I’ve been on a tear lately watching a couple movies per day. It’s been fun. In this post I want to give three quick reviews.
The Arrival (1996)
At first glance you may think this movie is a dud based on the cover art. Mid-90’s lower budget and starring Charlie Sheen sounds like a recipe for disaster. But that is not the case. The story is really good; the acting is good and they make do with the lower budget and limited effects of the 1990’s.
Charlie Sheen’s character is a scientist who searches the stars for a signal of alien life. When he finds that signal, he is quickly shut down and booted out of his job. He doesn’t let that stop him though. His adventures after that point are what leads him to the surprise of his life down in Mexico.
I liked this when I first saw it 30 years ago when I worked at the movie rental store and I like it now. It is a solid, well-paced, well-acted Sci-fi film. I give it 81 potatoes. 81/100
Knowing (2009)
Nicolas Cage stars in this Sci-fi thriller. The movie begins at an elementary school in 1959 where the students bury a time capsule. But this doesn’t go so smoothly. One of the students is freaking out because she hears voices in her head. Flash forward 50 years to the unearthing of the time capsule and our story really begins.
Nicolas Cage and his son team up with the daughter and granddaughter of the student from the start of the film to go on a journey that can only be described as monumental.
This movie has real promise. The story is very strong but the execution not so much. The first and second act are good enough but the movie caves in upon itself in the third. If you are a fan of Scf-fi then I say you should definitely check this one out. If you are not, then I say skip it. 61 potatoes.
Under Siege (1992)
I’m really hitting the trifecta today with Charlie Sheen, Nicolas Cage and Steven Seagal. All three had very successful careers which took a major dip and eventually became a joke. Only Cage was able to truly resurrect his. Luckily for this review, this was when Steven Seagal still had some cred and wasn’t turning out complete slop yet. Yes, he is fairly bad as an actor in this, but it still works.
The main reason this movie works so well comes down to Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey. Both are playing the “heavy” and both do great work. Jones is next level as the villain. This was at the very start of his rise to fame before he even starred in “The Fugitive”. Most people watching this film in 1992 had no idea who he was at the time.
Seagal is a former Seal Team guy who is now heads the galley on a battleship. Terrorists take over the ship with plans to offload its nukes. But Seagal is in the way, and he causes some major problems for the bad guys.
This movie was a staple for every teenager in the early 90’s. If you were a teen in that era, you had copies of T2, RoboCop, Full Metal Jacket, every Schwarzenegger movie, every JVD movie and basically every Steven Seagal movie.
This movie has some excellent action scenes, some sporadic humor and a sexy Playmate of the Month to keep your attention. Though the misogyny and innuendo wouldn’t fly in today’s world, that’s just the way it was back then. And the girl doesn’t save the day like she would in 2026, but instead she is a very active participant in the insurgency. Certainly, more realistic in that sense than the slop they turn out today.
I give Under Siege 69 potatoes and credit it as a solid action flick that should be revisited about every 5 years by Gen X’ers like myself.