Land of the Free

Keep in mind that just because the PM Entertainment Group made this film, it does not guarantee that this will be a high quality action picture. LAND OF THE FREE is overflowing with car crashes, explosions, shootings, paranoia, and more paranoia. On the other hand, this film lacks an intelligent script, redeeming social values, energy, and efficacy. It also does not have a shred of ingenuity either! This is one of the Pepin-Merhi duo's lamest films in years...

Imagine this: William "Captain Kirk" Shatner stars as Aidan Carvell, a militia-based terrorist who wants to be a politician representing America! He has even written a book titled "Land of the Free." Carvell has won the hearts and votes of the people across California. He has made his own proposal known as the "Free America." Little do these denizens of California realize that they are supporting a politician who is working in cahoots with the militia. Carvell has his own inner ambitions...

Aidan Carvell may be connected to a surreptitious militia organization called the "Northern Militia." Once the haughty Carvell wins the Senatorial election, he can help these guys organize a plan to take over the United States!

Martial arts expert Jeff Speakman is Frank Jennings, Mr. Aidan Carvell's campaign manager. Jennings has recently uncovered quite a ton of dirty dealings made by Mr. Carvell himself. What Jennings has discovered can jeopardize his entire family's lives.

Desperate, Jennings forces his family to enter the Witness Protection Agency for the sake of their own safety. There are only a few minor problems... One, Jennings and his family are still in the city! Two, everyone else seems to know the Jennings' aliases. Third, there is no one that they can trust! Last (and certainly the worst possible outcome), Carvell's men are hunting the Jennings down like helpless prey...

If you like watching total carnage in the name of justice, then maybe you will give LAND OF THE FREE a try. LAND OF THE FREE has plenty of mayhem as we watch cars skyrocket, and then crash and burn. LAND OF THE FREE has the opportunity to be a solid, well-written political thriller with intense action. However, torpid direction, listless performances, a lackluster script, and repetitive action sequences maul what could have been at least an interesting film.

Granted, this movie does deliver the works. There must be at least half a dozen car crashes in this movie...maybe more. The best highlight has to be a joyride on a speeding bus! I am usually always ecstatic to see car chases and the ensuing destruction. This time though, it's as if the batteries ran out of juice. These action scenes all could have been very exciting...but they are not briskly paced. The way these action sequences are directed in this movie just seem too awkward with little confident orchestration. We have also seen the same redundant car wrecks in other previous works by the PM folks. They have done so much better.

In addition, the plot holes in this movie proliferate more than the number of cars demolished. I mean, what's up with the botched assassination attempt?! Why murder an FBI agent who is barely introduced into the story? Do motorists purposely crash their own vehicles? As for these bad guys, how come when they are firing their weapons, they can never hit their target? These bad guys can shoot anything, but they cannot put a single bullet into the protagonist! With problems like these, not even the great William Shatner can save this movie from being sealed by its own fate...

Speaking of William Shatner, I was surprised that Captain Kirk has contributed more than just a small cameo. He actually appears in the WHOLE (well, most of the) movie. Shatner is the only character who actually breathes life into this lifeless project. His portrayal of a dishonest politician is sometimes absurd, but mostly amusing. One question that I have continuously pondered about is what made William Shatner want to sign up for this piece of drivel anyway(?)

LAND OF THE FREE is just a disaster waiting to happen. Besides the lackluster action and the wooden performances, this movie also suffers from a lack of cleverness. There are no surprises here, we already know who are the true despicable villains. The action scenes are dull and predictable. The musical score is constantly dreary and horribly bothersome. The cinematography is pathetic. The people behind and in front of the camera fail to handle the limited material given to them. They just could not make the best of what they have. LAND OF THE FREE is without a doubt, one of the poorest entries from the prolific PM duo. Events that do not coherently connect together plus inadequately directed action sink this whole production.

Maybe this movie is worth a laugh or too. Shatner's performance deserves a few chuckles and you will laugh often at how Speakman does not seem to take the menacing perils very seriously. This is better particularly when one is intoxicated. This way, the person will not realize what kind of agony he/she is subjecting him/herself into...

RATING: NO STARS out of ****.

Well, nothing original here in terms of plot. Action? Yes, plenty! If there is anything to talk about this film, it's due to the endless action that happens through out the film, whether is be between cars, people, or both. I was highly surprised by how well the stunts were performed and even the fighting sequences. Although my comment is on the good work the stunt people have done for this film, the fact is that ever car winds up being launched in to the air.

I was impressed that most cars didn't blow up for just being in an accident - something Hollywood does far too often. The ultimate for me was the school bus car chase, lots of damage. Not only did this bus ram innocent people, it even rolls over a few! The bus scene is worth an extra star.

This film ranks well with me for mindless violence. I expected a cheesy movie that I wouldn't be able to watch, but instead, the constant supply of bad guys to kill or cars to destroy makes this actually entertaining to watch.

One element I laughed about was the soundtrack. The composer seemed to mismatch happy, sad, action, and serene music with the entire opposite scene.

The film truly is shot and directed well, sadly what does this film harm is the lack of believability in the story. The film has constant car accidents, gunfire, and murder, yet no police ever intercept. I'm sure that you can't steal a bus and run 20 cars off the road without getting at least ONE person calling the cops!

PM Entertainment made some good action movies, but this isn't one of them. It does have its trademark high production values (for direct-to-video movies), and it has a few good stunts. The rest of the movie is pretty poor. The acting is terrible - Shatner hams it up, and Speakman isn't much better. The action sequences are poorly directed - the martial arts become a jumble of fast-moving limbs, and the driving sequences frequently use slow-motion that make them as exciting as pouring molasses out of a jar. The rest of the movie is just as slow-moving, and it seems to take forever to end. And you would swear that the movie's music composer wasn't watching the movie he scored, because he always uses the same somber-sounding military music, even during the action sequences! If you want to see a good movie from PM Entertainment, try RAGE, LAST MAN STANDING, EXECUTIVE TARGET, or THE SWEEPER instead.

In a way LAND OF THE FREE was a good action movie about a campaign manager that discovers the senator he is working for is actually part of a terrorist group that wants to take over the U.S, and goes on the run once the the corrupt senator dispatches his henchmen to go after him and his family.

Although the film has a lot of car crashes, shootouts and fight scenes, all very well done, the thing that is really poorly done is the film's music score, its basically this one little tune that sounds like a kind of national anthem that plays repeatedly throughout the film including action scenes, and it really doesn't go well with the film at all, to give an idea of what the score is like, imagine Celine Dion's My heart will go on being played during all of the film's action scenes.

The storyline is nothing new, the acting isn't too bad at all and the film isn't badly directed either, but it gets my vote for a razberry award because of its score.

This seems to be a parody of a parody. The overly-patriotic music (the composer will probably claim "West Wing" was inspired by his score) and the action scenes are especially bad. Each involves every single person who tries to kill Jeff and his wife and annoying kid being incredibly stupid, slow-footed, and a lousy shot. There was one moment early on when Jeff Speakman is karate-chopping a security guard in slow-motion, and I wondered why it seemed so familiar. Then I remembered the karate moves of the old "Double Dragon" NES game series, from 10 years ago. The only difference was that those games had more believable characters and plotting.

How sad to see talented actors like Chris Robinson and Chris Lemmon stuck in the middle of this latrine. If you ever wanted to see Mac from "Night Court" (Robinson) punch someone in the gut, then this is the movie for you. The best laugh of the film.

Watch only if you want to laugh, or learn how *not* to make a film.