Adams Movie Reviews

**1/2 In "The Godfather," Michael Corleone tries to convince his ex-fiance, Kay, that the Mafia does nothing that politicians, corporate businessmen and national leaders don't do - only the latter do it in secret and call their actions "legitimate."

This concept serves as the premise for "Empire," a film that puts forth the Corleonian notion that the ethos that operates in corporate boardrooms is no different from the one that holds sway in big time drug empires like the one young Victor Rosa operates. John Leguizamo gives a solid performance as Victor, a good looking, exceptionally powerful drug kingpin from the South Bronx who, after he meets a shrewd white Wall Street yuppie named Jack, tries to channel his moneymaking skills into a more "legitimate" direction. But Victor soon discovers that not only is it difficult for a person to leave his past behind him, but that even he isn't prepared for the venality and corruption he finds in the high stakes world of corporate greed.

With Victor providing reflective voiceover narration to accompany the action, the film feels a bit like a mini-"Goodfellas" in style and tone. The story is not without interest, but, unfortunately, the farther it gets away from its South Bronx setting, the less believable and more melodramatic it becomes. The early sections of the film, in which we see Victor operating his "enterprise," are by far the best. Writer/director Frank Reyes obviously knows whereof he films and he brings a chilling realism and sense of immediacy to this darkly lit world of drug deals, shootouts and senseless killings. Particularly interesting is the way Reyes explains the geography of the drug-dealing world, with each section of the city apportioned off to the exact square inch among rival "businesses." But as the story spins off in another direction, it loses some of its credibility and begins to feel less and less authentic and more and more contrived. The film is obviously intended as a cautionary tale, but we can't help but notice how much it has to sweat and strain to make its point.

In addition to Leguizamo, there are fine performances by Peter Sarsgaard, Denise Richards, Delilah Cotto and Isabella Rossellini. It's a pity that the film itself, for all its undeniable virtues, doesn't make as much of an impact as a whole as these performers do in pieces.

I'm a little biased towards this movie, because I'm a HUGE John Leguizamo fan. I'm obsessed with Freak, Super Mario Brothers, Ice Age, and just about everything else he's done. So when I saw the previews for "Empire", you better believe I was the first one standing in line at the movie theater on opening night.
Leguizamo plays Victor Rosa, a South Bronx Drug Dealer. The product he sells is called Empire (hence the movie title) and he's very successful in his business. Through his girlfriend, he meets a guy named Jack, an investment banker in Manhattan. Jack and Vic become chummy, and Vic decides to leave the street life behind and move into a swanky loft in Soho with his girlfriend and their unborn child.
Life with Jack is just peachy - Vic is making more money than ever before, he's happy as ever in his new environment, and things are going well with his girlfriend and the pregnancy. Then one day, Jack says he just came across a new investment opportunity, and if Vic wants to be a part of it, he needs to put in a minimum of $1.5 million dollars. Vic puts it in without hesitation, and this is where the plot thickens.
For those who havent seen it, I won't give away the ending. But let's just say Jack isn't as legit as he says he is.
My only complaint is that the plot "twist" was a little predictable, and the ending of the movie wasn't as spectacular as it was made out to be in all the publicity. But if you like gritty crime dramas chock full of suspense, revenge, and JOHN LEGUIZAMO, then this is definitely the movie for you.

The plot: Successful South Bronx drug dealer Vic (John Leguizamo), hooked up solid w/ a co-ed neighbor Carmen (Delilah Cotto), is looking to move up to the next level in business. At a party, Vic meets Jack, the whitebread stockbroker boyfriend (Peter Skarsgard) of Carmen's college buddy (Denise Richards). Vic envies Jack's class, connections, and bling bling. Vic and Jack do business, Jack cheats Vic, then fades. Vic vows revenge. Leguizamo has charisma to burn as Vic. Cotto wears Carmen like a favorite dress. Skarsgard is pefectly white as, well, whitey. Pretty formulaic.

So, why did I give it five stars? The deleted scenes.

If you follow the entertainment news even casually, you've read a million stories about great movies that turned into vile theatrical releases because the fickle test audience and/or egomanical studio head/director/star demanded cuts that transformed cinema gold into more film for the recycling bin. That's what's happened with Empire, but fortunately, the deleted scenes are included. With them, this by-the-numbers gangsta flick turns into a rich, nuanced classic, brimming with emotional truth and authentic, relatable Puerto Rican characters and culture. With the deleted scenes, you understand why Vic gives up everything to get ahead, why Carmen supports him, why Carmen's mother hates Vic, and why Jack is the whitest, sneakiest guy on the planet.

Clearly, Empire was edited for an audience of teenaged gangsta wannabes who don't want to question their assumptions about race, gender, and culture. It should have been released as a film for adults, a classic tragedy that ranks with White Heat, Little Caesar, Blood In Blood Out and American Me.

At least now we have the deleted scenes to help us understand what Empire was supposed to be. Here's hoping Franc. Reyes will have the opportunity to release a director's cut somewhere down the road. He and his actors deserve it, and so do we.

**1/2 In "The Godfather," Michael Corleone tries to convince his ex-fiance, Kay, that the Mafia does nothing that politicians, corporate businessmen and national leaders don't do - only the latter do it in secret and call their actions "legitimate."

This concept serves as the premise for "Empire," a film that puts forth the Corleonian notion that the ethos that operates in corporate boardrooms is no different from the one that holds sway in big time drug empires like the one young Victor Rosa operates. John Leguizamo gives a solid performance as Victor, a good looking, exceptionally powerful drug kingpin from the South Bronx who, after he meets a shrewd white Wall Street yuppie named Jack, tries to channel his moneymaking skills into a more "legitimate" direction. But Victor soon discovers that not only is it difficult for a person to leave his past behind him, but that even he isn't prepared for the venality and corruption he finds in the high stakes world of corporate greed.

With Victor providing reflective voiceover narration to accompany the action, the film feels a bit like a mini-"Goodfellas" in style and tone. The story is not without interest, but, unfortunately, the farther it gets away from its South Bronx setting, the less believable and more melodramatic it becomes. The early sections of the film, in which we see Victor operating his "enterprise," are by far the best. Writer/director Frank Reyes obviously knows whereof he films and he brings a chilling realism and sense of immediacy to this darkly lit world of drug deals, shootouts and senseless killings. Particularly interesting is the way Reyes explains the geography of the drug-dealing world, with each section of the city apportioned off to the exact square inch among rival "businesses." But as the story spins off in another direction, it loses some of its credibility and begins to feel less and less authentic and more and more contrived. The film is obviously intended as a cautionary tale, but we can't help but notice how much it has to sweat and strain to make its point.

In addition to Leguizamo, there are fine performances by Peter Sarsgaard, Denise Richards, Delilah Cotto and Isabella Rossellini. It's a pity that the film itself, for all its undeniable virtues, doesn't make as much of an impact as a whole as these performers do in pieces.

I'm a little biased towards this movie, because I'm a HUGE John Leguizamo fan. I'm obsessed with Freak, Super Mario Brothers, Ice Age, and just about everything else he's done. So when I saw the previews for "Empire", you better believe I was the first one standing in line at the movie theater on opening night.
Leguizamo plays Victor Rosa, a South Bronx Drug Dealer. The product he sells is called Empire (hence the movie title) and he's very successful in his business. Through his girlfriend, he meets a guy named Jack, an investment banker in Manhattan. Jack and Vic become chummy, and Vic decides to leave the street life behind and move into a swanky loft in Soho with his girlfriend and their unborn child.
Life with Jack is just peachy - Vic is making more money than ever before, he's happy as ever in his new environment, and things are going well with his girlfriend and the pregnancy. Then one day, Jack says he just came across a new investment opportunity, and if Vic wants to be a part of it, he needs to put in a minimum of $1.5 million dollars. Vic puts it in without hesitation, and this is where the plot thickens.
For those who havent seen it, I won't give away the ending. But let's just say Jack isn't as legit as he says he is.
My only complaint is that the plot "twist" was a little predictable, and the ending of the movie wasn't as spectacular as it was made out to be in all the publicity. But if you like gritty crime dramas chock full of suspense, revenge, and JOHN LEGUIZAMO, then this is definitely the movie for you.

The plot: Successful South Bronx drug dealer Vic (John Leguizamo), hooked up solid w/ a co-ed neighbor Carmen (Delilah Cotto), is looking to move up to the next level in business. At a party, Vic meets Jack, the whitebread stockbroker boyfriend (Peter Skarsgard) of Carmen's college buddy (Denise Richards). Vic envies Jack's class, connections, and bling bling. Vic and Jack do business, Jack cheats Vic, then fades. Vic vows revenge. Leguizamo has charisma to burn as Vic. Cotto wears Carmen like a favorite dress. Skarsgard is pefectly white as, well, whitey. Pretty formulaic.

So, why did I give it five stars? The deleted scenes.

If you follow the entertainment news even casually, you've read a million stories about great movies that turned into vile theatrical releases because the fickle test audience and/or egomanical studio head/director/star demanded cuts that transformed cinema gold into more film for the recycling bin. That's what's happened with Empire, but fortunately, the deleted scenes are included. With them, this by-the-numbers gangsta flick turns into a rich, nuanced classic, brimming with emotional truth and authentic, relatable Puerto Rican characters and culture. With the deleted scenes, you understand why Vic gives up everything to get ahead, why Carmen supports him, why Carmen's mother hates Vic, and why Jack is the whitest, sneakiest guy on the planet.

Clearly, Empire was edited for an audience of teenaged gangsta wannabes who don't want to question their assumptions about race, gender, and culture. It should have been released as a film for adults, a classic tragedy that ranks with White Heat, Little Caesar, Blood In Blood Out and American Me.

At least now we have the deleted scenes to help us understand what Empire was supposed to be. Here's hoping Franc. Reyes will have the opportunity to release a director's cut somewhere down the road. He and his actors deserve it, and so do we.

I recently saw this film on a movie channel, and although the film is pretty decent, the music makes it great! I found out that the composer is Christopher Young (who also did the score for 'HELLRAISER') and his haunting melodies are proof of how important the soundtrack is, in making or breaking a film!

...judging the movie by the book, why don't you just judge the movie on it's own. There is NO book-to-movie movie that is as good as the book, so to put the movie down for that reason is asinine. Movies like Jurassic Park and Lord of The Rings aren't as good as the books, but as stand-alone movies, they are WONDERFUL.
with that said, i very much enjoyed watching flowers in the attic and i would recommend it to anyone.

Just finish reading the book *Flowers in the Attic* and that book litterally blew me away! And even if i never saw the movie *but ordered it on DVD* i can't wait to see it and i know that it will not be as perfect as the Novel but again it is based on the Book so in my eyes it wont be anything less but good!

...these two movies are distinctly different, and only Arrival I is PG13. Arrival II, however, is rated R and contains an unecessary and EXPLICIT SEX scene with full frontal nudity during and after. This had nothing to do with the movie plot and since it was already an enormous flop from the first one, only tended to degrade it worse. If these were separate movies, I'd keep one and trash the other. As it is, I'm stuck for having bought them as a dual dvd. Don't waste your money.

Yes, it is movies about alien invasion. The original, while not out of this world film-making, is enjoyable in it's own right. Not overly done, and pretty simple storyline which is just enough to hold your attention. Hence, the follow up should have never been made. Nothing but bad acting, bad lines for lifeless, unemotional actors and special effects carried over from the first movie. All in all, I would say these two movies will surely be the drive-in B grade movies of this generation. No advice on buying, this one you will have to decide on, while I do suggest renting before you decide.

(warning: review will give spoilers for the original The Arrival, a great sci-fi thriller that I enthusiastically recommend)

The Arrival II is an unnecessary follow-up to the original, an inventive and suspenseful sci-fi thriller. Of course, unnecessary follow-ups are a rule of thumb, so a sequel to The Arrival seemed pretty inevitable, especially when you consider its ending. Too bad this "continuation" lacks all the qualities of its predecessors, namely in good writing, acting, and inspired direction. I actually purchased the Arrival II on DVD...as it was a double feature with the original. Before I even popped the film in, I was expecting ...from the first minute, so the best thing I can say is that the movie turned out to be a bit more watchable than I expected.

The Arrival II is set in Montreal, two months after the events of the original. Radio astronomer Zane Zaminski has died of an apparent heart attack, but he did manage to send out info of the alien invasion to his most trusted colleagues, as well as to his stepbrother, Jack Addison (Patrick Muldoon), and a news reporter (Jane Sibbett, Ross' lesbian ex-wife from Friends). This group becomes the targets of the aliens, until the only survivors are Muldoon and Sibbett, who go on the run together and try to expose the aliens' nefarious plans.

The Arrival II suffers distinctly from a lack of freshness, which is much needed in a sequel that's meant to continue a running story. All the material we have here is pretty much repeat. Basically, we know there are aliens out there disguised as human beings and they're whole goal is to terraform the Earth and mold it into an environment suitable for their own colonization. Oh, and let's not forget that spherical object with a strong vacuum pull.

Like the original, we've got our "intelligent" protagonist (we find this out because everyone keeps telling him he's smarter than he thinks) and blonde chick that plays as love interest. Problem is, these two are played by Patrick Muldoon and Jane Sibbett, neither of whom I've seen in anything on film or TV that suggests they can act. Muldoon is mostly expressionless, though occasionally has that "whoa, dude" act that would give Freddie Prinze, Jr. a run for his money. Sibbett is simply dreadful as the reporter. Let's put it this way, those who found Courtney Cox unconvincing as Gail Weathers in the Scream series will be shouting "Come back! All is forgiven!" The other performances aren't worth noting, except maybe Catherine Blythe, who gives the movie its sole bit of very gratuitous nudity.

The script has little to none of the intelligence of the original and it often mistakes scientific mumbo-jumbo as smart screenwriting. The plot's got a lot of twists and turns, mostly involving a guessing game of who's human and who's not. None of these little revelations are the slightest bit surprising, and they might even induce a few scoffs here and there.

The special effects on display range from pretty bad to hilariously awful, the worst bit probably being when one of the aliens reveals its true identity. There are a lot of other clunkers, such as the cheesy-looking holographic displays and the destruction of a power plant in the film's conclusion. Yeah, visual effects themselves usually don't determine a movie's quality, but they sure don't help the film here.

Directed by Kevin S. Tenney, the same guy who gave us the fun Night of the Demons, but has yet to have helmed anything worth seeing since then. For some reason, though, The Arrival II is still somewhat watchable (meaning you won't want to stab yourself in the eye), probably because the concept of aliens disguised as humans is intriguing enough on its own. Too bad this suspenseless and absurd sequel can't capitalize on the original's unique ideas.
* 1/2 out of *****

This movie looked really good and the previews were funny. So I decided to see it. What a mistake! This movie confused me from the beginning to the end, and guess what? All the funny scenes are given away in the previews. I dozed off and not because I was tired. Don't waste a movie night, don't watch this movie.

Serving Sara (2002) is a love story with many comic/tragic interludes.

Joe (Matthew Perry) is a process server who delivers legal papers and has a clueless life (makes wine at home but never seems to get it right for once). One day he serves elusive Sara (Elizabeth Hurley). But he has no idea what that was about and going to change his life and his Vineyard dream.

It's unquestionable there are some vulgar, absurd, "sad" moments in the movie; yet these numerous "tragic" events are there only to push the theme even further. Some direction here too may only be so much arduous as its succinctness and directness approaches the near "ancient" tragedy in the sense of Romans and Greeks. Much of it has to be sour, salty, melancholy in order to remove in the process some. As far as screen play goes there are some moments of pause and poetic inter-weavings do connect some loose moments and recovers for the audience some sense of momentum in the direction. Such scene as Joe pursuing Sara in the mid-town Manhattan, the plot-factoring by a "painting" (or life-size "canvas") which divides Joe and Sara, the secondary "key-tossing" between Joe and Sara, the inflection point of Sara's English accent, Elizabeth Hurley's sensitive character-to-real-life juxtaposition, no longer get the same disinterested response from me (so as the scenes involving the romance between Sara and Joe). Everything in this movie somehow coalesces into a well-posed juxtaposition of characters. Some ambitious raillery such as scene involving "Bull's Hind" is a recapitulation against the salt and sour humor and perhaps a reconfiguration of figures (many vulgar scenes with buffoons or "comedians": now the ersatz version, "bull") in the context. If early English/Roman/Greek theaters had not been accused of its comic folly it has now been redeemed somewhat by such carefree and modern association.

A vindication of comedy can go a long way. Likewise the tragedy, its comic errors and sadness, many trivial interludes, the intermixing of judiciousness and absurdity, a modern screen play might want to extend itself further into an abandonment and perhaps the very absurdity itself. But this movie, Serving Sara, is a classy one with "classic" (sensitive, caring, vulnerable) actors (Matthew Perry and Elizabeth Hurley). Its supporting casts too are great. Every detail in this movie is weighed and measured with great care. The chain of events that are led to the final getting-together of Joe and Sara in the Vineyard are portrayed with rationale good enough to be called a poetic justice (the fact Joe's dream has come true). Even to the very ending, there is a tight grip of humanity in the material. This movie is a questionable masterpiece with good workmanship and artistry.

Joe (Matthew Perry) is a process server who delivers divorce papers and has a clueless life (makes wine at home but never seems to get it right for once). One day he serves elusive Sara (Elizabeth Hurley). But he has no idea what that was about and going to change his life and his Vineyard dream.

I really loved Elizabeth Hurley, her BEING there, against all odds and appearances. Some tragic sadness is of small consequence when the movie later alters life without meaning to life with some meaning.

I would like to echo the other reviews here ... Universal has done an incredibly shoddy job on this DVD. The film is a good one ... not as good as The Far Country, but a respectable and enjoyable Western by the reliable Anthony Mann. The picture quality is often poor, and why the movie had to be panned and scanned when it was not widescreen to begin with is beyond me. Cost can't be an excuse ... the Hammer DVD's of The Curse of Frankenstein and The Horror of Dracula by other studios were similarly priced yet far better in quality. Universal should be ashamed of issuing a classic Western in this condition. I want my money back!

This is a great film but not a great dvd. I had a password issue at the start (which was fixed by just pressing stop on the player) and then the image quality ranged from really good to really poor throughout the film. For the price I paid I can't really complain but I will. As far as the image ratio goes, according to IMDB it was orginally shot in a 1.37:1 so at this format of 1.33:1 not alot is lost. Stewart didn't film a "widescreen" western until "The Man From Laramie" in 1957 if I am correct.

Good story, cast and scenery. Young Rock Hudson in supporting role was a hoot. Great color, no widescreen and have read varying reports as to whether it was shot in widescreen or not. If it is pan and scan, they did a good job of it. But enjoy it for it's own sake. No extras on DVD, but what you get is an entertaining story and for the price, it seems a reasonable deal to me.

Neill was just getting his feet wet in America when he signed on for this, the third installment in the lucrative horror saga, so he can be allowed a lousy film or two.

And this one is filled with "lice": underdeveloped characters, weird cinematography, blasphemously bad writing, and a poor score from music master Jerry Goldsmith after his two stunning ones for parts I and II.

This is only for those of us that want to complete the set.

The Final Conflict continues to carry the theme from the first two movies although the 'power' of this movie seemed diminished from the first two installments. I would have thought Damien would have ascended to a higher station in the world (e.g., President, leader of the UN) in the 'final conflict' between the forces of good and evil. The absence of an Armageddon type of scenario also took away from the magnitude this movie could have possessed. I wonder if a limited budget affected how the sreen play was developed? The sex scene was unnecessary although it appeared that Damien's relationship with the woman was part of his undoing. If one is interested in seeing an Armageddon version of Omen III go and rent Omega Code II - Meggido. David York plays a reasonable anti-Christ role and the special effects are somewhat more modern.

A slight tad worse than its two predeccesors, this film involves once devil child Damien Thorn (Sam Niel) thirty-two and ambassador to great Britain. However, unknown to his partner and hypnotized people, he is thwarting a revenge against Jesus. however, he must get rid of the priest's on his tail. This film is nicely entertaining, but SO WIERD! Many things are left hanging. Some (though not many) eerie moments and good acting help what could have been mess. New title: Omen III The Final Conflict. Next, and last, chapter: Omen IV The Awakening. Rated R

Without Demi Moore and Alec Baldwin, this script never would have made it to film. It is a run-of-the-mill story about a single mother (Demi Moore) who is being pressured by an organized crime figure (Alec Baldwin) to vote "not guilty" on a high profile trial. The mob's leverage is her love for her son. Yawn. But Moore and Baldwin turn in fine performances: Moore as the defiant, intelligent, and terrified Annie, and Baldwin as her sociopath handler. Baldwin is so convincingly creepy and so demented in his take on everything that the audience fears intensely for Annie's survival.

This film contains some honestly terrifying sequences. Unfortunately, the ending is weak, and you're left with few memorable scenes. While this film was definitely a good escape for a couple of hours, you might want to question whether it is worth purchasing to see more than once.

This high-profile star vehicle has decent suspense, unlike what reviews here will have believe, but little to recommend besides the lead performances -- Demi Moore is great (perhaps one of her best roles) and Alec Baldwin is very creepy as a three-dimensional villain.

After the usual Grishamesque legal session though, the movie gets somewhat needlessly protracted with Baldwin's character brutally murdering Moore's doctor friend, which begins a spree of semi-credible acts (including a supposed mafia boss being killed along with his three bodyguards, in broad daylight, in a public park. Yeah!) Until the mildly doozy finale in Guatemala, of all places.

Overall, definitely a one-time watchable film, but you may want to think twice before buying and owning it.

Last night I started watching this DVD and my wife soon put down her Harry Potter book because this movie drew her into the suspense. It pulls peoples attention into it because of the fine acting by Alec Baldwin and Demi Moore and a great storyline. The rest of the supporting cast are good as well.

The story is a fresh one, a juror is first courted then tormented by a hit man for the mob. Alec Baldwin is quite adept at being scary when he wants to be and charming as well. Demi is by no means a helpless beauty. She shows herself to be artistic, intelligent, and resourceful as well.

When first threatened she succumbs to the demands of "The Teacher", but when he murders her closest friend, she sets a course for revenge. If the mob can't help her she will enlist the assistance of her friends in South America. One gets a pretty good idea of how a womans inner strength can prevail over the worst evil.

The DVD includes extras and has excellent picture and sound quality. Anyone that enjoys suspense movies like "Witness", "The Client", and "Narrow Margin", or TV series like "The Sopranos" should like this movie. If you like this you might also enjoy Alec Baldwin in "The Shadow".

If your a male fan of Jodie Foster's and you saw this movie on cable, this version is a disappointment. A couple of the scene's showing her dynamite leg's were cut from this version. It's rated R, they show her topless, but they cut out the best leg scene's, go figure?

As a big-time Jodie Foster fan, I try to watch any movie she appears in, yet I left BackTrack sitting on my shelf for basically several years before popping it in the old VCR (and, for the record, I have the 1992 Director's Cut version on VHS). After hearing a reviewer I respect heap praise upon this film, I knew there must be something there that never came across to me on the box cover. Actually, the film was better than I expected, yet it is not a film that distinguished itself in my eyes as anything very special. Jodie Foster is, of course, terrific as always; Dennis Hopper does not wig out too many times; and a most interesting cast of characters come and go along the way. The problem I have is with the characterization, which is not sufficient in my eyes to describe the transformation of Jodie Foster's character in the course of the events that play out.

Foster plays Anne Benton, an up-and-coming young artist (who uses a most unusual medium for her art) who forgets all about the front tire that blows out and almost causes her to wreck her car when she accidentally witnesses a gang-land hit. Luckily, the Mafia bad guys in this movie can never seem to hit a moving target, so Anne escapes and goes immediately to the police, unaware of the true nature of this particular homicide until two hit men break into her home in an attempt to kill her and the police start expounding upon the virtues of the federal witness protection program. She decides to make a run for it and try to build a new life elsewhere on her own. The police want her as a witness, and the Mafia family run by Mr. Avoca ( an aged Vincent Price) just wants her silenced. The Mafia man for the job is Milo (Dennis Hopper), an accomplished hit man who begins tracking Anne down as she moves across the country. By the time he finds here, though, Milo has fallen in love with her, which is something of a no-no for a man in his profession. He and Anne do not seem to be a natural match by any stretch of the imagination, and thus their evolving relationship just never makes complete sense to me, especially from Anne's perspective, and this is my main point of contention here with the film. Anyway, the movie-long chase has to end somewhere, and the filmmakers do succeed in pulling off a pretty satisfying conclusion.

BackTrack does deserve better than the relative obscurity in which it has lain, although I would not consider this a great film by any means. It is worth a look just for the surprising number of famous faces that grace the screen; besides Foster and Hopper you will see Charlie Sheen, Dean Stockwell (who speaks in one of the most ridiculous put-on voices I have ever heard), the aforementioned Vincent Price, Joe Pesci, and none other than Bob Dylan. I love Bob Dylan and his music, but he really does not possess the charisma or talent necessary to be an actor. Still, it is quite a hoot to see him pop up unexpectedly in the film in a small but quite memorable little scene. All told, BackTrack does have a few interesting things to show the viewer above and beyond the sight of a young Jodie Foster working her magic in front of the cameras (without her clothes at one point, for those who care about that sort of thing). I would not rush out and try to find a copy of the movie, but if it ever passes your way, it is certainly worth a couple hours' of your free time.

We rented this video of the movie Backtrack starring Dennis Hopper who also directed and Jodie Foster. It was a very strange movie and I don't always like movies that are strange but I liked this movie a lot and highly recommend it! Jodie Foster plays a woman named Anne who is a conceptual artist who saw a mob hit and becomes the target of a hit man named Milo played by Dennis Hopper, Milo has been hired to kill her and he stalks Anne and kidnaps her but winds up falling in love with her. It is a very interesting movie but it isn't for everyones taste but I think if you give it a chance you might like it and I think the critics are too hard on this movie!

I am disappointed to hear that the DVD is crummy, I hope they make a better wide-screen DVD that is not edited and has real wide-screen and not fake wide-screen.

If you are a fan of Bob Dylan you might be interested to know that he has a small roll in this movie, he plays an artist friend of Jodie Foster's character.

If your a male fan of Jodie Foster's and you saw this movie on cable, this version is a disappointment. A couple of the scene's showing her dynamite leg's were cut from this version. It's rated R, they show her topless, but they cut out the best leg scene's, go figure?

As a big-time Jodie Foster fan, I try to watch any movie she appears in, yet I left BackTrack sitting on my shelf for basically several years before popping it in the old VCR (and, for the record, I have the 1992 Director's Cut version on VHS). After hearing a reviewer I respect heap praise upon this film, I knew there must be something there that never came across to me on the box cover. Actually, the film was better than I expected, yet it is not a film that distinguished itself in my eyes as anything very special. Jodie Foster is, of course, terrific as always; Dennis Hopper does not wig out too many times; and a most interesting cast of characters come and go along the way. The problem I have is with the characterization, which is not sufficient in my eyes to describe the transformation of Jodie Foster's character in the course of the events that play out.

Foster plays Anne Benton, an up-and-coming young artist (who uses a most unusual medium for her art) who forgets all about the front tire that blows out and almost causes her to wreck her car when she accidentally witnesses a gang-land hit. Luckily, the Mafia bad guys in this movie can never seem to hit a moving target, so Anne escapes and goes immediately to the police, unaware of the true nature of this particular homicide until two hit men break into her home in an attempt to kill her and the police start expounding upon the virtues of the federal witness protection program. She decides to make a run for it and try to build a new life elsewhere on her own. The police want her as a witness, and the Mafia family run by Mr. Avoca ( an aged Vincent Price) just wants her silenced. The Mafia man for the job is Milo (Dennis Hopper), an accomplished hit man who begins tracking Anne down as she moves across the country. By the time he finds here, though, Milo has fallen in love with her, which is something of a no-no for a man in his profession. He and Anne do not seem to be a natural match by any stretch of the imagination, and thus their evolving relationship just never makes complete sense to me, especially from Anne's perspective, and this is my main point of contention here with the film. Anyway, the movie-long chase has to end somewhere, and the filmmakers do succeed in pulling off a pretty satisfying conclusion.

BackTrack does deserve better than the relative obscurity in which it has lain, although I would not consider this a great film by any means. It is worth a look just for the surprising number of famous faces that grace the screen; besides Foster and Hopper you will see Charlie Sheen, Dean Stockwell (who speaks in one of the most ridiculous put-on voices I have ever heard), the aforementioned Vincent Price, Joe Pesci, and none other than Bob Dylan. I love Bob Dylan and his music, but he really does not possess the charisma or talent necessary to be an actor. Still, it is quite a hoot to see him pop up unexpectedly in the film in a small but quite memorable little scene. All told, BackTrack does have a few interesting things to show the viewer above and beyond the sight of a young Jodie Foster working her magic in front of the cameras (without her clothes at one point, for those who care about that sort of thing). I would not rush out and try to find a copy of the movie, but if it ever passes your way, it is certainly worth a couple hours' of your free time.

We rented this video of the movie Backtrack starring Dennis Hopper who also directed and Jodie Foster. It was a very strange movie and I don't always like movies that are strange but I liked this movie a lot and highly recommend it! Jodie Foster plays a woman named Anne who is a conceptual artist who saw a mob hit and becomes the target of a hit man named Milo played by Dennis Hopper, Milo has been hired to kill her and he stalks Anne and kidnaps her but winds up falling in love with her. It is a very interesting movie but it isn't for everyones taste but I think if you give it a chance you might like it and I think the critics are too hard on this movie!

I am disappointed to hear that the DVD is crummy, I hope they make a better wide-screen DVD that is not edited and has real wide-screen and not fake wide-screen.

If you are a fan of Bob Dylan you might be interested to know that he has a small roll in this movie, he plays an artist friend of Jodie Foster's character.