PredragReviews

Indeed "Rosemary's Baby" is a classic but let's get the bad points out of the way first. Some scenes are awkward, Mia Farrow and her new found friend in the washing room really doesn't belong in a movie hailed as a classic. Terrible dialogue and acting from both. Farrow seems to change accents throughout the movie, even in her same lines which is a little off putting. However she is terrific in this role as the quiet naive woman who senses over the films two hours that something is very wrong. The movie has been directed much like Nicolas Roeg's classic, Don't Look Now, that classic 70's look of chopping and changing scenes during dialogue. Rosemary's Baby is also very sexually aware of itself, and one could say with all validity was the bridge between censorship issues and what would follow in the glorious 70's.

The movie was shot in the Dakota Buildings, and looks dreadfully eerie, director Roman Polanski makes New York like that too, which all fits with the mood of the film. John Cassavetes has some great lines and is particularly good, though isn't needed once he plays his cards too early. But two actors out-stage Farrow and Cassavetes and that is their old noisy could be witch neighbors played delightfully well by Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer. The performances in the movie are phenomenal, particularly that of Ruth Gordon, who plays the nosy meddling neighbor (she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance). Mia Farrow is also very convincing as Rosemary, the trapped individual whose intentions are always good.

"Rosemary's Baby" is still as watchable today (and, of course, deeply horrific and disturbing) as it was all those years ago. It doesn't need gallons of fake blood or computer-generated effects to be scary. Everything here feels a little too real and is a credit to how films can be made. Don't expect a roller-coaster ride of scares and guts – it's much too 'foreboding' to succumb to anything so cheap and easy. If you're in the mood for something horrible, dark with an every-increasing sense of dread then give this one a watch before it gets remade with too many special effects and no soul.

Overall rating: 9 out of 10.

For anyone who loves gadgets, flying, or even dreams of being a pilot, this movie is pure unadulterated pleasure! I don't think Top Gun has even been equalled, in producing some enthralling aerial cinematography that never looks amateurish or unrealistic. If you consider that back in the 1980's the CGI option did not exist, so all the live action sequences had to film real F14's flying; the technical challenges in filming supersonic craft and doing so (and getting decent footage) are considerable. For this feat alone, Top Gun is a classic that has never been equalled before or since.

Watching this movie, it's easy to see why Tom Cruise became the mega-star he did. His clean-cut, good ol' American guy image and toothy grin appealled not only to US audiences, but to the wider world at the time. This part isn't much of an acting challenge for Cruise, since there isn't much depth to the character, but on the other hand, he plays the part of a maverick pilot so convincingly, that you never doubt for a moment you are watching anything other than a top Navy pilot.

The cinematography is superb, the music is just so thrilling it gave me tears in my eyes with happiness.' The scenes of Iceman Interacting with maverick and Goose is just great to watch. The soundtrack has its ups and downs, nice in taking some classic romantic numbers, but failing when loud bursts of American rock signal that Maverick is either in danger or has successfully shot down a plane and 'going home'. That being said this is still a highly enjoyable film, and while the attitude may be a little annoying at times, it can still be genuinely enjoyed as a good, in your face, bit of fun.

Overall rating: 9 out of 10.

I had almost forgotten what a great simple thriller this was. Simple plot, maverick cop Marion Cobretti (Stallone) is assigned to protect a beautiful female witness from a cult of Neo-Nazi style supremacist bikers who are terrorising Los Angeles with a spate of brutal murders - You get it all here; a scene reminiscent of Halloween 2, where the cult leader (a monster of a man known as The Night Slasher) goes on a Michael Myers style killing spree at the City's hospital, plenty of bloody shootouts and fights and a couple of superb Car & Bike chases that are second only to the Mad Max movies, in terms of violence and spectacle. Really, really good stunt work and special effects! Also, there's lots of firearms, including Cobretti's hi-tech, laser sighted Jatimatic sub-machine gun, well deployed throughout the many chases and firefights!

The tension throughout the film is well sustained and it is superbly atmospheric, creepy at times, but always entertaining and gripping one way or another. Brigitte Nielsen is also terrific as the model witness who they are forced to protect and she is convincingly terrified a lot of the time. Brian Thompson plays the killer in no doubt one of his first roles, and he of course later went on to play the bounty hunter in The X Files. The direction is top notch, and it was a shrewd idea, possibly by Stallone to bring in George P Cosmatos who Stallone had previously worked with on Rambo 2. Stallone is as good as ever, and if your a fan, I'm sure you've seen this a dozen times anyway.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10.