Skyfall (2012)
[8] It's so refreshing to watch heroes and villains who are over the age of 40. Skyfall repeatedly suggests that sometimes older is better, and I couldn't agree more. Daniel Craig's third turn as James Bond is at least as…
The Way Back (2010)
[6] There's no director I admire more than Peter Weir (Fearless, Mosquito Coast), even if his latest film left me a tad underwhelmed. The Way Back is about a group of men who escape a Russian labor camp during WWII…
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
[6] Marlon Brando plays Fletcher Christian and Trevor Howard takes on the mantle of the sadistic Captain Bligh in this remake from director Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front). The bloated run time (three hours) doesn't help the…
The Bounty (1984)
[6] This Dino DeLaurentiis production of the infamous tale of mutiny welcomes more shades of gray into the characters of Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian than the 1935 original film, though I wouldn't say it's a better film overall. Bligh…
Tarzan and the She-Devil (1953)
[5] Lex Barker ends his five-film tenure as Tarzan with a bit of a whimper in Tarzan and the She-Devil. The plot focuses around ivory poachers, lead by Raymond Burr and icy-cool Monique van Vooren, who enslave a peaceful native…
Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
[7] Mel Gibson returns as the iconic Mad Max, joined by Tina Turner in a fun, villainous role. But the third film in the series is also the weakest, first signaled by the PG-13 rating, a ridiculous attempt to make…
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
[5] This belated sequel gets by, for the most part, on good will and fond memories of the previous three installments. It's light on memorable action scenes and heavy on silliness (the CGI mokeys and gophers are really, really hard…
Avatar (2009)
[7] James Cameron's first film since Titanic is a supreme juvenile fantasy with a healthy sense of adventure and discovery. From its floating mountains to its bio-luminescent flora and fauna, the world of Pandora never stops unfolding before our eyes,…
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)
[8] Director Hugh Hudson (Chariots of Fire) delivers an emotionally compelling adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' vine-swinging legend. The first half of the movie, depicting Tarzan's childhood up through his discovery by an Austrian explorer (Ian Holm), outshines the last,…
Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man (1962)
[7] Richard Beymer (West Side Story) stars as Ernest Hemingway's alter-ego, a young man who comes of age by traveling the country and serving in the military during the early 1900s. With beautiful scenery of rural Michigan and Franz Waxman's…