Great Movie Re-Watch

The Little Mermaid (1989)

The Great Movie Re-Watch

The Little Mermaid (1989)

Director:

Ron Clements

John Musker

Writers:

John Musker

Ron Clements

Howard Ashman

Gerrit Graham

Sam Graham

Chris Hubbell

Starring:

Christopher Daniel Barnes

Jodi Benson

Pat Carrol

Paddi Edwards

Buddy Hackett

Jason Marin

Kenneth Mars

Samuel E. Wright

Blurb:

A mermaid princess makes a Faustian bargain in an attempt to become human and win a prince’s love.

Thoughts:

Beauty and the Beast is peak Disney 2D animation, but The Little Mermaid is when things started to take off. 2D animation done well is a pleasure to watch. The songs in The Little Mermaid are also some of the best Disney has done. The story is the biggest point against the film.

Ariel is sixteen when all of this is going on, and that’s a bit young for me. You could argue that things were different back then or that she’s a mermaid. We don’t know their lifespan, but I don’t accept those excuses. The movie was made for kids, human 1980s kids, so she should have at the least been eighteen. It wouldn’t have aged her out of a kids viewing interest. It’s just a throwaway line, after all. It was a simple thing, and they erred on the side of creepy.

Watching The Little Mermaid post #MeToo also brings up a whole consent argument. Ariel wasn’t able to speak, and yet Eric was supposed to kiss her. However, I have no issue with it. Ariel is very clearly indicating with her body language that she’s receptive to a kiss. Eric never forces himself on her, quite the opposite. So I don’t think there was a consent issue. Just the whole sixteen thing cause how old is Eric?

Rambo III (1988)

The Great Movie Re-Watch

Rambo III (1988)

Director:

Peter MacDonald

Writers:

Sylvester Stallone

Sheldon Lettich

Starring:

Sylvester Stallone

Richard Crenna

Blurb:

Rambo mounts a one-man mission to rescue his friend Colonel Trautman from the clutches of the formidable invading Soviet forces in Afghanistan.

Thoughts:

Technically, Rambo III was playing while I was endlessly scrolling on my phone. I looked up occasionally. I read the Wikipedia entry. That’s about it, though. I vaguely remember Rambo looking world-weary as he killed a lot of Russians and saved a lot of Afghans. There were explosions, probably racism, and according to Wikipedia, we’re still in peak Stallone diva time.

What else can you say? At this point, the series has completely left behind what made the first movie good. I like explosions and action, but I can’t view Rambo as a self-insert, so he does nothing for me. He’s eye-roll-worthy and occasionally sympathetic. I think the behind-the-scenes stuff I’ve read has lowered my opinion of Stallone, so I can’t enjoy them even at the low level I used to.

Oh well. Little Mermaid is next.

Bloodsport (1988)

The Great Movie Re-Watch

Bloodsport (1988)

Director:

Newt Arnold

Writers:

Sheldon Lettich

Christopher Crosby

Mel Friedman

Starring:

Jean-Claude Van Damme

Donald Gibb

Leah Aryes

Norman Burton

Forest Whitaker

Blurb:

“Bloodsport” follows Frank Dux, an American martial artist serving in the military, who decides to leave the army to compete in a martial arts tournament in Hong Kong where fights to the death can occur.

Thoughts:

I’ve been stuck on Bloodsport for a while because it’s another one of my husband’s movies, and he can’t watch movies as frequently as I do. He prefers to play video games. Eventually, I got tired of waiting and put it on while he played Monster Hunter on the switch, occasionally looking up. I realize, technically, I could skip these kinds of movies. It’s not mine, after all. It feels like cheating, though. I don’t hate Bloodsport. I don’t feel a need to own it, but I don’t have an issue watching it. So I force myself to all in the name of sticking to my Great Movie Re-Watch plan.

Bloodsport is one of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s first big movies. Despite the lack of plot and inclusion of most action movie cliché’s it was incredibly popular and made a decent amount of money. Enough to spawn a couple of sequels, at least. The fight scenes are fun, but the acting is pretty bad, and the story is often unintentionally hilarious. There is also a cat that meows throughout all of the fight scenes. It’s distracting and annoying.

One of the best things to come out of Bloodsport is a Mentos spoof commercial that I will link to below. It’s another entertainingly bad action movie.

Return to Snowy River (1988)

The Great Movie Re-Watch

Return to Snowy River (1988)

Director:

Geoff Burrows

Writers:

John Dixon

Geoff Burrows

Starring:

Tom Burlinson

Sigrid Thornton

Brian Dennehy

Nicholas Eadie

Blurb:

Young Jim Craig returns to his home in the Australian high country. He finds that things are not as he left them – his girlfriend is being pursued by another man, and her father doesn’t want Jim back into her life.

Thoughts:

My favorite part of Return to Snowy River is near the beginning. Where Jim is going to get into a fistfight but is told there are better ways to prove his point, so he completely shows up the asshole. It’s one of those moments where I have a stupid grin on my face while watching. I love it.

I like the rest of the movie, a lot actually, but I never get that feeling again with it. Jim and his whole “I’ve got a start for us” to Jessica is annoying. He didn’t even talk to her before disappearing. It was presumptuous on his part to expect her to wait for him, in my opinion—fairly old school man. Still, you can’t beat the romance. Easily top ten in that category.

There’s not much to say about the filming. There didn’t appear to be any drama behind the scenes. A horse died, sadly, but that’s about it. Michael Douglas didn’t reprise his role, but honestly, Brian Dennehy did a great job, and Douglas wasn’t missed. Oh, and it appears as though the actual title is Return to Snowy River II, though that’s not on my DVD copy. Seriously, I wish they’d release a Blu-ray or add it to Disney+ in HD.

Back to the Future Part II

The Great Movie Re-Watch

Back to the Future Part II

Director:

Robert Zemeckis

Writers:

Robert Zemeckis

Bob Gale

Starring:

Michael J. Fox

Christopher Lloyd

Lea Thompson

Thomas F. Wilson

Elizabeth Shue

Blurb:

After visiting 2015, Marty McFly must repeat his visit to 1955 to prevent disastrous changes to 1985…without interfering with his first trip.

Thoughts:

Back to the Future Part II was always my favorite in the Back to the Future franchise. They go to the future! There are flying cars, hoverboards, automatic lacing shoes, and so much more. It was so awesome to think that the future would have such amazing things. Sadly, 2015 was nowhere near that amazing. The idea of people in flying cars is actually terrifying. The hoverboards were a massive disappointment too.

One of my major complaints about the original movie is the depiction of women. Unfortunately, Part II didn’t do much better. We still had the whole Biff and Lorraine rapey vibe going on in the 50s as well as the 80s. Jennifer was drugged and kept being left places, first in an alley and next on her front porch. Women get in the way, and cause issues is the theme in the Back to the Future franchise. It’s annoying.

Despite that, I can relate to the plot in Back to the Future Part II. If I was ever to gain access to a time machine, the first thing I would do is figure out a way to make money. I would go the lottery and stock market route, though. Doc Brown may not have invented the time machine for personal gain, but that is most certainly what I would use it for.

If you didn’t know already, it would be abundantly clear that the third film was made simultaneously. At the end of Part II, a trailer gives away the final part’s entire plot. If I weren’t doing this re-watch, I would have immediately put it in. It was hard not to. Oh well, I’ll just have to wait a couple of years before I get there.