Helmholz

I'm a huge James Bond fan so I'll just give you the heads up beforehand that when you read this review, I'm not comparing it to movies outside of the Bond world so much as I am comparing it to other Bond movies.

First of all, this is a different type of Bond movie. There isn't some madman trying to take over the world with some diabolical weapon; Robert Davi plays Franz Sanchez who's a criminal drug-lord that actually has values: loyalty above everything. He only hires trusted friends and this is how he manages to succeed.

Bond and Sanchez's paths cross after Sanchez maims Bond's long time comrade and friend Felix Leiter and kills Leiter's new wife. Bond takes this personally and resigns from MI6 and begins his quest for vengeance.

Dalton's interpretation of James Bond has always been my favorite. Hardnosed and dedicated to staying alive and completing the mission rather than the lighthearted playboy nature of Roger Moore or the suave Sean Connery, who always seem to be ready for 'action'.

That said, Dalton as Bond in this movie is superb. You see how bitter he is and how rash and dangerous his actions are as he goes into situations alone and using only his own intelligence since he doesn't receive any help from MI6. Eventually he befriends and protects CIA Agent Pam Bouvier played by Carey Lowell, and it's nice to see a Bond girl with some independence, character, and attitude. Not to mention she's easy to look at.

Her counterpart is Lupe Lamora played by Talisa Soto, who's also very beautiful, and manages to help James Bond because as Sanchez's girlfriend she wants out but as evidenced by the opening sequence, there's no escape for her. Bond then becomes her way out of a life of crime and being Sanchez's pet (symbolized by the iguana Sanchez has) and he then acquires a side mission of helping her out.

Another thing I like about this movie is the fact that there are so many key characters that get development. It's not Bond v. Villain + Main Henchman, as so often seen in past movies. Sanchez's crime syndicate is quite complex and you see Benicio del Toro as Dario, Anthony Zerbe as Milton Krest, Anthony Starke as Truman Lodge, Don Stroud as Heller, and Wayne Newton as Joe Butcher all make significant contributions towards the solidarity and completeness of this film.

Also welcomed is the subplot of Bond accidentally meddling with a third party take-down of Sanchez. Bond tries to assassinate Sanchez and he gets captured by ninjas and questioned by one of Sanchez's drug buyers but Sanchez's team quickly finds them and Bond plays the whole situation off very coolly as if he was trying to protect Sanchez and calls them a "freelance hit team."

After that, the movie unwinds and Bond, with the help of Bouvier, Lupe, and Q (on his own accord), takes down Sanchez in style.

The soundtrack to this film is quite good. The opening theme performed by Gladys Knight also happens to be my favorite Bond theme, and the rest of the soundtrack is appropriate, unlike Eric Serra's soundtrack for GoldenEye which was a disaster and sucked some life out of the film. And don't forget Patti LaBelle's "If You Asked Me To," which is a very nice song to listen to.

There are lots of memorable lines in it, too. One of my favorites being when Dario tells Felix Leiter about his wife: "We gave her a nice honeymooooooooon!!"

For me this has become one of those movies that I could pop in at any time and enjoy myself, and that's something special that I don't find in too many films.

I bought this movie (DVD release) after looking for other films by Paul Mazursky after being enchanted by An Unmarried Woman (and finding out there's reportedly a DVD release for that on January 10th) and after reading xavrush89's comments.

I didn't know what to expect going into this movie, I usually try to find out enough to get interested but not enough to know what's going on. It worked, in this case.

Ron Silver plays a Polish Jew living in Coney Island after the Holocaust. It is 4 years after the end of WWII and he works as a writer and has a wife whom he wed because she protected him from the Nazis. Meanwhile, he's enjoying the company of another woman during 'business trips' when he finds out personally that his original wife thought to have been killed by Nazis is alive and in New York!! It sounds so absurd that you might think this movie is a comedy, but it's not. There are funny moments, but throughout this movie you will become wrapped up in the very serious moral dilemma of a man married to two women while he's in love with another and the conflicting emotions that all of the characters feel and experience.

The acting is top notch and every character is played by each respective actor remarkably. Everything they say and do is believable and realistic. Not to mention the excellent environments, although things look a little shiny and new.

One of my complaints involves the audio levels. At times it is extremely difficult to hear what the characters are saying, much less understand them with their (excellent) accents. There's dialogue that passed me by even after going back to listen to it twice at times.

Another complaint is the video restoration isn't all that great, but it keeps that '1989 look' and it's better than the ultra-crisp visuals of movies today.

But I don't have much to complain about as far as the actual movie goes, and that's a good thing. Entirely fascinating and skillfully produced and directed, it's one of those movies that was extremely interesting but hard to enjoy due to the nature of the struggles of the characters. Nonetheless it's a great film that you should see at least once.