I am of the opinion that it would have been an excellent idea to pass the “Die Hard” franchise over from John McClane to his daughter Lucy. That would not only have been a fantastic move for an iconic franchise but breathed fresh air in to a stale movie series. Mary Elizabeth Winstead could have proven herself as an action heroine, the series could have revived the idea that females can lead action movies, and we could have visited a brand new character from the McClane legacy who could have brought a bold new angle to the “Die Hard” series. Sadly, casting females in action movies is still considered bold and new. The producers missed out on a golden opportunity to really change the genre as a whole. Instead we’re given this.
Tag Archives: Adventure
The Comic Bucket List #2: Battle Chasers
“The Comic Bucket List” is a limited column where we review 25 comic books and graphic novels we’ve been meaning to read for years. We discover if they were worth waiting for, or if they never quite lived up to the hype they promised.
BATTLE CHASERS
1998
Joe Madureira, Munier Sharrieff, Adam Warren
Beware the Batman
No longer just a channel that plays cartoons non-stop, the Cartoon Network here in America now only really airs series that make returns on their investments. When not buying cheap animated shows from Canada, the Cartoon Network looks for shows that will garner profits from merchandise only. After their entertaining “Green Lantern” series and the critically acclaimed “Young Justice” failed to show a profit, the Network cancelled both series and replaced them with two substitutes guaranteed to make money. The first was a watered down version of their aught hit “Teen Titans,” and the next is yet another animated series starring Batman.
Song of the South (1946)
It’s become well known that Disney has an immense history with creating some of the most racist characters of pop culture. There’s their noted hatred toward the Jewish religion, and even the infamous lyric to “Arabian Nights” in “Aladdin” that reads: “Where they cut off your ears if they don’t like your face,” and that film came out in 1992. But many of them are considered rather irrelevant when you bring up the name Uncle Remus.
Pulse-Pounding Flicks – 8 Intense Features (DVD)
The Pulse Pounding Features from Mill Creek Entertainment offers up an eight movie set for the respective action buff looking to save a few bucks. This set features the extended cut of “The Replacement Killers” starring Mira Sorvnio and Chow Yun Fat as a retired hitman looking to flee to his home in China who is then hunted by other assassins.
“Truth or Consequences N.M.” stars Keifer Sutherland as a hostage kidnapped by four drug dealers who gains a fascination for their crime spree and begins putting his family in danger. “Love Lies Bleeding” centers on a down on their luck couple that stumble upon a load of cash after a violent shoot out in their building. When they flee with the money, they’re hunted by a crooked DEA Agent, and a detective intent on seizing the money for authorities.
Top Action Stars – 8 Movie Collection (DVD)
For the hardcore action buffs, Mill Creek Entertainment offers up an eight pack from fans of Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, and Dolph Lundgren. While a few of the titles are from their days of box office domination, the rest of the films are their more recent action adventures with one word titles to present a vague idea of what the movie entails.
Van Damme stars in “Universal Soldier: The Return,” the 1999 sequel to the classic action film where Van Damme must fight new soldiers in the form of Michael Jai White and wrestler Bill Goldberg. Though not as beloved as the original, it’s still a pretty decent follow-up. “Knock Off” stars Van Damme as a fashion designer who has to team up with Rob Schneider to uncover an illegal crime ring in the fashion world.
Independence Day (1996)
Roland Emmerich’s “Independence Day” is one quarter of a very decent albeit cliche alien invasion film, and three quarters an unwatchable adventure film. What opens with looming shadows and hovering space ships devolves in to a buddy comedy with catchy one-liners and plot twists much too convenient to buy. Even for a science fiction film about huge alien space ships. Apparently the government can see asteroids coming from miles away and predict when one will pass, but they can’t see space ships the size of two continents enter the atmosphere.