Like I said recently, I've been trying to watch as many movies as I possibly can with the Netflix on XBox option, but I've also had a few Netflix DVDs sitting around (though the Broken Arrow DVD was completely cracked down the center, so that's one less to worry about for now). So, here we go with the reviews.
WESTWORLD (1973)
I distinctly remember watching Westworld with my dad when I was younger, but I apparently didn't remember much but the very basics from the movie. I lucked out and got Em to watch it along with me and it seemed like she liked it well enough (she didn't make fun of me like she did after watching The Warriors so that's a plus). Anyway, I also really dug the movie, probably even moreso because I didn't remember every little part of it.
The basic plot is that there's this resort populated with robots where you can go and live like you're in another time period (Roman Empire, Medieval England or the Wild Wild West). You can basically do whatever you want there (including shooting and having sex with the robots, though, presumably different ones). Our story focuses on two visitors, one played by James Brolin, the other by a guy named Richard Benjamin who looked familiar, but nothing on his IMDb rang any bells. Yul Brenner also starts as the robot Gunslinger who keeps coming after Benjamin. Well, the vacation doesn't go quite as planned as the robots start revolting and SPOILER the Gunslinger kills James Brolin (Em and I both thought he'd be the hero, oh well), sending Benjamin running from the relentless cowboy killer robot.
There's a lot of cool special effects and writer and director Michael Crichton (I had no idea he directed movies) does a great job of selling the story. According the IMDb trivia he got the idea for the story after visiting Disneyland, which was pretty funny to me because it seems pretty familiar to The Stepford Wives, which I read, watched and reviewed recently. The trivia also said that The Gunslinger also inspired John Carpenter to create the greatest slasher in movie history Michael Myers. So, if you're a fan of either of those other movies or just cool sci-fi robot stories starring Jame Brolin and Yul Brenner, then you should definitely check this one out.
HARD RAIN (1998)
I'm not even sure why I put Hard Rain on my queue. It was probably one of those suggested movies that Netlifx does when you add a movie to your queue. Anyway, I wasn't all too excited to watch it when the DVD came in, but I'm really glad I did as this is a fantastic action movie with one of the coolest and best handled natural disaster plots I've seen in a while. Plus, it's got Christian Slater, Morgan Freeman, Randy Quaid, Ed Asner, Betty White and Minnie Driver sporting a pretty bad American accent.
Plotwise you've got Morgan Freeman leading a band of robbers trying to get their hands on the money in Slater and Asner's bank truck in a town in danger of flooding. Meanwhile Quaid and his fellow police officers try to save the townspeople like Driver and White. As the water rises (and boy, does it get up there) so does the tension and a great "anything can happen" feeling. It does get a little crazy at the very end with all kinds of allegiances changing and crosses being doubled, but all that water makes it okay in my book. You've got everything from a boat being driven through a church window to a wave runner chase scene in a high school. It really is just a fun movie that offers up plenty of "how are they going to get out of THIS" situations. I highly HIGHLY recommend this movie to anyone who like fun movies who don't let things like science get in the way of enjoying a movie (in this world, a gun can fire no matter how long it's been under water, so just deal with it okay?).
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