On the Road

The Island

When you add up all the best things about The Island, you might just conclude that there's hope yet for Hollywood's most critically reviled hit-maker, Michael Bay. Recruited by Steven Spielberg to direct this lavish and often breathtaking sci-fi action thriller, Bay rises to the occasion with an ambitious production that is, by his standards (and compared to Bay's earlier hits like The Rock and Armageddon), surprisingly intelligent as it explores the repercussions of cloning in a sealed-off society where humans are cultivated for spare parts, surrogate parenthood, and full-body replacements for wealthy clientele. But when two of the clones (Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johanssen) begin to question their fate and the motives of their keepers, they escape into the real world and The Island becomes just another Michael Bay action extravaganza, albeit an impressively exciting one. With elaborate chase scenes and a high-tech feast of CGI to dazzle the eye, The Island recycles much of the plot from 1979's Clonus while borrowing elements from Logan's Run, Gattaca and Minority Report, and while it's not as smartly conceived as those earlier films, there's no denying that, in many ways, it's Bay's best film to date. --Jeff Shannon

Emperor of the North

In this gritty and violent period drama set in the depths of the Great Depression Lee Marvin stars as A #1 the acknowledged King of the Hoboes. A #1 is famous among his fellow tramps for his ability to catch a ride on any train no matter how risky the hop or dangerous the guards. He acts as a sort of mentor for Cigaret (Keith Carradine) a young hobo who brags that some day he'll surpass A #1 in his accomplishments. But neither has had the courage to ride a train guarded by Shack (Ernest Borgnine) an unusually sadistic railroad cop who will brutally beat or even murder any man who tries to catch a ride on his train. A #1 is determined that no one not even Cigaret is going to deny him his title so taking his life in his hands he and Cigaret hop a ride on Shack's train and they are soon bearing the full brunt of his violent nature. Emperor of the North features superb location photography by Joseph F. Biroc and a fine supporting cast including Charles Tyner Simon Oakland Elisha Cook Jr. and Sid Haig. Mark Deming All Movie GuideSystem Requirements:Running Time: 118 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG UPC: 024543242147 Manufacturer No: 2234214

Emperor of the North, a vivid Depression-era drama, opens with a friendly, down-home song that doesn't prepare the audience for what follows: The brutal killing of a train-hopping bum at the hands of a cruel conductor named Shack (Ernest Borgnine, Marty, The Poseidon Adventure). A hobo called A-No. 1 (Lee Marvin, Cat Ballou, The Big Heat) rises to the challenge of catching a ride on Shack's train--but his heels are dogged by a tenderfoot (Keith Carradine, Deadwood, Nashville), whose inexperience may get them both killed. Director Robert Aldrich (The Dirty Dozen, Kiss Me Deadly) has a sure feel for male behavior driven by pride, boredom, and desperation. The swagger gets a little overblown at times, but more often Emperor of the North has a gritty realism, peppered with flashes of sardonic humor and surprising compassion. Aldrich has a gift for a loose yet always watchable story, filled with engaging bit parts and offbeat incidents that flesh out the world and make the main storyline all the more compelling. Marvin and Borgnine--craggy-faced character actors deluxe--are in excellent form, but Carradine steals the movie with his bitter, callow arrogance. (Originally titled Emperor of the North Pole, a bit of hobo lingo.) --Bret Fetzer

City Slickers 2 - The Legend of Curly's Gold

Urban cowboy Mitch Robbins, played by Billy Crystal, is at it again in this adventure-comedy film. After discovering a treasure map in the band of Curly's hat, he and his good pal Phil (Daniel Stern) and his mooching brother (Jon Lovitz) set out on an adventure to find the lost treasure. Jack Palance co-stars. Year: 1994 Director: Paul Weiland Starring: Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Jon Lovitz, Jack Palace

Coogan's Bluff

Cannonball Run 2

Our racers are back for a second cannonball run - the illegal race that takes place all over the country. Almost every star of the first film is here along with new ones. Will J.J. McClure (Burt Reynolds) finally be the winner this time?Running Time: 108 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 085391137726

Hells Angels on Wheels

This pair of Joe Solomon-produced biker dramas are two of the better examples of the '60s subgenre. Jack Nicholson stars in Hell's Angels on Wheels as a moody cycle-riding gas station attendant adopted by Adam Roarke's gang when he jumps into a friendly bar fight. It's a fairly blatant rip-off of Roger Corman's The Wild Angels, but director Richard Rush (who next teamed up with Nicholson for the counterculture classic Psych-Out) offers up a lifestyle that's less nihilistic than simply meaningless and winds the unlikely friendship between restless Nicholson and rootless Roarke into an inevitable clash over basic philosophical differences (namely, Jack wants Adam's girl, and Adam wants Jack to kowtow to his leadership). William Smith is an unusual hero in Run Angel Run: he's a sellout on the run from vengeful biker clubs up and down the coast. Director Jack Starrett, a former actor in biker movies himself (Hell's Angels on Wheels, among others), creates a taut little picture highlighted by impressive stunts (Smith jumps onto the flat car of a moving train). Smith's brooding, taciturn performance mellows when he takes a job on a rural sheep farm and connects with a career farmer who used to be a barnstorming biker in the 1950s. "I gotta be free man, I gotta fly," confesses Angel, but at what price? Both pictures were cheaply made for quick playoff, but there's an interesting attempt to explore the tension between the thrill of the road and the hollow activity passing for freedom. The set comes in a cool-looking 8 by 12 tin storage container, but the tapes do not have separate video sleeves. --Sean Axmaker

When he loses his job, gas station attendant Poet (Academy Award-winner Jack Nicholson) falls in with a rough band of Hells Angels who terrorize Northern California in a hellraising frenzy of parties and gang fights. Choppers, drugs, sex, murder and mayhem ensue as Poet and gang leader Buddy (Adam Roarke) head down a dark road to danger. From acclaimed cult director Richard Rush (The Stunt Man) with cinematography by the legendary László Kovács (Easy Rider, Paper Moon) and music by Stu Phillips (Battlestar Gallactica, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls).

Breaker, Breaker

Chuck Norris ("Walker Texas Ranger") puts the pedal to the metal in this hard-driving action/adventure exploding with heart-pounding chases and slam-bang martial arts battles. As powerful as an 18-wheeler and as fast-moving as a lethal karate chop Breaker! Breaker! pushes the throttle wide open for nonstop excitement.When trucker Billy Dawes (Michael Augenstein) vanishes during his first solo run his older brother J.D. (Norris) sets out in search of answers. What J.D. finds however is a deadly conspiracy involving a corrupt small-town judge (George Murdock) and a ring of thieves who prey upon unsuspecting motorists. With help from a beautiful local woman (Terry O'Connor) J.D. searches for his brother and battles the criminals with his amazing karate skills fighting all the way to an explosive final showdown that may just destroy the entire town!System Requirements:Running Time: 86 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: PG UPC: 027616855534 Manufacturer No: 1001273

Made in the heady days of movies like Convoy and Smokey and the Bandit, when CB radios were expected to create the kind of communication network the Internet has provided, Breaker! Breaker! tells the tale of J.D. Dawes (Chuck Norris of Good Guys Wear Black and TV's Walker, Texas Ranger), a trucker in tight jeans and a blonde shag. While J.D. is defending his arm-wrestling reputation in a truck stop poolroom, his younger brother Billy is being taken advantage of by the crooked cops of Texas City, California, a former ghost town turned would-be tourist trap, run by a corrupt judge named Joshua Trimmings. When the scam gets out of hand, Billy disappears--and J.D. comes to town to find him. There are many campy things to appreciate about Breaker! Breaker! (the sequined collar of the shirt Norris wears during a meditation teaching, or the glorious air-brushed eagle on Norris's van), and by contemporary Jackie Chan/The Matrix standards the fighting is slow and unspectacular--but ironically, this actually gives the action some grit and makes the blows feel more visceral than the wild flips and kicks of more recent movies. The chase scenes have surprising momentum, and there's some fine scenery-chewing by George Murdock as the wicked judge. And for a curious bit of trivia, Jack Nance--who must have been playing the lead in David Lynch's Eraserhead concurrent with Breaker! Breaker!--plays a trucker friend of Norris's. --Bret Fetzer

Father Hood

Patrick Swayze is a goofball criminal who suddenly finds himself strapped with his two kids. His teenage daughter escapes from an abusive orphanage, demanding her father rescue her younger brother. Dad, who may be a thief, is also a softie who decides to rescue his kids by kidnapping them from a school bus. The plot is lackluster and reveals few surprises as Swayze tries to follow his life of crime, only to be thwarted by his needy children. Child abuse, parental abandonment, and crime do not exactly make for slapstick, and this is too leaden to thrill as an adventure flick. Swayze, with his annoying laugh and manic mannerisms, is less convincing than the kids (Sabrina Lloyd and Brian Bonsall), who exude realistic desperation and pain. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Screen sensation Patrick Swayze (POINT BREAK, DIRTY DANCING) stars as Jack Charles, a lovable small-time crook with big-time dreams! Jack's latest scheme of hitting it big is interrupted when two strangers -- his kids -- suddenly appear on his doorstep to reclaim him as their dad. Before long, Jack and the kids are racing toward the biggest heist of his career -- pursued by the cops and the FBI on a hair-raising, action-packed cross-country chase! This nonstop hit delivers an arresting combination of action and comedy sure to entertain everyone!

Heaven's Burning

Three troubled lives, two desperate lovers, one inescapable fate. Russell Crowe stars in an action-packed, suspense thriller that skirts the fine line between love, loyalty and deadly obsession. While honeymooning in Australia, Midori (Youki Kudoh) deserts her husband to run off with her lover. When he gets cold feet, she's left alone and bewildered in a strange country. A trip to the bank to exchange money results in her being taken hostage, only to be saved by Colin (Crowe), the getaway driver. On the run, Midori's jilted husband and the authorities in hot pursuit, the pair set off on wild ride across the country, falling in love along the way.

Faster, Pussycat! Kill!... Kill!