Reviews by Gator MacReady

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)

  Review preview for Planes, Trains & Automobiles

  Planes, Trains & Automobiles is an eternal tribute to how great Martin used to be before he sold himself out to family movies and how wonderful Candy was as an actor and a person.

  Steve Martin and John Candy try in vain to get home in time for Thanksgiving.
• 
  Predator (1987)

  Review preview for Predator

  Definitely one of Arnie's best and a landmark action movie.

  Arnold Schwarzenegger is stalked in South American jungle by alien killer.
• 
  Predator 2 (1990)

  Review preview for Predator 2

  Brash, unsubtle, in-your-face, wall-to-wall action.

  The 7ft tall, otherworldy hunter comes to LA to slice and dice bad guys for fun.
• Pretty Poison (1968)

  Review preview for Pretty Poison

  It's obvious that the film isn't headed for a happy ending and it's not even an easy watch getting there.

  Falling for the wrong girl can be fatal.
• 
  Primo Amore (2004)

  Review preview for Primo Amore

  You know you're watching a dull movie when you begin to undress the female cast in your imagination, even if they're not that hot.

  A blind date between bald bully and wholesome girl reconstituted as an Italian art movie.
• Pumpkinhead (1989)

  Review preview for Pumpkinhead

  If you're in the mood for undemanding horror, with slight irony, mild mythology, an interesting killer and one of the coolest actors ever (Mr Henrikson, take a bow) then go for it.

  A man conjours a pumpkinheaded demon to avenge his son's death.
• 
  The Punisher (2004)

  Review preview for The Punisher

  Peter Parker thinks he has problems if he can't pay rent, get a girlfriend, or if no one likes him. Boo hoo! Frank Castle has REAL problems, none of this wimpy crap.

  Comicbook revenge action picture that takes no prisoners.
• 
  Racing Stripes (2004)

  Review preview for Racing Stripes

  Just so you know, if you've seen Babe, or Animal Farm, there isn't any reason to see this. I'm surprised there haven't been infringement lawsuits threatened.

  A zebra from the circus grows up on a farm, believing he's a racehorse.
• 
  Radiant (2005)

  Review preview for Radiant

  The film is so preposterously overwrought and mundane that it's hard to imagine that writer/director Steve Mahone could overlook such obvious dullness.

  A new vaccine creates a deadly virus.
• 
  Rambo - First Blood - Part II (1985)

  Review preview for Rambo - First Blood - Part II

  Whatever reality First Blood had is well and truly gone now.

  Sly dons his bandana a second time - this time with greatly enhanced body count.
• 
  The Ramones: End Of The Century (2003)

  Review preview for The Ramones: End Of The Century

  The editing is sloppy, the message blurred, or non-existent.

  Documentary on the legendary rockers who never had a Top 40 hit.
• 
  The Replacements (2000)

  Review preview for The Replacements

  Eighties-style conveyer belt mish-mash.

  Substitute players are hired during an American football strike.
• 
  Revengers Tragedy (2002)

  Review preview for Revengers Tragedy

  The narrative is so out-of-focus and the characters so unrealistic one cannot figure out exactly what universe the film inhabits.

  A modern day adaptation of Thomas Middleton's 17th century stage play.
• 
  Riding Giants (2004)

  Review preview for Riding Giants

  Peralta has a real talent for making historic and contemporary documentaries.

  Everything you will ever want to know about surfing.
• 
  RoboCop: Prime Directives (2000)

  Review preview for RoboCop: Prime Directives

  This junk should be scrapped and left to rust.

  TV mini series, based on the cult movie about a mechanical supercop.
• 
  Raising Arizona (1987)

  Review preview for Raising Arizona

  Too many events in Raising Arizona are so ludicrous and out of place that they contradict the requirements of almost any genre.

  It's downhill all the way after a couple steal a kid.
• 
  The Rock (1996)

  Review preview for The Rock

  There are so many distractions and superfluous plot points that the only way Bay can compensate is to turn every scene into an MTV blur.

  FBI boffin Nicolas Cage and grizzled lifer Sean Connery save Alcatraz from wacko army general.
• 
  Ronin (1998)

  Review preview for Ronin

  Frankenheimer's direction is so flawless and masterful that every frame of every scene flows effortlessly.

  Heist caper starring Robert de Niro.
• 
  Running Scared (2006)

  Review preview for Running Scared

  Besides the schizophrenic storyline, what really brings the film down to a 3-star experience is the fact that director Wayne Kramer uses every editing technique he can think of, despite whether it is appropriate or not.

  Looking for a gun in New York is a dangerous business.
• Saw II (2005)

  Review preview for Saw II

  'There will be boredom' is a more appropriate tagline for this absolutely worthless mess of a sequel.

  Serial killer plays games with stupid victims in spooky old house.
• 
  Saw V (2008)

  Review preview for Saw V

  These movies have become a parody of themselves.

  Death has never been one to keep Jigsaw and his cronies down... sadly.
• 
  Scary Movie 4 (2006)

  Review preview for Scary Movie 4

  The movies that David Zucker and Co are choosing to lampoon are already confined to the trash bin of history, thus rendering the film mostly purposeless.

  The spoof franchise creaks while they piddle on movies that were rubbish in the first place.
• Seed Of Chucky (2004)

  Review preview for Seed Of Chucky

  You have to be pretty open-minded to endure the morbid humour, but it's the guiltiest pleasure you're likely to have for a long time.

  Fifth slice of horror with the demonic doll.
• The Shaggy Dog (2006)

  Review preview for The Shaggy Dog

  No one in their right mind could read this script and find it worthy of their talents.

  Remake of family comedy about a bad dad who periodically turns into a dog.
• The Simpsons: Risky Business (2003)

  Collection of The Simpsons TV cartoons, themed around the subject of the title.
• The Simpsons - Season 1 (1989)

  Premiere season of the dysfunctional family's antics.
• 
  Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow (2004)

  Review preview for Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow

  Super-overindulgence in bluescreen effects and bizarrely out-of-place swashbuckling.

  Giant robots on the wing in fantastic story of mad scientist, intrepid reporter and fighter pilot.
• 
  Son Of The Mask (2005)

  Review preview for Son Of The Mask

  You have never seen a film nosedive as badly.

  The genes of The Mask are inherited by a baby.
• 
  So Close (2002)

  Review preview for So Close

  It's a bold move, but it doesn't gel properly.

  Kill-for-hire sisters get martial arts kicks.
• 
  Spy Bound (2004)

  Review preview for Spy Bound

  What action exists is exciting.

  Inside the lives of France's best secret agents.
• 
  Scrooged (1988)

  Review preview for Scrooged

  Richard Donner shoots the film as a supernatural fantasy and gives it a superior shine.

  A stunningly cynical Bill Murray finds the true spirits of Christmas visiting him thrice.
• 
  Se7en (1995)

  Review preview for Se7en

  Se7en is filthier than a dead stray dog at the bottom of a New Jersey toxic waste dump.

  Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt are cops who investigate a series of killings connected by the seven deadly sins.
• 
  Sex With Strangers (2001)

  Review preview for Sex With Strangers

  It's all a bit superficial.

  Documentary following the lives of couples who sleep with any willing partner.
• 
  Snakes On A Plane (2006)

  Review preview for Snakes On A Plane

  More Zzzzz than Sssss!

  Some snakes. On a plane. What more do you need to know?
• 
  Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937)

  Review preview for Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs

  Snow White, the first full-length animated feature, shows a class that Disney has since run out of.

  Disney classic about a wicked queen's attempts to slay "the fairest of them all".
• 
  Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

  Review preview for Star Trek: The Motion Picture

  Robert Wise's w-i-d-e-s-c-r-e-e-n compositions are beautiful and he really manages to lift Trek from the small screen to the cinema screen.

  Capt Kirk, now an Admiral, brings the old team back to save the world from a fresh alien attack.
• Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005)

  Review preview for Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story

  This scatter-shot approach to comedy has all the sophistication of sticking a 12-bore into a crowd and pulling the trigger. Sure, you're going to hit everyone, but it's not very clever.

  The Family Guy Movie.
• 
  Stoned (2005)

  Review preview for Stoned

  Despite good performances all round (Gregory is very sympathetic), it does get boring.

  The last days of the fifth Rolling Stone, Brian Jones.
• The Stunt Man (1980)

  Review preview for The Stunt Man

  Multi-layered, original, funny and packed full of story and circumstance that makes you think.

  An on the run criminal takes a job as a stuntman... and finds himself falling for the leading lady.
• 
  Style Wars/Style Wars: Revisited (1983)

  Review preview for Style Wars/Style Wars: Revisited

  It's hard to watch the dated hairdos and ugly early Eighties fashion and side with these kids.

  Remastered 21-year-old documentary about graffiti artists in New York.
• 
  Tartan Shorts (2005)

  Review preview for Tartan Shorts

  Overall, I am not highly impressed.

  Selection of shorts from the Ediburgh Film Festival.
• 
  This Filthy Earth (2001)

  Review preview for This Filthy Earth

  The kind of movie that would have been banned 20 years ago.

  Two sisters scrape a living farming muddy land, without hope or release.
• 
  A Thousand Months (2003)

  Review preview for A Thousand Months

  Just another poncy art movie with a zillion pointless scenes and an editor who doesn't understand that his job is to cut out the empty bits.

  Life in a poor Moroccan village, where a school chair is the most valued object.
• Transporter 2 (2005)

  Review preview for Transporter 2

  The Transporter franchise suffers from some serious engine failure in this too-slickly produced sequel and only just makes it over the finishing line.

  The return of the ass-kicking courier in a convoluted tale of a kidnapped kid and a deadly virus.
• 
  Tribute (2001)

  Review preview for Tribute

  Well worth the time and effort.

  Rockumentary following the lives of tribute bands and their fans.
• 
  Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (2003)

  Review preview for Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines

  A breathless, relentless thrill-ride that doesn't let up until the shocking, refreshingly downbeat climax.

  Third installment in the Terminator franchise has robot Arnie fighting a metallic woman.
• 
  They Live (1988)

  Review preview for They Live

  Interesting, but not up to the standard of Carpenter's earlier work.

  Alien conspiracy to brainwash California is exposed by looking at life through "magic" sunglasses.
• 
  Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001)

  Review preview for Thirteen Conversations About One Thing

  It's a great experience for the actors to get into such meaningful and intelligent roles and for us to be thrilled by their hard work and great performances.

  Several intertwining stories of New Yorkers with no sense of direction in life.
• 
  The Transporter (2002)

  Review preview for The Transporter

  The Transporter may be simple, but nothing feels mechanical.

  Jason Statham in South of France becomes embroiled with illegal immigrant smuggling ring
• 
  Tsotsi (2005)

  Review preview for Tsotsi

  The acting by a cast of mostly unknowns is perfect.

  An outstanding, highly moral tale of a young South African thug's redemption.