Actor John Saxon just passed away. I recently watched him in the Clint Eastwood Western, “Joe Kidd”. Nice turn. I will always remember him from “Blood Beach” where he plays a detective assigned to a case of mysterious disappearances at a local beach. He is allowed to utter, completely straight-faced, the immortal riff which borrows from the “Jaws” film legacy about people in his community having difficulty even getting to the water. Classic! A well recognized and respected actor. We are sad to see his passing.
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RECOMMENDED HOLIDAY ACTION MOVIE VIEWING!
You may be a big fan of Christmas themed movie at this time of the year and that is fine. But there is a wide variety of viewing experiences available to you and a good action movie may be what you are looking for. I will recommend a few thoroughly enjoyable action/adventure flicks.
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) – Clint Eastwood as a bank robber on the run who winds up getting drawn back into a repeat heist attempt on a bank where everything eventually went bad the first time out. The second attempt ends up no better. This is a very entertaining, well paced movie with plenty of violence, humor and beautifully shot locales that it will keep you glued to it. Jeff Bridges and George Kennedy turn in memorable performances. This was written and directed by Michael Cimino who would go on to direct The Deer Hunter, an epic of another kind. One of Eastwood’s better films.
Die Hard 2 (1990) – Bruce Willis back as John McClane, a New York city cop, with a nose for terrorist plots. This time he is spending time in an airport before Christmas battling rogue military types who are involved with nefarious misdeeds. Nice action interludes and some pretty implausible heroic antics from Willis. It is amazing how it all draws you in.
Jaws (1975) – For good or bad, this movie ushered in the era of the big blockbuster Summer or Holiday released film. In this case, it was for the better. Although a relatively early effort from Steven Spielberg, it is maybe his most easily watchable film. This thing packs a whollup every time you see it! The small coastal town that is plagued by a killer great white shark and the ill equipped attempts made to finally destroy the man killer make for a timeless classic. Amazingly engrossing storytelling and a visual treat!
Go now and catch up on viewing your own favorite holiday time classics.
Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Great World War 2 set action adventure movie starring the unlikely combo of Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. Burton was a movie star at the time and Eastwood was suddenly hot after his run of spaghetti Westerns. Why not toss them together and pour them into this macho, adrenaline-fueled blockbuster? This picture clocks in at around 3 and a half hours but it certainly won’t seem so! In the days before Star Wars and Indiana Jones, this movie was the shit. Completely absorbing espionage caper where a team of Allied agents attempt to go deep behind German lines to recover an officer from a heavily fortified castle. Gun play and explosions and acts of daring do galore. This is perfect holiday fare where if you have an afternoon or evening to burn, you should try to take this adventure epic in. Highly recommended.
THE ENFORCER – 1976 – TRAILER
There has been a lot of discussion lately involving Clint Eastwood’s new film, “American Sniper”. But Eastwood has had a couple brushes in the past with sniper related elements in his movies. “Dirty Harry” featured a psycho killer who dispatches a lovely swimming in a pool from long range with a sniper rifle. “Joe Kidd” contained a character who uses a high powered rifle with a scope in the Old West to pick off victims. “The Enforcer” was the third picture in the “Dirty Harry” series. It ends up that Eastwood’s unorthodox cop, Harry Callahan, resorts to utilizing a laz rocket to annihilate another psycho villain who has kidnapped the mayor of San Francisco. The dilapidated prison setting of Alcatraz is where the “hit” goes down. We get the sniper’s point of view as Callahan sights in his prey and blows him to smithereens. For what it’s worth.