A Complete Review of John McTiernan's work

Cast : John Travolta, Connie Nielsen, Samuel L. Jackson, Giovanni Ribisi, Taye Diggs, Roselyn Sanchez, Harry Connick Jr.

What was it about?
A DEA agent investigates the disappearance of a legendary Army ranger drill sergeant and several of his cadets during a training exercise gone severely awry.

My two cents:
More than 10 years ago, John McTiernan released this movie which would be, so far, his last directing effort. Indeed, in the following years, he had some major issue with the Justice system since roughly 2007 and in 2013, he was sentenced to federal prison to serve a one-year term for lying to FBI agents. Anyway, I hope for him that he will have eventually the opportunity to direct something else since his last movie was rather disappointing. I mean, sure, if you would compare i t to the really dreadful 'Rollberball', it was actually not bad but, still, the whole thing was just a rather generic and average thriller. The mood was decent, the cast was actually pretty good (indeed, it was the first time that John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson were working together since 'Pulp Fiction' which was released almost a decade before) and the story had some potential. Unfortunately, it is one of those thrillers which ends up with a really far-fetched and idiotic twist ruining the whole thing. In fact, it goes even further, the whole thing is pretty much a succession of rather ridiculous twists.

My rating: 05/10

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Cast : Chris Klein, Jean Reno, LL Cool J, Rebecca Romijn, Naveen Andrews

What was it about?
Johnathan Cross, a lover of extreme sports, is recruited by Alexi Petrovich to star in his sportive invention, Rollerball. Johnathan accepts and learns the ropes of Rollerball: The players are on Rollerblades, trying to bring a heavy metal ball into a high goal. Also, there are motorcyclists around to bring momentum to the players. Oh yes, and there are no rules in the game.

My two cents:
I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since a colleague of mine had the DVD, I thought I should check it out. Furthermore, I must admit I was actually curious to see if it was really that bad. Honestly, it could have been pretty cool. Indeed, to reboot this science-fiction story with some modern special effects was actually a not so bad idea and I'm pretty sure that they had a decent budget. So, the concept was pretty cool but still they managed to make one of the worst movies ever... The story, the acting and even the special effects were just embarrassing. It is hard to believe that the man behind this was John McTiernan, a director responsible for some of the most badass action movies ever made ('Predator' and 'Die Hard'). I mean, the cast was made of B actors, even though Rebecca Romijn was not bad but, above all, they didn't manage to make this sport looked cool and the whole thing still looked terribly cheesy. Eventually, it was basically a gigantic failure and easily the worst movie directed by John McTiernan.

My rating: 03/10

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Cast : Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo, Denis Leary, Ben Gazzara, Faye Dunaway

What was it about?
A very rich and successful playboy amuses himself by stealing artwork, but may have met his match in a seductive detective.

My two cents:
The main issue with this flick is that it was a remake and I had watched the original version not so long before. Aside from this, it is actually a rather decent flick, probably the last decent movie directed by John McTiernan and the biggest asset in this movie was the great chemistry between Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. Indeed, Brosnan was born to play those smooth talkers and Rene Russo was really good in this. It is a real shame that the studios seem to have given up on her, seemingly because she might have become too old. Basically, the movie is a standard heist movie, a well made and entertaining production, but it was missing something to becom it truly remarkable and, honestly, it still felt like one of those unnecessary remakes. For many years, there were rumors that they would make a sequel, another remake based on ‘Topkapi’ and directed by Paul Verhoeven, but it won’t happen I’m afraid.

My rating: 06/10

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Cast : Antonio Banderas, Omar Sharif

What was it about?
In A.D. 922, an Arab ambassador is exiled from his homeland and ends up meeting a group of warrior Norseman, who he soon discovers he is destined join.

My two cents:
Basically, following the impressive 'Die Hard: With a Vengeance', McTiernan followed up with this ambitious adventure flick but, unfortunately, it was a flop and nowadays we don't hear much from this director anymore which is quite a shame. Honestly, I don't think it was that bad at all. Indeed, I have a weak spot for this genre and I thought it was rather well directed. Maybe there was a lack of big names in the cast but I thought that Antonio Banderas did a decent job as the lead. Basically, it is one of those movies which had a difficult time being made and it was apparently butchered in post-production but it didn't bother me much. Eventually, it all depends where you stand concerning this genre, if you can't stand it, it will be a total bore but if you are a fan, you'd probably end up enjoying it.

My rating: 06/10

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Cast : Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons, Samuel L. Jackson

What was it about?
John McClane and a store owner must play a bomber's deadly game as they race around New York while trying to stop him.

My two cents:
It was the last huge success booked by John McTiernan, hell, it was even the highest grossing movie of the year. Even though this flick is not as awesome as the first legendary installment, it is still an improvement on the second movie and it is really a solid action flick, definitely. The action scenes were really cool and it was a great choice to move the action to New York. Above all, it was a great move to give McClane a decent sidekick and who else than Samuel L. Jackson could deliver such a badass performance against one of the most iconic characters? Furthermore, Jeremy Irons was also a very good villain. Still, even though I enjoyed most of it, this movie was still not really flawless. Indeed, after a while, the whole thing kind of lost some steam after a great start. Furthermore, one of the greatest issues with this franchise is that each installment has to be bigger, louder and convoluted and, this time, the victim was the plot has the whole thing was pretty far-fetched. I mean, it was fun and entertaining, that’s for sure, but I never believed in what was happening and it was hardly as engaging as the first installment. Still, to conclude, even though I’m not a huge fan of action movies in general, I really liked this one.

My rating: 07/10

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Cast : Arnold Schwarzenegger, F. Murray Abraham, Anthony Quinn, Ian McKellen

What was it about?
A young movie fan gets thrown into the movie world of his favourite action film character.

My two cents:
I remember it pretty well when this movie was released and I’m pretty sure I actually saw the damned thing in the movie theater at the time. Before it came out, it was supposed to be the next big action flick starring Arnold Schwarzenegger but, unfortunately, it was critically panned and another box-office failure. I think it’s too bad because the whole thing definitely had some potential and it was probably the most original and ambitious movie made by John McTiernan. Personally, I don't think it was that bad though. The main issue is that they tried to combine many styles together (action, comedy, satire,...) but the whole thing was pretty messy and the tone was just all over the place. In my opinion, McTiernan is/was good, even one of the best, in straight action movies but his style was not subtle enough to carry something like this. Eventually, the problem is that a blockbuster of this size can never really be experimental so the whole thing was never really bold enough and, therefore, it never really reached its full potential. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, I don't think it deserves such a bad reputation and it is actually worth a look.

My rating: 06/10

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Cast : Sean Connery, Lorraine Bracco

What was it about?
An eccentric scientist working for a large drug company is working on a research project in the Amazon jungle. He sends for a research assistant and a gas chromatograph because he's close to a cure for cancer. When the assistant turns out to be a "mere woman," he rejects her help. Meanwhile the bulldozers get closer to the area in which they are conducting research, and they eventually learn to work together, and begin falling in love.

My two cents:
2 years before Sean Connery and John McTiernan had a hit on their hands with 'The Hunt for Red October' so they thought they could give it another try together. Unfortunately for them, this one was not really a success and ended up being probably one of the more obscure movies directed by McTiernan. To be honest, I have seen this flick a really long time ago but I thought it was not that bad. Indeed, I always had a weak spot for Sean Connery. I have to admit though, the story is not really amazing, it is the usual stereotype about the wise and courageous white man among the helpless and usually ignorant indigenous folk. Still, I thought this one was mildly entertaining.

My rating: 06/10

Cast : Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, James Earl Jones, Tim Curry, Stellan Skarsgård

What was it about?
In 1984, the USSR's best submarine captain in their newest sub violates orders and heads for the USA. Is he trying to defect, or to start a war?

My two cents:
To be honest, even though this movie has a really solid reputation, I have to admit that I always had some mixed feelings about this flick. I mean, obviously, for John McTiernan, it was a 3rd huge success in a row and he was, back in those days, one of the most highly regarded directors in Hollywood. Anyway, since this movie was regarded as a great thriller, I was expecting a lot from it. Unfortunately, I thought it turned out to slightly disappointing. I mean, sure, it was still not bad at all and even fairly entertaining but I just had a rather hard time to get into the story. Above all, I thought that to choose Sean Connery and Sam Neill to portray some Soviet officers was a rather odd move and made the whole thing rather unconvincing. Eventually, this movie would be also the very first one involving Jack Ryan and, for some weird reason, Alec Baldwin thought it would be a better idea to drop out from this franchise and the character would be eventually forever linked to Harrison Ford. Anyway, even though I didn’t really love the damned thing, it remains an entertaining thriller.

My rating: 06/10

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Cast : Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman

What was it about?
John McClane, officer of the NYPD, tries to save wife Holly Gennaro and several others, taken hostage by German terrorist Hans Gruber during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.

My two cents:
When I was a kid, I used to watch it with my dad and I thought it was totally awesome. Later on, I used to underestimate this flick, thinking it was just a decent action movie but not much more than that. However, I watched it again recently and I finally understood why I loved it so much back then and why it is considered as one of the best action movies ever made. Of course, the whole thing is full of clichés and stereotypes but those are so perfectly executed, as a result, I was on the edge of my seat throughout the whole duration. In my opinion, the best thing about this movie is actually John McClane. Usually, action movie heroes are always some kind of super guy and I always find it rather tedious to watch. McClane is different though : he sweats, bleeds, laughs, cries, and you really have the feeling that he is going to die every 2 minutes and even though he manages to survive, he sure would rather be somewhere else. All this makes the whole thing just really compelling to watch. For Bruce Willis, it was a star making performance and he became a huge superstar.

My rating: 08/10

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Cast : Arnold Schwarzenegger

What was it about?
A team of commandos, on a mission in a Central American jungle, find themselves hunted by an extra-terrestrial warrior.

My two cents:
This is yet another milestone of 80's action movie mayhem and when I was a kid, I really loved this flick. Indeed, when I was about 12 years old, I started to watch movies on my own and my first passion were action flicks. I used to watch tons of them and this one was definitely one of my favorites at the time. Basically, it was another badass action flick starring Arnold Schwarzenegger but the real brilliant touch was to combine a rather straightforward action flick with some science-fiction elements resulting in a very entertaining mix. To be honest, nowadays, I think it is a little too cheesy for my taste and the characters, even though they were totally badass, were seriously stereotypical and barely interesting. Still, there were so many things to enjoy here. Indeed, the music and the mood were just awesome, the Predator is one of the most fascinating Alien creature ever created and the whole thing was still damned entertaining. The best, in my opinion, is that the story was actually kind of lame when you think about it and you know all the way what's going to happen from the beginning until the end but since all the people involved played it completely straight, with no tongue-in-cheek whatsoever, it really worked.

My rating: 07/10

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Cast : Pierce Brosnan, Lesley-Anne Down

What was it about?
A French anthropologist moves to Los Angeles and is followed by the evil spirits of an extinct tribe he once uncovered.

My two cents:
This is the very first flick directed by John McTiernan, it was the main reason why I wanted to watch this and it took me a few years to finally get my hands on it. Eventually, even though it is a really obscure flick, there were many things to enjoy in this movie. Indeed, the mood was pretty good, Pierce Brosnan was rather convincing and there was something quite fascinating about this concept of modern urban nomads. To be honest, I thought it was not bad at all but still nothing really amazing though. Indeed, it felt like a typical directing debut, full of interesting ideas but still really rough on the edges. A year later, McTiernan would make 'Predator', followed quickly by 'Die Hard' and 'The Hunt for Red October', all 3 movies characterized by some really focused and effective directing so you could argue that this 1st feature was some kind of warm-up for this director.

My rating: 06/10

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