Gale Force

After reading the comments here I was fully expecting a bad film. This gave me the incentive to watch this film as a good cheesy romp can be entertaining. I wasn't let down.

I agree with an earlier comment made that obviously people here have taken this film WAY too seriously, judging by their reviews. Think, how many disgruntled, suspended L.A detectives do you know get invited to appear on a T.V reality game show?

The first 'controversial' scene with the car chase ripped from Last Action Hero was comical if anything else. It does seem a bit disjointed from the rest of the film but sets up the premise (an over-the-top one) of why our hero is off work and has nothing better to do other than to eat barely-cooked hot-dogs dipped in mustard and appear on Reality TV game show.

After that were introduced to the rest of the contestants and the shady game show host. It appears he has plans about pocketing the cool $10 million prize for himself rather than the unwitting contestants. Again, what T.V company would bury $10 million in a treasure chest on a remote island?

They get there, have a getting to know period where the dominant characters emerge to lead the two teams to the treasure. Of course Treat is one. They later find out that a team of 'pirates' will hunt them down to prevent them from getting the secret stash.

Next day they set off with good intentions but eventually run into a band of men carrying large machine guns, and not paint-ball guns as they were led to believe, and run for their lives. Meanwhile a huge tropical storm is brewing.

Basically then it turns into a cat-and-mouse type of affair but the cats aren't very proficient killers. An over-the-top sequence that resembles the nuke scene in Apocalypse Down, just to take down half a dozen straw huts is hilarious. I wouldn't say this was a particularly violent film. Just an implausible one. Like hiding in a beach cave while a huge 50 foot tsunami wave is just outside threatening to destroy the whole island. And what happened to the building at then end.

You can't really go into this film expecting a masterpiece, just accept it for what it is, ridiculous, over-the-top hokum and you won't be disappointed.

6/10

Give credit to writer Steve Latshaw for some memorable quotes in this masterpiece. For example, try this one on for size:

'It's our only chance!'

Who said Shakespeare was the bard?

This movie has been credited as being 'a good B movie'. Not even close. This movie is 'a bad Z movie'. It can't even make the end of the alphabet.

This is truly painful. It must have been at least mildly unpleasant for everyone except the writer, the director, and the money - who probably thought they had a winner on their hands.

Note the IMDb have no info on how much this blockbuster cost. Pocket change most likely.

But couldn't they have at least paid more money for a good screenplay? Or is that against the rules too?

Does a bad movie have to be bad through and through to really qualify as bad?

And don't forget to check out the filming locations for a really good laugh.

This movie does not deserve a review. I am writing this to warn anyone that is planning on renting it to STAY AWAY! Bad acting, bad writing, bad cast, bad direction, bad scenery. I must admit that the sound during the storm scenes was excellent. Bad, bad, bad and alright, one excellent.

Watch the first 10 minutes of this film and you realize that there are a number of scenes taken from Last Action Hero. I wondered why Treat Williams was dressed the same as Arnold and driving the same car. After watching these and other scenes, one had to wonder how much of this movie was actual new footage and how much had been taken from other movies.

Do not rent this movie. It's predictable (perhaps this statement is obvious since some viewers will have seen various segments before). It's a low Grade B movie at best.

There are two reasons why Treat Williams is a B-movie king. First is he is not that good of an actor, and second is he always gets roles like his in Gale Force. Campy B-movie actors are usually ok as long as they don't try to become `real' actors, which is something that Williams unfortunately has tried to become. Although he can portray his campiness well in such movies as Hollywood Ending, he's better suited in his direct-to-video type movies, such as Gale Force, in which he's the best part.

In Gale Force, Williams plays Sam Garrett, a cop who breaks all the rules, according to an unintentionally hilarious opening scene. Due to that, he's on suspension, and to get back on the force, he has to go on a new reality show called `Treasure Hunt.' The host has ulterior motives, and there's a giant storm (a gale force…get it?) that threatens everyone. Whatever is Treat Williams to do?

I understand that this is not a movie to be taken seriously, and the first half or so actually wasn't that bad; it was cheesily good. The acting was horrible, and so was everything else. However, it was entertaining, and, in some ways, an eye opener to reality shows. Once the storm came, that's when everything fell apart. A new subplot came in and anything enjoyable from the first half went away. It wasn't cheesy, it was just stupid.

Although this is a minimal budget movie, you would at least think they could get better special effects. In the opening scene, at one part Williams is being chased by the bad guys. He has to go around a truck, so he goes on two side wheels. How this happens is randomly he just tilts to one side with the most obvious backlighting I have ever seen. It was more obvious than those `special effect' rides at Universal Studios. The hurricane looked extremely fake; yet again, just something out of an amusement park ride. I would expect something more from Artisan and Phoenician Entertainment.

Adding to the fakeness was also in the opening scene. When Williams is being chased by the bad guys, they throw dynamite at him (of course). The dynamite explodes at various times, but never the same, especially when Williams would be killed. Another time, Williams shoots someone who flies out of his car (did I mention that he is also being chased by a minivan?) at a 90 degree angle and then flies into an ice cream truck which immediately explodes. It's so bad it's good, which is something I can't say about the abysmal second half.

Williams is actually quite good when he isn't required to act. Sometimes the script by Steve Latshaw throws him some one-liners, which are pretty funny. When someone asks him, `Who do we have to f**k to get us out of here?', he replies, `Probably the pilot.' This, of course, leaves the second half, which is so bad it makes me want to go up to Artisan (who has made quality projects like Terminator 2) and yell in their face. If you wind up watching Gale Force, only watch the first half. I guarantee you'll be in convulsions in the second half.

My rating: 3/10

Rated R for violence and language.