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Bringing "First Blood" to the screen was just as grueling an ordeal as the events of the film itself. Now remembered as one of the best action movies of all time, the 1982 film cemented Sylvester Stallone's status as one of, if not the biggest, action star of the '80s. Its guerilla warfare action was buttressed by a script, adapted from David Morrell's 1972 novel which explored the lingering effects of the Vietnam war on Stallone's combat veteran, John Rambo. That socio-political consciousness would fade as a franchise emerged in the wake of "First Blood," but the initial movie remains a singular example of an action film going beyond the standard bombast and spectacle of the genre. It just took some serious effort to bring it to fruition.

The movie sees Rambo take on an entire Sheriff's department, the national guard, and state patrol in the woodland of Washington state.

The conflicted Paul Schrader works out some hellacious personal issues, in a feverish tale of a Michigan Calvinist searching for his daughter in the porn jungle of L.A.. A disturbingly dark modern-day cross between The Searchers and Masque of the Red Death, it was meant to be even darker. Hardcore Blu-ray Twilight Time 1979 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 108 min. / Street Date August, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95 Starring George C. Scott, Peter Boyle, Season Hubley, Dick Sargent, Leonard Gaines, David Nichols. Cinematography Michael Chapman Production Designer Paul Sylbert Art Direction Edwin O'Donovan Film Editor Tom Rolf Original Music Jack Nitzsche Produced by Buzz Feitshans, John Milius Written and Directed by Paul Schrader

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

I'm not sure that the word 'controversial' has the same meaning it once had. There has to be a consensus on what is 'normal' in society for some topics to become edgy. These...

Guns! Guns! Guns! John Milius' rootin' tootin' bio of the most famous of the '30s bandits has plenty of good things to its credit, especially its terrific, funny cast, topped by the unlikely star Warren Oates. The battles between Dillinger's team of all-star bank robbers and Ben Johnson's G-Man aren't neglected, as Milius savors every gun recoil and Tommy gun blast. Dillinger Blu-ray + DVD Arrow Video U.S. 1973 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 107 min. / Street Date April 26, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Michelle Phillips, Cloris Leachman, Harry Dean Stanton, Geoffrey Lewis, John Ryan, Richard Dreyfuss, Steve Kanaly, John Martino, Roy Jenson, Frank McRae. Cinematography Jules Brenner Special Effects A.D. Flowers, Cliff Wenger Edited by Fred R. Feitshans, Jr. Original Music Barry De Vorzon Produced by Buzz Feitshans Written and Directed by John Milius

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

There it was in the dentist's office, an article in either...

From the characters' names (Jack Crews, Red, Earl, Sonny) to the preposterous plot to the numerous chases and fatal crashes, "Black Dog" wags its hoary, tough-underdog-puts-pedal-to-the-metal tale with no verve or veracity.

Even the hard-core bubba crowd is likely to pass this one up despite a country music soundtrack and the casting of Randy Travis in a major role. The Universal release's sole attraction is a few amazing shots of big rigs flying through the air, falling off mountain roads and smashing into things, usually in slow motion.

With little to do but look mean, bark a few orders and growl at his foes, lead Patrick Swayze as former con Crews is well-groomed for this sort of dogfight, but he's inexplicably leashed for most of it. Trying to go straight after serving time for vehicular manslaughter, the trucker takes on a risky job for money needed to pay an overdue mortgage.

His amiable spouse (Brenda Strong) makes a feeble attempt to stop him from hauling a truckload of illegal arms from Atlanta to New Jersey. But the lack of a driver's license and immediate doubts about all parties involved are not enough to deter Jack.

The title refers to a nighttime apparition that causes overworked, "greedy" drivers to crash, which is what happened to tough-luck case Jack. With such a back-story hounding him, he feels twice as challenged, but he's a gullible gorilla to boot.

Recruited by his shady boss Cutler (Graham Beckel) and flown to Georgia, Jack meets Bible-quoting middleman Red (Meat Loaf) and his pack of hired curs, including would-be singer-songwriter Earl (Travis, ha-ha), amiable dreamer Sonny (Gabriel Casseus) and shifty lowlife Wes (Brian Vincent).

Unbeknownst to Jack, Cutler, Red, et al., squabbling FBI and ATF agents (Charles Dutton and Stephen Tobolowsky) are tracking the shipment in an attempt to nab the buyer. Red makes the first move, attempting to "hijack the load" in ambushes involving cars, trucks and motorcycles.

In an ungainly development, Jack, Earl, Sonny and Wes become allies. Slimy Cutler takes Jack's wife and daughter hostage, leaving our hero no choice but to complete the job. After one of his road pals turns out to be an undercover agent and dies, Jack comes up with a plan to save his family and make the world a safer place.

Director Kevin Hooks ("Fled") and cinematographer Buzz Feitshans IV shift into overdrive for the action scenes, but otherwise the wide-screen production is visually undistinguished. Similarly, the screenplay credited to William Mickelberry and Dan Vining is laughably generic, with light humor that usually doesn't work and such dreadfully banal ideas as having Meat Loaf's character toss off lines from the scriptures as he tries to ram Jack with a succession of bigger red chariots.

BLACK DOG

Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures and

Mutual Film Company present

a Prelude Pictures production

in association with Raffaella De Laurentiis

Director: Kevin Hooks

Screenwriters: William Mickelberry, Dan Vining

Producers: Peter Saphier, Mark W. Koch,

Raffaella De Laurentiis

Executive producer: Mace Neufeld,

Robert Rehme, Gary Levinsohn, Mark Gordon

Director of photography: Buzz Feitshans IV

Production designer: Victoria Paul

Editors: Debra Neil-Fisher, Sabrina Plisco-Morris

Costume designer: Peggy Stamper

Music: George S. Clinton

Casting: Elisabeth Rudolph

Color/stereo

Cast:

Jack Crews: Patrick Swayze

Red: Meat Loaf

Earl: Randy Travis

Sonny: Gabriel Casseus

Wes: Brian Vincent

Cutler: Graham Beckel

Melanie: Brenda Strong

Ford: Charles Dutton

McClaren: Stephen Tobolowsky

Running time -- 88 minutes

MPAA rating: PG-13...

Taking its cue, but virtually nothing else, from the '60s TV series of the same name, "Mc-Hale's Navy" is one botch of a movie.

An ill-fitting blend of action and comedy, this poorly written and assembled Tom Arnold vehicle goes so wrong so quickly that it's a wonder Universal bothered with the expense of a theatrical launch when a direct-to-video send-off would have made more sense.

Playing the part originally as-signed to Ernest Borgnine (who makes a few brief appearances here), Arnold is Lt. Cmdr. Quinton McHale, a retired Navy man turned entrepreneur who returns to his post in San Ysidro, Calif., when the maniacal East German Maj. Vladakov (Tim Curry) invades a neighboring island.

Back in action, McHale and his motley crew are determined to take Vladakov down while having to answer to the newly assigned Capt. Wallace Binghampton (Dean Stockwell) and the icy Lt. Penelope Carpenter (Debra Messing).

Arnold is miscast as the lovable, devil-may-care McHale, while the rest of the cast all appear to be off doing their own thing (not that they've been given much to work with) -- from Curry's incessant eye-rolling to Stockwell's curious Maxwell Smart impression.

Elsewhere, there's David Alan Grier as groveling Ensign Charles Parker (the part played by Tim Conway on the old series) and Tommy Chong, who generates a few of the picture's rare laughs as a Cuban black marketeer.

Working from a shell of a script, director Bryan Spicer ("Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie") applies a haphazard approach to the comedy and the constant barrage of pyrotechnics that seems to belong in another picture. On the other hand, if the explosions are intended to distract attention from the waterlogged state of this enterprise, they are indeed a most welcome diversion.

McHALE'S NAVY

Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures

and the Bubble Factory present

A Sheinberg production

A Bryan Spicer Film

Director Bryan Spicer

Screenwriter Peter Crabbe

Story Peter Crabbe and Andy Rose

Producers Sid, Bill and Jon Sheinberg

Executive producers Lance Hool, Perry Katz

Director of photography Buzz Feitshans IV

Production designer Gene Rudolf

Editor Russell Denove

Costume designer Michael T. Boyd

Music Dennis McCarthy

Color/stereo

Cast:

Lt. Cmdr. McHale Tom Arnold

Maj. Vladakov Tim Curry

Capt. Binghampton Dean Stockwell

Ensign Charles T. Parker David Alan Grier

Lt. Penelope Carpenter Debra Messing

Happy French Stewart

Virgil Bruce Campbell

Cobra Ernest Borgnine

Armando/Ernesto Tommy Chong

Running time -- 109 minutes

MPAA rating: PG...

A Washington boy wonder who has to dangle from buildings, swim through sewers and dodge subway trains, Charlie Sheen's character in "Shadow Conspiracy" is another case of a man who knows too much. However, director George P. Cosmatos' thriller is a derivative potboiler that pales next to such genre classics as "Three Days of the Condor" and "North by Northwest".

Snippets of dialogue from Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil" are heard in one scene, and the filmmakers clearly invite comparisons to other serious films about corruption, betrayal and deadly conspiracies. A fair opening weekend, alas, is all the Hollywood Pictures film can hope for, as word-of-mouth and reviews will be tepid at best.

Cosmatos' most successful film was 1985's "Rambo: First Blood, Part II" and he's never gotten further than that hit's comic-book appeal. In "Conspiracy", the inner workings of the White House and the romantic attraction between the lead and his former girlfriend are but two of the film's areas undermined by simplistic, flat dialogue and Cosmatos' by-the-book direction.

Not acting the clown but employing many disarming tactics, Sheen plays the one man who can persuade the loner President (Sam Waterston) to delay making rash changes that will upset Congress and the country. The film sets a serious tone from the opening credits, which is followed by the first scene of a cold-blooded killer (Stephen Lang) shooting several nonthreatening research types.

A full-blown coup, no less, is the aim of conspirators at the very top of the government, including the vice president (Ben Gazzara) and the crafty chief of staff (Donald Sutherland). With the verisimilitude of a bestseller, the story plunges ahead and brings about such unlikely developments as Linda Hamilton's aggressive newswoman running the gauntlet with Sheen's fugitive under surveillance.

There's a fairly successful sequence involving a low-key entrance to the White House to access computer files, but the subsequent escape through an elevator shaft and underground tunnel is drawn-out nonsense. Similarly, the climactic assassination attempt underscores the film's overall juvenile approach, despite the regal setting.

SHADOW CONSPIRACY

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

Hollywood Pictures

Andrew G. Vajna presents a Cinergi production

A George P. Cosmatos film

Director:George P. Cosmatos

Producer:Terry Collis

Writers:Adi Hasak, Ric Gibbs

Executive producers:Andrew G. Vajna, Buzz Feitshans

Director of photography:Buzz Feitshans IV

Production designer:Joe Alves

Editor:Robert A. Ferretti

Music:Bruce Broughton

Costume designer:April Ferry

Casting:Karen Rae

Color/stereo

Cast:

Bobby Bishop:Charlie Sheen

Conrad:Donald Sutherland

Amanda Givens:Linda Hamilton

The Agent:Stephen Lang

Vice President Saxon:Ben Gazzara

President:Sam Waterston

Running time -- 103 minutes

MPAA rating: R...