Gunmen

If you've read any of my other movie reviews, you'll know by now that i'm a massive Christopher Lambert fan. Gunmen see's Lambert team up with Mario Van Peebles who also stars in Highlander 3 with Lambert, in the same year. Lambert is a drug smuggling rebel with a soft side and Peebles is a tough cop. They team when they hear about 400 million dollars which are hidden in a boat somewhere, so they set out to find it. In their quest there are laughs, thrills and spills galore. But the two of them don't exactly get on together, they are like two little kids argueing.

For a low budget movie it's pretty good. I would say it was one of Lamberts better movies but not as good as Highlander and Fortress.

If you like explosive action and guns galore, this is the one for you.

Silly in parts but good fun.

I rated it 7/10

Drug Baron Peter Loomis (Patrick Stewart) has his $400 million dollar drug fortune stolen. Loomis sends O'Malley (Denis Leary), a ruthless killer to find his money. Cole Parker (Mario Van Peebles), a DEA Agent is on a south American mission of justice and revenge. He is sent to find his father's killer. Cole busts an eccentric smuggler (Christopher Lambert) to help Cole to find the smuggler's brother money that he has stolen from Loomis. But O'Malley wants to find the fortune for himself. In a Cat and Mouse game, Cole and the smuggler are forced to help each other to find the missing fortune trying to avoid, O'Malley and his men.

This is an fun, action-packed thriller with an fun sense of humor. This oddball cop/buddy movie with touches of the spaghetti western is directed by Deran Sarafian (Death Warrant, The Road Killer, Terminal Velocity). The film is weird and uneven but it is a fun movie to watch. Lambert is hilarious as a whacked out smuggler. This film was a Box Office disappointment. This little seen action film might have a cult following. If you love action films with something a little different. This is for you. Screenplay by Stephen Sommers (Deep Rising, The Mummy, The Mummy Returns). Panavision. (****/*****).

This film is certainly uneven, and borrows from obvious Sergio Leone westerns, but you should find it entertaining. Worth seeing, if for no other reason, to see Patrick Stewart playing a crippled south american druglord who buries alive his disloyal wife in his opening scene. Another scene that will have you shaking your head in disbelief is when two main characters shoot each other in the leg in an attempt at humor.

It is a shame Gunmen didn't get fair treatment when it was brought to DVD. Originally shot in 2.35:1 widescreen, the DVD and obviously, the video are only available in 1.33:1 full TV screen format. Almost half the picture is missing, and it shows. Even ignoring the lush scenery cut off, too often the characters' faces are missing from the frame. Even worse is that the DVD transfer is rotten. It may have been from a S-VHS master from what it looks like. It is full of film grain which compresses awfully on DVDs, making the entire movie look muddy.

This is a terrible shame because Gunmen is a fun, lightweight flick of two guys, one good, the other bad, forced to work together against a common enemy. There are many funny one liners, and the action scenes are pretty good, though low budget. Denis Leary is always fun to watch when he's angry or evil, and he's almost always both in Gunmen.

This is a very light, entertaining movie for its B budget action format. I think performances by all the big name actors are quite good and even the lesser known actress Brenda Bakke puts in a decent performance. Van Peebles and Lambert have good chemistry on the screen though it was not as easily appreciated in the Highlander movie.

I recommend it for light-hearted action fans if only to catch the segment towards the end where they "trade" First-Aid kit back and forth. :)