A classic

If I recall correctly, I saw this movie in the theaters when it was released. Since then, it has reached a rather solid status and it is even considered one of the best movies made in 90's by Quentin Tarantino (Tarantino was actually offered the chance to direct, but turned it down). To be honest, I never thought it was that amazing. Still, since it has been years since I saw it I thought it was time for a re-watch with Nick, my step-son. To my surprise, it was damned entertaining, even more than I remembered. The most enjoyable thing was the fact that it was made before the whole CGI overdose. Indeed, thanks to the CGI technology, they can make basically everything they want which is sometimes awesome but also sometimes rather underwhelming, especially concerning action movies. Take the last 2 Die Hard installments. There, you have a whole bunch of completely preposterous action scenes where neither Bruce Willis or even a stuntman was actually involved. It is all fake but back in the 90's, those were real explosions and you really wondered how they managed to shoot all that stuff. This movie was also the directing debut for Jan De Bont who was up to that point Director of Photography above all for Paul Verhoeven but also for a few Hollywood productions such as 'Die Hard' or ' The Hunt for Red October'. The Dutch director basically made his best flick and never reached that level again, unfortunately. A young Keanu Reeves was back then trying to profile himself as an action star and even though many thought his acting was wooden (which is often the case), I thought it worked here. Indeed, the guy is supposed to portray a cop, focused on his work, not making jokes à-la-John McClane and I thought he was convincing. For Sandra Bullock, it was her breakthrough performance and I must admit it, she was really damned charming back in those days (she still is, as a matter of fact). Honestly, I was surprised about how the whole thing was damned so entertaining and I was on the edge of my seat during the whole duration. The only flaws would be that it was a little bit too long and the romantic ending was rather underwhelming. Still, it is easily one of best action movies ever made and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

7/10