Night Vision

This movie is great for the brilliantly choreographed chase scenes and the invigorating soundtrack. What Gil Bettman has here is a cinematic masterpiece. The sex scenes in this movie are not gratuitous like other films, but are important to the storyline. The classic one-liners will go down in history as some of the greatest ever, especially the "holy f***" line in the church. Cynthia Rothrock shows off her incredible rear end and also her finely tuned acting chops, comparable to the late Audrey Hepburn. A highly underrated classic for the ages.

Fred Williamson is back in another B movie action flick but this time its along with fellow B movie behemoth Cynthia Rothrock and for the rap fans Bushwick Bill of the Geto Boys. If you hadn't already guessed its a B-movie, with B-movie actors, production budget and values. If you don't like B-movies or were expecting Silence Of The Lambs from this team you are barking up the wrong tree, which seems to be common imdb when these movies are reviewed. This is not so much a revenge movie more of a hunt for a killer who is abducting women and couples who are having affairs. Its also a buddy cop movie with Fred being the main character while Cynthia is a the side kick. This is another of her movies where the martial arts is secondary to her acting, so don't expect Hong Kong style action sequences. Sure its easy to pick holes in the story or action however the standard of this movie is not to bad for its genre. The cast had a few surprises and it was entertaining enough. Its the kind of movie you can just switch off to as its not too taxing or violent to watch. Sometimes you just want something that isn't too emotionally draining and fun and this was fine on both counts.

Unlike most of the reviewers of this particular movie, I'm really not the much of a Cynthia Rothrock fan, to say the least. However when I saw that the movie had Fred Williamson and Robert Forster (both great actors), I just had to watch the film. Williamson is a Dakota Smith, an alcoholic cop who is demoted to scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush and even worse having to team up with Cynthia at the behest of the captain (Robert Forster). Forster is always watchable, it's just a crying shame that the movie itself is so damn trite and clichéd. It also features one of the least terrifying villains ever to be committed to celluloid. Williamson would return to the Dakota character in a few more films, the next one being "Down N Dirty"

Eye Candy: Nina Richardson shows some T&A; Mary Kapper goes topless

My Grade: D

Where I saw it: Showtime Extreme

The first clue that should tell you that "Night Vision" is not a good movie is that it was made by Texas filmmakers - Texas has made more than its share of bad movies. The second clue is that it has Cynthia Rothrock in its cast, and no (American) movie with Cynthia Rothrock is any good. The third clue is with Fred Williamson producing this movie, whose Po' Boy production company has made a string of bad movies. Yes, "Night Vision" is indeed a bad movie. In fairness, I will say that for a VERY low budget, the movie looks good. The colors are strong and there is some decent night shooting. And there are at least SOME production values, something you can't say for all Fred Williamson movies (such as with Williamson's "Black Cobra".) But most of the rest of the movie is pretty pitiful. It's a slow, sluggish movie, even in the action scenes. (And speaking of action, why cast martial arts actress Cynthia Rothrock when she gets to do almost no martial arts?) The atmosphere is sterile. Scenes seem to be missing. And Fred is seen in his underwear twice! And Robert Forster is wasted; he made this the same time that he made "Jackie Brown", and I hope he worked on this mess before making the Tarantino movie.

You may wonder why - but on the other hand with a main cast like that, does it really matter? Fred Williamson and Cynthia Rothrock .. that sounds amazing in and of itself. Of course as other already have pointed out: do not get your hopes up. On paper or rather the idea of those two sounds awesome - what you get in the end though ... well maybe not so awesome after all.

That being said, it is not like this is a bad movie alltogether. Not bad in the sense of not good - no pun intended. No the movie is mediocre - it has some highlights but also feels like it is dragging on at times. The two main actors seem to have fun though, so maybe that helps you enjoy the movie too. Action/stunts are decent I'd say, nothing to get too excited about either.