Month: February 2008

I believe I saw this movie on television back in the nineties and thought it was a fun action-adventure. If I recall correctly, my mom saw it and enjoyed it.

Revisiting it now with Jenni was a new experience. Much of the dialog made much more sense now that I have more life experience (for better or worse) and it was fun enjoy the comedic portions with Jennilyn, Leah, and Stacy.

The part of the movie where they escape in a jeep through rugged terrain got the best laughs, as the driver is giving the main characters a tour of his hometown as a terrorist group shoots at them with machine guns. The driver isn’t oblivious, but confident that the jeep is secure and happily shares his childhood memories. It all culminates in a spectacular jump over a creek using a remote-controlled ramp— which angles up perpendicularly after they’ve jumped to stop their pursuers.

Treasure-hunting, romance, comedy, and action—a recipe for a fun evening.

Jenni and I had a hard time enjoying this movie. I think we both had preconceptions of a humorous, heart-warming story and instead we got something cynical and unsatisfying. Throw in the fact that it was our Valentine’s Day movie, it was a classic example of having the wrong expectations going in and slid into a downward spiral the whole length of the movie.

Lately, I’m more aware of how the music is what really makes a movie for me. For instance, Beverly Hills Cop 2 has that awesome “Axel F” song that my brothers and I played on our boom box when we were knee high to a grasshopper. Trav carried it on his shoulder while we followed him marching through the house like a street gang. My impression of that movie… a little obnoxious at times, hilarious fashions such as spandex clad women with poofy hair, and gunfights that remind me of the arcade game Time Crisis 3. Wish I could’ve watched it with my youngest brother, Rex. We enjoy doing Mystery Science Theater style commentary during films like this.

We recently watched Live Free or Die Hard (Die Hard 4), and while it was a decent action movie, it just wasn’t a “Die Hard” movie. The stunts and special effects were impressive, but John McClane was only a shadow of who he was in the first two Die Hard movies.

So as part of our 80’s movie month, we returned to John McClane’s first adventure at Nakatomi Plaza.

Starting off our 80’s movie month, Jenni wanted to watch the movie Beverly Hills Cop 2 since she’s played the theme song Axel F in band but had never seen the movie.

I remember watching the movie in days long past and admired how Eddie Murphy’s character could get away with almost anything by over-talking his opponent. I don’t admire it so much now that I’m older and wiser, but it’s still fun to see someone smooth-talk in their element.

My favorite moment in the movie comes toward the end. Billy loads up with a ton of guns from his car trunk as they head toward the criminals’ headquarters. They snuck around to a truck and found it stocked with weapons.

Taggart jokingly holds up a rocket to Billy and teased, “Hey Billy! You don’t have one of these.”

Billy then proceeds to load a few rockets in his trench coat pockets and slung a rocket launcher over his shoulder. Reminds me of video game shooters—one person carrying a whole army of weapons without any regards to weight and blasting away with an assortment of firepower.

We watched the movie with our friend Mary and had funny side comments about how the vision of physical beauty and style has changed in two decades. Jenni and I also noticed how director’s techniques have improved in storytelling and how far we’ve come in special effects.

Special thanks goes to my brother Jack for finding our old VHS recording of the show at my parents’ house; not only saving us money, a trip to the video store, but also since it was on TV, all the swear words were replaced.