Home :: DVD :: Action & Adventure :: Science Fiction  

Animal Action
Blackmail, Murder & Mayhem
Blaxploitation
Classics
Comic Action
Crime
Cult Classics
Disaster Films
Espionage
Futuristic
General
Hong Kong Action
Jungle Action
Kids & Teens
Martial Arts
Military & War
Romantic Adventure
Science Fiction

Sea Adventure
Series & Sequels
Superheroes
Swashbucklers
Television
Thrillers
Action Jackson

Action Jackson

List Price: $9.97
Your Price: $9.97
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: "Maybe this wasn't such a damned good idea after all."
Review: A great film when it came out, Action Jackson has lost some of its punch since 1988, but it's still watchable. Vanity's performance wasn't that great and hasn't aged well, neither has some of the humor. The action sequences are still great and I still wish they had made a sequel.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Action Jackson
Review: A maverick cop (Carl Weathers) is on the trail of a corrupt auto tycoon (Craig T. Nelson). Unfortunately, Action Jackson is a gabfest punctuated by not-so-hot sex scenes. Even with all the talk, screenwriter Robert Reneau has to introduce a character in the last 20 minutes to explain what is happening. There are a couple of good stunt scenes, through. Rated R for violence, drug use, simulted sex, nudity, and profanity. 1988; 95m.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: How do Ya like your ribs????
Review: Action jackson is a fun, action acked 80's film. Though some of the stunts are cheesy by today's standards they work especially the opening scene where the guy gets shot with a rcket launcher, falls out of a window and then 30 stories down and then lands in a Resuaturaut. Carl Weathers and Vanity doe the best they can, but they are no match for craig T Nelson's villain. Sharon Stone makes her first major film apperance here. The script is campy, but fun. Also be on the look out for the classic line posted in the title. AJ likes his ribs "fried"

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: action jackson
Review: Action jackson was filmed in Detroit it is plain to see as soon as you start watching the movie so make sure you put on the movies filmed in Detroit. And one of my other favorite action films Marked for death with Steven Seagal was filmed 75% in Chicago not Jamaica.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Apollo Creed goes down for the count...
Review: Always looking for a little something to add to my repertoire of silly action fare, I decided to give Action Jackson a whirl. I figured that it'd be at least half-way decent; it was produced by Joel Silver, the guy who oversaw the production of the Lethal Weapon flicks and the first two Die Hards, after all. With a resume like that, how could'ja go wrong? Whoops, forgot about 'The Last Boy Scout'...

I found 'Action Jackson' to be not just a bad movie, but a legendarily bad movie. What's the diff between 'bad' and 'legendarily bad', you ask? 'Bad' is when I watch a dumb movie once, and have no interest in watching it again. 'Legendarily bad' is when I watch a dumb movie once, and I am so astonished by how bad it is, I hafta watch it again, 'cuz I couldn't believe how lousy it was the first time 'round. Simply put, it's the cinematic rendition of me doin' a double-take. It was also a sad waste of approximately three hours of my life that could've been better spent watchin' the grass in my back yard grow...

Anyway, on to our star of the show, Carl Weathers. After watching him perform in this sad affair, I'd say that, for a leading man, he makes a really good supporting character. Then again, it probably wasn't his fault-there's only so much one can do when one is working off of a lousy script filled with really lame jokes and hokey one-liners. On the upside, though, his character does manage to survive all the way through the movie, which had become a rare thing for him ever since Rocky IV...

Craig T. Nelson of 'Coach' fame is the heavy, a psychotic car manufacturer (the movie's based in Detroit) with aspirations of becoming a political kingmaker. Sadly, after spending a few nights watching him in 'Coach', I can't take Nelson seriously in any role that's not comedic-well, except perhaps as Carol-Ann's dad in 'Poltergeist'. But other than that, he just looks a bit too goofy to pull off the 'Underhanded-action-flick-bad-guy' deal. I did love him overselling his character's death (following a nice, juicy blood squib) for all he's worth, though-that was good for a chuckle or two.

And alas, there's poor Sharon Stone in one of her less-than-memorable pre-Total Recall roles (not to mention one of her not-so-notable pre-Basic Instinct nudie scenes) as she plays the ill-fated wife of the future college football coach-- whoops, I mean avaricious car builder. Taking into consideration how retarded this flick is, I find her character's murder by her significant other halfway into the proceedings a mercy killing...

Other notable appearances include...

- Thomas Wilson, best known as Biff "Hello, McFly?!" Tannen from the 'Back to the Future' movies, appears here as a smarmy, smart-aleck patrolman. His performance is reminiscent of Bill Paxton's most famous roles (think of Chet from 'Weird Science' crossed with Simon from 'True Lies'), only without any of the wit or warmth.

- Robert Davi as a tightly-wound and highly paranoid friend of Jackson's who knows just a little too much about the main heavy's avaricious aspirations. And you know what that means, right? Yep, you guessed it-- several seconds after tellin' our hero all he knows, he's bumped off in his apartment by a henchman disguised as a UPS driver. Y'know, for a guy who's is tryin' to lay low, and jumps at every little sound he hears, Davi's character didn't seem to mind lettin' the fake UPS guy just waltz on in...

- That Asian dude with the long hair and Fu Manchu who you always see playin' an evil henchman who gets bumped off right before climactic final fight between the hero and the heavy, appears here as an evil henchman who gets bumped off right before the climactic final fight between the hero and the heavy. No type-casting here, heh...

Speakin' of the final fight, you'll likely find yourself in stitches after watching Jackson drive a sports car up a couple flights of stairs on his way to the climactic duel. And if that ain't funny enough, you'll also get a kick outta the "playing chicken-with-a-taxicab" sequence. This moment features plenty of implausible explosions, as well as our hero performing the superhuman feat of punching through a windshield which apparently isn't made from that safety glass they use nowadays. Musta' been an American-made taxi, hmm? And this scene's climax was so ridiculous-- well, more so than you'd usually expect from an action flick--, I was laughing like a mental patient for a full minute after its conclusion!

On a final note: there's some folks' contention that 'Action Jackson' was a pathetic attempt to cash in on the 'Beverly Hills Cop' flicks by trying to ape the style and humor of the latter movie. Personally, I don't see any real similarities between the movies; for one thing, 'BHC's comedic moments were actually funny, and intentionally so. The only moment that appears to be derived from those wonderful Eddie Murphy vehicles is Apollo's- whoops, I mean Jackson's little 'preacher-sermon' act that he uses to get out of a jam during the pool-hall interrogation scene. Otherwise, I'm not sensing any real parallels here. But then again, I wasn't really lookin' for any, either...

'Late

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Action Is What You Can Expect In This Film
Review: Carl Weathers Does a bang up job here playing a cop who is always at the centre of the action in a film filled with violence
a high body count explosions and car chases all the things movie fans have come to expect from action films. Weathers is Action Jackson a detroit cop who has been demoted to sergent from lieuntenat after being accused of brutality tactics wages a personal war with an auto magnete who cost him his posistion. Craig T Nelson Plays Peter Dellaplane an evil villain who loves the conquest of power systamatically kills all the auto union leaders one by one And has jackson's best friend killed. Great Action Great Performances this film should not be missed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the greatest film ever
Review: carl weathers is da ma

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Why, Carl, why?
Review: Carl Weathers isn't usually at the top of anyone's list of great thespians. But the guy coulda been a solid action movie "actor" a la Arnie. Unfortunately, that was effectively killed by his role in "Action Jackson," a bad action movie even for people who like dumb action movies (like me).

It has the makings of a good action flick. Half the cast of "Predator" shows up here, there is lots of sensless violence, and much-appreciated random nudity from Sharon Stone and Vanity. But it somehow just doesn't work. The script is too stupid, and the directing too pedestrian to result in anything but B-movie filler. It isn't quite bad enough to be fun, though it has some moments that are just stupefying in their ridiculousness, and not good enough to be good.

The problem with an dumb action movie is that you either need to go totally over the top, and embrace ridiculous absurdity, or do it straight, and actually make a competent movie. If you do something in-between, the result is no good. And that is the fate of "Action Jackson."

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Hot Action Adventure
Review: Forget the playa haters. The movie feature mr. fine Carl Weathers and the beautiful Vanity (and still beautiful). The script wasn't the best but the action squences were the bomb. Craig T. Nelson was a great vilian and sharon stone plays his wife. Alot of people rate this as a b-movie. Check it out for yourself.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: seen it so many times, simply the best action film ever made
Review: I am a big action film fan, and I've seen many many action films, and in my opinion I still say action Jackson has a lot of unforgetable moments and elements that just keep me go back to it.


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates