Midnight Crossing

I went to see this movie with several co-workers when it first came out in 1988. It was so bad that we were entertaining ourselves poking fun at it and decided to leave before it was over rather than waste our time any further. Ned Beatty's "performance" was especially comical. The manager of the theater was aware of the unintended humor we found in it and when our whole group got up to leave at once, he offered us all free passes to a future movie to entice us to return to his theater.

This is a great thriller and very nice soundtrack. One nice tidbit is that you will not easily guess the ending. Very plausible story. If you like movies at sea you will love this one. The acting, although not great is competent and professional. Filming was at times very good and at other times OK. One of the things I would have changed is to have a little more character development in 1959 as well as when most of the story takes place. The characters are very much just dropped on the viewer with little of what transpired in their lives to put them in the context of the story. This can be forgiven because the suspense is very real anyway. One thing the movie could have used is another half hour of filming. Regardless, I am giving this a ten.

This is a great suspense movie with lots of twists and turns in the story line. It will hold your attention within the first 20 minutes. The hauntingly beautiful music pulls you in and out of the story with a mix of Caribbean instruments and American vocals singing about faraway places and beckoning to all. The mystery interwoven throughout this thriller holds your attention during the entire movie. It also includes numerous historical facts regarding Castro's era in Cuba and hidden casino money which many soldiers knew about while stationed there in the service. The cast of characters were well-balanced and credible. The scenery and action scenes in the water were exciting to watch. This movie has it all, including mystery, action, suspense, and love. I wish there would be a sequel to it! I enjoy watching this over and over, even though it was made years ago!

The dialogue is so bad that one has to give the actors credit for somehow getting through this movie...only this one movie to the director's credit....hmmmm I wonder why! Was Faye Dunaway so desperate? The first few minutes are a stong indication of the absurdity to follow and one does get a perverse twinge of anticipation, can this movie carry on to be so bad? Yes it can...LOL...It is so bad it is good....by all means rent it, I may even buy it now..

A group of old friends charter a boat for a leisurely Caribbean cruise, but, instead of experiencing exotic, sun-slaked frolics, their somewhat mercenary agendas fatefully get the better of them, greed, deceit and increasing paranoia erupting in an especially boisterous climax! While this enjoyably trashy Vestron Pictures thriller is cheesier than a 4-day fondue festival, the clunky, Danielle steel dialogue, and palpably hysterical tone merely increases the film's not inconsiderable entertainment value! A mendacious, Daniel J. Traventi racily sports a pair of questionably snug budgie smugglers, the ravishing, Kim Cattrall is hotter than a freshly popped pop tart, sweaty horndog, John Laughlin is, er, sweaty horndog, John Laughlin, and, as ever, powerhouse diva, Faye Dunaway is compelling as the sultry schemer, Helen Barton! With a fervid narrative about as subtle as a, Jackie Collins bonk-fest, myriad highlights of this trashmongous 80s thriller include, Ned Beatty's amusingly salty pseudo quint sea dog Ellis, the rad uber-80s score, and, Cattrall's boffably bodacious bod is so smoking hot that it would make a man-size vindaloo cry! This turbulent Midnight Crossing isn't so much Dead Calm, as Dead Hectic, so hold onto your life preservers as, Kim Cattrall proves slippery when wet!

Fun film fact,sweaty horndog, John Laughlin also appears as an Imperial Stormtrooper in the Star Wars Holiday special!