Breakheart Pass (1975)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 1

 

 

VERDICT – 4/5

 

 

PROS –
1) A train is transporting a secret shipment of weapons stolen from U.S. arms manufacturers for sale to the Indians, in return of smuggling gold. The entire operation is concealed as a medical supply cargo for a diphtheria epidemic at the frontier outpost. What they don’t know is among the passenger is an undercover U.S. Secret Service agent.
2) The scenic snowy location with most of the action on the train makes it a unique western adventure. The fight scene on top of the train, while it’s on the high wooden bridge, is breathtaking.
3) For the first one hour, the mysterious death/disappearance of passengers one by one makes is a whodunit mystery.

 

 

CONS –
N/A

 

 

QUOTE –
Driver: I don’t know who you are, but the law says…
Deakin: The law’s who I am.

Cult of the Cobra (1955)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 0

 

 

VERDICT – 3/5

 

 

PROS –
1) Six US Soldiers witnessed and desecrated a cult ceremony of Cobra Goddess. The priest cursed them of all death, one by one.
2) A well made entertainer everyone can enjoy.
3) This movie heavily influenced almost a dozen Nagin revenge movies in Bollywood including the cult classic Nagin (1976) which is the exact copy of this movie.

 

 

CONS –
1) The climax is a let down.

 

 

QUOTE –
Priest: The Cobra Goddess will avenger herself! On by one, you will die!

The Terror of the Tongs (1961)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 1

 

VERDICT – 4/5

 

 

PROS –
1) Captain Sale is looking for his daughter’s killers in 1910 Hong Kong, ruled by secret Red Dragon Tong crime family.
2) It’s amusing to see many British actors playing Chinese characters.
3) Christopher Lee as Chung King is at his evil best. He’s not an ordinary villain but a man of strong principles who decided to sacrifice himself instead of abandoning his den. Milton Reid as his silent henchman is equally intimidating.
4) Yvonne Monlaur as Lee is almost unrecognisable in her mixed-race avatar playing the femme fatale.

 

 

CONS –
N/A

 

 

QUOTE –
Chung King: He that loves pleasure shall by pleasure fall.

Cliffhanger (1993)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 1

 

VERDICT – 4/5

 

 

PROS –
1) A mid-air heist went wrong, and then two rescue mountain climbers got embroiled in the subsequent treasure hunt for the dropped suitcases containing over $100 million.
2) A MacKenna’s Gold (1969) kind of adventure movie with thrilling action sequences and a strong supporting cast.
3) A must watch 90s adventure movie of mountaineering theme.

 

 
CONS –
N/A

 

 
QUOTE –
Eric Qualen: Kill a few people, they call you a murderer. Kill a million and you’re a conqueror.

Da 5 Bloods (2020)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 1

 

VERDICT – 4/5

 

 

PROS –
1) Beneath Spike Lee’s usual black emancipation theme, this movie is an intense treasure hunt adventure where 4 US Army veterans return to Vietnam to retrieve the hidden gold. What happens next is the routine story of greed and mistrust.
2) Delroy Lindo as Paul gave the performance of his lifetime.
3) The same actors played their younger-self in the flash-back scenes without any make-up or de-aging effect. This was a bold move from the director.

 

 

CONS –
1) 154 minutes running time is not acceptable for this story. The entire first hour was spent on plot built-up.
2) Spike Lee’s obsession with the black community and racism ruins everything. He should try making a stand-alone documentary next time to vent out his bitterness.
3) The primary plot borrows heavily from the back-story of Charade (1963). 

 

 

QUOTE –
Otis: Madness! Madness!

Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 0
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 1

 

VERDICT – 3/5

 

 
PROS –
1) It’s a feel-good Disney’s adventure of a ship-wrecked family based on the 200-year-old novel.
2) The tree-house, the water-wheel, and the animal race at the scenic island are straight out of a fairy tale.
3) The final battle with pirates with traps and coconut bombs was worth watching.

 

 
CONS –
1) Lack of a good leading cast. Apart from Sessue Hayakawa as Kuala, and Milton Reid as the hulking pirate, no other have any screen presence.

 
QUOTE –
Father: Don’t you sometimes feel that this is the kind of life we were meant to live on this earth? Everything we need, everything, right here, right at our fingertips. You know, if only people could have all this and be satisfied, I don’t think there’d be any real problems in the world.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 1

 

VERDICT – 4/5

 

 
PROS –
1) Another great story of greed. A paranoid man with disoriented conscience led to the disaster of a perfect gold-rush adventure.
2) John Huston’s tight screenplay and direction. While Bogart is the leading man, the highlight will be Walter Huston natural acting as the wise old man leading the pack.
3) Humphrey Bogart played the central character of an insecure tramp. His character of Fred C. Dobbs is a classic example of an over-suspicious man going nuts in isolation.
4) A somewhat fulfilling climax for Howard & Curtin.

 
CONS –
N/A

 

QUOTE –
Howard: I know what gold does to men’s souls.

The Goonies (1985)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 1

 

VERDICT – 4/5

 

 
PROS –
1) Pirate treasure, a secret map, a lost ship of a one-eyed dead pirate, booby traps, a “Ma Barker” kind of criminal gang and a group of mischievous kids hell-bent for an adventure. An ultimate adventure movie written by Steven Spielberg.
2) The delightful & memorable cast of young actors.

 
CONS –
1) No doubt the movie is influential but it targets a certain age group. This movie is supposed to be watched at a certain age.

 

 
QUOTE –
Andy: I can’t tell… if it’s an “A sharp” or if it’s a “B flat”!
Mikey: Heh, if you hit the wrong note, we’ll all “B flat!”

Master of the World (1961)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 1

 

VERDICT – 4/5

 
PROS –
1) A true steampunk sci-fi story from Jules Verne.
2) Robur – a great gentleman villain with noble intentions but an evil method. In fact by the end of the movie he doesn’t even appear as the bad guy. His grand plan of world peace at any cost reflects his grand character.
3) The audiences will be awed with the amazing airship Albatross with Victorian sci-fi gadgets.
4) Decent special effects for a 1961 movie.

 

CONS –
N/A

 

QUOTE –
Robur: I am a man unto myself, Mr. Prudent, who has declared war against war! That is my purpose, sir!

Triple Frontier (2019)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 0

 

VERDICT – 3/5

 

 
PROS –
1) A generic heist movie constitutes of few common acts: recruitment, planning, heist, snafu, & escape. In this movie, the heist part was the easiest while the escape part took an unexpected turn.
2) One hell of an adventure covering Andes Mountains, cocaine farm field, Colombian jungle, treacherous mountains across South America.

 
CONS –
N/A

 

QUOTE –
Pope: You’ve been shot 5 times for your country and you can’t even afford to send your kids to college.