sampanaflex

It's an action movie. It has no brains. Just wheels, sex, violence, and rock-and-roll. I was thrilled and really enjoyed the experience. Forget about cheesy writing; music video direction and editing; or an earth-shaking impact on your life. It's all great cheesy action cinema: sexism, extreme violence, foul language, and bad guys.

This isn't Greek tragedy...

this movie took about four years to grow on me. now it is one of my favorites. it is a movie that defies pigeonholing, classification, or definition. when people ask about it, i just say: rent it and watch it. i hope the dvd release (when it happens) will be a collector's edition, not a disappointment like the just released escape from new york. i can't wait.

ok, this movie is six years old, but i still remember the first time i saw it. when the causeway was blown up by the harriers' missiles, i remember vividly my exclamation which i will not reference here. my point that this is james cameron's most outstanding picture from a stylistic standpoint. he made a comedy. sure, he blew some stuff up real good (i still believe the action sequences have yet to be topped), but he made a gleefully funny movie for arnold, which i think comes in second only to his comedic turn in twins. cameron does cram it full of subplots and it does make me squirm for awhile during the second act, but i do enjoy a drawn-out action finale (which, if you think about it, he has done in every single one of his films), so it pays off in pure adrenaline and decibels (i watch this movie at just half-volume when i want to rearrange my living room furniture). in the final analysis, if you look at cameron's filmography, true lies stands as the odd one out. it bears all of his trademarks including long and loud, but tonally and in pure storytelling, it's just a little bit different. i would like to see a collector's edition dvd one day. come on, cameron, i know you got it in you. i still hear too well.