A proud movie theater owner must defend his family business from corporate developers alongside a legendary action star as art imitates life in a showdown for the ages.A proud movie theater owner must defend his family business from corporate developers alongside a legendary action star as art imitates life in a showdown for the ages.A proud movie theater owner must defend his family business from corporate developers alongside a legendary action star as art imitates life in a showdown for the ages.
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Featured reviews
If you love cinema and have knowledge of the form you'll love this film. Two titans coming together for a fantastic performance and a fun romp
through cinematic history. Anyone who loves movie theaters and the experience of them will get it! Interested to see the next film from this director. We don't get many movies like this anymore No politics besides a criticism of the capitalist nature that has ruined movies in general. It's all action, fun dialogue, and unique characters that inhibit the screen. These are the types of independent films I loved from
the 90s and early 2000s. A director with a vision and an agenda to entertain!
Love letter to oldschool cinema and grindhouse against a capitalistic organisation and its henchmen.
Unfortunately even the short running time of app. 90 min doesn't prevent this movie from boredom and at no point the director succeeds in creating tension or suspense.
The movie is ok, the actors have fun, the director celebrates its idols, but for me this love letter doesn't work that well like "Cinema Paradiso" or "Last Action Hero".
Nonetheless, of you like some nostalgia about the old cinemas and some 70s and 80s references, then give this one a try.
Love letter to old school cinema and grindhouse against a capitalistic organisation and its henchmen.
Unfortunately even the short running time of app. 90 min doesn't prevent this movie from boredom and at no point the director succeeds in creating tension or suspense.
The movie is ok, the actors have fun, the director celebrates its idols, but for me this love letter doesn't work that well like "Cinema Paradiso" or "Last Action Hero".
Nonetheless, of you like some nostalgia about the old cinemas and some 70s and 80s references, then give this one a try.
Unfortunately even the short running time of app. 90 min doesn't prevent this movie from boredom and at no point the director succeeds in creating tension or suspense.
The movie is ok, the actors have fun, the director celebrates its idols, but for me this love letter doesn't work that well like "Cinema Paradiso" or "Last Action Hero".
Nonetheless, of you like some nostalgia about the old cinemas and some 70s and 80s references, then give this one a try.
Love letter to old school cinema and grindhouse against a capitalistic organisation and its henchmen.
Unfortunately even the short running time of app. 90 min doesn't prevent this movie from boredom and at no point the director succeeds in creating tension or suspense.
The movie is ok, the actors have fun, the director celebrates its idols, but for me this love letter doesn't work that well like "Cinema Paradiso" or "Last Action Hero".
Nonetheless, of you like some nostalgia about the old cinemas and some 70s and 80s references, then give this one a try.
A cheeky fun styled film . I could easily see this being a cult classic, with years of creating new fans. It's got fun acting, stylistic scenes , great photography and classic ending. Characters that have a heartwarming fun personality you could relate to and attach herself to. You can easily put it on for a stay in Friday night matinee or end the week with it on a Sunday movie night. It's entertaining, it's fun and a pleasure to watch. I recommend giving it a chance. Great look , fun style , memorable characters , heartwarming scenes and just an overall entertaining film to watch for many years to come.
George Fuller (Terrence Howard) runs an old movie palace, the Warner Grand. He is having a special showing of a 90's post-apocalyptic action thriller with star Claude Luc Hallyday (Dolph Lundgren) making an appearance. Meanwhile, he is being harassed by land developer Lynn (Amanda Righetti) and her thugs who want his theater for a neighborhood rebuild.
Action starts too late and ultimately is too little. The movie is obviously setting up for a fight with all the movie prop weaponry. Dolph Lundgren needs to show up sooner. He is a better actor than most give him credit for. At the very least, he can be fun. He needs to be unleashed. This is spending too much time setting things up. The final battle is only the last third of the movie and is rather a bit underwhelming. This is not enough.
Action starts too late and ultimately is too little. The movie is obviously setting up for a fight with all the movie prop weaponry. Dolph Lundgren needs to show up sooner. He is a better actor than most give him credit for. At the very least, he can be fun. He needs to be unleashed. This is spending too much time setting things up. The final battle is only the last third of the movie and is rather a bit underwhelming. This is not enough.
It's entertaining enough but it really doesn't have the budget or imagination to compete with movies like Grindhouse or Mars Attacks as an homage to old B-Movies.
Lundgren is perfectly cast as a washed-up action movie star and plays along with the limited material he has to work with. Terence Howard seems to treat it too seriously as if it's making a serious point about independent cinemas closing which the movie seems too arch to be doing.
It can just never get the balance between chaos and pathos right for that to happen.
There's just a constant feeling that self-refenential B-Movies were so much better in the late 20th Century and that nostalgia ain't what it used to be.
Lundgren is perfectly cast as a washed-up action movie star and plays along with the limited material he has to work with. Terence Howard seems to treat it too seriously as if it's making a serious point about independent cinemas closing which the movie seems too arch to be doing.
It can just never get the balance between chaos and pathos right for that to happen.
There's just a constant feeling that self-refenential B-Movies were so much better in the late 20th Century and that nostalgia ain't what it used to be.
Did you know
- TriviaThe film is literally peppered with quotes from and references to many classic action movies. These include:
- L'Inspecteur Harry (1971) ("Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?")
- Cobra (1986) ("You're the disease, I'm the cure.")
- Les Incorruptibles (1987) ("Never bring a knife to a gun fight")
- Apocalypse Now (1979) ("Terminate with extreme prejudice", "The horror!")
- Sur les quais... (1954) ("I could have been a contender!")
- Les Dents de la mer (1975) ("Smile, you son of a bitch!")
- Luke la main froide (1967) ("What we have here is a failure to communicate.")
- Orange mécanique (1971) ("Yarbles!")
- Angel Heart : Aux portes de l'enfer (1987) ("Johnny Favorite")
- Le pape de Greenwich Village (1984) ("Nothing hurts as much as you think it will.")
- SoundtracksWorld Gone Crazy
Written and performed by Terrence Howard
- How long is Showdown at the Grand?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $1,800,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39:1
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