Huffman, David

Ice Castles

Not half-bad, this lightly engaging, potboiler romance concerns an ice skater (Lynn-Holly Johnson) who loses her vision in an accident but goes on to excel on the ice with the support of the guy (Robby Benson) who loves her. When she takes up with some rich schmuck, however, intertwining problems in her work and in love throw a shadow over everything. Nice performances, nice skating--the whole thing is a pleasant distraction. --Tom Keogh

The beloved three-hankie tearjerker starring 1970s teen heartthrob Robby Benson and Lynn-Holly Johnson ICE CASTLES is a classic story of love triumphant over tragedy. Alexis "Lexie" Winston (Johnson) is a pretty teenage figure skater and Olympic hopeful who seems destined for greatness. Encouraged by her coach Beulah (superbly portrayed by Colleen Dewhurst) Lexie strives to be her best. Her father (Tom Skerritt) has his misgivings but Lexie skates her way to the finals. Just as Lexie's headed for the top she suffers a freak accident. With the love and support of her childhood sweetheart Nick Peterson (Benson) Lexie transforms her personal misfortune into a heartbreaking victory. Powered by a swelling Marvin Hamlisch score and Melissa Manchester's smash hit theme song "Through the Eyes of Love" ICE CASTLES is an inspirational drama guaranteed to leave a lump in your throat.System Requirements:Running Time: 109 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG UPC: 043396062023 Manufacturer No: 06202

F.I.S.T.

Considering that Sylvester Stallone's first film of any real distinction was Rocky, an Academy Award winner for best picture and an instant classic, it's a safe bet that he had free rein when it came to his next project. In F.I.S.T. (released in 1978), he chose a vehicle that matched him with a big-time director (Norman Jewison of In the Heat of the Night and The Thomas Crown Affair renown), a screenwriter on the verge of stardom (Joe Eszterhas, whose future would include Flashdance and Basic Instinct), and veteran actors like Rod Steiger, Peter Boyle, and Tony Lo Bianco. Yet while F.I.S.T. is filmmaking on a grand scale, it also has the underlying themes that made the Rocky Balboa saga such a hit, particularly the plight of the common man as he struggles to maintain his dignity in the face of daunting odds. Stallone portrays Johnny Kovak, a blue-collar worker in late 1930s Cleveland who joins the nascent Federation of Inter-State Truckers (the Teamsters, basically) and rises up through the ranks until, a couple of decades later, he becomes the union's head honcho. Along the way, his ambitions lead to an alliance with organized crime, and while Kovak is an essentially decent fellow, the compromises he's made eventually catch up to him in the form of an investigation by a grandstanding, blowhard U.S. Senator (Steiger) and big trouble with an oily mob boss (Lo Bianco). All of that takes quite a while to play out; at 145 minutes, the movie is too long, especially considering that Jewison and Eszterhas (Stallone co-wrote the script) take an approach that's no more nuanced and subtle than, well, a flying fist. It also seems somewhat dated; viewing it now, in an era when CGI and other effects wizardry would have greatly enhanced some of the bigger scenes (a truckers rally in Washington, confrontations between union members and strike-breaking thugs), one is reminded more of a '70s TV movie that the epic the filmmakers clearly intended to create. The DVD includes no extras. --Sam Graham

Sylvester Stallone stars in this hard-hitting, boldly ambitious drama that powerfully reveals a significant slice of American history. As union leader Johnny Kovak, Stallone's performance confirmed his stature as one of Hollywood's hottest stars. Closely paralleling history, the film follows the rise and fall of Kovak, from his beginnings as an idealistic blue-collar worker to his final position as head of one of the country's most powerful unions: the Federation of Inter-State Truckers. But there are no unscarred heroes in this world. To achieve his dream of justice for the working man, Kovak must accept the muscle of organized crime. Ultimately, F.I.S.T. is a story of idealism corrupted and betrayed. Oscar® winner Rod Steiger (1967 Best Actor, In the Heat of the Night), Peter Boyle and Brian Dennehy are featured in the fine supporting cast. Directed by Norman Jewison, with Laszlo Kovac's darkly moody cinematography and a heroic score by Rocky composer Bill Conti, F.I.S.T. is "a particularly American kind of epic" (Vincent Canby, The New York Times).

Firefox

You can tell Clint Eastwood is getting old by all of the "retired" characters he plays who are pressed back into service, as in this early '80s effort. It's one of Eastwood's lesser action entries, in which he served as both star and director. He plays a retired fighter pilot who is enlisted by the U.S. government to infiltrate the Soviet Union (back in the days when it was still an Evil Empire) and steal an ultra-top-secret fighter plane with all kinds of superior capabilities (back when the Stealth bomber was still a struggling prototype). Sure, no problem. Except that it takes forever to actually get Clint into the plane--and once he's got it, he keeps interrupting the fighter-plane sequences (the best thing about the movie) to land the thing and have fistfights and gunfights. --Marshall Fine

An ex-flyer who is a distress victim from Vietnam experience is ordered back into military duty to head a secret mission. His assignment is to sneak into Russia and steal a Soviet warplane which is far more advanced than any other air machine being used by the NATO alliance.

The Onion Field

From a real-life American tragedy this tale of thoughtless brutality cold-blooded murder and hard-won justice is a prowling gripping disturbing movie (Newsweek). Starring John Savage and James Woods and featuring a stunning attention to detail and an unflinching emotional honesty The Onion Field is intriguing absorbing powerful well-acted (Film Journal) and riveting from beginning to end. On March 9 1963 LAPD officers Karl Hettinger (Savage) and Ian Campbell (Ted Danson) pull over a vehicle for making an illegal U-turn and find themselves held at gunpoint by two seasoned armed robbers. Forced to give up their guns and drive to a deserted road both officers face the horror of becoming victims in a mob-style execution...but only one is able to escape into the bleak darkness of an onion field.Special Features:"Ring of Truth" DocumentaryAudio Commentary with Director Harold BeckerOriginal Theatrical TrailerSystem Requirements: Running Time 126 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 027616879035 Manufacturer No: 1003778

One night in 1963, two plainclothes LAPD officers were abducted by armed small-time criminals after a routine traffic stop, then driven to a remote area where one was brutally executed. The other officer managed to escape and the perpetrators were captured and brought to trial. Despite overwhelming evidence, the slayers managed to drag the justice process on for years through appeals and delaying tactics, one of them making use of the prison law library to become a "jailhouse lawyer." Taken from the Joseph Wambaugh book, The Onion Field is a true story about a case that changed LAPD policies forever. More than a simple police procedural, though, the film is a character study that follows the aftermath of the murder for all involved. John Savage, as the surviving officer, is called on over and over to reenact the event in court, chided by his superiors and eventually fired from the force, with redemption a long way off. He does a great job in a harrowing role as frustration, guilt, and depression cause his life and career to disintegrate over time. There are impressive early performances by Ted Danson and James Woods (setting the tone for countless raw-nerve, psycho-lowlife roles that Woods would take on in the future). The compelling script, written by ex-cop Wambaugh (with no studio interference), is a reminder of why he's one of novelist James Ellroy's favorite writers. It's a story of tragedy and hope, dignity and pain, with a potent emotional payoff. --Jerry Renshaw

Jane Doe

Baby Comes Home

St. Helens

The Last of the Belles

Children in the Crossfire

For the children of Northern Ireland, violence and hatred are a way of life passed from one generation to the next. In "Children in the Crossfire" four children from both sides of the conflict come to America through a special project, and discover each other away from the ravages of their homeland.

Bonds of friendship develop and inbred prejudices fade while the children stay with host families in America, however the true test of the project's success will be a Christmas reunion back in Northern Ireland.

F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Last of the Belles (1974)