Best Defense

Customer Reviews:

Um, people... it's DAVID RASCHE!.......2004-12-01

Great comedy? Um, no. But some damn funny moments and a chance to hear David Rasche do an 'R' rated version of Sledge Hammer??? YEAH!!!

Regardless of what's been said, this film DOES have its moments and can be watched quite easily when you're just in a silly mood (have a few shots first - well maybe more than a few). If you can get into some of the stupid crap that Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd released, you can surely get into this. Hey... it has SLEDGE HAMMER! in it!!! Come on, PEOPLE!!!

Best movie start ever -- worst rest of movie ever.......2004-10-02

This opening scene is some of the best comedic writing ever -- but the rest of the movie is completely forgettable. So -- rent it, watch the first 5 minutes, then stop before you are irreparably damaged....

Almost surreally godawful.......2003-11-29

I saw this movie at a sneak preview a few months before it was released (though "dumped on the unsuspecting moviegoer" is sorta more like it) with a group of friends and we all agreed that it should be buried. Or perhaps every copy rounded up and launched into the sun.

Well, as you know, it was in theaters soon enough, getting both awful reviews by critics AND filmgoers. It also pretty much flopped as I recall.

The only watchable scenes at all were Eddie Murphy's which were filmed as an afterthought (and a totally seperate plot from the main one). The trailers and commercials wanted you to think that this was an Eddie Murphy film, when in fact, he has little more than an extended cameo (cut into the movie at the last minute so there would be SOME reason for people to want to see the wretched thing).

I can't even imagine how ghastly this movie would have been before they put in the Murphy stuff.

Sort of like the recent "View from the Top" which was promoted as a Mike Myers comedy, when it was actually neither.

The stink on this thing is solely the blame of talentless filmaking couple (and Lucas cronies) Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz whose other "masterpieces" include the equally wretched Howard the Duck, Radioland Murders, and screenplay for Indy 2.

Somebody, make them stop already!

another lame attempt to satirize defense industry.......2002-12-25

First the good news - this movie is actually two movies in one. Now the bad news - one of them isn't that good, and you barely get enough of the other to make it all worthwhile.

First, we meet Eddie Murphy as a US Army lieutenant sent to some middle eastern desert kingdom to help demonstrate and sell a new high-tech tank. This being a 1980's movie, it's no surprise that the tank doesn't work, and nearly everything seems to fall off or otherwise refuse to cooperate. (20 million moving parts, all built by the lowest bidder in Reagonomics-era dollars.) Trying to get the thing moving, Murphy's character turns a sheik's Mercedes into an oversized skateboard and, before he can get the tank to go where he wants it, finds he's stuck in a major desert war in which his tank is conspicuously the largest moving target ("I'm not in this war", he shouts vainly at jets making runs on his cranky-tank, "I'm from Cleveland!"). Remember when I said that this flick had two movies - the Murphy half is the better half.

We then cut a few years earlier to LA where Dudley Moore is one of the head engineers of a teetering defense contractor struggling to perfect the main gyroscope slated to go into Murphy's tank. Wiley's (Moore's character) fate is tied to gyro, but his life is already a mess - not even the toys he makes for his son works, and his frigid wife (Kate Capshaw, and yes, she does hum the "Raiders" theme in one scene that got more laughs than most of the movie) isn't about to stick with a man whose future is so cloudy. After a disastrous test which essentially dooms the project (and the company), Wiley runs into some guy at a bar who (in a twist that's a bit much even for a convoluted movie like this) is at work for another defense contractor on a competing version of the Dip-gyro. The guy seems bothered by something, and then he disappears...but not before he palms on Wiley a diskette containing the plans for his own company's version of the gyro, one apparently identical to Wiley'' with the exception that it appears to work. Dragooned at work into taking credit for his "improved" design, Wiley finds he's got more trouble than he bargained for - the new gyro and whoever seems to possess it are targets for a psychotic killer who freelances for the Russians (David Rasche of "Sledgehammer" fame); feds promise to protect Wiley as long as they can use him as bait for Rasche's character, and they know that the gyro isn't his; saving the company attracts the attentions of one of his company's execs (Helen Shaver) in a romance which can't last; and the new gyro only appears to be bug-free. As Moore's story progresses, we cut to Murphy's story, one in which he must suffer the consequences of being equipped with a tank built entirely of components as buggy as Wiley's gyro. Wiley in the meantime is heading to a point in which he must disclose the new gyro's flaws - which will also require that he honestly explain his own role in developing it (or lack thereof).

This was a disappointing film. It's not heavy handed like "Deal of the Century" (Another satire of defense contractors; Moore and Murphy are more spirited than Chevy Chase and Sigourney Weaver were in that movie). Moore is actually quite good, but the script seems resigned to fall on Murphy for the laughs. Unfortunately, there's barely enough Murphy in the movie (spots that ran for the movie focused only on his part of the story). In the end, this flick and "Deal" may just be proof that it's impossible to parody the military-industrial complex any better than defense contractors, congressmen and the military does in real life.

Do not miss.......2002-08-27

This is an incredibly funny movie with Murphy and Moore at their best. Can be watched many many times.

Average customer rating:

A Once and a Lifetime Chance

Hollywood's Top Secret Film Studio
Director: Peter Kuran
Manufacturer: Goldhil Home Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B0000A02WS
Release Date: 2003-07-29

Customer Reviews:

A Once and a Lifetime Chance.......2006-09-13

This movie introduces you to many of the men who will probably be the only photographers and videographers in history to record nuclear weapons detonations on film. It is fascinating to hear their stories, techniques and even opinions on what they were filming. It is a shocking reminder of reality to hear one of the videographers talk about some of his friends and family that were killed in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings--very powerful and provoking.

This is another high class presentation of incredibly sensitive subject matter during a turbulent time in our nation's (and the world's) history. Peter Kuran produces another top notch docu-drama! Buy this DVD. It is probably more historical, technical and by far, biographical than any of his other projects to date. Low redundancy--fresh material.

Big thumbs up!

Only because of grace,
--Jeffrey

STREET BLOOD, KNIFE FIGHTING SELF-DEFENSE SYSTEM, Starring Master of the Blade JAMES WEBB! Learn How to use a Knife to Defend Yourself! Secret Techniques Protect your loved ones! Complete Home Study Course!

Average customer rating:

Now that's a knife fighter

STREET BLOOD, KNIFE FIGHTING SELF-DEFENSE SYSTEM, Starring Master of the Blade JAMES WEBB! Learn How to use a Knife to Defend Yourself! Secret Techniques Protect your loved ones! Complete Home Study Course!
Starring: Master James Webb
Manufacturer: www.shogunmedia.com
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Special Interests | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Sports | Independently Distributed | Stores | DVD | Video

Special Interests | Independently Distributed | Stores | DVD | Video

Independently Distributed | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000FJTV7O
Release Date: 2006-05-15

Description

LEARN HOW TO DEFEND YOURSELF WITH THE WORLD'S MOST LETHAL KNIFE-FIGHTING SELF-DEFENSE TECHNIQUES! HOME STUDY COURSE AVAILABLE NOW!

Just some of the techniques featured in James Webb action backed STREET BLOOD, KNIFE FIGHTING SELF-DEFFFENSE SYSTEM DVD Include: how to choose the proper knife for training and self-defense, proper care for your weapon and razor sharp sharpening techniques, conceal, carry and draw techniques, the quadrant slash and stab techniques of self-defense, vital targets to strike, knife-fighting protective posture and footwork for attacking and retreating, knife against knife fighting skills, knife against club self-defense techniques, how to defend against a knife attack when you don't have your knife, knife fighting reflex training drills, what to say verbally when facing your attacker to distract and open him up for your attack or escape, how to knife fight on the ground against a grappler, mixed martial arts or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skilled opponent, laws pertaining to carrying and using a knife in life or death encounters, when to pull your knife and what to do first and much more. All techniques are presented in an easy to follow format you can quickly learn from.

Don't be caught off guard and helpless if attacked! Order James Webb's STREET BLOOD, KNIFE FIGHTING SELF DEFENSE SYSTEM DVD Today! A complete home study course that may one day save your life!

Customer Reviews:

Now that's a knife fighter.......2007-06-19

I have to say MR. Webb's Dvd was a great teaching dvd on knife fighting . He really goes into great details on many great styles of fighting. He also mentions that you will most likely get cut during a knife fight. All the other dvd never say that and never prepare you on what to do about it.
Mr. Webb covers almost all aspects of knife fighting in a real and easy way for anyone to learn. I highly suggest everyone who wants to learn about knife fighting get this DVD.

Average customer rating:

Fun "B" Spy Movie

Night Train to Paris
Starring: Leslie Nielsen , Aliza Gur , Dorinda Stevens , Eric Pohlmann , and Edina Ronay
Director: Robert Douglas
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( N ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000GIXEVS
Release Date: 2006-09-05

Description

This gripping thriller stars Leslie Nielson as former American O.S.S. Agent Alan Holiday, now living in London and caught in a web of intrigue, murder and deceit! When a beautiful woman (Alizia Gur) visits him one New Year's Eve, claiming to be a friend of his old boss, Jules Lemoine (Hugh Latimer) he is convinced to smuggle a tape recording containing defense information to Paris on Lemoine's behalf. But all is not as it seems, and when Lemoine is murdered, Holiday realizes that a deadly enemy has staged a terrible ruse...one in which he has taken part, and may nt survive!

Customer Reviews:

Fun "B" Spy Movie.......2007-01-04

If you're a fan of early/mid-1960s B-movies and TV shows, you'll get a kick out of this little black and white espionage picture. It's somewhat more reminiscent of an early episode of The Man From UNCLE or Amos Burke, Secret Agent than James Bond. It is particularly recommended for fans of two of the lovliest exotic starlets or the era -- Aliza Gur and Edina Ronay.

Average customer rating:

Secret Defense
Non anamorphic
slow moving but compelling psychological thriller
Tight thriller updating the Electra myth...
Fine Rivette

Secret Defense
Starring: Sandrine Bonnaire , Jerzy Radziwilowicz , Grégoire Colin , Laure Marsac , and Françoise Fabian
Director: Jacques Rivette
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Crime & Criminals | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B00005TNFA
Release Date: 2002-01-02

Description

When a brilliant scientist discovers that her father did not die accidentally but was murdered by a family friend, she swears vengeance. She soon finds herself deeply embroiled in a mystery of lust and intrigue. And when she discovers the truth about her father, it threatens to shake her very foundation in this fascinating thriller by groundbreaking French director Jacques Rivette.

Customer Reviews:

Secret Defense.......2007-07-09

New Wave pioneer Rivette injects a heady bit of existential head-scratching into this beautifully acted, cathartic whodunit. Radziwilowicz is aces as the eerily unfathomable Walser, and the stunning, elegant Bonnaire does an excellent job of conveying her character's painful uncertainty and need to know. Rivette's exquisitely photographed film is long at nearly three hours, but once you surrender to its rhythm, the intrigue and emotional drama builds to an almost unbearable pitch. Defense" is a mesmerizing thriller about secrets and lies--and how the truth is never simple.

Non anamorphic.......2006-08-28

Although this DVD of the movie is touted as widescreen, it is not anamorphic. The omission of anamorphic in the description of the format is accurate, not an oversight. So you do not get the quality improvement you might expect from a widescreen film when viewed on a widescreen television. Instead, to get the proportion right, you have to tell your DVD player that the TV is 4:3, then expand the TV picture to fill the screen.

slow moving but compelling psychological thriller.......2002-07-31

Rivette is not known for his brevity, not in recent years anyway. His films take patience but their momentum builds almost indiscernably to a final effect which is powerful and ultimately your pateince and attentiveness is rewarded. Rivette films are for true lovers of French films as his films meditate on life like paintings meditate on life. Action, there is barely any. This film has been referred to as a thriller and the picture on the front cover of the DVD would lead you to believe this is a thriller but that is kind of misleading as what really is being explored here is the psychological naunces of one character in particular and that character is played by Bonnaire. There is a central mystery which is the "secret" of the story but the "secret" remains so unitil the very end. And though the secret is surprising it is somewhat inconsequential. For the real power of the film is in the cumulative effect of all those scenes where Bonnaire has no idea what is driving her and making her act. It is this strange aesthetic which explains the films appeal which is great. Rivette lingers on Bonnaire who often is doing very little but riding a train or looking out a window or looking at a painting or walking through a house but there is a power in the way Rivette frames his shots. He makes very painterly compositions and his characters occupy these compositions one frame at a time, unable to see the larger picture, unable to see or judge their own actions with any authority. Insight, when it comes, comes too late. It is a film which you will watch and lose maybe a little patience with at times but its spell is a strong one and the more you think on it the more you begin to appreciate just how well the picture does what it does. Excellent film for meditative viewers who like to think while they watch.

Tight thriller updating the Electra myth..........2002-07-29

Watch the mesmerizing, understated and finely nuanced portrayal by Sandrine Bonnaire of contemporary research biologist Sylvie Rousseau who gets entangled in a dangerous web of events--this alone is worth the purchase price. A modern update of the myth of Electra, director Rivette and his superb actors Bonnaire as well as Jerzy Radiwilowicz (as Sylvie's nemesis, Walser, ex-aide of her deceased father and now head of the high-tech weapons-manufacturing firm) have created a taut psychological thriller that unfolds in a measured manner as horrible secrets are slowly divulged. You'll be riveted to the screen with this one, but you must pay close attention: the beauty and marvel of "Secret Defense" reside in the many important details Rivette chooses to include in it. Powerful ending, too. Finally, Sylvie must be one of the most accurate representations of a real lab researcher on the non-documentary screen.

Fine Rivette.......2002-04-24

Jacques Rivette has made a career based on longer films and this one is no exception; it's 2 1/2 hours long. But here there is a thriller-based plot to drive it and he fuses a thriller's momentum with extremely well thought out psychological elements.

The main character is a woman biologist played perfectly by Sandrine Bonnaire, one of the best contemporary French actresses. She leads a quiet solitary life which is dramatically interrupted when her brother bursts into her office one day and tells her that their father's death was no accident--as they supposed--but instead a murder committed by the father's business partner.

The complications that follow are all underscored by a focus on the lead character's psychology as she interacts with her brother, the business partner, her mother, and the partner's girlfriend. There are definite surprises and the ending is a powerful one.

While there are some moments here and there of drag, they are not that much in evidence and the story is strong and compelling; you could say this is riveting Rivette.

Product Description

In 1937, Grandmaster Benjamin Luna Lema distilled and codified the teachings of generations of arnisadors into a system of knife and stick fighting so fast, so unpredictable and so easily taught that he named it Lightning Scientific Arnis. Forged on the anvil of World War II against the Japanese katana, perfected in death matches where millimeters and microseconds meant the difference between victory and death, the art of Lightning Scientific Arnis (LSA) has never been made openly available to the public - until now. Alfredo Acosta, direct student and authorized representative of Grandmaster Lema, teaches the Thirteen Lethal Strikes of LSA and their accompanying blocks. He then shows you a series of high-speed flow drills that are guaranteed to burn them into muscle memory. Finally, he teaches the Twelve Fighting Methods: striking combinations and espada y daga techniques that make up the very heart of LSA.

Destroy Trap Lock - Secrets of Limb Destruction, Trapping, and Joint Locking DVD

Average customer rating:

Destroy Trap Lock - Secrets of Limb Destruction, Trapping, and Joint Locking DVD

Manufacturer: Paladin
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Secrets of Gun, Knife, and Club Disarmament Bob Taylor Self Defense Dvd

Average customer rating:

Secrets of Gun, Knife, and Club Disarmament Bob Taylor Self Defense Dvd

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Special Interests | Genres | DVD | Video

self defense training
weapon disarmament techniques
advanced martial art techniques
street fighting skills
swat skills

ASIN: B000NHTTEI

Product Description

The subject is Advanced Gun Disarmament and Weapons Retention the most important martial arts tactic in "street level" SWAT work today. Why? Because 75% of all cops who are shot in the line of duty... Are Shot With Their OWN GUN! That means criminals are wrestling guns away from cops and shooting them. The bad guys are getting so good at advanced streetfighting, that even the best-trained cops in the country right now are helpless as kittens in close-quarters combat in the street. Even when the cops think they are in control of a situation... they quickly end up eating one of their own bullets. That's why this incredibly advanced (and very secret) seminar is in the works. Cops all over the country are demanding immediate training in taking weapons away from criminals...and keeping their own weapons from being taken away by criminals.

DVD:

DVD

DVD