Okay, two down - I've seen Above the Law and Marked for Death.
I did notice one thing - his weight issues started much earlier than I thought. Two years between Above the Law and Marked for Death and Steven filled out quite a bit in the intervening time. Still fine looking and agile, mind - but in Above the Law he was downright skinny, whereas in Marked for Death he definitely had more meat on him (and was already trying to hide it by wearing poofy jackets).
Marked for Death - I confess I spent a lot of time with my hands over my eyes - the bone and back breaking was too much, even for my usual bloodthirsty sensibilities. Above the Law, as well, that last arm-breaking scene - it happened too quick for me to close my eyes! I think I'll be seeing that one for a long time.
I liked the plot twist at the end of Marked for Death. I did get the clue when the clue was dropped, but it still surprised me. "I hope they weren't triplets," indeed!
I'm glad I finally got a chance to hear Jimmy Cliff. One of my jobs a few years ago was for the big Caribbean festival called Carifesta, and one of the artistes on the programme for the festival was Jimmy Cliff (I had to do the work here, but couldn't go to the Caribbean to enjoy the festival, drat it). While reggae isn't something I'd like to listen to all the time, I did like the music in Marked for Death.
Marked for Death was marginally better than Above the Law, story-wise, but it lost points because there wasn't enough Steven in it. What I also liked was when the bad guys came after the sister (Melissa?), she fought back. (I get so tired of women in films just standing around screaming in terror.) I thought that was a nice touch.
In Above the Law, I particularly liked the quasi autobiographical bit at the beginning, and I did like the film overall. I agree with (was it MMCK2?) who said it was the best demo of aikido in any of his films.
So far, I've now seen three films where Steven's got actual photos of himself in the films. Something to look for as possible easter eggs!
One thing I didn't like: the 20th C. Fox Marked for Death DVD (I got the widescreen version) was even less endowed with extras than even the stingy Warner Bros. ones. I guess a film made 13 years ago has probably had any "extras" destroyed long since.
Two more in this batch: Hard to Kill and Fire Down Below. Hopefully, I'll be getting some more work so I can order batch number 4 (batch number 3 should be coming around the end of June).
