BrickNash
Joined Sep 2005
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Reviews162
BrickNash's rating
Roxanne is my favourite romantic comedy, and this is mostly down to the razor sharp script by lead star Steve Martin.
Everyone knows it's an adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac, so I won't go into that here, but instead focus on what a great film it is in its own right.
Roxanne has a wonderful sleepy town vibe. A place where everyone knows everyone else, and people just exist in this middle-class bubble. Everyone has a house (even single people with one income), everyone has a job, and even owning a store seems trivial.
The star of the show is of course Steve Martin. The character of Charlie is highly acomplished, well read, witty, brave, capable, and massivly intelligent, His drawback comes from his gargantuan nose, which is the one thing that makes him insecure.
It's a simple tale of overcoming something so significant to you, but doesn't really matter to others, and Roxanne does a great job of making us love Charlie and his team of goons.
There's no villain here. Even Charlie's rival Chris isn't a bad guy, and they are friends throughout the film.
Daryl Hannah doesn't really have much to do except be the object of desire for Charlie and Chris, but her character is intelligent and accomplished which is a good match for the intellectual Charlie. This offers an excellent reason why she would see past any physicality and be attracted to passion from a sharp mind.
The film is set at a nice pace, and there's no real lulls - quite a feat for a movie with almost no action.
My biggest criticism of this film is the fact that Martin does not know the difference between irony and sarcasm, and no one on the production bothered to correct him. When the naked Roxanne refuses a coat while standing in the freezing cold (and she genuinely needs one) - that's sarcasm!
Irony would be that she is naked in the cold but does not need a coat. However, it is clearly the first case scenario, and as such is a wrong use of the word.
Still, if that is the biggest complaint I can muster about this film then that's good going.
You don't see many films like this any more. It's not super dialogue heavy, or any kind of massive character study. Rather, it takes a simple concept, puts it in a nice setting, and has a lot of fun with it.
Highly recommended.
Everyone knows it's an adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac, so I won't go into that here, but instead focus on what a great film it is in its own right.
Roxanne has a wonderful sleepy town vibe. A place where everyone knows everyone else, and people just exist in this middle-class bubble. Everyone has a house (even single people with one income), everyone has a job, and even owning a store seems trivial.
The star of the show is of course Steve Martin. The character of Charlie is highly acomplished, well read, witty, brave, capable, and massivly intelligent, His drawback comes from his gargantuan nose, which is the one thing that makes him insecure.
It's a simple tale of overcoming something so significant to you, but doesn't really matter to others, and Roxanne does a great job of making us love Charlie and his team of goons.
There's no villain here. Even Charlie's rival Chris isn't a bad guy, and they are friends throughout the film.
Daryl Hannah doesn't really have much to do except be the object of desire for Charlie and Chris, but her character is intelligent and accomplished which is a good match for the intellectual Charlie. This offers an excellent reason why she would see past any physicality and be attracted to passion from a sharp mind.
The film is set at a nice pace, and there's no real lulls - quite a feat for a movie with almost no action.
My biggest criticism of this film is the fact that Martin does not know the difference between irony and sarcasm, and no one on the production bothered to correct him. When the naked Roxanne refuses a coat while standing in the freezing cold (and she genuinely needs one) - that's sarcasm!
Irony would be that she is naked in the cold but does not need a coat. However, it is clearly the first case scenario, and as such is a wrong use of the word.
Still, if that is the biggest complaint I can muster about this film then that's good going.
You don't see many films like this any more. It's not super dialogue heavy, or any kind of massive character study. Rather, it takes a simple concept, puts it in a nice setting, and has a lot of fun with it.
Highly recommended.
Helpful•00
This was the film that really introduced me to the world of proper martial arts movies. Beforehand it had been tame stuff like The Karate Kid, but No Retreat No Surrender gave me my first taste of Hong Kong choreography, and it blew my mind!
The film follows a predictable underdog story, but a teenager being trained by the ghost of Bruce Lee is all kinds of cool, and sets it apart from the films that others claim it rips off.
Soap Star Kurt McKinney of General Hospital fame gets his first screen role here, and his talent with kicking makes for some impressive fights. Of course, the big feature is Jean Claude Van Damme in his first martial arts film role. Although not in the movie for long, Van Damme is a menacing screen presence and plays a convincingly dangerous bad guy. There's also a wonderful turn by J. W Fails as the break dancing sidekick R. J., and he provides a lot of fun to the movie's more serious tone.
It also helps that the 80s synthesiser score is awesome, and really gets the blood pumping!
For me, there was no going back to Hollywood style fight scenes after this film. The choreography was just too powerful, and I became a lifelong fan of martial arts film due to it.
Ignore the negative reviews on here. Everyone should have the good sense to know what this film is and what to expect from the production values, so don't go to the bar and then complain that everyone is drinking beer.
The film follows a predictable underdog story, but a teenager being trained by the ghost of Bruce Lee is all kinds of cool, and sets it apart from the films that others claim it rips off.
Soap Star Kurt McKinney of General Hospital fame gets his first screen role here, and his talent with kicking makes for some impressive fights. Of course, the big feature is Jean Claude Van Damme in his first martial arts film role. Although not in the movie for long, Van Damme is a menacing screen presence and plays a convincingly dangerous bad guy. There's also a wonderful turn by J. W Fails as the break dancing sidekick R. J., and he provides a lot of fun to the movie's more serious tone.
It also helps that the 80s synthesiser score is awesome, and really gets the blood pumping!
For me, there was no going back to Hollywood style fight scenes after this film. The choreography was just too powerful, and I became a lifelong fan of martial arts film due to it.
Ignore the negative reviews on here. Everyone should have the good sense to know what this film is and what to expect from the production values, so don't go to the bar and then complain that everyone is drinking beer.
Helpful•00
Strike of the Panther was shot back to back with its prequel - Day of the Panther. The film is a straight continuation of the story and pickes up exactly where the previous move left off.
The film is more of the same, although it feels a bit more cobbled together. However the fights are still quite good, and that's all that matters.
If I'm honest, there was no need for two films. Both movies could have been edited down to one 2-Hour feature by removing superfluous footage like the gym nonsense, love making scenes, and the 10 minute callback at the start of the sequel.
This would have made the excellent fight action far more regular without having to wade through the excessive cheese. Just have the first Baxter fight in the middle of the film, and make the second half about his revenge. Then have it end in the really cool factory battle against the ninjas. The two films are so similar in style and execution that they would seamlessly blend together.
Strike of the Panther feels a little like one massive setpiece padded out with unused material from the first film. The factory battle is really cool, but it takes up half the movie, and the film feels like it's struggling to get to its 90 minute runtime by padding the first half.
Still, it has some good high-kicking action, and the cheddar is all part of the charm.
Go in to this knowing what it is, and you'll have a blast!
The film is more of the same, although it feels a bit more cobbled together. However the fights are still quite good, and that's all that matters.
If I'm honest, there was no need for two films. Both movies could have been edited down to one 2-Hour feature by removing superfluous footage like the gym nonsense, love making scenes, and the 10 minute callback at the start of the sequel.
This would have made the excellent fight action far more regular without having to wade through the excessive cheese. Just have the first Baxter fight in the middle of the film, and make the second half about his revenge. Then have it end in the really cool factory battle against the ninjas. The two films are so similar in style and execution that they would seamlessly blend together.
Strike of the Panther feels a little like one massive setpiece padded out with unused material from the first film. The factory battle is really cool, but it takes up half the movie, and the film feels like it's struggling to get to its 90 minute runtime by padding the first half.
Still, it has some good high-kicking action, and the cheddar is all part of the charm.
Go in to this knowing what it is, and you'll have a blast!
Helpful•00