“Flags Of Our Fathers” was directed by Clint Eastwood (“Unforgiven”, “Pale Rider”) and produced by Steven Spielberg (“Jaws”) and is incredible. It’s violent, disturbing, realistic and moving. Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan” seemed to spend a lot of time adding the ‘Hollywood touch’ to it all but you feel as if you can hold onto every word in “Flags Of Our Fathers” and I can’t wait to see Eastwood’s companion piece, “Letters From Iwo Jima”.

“Flags Of Our Fathers” tells the story of three men, who are credited for putting up the American flag on Iwo Jima during WWII. Whether they did or not is debatable but they stand for something and can inspire millions across America. We’re told through harsh flashbacks about their time and we get to truly understand that these men feel uncomfortable with the honours they are receiving.

Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford (“Bring It On”) and Adam Beach (“Windtalkers”) are the three men the film focuses on and they are far more believable than the guys in “Saving Private Ryan”, they remind me more of the bunch from “Full Metal Jacket”. The performances are terrific. The characters outweigh the action here and that’s what makes it work so beautifully.

You’ll see some of the grimmest imagery in this film that you’ll ever see but it’s done with such dignity that you can tolerate it. This isn’t some over the top action film, this is as close to reality as a film is going to get. I loved “Flags Of Our Fathers” because like Eastwood’s “Unforgiven” and “Mystic River”, it doesn’t romanticise the action in any way, it’s shocking, disorientating and not something you’d ever want to experience in real-life. Eastwood is smart choosing to do this film to show the American side and his companion film to show the Japanese side of the conflict, something I’m now going to seek out and watch as soon as possible because if it’s anywhere near as good as this, I’ll be pleased.

“Fist of the North Star” is a post-apocalyptic action movie from Japan. Although it is animated, this is not one for children because it contains incredibly graphic violence throughout. It’s not as charming as the films from Studio Ghibli or a visual treat like “Akira” but it is entertaining.

Set after a global nuclear holocaust, this movie follows martial artist warrior Kenshiro as he travels across what is left of the increasing barbaric world in the hopes of resurrecting plant life. When his girlfriend is kidnapped by his former-friend Shin, he will use his deadly skills to get her back and help revive the dying planet.

Kenshiro may not have the most interesting personality but he can sure pack a real punch. His martial arts abilities seem like an exaggerated version of the alleged ‘touch of death’ manoeuvre as he attacks his enemies and then seconds later, their heads explode in gory detail. You will seriously lose count of the number of bad guys that get their heads blown off or their bodies sliced into pieces. The animation on the characters is not as impressive as “Akira” or “Ghost In The Shell” but it’s still quite good. Keep an eye out for a brief background appearance by D from “Vampire Hunter D” as both movies were directed by Toyoo Ashida.

Clearly taking inspiration from the “Mad Max” movies, “Fist of the North Star” creates a satisfying post-apocalyptic action flick. Many people may be put off by the violence but I thought it was quite entertaining given just how ridiculous it is. I will admit that this movie did not grab me at first and it took a little while before I got into what was going on. The plot and the characters are a little stale but the world it creates and the action sequences are what sustained my interest.

Jet Li (“Lethal Weapon 4”, “The One”) delivers in “Fist Of Legend”, a remake of a Bruce Lee film. Here we see amazing kinetic energy and surprisingly we see characters and a story that don’t hold the film back, which is something most martial arts film fail to achieve.

In “Fist Of Legend”, Jet Li plays Chen Zhen, a Chinese martial artist living in Japan; he returns home after he hears news that his master was killed by the Japanese in China. He wishes to fight the Japanese and stand his ground as a Chinaman, there’s just one problem: his girlfriend is Japanese.

Jet Li radiates suaveness as he tackles countless foes, he tackles them not with chairs and other props like Jackie Chan (“Rush Hour”) nor by flying through the air like in “Crouching Tiger”, this is a much more plausible and more straightforward means of fighting but don’t that make you think it’s not incredible to watch. The villains are good, the girlfriend is good (the whole love story is kind-of sweet) and the whole film just works. So many times, we see martial artists held back by those around them, I must stress again that this is not the case in “Fist Of Legend”.

“Fist Of Legend” features a fight where Jet Li and his opponent are blindfolded and it’s beautiful, high-kicking and intense simultaneously. The combat here flows amazingly smoothly almost like you’re seeing a ballet and the story works, at times maybe the film takes itself too seriously but who cares? If you like martial arts films at all, then you have to see “Fist Of Legend” because it’s a pro of action movies at his prime; forget his C.G.I.-obsessed American movies (I’m looking at you “The One”), this is Jet Li showing us what he’s made of.

Sylvester Stallone (“Rocky”, “Death Race 2000”) stars in this interesting action picture which has more brains than most of these explosive kinds of movies. It’s nice to see Stallone do what he did with the first “Rocky” picture and be more occupied with the person than the action.

Heavily traumatised Vietnam War veteran John Rambo (Stallone) returns to the U.S.A. where he finds he can’t fit in it. When he tries to go and get some food in a small town the local police force kick him out for no real reason but when he journeys back they arrest him and beat him… they pushed him too far. Now this soldier is hiding in the woods and a whole army is waiting for him but the bets are Rambo.

Stallone isn’t exactly a great actor but his dodgy way of talking and his saddened face work almost as well here as it did when he was Rocky Balboa. The police officer characters are a little dull and there isn’t really any real reason why he abuses Rambo; that’s a real shame as if they’d have been done well the film would have been quite a bit better. I really like the Trautman character; he was Rambo’s superior in Vietnam and he is the closest thing the man has to family. They interact really well at times.

“First Blood” lacks the realism of “Rocky” but it definitely is as powerful and as entertaining. “First Blood” has probably the lowest body count I’ve seen in any real action picture yet the action is just as entertaining as it is in films such as “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Mad Max 2” (there just isn’t the same amount). Unlike lots of Stallone’s pictures, “First Blood” is smart making it still a flawed movie but among of the star’s best.

“Firefox” is a high-tech spy thriller directed by and starring Clint Eastwood (“Dirty Harry”, “Absolute Power”) and I kind-of liked it. I say ‘kind-of’ because the first half of the film while not bad, left me feeling underwhelmed but thankfully the last half really picked things up and engaged me.

In “Firefox”, Eastwood stars as pilot Mitchell Gant and he’s on a mission to Russia to steal an advanced plane known as ‘Firefox’ because it can travel six times the speed of sound without being picked up by radar (it can also fire  weapons using the pilot’s thoughts too). It starts off as being like a spy/espionage picture as Gant infiltrates the Soviet Union but then turns into a great aviation warfare picture with a grand dog fight for the climax.

Eastwood always radiates toughness but here he plays a role that seems a lot more vulnerable than most (it’s arguably his most vulnerable role) because Gant suffers from hallucinations about his time in Vietnam; this adds a great deal of tension and Eastwood pulls it off superbly. The other characters are actually very forgettable as most of them run around in underground bunkers with flashing monitors surrounding them. They certainly don’t leave an impression like the guys in “Dr. Strangelove”.

While the first half has its moments where it seems good, the film gets a lot better after you first see the Firefox and that moment might be the film’s best. After that it’s high-flying action with terrific special effects as we see helicopters and many others thing get blown up but there’s enough strategy involved to make you really get behind it all. The dog fight near the end is almost as good as the ones in “Star Wars” and it’s done very much in the style of the ones seen in “Star Wars” with an emphasis on effects and high-tech manoeuvre rather than a more conventional dog fight seen in more realistic films but the principles remain the same.

Loosely based on the alleged alien abduction of Travis Walton, “Fire In The Sky” is an exceptional film. Although it is a science-fiction movie about aliens, I like the way that it makes an impact without bombarding you with shots of the aliens and the spaceship. It’s a slow movie that builds to a magnificent sequence showing what supposedly happened during the abduction.

A group of Arizona loggers inform authorities that they believe that their colleague, Travis Walton (D.B. Sweeney), was abducted by aliens. The police and their community are sceptical of the claims and dislike all the attention from U.F.O. enthusiasts that their small town is receiving. Eventually, Travis reappears but what exactly he saw may have been more horrifying than anybody could possibly imagine.

There are some great performances in this movie. I especially enjoyed watching Robert Patrick (“Terminator 2: Judgement Day”, “D-Tox”) as Mike Rogers and James Garner (“Maverick”, “Space Cowboys”) as Lt. Frank Watters. D.B. Sweeney is good as Travis Walton and I particularly like how he plays the role after being traumatised by the alien ordeal. The aliens only appear in one scene but they look amazing and are among the best aliens I have ever seen in a film.

“Fire In The Sky” contains one of the most disturbing scenes in any movie that I have watched and that is the scene where the aliens perform terrifying experiments on Travis. While I certainly have my doubts about how believable the ‘real-life’ story is, I cannot deny that this is a very powerful sci-fi movie. It seems to have been ignored by a lot of people and that is a real shame because this is in the same league as legendary sci-fi movies such as “Blade Runner” and “A Clockwork Orange”. If you have not seen it then you really should be I must warn you that parts of it will most likely shock you.

“Accident Man” is action movie starring Scott Adkins (“Ninja”, “The Debt Collector”). It reminded me a lot of Jason Statham films such as the “The Transporter”, “Crank” and “Blitz” as “Accident Man” has a lot of the same aggressive energy. Even though the story is a little lacklustre, the manic action will keep you entertained.

Mike Fallon (Adkins) is a hitman that is great at making his kills look like accidents. When his ex-girlfriend is murdered, he believes that a fellow assassin is responsible. He’ll stop enough to uncover the truth as he does battle with his fellow hitmen that all have their own unique style.

Scott Adkins reminded me a lot of Jason Statham here. He’s a hardnosed fighter with some really impressive moves. His character is normally a calm professional but when somebody crosses him, they are about to feel some serious pain. Adkins’ martial arts skills are highly impressive and are on full display here. Ray Stevenson (“Punisher: War Zone”), Michael Jai White (“Spawn”, “Black Dynamite”) and Ray Park (“X-Men”) all appear and they give reasonable performances. I really did not care for the Charlie (Ashley Greene “Twilight”) as she just had no chemistry whatsoever with Adkins and all of her scenes felt awkward.

“Accident Man” does not have the most exciting plot and there are a few dull moments here and there but the action sequences are intense and thrilling. Adkins has sadly been overlooked as an action star for many years but “Accident Man” shows that he really has the moves and also the personality to be a really good star. This film really feels like a mixture of “John Wick”, “The Transporter” and “Blitz” so if you have seen any of those movies and enjoyed them, I recommend turning your attention to “Accident Man”.

Steven Seagal (“Under Siege”, “Half Past Dead”) stars in this environmentalist action picture. It’s a ridiculous film with cheesy fight scenes and terrible acting but you find yourself getting some mild enjoyment from it.

In “Fire Down Below”, Seagal plays Environmental Protection Agent Jack Taggart as he’s sent to Kentucky to investigate toxic waste dumping. Undercover, he spends his time mending roofs and porches but when he asks a question too many, he finds himself up against a slick businessman (Kris Kristofferson “Blade”). It isn’t long before Taggart is punching and kicking his way to serve justice to those damaging nature’s beauty.

Seagal delivers his usual emotionless performance but his character is hilariously bad. Jack Taggart might be the worst Environmental Protection Agent ever as he puts a gun inside a local law enforcer’s mouth when one tries to arrest him rather than simply explain that’s he’s an undercover agent and then when he finally finds barrels full of toxic waste that are polluting the local area, he shoots one with a shotgun and the waste sprays all over. Marg Helgenberger (“Species”) plays the love interest and she’d be okay if it weren’t for the needless abusive backstory that distracts from the rest of the film. Kristofferson doesn’t really do a great deal as the villain.

“Fire Down Below” features a few somewhat entertaining fistfights, shootouts and car chases but the film feels very slow for the most part. The bad acting and even worse script make the film mildly amusing. The film is a pretty generic action film for the most part and I didn’t care for Seagal’s preachy environmental messages. Overall, I think Seagal fans will love this one but I think most people will want to give this film a miss. If you haven’t seen a Seagal film yet, I’d go with “Above The Law” instead of this.

I am clearly not the target audience for this movie because I have never played a “Final Fantasy” game and I no nothing about the franchise. “Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children” requires you to have played “Final Fantasy VII” because otherwise, you will have no understanding of what is going on. It also has next to nothing to do with the earlier “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” movie. I seriously felt like I needed an instruction manual to watch this.

I honestly had no idea what the plot was about. I expected it to be a fantasy movie and although there are fantasy elements in there, it seems to lean much more towards science-fiction. There’s something to do with a life force thing and some form of disease and… just forget it.

I did not really get who any of the characters were and I did not understand their motives. There is a character called Cloud and he is the main protagonist but that’s about all I could say for certain. The characters look absolutely fantastic as the animation is superb. When you see characters engage in battles, the movement is very, very smooth. There’s a giant monster that appears in one scene and that looked very impressive too.

The animation is spectacular for both the characters and the environments and the action sequences are exhilarating. When the characters just shut up and start leaping around with swords and destroying buildings, the movie becomes quite entertaining. Unfortunately, the plot was just so confusing that I sat through most of the movie with a blank expression on my face. I doubt many regular moviegoers would go to see a film called “Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children” so I get that most people that see it will be familiar with the games and their lore. However, I am not a “Final Fantasy” gamer and as a result, I struggled through large parts of this film.

“Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” was one of the most expensive animated films ever made ($137 million) and hoped to usher in an age of digital actors and actresses with its use of photo-realistic character animation. The movie bombed at the box-office and it’s a shame because this is one of the most visually stunning animated movies.

I have never played any of the “Final Fantasy” videogames but from what I have read, this film has very little to do with any of them and it seems to be far more science-fiction than fantasy. Anyway, the film takes place in the future where alien phantoms have crash-landed on Earth and threaten to destroy humanity. Doctor Aki Ross believes she may have discovered the key to defeating the aliens and will need the help of a ragtag team of soldiers to save the planet.

Aki was destined to become the first digital actress with hopes of having her in many different movies (even some alongside real actors) but the failure of this film brought that plan to an abrupt end. The voice acting from Alec Baldwin (“Beetlejuice”) and Donald Sutherland (“The Hunger Games”) was good but I found the performance from James Woods (“Casino”) a little irritating. The photo-realistic characters look absolutely breath-taking. The alien creatures look incredible too.

“Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” might just be the best movie based on videogame ever made but I guess it cheats a little by actually looking more like a videogame cutscene than any other film out there. The technology used to animate this film is truly impressive and it is a shame that it did not succeed at the box-office. It is terrific to look at but I did find the plot a little confusing at points and there were a few dull moments. However, I still have to recommend this movie.