Five more films that showcase an extraordinary story or character that finally makes it to the big screen, and does so with greatness!!
This list is more loosely tied to comics, but the pedigree does exist (before any of you decide to break balls and say they're not comic-book related). That being said, here it is:
1) The UnTouchables (1987): Imagine living in a city so corrupt, in a time so violent, that you LITERALLY could not trust another soul. Enter Elliot Ness, a Treasury agent sent to 1930's Chicago to eliminate the threat of cold-blooded mobster, and bootleg liquor pusher Al Capone.
Arriving on the scene with a big splash, Ness quickly is made to look like a complete jack ass when his first large-scale raid reveals nothing more than umbrellas inside crates that were supposed to be housing liquor. After this Ness realizes that the Chicago cops are corrupt and enlists the help of maverick officer John Malone (Sean Connery in his Oscar-Winner). Malone is roughly late 50's early 60's and very old school and tells Ness that he has to be prepared to make compromises with his morals and ethics if he truly wants to apprehend Capone.
From then on two more outsiders (Victor Stone and Oscar Wallace) are brought aboard a team of men thought to be incorruptible...The Untouchables. Over the course of the movie the team of four suffers two casualties (including Malone) and it's up to Ness and still-in-the-academy-Stone to catch a book-keeper of Capone's who might provide evidence against him. They accomplish this towards the movie's brutal end, in a train station, one of the best stand-off's I know of.
While the movie is about 85% fiction, it still shows us the kind of violence and terror the mob brought to the world in that dangerous time. Stocked with great performances and crisp directing by Brian DePalma, the movie can be picked up for about $5.00 now, so you have no excuse!
After Ness left Chicago he encountered the Cleveland Torso Murderer as depicted in the graphic novel "Torso" which is set to become a film (I believe out of the "UnTouchables movie continuity). The comic was published by Image, and the movie is supposed to be directed by Brian Fincher.
2) Young Guns(1988)/Young Guns II(1990): Billy the Kid has been made bigger than life because of all forms of media. There has been an undying fascination with him since before his short life ended in 1881 (or was it 1950?). The man made a name for himself in the Lincoln County War that took place in New Mexico between the Murphy/Dolan Faction and the Tunstall McSween Faction. A war that was over business and murder.
Though there have been many films that have shown Billy (including one where he fights Dracula!) My favorite is the "Young Guns" series. Unfairly dismissed because it starred a bunch of 80's pretty boys and one bratpacker, the films reveal a deep story about life with it's violence and desperations in the American West. While the first movie depicts Billy emerging from street rat, to leader of the Regulators, despite his youth and untested appearance. Billy proves two things: He is a lethal killer who will drop a man without hesitation, and also, that he is a fiercely loyal friend. The movie's ending is eloquently narrated by Kiefer Sutherland who plays one of the gunmen in the film. The acting is superb, the story is BASED on actual events, the action is fun and the dialogue entertaining .In it, he reveals that the last three Regulators go their separate ways after the movie's climax. Billy refuses to leave New Mexico and is killed by former friend turned lawman Pat Garret...unarmed in the dark.
The sequel opens with an elderly man named Brushy Bill Roberts claiming to be Billy the Kid and seeking to have his named pardoned. His flashbacks reveal what transpired after the first film, and shows the reunion of Billy, Doc Scurlock, and Chavez Y. Chavez (played by Emilio Estavez, Kiefer Sutherland and Lou Diamond Phillips). While this movie is nowhere nearly as entertaining as the first, it is more somber, and more dramatic depicting a young man, a boy, trying to live up to the legend that the media has built for him, while leading all his friends to certain death.
The movies greatest scene is when an enraged Doc Scurlock realizes that Billy has given them false hope about an escape to Mexico. Doc rises to his feat and brings a shotgun to Billy's head, then says "You...are not...a GOD!" Billy calmly looks back and replies "Why don't you pull the trigger and find out."
These movies deserve to be seen and done so without the prejudice placed on them because of their young cast. Both films can probably be picked up for about ten dollars and are easily worth it. Look for the first installment's collector's edition that comes with a documentary.
3) Tombstone (1993): This is perhaps one of the greatest movies period. The movie features legendary Western figures Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp and the infamous showdown at the OK Corral. Wyatt arrives in Tombstone, Arizona with his older brother Virgil (The always cool Sam Elliot) and younger brother Morgan (James Cameron go-to-guy Bill Paxton) as the trio and their women attempt to make a profitable living in th Western Boom Town. Also there by chance is John "Doc" Holliday (Val Kilmer) who is a dying dentist suffering from TB.
Inevitably the four soon start bumping chests with local outlaws "The Cowboys" lead by Curly Bill (the charismatic Powers Boothe) and Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn...another go-to for James Cameron). While on the surface the movie may look like another Western, the themes here are timeless and the acting is amazing.
The movie can be broken down into a tale about loyalty and vengeance. Wyatt is fiercely loyal to his brothers who are also highly devoted to him. This leads them to follow Wyatt to Tombstone where one gets killed and the other becomes suffers a terrible bullet wound that leads to the loss of use of his left arm. Furthermore, Wyatt's best friend is a man few people like because he is a thief and killer-Doc Holliday. But Holliday rewards Wyatt's friendship with his own devotion that never wavers, despite the fact that all the violence expedites his own death.
Complicating matters is the arrival of actress Josephine Marcus, who is involved with Sheriff Behan (a Cowboy sympathizer), while Wyatt is also taken by his common-law wife Maddie. On the flipside you have the Cowboys who stick together against what they feel is the bullying of the Earps and Doc Holliday.
When all of these loyalties are tested it leads to a blood feud that doesn't end until every last cowboy has been killed by Earp and his posse. And while this is a gross exaggeration of actual events, it is in fact BASED on actual events.
The greatest scene of the film is when Holliday is dying of TB in a hospital bed, and reveals to Wyatt that he missed out on his chance for happiness when the woman he loved (his first cousin) joined the convent, thus explaining further his disregard for his own safety. He begs Wyatt not to waste HIS life as well, and asks him instead to live for the both of them. He asks his friend to leave immediately so as to not witness his death. It is touching and uplifting as Wyatt finally moves on with his life and leaves all the death and violence behind him
If you don't own this movie, and if you haven't watched it at LEAST ten times...you have missed out my friend.
4) The Mummy (1999): I once heard something about Brenden Frasier's Rick O'Connell being the NEW Indiana Jones. I could have seen that. Rick O'Connell is one of the most likeable film characters to come out in a long time. It's true he is merely a clone of Indy, but how many others have tried to clone Indy and failed? Miserably!
Why this movie could easily be relegated to a sci-fi/horror campfest, it is taken up a notch because of all of the humor, and refusal to take itself seriously. O'Connell plays a fortune hunter that has been given the task of taking a group of people to Egypt in search of treasure. Among them is potential love interest Evelyn Carnahan and her weasely brother Jonathan.
Evelyn however, accidentally awakens the Mummy who decides he wants to use HER to reincarnate his long-dead Egyptian princess Anck Su Namun. Rick of course saves the damsel, kills the mummy and returns in a sequel two years later.
What I think is so great about this movie is that it succeeded in doing what George Lucas and Steven "The Beard" Spielberg FAILED to do...make another FUN fortune-hunting-adventurer. As those of you who saw the last Indy flick know, the men who made the magic have since lost it, and hopefully don't try their hand at another Indiana Jones flick until they take some a little blue pill for creativity! Unfortunately, "The Mummy" franchise has since succumbed to disappointing sequels and Georgie Lucas decided to hand the hat to Shia Lebouef. But for those few years when "Mummy" was still great, and Indy was not present, there was hope that a new 1930's adventurer could save us from boredom.
5) The Crow (1994): Brandon Lee would have been a superstar. It was inevitable. He was good looking, young, talented, and a martial artist. With a few minor films under his belt, the young man (son of legend Bruce Lee) began work on "The Crow" which was based on the graphic novel of the same name.
I don't know of anyone who isn't either touched or haunted by all the irony of a film where a man returns from death, released after the death of the star.
Eric Draven is an amateur musician who witnesses the brutalizing of his woman before his own beating and death. Unable to rest in peace, Draven returns to our world a year after his death, to avenge the injustice committed against him and his bride to be. While handing out death with uninhibited savagery the truly amazing scenes are the ones of him and Sarah, his surrogate younger sister whom he and his fiancé Shelly, took care of while her crack whore mother shot up and slept with one of the very gang bangers who killed the couple.
When he finally has killed all of the killers, Eric is about to return to the other world, when he is forced back into action to save Sarah. Ultimately, the hero prevails and is reunited with his love. One of the darkest scenes in the flick is when Eric confronts his first victim, Tin Tin. After a short and brutal fight, the music stops and Eric tells the thug why he is killing him. It's a scene that sets the tone for the rest of the film. Also worth noting is the great performance by Michael Wincott as Top Dollar, the last adversary for Draven to face before the film ends. He is both likable and terrifying.
It's undeniable that after this movie Lee would have become one of the big ones, with a performance so intense you both root for and fear the dark avenger. While not yet in the Five Dollar Bin @ Wal-Mart, it can be picked up for roughly $10 and if you've never seen it, you should do so immediately!
So that’s five more ladies and gentlemen. I look forward to your feedback. I got my info from Wikipedia, IMDB.com, ebay.com, and google image.
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TheDurkinKnight
11/13/2009
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