Movie Review: Bounty Hunters (1996, Dimension, Blu-Ray)

...there's definitely something to be said about the unique appeal to films about bounty hunters...that eclectically anti-heroic, reputed pain-in-the-ass lot, who tend to cut against the grain of authority with their own rules, doing whatever it takes, and acting just enough outside the law, to not outright get themselves dirty, in the process of doing what they do best...bringing in the bad guys, for a price. Unbound by the staunch, rigored and disciplined regiment, regularly upheld by established law enforcement, they waywardly act of their own accord...sometimes quite recklessly, and often enough...gruff, raw & unorthodoxed...maintaining a frustratingly reciprocative love/hate relationship with the underlining, behind-the-scenes authority figures, who reluctantly, albeit needfully hires them out to do the job required, on a level outside of the restrictive boundaries of the law. As such, we cannot help but relish this brand of cinematic anti-hero, and their devil-may-care philosophies & attitudes because, quite frankly, as most of us are ourselves bound by the restrictive and sometimes obstacle-riddled set rules of our respective vocations, whatever they might be, we secretly fantasize being able to rebelliously operate outside of those rules...daringly and forbiddingly embracing and exhuing that 'devil-may-care' attitude...in an effort to get the same job done...perhaps even better, as time and time again, often does occur with film-rendered bounty hunters. For this viewer, a crust of personal favorites in that respect...covering a pretty wide spectrum...include 1986's "Wanted: Dead or Alive (...with Rutger '@#$% the bonus' Hauer), 1980's "Tom Horn", 1992's "Unforgiven", 1977's "Bare Knuckles", 1988's "Midnight Run", and oh yes, let's not forget about last year's "Django Unchained". And surprisingly enough, there's just might be enough room in this respected lot to include the ruggedly charming and jovial direct-to-video retro-actioner...recently upgraded to the Blu-Ray format...1996's "Bounty Hunters"...

Movie Review: The Package (2012, DVD/Blu-ray)

Review By: Rob Sibley

“The Package” coming out February 19^th courtesy of Anchor bay is a superior action film then most. A few things to get out of the way before this review starts. Direct to DVD action films are my specialty. I live, eat and breath them. These days Hollywood is so concerned with giant explosions and huge robots that it takes away the fun. Mean while the lower budgets of DTV action films, actually help the films. They feature real tough guys kicking ass and taking names. The heroes are usually anti-hero's and do things that their Hollywood counterparts never would do. This harkens back to the hay-day of action films when real tough guys like Bronson, Lee Marvin would take out anyone who was in their way. With no fear of the consequences of their actions. This take no prisoners attitude has vanished from Hollywood action films. But that spirit is still very much alive in DTV action films. 

Movie Review: Machine Gun McCain (1969)

For those of you who think that Italy in the late 1960s and into the 1970s was a place where only gritty westerns, strange Giallo films and rip-off zombie/cannibal films were made can benefit from this. Italy, at the time, was churning out some wonderful genre product tailored to all tastes. The aforementioned zombies and cowboys and zipper-mask killers aside, there were sci fi epics (like Alien 2, hee hee), action films, dramas and even the mobster movie. There is a general misconception that the United States was the only place the mobster genre was popular. There were Mafioso films made worldwide so why wouldn’t the home of the Cosa Nostra, Italy, get in on the act? Using some familiar American names (John Cassavetes and Peter Falk) and international sex symbols (like future Bond girl, Britt Ekland), director Giuliano Montaldo has put together an effective Mafia/crime caper/double cross flick. Thanks to Blue Underground, we can now watch this in glorious 1080p.