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Awix (3310 KP) rated Near Dark (1987) in Movies

Mar 19, 2018

Near Dark (1987)

1987 | Horror, Mystery, Western

7.6

(16 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Cult horror from Bigelow and the supporting cast of Aliens boldly reinvents the vampire movie by dumping all the gothic trappings (coffins, crucifixes, bats) and tapping into more contemporary fears: the movie's band of wandering killer rednecks would be frightening even if they weren't vampires.

Genuinely unsettling, very influential: to be honest the leads are less memorable than the character turns from Henriksen, Paxton and Goldstein, but you go to watch a vampire movie for the vampires, don't you? Works just as well as a western, in its own way, too. The movie that The Lost Boys dreams of being when it grows up.

Kudos

David McK (3505 KP) rated The Matrix (1999) in Movies

Dec 10, 2019

The Matrix (1999)

1999 | Action, Sci-Fi

8.4

(113 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

1999, the year that everybody expected Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace to be the best sci-fi movie.

It wasn't.

This was, instead.

Coming seemingly out of nowhere with an ingenious marketing campaign ("What is the Matrix?"), and with Keanu Reeve cementing his action man persona in lather and shades, this (I believe) was the first time that Western audiences was introduced to bullet time.

Very much Manga influenced ("I know Kung Fu"), and with a plot that owes more than a bit to Descartes philosophical "what is reality" question, this film soon launched a host of imitators and 2 not-as-good filmed back-to-back sequels.

Kudos

David McK (3505 KP) rated The Magnificent Seven (2016) in Movies

Mar 15, 2020

The Magnificent Seven (2016)

2016 | Action, Drama, Western

7.4

(33 Ratings)

Movie Rating

2016 remake of an 1960 Western (which I haven't seen), with that original often held up as one of the best Westerns out there and with it itself a remake (of sorts) of an earlier Seven Samurai's film (also haven't seen).

As such, I can't say how closely this compares to either of those two earlier films.

this one, however, has the always reliable Denzel Washington leading a disparate group of cowboys and Indians that includes man-of-the-(then)-moment Chris Pratt alongside a pre-Daredevil (TV version, that is) Vincent D'Onofrio against Ethan Hawke's ruthless gold miner, who is terrorising a small village.