Welshrogue

A hitman for a west coast mob wakes to find himself poisoned and with not long to live, so he goes on a rampage, trying to stay alive long enough to avenge himself and say goodbye to his girlfriend.

Starring Jason Stratham as the poisoned assassin and Amy Smart as his dopey girlfriend, Crank is an interesting movie. Interesting as in lots of different looks, difference exposures and camera angles. It isn’t a Hollywood movie by any shape or form. Its violent, bloody, brutle but it has a dark sense of humour that runs through it. Crank will never be mistaken for a classic movie, not with the sometimes cheap special effects and the minimum plot, but its a movie that is watchable and entertaining.

There are many funny moments through the movie that shows how the writers were trying to make this a different movie. Subtitles that appear blurred and out of focus when being view from behind, spelling of a big word when it was mentioned, things like that made this very interesting to watch.

Powered by a loud pumping soundtrack, with one noteable exception, Crank is a non stop action fest that keeps going from start to finish.

A woman meets a man who says he has traveled from the future to save her from a cyborg who has also traveled from the future and wants to kill her as she will give birth to a resistance leader who will fight against the computers after they start a war against humans.In one sentence, it sounds silly, but The Terminator was anything but. While time travel had featured is many movies before, this was one of the first that featured going back in time to change the future. Not only that, but it had style and substance.

It also had a very large man with the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who up to this point was most famous for playing Conan. Schwarzenegger’s monosyllabic performance was perhaps the most frightening aspect of the movie. Here was this thing, that looked human but was made of metal that wouldn’t stop, ever, no matter what happened. Schwarzenegger played it so well, no emotions, that not only did the movie generate 2 sequels (one not bad, one terrible) but he created one of the most recognizable lines in movie history with ‘I’ll be back’.

Along with Schwarzenegger, The Terminator starred Linda Hamilton (soon to be Mrs Cameron) and Michael Biehn who would later star in two other James Cameron movies, The Abyss and Aliens. A young Bill Paxton appears as a young punk who is soon dispatched by the Terminator.

One of the most recognizable parts of the movie was the soundtrack, by Brad Fiedel. The haunting theme tune set the scene for a movie that would be a serious thriller.

The modern day action was inter cut with scenes from the future, where the humans lives were anything but cozy. With robots attacking the humans against the backdrop of black clouds and fire, the future looked anything but enticing.

While The Terminator doesn’t mention the whole time lines issue (kill an ant in the past might affect the future to the point where there are no humans etc.), you don’t realise it until after the movie is over. While it is playing, The Terminator captures the viewers imagination, wanting Sarah Conner to live, and the Terminator to die.

Overall, The Terminator is one of those movies that happen along once in a while, a movie that changes ideas of the future and one that lodges itself into the consciousness of the movie going public.

<RANT>

I don’t understand a lot of things. How planes can take off, how people can support Man Utd, women. The number one thing I don’t understand is why did the producers of Con Air not use LeAnn Rimes version of How Do I Live?

The story goes that the producers didn’t like her version, had Trisha Yearwood re-sing it for the movie. Both versions were released and while the Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance went to Trisha Yearwood, Rimes version sold many more copies.

If you have listened to both versions, you will hear one version which is a standard country song, and the other which is a power ballad written by the queen of power ballads, Diane Warren. One, the vocals sounds average at best, the other, the vocals soar with a crystal clarity that few singers have.

Yes, I do believe that LeAnn Rimes version is vastly superior to the other. It is on a par with that great movie power ballad, My Heart Will Go On. Yes, I did just admit to liking a Celine Dion song. Rimes version is moving, powerful beyond belief and such a pure sound that the only reason that I can think of why the producers of Con Air didn’t use it, was that the song was too good for the movie, which was the usual Jerry Bruckheimer fare.

</RANT>