Director Report Card: John McTiernan (1999) Part 1

8. The 13th Warrior

By 1999, John McTiernan was not the hit-maker he was once. Though he had bounced back with the third “Die Hard” movie, the stink of “Last Action Hero” still hung over his career. His reputation was about to take another blow. “The 13th Warrior” began production as “Eaters of the Dead.” Based on a novel by best-selling author Michael Crichton and headlined by proven star Antonio Banderas, the film was initially budgeted at 85 million. During filming, the budget ballooned over 100 million. Feedback from test screenings were negative, necessitating further re-shoots. McTiernan was let go from his own movie, with Crichton shooting a new ending. When the film opened, it only grossed 60 million, making it one of the biggest flops in cinema history. Did “The 13th Warrior” deserve to bomb so hard?

Arab poet (and real historical figure) Ahmad ibn Fadlan is gingerly exiled from his country following an affair with a nobleman’s wife. Assigned as an ambassador to the far north, Fadlan soon falls in with a band of Norse warriors. The vikings are summoned to protect a kingdom under siege by strange attackers. A fortune teller insists that a 13 men go on the journey and one of them must not be a Norseman. Fadlan joins the strangers on a quest into foreign territory were they face down an army of seemingly inhuman monsters, a primitive race that eats the flesh of men.

Back in high school, my English class read “Beowulf.” Most of my classmates hated the assignment but I loved it. A bad-ass Viking warrior fighting monsters and a dragon was right in my wheelhouse. Like most cinematic adaptation of the ancient story, “The 13th Warrior” approaches the text from a revisionist angle. The film tells the “true” events behind “Beowulf.” The titular hero is re-named Buliwyf. The monster Grendel becomes an entire tribe of monstrous men, called “Wendol.” The dragon’s role in the story is replaced with a last wave of attackers. By telling the Norse legend through the eyes of an outsider, a man that brings the written word to a verbal culture, the famous story is framed in a new context.

The same story element also makes “The 13th Warrior” a culture clash story, of sorts. At first, Ahmad doesn’t even speak the same language as his brothers in arms. The Norseman mispronounce his name as “Ebn.” They mock him as an outsiders. Their ways are, similarly, strange to him. They compare his smaller horse to a dog and laugh as his inability to wield a giant Viking sword. Yet Ibn shows how fast and agile his horse can be. He sharpens the bulky broadsword into a more-to-his-liking scimitar. By the end, the warriors have accepted the Arab as one of their own. It’s not a novel story but it is an effective one.

Even when I was in school, “Beowulf’ was examined less for its story and more for its linguistic importance. “The 13th Warrior” incorporates this element into the material as well. As a poet, Ibn is frequently writing. Buliwyf has never seen anything like this before. He asks the Arab how he can turn sounds into symbols. If you can overlook the factual error there – the Norse alphabet dates back to at least 200 AD – it’s an interesting display of how ideas transfer from culture to culture. Ibn brings Muslim belief and ideas to a culture previously unaware of them. We tend to think of the past as stationary. Yet cultures were interacting all the time, trading new ideas and concepts. “The 13th Warrior” does a solid job of illustrating this.

As a star vehicle for Antonio Banderas, the film plays up many of the actor’s appealing attributes. Despite the obvious disconnect of a Spaniard playing an Arab, Banderas is well suited to the part. As the story begins, Fadlan is an intellectual. This puts him at odds with his traveling companions. As an experienced Latin lover, Banderas has no problem with this material. By this point in his career, Antonio had already starred in swashbucklers like “Mask of Zorro” and bad-ass action flicks like “Desperado.” As Ibn develops into a warrior, Banderas gets to show off those skills as well. Even while hacking through monsters, he gets to maintain that erudite edge, making him more than just a typical action hero.

As solid as Banderas is in the lead, the supporting cast is less defined. The film makes little attempts to distinguish the other twelve warriors. Vladimir Kulich has a striking physicality as Buliwyf. Kulich’s glaring eyes come in handy when playing up the character’s mythic importance. Dennis Storhoi as Herger, the Viking who can speak Latin, is Ibn’s earliest friend. As the story progresses, the two become even closer. As for the other members of the clan? There’s an especially burly one and an archer. Beyond that? I’ve got nothing. I know thirteen is a lot of characters but the film could’ve gone a little further to develop the rest of the cast.

As a monster fan, “The 13th Warrior’s” treatment of Grendel is especially interesting to me. The singular monster is re-imagined as a small army. The Wendol are presented as a still lingering clan of Neanderthals, with wider noses and thicker brows. They dress in bear skins, their faces hidden by heavy hoods. They were giant claws on their hands, easily slashing their enemies apart. Though the Wendol are not literal monsters, their behavior is still certainly monstrous. They slink in and out of the shadows. In one scene, an attacker easily tears a man’s head from his shoulders. Their lair is decorated with the skulls of their dead prisoners. Most macabre is their habit of eating the flesh of those they defeat. Though you can’t overstate the appeal of a giant monster, the Wendol is an interesting variation on the classic archetype.

Perhaps another reason “The 13th Warrior” flopped is because it was a big and bloody, R-rated action movie in the age of CGI spectacle. By 1999, that kind of entertainment was already on the way out. Early on, Buliwyf cleaves a man’s chest open, spraying blood across the room. For the first hour, the action in “The 13th Warrior” successfully escalates. When the Wendol attacks the mead hall, there’s a chaotic flash of blades through the darkened room. Heads are removed, limbs are severed, and bodies are run through. The tone of that sequence successfully recalls the horror movies McTiernan got his start with. A duel between two men features lots of shattering shields and dynamic tumbling, concluding with another swift decapitation. The middle of the movie receives a bold exclamation point when the Wendol attack the Viking fort. There’s impalement, arrows and spears flying everywhere. The fire silhouetted against the black night gives the sequence a dramatic presentation.

As an epic action story, John McTiernan’s directorial trademarks are present and accounted for. The camera rarely stands still, smoothly surveying the action sequences. Blades and arrows are followed as they fly through the air. Once or twice, the blurry quality that showed up in “Die Hard with a Vengeance” appears again. McTiernan’s moving camera makes the action scenes tense and the quieter moments serene. Another attribute of the director, the use of foreign languages, also appears. Much of the Vikings’ dialogue goes without subtitles, at first. The transfer of languages is literally visualized when Ibn, after watching the Vikings talk for an evening, picks up on their speech. McTiernan utilizes a similar trick to what he did in “The Hunt for Red October.” At first, they speak Norse. Slowly, recognizable words slip into their conversation. Finally, as the camera focuses on their mouths, they start speaking English. Clever beats like that is something McTiernan rarely gets credit for.

After more than an hour of solid action and amusing culture clash antics, “The 13th Warrior” builds to its apparent climax. Buliwyf, Ibn, and the other men sneak into the Wendol’s lair. There’s an exciting sequence where they swing under a waterfall. A battle among a field of bones is another high-light. However, how “The 13th Warrior” handles Grendel’s Mother in an underwhelming fashion. A female elder dips her claw in some snake venom. She dances around Buliwyf for a minute, scratching him once, before he cuts her head off. The story seemingly ends there and, in McTiernan’s original cut, maybe it did. Instead, an extraneous extra act is tagged on. A sick Buliwyf and the remaining men take on the Wendol army. This battle only lasts a few minutes as well. Both of these elements wraps up an otherwise satisfying film on a slightly sour note.

The reason “The 13th Warrior” seemingly went so hideously over-budget, besides the re-shoots, is its extravagant production design. But you can’t say the money isn’t on the screen. “The 13th Warrior” looks great. The film’s world is extremely detailed. The villages, mead halls, and forts are full of minutiae. The mud, grit, and natural wood of the environment sets the film in a clear time and place. Aside from the awesome production design, the film also features a pretty good score. Graeme Revell composed the original score, which was rejected by second director Michael Crichton. Jerry Goldsmith wrote the music featured in the final film. Though I’m sure Revell did a good job, Goldsmith’s score is fantastic. The themes are rousing, recalling a classic sense of cinematic adventure.

McTiernan’s original vision of “The 13th Warrior” hasn’t emerged and it’s unlikely it ever will. The version released to theaters isn’t a masterpiece. However, it’s still a solidly entertaining film, a satisfying mixture of historical epic and low fantasy adventure. A movie like this probably never would’ve become the huge hit the studio needed it to be. But if it had been brought in for a lot less money, I suspect it probably would’ve done alright at the box office. Not quite an overlooked gem or a cult classic, “The 13th Warrior” is still a fun way to spend an evening. [Grade: B]

Director Report Card: John McTiernan (1996)

7. Die Hard with a Vengeance

After a high-profile flop like “Last Action Hero,” John McTiernan retreated to the safety of a proven franchise. The director skipped the second chapter of the “Die Hard” series in favor of “The Hunt for Red October.” His reputation stinging from a costly disappointment, a third John McClane adventure was what he needed. “Die Hard with a Vengeance” continued the franchise’s popularity. Unexpectedly, it was also quite good. For a while, I even considered part three the best of the series, which is not an exactly uncommon opinion. I’ve softened a bit on the third chapter a little over the years but the film still dies hard.

In the heat of a NYC summer, John McClane is summoned by a villain. Hung-over and newly estranged from Holly, the cop is targeted by a new criminal mastermind. Calling himself “Simon,” the man has placed bombs all over the city and demands McClane play humiliating, deadly games. Paired with a Harlem pawn shop owner, John races to complete Simon’s tasks and save innocent lives. The vengeance comes in when John discovers that Simon is Hans Gruber’s brother. And using terrorist activity as a cover for bank heists is apparently a family tradition.

By 1996, the “Die Hard on an X” action troupe was well played out. You know the sub-genre was dead because the same year saw the release of “Skyscraper,” which was “Die Hard” starring Anna Nicole Smith. Anyway, “Die Hard with a Vengeance” smartly toys with the series’ formula. Johne McClane and the enemies he fight are no longer confined to a single location. Hero and villain alike are given a whole city to play in. John isn’t going it alone either, as he’s given a sidekick. Yet screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh knows what to keep. The bad guy is, once again, a thief posing as a terrorist. In order to avoid the blatant repetition of “Die Hard 2,” it’s personal between John and the bad guy this time. Starting life as an original script called “Simon Says” – which was also considered for a “Lethal Weapon” sequel – the film still feels like a “Die Hard” movie without blatantly copying the original.

Except, perhaps, in one aspect. At the end of “Die Harder,” John and Holly had patched their relationship up. The two were actively married again. At the start of “Die Hard with a Vengeance,” Mr. McClane has seen better days. He’s living alone again, back in New York, and has developed a drinking habit. Is that a betrayal of the character’s development or just proof that John and Holly simply couldn’t make it work? John’s humanity is also starting to fade, as he only gets the shit really beaten out of him once or twice. Either way, Bruce Willis remains entertaining in the part. He’s an expert at deploying one-liners and sarcastic asides. Like whispering corrections to the police chief, concerning his drinking problem. Or making chit-chat about Santa Claus before nailing some baddies. Even when hung-over, John McClane’s normal man charm is maintained.

Perhaps realizing the established series formula and Bruce Willis’ charms were not enough to further the franchise, “With a Vengeance” adds elements from another stalwart action sub-genre. Joining John on his adventure is Samuel L. Jackson as Zeus Carver. Since McClane is now an action hero, giving him a normal human sidekick was a smart decision. Zeus is frequently incredulous at the crazy circumstances he winds up in. Per the conventions of the buddy movie, the two hate it each other at first. John accuses Zeus of being racist against white people. Zeus takes every oppretunity to call his partner on his bullshit. By the end, they’re laughing and joking around. Samuel L. Jackson has a lot of fun as a comedic straight man, screaming profanity with a sweaty face.

You could boil the third film down to a catchy log line: “Die Hard in a City.” Unlike the same shit happening a second time in an airport, moving the action into the city totally changes the dynamic. Willis and Jackson have to navigate a crowded New York City. One sequence has the heroes delayed by a street choked with taxi cabs. This forces John to think his way out of crazier situations. The nature of the script also keeps the characters moving. John and Zeus are racing from one objective to the next, always against the clock and an unpredictable adversary. This keeps the tension up, the action continuously escalating, while forcing the cast to use their brains.

After taking a break in “Medicine Man” and “Last Action Hero,” John McTiernan’s directorial trademarks return along with John McClane. The filmmaker’s camera rarely sits still in “With a Vengeance.” While running through a subway car, the camera follows behind Bruce. During a car chase, the camera is attached to the whirling vehicles. Even during the slower moments, McTiernan keeps us moving, the camera prowling around corners or up buildings. Some times, the action is so frantic that things get a little shaky. Yet even when bouncing with energy, McTiernan’s direction remains focused and clear. The way “Die Hard with a Vengeance” is shot is engineered to keep the audience excited.

Considering both previous films featured explosive action, the third “Die Hard” movie has a high bar to clear. Luckily, the sequel is up to the task. McClane running through the subway train car, grabbing the bomb, is a suspenseful scene that concludes with a big ass explosion. A combination car chase/shoot out works really well, featuring shattering glass and twisting fenders. It too ends fantastically, with John and Zeus’ car flipping through the air. A similar moment has the duo climbing across a cord above a moving boat. Sticking with series’ expectations, John still narrowly avoids a massive explosion, this time leaping into the Hudson River from the booming ship.

My favorite action beat involves an underground tunnel filling with water. A wave races towards the cop, the truck he’s driving slowly being consumed by the liquid. A daring escape involves a well-place grate and a tunnel. The conclusion includes a big ol’ explosion too. That’s cool stuff but the smaller scale moments in “With a Vengeance” works a little better for me. Such as John struggling in an elevator, reaching for a gun while surrounded by attackers. Keeping a tradition that started with Karl the Kraut alive, the hero also gets a close-quarters fight scene with the bad guy’s main henchman. It’s the only time John really gets beaten in this one, tossed around and whipped with chains. I appreciate the film including that.

By moving the “Die Hard” franchise into the buddy cop genre, the third entry in the series features more humor than either of its predecessors. Much of it comes from the interaction between Zeus and McClane. Their first scene together, of John surviving Simon’s racist prank in Harlem, provides some jittery laughs. Later, the two have to reach a pay phone. A fat woman stands in their way. That moment concludes with both leaping away from a reportedly booby trapped trash can, which is another cruel prank from Simon. The movie makes great use of Samuel L. Jackson’s comedic abilities. His repeated insistence that John is racist, accusing him of stereotypical behavior, pays off nicely. Such as a discussion about hot-wiring a car or picking a lock. The two play off each well, when forced to measure out gallons of water. Considering the story is quite tense, the humor balances the tone out.

The biggest way “Die Hard 2” trailed behind the original was in the villain category. Perhaps aware of this, the second sequel introduces a new member of the Gruber family. Simon Gruber is nearly as awesome a bad guy as his brother. He’s equally cruel, joyously playing games of chances with other people’s lives. Both brothers are master manipulators, toying with an entire city as part of his ploy. Simon spends most of the film as a voice on over the phone, mocking his enemy with evil glee. The seal on Simon’s status as a worthy opponent was the decision to cast an actor nearly as awesome as Alan Rickman. Jeremy Irons digs into each line he’s given with calculated delight. His best moment occurs when McClane and Gruber discuss how big of an asshole Hans was. Irons is a worthy successor to the mantle of “Die Hard” villain, making the third film a memorable experience.

If “Die Hard with a Vengeance” has any obvious flaw, it’s that the script maybe spreads itself too thin. The movie frequently cuts away from John and Zeus’ adventure. We see Gruber and his men sneak into the Federal Reserve, cutting down the guards in their way. Many scenes are focused on the NYPD attempting to protect Gruber’s potential victims. While the scenes outside Nakatomi Plaza in the original were directly involved with John’s adventures, these scenes in “With a Vengeance” feel a little too disconnected from the hero and villain’s conflict. The supporting cast, which includes solid actors like Graham Greene and Collen Camp, are fine. It’s not really a flaw but, with these sequences cut down, “Die Hard 3” would’ve been an even tighter machine.

It’s not really fair to say “Die Hard with a Vengeance” is better than the original “Die Hard.” It’s not as clever, fresh, or visceral as that first movie. However, it’s still an extremely exciting sequel. Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jeremy Irons all work excellently together. McTiernan’s direction remains sharp. The action is big, bold and exciting. A fourth film wouldn’t come along for many years, meaning fans long assumed “Die Hard with a Vengeance” was the final John McClane adventure. It wouldn’t have been a bad note to end the series on, not at all. [Grade: B+]

Director Report Card: John McTiernan (1993)

6. Last Action Hero

In 1993, Arnold Schwarzenegger was still the biggest movie star in the world. His previous film, “Terminator 2,” shattered box office records, cementing the reputation the action icon had been building since the early eighties. After the success of the second “Terminator,” Arnold’s next movie was expected to be an equally huge hit. That next movie was  “Last Action Hero,” a self-reflective parody of not just Arnold’s career but all the then-excesses of the action genre. John McTiernan choosing to direct the film is just another example of its self-aware quality. McTiernan had provided Arnie with an iconic hit with “Predator” and revitalized the entire action genre with “Die Hard.” The film had seemingly everything going for it…

Danny is a lonely kid, living in a bad part of New York. He doesn’t care much for school, his apartment gets broken into frequently, and his single mom chastises his behavior all the time. Danny’s only escape from his grim realities is movies. In particular, the action movies of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He frequently skips school to spend all day at the theater, with the help of the eccentric projectionist. While watching a sneak preview screening of “Jack Slater IV,” the latest entry in Arnold’s star franchise, that very same projectionist slips Danny a magic movie ticket. At first, the boy doesn’t think much of it. When he slips into the world of Jack Slater, he realizes it actually works. The kid has fun exploring the insane action movie universe and befriending his fictional hero… Until the movie’s one-eyed villain gets his hand on the stub and enters our world.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has always been one of the more self-aware action heroes of his generation. Arnold starring in a parody of action flicks is almost unnecessary. In retrospect, if it hadn’t codified many of the rules of the genre, “Commando” would play like a parody of eighties action. There was always a glimmer in his eyes and a smirk on his face. In the early nineties, “Total Recall” and his comedies showed he was already willing to play with his hyper-macho image. With “Last Action Hero,” he goes meta. The film plays with its own status as fiction. Characters cross the fourth wall. (Though if there’s a fiction inside the fiction, does that make it the third wall?) Entering Movie World is enough premise for most films but “Last Action Hero” only uses that as a launching pad. The movie is as much about a normal human entering a fictional world as it is about fictional characters entering the real world.

Despite its heavily meta-fictional story, “Last Action Hero” doesn’t engage much with the meaning of these ideas. The existential dread a fictional character must feel from discovering he isn't real is only briefly touched on. The movie begins by killing off Jack’s son. That his tragedies, struggles, and entire life are entertainment to higher beings only briefly pisses the hero off. The implication of a fictional world existing on some other level aren’t elaborated upon. The biggest joke occurs after the story’s villain enters our world. He discovers that the real world is more callous then the world of eighties action. Moreover, he realizes that crimes can go unpunished in our world. Besides that, “Last Action Hero” does not attempt to read any deeper into fiction’s meaning to us and what it means if these stories could interact with us. The potential subtext is reduced to a gimmick.

Instead, “Last Action Hero” is a ridiculous parody of action films. The world of “Jack Slater” is exaggerated beyond the point of plausibility. Recalling the “Death Wish” series, the plot of “Jack Slater IV” is motivated by the death of the cop’s favorite second cousin. Presumably, this is because they’ve already worked through the rest of his family. Danny is launched into this world during the middle of a car chase. Here, we see a mook tossed into an ice cream truck, which then explodes, killing another baddie with an errant cone. Jack drives up the walls of a canal, launching his car into the air. A game of vehicular chicken ends with a body sticking straight-up out of a dumpster. There are some funnier, subtler gags here. When the bad guys attempt to drive up the same canal, they crash and burn. During the car chase, there’s a prominently placed Coca-Cola truck, the kind of product placement a movie character must be used to. However, most of the movie’s blatantly comic scenes are too self-aware, too winkingly goofy, to be genuinely funny. Even the most ridiculous eighties flicks were never this silly.  “Last Action Hero” is too in on its own joke.

A further example of the movie overdoing its own joke is the world Jack Slater inhabits. In the movie-within-the-movie, every house in L.A. is beautiful sea-front property, a fancy Italian villa. The police station is a huge, elaborate set. “Much nicer” then the real police station, Danny notes. Here’s a good example of a potentially amusing gag stretched too far. In the movie, every woman is beautiful, statuesque, long-legged and big-busted. However, the gag’s taken too far, every female dressed in ridiculous, revealing outfits. Another gag that could have been funny if underplayed more involves the other cops. In the background of the police station, unlikely partners are paired up, each one with a more preposterous buddy. That’s a funny idea, especially when the various partners include an overweight guy, a rabbi, the ghost of Humphrey Bogart, and a cartoon cat. However, the film drills the joke into the ground, draining it of laughs. When a script seemingly congratulates itself on a funny gag, the gag stops being funny. (At least “Last Action Hero” has the balls to make Whiskers, the cartoon cat, a supporting character instead of just a cameo.)

The only joke in the movie that isn’t overdone is the character of Jack Slater himself. At first, you might not even notice the central joke. Jack always wears alligator-skinned cowboy boots, tight jeans, a red muscle shirt, a brown leather jacket, and a patriotic belt buckle. The constant deaths of family members is obviously a riff on the “Death Wish” series and its protagonist Paul Kersey. Slater’s cowboy cop behavior is a take-off on Dirty Hary and his more extreme eighties cousin Cobra. You’ll notice all of those characters have one thing in common: They’re Americans who neither look nor sound like Arnold Schwarzenegger. So “Last Action Hero” is poking fun at Arnold’s tendency to be cast as all-American action heroes when he himself is obviously not. (Another funny gag is the closest where Jack keeps multiple, identical copies of his standard outfit… And all of his guns.)

Despite being a ridiculous spoof, “Last Action Hero” tries to play the relationship between Jack Slater and the kid for real emotion. As in any ridiculous action film, the mismatched partners start to care for one another. Jack watches out for Danny and vice-versa. In the last act, trapped in the real world, Jack nearly dies, causing Danny to shed tears. It’s a weird thing to see in a movie that is otherwise so goofy. Occasionally, the film explores Danny’s relationship with the fictional hero. He attempts to get Jack to say an R-rated word in his PG-13-rated world. While learning about “Hamlet” in literature class, Danny imagines a Schwarzenegger-starring take on the Bard’s story, with the required explosions and one-liners. That’s the funniest bit in the film and it comes early on. Had the film explored why young boys are so enamored of bigger-then-life movie stars like Arnold, or pursued the attachments fans can have to movie stars, it could have gotten at something deep. Instead, the story’s heart is full of schmaltz and the film’s potential is unformed.

Sometimes, the extensively self-aware action sequences produce some decent laughs. The bad guys attempt to corner Jack in his own home. They shoot huge holes in the walls, somehow missing the guy. He takes a shotgun round to the chest but survives, thanks to a magical bullet-proof vest. The best attribute to this scene is Michael Kamen’s score, which ebbs and flows with the action on-screen like a grown-up Mickey Mouse cartoon. Even this scene is damaged by an out-of-nowhere reference to “E.T.” Later on, there’s an extended scene at a mobster’s funeral. There’s some funny gags here, like everyone in the procession packing heat or the kid wondering how to operate a crane. However, I could have done without the extended fart joke. 

Apparently the first draft of the script was set entirely within the movie world and explored the consequences of a crazy action hero’s action. The filmed version of “Last Action Hero” has Slater and his archenemy escaping into our world. Weirdly, the movie gets a little better at this point. Jack suddenly discovers he can be hurt. He hears classical music for the first time in his life, loving it. Watching Charles Dance’s villain learning the callous ways of our world is worthwhile. When Jack has to confront the Ripper, a psychotic madman from his previous film, “Last Action Hero” begins to resemble a straight-up action movie. This is, oddly, more successful then the overdone comedy of the first half. Lastly, these scenes gets Arnold on-camera with the only actor to ever match him in charisma… Himself. Mr. Schwarzenegger doesn’t fight Mr. Schwarzenegger but it is amusing to see the Austrian Oak play off his real life persona, with jokes about Planet Hollywood, M.C. Hammer, and Jim Belushi. Even a last minute cameo from Ian McKellan as Ingmar Bergman’s Death is interesting in its own way. It’s easy to imagine a better version of “Last Action Hero” focused solely on the fictional characters navigating our real world. At the very least, it ends the movie on a high-note.

So how does Arnold do? Schwarzenegger has always been willing to poke fun at his own image. He had already done it twice before this, in “Twins” and “Kindergarten Cop.” Watching Arnold goof around is nothing new, as even his quote-unquote serious roles has him cracking silly one-liners. Schwarzenegger is at least convincing in the double role as Jack Slater and himself. He gets a few weirdly earnest moments to himself, like when the character discusses his dead kid or how pathetic his personal life kind of is. Austin O’Brian as Danny was fairly heavily criticized at the time but the kid does fine. He’s likable and seems to be having fun playing against Arnold.

Another high-light of the film is its villain. Charles Dance plays Benedict, the main bad guy. Though obviously a parody of refined British villains in low-prestige pop corn flicks, like Hans Gruber from McTiernan’s own “Die Hard,” Dance truly goes for it. He hams it up beautifully, having a great time as a big screen bad guy. It doesn’t hurt that Benedict gets a series of great gimmicks. He goes through a variety of glass eyes, wears a fancy white suit, wields an absurdly big handgun, and belittles his own boss. (Played by Anthony Quinn, also making fun of his tendency to get cast as crime bosses.) Tom Noonan plays the Ripper, another example of the foreboding star playing a psycho. The Ripper seems in awfully high spirits for a greasy psychopath. His collapsible axe is a really cool weapon. Another fun bit of meta casting is F. Murray Abraham as a dirty cop. Danny tells Jack not to trust the guy because he “killed Mozart,” one of the film’s few reoccurring gags that it doesn’t wear out.

Aside from noted thespians like Abraham, Dance, and McKellen, the film’s supporting cast is full of other interesting names. “Running Man”-graduate Professor Toru Tanaka also pokes fun at his own image, basically playing Oddjob. Art Carney, in his last screen role, is the eccentric projectionist that Danny befriends. Carney didn’t let his advancing age hide the obvious joy he got from performing. Frank McRae sure does have a ball screaming his lungs out as the police chief. Future Sonya Blade Brigitte Wilson plays Slater’s oversexed teenage daughter. She’s awfully nice to look at and Wilson seems to be on the film’s level. Whether or not she’s poking fun at playing a bubble-headed blonde or is just playing a regular bubble-headed blonde might be up for the audience to decide.

So the actors are having fun and there’s an occasional gag that lands. However, “Last Action Hero” is ultimately nowhere near as funny as it should have been. Perhaps McTiernan, a filmmaker better known for more-or-less serious takes on the action genre, was the wrong director for the film. Or maybe the over-hyped, over-processed film was an inevitable victim of the studio system. One suspects that the earlier drafts were edgier, funnier, and more focused. As it stands, “Last Action Hero” is an interesting failure, one full of potential, but brought down by its own smugness and an indecisive tone that fluctuates between spoofy parody and more on-the-nose satire. [Grade: C+]

Director Report Card: John McTiernan (1992)

5. Medicine Man

You’d think that after the tough time the cast and crew had making “Predator,” John McTiernan would not be eager to return to the jungle. Instead, McTiernan re-teamed with Sean Connery to make “Medicine Man.” The script, from the screenwriter of “Dead Poet’s Society” and “What About Bob?,” was purchased for three million dollars, a hefty sum at the time. What attracted McTiernan to the material, I don’t know. A slightly comedic drama, it features few of the elements you usually associated with the director. Though a decent money-maker at the box office, “Medicine Man” received lousy reviews.

Years ago, chemist Robert Campbell disappeared into the Amazon rain forest, searching for further miracle cures. Rae Crane, a chemist working for the same company, is sent into the jungle to find him. At first, the two don’t agree on much. Campbell is regarded as a shaman, a medicine man, by the local tribe he’s living among. Soon, Crane realizes that Campbell has discovered a cure for cancer. After finding the formula, he has since lost it. The two work together, slowly developing romantic feelings for one another, trying to recreate the miracle cure and prevent the forest from being encroached upon by modern society.

Once again, I find myself discussing the early nineties mania for saving the rain forest. Why were we so obsessed with protecting South American eco-systems in the early part of that decade? This was after the collapse of the Soviet Union but before Middle Eastern extremists emerged as our new cultural boogeymen. Likewise, a new awareness of other countries’ strifes became apparent to us. During that time, we had to occupy ourselves with something. Why not save a really pretty, interesting part of the world? “Medicine Man” is more subtle than most of the pro-rain forest propaganda of the time. It’s more occupied with the wonder of the location. Inevitably, how at risk the jungle is comes up, easily ear-marking it as part of the genre.

As a star vehicle for Sean Connery, “Medicine Man” breaks little new ground. Robert Campbell is introduced drunk, wearing a toucan mask on his head. Campbell is something of an outsider, willingly exiling himself from modern society. He gets a tragic backstory, including a dead wife. At the same time, Campbell is always the smartest person in the room. Connery gets show off his wit and toughness, living easily in the exotic location and belittling others about it. Connery’s effortless charm counts for a lot. However, Sir Sean doesn’t stretch his abilities and the script doesn’t give him much oppretunity to do so.

When “Medicine Man” was released, much of the criticism at the time was directed at Lorraine Bracco. Coming off a supporting Oscar nomination for “GoodFellas,” Bracco was seen as stepping outside her boundaries. At first, Bracco is fine in the film. She’s reasonably tough, returning everything Connery gives her in turn. As the film progresses, an embarrassing side emerges to the character. Bracco yells at a snake in her hut. After drinking a natural caffeine-filled liquid, Bracco runs through the mountains, yelling and goofing off. Afterwards, her character increasingly becomes the butt of the movie’s jokes. She spends the last third with a blue line drawn on her face. She is grossed out by an alcohol partially made from human saliva. Whether this is the result of the script or Bracco’s performance is hard to determine. Either way, it has a negative affect on the movie.

I was really hoping “Medicine Man” wasn’t going to become a romance. Crane and Campbell work better as friends. Primarily, this is because Connery and Bracco have zero romantic chemistry. When researching or trading verbal barbs, the two work together fine. When starring longingly into each other eyes, it falls apart. The romantic angle emerges suddenly, when Connery begins describing a drawing he’s made of Bracco. The two locking lips in the final reel does not feel earned. The love story almost feels like the result of a re-write, wedged in to please some uneasy test audience.

As a boy, “Medicine Man” was one of my Mom’s favorite movies. When asked about this, she admitted this had little to do with the film’s story or characters. Mostly, she just thought the scenery was really pretty. That much certainly is true. Despite being set in the Amazon rain forest, the film was actually shot in Mexico. A key moment has the two main characters standing atop a hill, overlooking the jungle and mountain peaks in the distance. Another scene is set in the tree tops, the characters moving along the gorgeous, green foliage. If one of “Medicine Man’s” goal was to get viewers to care about the rain forest, it succeed just by showing how beautiful a location it is.

Not being an action film, there’s not many opportunities for John McTiernan to show off his visual trademarks in “Medicine Man.” He still manages to squeeze in some fluid, dolly shots. While Campbell and Crane explore the tree tops on zip lines, McTiernan’s camera spirals around beneath them. It’s a nice shot, in addition to establishing the scope of the scene. Shortly afterwards, the two sliding down a tree is dissolved against blips on a computer screen. While this stuff works, later moments make the odd stylistic decision to strip the audio away. This is more melodramatic than anything else and not McTiernan’s best decision.

“Medicine Man” is at least partially a comedy. Some of these moments are better than others. Connery golfs inside the jungle, the tribesman retrieving the missing balls. While discussing Crane off-screen, another set of natives tease Campbell about his growing attraction to the woman. Some of the dialogue between Connery and Bracco amuses. An early exchange involving a guinea pig is cute. A reoccurring gag about cigarettes pays off nicely at the end. Probably the funniest moment in the film involves Campbell dueling with the tribe’s original medicine man. A haphazard duel results, the two men whacking each other with sticks. Every time Rae distracts him, he suffers a crack against the body or a thump on the foot. These aren’t belly laugh producing moments, exactly. Yet they mildly amuse.

The comedy is uneven and some gags are too broad. However, “Medicine Man” is even more inconsistent as a drama. A subplot, concerning a corporation building a road through the jungle, is introduced far too late into the film. That story line pays off in a hopelessly overwrought scene. Characters tumble around in slow motion, fist fighting while a fire blazes behind him. Though undeniably dramatically shot, the scene reaches for emotion the movie doesn’t earn. Scene set the next morning, of the characters digging through the smoking wreckage, would work better if the audience was more invested in the cast.

I can’t decide if “Medicine Man” would have been better or worst had it embraced its destiny as a Serious Movie. Responsible management of the rain forest’s resources is an important message to send. “Medicine Man” approaches this topic in a manner that’s a little too touchy-feely. The natural resources of the jungle are treated as almost magical. It literally “cures cancer,” an unlikely proposition. The climatic reveal of the cure’s secret ingredient is hackneyed, a far too easy resolution to what would surely be a complicated solution. If you squint, you could see “Medicine Man” making a statement about man responsibly co-exisitng with nature or corporations’ exploitation of the Earth’s wonder. Neither are expanded into defined points though.

Critics didn’t have too many positive things to say about “Medicine Man.” However, one aspect was frequently singled out. Jerry Goldsmith’s score is quite good. Goldsmith mixes some very pretty instrumental styles. Whimsical horns and strings provide a sense of wonder to the appropriate moments. The use of sparse woodwind or drums suggests the exotic location without overdoing it. The more mysterious moments add a dramatic electronic beat, creating a nice sense of mystery. Soft, inspiring, and melodic, Goldsmith’s score probably deserves a more consistent movie.

”Medicine Man” is essentially built around two performances, as they’re few characters in the film besides Connery and Bracco. Ultimately, the characters’ dynamic is not enough to sustain an entire feature. McTiernan wanting to step outside the action movies he had already become associated with was admirable. “Medicine Man” is a good looking film, with a nice soundtrack, and a handful of effective moments. An uneven script and a mismatched leading lady keeps it from rising above. [Grade: C+]

Recent Watches: Predator 2 (1990)

“Predator” was a genuine blockbuster in its day, propelled by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s star power, its explosive action and gory special effects. The central alien threat especially caught the public’s imagination. A series of comic books published by Dark Horse first began in 1989 and has run continuously, in one form or another, for the last twenty years. The comics proved popular enough that 20th Century Fox eventually started production on a sequel to the original film. The first comic series, retroactively re-titled “Concrete Jungle,” was an obvious influence on 1990’s “Predator 2.” Both stories see the alien hunter heading to a different location, a chaotic, crime-riddled city. Though not as theatrically successful as the first film, “Predator 2” has developed a following of its own.

In the year 1997, Los Angeles is experiencing a brutal crime wave. Rival Colombian and Jamaican drug cartels have turn the streets of the city into a war zone. The police population can barely control the violence, even with tough guy cops like Mike Harrigan on the case. The city is also experiencing an intense summer heatwave. The combination of hot weather and violent crime attracts the attention of another Predator, who begins to kill the drug lords. Harrigan at first suspects a vigilante is behind the crimes but soon discovers something unearthly is responsible. Interfering government agents are also after the creature for very different reasons.

The Predator’s iconic look was the result of a last minute re-design, giving little time for Stan Winston’s effects studio to fine-tune the creature’s design. For “Predator 2,” the studio had far more time to prepare for the movie. As a result of this and typical sequel escalation, the titular threat in “Predator 2” has more toys to play with. There’s a nifty net gun, with threads sharp enough to cut the captor’s face. The alien’s gauntlet now includes a blaster that fires two-pronged spear heads. My favorites are the rotoscoping spear and the self-guiding razor-bladed Frisby of Death. Since this is a different Predator then the one in the first, his look is slightly different. His skin has a different hue, his dreadlocks are rattier, and he has more fangs on his mandibles. (His mouth is also more disturbingly gynecological.) I’m fine with all of this. What bothers me slightly is the alien’s newly gained ability to speak, which he shows off twice.

There’s no clear fan consensus on “Predator 2,” though most seem to like it well enough. There’s one element where the sequel is obviously weaker then the original. The film was directed by a guy named Stephen Hopkins. An Australian filmmaker, Hopkins had previously made an obscure slasher flick called “Dangerous Game” and the inferior “A Nightmare on Elm Street 5.” He would later gift the world with several “Tales from the Crypt” episodes, “The Ghost and the Darkness,” and “Lost in Space.” I like a few of those movies but one thing is obvious after watching the sequel: Stephen Hopkins is no John McTiernan. The action direction in “Predator 2” frequently borders on incoherent. The opening gun fight is chaotically edited. When the Predator attacks two rival drug gangs, it’s not always obvious whose shooting at whom. The worst moment is when the Predator takes out an entire subway train full of armed commuters. Flashing between the light and shadow of the tunnel might have seemed like a clever way to build tension. Mostly, it just makes the scene difficult to follow. While Hopkins occasionally creates a memorable image, most of “Predator 2” is shot in the same flat, undistinguished fashion.

As originally scripted, “Predator 2” was going to feature Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch Schaefer once again. The production, budgeted at the same price as the original, was probably unable to fulfill Arnold’s then 30-million dollar paycheck. To fill the role of hero, Danny Glover was brought in. Filmed in-between the second and third “Lethal Weapon” movies, Glover gets to play a cop very different from that series’ straight-laced Roger Murtaugh. For that matter, Mike Harrigan more closely resembles Mel Gibson’s Martin Riggs. Like that character, Harrigan is a wild card cop. He disobeys his boss’ orders to stop sticking his nose in the case. He pursues the Predator mostly as a matter of revenge, believing it responsible for the death of his friend. The part is more action oriented then Glover’s usual roles, given the actor plenty of opportunities to blast bad guys, cover himself in guns, climb down the sides of skyscrapers, and tussle with the main alien. Glover maintains a sense of humor throughout, gifting Harrigan with some fun characterization. He’s no Arnold but he makes for an amusing action hero.

“Predator 2” is smart enough to fill its supporting cast with actors from other memorable eighties action flicks. Taking up prime real estate among the cast is Bill Paxton. Paxton is on a similar page as Hudson from “Aliens.” Like Hudson, Jerry Lampert is a braggart and a joker. He’s constantly hitting on the female characters, providing silly comedic anecdotes. Unlike Hudson, he doesn’t freak out when under pressure and goes down fighting. Paxton brings a lot of humor and character to the small part. (This is the part that also gave Paxton the distinction of being the only actor killed by a Terminator, an Alien, and a Predator, at least until Lance Henriksen matched his record.) Playing the hard-ass government agent after the alien’s tech is Gary Busey. Producer Joel Silver had previously cast Busey as the bad guy in “Lethal Weapon,” giving this franchise another connection to that one. Busey is nicely manic in the part, as expected, butting heads with Glover. Maria Conchita Alonso, last seen as the love interest in “The Running Man,” and Robert Devi, last seen as the bad guy in “Licence to Kill,” also show up. Heck, I even like Morton Downey Jr., playing a variation on his actual public persona.

Another thing to like about “Predator 2” is the way it expands on the series’ mythology. The creature’s ethics are further revealed. When faced with a little kid wielding a plastic gun, the Predator determines the toy is harmless and doesn’t attack the child. Later, he spares the female cop’s life because he realizes she’s pregnant. In the final act, Glover successfully de-arms the hunter, leading him to retreat to his space ship. Not only do we get to see the inside of the Predator’s ship, earlier we got to see his trophy wall, filled up with all sort of exotic alien skulls. (Including a xenomorph skull, a reference to the “Alien vs. Predator” comic series.)  After Harrigan defeats the Predator, his entire tribe slinks out of the shadows. As a further display of their warrior honor, the aliens let the human go. The tribe leader gifts him with a flintlock from the 1770s, another suggestion that these creatures have been coming to Earth for a long time. All of this stuff would be further elaborated upon in the comics, novels, and video games. And it’s pretty neat, showing that a lot of thought went into this silly monster movie.

That last act is pretty satisfying, with Glover slicing the creature up with his own destructo-disc. There’s some decent humor too, when the alien unexpectedly drops in on an old lady. The future year of 1997 is mostly accurately displayed. The only obvious sci-fi element are the slightly modified guns the cops wield. “Predator 2” is not as smoothly directed as the original and the action isn’t as cool. The creature effects are good, the lead actor is solid, and the script is distant. It’s not as good as the first but makes for an all-right sequel. [7/10]

Recent Watches: Die Hard 2 (1990)

A movie as successful and well received as “Die Hard” was always likely to spawn a sequel. 20th Century Fox seemingly planned the film as a franchise-launcher from the get-go. The box office receipts from the first film mustn’t have cooled too long. Production on the sequel rolled along quickly. Not quite two years later, “Die Hard 2” exploded into theaters. Director Renny Harlin had previously helmed flashy, low budget genre fare like “Prison” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street 4.” Harlin’s abilities to deliver the goods on-time and under budget, without sacrificing the crowd-pleasing theatrics, surely made him an attractive filmmaker to the studio. Released with a tagline that most assumed to be a pitch perfect subtitle, “Die Harder” was actually a bigger hit than the original. John McClane would die hard for years to come.

A year after the Nakatomi Tower incident, John McClane finds himself traveling to the east coast during Christmas time. Holly, their romance renewed, have plans to meet at an airport near the nation’s capital. Once again, John McClane is in the wrong place at the wrong time. A plot by rogue soldiers to intercept a flight carrying a Central American warlord unfolds inside the airport. The terrorists strand the planes in the sky above the landing strip, holding them hostage until the government ensures the banana dictator’s freedom. McClane is the monkey in the wrench a second time, doing what he can to foil the villains’ plot.

“Die Hard 2” is boldly derivative of the first movie. Two years in a row, John McClane is trapped in an isolated location beset by a terrorist faction. Holly is held hostage, imperiled by the bad guys. It’s even Christmas again. What are the odds that he’d wind up in more-or-less the same situation twice in his life? John even comments on the absurdity of history repeating itself. “Die Hard’s” own sequel is as shameless about ripping off the original as the countless rip-offs were. For as closely as part two copies the first, the script is nowhere near as smooth. The original “Die Hard” had a plot hole or logic gap or two. The sequel hinges on the ridiculous assumption that an airplane would circle in the sky around the airport until it ran out of fuel, crashing and burning. Wouldn’t an emergency landing be performed, even in treacherous weather or without a clear landing pad? Better yet, why didn’t the plane just fly to any of the other near-by airports? Nitpicking logic in an action sequel is a dog’s errand but “Die Harder” can’t help but ring the audience’s bell, drawing attention to its own flaws.

Something that defined the original “Die Hard” was how much damn punishment Bruce Willis suffered. “Die Harder” is less willing to bloody McClane’s body. He doesn’t even bleed until the very end. He’s hardly superhuman though. Both films begin by contemplating McClane’s humanity. In one, he’s airsick on a plane. In two, the first scene shows his car getting towed. John has plenty of close calls. In one scene, he’s pinned beneath a falling awning, reaching for a gun slowly approaching on an escalator. A little later, he pokes his head out on a runway, the wheels of an airplane nearly touching down atop his head. John is still flying by the seat of his pants, frequently improvising an escape or a way to dispatch an enemy. More importantly, Bruce Willis is still great in the part. When flirting with a desk secretary or chatting with Al over the phone, he still shows incredible charm. His way with a one-liner might have actually improved, such as bits about a lack of chlorine or a perfectly deployed yippee-ka-yay. The plot may be blatantly imitative but watching Bruce do his thing still offers plenty of entertainment value.

Renny Harlin is not as good a filmmaker as John McTiernan. McTiernan’s fast-paced camera work is traded out for melodramatic slow motion. Renny really likes guys falling backwards through things, flipping through their death throes. While “Die Hard” alternated between explosive action and down-to-Earth beatings, “Die Harder” focuses exclusively on shit blowing up. I’m not complaining, necessarily. The first action beat, inside the baggage claims back room, makes good use of tight corners and mangled machinery. A shoot-out among scaffolding is well executed, with some John Woo-esque diving, shooting, and flailing bodies. The biggest set piece involves Bruce riding an injector seat out of a plane as it explodes beneath him. No doubt that’s fun, generating some okay tension. A snow mobile chase also nicely shows how McClane improvises his way out of trouble, involving a slushy lake and some more booms. It’s all solidly amusing. However, one sequence, where a plane full of innocents crashes and burns, is far too mean spirited. There’s a big difference between one or two bystanders dying and an entire plane of passengers bursting into flames. Kind of brings the mood down.

“Die Hard 2” trails behind the original in another way too. The sequel doesn’t even attempt to create a villain as cool as Hans Gruber. William Sadler and Franco Nero aren’t push overs. I mean, one’s the Grim Reaper and the other’s Django. Sadler is scary as psychotically committed mercenary. Nero, meanwhile, coolly executes those that get in his way, operating like a serious villain. Neither have the style, humor, or personality of Gruber though. Truthfully, the script’s disinterest in defining them any more makes them slightly boring. A twist involving another group’s loyalties is easy to guess. There’s still some fun to be had in the supporting parts. Dennis Franz is delightfully obnoxious, playing off his established image, as the man that inconveniences John’s quest. William Atherton returns as Richard “Dick” Thornburg, who is even more of a delightful asshole. Bonnie Bedelia certainly gets more to do as Holly, this time.

If “Die Hard 2” was a stand alone action flick, it would easily hit the spot. It was even conceived that way, starting out as an adaptation of the unrelated novel, “58 Minutes.” The sequel has a cool hero, some entertaining set pieces, plenty of humor, and moves at a nice clip. As a sequel to one of best action movies of all time, it can’t help but pale in contrast. It’s not as taunt, exciting, fun, or clever as the first. Hewing so closely to the original’s formula was a mistake as well, making comparisons unavoidable. Yet you can’t judge a film for what it’s not. Try not to think about “Die Hard 1” too much and the sequel will certainly amuse. [7/10]

Director Report Card: John McTiernan (1990)

4. The Hunt for Red October

When Tom Clancy died in 2013, he was a brand name. The novelist had lent his name to video games, TV shows, board games, movies, and other books he didn’t actually write. Even after his death, many of those series have continued. He’s one of those authors that were hugely popular without being especially important, favored by grandparents and airport patrons in need of something to read. None of that was true in 1984 when his debut novel, “The Hunt for Red October,” was published. An immediate success, the novel was quickly optioned for a film adaptation. Despite Clancy’s popularity, it would take until 1990 for the movie version of “The Hunt for Red October” to arrive. The film was also a huge success, one of the top grosser of the year. For director John McTiernan, it was his third big hit in a row, further proof that the action auteur’s success wasn’t a fluke.

Marko Ramius, captain of the Soviet submarine Red October, intends to defect from his country. In order to do so, he murders a political officer and essentially steals the experimental sub. With the ability to travel undetected by sonar, the Red October approaches America. Both countries react. CIA analyst Jack Ryan is convinced Ramius is defecting, despite fears in the U.S. that Ramius may attempt to start World War III. Russia fears the same and sends another sub to exterminate the Red October. Ryan and U.S. submarine Dallas approach the Red October, hoping his hunch is right.

By the time the movie of “The Hunt for Red October” came out, the Cold War was basically over. The filmmaker got around this by making the movie a period piece. The tension of the Cold War is a driving force behind the story. Both the American and the Soviet governments fear that Ramius intends to launch a nuclear war. Steering a submarine into American waters is enough to inflame tensions. Yet “The Hunt for Red October” isn’t a story of the stars and stripes versus the sickle and hammer. Ryan’s empathy with Ramius stays the military of both countries. The two men, from opposite sides of the conflict, find a common ground. Cold War tensions characterize the story but the ability for enemies to put aside their differences is the story’s heart.

“Red October” is also more plot driven than any of McTiernan’s previous films. “Predator” and “Die Hard” had premises that could be boiled down to a single sentence. “Red October” follows three or four major plot lines, each with characters of their own. Ryan and Ramius don’t even meet until over half-way through. There are many narrative false leads and double-crosses. The script follows events on three different submarines and in two different continents. For a while, the audience isn’t even sure of Ramius’ loyalties. With a slightly less clear script, “The Hunt for Red October” probably would’ve collapsed into convoluted nonsense.

Since most of the film is set on different, similar looking submarines, McTiernan deploys a clever trick. Each ship is color-coded. All the Red October scenes are filtered through cool blue, the Apollo sequences are given a neutral color, and the scenes on the enemy Russian sub are a siring red. Another clever trick the director employs concerns the Russian ship mates. At first speaking their own language, they switch over to English following a slow-zoom in on one man’s mouth. Even before Ryan comes aboard, there are other problems on Red October. There’s a saboteur on the Red October, which disables their caterpillar drive. McTiernan’s fast paced direction keeps the sequences compelling, the camera moving quickly inside the tight confines.

“The Hunt for Red October” is also very well paced. The scenes aboard the Red October bristle with a quiet tension. The moments involving Jack Ryan’s pursuit of Ramius propel the plot forward. Yet McTiernan and his team make room for quieter moments. Many of the earlier scenes aboard the Apollo are almost comfy. The introduction to Courtney B. Vance’s Seaman Jones, the audio analyst aboard the sub, has him sharing his affinity for classical music. Vance is one of the more underrated elements of the film. A character going on about aquatic audio, whale songs or underwater seismic activity, could have been dull. Vance’s easy-going attitude helps these more far-out plot aspect go down easier.

“Red October” was probably sold to masses as a vehicle for Sean Connery, who was riding a career revival following “The Untouchables” and the third “Indiana Jones” flick. Despite playing a Lithuanian, Connery makes no attempt to disguise his famous Scottish brogue. While Connery gets to play action hero, shattering a man’s throat, his best moments are more quiet. A monologue about how he widowed his wife when he became a sailor is effectively dramatic. As good as Connery is in that scene, Sam Neill nearly steals the scene. His discussion about how life will be in America, about trucks and wives, is both funny and touching.

Along side such a domineering screen presence as Sean Connery is Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan. Ryan is technically the protagonist of the film. His willingness to trust Ramius is what holds the plot together. “The Hunt for Red October” came during the brief time when Baldwin was still a viable leading man. The part actually calls for Ryan to dial back the brooding intensity he’s known for. Ryan is instead an intellectual family man. He’s not one for action, as airplane rides make him sick. When the script calls for him to pick up a gun and fight a bad guy in the last act, it doesn’t seem to fit the character. Baldwin’s not bad. He has good chemistry with Connery. When whispering sarcastic asides, Baldwin is fine. Still, he’s undeniably not the eye-catching actor in the film.

A decent supporting cast holds up the leads. Scott Glenn is good as the surprisingly down-to-Earth captain of the Apollo. He’s ability to bring a reasonable aspect to any authority figure is well utilized. James Earl Jones brings a little bit of humor to what is otherwise an undefined mentor part. Tim Curry plays a nervous crew member of the Red October, playing off his ability to be amusingly flustered very well. Jeffrey Jones’ eccentric qualities are brought to the part of a submarine expert.

The submarine sequence would be praised at the time of release. While some of the special effects haven’t aged the best, the model work is still fantastic. The movie mines the underwater combat scenes for some decent sequence. An early scene, of the Red October nearly avoiding a torpedo while navigating an underwater canal, is mildly suspenseful. The titular submarine’s “caterpillar drive,” a silent engine, is the plot device that motivates the film. Much attention is paid to the drive being sabotaged and how it will affect the ship’s travel. Another scene has a torpedo nearly striking the boat, exploding just before it hits the target. A sequence, revolving around a smaller sub docking with the Red October, also generates some okay tension.

It all leads up to the climax, the only time “Red October” can truly classify as an action movie. While Ryan pursues the saboteur through the innards of the boat, bullets ricocheting off the sub’s interior, the rival Russian ship fires at them. McTiernan’s skills as an action director elevates this scene, his quick-cutting making it seem more frenzied than it actually is. The boats trading fire is actually rather so paced. The way the enemy submarine is destroyed occurs in murky waters, stern men shouting instructions off-screen. Despite being difficult to follow, the sequence still works reasonable. It ends “The Hunt for Red October” on an exciting note.

Basil Poledouris provides the score. Poledouris created some of the most powerful eighties action scores ever, the “Conan the Barbarian” soundtrack being his crowning achievement. Poledouris’ music draws extensively from the Soviet national anthem. When sung by a barrel-chested choir, it makes for quite a rousing piece of music. The instrumental reprises drives up the tension during the film’s action sequence. While not as immediately hummable as Poledouris’ best work, it is still a solid piece of music and suits the film.

Like Tom Clancy’s source novel, “The Hunt for Red October” is a page-turner. It captivates, excites, and amuses. It also doesn’t linger in the brain very long. Still, it provided McTiernan with another success, furthering his reputation as the biggest action director of the time. Other directors, and actors, would attempt to extend the Jack Ryan franchise. The other films have done well but none of them have totally replicated this one’s success, critically or commercially.  [Grade: B]