and 20 minutes it never really drags and Gray also manages to keep the pacing fairly tight as well as doing a fine job with the film's action scenes. Although he is somewhat guilty of the odd visual cliche such as the slow-mo walking away from an explosion as we see with Danny throwing a flash grenade at bank of computer desks and walking away as it explodes. That aside, he does a solid job.  

The film's music score is also very worthy of note as it was done by New Zealand composer, Graeme Revell and its a very good score which is both suspenseful and dramatic and is perfectly suited to the film's intense tone. Revell also would go on to score plenty of other films such as Pitch Black and Sin City.   

FLAWS (Warning this section may contain spoilers!!)   

So getting onto the flaws...yeah the Negotiator isn't a perfect film, so it does have a few worth mentioning.

For starters, The Negotiator is simply once again having to suspend your disbelief as to how improbable the whole situation is, as while Danny is innocent of murder, he IS guilty of taking hostages and creating a hostage crisis!  Although this is even acknowledged at one point in the film by Sabian who says "There are ways to prove your innocence.  This is hardly one of them".  No kidding!!  And despite Danny having created a hostage situation and his old police buddies went even as far as trying to take him out during the film, after Danny has cleared his name at the end, they are still willing to sweep the whole hostage crisis under the carpet as though it never really happened as far as Danny was concerned!  

And trust is almost immediately re-established between Danny and his fellow police officers, which is pretty silly and far fetched to say the least especially as for e.g. the SWAT commander, Beck, is just itching to kill Danny throughout most of the movie. And yet at the end of the film regarding Roman he's like "We have an officer down here! We need help!". So, yeah its a bizarre shift in tone from all out for killing this guy and next minute saving him.

I also thought the film's ending was a bit lame (PLOT SPOILER AHEAD!!) with the showdown at Niebaum's house and the corrupt cops showing up, as Danny taunts them he in effect gets them to admit their own culpability in the scam.  And Sabian's bluff with Frost at the end is also really daft and I find it totally bizarre that Frost would accept that Sabian has become a turncoat as well but surely you'd think that Frost must know that Sabian is bluffing, as the man is a negotiator after all!  Yet somehow Frost doesn't twig this and he ends up getting caught and arrested by his own men.  

Also there is a misconception in film's that if you shoot a computer that you won't be able to retrieve data off it from the hard drive, which is what Frost does to Niebaum's computer (as well as his office computer) in an effort to destroy any of the wiretaps he was alleged to have on it.  When in the fact I'm sure you could open up the computer and take out the hard drive and put it in another computer and it would probably work. This is where a digital forensics team e.g. would come in and actually use their skills to retrieve whatever data is on there.   

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, The Negotiator remains a very solid and entertaining police thriller, which features some excellent performances from its two leads Samuel L Jackson and Kevin Spacey (even if the guy is a creep in real life!). The film is also well directed by F. Gary Gray and well paced throughout and even though the film's plot is pretty far fetched its still worth checking out.

So I will give The Negotiator:

8 out of 10 

So, that's it for now, see you in the next one! 

   

Predator 2 Review "Welcome to the war!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, so figured its time for another post and this is actually one I thought I had already done but apparently haven't so far on this blog which is of the sci-fi action film, Predator 2. 

And Predator 2 was never that well received on its release and is often seen as inferior to the original but over time it has apparently gained a cult following. So, as far as my opinion goes how does Predator 2 fair against the great Arnie original? Well, let's find out! 

And before I start, here is the usual warning...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!

PLOT 

So, as of late I've been quoting a bit of the plot from Wikipedia to save a bit of time, so I've done the same below:

"In 1997, Los Angeles is suffering from both a heat wave and a turf war between heavily armed Colombian and Jamaican drug cartels. A Predator watches a shootout between the police, Jamaicans, and Colombians, observing as Lieutenant Michael R. Harrigan charges into the firefight to rescue two wounded officers and drive the Colombians back into their hideout.

The Predator assaults the Colombians, causing a disturbance that prompts Harrigan and detectives Leona Cantrell and Danny Archuleta to defy orders and enter the hideout, where they find the slaughtered Colombians. On the roof, Harrigan shoots the crazed gang leader and catches a glimpse of the camouflaged Predator, but dismisses it as a consequence of the extreme heat and his acrophobia. At the station, Harrigan is reprimanded by his superiors for his disobedience and introduced to Special Agent Peter Keyes, leader of a task force investigating the cartels, and Detective Jerry Lambert, the newest member of Harrigan's team.

Later that evening, Jamaicans invade the Colombian drug lord's penthouse and murder him before they are murdered in turn by the Predator. Upon their arrival, Harrigan's team note the similarities between the current crime scene and the earlier Colombian massacre until Keyes' team arrives and removes them. Danny returns to conduct a solo investigation, finding one of the Predator's spear tips before the alien kills him.

And from here an enraged Harrigan swears revenge over who was responsible for Danny's death as he delves deeper into what is going on, he soon finds out enemy is not at all what he thought it would be..."

THOUGHTS

As a sequel to the original, Predator 2 failed to live up to the expectations of the original as it was deemed as loud, noisy, overly violent and of course way over the top in its cheesiness. However over time, Predator 2 has enjoyed a better reception from audiences and is often now considered one of the most underrated sci-fi action films of its time and quite frankly I couldn't agree more as Predator 2 despite any of its faults, is a lot of fun and has a lot going for it. 

The film for starters had taken the concepts of the Predator being a hunter and expanded on them in interesting ways such as giving it a slightly more moral center as it doesn't kill children or indeed pregnant women (more on that later!).  However, let's not mistake that the Predator is still a ruthless killing machine in this film and fair racks up the body count (26 in total, which I actually thought it would be more!). 

WARNING: PLOT SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!

But this film really did build on the ideas of the first film and it also cleverly shows how the Predator can adapt to its surroundings particularly where Keyes has him trapped in a meat factory covered in UV light that blocks his sight but the Predator changes his vision to adapt it, so he can take out Keyes men. It also shows the Predator being able to improvise when it comes to cauterizing his wounds later on in the film too. So, the film is definitely not short on presenting new ideas for the Predator's development as a creature. 

PERFORMANCES (Warning: this section contains strong language and spoilers!)

As for the performances, the cast are all mainly very good and do a fine job with their roles.

Starting with Danny Glover, who is excellent in his role as Harrigan, a feisty LA cop, who becomes hellbent on finding the Predator especially as it claims so many victims that include even some of his own team. 

And Glover has quite a few noteworthy scenes such as the one where Harrigan gives his pep speech to Jerry on his first day. So, Harrigan says to Jerry "No one requests to come down here unless they're looking for a reputation. And there's no room for showboats or anyone looking to prove himself. Now, I won't stand for it. Now don't get me wrong, we need good cops down here and they say you're good at what you do. But the team comes first. You live by that and you'll be okay, and we'll all be there for you. Remember, the door swings both ways. That's it". And just before Jerry leaves the room, Harrigan says to Jerry "Hey kid, welcome to the war!". 

Another good scene is when Harrigan confronts Keyes at the headquarters and he grabs him and pins him against the wall and says angrily "Listen, shithead. I don't give a fuck who you really are or what you want with this asshole... because now it's personal, and he's a dead man!!". Keyes however tries to reason with Harrigan and says "The concept of what you're dealing with here is way over your head. I'm warning you...!". Harrigan then angrily shouts back "You don't know what you're dealing with... and I'm warning you: stay the FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!" and he let's Keyes go and smacks his hands near him in a threatening manner and storms off.

Then there is the scene where Harrigan watches Keyes men fall into the Predator's trap as he changes his view mode to see them to take them out and Harrigan tries to warn Keyes on the headset. So, Harrigan warns Garber "You're boys have been made, Grarber! Pull them out!" and he grabs the headset and says to Keyes "Keyes, he's behind you! Third floor structure. Right there!". Keyes however says "Who, is this? Clear this line!" and Harrigan tries again "He sees the lights! Turn them off! Shit!" and Harrigan then decides to go out and grabs one of Garber's men at gunpoint to open the door to the unit they are in. So, as Harrigan leaves, Garber warns him "You don't know what you are doing! You'll ruin everything!" and Harrigan shouts as he leaves "FUCK YOURSELF!!". 

WARNING: BIG SPOILER COMING UP IN THE NEXT TWO PARAGRAPHS!

And last of all is the climactic fight scene between Harrigan and the Predator where they fight each other on the Predator spaceship and as the Predator appears to have the upper hand as it about to finish off Harrigan, Harrigan stabs him in the chest with the Predator's throwing disc. So, in the scene, Harrigan shouts at the alien "That's right, asshole! SHIT HAPPENS!!". And after the Predator dies from his wounds, he is suddenly surrounded by a group of Predators, leaving Harrigan stunned and asks "OK, who's next?!". 

And lastly after Harrigan escapes the Predator's spaceship (now having turned almost white from ashes he was buried as a result of the alien spaceship taking off!) he is met by one of Keyes men, who angrily tells him "Harrigan! What the fuck happened in there?! Goddamn it! We came so close!" as the police sirens are heard in the background. And as he runs off, Harrigan says to himself "Don't worry, asshole. You'll get another chance!".

Gary Busey is also pretty good in his role as Keyes, the FBI agent who gets in Harrigan's way but at the same time understands better what they are dealing with here in the Predator than Harrigan does. 

And Busey's notable scenes include the one where Keyes men grab Harrigan outside the meat factory where he has followed the Predator and they take him to Keyes, who is inside monitoring the Predator's movements. 

So, in the scene Keyes tells Harrigan "How many times do I have to tell you? You don't know what it is you're dealing with!". Keyes then shows a video screen to Harrigan and says "There's your killer. Wonderful isn't it? Pheromone signatures left by his body. These are scent molecules". Keyes then explains "Ten years ago one of his kind stalked and eliminated an elite special forces crew in central America. There were two survivors. They indicated that when trapped, the creature activated a self-destruct device that destroyed enough rainforest to cover 300 city blocks. Remarkable weaponry. That's right lieutenant. Other-world life-forms". Harrigan looks puzzled and asks "What?" and Keyes spells it out for him "A fucking alien!" and then tells Harrigan "You're the lion and this is his jungle!". 

And last of all is the following scene where Keyes meets his end at the hands of the Predator as he tries to save Harrigan. So, in the scene Keyes blasts the Predator with some liquid nitrogen gas and he springs up and says to the Predator "Guess, who's back?! Too late to go home now!" and he blasts him with the spray and says to Harrigan "Get out of here, Harrigan! I'm gonna save your ass! Its between me and him!". However the Predator then throws his throwing disc, which cuts Keyes literally in half on the floor! 

Bill Paxton next does well enough in his role as Jerry, aka the lone ranger, a cocky young cop, who is new to LA and Harrigan's team but his character is pretty annoying as he keeps trying to chat up every woman in sight and tells some really lame jokes. 

Bill however still has some good scenes such as the one where Jerry meets with Harrigan in a bar having tailed Keyes, he shows him some video footage he captured of Keyes and his men. And in the scene, Harrigan says to him "You done real good, kid. Now tomorrow, start a tail on Keyes. Everything he does, everywhere he goes. Who knows? You might just get lucky". And Jerry says cockily to Harrigan "Luck, Lieutenant is my speciality" and Harrigan looks a bit annoyed at him and says "Yeah, I bet it is". 

Jerry then notices a pretty girl eyeing him up nearby at the bar and he tidies himself and says "Now if you will excuse me, Lt, I have some serious police business to attend to!" and he walks towards the girl and on the way is stopped by Leona, one of Harrigan's team who asks him "Jerry, how are your balls?" and Jerry says "Fine! How are yours?!" and he butts in on the guy the girl is talking to and says "You mind?! This is my sister!" and he puts his arms around her and says "Wait, your not my sister are you?". 

And last of all is the scene where Jerry and Leona try to diffuse a situation on a subway train carriage just shorty before the Predator gate crashes his way onto the train and does another killing spree. And before he does, a bunch of passengers pull guns on each other and Jerry and Leona pull theirs and Jerry says to the passengers "OK everybody! Just loosen your sphincters! We don't any rush-hour Rambos here!". And then the Predator crashes into the carraige from above and starts killing anyone in his way and eventually get's to Jerry, who runs out of bullets and then grabs a machette nearby and says to the Predator "OK, motherfucker! Let's dance!!!" before he meets his inevitable end. 

Ruben Blades also does pretty well in his role as Danny, one of Harrigan's team as well as one of his closest friends. 

And I will mention just one of Blades scenes which is the one where Harrigan and Danny review police reports of the first gang shootout massacre by the Predator. So, Harrigan asks Danny "OK, so what we got here?" and Danny says "What have we got? Five low life Scorpions make it into the building, the next minute they're all shish kebab, not one bullet wound". Harrigan then says "Well, it wasn't for drugs or money, there's a shitload of that for the taking. Maybe King Willie brought in some outside talent. He's making his big move". Danny then suggests "A pro would have split the moment he heard the action. More than one we would have seen them. Whoever did this waited until the last minute, and then took out five guys armed with machine guns by hand -ha!-, then got by us. Maybe we should give him a job and put him on the payroll!". 

Maria Concitto Alonso is also pretty good in her role as Leona, another of Harrigan's team who we later discover is (SPOILER!!!!) pregnant with Danny's child. 

And Maria's most notable scene in the film is when Jerry foolishly tries to chat up Leona at the police station. And Harrigan and Danny both watch from their office with amusement as Danny say to Harriga "See he's trying it on with Leona!" and Harrigan smiles and says "Yeah, that's his first big mistake!" and laughs. And Leona says to Jerry playfully "You know I heard about you" and Jerry says "Yeah?" and Leona says "Like how your last partner got shot" and Jerry says "Well..." and she suddenly grabs his crotch and says firmly "You try that cowboy shit with me, fucker and you can kiss these goodbye!". 

Calvin Lockhart also does pretty well as King Willie, the Voodoo Jamaican gang boss, who Harrigan meets briefly with in alley to find out more about the Predator. 

And Lockhart in the scene as Willie tells Harrigan who he thinks the Predator is and where "I don't know what he is but I do know where he is. He's from the other side. You can't see the eyes of the demon until he comes calling! This is dread man. Truly dread!". And Willie turns away from Harrigan and says "You go now, policeman. There is nothing here for you!" and Harrigan leaves and not long after we heard a noise from above and then something splashes down in the puddles of water below as we see the outline of the Predator stalk his way toward Willie in his cloaking device. Willie then takes out two swords and quotes a line from the Bible and says "His foundation lies in the holy mountain. Sela!" but before we know it, we hear Willie scream and then the Predator carries off Willie's severed head in his hand. 

Adam Baldwin is probably a weaker link in the cast as Keyes second in command, Agent Garber, who is tasked with surveillance of the Predator as they try and capture him in a meat factory albeit unsuccessfully. Baldwin however does what he can to be fair and it is just a small underwritten role that he has to work with.

And Baldwin's most notable scenes (not that many though!) are first of all when Keyes warns Harrigan to back off his investigation of the Predator (although Harrigan is unaware of who he is at this point, the Predator that is). So, as Keyes walks off, Harrigan shouts after him "Who the hell are you, Keyes?!" and Garber stands in his way and threateningly says "The last guy you wanna fuck with!" and Harrigan backs off a little.

WARNING: BIG SPOILER NEXT! 

And last of all is the final scene of the film where Harrigan survives his encounter having defeated the Predator and escaping the spaceship walks back outside and is confronted by Garber. So, Garber angrily says to Harrigan "Harrigan! What the fuck happened in there?! HUH??!!" and Harrigan pushes him away and there is an angry silence and we hear the police sirens in the background which scare off Garber who says "Goddamn it!! We were so close!" and he runs off. 

And last of all Kevin Peter Hall reprises his role as the Predator, albeit a new Predator who stalks Los Angeles and embarks on a killing spree as it hunts down anyone that stands in his way. And Hall does another fine job as the Predator as his large and intimidating presence works just aswell here as it did in the first film with Hall himself being 7ft 2in in size. Hall also plays the Elder Predator at the end of the film, who gives Harrigan the flintlock pistol as a trophy. Hall sadly died the year after the film's release in 1991 at the age of 35, having contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion he was given for having sustained injuries in a car accident.

Hall has numerous good moments in the film as the Predator of course although precious little dialogue which was delivered by another actor Hal Rayle who does of course deliver the Predator's most notable line where Harrigan takes off the Predator's mask to reveal its gruesome features. And Harrigan looks at the Predator with disgust and says "You are one ugly mother..." and the Predator comes back to life and grabs Harrigan and says "Motherfucker!" and throws him aside. 

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Moving onto the director, Stephen Hopkins takes over the helm here, who had previously worked on Nightmare on Elm Street 5 the year before. Hopkins does a fine job here overall and the film rarely lags in terms of pacing although maybe in the mid-section of the film it does slow a little bit. Hopkins also confidently handles the action scenes of the film and creates some moments of suspense here and there especially with the alley way scene as the Predator stalks Willie and later on during the meat factory sequence. So, overall Hopkins does well here even if he had a tough act to follow in John McTiernan's remarkable work on the original.

As for the music score, it is once again composed by Alan Silvestri, who reprises the film's main theme but this time around also adds in some new compositions and he adds in even more jungle drums than he did in the first film! The score overall is pretty good though and it suits the film perfectly even if it isn't as memorable as the score in the first film as it does retread on alot of the themes from the original.

FLAWS (warning this section may contain spoilers!)

As for flaws...yes Predator 2 does have some worth mentioning.

For starters, the film is often guilty of being very cheesey, particularly in its opening sequene of the gang shoot-outs and we see the Colombian gang get high on coke before they fight on only to get massacred by the Predator. Its a pretty silly and rather cringing moment in the film especially the ridiculous expression on the gang leader's face! 

The same can also be said of some of the film's dialogue such as the scene where Keyes tells Harrigan about the Predator and how it is on "safari" and he talks about "Tigers, bears, oh my!". Yeah, its another silly and cringe inducing bit of dialogue but at the same time Gary Busey almost get's away with it due to his delivery of the line but all the same its still very cheesey.

I also thought that Jerry was a pretty annoying character, the cocky Lone Ranger, who joins Harrigan's team but for the most part all he does is chat up any women he encounters and as I mentioned, tells a bunch of lame jokes that aren't funny. And I felt that the film could have easily done without this character and he just serves up to be a bit of comic relief in a way but he just feels unecessary. 

Then there is the meat factory sequence, which to be fair is actually very good but it is essentially a carbon copy of the sequence from Aliens where Lt Gorman leads the mission and panics and does nothing when the aliens attack the marines. And here in Predator 2, its much the same as Garber commands the mission at the meat factory while Keyes is out suited with his men tracking the Predator's moves and Garber panics and does nothing when they are attacked and Harrigan leaves to help them just as Ripley takes control of the RV to rescue the marines in Aliens. 

Further to this point, it was probably a stupid idea for Keyes men to use such powerful UV lights in the meat factory for them to see because it really does allow the Predator to get a lock in on them when he switches his view mode to see them. If they tried to use something a bit smaller with subtler light may be it could have fooled the Predator or made it more difficult for them to trick him but I guess it just shows how they underestimated the Pred's technology.

And last of all I found it a bit daft how Harrigan was able to quickly find his way out of the Predator spaceship he stunbled into or rather FELL into from above as he stumbles blindly out of it at the end before it takes off. Also its a bit unlikely he would be safely out of the blast range of it taking off by the time he eventually got out of there but ah well it is only a movie after all!

Anyway, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up Predator 2 for me remain a very underrated sequel to the original as it is very entertaining and has some good ideas and concepts that further develop the Predator as a antagonist with his moral code (to a lesser extent!) and its ability to heal itself, not only that it also introduces the Alien vs Predator concept into the movies, which was already a comic book series that began in 1989, so its a nice touch when we see the alien skull as a trophy on the spaceship.

The film also has some pretty good performances, particularly from Danny Glover, who does a fine job in the central of Harrigan, the rebelious cop who is out to find the Predator and the supporting cast also do well particularly Gary Busey in the role as FBI agent, Keyes. The film's score is also pretty good from Alan Silvestri and the film's special effects are pretty good for their time and the re-design of the Predator is good even if its forehead is a bit too big this time round! 

The film isn't without fault of course with it being very cheesy at times with cringe inducing dialogue and scenes to be found aplenty and it also rips off Aliens in its meat factory sequence. However if you can forgive all that, then Predator 2 is still an enjoyable film and a better sequel than it is given credit for. 

So, I will rate Predator 2:

8 out of 10 

And that's it for now and will be back soon with another post.

Unti then its bye for now!

   

 

 

Predator Review (Revisited) "Get to the CHOPPA!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I figured its long overdue a post was put on here, so I will be doing another revisit of one of my previous ones, which is my review of Predator (the OG Predator of course starring Arnie!) especially as the new Predator film has just come out recently, Prey, which I have seen and will probably do a review on quite soon. 

So, after 35 years let's see how this action classic still fares...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!

STORY

Right so the film begins in Central America, where Major "Dutch" Schaefer (Arnie) arrives with his elite force team, and he is given the mission to rescue a presidential cabinet minister who has been abducted by guerillas.  Dutch is also accompanied by an old friend of his, Dillon (Carl Weathers) a former military man, who now works for the CIA.  Dutch and his men are dropped in the jungle where they start their hunt and they soon come across the wreckage of a crashed helicopter.  They also find the bodies of soldiers who have been skinned alive, and Dutch finds the tags of a soldier named Jim Hopper, who Dutch knew from Fort Bragg.  

Later on the men soon find the guerilla base, which they storm and kill the soldiers and capture a woman, named Anna (Elpidia Carrillo).  Dutch is enraged when he finds out that there was no cabinet minister and it was a set up by Dillon, who reveals it was his men that were in the chopper that got hit, and that he was ordered to go in and find out who killed his team.  As the team make their way towards their extraction point, they are watched by an unknown creature up in the trees, which uses thermal imaging to track them.

As Dutch's team move deeper into the jungle, one of Dutch's men, Billy (Sonny Landham) is aware of something watching them in the trees, but he can't see it, after he shrugs it off, Anna tries to escape, and one of the team, Hawkins (Shane Black) chases after her.  When Hawkins catches up with Anna, the unknown creature, arrives out of the blue in camouflage and kills him and drags his body away, leaving Anna unharmed.  Dutch orders his team to search for Hawkins, however as they look around, one of the men, Blain (Jesse Ventura) is killed by the creature.  

Another one of the team, Mac (Bill Duke) witnesses the camouflaged creature stand over Blain, and then runs off when Mac opens fire with Blain's mini-gun and he is soon joined by Dutch and the others but there is no sign of the creature afterward.  Later that night, Dutch has his men set trip wires to detect any movement from the creature, and they have also put Blain in a body bag.  However one of their trip wires is set off and Mac is attacked by a wild boar, which he kills with his knife, but as the men arrive they look around and see that Blain's body is gone.

The next day Dutch realises that the creature, is hunting them like a Predator (I'll call him that from now on!) and is using the trees for cover.  Dutch forces Anna to tell them what she knows, and she tells them that it uses the trees to camouflage itself and the predator always attacks during the hot summers in the jungle, and also that when Mac opened fire on the predator, there was luminous green blood on the trees.  Anna also says that the Predator likes to hunt for sport and in the past they often found men skinned and even worse, and the locals said it was "the demon who makes trophies of men".  Dutch then has his men set another trap using trip wires camouflaged with leaves and also a large net to capture the predator.

Soon enough the predator takes the bait as it is captured in the net, but it uses its laser weapon to free itself, and in the process, a large log of wood crashes down, hitting one of the team, Poncho (Richard Chaves) in the chest, leaving him badly wounded.  Mac, now almost deranged goes off after the Predator, and Dillon follows him, telling Dutch to go to the extraction point.  However soon enough the Predator tracks both Mac and Dillon and kills them both, and as Dutch hears Dillon's cries from far away, Billy drops his gun and makes a stand against the Predator, while Dutch struggles on with Poncho and Anna.  Soon enough we hear Billy's final screams as he too is bumped off by the Predator, who soon catches up with Dutch, and kills Poncho, and shoots Dutch in the arm who flees for his life and as the Predator bares down upon, Dutch slips into a ravine and into the waters below.

As Dutch wearily swims to the shore, he slumps face down in the muddy shore, when there is a splash noise and the Predator slowly emerges from the water.  However now that Dutch is covered in mud, its disguises his heat signature from the Predator who can no longer see him, and moves off elsewhere.  

Dutch later on sets a series of traps, makes up weapons, and covers his body in more mud and lights a torch, and gives a big war cry to alert the Predator as the two of them prepare to do battle for the last time...

THOUGHTS

Even though it received a mixed reception on its release, Predator has deservedly gained a better reputation as a film as time has passed.  And as an action film it is terrific, and there are plenty of suspenseful set pieces, especially once the Predator starts to hunt down the men in the jungle and starts off as a near invisible presence with its camouflage.

And one of the best things about the film is the Predator itself, as it really is one of the best sci-fi baddies in the modern cinema.  The Predator in many ways is one of the most formidable and fearsome enemies in any film, especially with its ability to disguise itself, and also the brilliant and rather creepy use of thermal imaging throughout and the terrific sound effects used for the Predator's heartbeat also add to unease of the film.

The Predator is also an interesting enemy, as unlike for example the aliens from the Alien franchise, (who basically just shag and kill!) it hunts and kills for sport, yet the Predator will not kill unarmed people.  As Dutch at one point realises in the film, as Anna is about to pick up a gun, he tells her not to as it didn't kill before as she wasn't armed, and he says "no sport!".  So the Predator to a lesser extent is something of a moralistic antagonist, as it does have a sense of respect to its foes, as it shows to Dutch at the end as it challenges him in hand to hand combat, rather than just kill him.  The Predator's behavior and attitudes would later be expanded on further in the underrated sequel Predator 2.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: explicit language and some spoilers ahead!)

As for the cast, well things are pretty good here, and Arnold Schwarzenegger puts in a pretty good performance by his own standards as Dutch, who he plays largely just straight laced and no nonsense but he still enjoys some good one liners.

And Arnie's highlights include the scene at the start where Dutch meets up with Dillon (who he hasn't seen for years) and he says to him "Dillon!  You son of a bitch!" and the two of them lock hands in a quick arm wrestle.  And during the wrestle Dutch grins saying "What's the matter?  The CIA got you pushing too many pencils?!" and as Dillon struggles to keep up the wrestle, Dutch says "Had enough?" and Dillon laughs and gives in "OK! OK!".

Arnie also has some good wisecracks in the scene where Dutch and his team storm the guerilla camp and take them out.  And during the scene Dutch has a couple of good one-liners, the first of which is when he throws a knife into one of the guerilla's chests and Dutch quips "Stick around!" and then he kicks down the door to one of the huts where there are a few guerillas and he says "Knock, knock!" and shoots them.  Class.    

Then there is the scene where after Dutch's team take out the guerilla army, Dutch learns that from Mac that the mission wasn't what it appeared to be and he confronts Dillon.  And in the scene Dutch grabs Dillon and pushes him against the wall shouting "You set us up!!  It was all bullshit!  All of it!  The cabinet minister, the whole business!".  And as Dillon tells him the truth, Dutch looks at him with disgust saying "So you cooked up a story and dropped the six of us in a meat grinder!  What happened to you, Dillon?  You used to be someone I could trust!".

Another good scene is when Dutch questions Anna and warns her "No more games!" and she suddenly speaks in English and tells him what she knows of the Predator.  And then Dutch takes out his knife and says to Anna "Anna, this thing is hunting us, all of us" and he cuts her bonds loose and as Dillon protests, Dutch says "Dillon we make a stand now, or there will be no left to reach the chopper!".  And as Anna says the Predator was wounded as its blood was on the leaves, Dutch says "If it bleeds, we can kill it".

And later there is the scene where Dutch tries to escape with Poncho and Anna and she goes to pick up a gun but Dutch warns her "No!  It didn't kill you because you weren't armed.  No sport!".  And after that comes the classic moment where the Predator shows up and kills Poncho and then Dutch stops Anna from using a machine gun and instead he shoots at the Predator, who fires its plasma gun at his shoulder, causing Dutch to fall to the ground.  And Dutch yells to Anna "Run!! Go!!! GET TO THE CHOPPA!!!!".

And last of all there is Dutch's big showdown with the Predator where (SPOILER!!) the creature takes off its helmet and reveals it ugly mug leaving Dutch to look in surprise and say the great line "You are one ugly motherfucker!".  And during the fight scene Dutch tries to hit the Predator with a log of wood but its easily breaks it in half leaving Dutch to say "Bad idea!" before the Predator dishes out his brutal beating to Dutch.     

Carl Weathers next up is really good as Dillon, the CIA agent who accompanies Dutch's team on the mission into the jungle but it turns out he has something of a hidden agenda. 

Weathers best moments include the opening scene where Dutch is being briefed by General Phillips (R.G. Armstrong) and Dutch asks "Why do you need us?  What about the regular army?" and Dillon from the background says "Because some damn fool accused you of being the best!" and the two of them lock in a friendly arm wrestle, which Dillon loses!

Then there is the scene where Dillon and Dutch's team are being flown into the jungle and while onboard the chopper one of Dutch's team, Blain, spits on the floor while chewing tobacco but the spit lands on one of Dillon's boots.  So Dillon leans forward to beckons Blain to move forward to speak to him and Dillon says "That's a real nasty habit you got there!" and Blain simply smiles and sits back.  And as the team are getting ready to drop, Dillon looks down below and says "I never knew how much I missed this, Dutch!" and Dutch says "You never were that smart!".

And one of Weathers best scenes in the film comes when Dutch confronts him over the cover story that brought to the jungle.  And Dillon angrily says to Dutch "Look, we've been looking for this place for months. My men were in that chopper when it got hit! Hopper's orders were to go in and get my men and he disappeared!".  And as Dutch says "What happened to you, Dillon? You used to be somebody I could trust!" Dillon coldly says "I woke up, why don't you?  You're an asset, an expendable asset and I used you to get the job done, got it?!".

Another good scene for Weathers is when Anna speaks in English to Dutch and tells her what she knows about the Predator and how it changes colours "like the chameleon".  And this prompts Dillon to scornfully say "You saying that Blain and Hawkins were killed by a fucking lizard?!  That's a bullshit psyche job!  There's two to three men out there at the most. Fucking lizard!".

And lastly there is the scene when Dillon goes after Mac to help him kill the Predator and as Dutch is about to go, Dillon stops and says "Hold it, Dutch, I'm going after Mac".  And Dutch says "That's not your style, Dillon" and Dillon says "I guess I picked up some bad habits from you, now get your people the hell out of here!".  And as Dutch says to him "You can't win this, Dillon" Dillon says "Maybe I can get even!" and Dutch then throws another machine gun and Dillon says "Just hold onto that damn chopper!".

Up next is Bill Duke who is excellent as Mac, one of Dutch's team and a badass soldier (Duke previously appeared in another Arnie action flick, Commando, as a rogue green beret).

Duke has some pretty good moments in the film as well that include the scene where Mac has a beady eye on Dillon and as they work their way through the jungle Mac confronts Dillon quietly after Dillon slips up as he moves through the jungle.  And Mac warns him "You're ghostin' us, motherfucker!  I don't care who you are back in the world, you give away our position one more time, I'll bleed ya, real quiet.  Leave ya here.  Got that?!".

Then later there is the scene where Dillon angrily speaks in Spanish to Anna, shortly after she has been captured and Mac calls out to him "Dillon!" and Dillon turns around and Mac says "Over here".  And Dillon walks over to him and Mac quietly says to him "Turn around" and Dillon asks why and Mac looks up to the trees to make Dillon turn away and Mac then takes out his knife and sticks it on Dillon's shoulder, who spins around to find that Mac has stabbed a scorpion that crawling up Dillon's back.  And Dillon looks at him and says "Thanks" and walks away leaving Mac to quietly say "Anytime" and he squashes the scorpion with his boot.

Another good scene comes when after Blain has been killed, Mac sadly walks over to his body and he drinks the last of his whisky flask and he places it on Blain's body and he says softly "Goodbye bro" and covers him over.  And this is followed by the scene when Dillon asks Mac "Who hit us today?" and Mac says "I don't know, I only saw one of them in camouflage.  Those eyes they disappeared".  And Dutch asks Mac "What was that?" and Mac repeats "Those eyes, they disappeared.  I know one thing, Major, I drew down and fired straight at it. Capped off two hundred rounds in the mini-gun, full pack. Nothing... Nothing on this Earth could've lived. Not at that range".

And lastly is the scene when after the team try to trap the Predator in a net and its escapes, Mac runs after the Predator shooting his machine gun and yelling "I got you, motherfucker!  I got you!!  I'M COMING!!!".  And Mac starts to lose it as he chases the Predator he sings a few lines from Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally" and he repeats "I'm gonna have me some fun tonight!" over and over.  And later Dillon joins Mac as Mac pulls him into his hiding place and he quietly says to Dillon that he can see the Predator "Over there, past the trees.  You see it?  I see you!".  And Dillon eventually sees the Predator from afar and he tells him his plan to kill the Predator and Mac says "I gotta score to settle" and Dillon says "We've both got scores to settle".  

Elpidia Carrillo does pretty well in her role as Anna, a female guerilla who Dutch's team capture but she eventually ends up helping them to fight against the Predator.

And Carrillo has a couple of noteworthy scenes with the first being where Dutch interrogates Anna to find out what she knows about the creature and up until now she only spoke in Spanish. 

So, in the scene Dutch grabs Anna and asks her "Yesterday, what did you see?!" and Dillon standing her says "You're wasting your time" and Dutch insists to Anna "No more games!". Anna then finally speaks in English and says "I don't know what it was but..." and Anna continues "...it changes colours like the chameleon. It uses the jungle". And Dutch takes out his knife and says to Anna "What's your name?" and she says "Anna" and Dutch tells her "Anna, this thing is hunting us...all of us, you know that?" and she nods and he cuts her loose with his knife. Dutch then insists he needs Anna's help and Anna then says "There's something else. When the big man was killed, you must have wounded it. Its blood was on the leaves" and Arnie tells her "If it bleeds, we can kill it". 

And then there is the scene when Anna tells Dutch and the others about the appearances of the Predator in the jungle over the years and his gruesome victories.  And she says "When I was little, we found a man. He looked like - like, butchered. The old woman in the village crossed themselves... and whispered crazy things, strange things. "El Diablo cazador de hombres." Only in the hottest years this happens. And this year, it grows hot. We begin finding our men. We found them sometimes without their skins... and sometimes much, much worse. "El cazador trofeo de los hombres" means the demon who makes trophies of men!".

Jesse Ventura is also pretty good as the veteran badass soldier, Blain, and good friend of Mac (Ventura himself was a professional wrestler, and later a politician, so this film had no shortage of future politicians!).

Ventura has quite a few good moments and some good one liners aswell that include his first scene where Blain offers chewing tobacco to the other men and they all turn it down.  And Blain says disgruntled "Bunch of slack-jawed faggots around here!  This stuff will make you a god damned sexual Tyrannosaurus, just like me!".

Then later is the scene when during the fight against the guerillas, Blain is joined by Poncho and Blain looks above him at a guerilla in a fortified position and he says "Son of a bitch is dug in like a Alabama tick!".  And Poncho looks at Blain and sees his arm is bleeding and says to him "You're hit!  You're bleeding, man" and Blain says "I ain't got time to bleed!" and Poncho says in response "OK" and fire his grenade launcher a few times at the guerilla's direction and he says "You got time to duck?!".

And lastly there are two more good moments from Ventura that include the scene when Blain and Mac take a rest in the jungle to take a bit of whisky.  And Mac says how they have seen some badass bush in their time but this is something else and Blain says "I hear you.  This shit is something, makes Cambodia look like Kansas!".  And Mac hands Blain his flask saying "A little taste of home" and Blain says "You lose it here, you're in a world of hurt!".

And finally there is the scene where after the Predator has made its first kill (Hawkins) that Blain cautiously moves through the jungle woods with his massive minigun aimed he sees a rustle in the bushes ahead.  And Blain cocks his minigum and says "Come on in you fuckers!  Come on in.  Old painless is waitin!" but it turns out just to be a racoon and Blain just smiles but out of the blue he is killed by the Predator.      

Sonny Landham is also pretty good as the native American member of Dutch's team, Billy who is an excellent tracker and is the first to sense there is something very wrong in the jungle.  Landham was said to have brought a personal bodyguard with him to the production, not to protect himself but to protect everyone else form him as he liked to get into fights!  Landham also later in his career attempted to become a political candidate but was unsuccessful (probably just aswell!).   

Landham's good scenes include the scene where Billy tries to track down the traces of what happened during the fight involving Hopper's men.  And Billy says "There was a huge firefight and shooting in all directions" and Dutch says to him "I can't believe Jim Hopper walked into an ambush" and Billy says "I don't believe he did.  I can't find a single track".  And Dutch asks about the rest of Hopper's men and Billy says "There's no sign, sir. They never left here. Hell, it's like they just disappeared".

And lastly I will mention Landham's most memorable scene when Poncho looks over to Billy and says "Billy, you know something what is it?" and Bill says "I'm scared, Poncho".  And Poncho nervously says "Bullshit!  You ain't afraid of no man!" and Billy says "There's something out there waiting for us, and it ain't no man" and he gets up and looks to the others and says "We're all going to die".    

Richard Chaves next up is also very good as Poncho, another of Dutch's team who gets some fun one-liners as well in certain moments but he provides a pretty good performance dramatically speaking as well.

I will quickly mention one or two of Chaves scenes that include his first where Dutch and his men are on the chopper flying to the jungle.  And Blain offers Poncho some tobacco and Poncho says "Get that stinking shit out of my face!" and after Blain says the tobacco will make you a "goddam sexual Tyrannosaurus!" Poncho holds up his grenade launcher and says "Strap this on your sore ass, Blain!" causing Blain to laugh out loud.

And then there is the scene when Dillon asks Poncho to ask Anna what she saw when Hawkins was killed and Poncho asks her again in Spanish.  And Poncho replies to the men "She keeps saying the same fuckin' thing!  The jungle came alive and took him!" and he looks to Billy and says "Billy, you know something, what is it?" and as Billy says that he is scared, Poncho says "Bullshit!  You ain't afraid of no man!".

And last of all is the moment where during the night, a wild boar sets off a flare set up by Mac and the boar attacks Mac, who kills it with his knife and the others arrive to find Mac stand over the bloodied corpse of the boar.  And Poncho looks down and says "Jesus!  You killed a pig...you think you could have found something bigger?!" leaving Mac offended and angry yelling "Fuck you, Poncho!  Fuck you!". 

And second to last is Shane Black as Hawkins, who is noteworthy as he at the time had written the screenplay for Lethal Weapon, and would later go on to write further screenplays for movies such as The Last Boy Scout and direct and write the underrated Kiss kiss, bang bang.

Shane get's some funny lines in the film as well, which probably no doubt he had a hand in writing, as he tells some rude jokes about his girlfriend.  And the first one of those is during the chopper flight to the jungle where Hawkins tells Billy one of his dirty jokes and he says "Hey Billy. Billy! The other day, I went up to my girlfriend, I said, "Y'know I'd like a little pussy". She said, "Me too, mine's as big as a house!" and Billy looks at him blankly.

And later there is of course his second pussy joke where Hawkins after the firefight with the guerillas has ended, goes up to Billy and says to him "Billy. Billy! The other day, I was going down on my girlfriend, I said to her, "Jeez you got a big pussy. Jeez you got a big pussy." She said, "Why did you say that twice?" I said, "I didn't.".  And again Billy looks blankly but Hawkins explains "You see, cos of the echo" and he runs leaving Billy to contemplate the joke, which he finally gets and laughs out loud (something the Predator records on its audio recorder).   

And last of all is Kevin Peter Hall as the Predator, who does a brilliant job as the film's main antagonist, a fearsome alien warrior that hunts men for sport.  At 7 foot and 2 inches in height, Hall was without a doubt the best choice for the role, and he does a great physical job in portraying the predator, in what was apparently a very heavy body suit which weighed about 200 pounds!  Ironically the film makers had cast Jean Claude Van-Damme as the Predator originally (it was early on in his career!) but the suit he wore for the creature was simply too daft and silly looking so they scrapped it to redesign the creature.

Hall himself briefly appears in human form in a small role as the chopper pilot at the end of the film which circles the jungle when they try to find Dutch below.  Hall later sadly died in 1991 just at the age of 35 due to complications from contracting AIDS after a blood transfusion, not too long after the release of Predator 2.    

DIRECTOR, SPECIAL EFFECTS AND MUSIC

Moving onto the director, John McTiernan does an excellent job here with Predator and even though it was only his second film feature, he already showed his aptitude for making action films with this one as he more than confidently handles the film's tense action scenes.  McTiernan also expertly cranks up the suspense as the film goes on and does a great job at not revealing the Predator too soon to its audience.

As for the film's special effects they are also great and R/Greenberg Associates were the digital studio agency behind them.  The effects featured in the film are very effective especially the use of the Predator's thermal imaging, invisibility and the laser effects used for the Predator's plasma weapon.  The film also even appears to pay homage to John Carpenter's The Thing in its opening sequence where we see the spaceship drop what appears to be some sort of pod off to Earth that contains the Predator, which is a good optical effect in itself.  Stan Winston, who designed the Predator creature also does a terrific job in bringing the alien warrior to life and he was brought after the first creature design was rejected as it looked too silly.     

Getting onto the film's music score by Alan Silvestri, its an excellent one and it features a very memorable theme tune.  Silvestri's score in general is also quite effective in terms of building suspense as its something the composer does very well.  Silvestri also neatly builds in the use of tribal like drums to add to the film's atmosphere in the jungle.  The score however does solidify the formulae for his future scores with their frantic build ups and it could rarely be accused of being that subtle but for any of its faults its still one of Silvestri's best.

FLAWS

As for Predator's flaws......yeah OK its not entirely perfect (even if its fairly close by its standards!).

So its flaws....well for starters I think the story itself is pretty thin as its just a bunch of badass special forces soldiers taking on a near invincible alien and when you think about it, its just a retread of Aliens (well except with just one alien).  The characters however are actually mostly well drawn out and that in a way helps make up for the thin plot in itself but yeah it won't win any awards for originality as such. 

In terms of the plot there are also one or two silly moments such as just how effective would mud be for disguising a human's heat signature???  Would it actually be that effective???  Well I'm certainly not an expert on the subject but from what I have read on the Internet it suggests that mud on its own would not be sufficient to cover up a heat signature, it may at first do so if it is cold but once your body heat rises the mud itself would no longer be as effective.

And further to that note its also worth mentioning that in the scene where Dutch swims ashore and lies face down in the mud that only half his face is covered in it.  However after the Predator dives into the water, Dutch then clambers his way over to some tree vines to cover himself and then we see the mud has completely covered his whole face!  Its like Dutch decided to smear a bit more all over his face as if it was some sort of pre-emptive measure so the Predator wouldn't see him even though of course Dutch had no idea about this.  And even though Dutch covers himself in mud, his eyes are still visible so wouldn't the Predator somehow be able to detect them?!  Well maybe not, who knows???  It might get confused right enough by a pair of darting eyes on its thermal imaging right enough!

I also found it a bit strange how the Predator's laser canon has the power to blast off Dillon's arm and blow a big hole in Blain's chest yet when it hits Arnie in the shoulder, he merely gets a flesh wound with his arm still in tact! It makes you think that the Predator must have built-in damage levels to his laser canon either that or Arnie's muscly build was too much for the laser canon to contend with! Either way its a pretty daft and illogical moment in the film in that Arnie can somehow withstand the brutal damage of the Pred's weapons.

And lastly it seems a bit unsporting of the Predator in its last moments to activate its self destruct device rather than just accept the fact that it had been defeated by Dutch.  Its like a baby that didn't get its way and decided to chuck the toys out of the pram and it seems like the Predator has no honour in accepting his opponent had won.  

And this appears to be a bit contrary to the events of Predator 2 (SPOILER FOR THAT!) where Danny Glover's character succeeds in killing the Predator in that and then he is surrounded by a whole group of them but instead of killing him, one of them gives him a trophy, which is an old flintlock pistol.  But this Predator thought "sod that I'm just gonna take him with me!". What a dick!

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum Predator is a highly entertaining, tense and suspenseful action film and it features some great special effects, action scenes, a fine music score and it introduced one of cinema's most fascinating and interesting hostile aliens.  The film is well acted for the most part and very well directed and the use of the jungle also contributes well to the film's mystery and sense of unease.  And after 35 years, Predator is a film that is still well worth watching and it stands for me easily as one of the best action films from the 1980s.

So, I will give Predator a rating of:

9.5 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back hopefully a bit sooner with another post.

Until then its bye for now!