Cinemaniac1984

Based on the 1960's TV series, The Fugitive is a clever and taut thriller still holds up as a very popular movie years later. Directed by Andrew Davis and written by Jeb Stuart and David Twohy, Harrison Ford is excellently cast as the titular fugitive Dr Richard Kimble and Tommy Lee Jones is a perfect fit as the US Marshal Deputy Sam Gerard.

Highly respected Chicago surgeon Dr Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) is wrongly acccused of the murder of his wife Helen (Sela Ward) following a home invasion. Following a bus crash during a prison break gone wrong, Richard Kimble sets out to find out who killed his wife and to prove his innocence. As he races against time, U. S Marshall Deputy Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones in an Academy Award winning performance) leads a manhunt to locate Richard Kimble who is now the #1 fugitive. Kimble realises that nobody is to be trusted and Gerard is not too far behind as he continues relentlessly to find Kimble, though he starts realises that there is more to why Kimble is on the run.

Director Andrew Davis (Under Siege) did a great job bring out what could have been just a routine movie into one that keeps you glued to your seat.

The cast also includes Jeroen Krabbe as Kimble's friend and co surgeon Dr Charles Nicholls, Joe Pantoliano as Deputy Cosmo Renfro, Tom Wood as Deputy Newman, Daniel Roebuck as Deputy Biggs, L. Scott Caldwell as Deputy Poole, Andreas Katsulas as Sykes, and Julianne Moore as Dr Anne Eastman.

The main highlight of the movie is the spectacular train crashing into the bus scene and the shackled Richard Kimble leaping out of the bus. Also not far behind the scene where Kimble spectacularly dives off the top of the dam after being cornered by Deputy Gerard.

The Fugitive is still an excellent movie and it was one of the biggest box office hits of 1993. It's also one of the most popular movies in the respective careers of Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones.

8/10.

Ronin is a highly underrated spy action thriller that received a lot of positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, however it slipped under the radar amongst all the other blockbuster movies released that year. Ronin also became well known for two of the most memorable car chases. Directed by John Frankenheimer, (The French Connection II, The Island of Dr Moreau) the movie boasts an all star cast with Robert De Niro (Heat), Jean Reno (Godzilla), Natascha McElhone (The Truman Show), Stellan Skarsgård (Good Will Hunting), Sean Bean (Goldeneye), Jonathan Pryce (Tomorrow Never Dies) and Skipp Sudduth (TV's Third Watch).

Set in Paris and Nice in France, Ronin is about a group of mercenaries who are recruited from all around the world to retrieve a heavily guarded suitcase. The contents in the suitcase are unknown (a McGuffin to the audience) yet it is valuable to the Irish and Russians who are willing to get their hands on it. Organised by Irish handler Diedre (Natascha McElhone), the team includes former CIA Intelligence officer Sam (Robert De Niro), French spy Vincent (Jean Reno), British ex-Army turned weapons man Spence (Sean Bean), German computer technician Gregor (Stellan Skarsgård), and driver Larry (Skipp Sudduth). Also secretely overseeing the mission is disgraced IRA operative Seamus (Jonathan Pryce).

Alliances shift and there are members with shady agendas who are willing to get a hold of the suitcase for themselves. Sam and Vincent are the only two that form a firm friendship and partner up to find out what the major plan is that is involving the mysterious briefcase. Ronin is well known for featuring 2 different car chases through the streets of Nice and France which would become showcased as part of the best car chases in cinematic history. Over 75 cars were destroyed during filming.

Robert De Niro and Jean Reno are both excellent. Both of them are the standards in the movie. It was also enjoyable to see Sean Bean and Jonathan Pryce appear in the movie who also have the distinction of appearing in the James Bond franchise as former Bond villains from Goldeneye (1995) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) respectively.

Director John Frankenheimer created a very intriguing spy action thriller with plenty of twists and turns as well as two memorable car chases. This movie earns a spot right up there on the list of movies featuring the best car chases including Bullitt (1968), The French Connection (1971), The Blues Brothers (1980), Mad Max 2 (1981), and To Live and Die in L. A (1985).

1998 was a big year for blockbuster movies and critically acclaimed movies including but not limited to Saving Private Ryan, Armaggedon, Rush Hour, Godzilla and The Truman Show. Ronin slipped under the radar at cinemas and almost got lost amongst all the other blockbuster movies that year, despite many positive reviews. Ronin would later become more successful on home video and DVD. Years later, Ronin still holds up as a great movie with an all star cast and both car chases are still highly regarded as the best.

9/10.

Don't expect anything at all from Hot Summer in Barefoot County. It's trashy, low grade entertainment at best if you can call it that.

The movie is about a undercover city police officer who has been sent down to help dismantle a moonshine operation run by a woman known as Mama and her 3 attractive daughters. The local sheriff has tried and failed to shut the operation down however he is too bumbling and inept and his deputies are just as useless. Things get a turn when the undercover police officer is involved in a car accident and the family of bootleggers take him back to their house to help nurse him to make a full recovery. They don't know he's a police officer and he doesn't know that they are the bootleggers.

Did anyone expect anything from this movie? If you enjoy trashy movies, feel free to check it out, but keep your expectations low. Everyone else can seek elsewhere for decent entertainment.

1/10.