Category Archives: Action Film

2014, Action Film, Bloody scenes, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Corruption, Crude Talk, Dark, Ends in Cliff Hanger, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Forensics, Gloomy, Grungy, Gun Trafficking, MHz Choice, Military Corruption, Murder, Murder Investigation, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Polish, Polish Border Guards, Serial Killer, Suspense, Thriller, TV Series, Upsetting ending, Violent, Weapons Dealer

Wataha (2014)

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From IMDB:

After bombing attack, which killed his friends from the Border Guard, Captain Wiktor Rebrow trying to unravel the mystery and figure out what happened and who is behind it all.

From MHz Choice:

A tense Polish thriller about an elite border unit specializing in human trafficking cases. After a bomb attack decimates his team, the lone survivor sets out to bring the perpetrators to justice.

From MHz Choice you can stream the only Polish TV series offered. Only Season 1 is available with its 6 episodes, each about 45 minutes. “Wataha” according to the subtitles means “The Pack” even though IMDB calls it “The Border.”

UNFORTUNATELY:  Season 1 resolves neither the mystery nor the injustices. IMDB describes the episodes of Season 2 and even those episodes do not end the story. Even though the series is very well done, you might want to wait until someday you can see the story to its conclusion.

Along the border between Poland and the Ukraine there is human trafficking and that is exclusively where the action takes place. But the story is really about the border guard Wiktor Rebrow who is framed for several murders and the DA Iga Dobosz who pursues Rebrow relentlessly but finally realizes Rebrow was set up just as Rebrow escapes from the police and flees toward the Ukraine at the unsatisfactory end of Season 1.

“Bleak”, “Grungy”,  “Ugly” and “Depressing” are a few words that describe the Polish territory and its inhabitants. If this presentation is representative of Poland,  you can forget about ever visiting Poland.

Isn’t it too bad that the episodes are so exciting when there will be no satisfactory conclusion in the foreseeable future?

2007, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Action Film, Bloody scenes, Crime thriller, DNA, Extramarital Affair, Forensics, Large-scale gang activity, Lesbian Theme, Made For TV, MHz Choice, Mixed Martial Arts, Murder, Norwegian, Norwegian Crime Story, Nudity, Prison, Prostitutes, Suspense, Theft, Thriller, Violent

Codename Hunter (2007)

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From IMDB:

An intense hijacking of a prisoner transfer van which leads to a formation of a secret police unit called HUNTER. The officers in this specialized group don’t always go by the book but they often get solid results. The leader is Dan W. who says he is just an analyst…but he is very smart and has a nickname of ‘sniper’. Also in the group is an undercover cop who is good with details and a good kick boxer. Six episodes cover one complete story through lots of action and complicated political characters and criminal elements.

From MHz Choice you can stream 2 seasons of this Norwegian crime thriller.  Each season contains 6 one-hour episodes.

So far the Norwegian offerings from MHz Choice have been excellent, including this exciting story.

Probably the lead male character is Bjorn Ronningen (played by Mads Ousdal). Throughout season 1 his wife is about to give birth while Bjorn is sent to many countries tracking down the gang.

Undoubtedly the lead female character is the undercover agent Kikki (played by Ane Dahl Torp) who spends the entire season 1 in great danger as she infiltrates the gang and falls in love with one of the criminals.

Enough excitement and complications to keep us interested.

2012, Acorn TV, Action Film, British, Complicated, Confusing Plot, Conspiracy, DO NOT MISS, Mother-daughter relations, Nazis, Nudity, Personal Betrayal, Plot Twist, Sex Scenes, Spy Theme, Suicide, Suspense, Thriller, War, WWII

Restless (2012)

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From Acorn TV:

Boasting a “fabulous British cast” (LA Times), this Emmy-nominated drama is a tale of passion, duplicity, and betrayal. Ruth Gilmartin (Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey) is stunned to learn that her mother (Charlotte Rampling, Broadchurch), has been living a double life. Her real name is Eva Delectorskaya, and she worked as a spy for the British in the 1940s.

In just two 88 minute episodes Acorn TV streams this excellent spy drama.

As with many spy stories, the plot is complicated and there are many characters. But the suspenseful sequence of events is worth the trip even if at times it is not clear what is happening. Finally at the end you may be surprised to learn who the real “bad guy” is.

Besides Charlotte Rampling and Michelle Dockery, you might also recognize:

  • Rufus Sewell (Lord Melbourne in the TV series “Victoria”) plays Lucas Romer.
  • Michael Gambon  plays Lord Romer.  Because his acting resume is so huge it seems almost beneath him to recall that he played Professor Albus Dumbledore in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 “.

Perhaps I am having a lucky streak, but this is another DO NOT MISS!

2011, Abduction, Action Film, Adultery, Bank Robbery, Bloody scenes, Boating, Cancer theme, Car Chase, Chase film, Complicated, Computer geeks, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Could Be Hard To Watch, Dark, Detective, Disturbing Image, DO NOT MISS, Dysfunctional Lives, Explicit sex, Explicit sexual discussion, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, FBI, Forensics, Gangs, Grim, International thriler, Iraq War, Made For TV, Marital Infidelity, MHz Choice, Murder, Nudity, Plot Twist, Psychopath, Sadism, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Spy Theme, Suspense, Swedish, Swedish crime series, Swiss detective, Terrorists, Thriller, Torture, TV Series, Various Romances, Violent, Well developed plot

Arne Dahl (2011)

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From MHz Choice:

Rough. Raw. Real. This is the world of Arne Dahl, whose crime novels have been transposed to the screen in adaptations that follow the dramatic tradition of all best-selling Scandinavian thrillers. The series revolves around cases taken on by the ‘A Unit’, an elite force of officers recruited after a series of assassinations rocks Stockholm’s high society.

MHz Choice streams several seasons (from many years beginning with 2011) of this Swedish thriller.  There are 5 complete stories, one per different year. Each story consists of 2 episodes. Each Episode is about 1.5 hours long. Swedish script with English subtitles.

REVISION 1 (Feb 2021):

There are now 2 seasons available from MHz Choice.  In the second season several of the excellent first season actors are missing or have been replaced.  Season 2 is acceptable, but not (in my opinion) a good as season 1.  Season 2 is a bit more of a soap opera. Still worth watching.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

Throughout the 5 stories the same team of detectives are together. As is usual in such productions, the personal lives of the detectives are easily as important as the mystery plots.

As powerful and as grim as the stories are, they are so well done that they are really worth watching. But you should expect blood, torture as well as some explicit sex. Many scenes involve foot or car chases.

Not only are the stories complicated, but there are many surprise turns including some endings you might not expect.

This series is so compelling that I will rate it a DO NOT MISS!

 

 

 

2012, Action Film, Bloody scenes, Boxing, Car Chase, Complicated, Computer geeks, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Corruption, Detective, Extramarital Affair, Forensics, French, French Detective Series, Gypsies, Journalist, MHz Choice, Murder Investigation, Police Corruption, Police Psychologist, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Violent

Antigone 34 (2012)

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From MHz Choice:

Under the pressure of an invisible and powerful enemy, Lea Hippolyte, a police captain and martial arts specialist, joins forces with Victor, a marginal doctor wrongly disbarred, and with Helene, a non-conformist psycho-criminologist. Their investigations on “ ordinary” crimes cross paths with much higher stakes and address universal topics. Filmed in Montpellier in the south of France, this series follows three characters with little in common joining forces to overcome common threats.

From MHz Choice you can stream the 6 episodes of season 1.  Each episode lasts roughly 50 minutes. French with subtitles.

Inside the police headquarters, named Antigone34 for some reason, the atmosphere is always tense.  Principally that tension is due to two detectives who are not only hostile to many of their fellow officers, but also in fact bent. It is no secret in the plot that they are paid by the chief villain to do his bidding.  Adding to the general feeling of suspense are many chase scenes, most of which involve running on foot to catch someone. Although I found the plot somewhat complicated, nonetheless the plot excitement kept me interested.

That there is only one season disappoints me.  Season one finishes  the plot surrounding one police case, but finishes with a major surprise that seems designed to demand another season. Moreover, those two bent detectives are still in the picture, although Lea is sure she knows who they are. But at the end of the season we the audience discover a bad actor that even Lea could not yet suspect.

2014, Abduction, Action Film, Action Hero, Arson, Bloody scenes, Brother-Brother relations, Car Chase, Complicated, Computer geeks, Confusing Plot, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Corruption, Emotional child abuse, Father-son relations, Financial malfeasance, Good Brother - Bad Brother, Greed, Grim, Grisly, MHz Choice, Mother-son relations, Murder Investigation, Newspaper Culture, Norwegian, Norwegian Journalists, Suicide, Suspense, Thriller, Uncle-Nephew relations, Violent

Mammon (2014)

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From IMDB:

A newspaper journalist revealing fraud in a large multinational company, finds his family involved, ruining his career, family relations, and entangles him in a following mystery.

From MHz Choice you can stream season 1 (2014) of this thriller. Each of the 6 episodes lasts about an hour. Season 1 is a complete story. Norwegian with English subtitles.  In the Spring of 2018 MHz Choice will offer Season 2 (2016).

For me the plot was complicated and a bit confusing, possibly because there were so many characters. Nevertheless the episodes were tense and exciting.  Peter Veras (played by Jon Oigarden) is placed in one difficult situation after another. Just watching him escape fatal traps set by all sorts of really evil people is exhausting.

Exciting enough to binge watch.  Thankfully, the story ends in episode 6.  Otherwise a cliff-hanger would have killed me.

2016, Action Film, Action Hero, Bloody scenes, Contract Killing, Corruption, Cowboy, Crude Talk, Frontier Life, Gangs, Greed, Horses, Mercenaries, Miners, Murder, Netflix DVD, Police Corruption, Psychopath, Revenge, Small Town, Sociopath, Suspense, Violent, Western

The Magnificent Seven (2016)

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From IMDB:

Seven gunmen in the old west gradually come together to help a poor village against savage thieves.

With the DVD from Netflix you can watch, read, and listen in at least seven different languages.

In 1954 Akira Kurosawa co-wrote, edited, and directed the film “Seven Samurai“.

In 1960 Jul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and others starred in the film “The Magnificent Seven“.

In 2016 Antoine Fuqua directed yet another version. This time some of the actors are:

  • Denzel Washington as Chisolm
  • Chris Pratt as Josh Faraday
  • Ethan Hawke as Goodnight Robicheaux
  • Vincent D’Onofrio as Jack Horne
  • Peter Sarsgaard as a “magnificent” sadistic, greedy, sociopath Bartholomew Brogue. In some ways, this part steals the show.

You already know the story: Nasty Brogue kills and terrorizes a small town in order to steal their land and enslave their menfolk for his mine.  One by one Chisolm recruits his band of seven “Samurai” who then have a week in which to prepare for battle against a giant gang of Brogue’s hired guns. During the ensuing battle zillions of people die by gun and knife and arrow (one of the seven is an American Indian). Some of our heroes die (prepare to weep) but needless to say justice prevails. Shucks – you knew there had to be a happy ending somewhere.

Indeed the devil is in the details which are very well done. As I may have mentioned before I am a sucker for plots involving good guys versus bad guys. Such a guilty surge of joy I felt each time a bad guy got shot. Of course, the good guys never missed their shots.

As  kid every Saturday I got an allowance of 30 cents. For 20 cents I could go to the movies which inevitably showed one or two cowboy films. For the remaining 10 cents I went to the Five-and-Dime store, read every comic book but one, namely “Captain Marvel Junior”, which I then purchased. Had they shown this version of “The Magnificent Seven” and had my mother gotten wind of just how violent a film it is, then I would not have been allowed to see the film.

What fun!

 

2016, Abduction, Action Film, Action Hero, Amnesia, Art History, Art Treasures, Based on a Book, Bloody scenes, Cambridge University, Computer geeks, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Cult Brainwashing, Germ Warfare, International thriler, Istanbul scenes, Mediocre, Motorcycles, Murder, Netflix DVD, Nothing special, Personal Betrayal, Rome scenes, Suspense, Thriller, Violent

Inferno (2016)

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From IMDB:

When Robert Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia, he teams up with Dr. Sienna Brooks, and together they must race across Europe against the clock to foil a deadly global plot.

Netflix sent me a DVD.

At the time the film was created Tom Hanks was 60 years old. Not bad for 60! Already we have followed Hanks as the expert in ancient symbols, Robert Langdon, in “The Da Vinci Code”.  “Inferno” was just more of the same  involving Robert Langdon.  Not to say that the film wasn’t fun. Just don’t expect anything different.

2014, Acceptable for teenagers, Action Film, Action Hero, Airline pilot, Alcoholism, Clever Plot, Computer geeks, Drugs, Frenetic, Mayhem, Murder, Netflix DVD, Political statement, Suspense, Thriller, Trouble on an Airplane, Violent

Non-Stop (2014)

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From IMDB:

An air marshal springs into action during a transatlantic flight after receiving a series of text messages demanding $150 million into an off-shore account, or someone will die every 20 minutes.

At the conclusion of this film I had no fingernails remaining. Talk about suspense! Clever and inventive plot, a team of well-known actors, and some human interest make this particular airplane film worth watching. Moreover, the post-ending was not too maudlin.

  • Liam Neeson plays Bill Marks the federal air marshal on board.
  • Julianne Moore is Jen Summers who supports Bill despite the plot to make him look guilty.
  • Corey Stoll (Rep. Peter Russo in “House of Cards”) was the cop Austin Reilly.
  • Linus Roache (King Ecbert in “Vikings”) was head pilot David McMillan.
  • Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary Crawley in “Downton Abbey”) was the stewardess Nancy.

Certainly this thriller is better than my all time favorite “Snakes on a Plane”.

2016, Action Film, Action Hero, Ambiguous Conclusion, Based on a Book, Black Ops, Car Chase, Chase film, CIA, Computer geeks, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Ethical struggles, Father-son relations, Mayhem, Revenge, Suspense, Torture, Uncategorized, Violent

Jason Bourne (2016)

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From IMDB:

The CIA’s most dangerous former operative is drawn out of hiding to uncover more explosive truths about his past.

Our British Airways flight to London gave me the chance to see this latest installation in the Bourne saga.

Because the very beginning is just noise and chasing I almost gave up watching. But in time the plot was interesting and current enough to warrant continuing to the end. Also on our BA flight I watched “I.T.”  which really shares a theme with “Jason Bourne” in the sense that both stories feature the threatening tendency in this 21st century for intelligence agencies and individuals wanting to eavesdrop on every detail of our lives. In other words, the theme is the War on Privacy. In this regards you can also read Dave Eggers book “The Circle” and watch certain episodes of the TV series “Dark Mirror.”

Acting is a secondary consideration in this production. Tommy Lee Jones as CIA Director Robert Dewey grunts through his scheme to establish a new torture black ops program as well to force the equivalent of Apple Corporation to give the CIA a back door into everyone’s smartphone.  Notice how often in films the CIA is the wicked enemy.  Matt Damon plays his usual unemotional role as Jason Bourne.  For a man of 47 years, Matt Damon has kept in good physical condition. Of course his face has aged to a middle age presence. Tommy Lee Jones at 71 years looks considerably older.

Because of the way the ending is constructed, there could be sequels. But this film in the series was enjoyable enough to have us consider yet another future installment.