Tag: 1980

Categories
Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Adventure – J – The Blues Brothers (1980) Movie Thoughts

Director: John Landis

Writer: Dan Aykroyd, John Landis (Screenplay)

Starring: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Carrie Fisher, Aretha Franklin, Henry Gibson

Plot: Jake Blues, just released from prison, puts together his old band to save the Catholic home where he and his brother Elwood were raised.

Runtime: 2 Hours 13 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Blues Brothers starts when Joliet Jake (Belushi) gets released from prison picked up by his brother Elwood (Aykroyd) as they look to get back to their old ways, only the life of crime has seen the group split up and with the police hot on their tales, they want to put the band back together.

As the pair try to find something new for the band, they are still looking to make money with their music and now they are building up more enemies than before.

Thoughts on The Blues Brothers

Thoughts – The Blues Brothers follows the two performing brothers and criminals that are always looking to perform and rob, they are always having the police trying to track them down along with a mysterious assassin, as they always find a way to escape. The comedy does seem to miss most of the time, even if the calming approach does add to what is going on. Most of the film does feel like it has dated, while the performances in the film are strong through. Each chase does seem to go on longer than it needs to make it feel like the film is dragging in places, with the idea that each reaction is going well out of control.

Final Thoughts – The Blues Brothers is an outdated comedy that misses more than it hits.

Categories
Movie Review

Caddyshack (1980) Movie Review

Director: Harold Ramis

Writer: Brian Doyle-Murray, Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney (Screenplay)

Starring: Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O’Keefe, Bill Murray, Sarah Holcomb, Scott Colomby, Cindy Morgan

Plot: An exclusive golf course has to deal with a brash new member and a destructive dancing gopher.


Tagline – Playing A Round Of Golf At The Bushwood Club Isn’t Just Confined To The Golf Course!

Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Dated 80s Comedy

Story: Caddyshack starts as young golf caddy Danny (O’Keefe) who has been trying to figure out what to do with his future, he turns to the players at the golf club, Ty Webb (Chase), Al Czervik (Dangerfield) and Judge Smails (Knight) for advice, with the club is dealing with a gopher problem, Carl Spackler (Murray) looks to solve this problem.

With Al bringing his louder approach to the game, he starts to ruffle the feathers of the other players, while Judge Smails, wants to face Webb in a one on one match.

Thoughts on Caddyshack

Characters – Danny Noonan is a young caddy, who would like to find his place in life, looking to get enough money for his studying, he is trying to get closer to the players to learn about new ideas, while learning the first thing about love. Ty Webb is known as the best golfer at the club, he keepers himself to himself and offers the advice to Danny along the way. Al Czervik is the newest and loudest member of the club, he will bet on anything, he doesn’t play by the rules and isn’t afraid to make himself the most important person in the room. Judge Smails is the typical club member, he plays by the rules, he demands respect and only cares about his time on the course. Carl Spackler is the groundskeeper of the course, who spends the time of the film trying to hunt down a gopher that is destroying the course.

Performances – The performances rely on Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield, trying to bring a routine to comedy, which can often be the problem with comedy, it isn’t always acting, it is more about trying tog et the most jokes in the film.

Story – The story follows a golf course dealing with a caddy trying to find his place in the world, an old time member not liking a new loud member and a groundskeeper trying to capture a gopher which could ruin the course. While the story do interweave nicely, they just do seem to fail to capture the true meaning of what certain characters are trying to achieve, the rivalry one does work best, while the gopher hunting is more slapstick than anything else, while the caddy trying to find his place in the world, sees to just fall on the back seat of the film.

Comedy/Sports – The comedy in the film does feel incredibly dated, while the sports side of the film can be used for a few laughs, with the different people that come from the golf clubs.

Settings – The film is set in and around the golf course, it shows us the different people we will get on with their days, be it the rich members of the young caddies enjoying life.


Scene of the Movie – Rain golf.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Ty seems to be one of the most confusing characters in the whole film, treated like the pro expert, while playing for laughs in a different style.

Final Thoughts – This is a comedy that doesn’t seem to have dated in the way others have from the past, falling flat more than anything else by the end.

Overall: Flat Comedy.

Categories
Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – 80s Movies – O – Flash Gordon (1980) Movie Review

We are under O because of star Ornella Muti.

Director: Mike Hodges

Writer: Lorenzo Semple Jr, Michael Allin (Screenplay) Alex Raymond (Characters)

Starring: Sam J Jones, Melody Anderson, Max von Sydow, Topol, Ornella Muti, Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed

Plot: A football player and his friends travel to the planet Mongo and find themselves fighting the tyranny of Ming the Merciless to save Earth.


Runtime: 1 Hour 51 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Gloriously over the Top

Story: Flash Gordon starts when Flash Gordon (Jones), Dale Arden (Anderson) and Dr Zarkov (Topol) accidently leave Earth finding themselves on the planet Mongo, face to face with their evil ruler The Emperor Ming (von Sydow).

After becoming captured, Flash must search for his friends, break out and defeat the evil Emperor Ming to save planet Earth.

Thoughts on Flash Gordon

Characters – Flash Gordon is a star football player whose latest adventures ends up taking him to space, where he clashes with an evil emperor, one that wants to destroy Earth. He must first learn the culture of the new planet, before stepping up to become the hero both planets require. Dale is the girlfriend of Flash, she hates flying and is the damsel in distress that is often needed rescuing. The Emperor Ming has been ruling Mongo for years, keeping the land in his fear and always looking to expand to other planets, with his latest target being Earth, ready for his destruction. We meet the leaders of the different kingdoms, where they rule under Ming, only they are waiting for a chance to reach a level to escape him and fight for the freedom of the land.

Performances – Sam J Jones is a lot of fun in the leading role, he embraces the film to make his character stand out, Max von Sydow is one of the few actors that could always play a villain and here he makes him a truly enjoyable campy villain. The rest of the cast do a good job through the film, they all understand how their characters are meant to be performed.

Story – The story here follows an America footballer that ends up on a new planet, where he must help unite the planet in an attempt to fight back against an evil emperor that has been looking to destroy Earth. This is a story that brings to life a massively ambitious world that understands it isn’t going to take anything too seriously and just wants to have fun. The story is all about trying to make sure the rebels could fight back against an evil leader, with the right leader and inspiration. While we do see the brutality of the villain, it does seem to become tamer as the film unfolds, where others do most of the evil side of his work.

Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi – The action is laser shooting, fights, which including football tackles and plenty of over the top situations, with the adventure take Flash to a new world, in space, a perfect creation for the sci-fi side of the film, where everything works well for the future style for the time.

Settings – The film takes us to a new planet Mongo, where we have the different creation per kingdom, one with a futuristic world throughout.

Special Effects – The effects have dated, but they would have worked for the release to complete play into the cheesy style of the film.


Scene of the Movie – The final showdown.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It is too random how Flash just randomly goes to space.

Final Thoughts – This is a full blown cheese fest of a movie, it is enjoyable because nothing is taken seriously and could be one everyone gets a kick out of.

Overall: Cheesy Fun.

Categories
Movie Review

The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark (1980) Movie Review

Director: Charles Jarrott

Writer: Steven W Carabatsos, Sandy Glass, George Arthur Bloom (Screenplay) Ernest K Gann (Story)

Starring: Elliott Gould, Genevieve Bujold, Ricky Schroder, Vincent Gardenia, Tammy Lauren, John Fujioka, Yuki Shimoda

Plot: When a plane carrying various animals makes a forced landing on a desert island, the only chance to escape is to convert the plane into a boat.


Tagline – On a wing and a prayer… they built a legend.

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Nice Little Adventure

Story: The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark starts as debt riddled Noah Dugan (Gould) is given a chance to clear some of his debts with a flight for a missionary Bernadette Lafleur (Bujold) who is trying to take some animals to a remote island in the Pacific, knowing how difficult the flight is with animals, Noah reluctantly agrees, unaware children Bobby (Schroder) and Julie (Lauren) have boarded the plane.

When the plane ends up going off course, the plane lands on another island, one that still has Japanese soldiers on believing the war is still on going and they must try and put the differences aside to survive the island.

Thoughts on The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark

Characters – Noah Dugan has left himself in debt to loan sharks that are looking to get their money back, he has 24-hours to find the funds, which sees him turn to every person who could give him a pilot job, with his last resort being Stoney, a flight he doesn’t want to make, but sees as his chance to escape for now. He doesn’t like the idea of animals and once he learns the children have joined it only makes him grumpier, even if he will always try to do the right thing. Bernadette Lafleur is the missionary looking to make a difference on an island colony, she is leaving the orphanage to make this happen, with the word of God by her side, she is the one that always remains calm during each crisis they face. Bobby and Julie are the two children that sneak onto the plane as they want to be with their animals, they just make everything more difficult for the adults.

Performances – Elliott Gould in the leading role is great to watch, he reacts like any normal person through the situations they handle. Genevieve Bujold is strong too being the opposite to Gould through the film, while the child stars do bring the annoying side required.

Story – The story follows a reluctant pilot and the missionary group he is transporting crash land on an island and they must figure out how to get off the island alive. This story is focused on putting aside differences to achieve things, with the opposite mindset of both Noah and Bernadette needing to show they can both help each other escape the island. It does try to reflect the biblical story of Noah’s ark, which is doesn’t reach the levels of in anyway, but ends up doing everything right for a safe escape from desert island story.

Adventure – The adventure side of the film is all about trying to survive the island, it does let the children feel like they are enjoying themselves.

Settings – The film is set mostly on the desert island, it looks beautiful and has everything you would expect to see on one, working perfectly for the film.


Scene of the Movie – Set sail.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – How did they get the cow in the boat part?

Final Thoughts – This is an interesting adventure that checks off the boxes with ease, has a strong lead with a safe adventure to survive.

Overall: Enjoyable Adventure.