Rating: Summary: Incredibly Bad!! Review: Whoever thought up this film was a little off the day it was hatched. This is a terrible movie, and its characters aren't even remotely interesting. Oh, Swayze's on parole (another interesting loser part for him) and he is tempted to make the big money roll to help his family. That's not an original idea. Then we have Randy Travis doing what he does best - acting in a Western-style/truck driver movie. Then there's Meatloaf, of all people, who may have lost 100 pounds, but he's got a personality that's horrible, and Hollywood paints him out as a Bible-spouting killer. Where do they ever get this stuff, anyway? Don't waste your money on this one. I did, and ended giving it away to someone who just likes trucks. In fact, that might be the only merit to this movie - the trucks were great.
Rating: Summary: "Black Dog" is Pure Genius Review: Patrick Swayze is back! What kind of a genius would put Meat Loaf and Randy Travis in a movie together? This movie has changed my life. You say 'no', but I say YES! It was a cinematic experience to remember forever. Throw in Charles S. Dutton and you have gold. Pure genius.
Rating: Summary: An Surprisngly Sharp Action/Thriller. Review: A Family Man by the name of Jack Crews (Patrick Swayze), who just get out of Prison from an Accidential Manslaughter. Now, He re-takes his old Job as a Tracker and Returning Home from Georgia to New Jersey to save his Home from Foreclosure but What he`s driving on the Truck is a Semi-Loaded Weapons with a Unsuspecting Cargo.Directed by Kevin Hooks (Passenger 57) made a Light, Action-Adventure Thriller. Good Action Scenes and Non-Stop Entertainment make this One an Surprisngly Clever Film works. It was a Box Office Failure on it`s Realase but it`s has Become a Cult Hit in Video. Super 35. Grade:B+.
Rating: Summary: No brains and no fun Review: Patrick Swayze is Jack Crews, a good man and ace trucker who lost his license and did some time over a manslaughter beef; now he just tries to make ends meet and keep a roof over the heads of his wife and daughter. He agrees to run some guns to make the mortgage payment and from that point on he's in trouble up to his neck. Obviously, this is a stupid movie, but that needn't preclude it from being fun. Unfortunately, it's just boring for anyone who isn't a member of the monster-truck crowd. For high-octane highway mayhem, rent "The Road Warrior" instead.
Rating: Summary: An Unforgettable Ride of Explosions and High Intellectualism Review: From the opening scene, it becomes clear that director Kevin Hooks is going to serve up a John Woo style action flick as the backdrop for promoting his views on existentialist thought. Patrick Swayze, a God-fearing truck driver, serves as a modern day Soren Kierkegaard while the rougher Randy Travis counters as an atheistic Jean-Paul Sartre figure. Together, the two must deliver one last shipment to prevent harm to Swayze's wife (a Simone de Beauvoir lookalike) and daughter, all the while battling an angry Meatloaf, the rig-driving equivalent of Edmund Husserl. While trucking cross-country, Swayze continually posits that religious faith is central to an authentic existence through the guise of insisting on delivering the goods "according to plan". Travis (who, incidentally, provides some lovely songs on the score with his 'Juan and Diego Band') believes that by accommodating the terrorists' plan, they are checking their own individualism. In other words, they are "condemning themselves to be free" by forcing themselves to make future directed choices. At a critical point, Travis says, "Let's do it, Black Dog," revealing the existentialist common ground that an individual's subjective experience is the focus of what it is to exist as a human being. Interestingly, the daughter-mother hostage scenes reveal a Nietzche-Hume debate on the habit of causality, but I won't reveal all the best bites. Look for writers Mickelberry and Vining's subtle nod to the unfortunate young death of Albert Camus during the truck-over-the-cliff scene!
Rating: Summary: I dream of the day... Review: when I will see another movie as fulfilling as "Black Dog." This movie has everything that a man needs: dogs, Patrick Swayze, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, witty dialogue, an interesting commentary on modern nihilism, and a coupon for four MORE "Black Dog" rentals from Super Video. Only a Marc Stephens feature even comes close, especially the one featuring Yvette Lajoie. Peace. I'm out.
Rating: Summary: A Cross-Genre Collaboration Review: I must admit, I was a little skeptical about this movie, but my friend thought I would like it because I am a big Meat Loaf fan. I was very impressed with the abilities of Meat Loaf to cross into film; he is a very convinving villain; If movies have soundtrack, this film should be "Bat Out of Hell's" "Movietrack." I also thought Randy Travis was a surprisingly strong actor. It's neat to see musicians from completely different stylistic camps throw their differences aside and collaborate in such an exciting film.
Rating: Summary: BLACK DOG RULES!!!! Review: My world changed when I saw this movie. First of all, that scene where Randy Travis and Meatloaf first meet became a has become a metaphor for the relationship that I have with my daughter. Even though she is young, the understanding that we have gained about each other from watching this movie is truly fascinating. Secondly, Patrick Swayze's character has been a motivation for me in my short story writing. In fact, since seeing the movie, I have written several characters into my stories that share various aspects of his personality, ranging the rough edges he demonstrated toward all of the women in his life to his unpredictable intellect, which ultimately saves his truck and all of mankind. (if you really think deeply enough about it) Anyway, if you are looking for just another movie, then go rent something like "Bounce" or "She's Got Mail"; but if you're looking for groung-breaking, life-altering adventures with a mind-bending, trucker twist, then please do yourself a favor and buy this movie.
Rating: Summary: AN ACTION-FILLED CHARACTER DRAMA! Review: This is a great film. It is filled with exciting truck crashes, great fight sequences, and great acting performances turned in by Swayze, Randy Travis, Meat Loaf, and the rest of the cast. The guy that plays Mr. Cutler in this film plays an admiral in this years massive action epic PEARL HARBOR. This film is for anyone and everyone that enjoys action films with interesting characters and top-level storytelling. Grade: A+
Rating: Summary: Great Movie Very Under-rated Review: When I saw this movie I had never heard of it before. For some reason it really never got the coverage and advertisement it deserved. This movie is a great action film with a great plot. I thought this movie was good enough that I went out and bought it for my DVD collection. I wished that it had a 1.85 wide screen or a full screen option instead of just the 2.35 version which is a bit like watching a strip of the movie Instead of filling the screen, but overall that was not too distracting. The sound mix didn't stand out as being exceptionally good or bad. I really didn't notice the sound quality, it was just a good movie. If you haven't seen this movie I highly recommend that you get it today.
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