Hostages

The Rock

An FBI chemical weapons expert joins forces with a former British spy to rescue the hostages held on Alcatraz island by a group of Marines who have missiles loaded with poison gas.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 25-JAN-2005
Media Type: DVD

Between his high-octane debut, Bad Boys, and 1998's wannabe blockbuster Armageddon, hotshot director Michael Bay forged his dubious reputation with this crowd-pleasing action extravaganza. In it a psychotically disgruntled war hero (Ed Harris) seizes the island prison of Alcatraz and threatens to wage chemical warfare against nearby San Francisco unless the government publicly recognizes the men who were killed under Harris's top-secret command. Nicolas Cage plays the biochemist who teams up with the only man ever to have escaped from Alcatraz (Sean Connery) in an attempt to foil Harris's terrorist scheme. As one might expect, what follows is an action-packed barrage of bullets, bodies, and climactic confrontations, replete with enough plot contrivances to give even the most jaded action fan cause for alarm. It's a load of hooey, but the cast is obviously having a grand old time, and there's enough wit to make the recycled action sequences tolerable. If you're ordering this movie on DVD, be careful with the volume knobs on your home-theater sound systems, because The Rock could cause partial hearing loss and structural damage to your home. --Jeff Shannon

Air Force One

Beacon

You know that old dramatic principle of suspension of disbelief? You'll have to rely on it for this box-office smash, but you won't be disappointed. Harrison Ford plays a U.S. president who single-handedly employs his rigid antiterrorism policy when a band of Russian thugs hatch a mid-flight takeover of Air Force One. Gary Oldman, who chews the scenery as the lead terrorist, will shoot a hostage at the slightest provocation. Glenn Close plays the sternly pragmatic vice president who negotiates with Oldman from her Washington seat of power. If you can believe that the aircraft's pressurized cabin can sustain hundreds of rounds of machine-gun fire, you'll buy anything in this entertaining potboiler, especially thanks to Ford's stalwart heroics and some nifty special effects. Director Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot) keeps the action moving so fast you won't be sweating the details. Don't forget your parachute! --Jeff Shannon

The Wild Geese (30th Anniversary Edition)

Mixing action, humor, sentiment, and even a few righteous moral convictions, The Wild Geese is good, rousing fun. Released theatrically in 1978 (oddly, this 2005 DVD release is referred to as the "30th Anniversary Edition"), director Andrew V. McLaglen's film depicts the adventures of a group of British mercenaries hired by a shady multinational corporation to free the benevolent leader of an African nation held captive by a ruthless dictator. Led by the caustic, no-nonsense Col. Allen Faulkner (Richard Burton), these soldiers of fortune are all stout fellows out to earn a big payday and restore a good man to his rightful place of power (the underlying message of universal racial brotherhood is effective, if somewhat simplistic), and they do their job swiftly and efficiently... at least until they're double-crossed by their venal, perfidious employers, at which point the film becomes a tale of survival and revenge. The cast, which also includes Richard Harris, Roger Moore, and a host of other fine veteran actors, is first-rate, the story-telling efficient, the dialogue entertaining (with occasional bursts of profanity), and the action reasonably exciting and not overly graphic. And even if the pace is somewhat leisurely by new millennium standards (we're nearly an hour into it before the actual mission starts), The Wild Geese is a very enjoyable ride. Bonus features include a profile of producer Euan Lloyd and commentary by Lloyd, Moore, and journalist Jonathan Sothcott. --Sam Graham

Speed (Widescreen Edition)

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 8-FEB-2005
Media Type: DVD

Everything clicked in this 1994 action hit, from the premise (a city bus has to keep moving at 50 mph or blow up) to the two leads (the usually inscrutable Keanu Reeves and the cute-as-a-button Sandra Bullock) to the villain (Dennis Hopper in psycho mode) to the director (Jan De Bont, who made this film hit the ground running with an edge-of-your-seat opening sequence on a broken elevator). This is the sort of movie that becomes a prototype for a thousand lesser films (including De Bont's lousy sequel, Speed 2: Cruise Control), but Speed really is a one-of-a-kind experience almost anyone can enjoy. --Tom Keogh

633 Squadron

Based on true events this "exciting engrossing [and] breathtaking" (The Hollywood Reporter) action-adventure stars Oscar® winners* Cliff Robertson and George Chakiris as two WWII fliers pitted against the Nazis in a do-or-die mission. Filled with "blazing pulse-pounding and realistic air-fighting footage" (Boxoffice) 633 Squadron will "put your heart in your throat" (Los Angeles Times)!1944. Allied forces learn that the Nazis are planning to pummel England with an all-out rocket blitz. The only way to stop the threat is to send Mosquito bombers into narrow Norwegian fjords to create an avalanche that will crush the Nazis rocket-fuel plants. Can Wing Commander Roy Grant (Robertson) and the boys of the courageous 633 Squadron pull it off? And if so will they live to reap the glory?*Robertson: Actor Charly (1968); Chakiris: Supporting Actor West Side Story (1961)System Requirements:Running Time: 95 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: NR UPC: 027616885746 Manufacturer No: 1004523

Transporter 2

The best in the business is back in the game!Jason Statham returns in his signature role as ex-Special Forces operative Frank Martin aka "The Transporter."Now retired from his chosen profession of moving dangerous goods with no questions asked he makes a living driving for a wealthy family in Miami Florida. But when their young son is abducted Frank must use his battle-tested combat skills to save the boy and thwart the kidnapper's nefarious master plan.Packed with high-octane car chases and high-flying martial arts action Transporter 2 delivers nonstop excitement from beginning to end!System Requirements:Running Time: 87 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: PG-13 UPC: 024543219699 Manufacturer No: 2231969

Transporter 2 knows what its audience wants and--like its title character--it delivers. This is a movie that has not only a fight choreographer but also a car stunt choreographer; a movie in which a female assassin wears nothing but a bra and panties because, presumably, additional clothing would be too cumbersome; a movie in which crashing through a concrete wall in order to leap over a four-lane street will not even rumple the hood of the hero's car; a movie in which a drunken supermodel, after her advances are chastely and gently rebuffed by the hero, says "Thanks for the respect--that's what I needed most"; a movie, in short, for those who liked the first Transporter but found it too subdued and character-driven. Jason Statham (The Italian Job) reprises his role as Frank Martin, a perhaps overly diligent chauffer who will break bones if his duty is impeded. The sheer glee with which Transporter 2 casts aside logic, probability, and the laws of physics is infectious. If the sequence in which Frank flips his car upside-down in order to detach the bomb attached to his undercarriage doesn't reduce you to intoxicated giggles, well...you're watching the wrong movie. Transporter 2 is utterly shameless, unstoppably ridiculous, and completely enjoyable. Also featuring Amber Valetta (Hitch), Jason Flemyng (Snatch), and Matthew Modine. --Bret Fetzer

Shanghai Noon

Story? What story? All a movie like Shanghai Noon needs is the amazing stunt set pieces featuring kung fu superstar Jackie Chan and the drolly caffeinated ramblings of Owen Wilson (and to be sure, that's all it gets). It's a buddy comedy about Roy O'Bannon (Wilson), a minor, borderline incompetent desperado, and Chon Wang (Chan)--Roy thinks he hears (and scoffs at) the name "John Wayne"--a member of the Chinese Imperial Guard searching for a kidnapped princess (Lucy Liu). They become reluctant partners in the Old West (Roy, who considers Chon his sidekick, is hurt to discover that the bounty on Wang's head is more than his own), brawling, drinking, bathing, and bonding and in general having mildly amusing adventures together, while eluding a posse and other random enemies.

There's not a lot of focus to the plot or much motivation for characters to turn up where and when they do--just what was achieved by the much-discussed trek to Carson City, anyway? But Chan's inventively staged battle sequences (particularly an early one in which he uses flexible, resilient trees to best some Crow Indians) are predictable highlights. You'll wish there were more to some of them, but as with his many of other films, you'll want them on video to watch in slow-motion to see how he pulls them off. And in a potentially star- making role, Wilson's loquacious, hyper-self-conscious meanderings--he's funny even when his lines aren't--make him seem less like a character than a very amusing deconstruction of one. Chan and Wilson are entertaining together, even though they're both off in their own little worlds. Think of it as Butch Cassidy and the Shanghai Kid, and you won't be too far off. --David Kronke

A Chinese Imperial Guard travels to the wild West to find and retrieve a kidnapped princess.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 25-JAN-2005
Media Type: DVD

The Delta Force

This typical but well-made action movie, which spawned numerous sequels, means to combine the best elements of the disaster movie with the hard-boiled attributes of traditional action-adventures. When a plane is hijacked to the Middle East by Palestinian terrorists, the Pentagon calls into action the Delta Force, an elite squad of highly trained commandos led by tough guy mainstay Lee Marvin and karate-action-star Chuck Norris. Their mission is simple: to thwart the terrorists and rescue the hostages, and the plot concentrates largely on just that, as the team uses its experience and fighting skills to get the job done. Its sometimes preachy patriotic bent occasionally gets in the way of the action, and Norris is a one-dimensional figure who at times takes himself too seriously, but his rapport with easygoing veteran Marvin moves the film over some implausible rough spots. While not a groundbreaking contribution to the genre, Delta Force impresses with its straightforward tough-guy style. --Robert Lane

Political extremists have taken innocent people hostage and only super-soldiers Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin can rescue them in this "astounding mix of fact, fantasy and heavy-duty adventure" (Variety). Co-starring Maltin Balsam and Shelley Winters, The Delta Force is 130 nonstop minutes of explosive, wall-to-wall action! When a U.S. passenger plane is seized by vicious hijackers and taken to Beirut, the president calls in The Delta Forcea crack team of commandos led by ColonelNick Alexander (Marvin) and Major Scott McCoy (Norris). Against all odds, the men blast into the compound andtaking no prisonersrescue the hostages. But the mission is not yet over. A few remaining passengers are being "escorted" to Teheran, initiating a desperate race against time as Alexander and McCoy try to save themand avenge America's honorbefore it's too late.

The Rock - Criterion Collection

An FBI chemical weapons expert joins forces with a former British spy to rescue the hostages held on Alcatraz island by a group of Marines who have missiles loaded with poison gas.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 13-MAR-2001
Media Type: DVD

Cradle 2 the Grave (Widescreen Edition)

The intriguing cross-pollination of rap and kung-fu continues with Cradle 2 the Grave, co-starring high-profile rapper DMX and Hong Kong superstar Jet Li. Master thief Fait (DMX) hits a diamond exhange but comes away with a bag of black gems of mysterious origin. When a crime kingpin steals the gems from Fait, an international arms dealer kidnaps Fait's beloved daughter--and Fait can only get her back with the help of Su (Li), a Taiwanese intelligence agent tracking the gems himself. A summary of the plot doesn't do Cradle 2 the Grave justice; while the basic story elements suggest a dozen generic action flicks, the cast (including Anthony Anderson, Gabrielle Union, and Kelly Hu) has genuine charisma and the movie layers action on top of action to strong effect. All in all, a much more engaging thrill ride than you'd expect. --Bret Fetzer

When his daughter is kidnapped and held in exchange for diamonds the leader of a crew of highly skilled urban thieves (DMX) forges an unlikely alliance with a Taiwanese Intelligence officer (Jet Li) to rescue her. Their race against the clock to find the precious stones ultimately unravels a plot to distribute a deadly new weapon of war.Running Time: 101 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE UPC: 085392341122 Manufacturer No: 23411