I thought I would start this thread to get some feedback on films which you think are underrated by the critics. You know the type, films which are slagged off or are generally given less of a critcal rating than which you think they should have got.
I will start off listing my choices and would appreciate it if you exclude any of Seagal's from your list.
* ROCKY V (1990)
I don't know why so many people sh*t on this film as it turned the franchise full circle with Rocky returning to Philedelphia broke and brain damaged and having to take on a training/mentor role to new upstart Tommy 'The Machine' Gunn. I thought it was the only logical step after the OTT commie bashing outing "Rocky IV" and feel that people were put off by it because it was more of a drama rather than an action film. This is probably because John G Avildson who directed the original "Rocky" helmed this one.
* SUDDEN IMPACT (1983)
This is probably my favourite "Dirty Harry" sequel because it is the only one of the sequels which retains the nasty feel of the original and also includes many stand out scenes. The one where Clint tries to stop a hold up in a caffeteria is a classic and contains the famous line of dialogue "Go ahead......make my day!". The film is about a woman who is gunning down a gang of lowlifes who gang raped her and her sister and it is a very brutal outing for Clint (who also directed) who gets to upgrade his weapon to the 44 Automag which is used in the brilliantly cool denoument at the eerie fairground climax.
* TOM HORN (1980)
One of the most underrated and beautifully poignent westerns I've ever seen and is made in the same tragic aura style of "Unforgiven" and "The Shootist". Starring the late, great Steve McQueen, he portrays the former Calvary Scout who is employed by a company of cattle barrons to put a stop to rustling, but his unorthodox methods upset the comapany and, feeling he is giving them a bad name, set him up on trumped up charges of killing a child, he is then tried.........McQueen is in his element as the aged Tom Horn and even though he was battling cancer at the time puts in one of his best performances. The film also contains some spurts off heavy handed violence and showcases one of the most gory shootings I ever seen in any film where McQueen blows a guys head off with a rifle. That scene seemed out of place (a conscious decision by the director) with the almost melancholic feel of the rest of the film.
* DEATH WISH (1974)
OK so British director Michael Winner is regarded as something of a joke but his early seventies collaborations with Charles Bronson are some of his best and like the excellent hitman drama "The Mechanic"(1972) this is another thought provoking film from both of them. It is a about a bleeding heart liberal (Bronson) who has to question his moral stance when his wife and daughter are both brutally raped in their New York apartment. He then slowly turns from a moral, respectable, soft leftie to a veangence crazed, fascist vigilante who in turn cuts down the hoodlum population of New York city. What makes the film stand out is that his turning is portrayed realistically and when he claims his first mugger by hitting him with a sockful of quarters he comes back to his apartment shaking like a leaf, something that we can all identify with when we are placed in situatuion seemingly beyond are control. Also when he shoots a victim for the first time he is uncontrollably sick and reading between the lines wonders how low he has fallen. A brilliant film, which seemed to be ahead of its time when you consider the amount and type of remorseless beatings and killings which happen nowaday's in our inner cities.
That is my picks for now, please feel free to add your own,
MMCK
I will start off listing my choices and would appreciate it if you exclude any of Seagal's from your list.
* ROCKY V (1990)
I don't know why so many people sh*t on this film as it turned the franchise full circle with Rocky returning to Philedelphia broke and brain damaged and having to take on a training/mentor role to new upstart Tommy 'The Machine' Gunn. I thought it was the only logical step after the OTT commie bashing outing "Rocky IV" and feel that people were put off by it because it was more of a drama rather than an action film. This is probably because John G Avildson who directed the original "Rocky" helmed this one.
* SUDDEN IMPACT (1983)
This is probably my favourite "Dirty Harry" sequel because it is the only one of the sequels which retains the nasty feel of the original and also includes many stand out scenes. The one where Clint tries to stop a hold up in a caffeteria is a classic and contains the famous line of dialogue "Go ahead......make my day!". The film is about a woman who is gunning down a gang of lowlifes who gang raped her and her sister and it is a very brutal outing for Clint (who also directed) who gets to upgrade his weapon to the 44 Automag which is used in the brilliantly cool denoument at the eerie fairground climax.
* TOM HORN (1980)
One of the most underrated and beautifully poignent westerns I've ever seen and is made in the same tragic aura style of "Unforgiven" and "The Shootist". Starring the late, great Steve McQueen, he portrays the former Calvary Scout who is employed by a company of cattle barrons to put a stop to rustling, but his unorthodox methods upset the comapany and, feeling he is giving them a bad name, set him up on trumped up charges of killing a child, he is then tried.........McQueen is in his element as the aged Tom Horn and even though he was battling cancer at the time puts in one of his best performances. The film also contains some spurts off heavy handed violence and showcases one of the most gory shootings I ever seen in any film where McQueen blows a guys head off with a rifle. That scene seemed out of place (a conscious decision by the director) with the almost melancholic feel of the rest of the film.
* DEATH WISH (1974)
OK so British director Michael Winner is regarded as something of a joke but his early seventies collaborations with Charles Bronson are some of his best and like the excellent hitman drama "The Mechanic"(1972) this is another thought provoking film from both of them. It is a about a bleeding heart liberal (Bronson) who has to question his moral stance when his wife and daughter are both brutally raped in their New York apartment. He then slowly turns from a moral, respectable, soft leftie to a veangence crazed, fascist vigilante who in turn cuts down the hoodlum population of New York city. What makes the film stand out is that his turning is portrayed realistically and when he claims his first mugger by hitting him with a sockful of quarters he comes back to his apartment shaking like a leaf, something that we can all identify with when we are placed in situatuion seemingly beyond are control. Also when he shoots a victim for the first time he is uncontrollably sick and reading between the lines wonders how low he has fallen. A brilliant film, which seemed to be ahead of its time when you consider the amount and type of remorseless beatings and killings which happen nowaday's in our inner cities.
That is my picks for now, please feel free to add your own,
MMCK
