The Terminator (1984) - #107

Empire top 301: #107

IMDb top 250: #174

Rating 8/10

Director: James Cameron

Writers: James Cameron

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton & Michael Biehn

"I'll be back!"

The franchise has now became more known for it's Arnie catchphrases (see above), poor sequels (not including T2) and on set meltdowns (remember Christian Bale's rant at some poor crew member), but the first Terminator released almost 30 years ago is a genuine landmark in Sci-Fi action/horror filmmaking. Schwarzenegger is a cyborg assassin sent back in time from the year 2029 to "Terminate" Sarah Connor (Hamilton), the mother of John Connor, who will grow up and lead humanity in the war against the machines.  Kyle Reese (Biehn) - a human - is also sent back in time to protect Sarah against the deadly cyborg. 

This is the movie that made James Cameron a real force in Hollywood and it's no surprise, his script is clever, interesting and quite dark with some brilliant, quotable dialogue (most, if not all said by Arnold) and his direction is great with bucket loads of tension and superb action set pieces. The special effects, animatronics and make-up do, at times, look a little dated by todays standards but the fact they did what they did with such little budget is astonishing. 

The acting is alright, if maybe a little bit hammy in places. Schwarzenegger is perfectly cast as the Terminator, a cyborg of few words but with a massive presence. The few words he does have are delivered brilliantly and hilariously and are so ingrained in pop culture that even if you've never seen the movie you know the quotes and you know who says them. Michael Biehn is a bit hammy at times but not a completely terrible performance and Linda Hamilton's shocking perm will distract you from any kind of performance she is giving, which on the whole is pretty good.

Now, I can't talk about The Terminator without talking about the amazing score. The film features one of the best electronic scores ever! The main theme by Brad Fiedel is instantly recognisable and once in your head you'll be humming it all day long. 

The Terminator is by no means a perfect film; it does look a bit dated now and the Sarah & Kyle romance seems a bit obvious and not needed however, it is a film filled with some great, tension filled, scary moments, some laugh out loud brilliant dialogue and a pitch perfect performance from Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's rightly so become a bit of a classic and it's definitely one to watch! 

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) - #94

Empire top 301: #94
IMDb top 250: #153

Rating 10/10

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writers: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, Vivica A. Fox & Lucy Liu

"This - is what - you get - for fucking - around - with Yakuzas! Go home to your mother!"

What better time to watch this movie than the 10th anniversary of it's release. Quentin's 4th film Kill Bill, is the story of The Bride and her mission to seek out and kill the members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad who attacked her and left her for dead on her wedding day. KIll Bill is just another classic on the list of flawless films made by Mr Tarantino. The movie is beautifully shot and written and edited and acted and scored. 

As with all Tarantino films the writing, especially the dialogue is outstanding; instantly quotable and perfectly delivered by his actors. His direction is beyond superb, each and every shot you can imagine was thoroughly thought out and is executed brilliantly. It just looks so damn good. His homage to Kung-Fu, Spaghetti Westerns and Anime is done perfectly, right down to the smallest detail. Yes it's excessively violent and a bit sick and twisted but the beauty is it's done with such a great sense of humour! QT has given us a gorgeous, intelligent action film and I love it more after each and every viewing. 

The cast are outstanding; Uma Thurman carries the movie brilliantly and I truly believe her efforts should have been rewarded with an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actress. She is amazing in her dialogue filled scenes and that blood-curdling scream she lets out when she believes her baby is dead would have been a perfect clip to play at the Oscars. Uma is just as believable in her fight/stunt scenes and gives it everything she's got, a great assassin. Whilst Vivica A. Fox doesn't have a lot of screen time, she certainly packs a punch when she is on screen, her "chat" with The Bride is fantastic and has provide my friends and I with enough quotage to last a lifetime. Lucy Liu is fierce as O-Ren Ishii and her head waving scene is just classic Tarantino! My favourite supporting character is Daryl Hannah's Elle Driver but more on her later!!

Again, as with all Tarantino productions the soundtrack is AMAZING and every song chosen fits it's scene perfectly. I love Tarantino's way of having the song play at just the right time. There are various techniques used in this movie and they're carried out exquisitely, the Anime used during the Origins of O-Ren Ishii is beautiful and fits the feel of the movie and the use of black and white to colour is great. The Showdown at House of Blue Leaves chapter is just EPIC in every sense of the word and looks just as awesome now as it did 10 years ago. It's classic QT!!!

I would have put Kill Bill: Vol. 1 higher up the list than it actually placed but it totally deserves it's place on both Empire's & IMDb's greatest movie lists. It's exceptional filmmaking. Now Quentin, it's been 10 years, how long do we have to wait for Nikki Bell to exact revenge on The Bride?

Transformers (2007) - #255

Empire top 301: #255
IMDb top 250: -

Rating 5/10

Director: Michael Bay
Writers: Robert Orci & Alex Kurtzman
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel & Jon Voight

"No sacrifice, no victory."

Transformers based on the toys by Hasbro is about two Cybertron races - the Autobots and the Decepticons - coming to earth in search of the AllSpark (Cube) both to use in very different ways. The Autobots led by Optimus Prime want the AllSpark to rebuild Cybertron and the Decepticons led by Megatron want it to rule the universe. Naturally humans are caught up in the middle of this war and they assist the Autobots in trying to save the world. 

My 5/10 rating probably suggests I don't like this movie but that's not exactly the case. I do enjoy this movie but it just doesn't blow me away or warrant a higher rating. Whilst as an action movie it does what it says on the tin it doesn't really offer anything new. The script could've been taken from any number of action films and all the script writers have done is change the names of the characters. It's all so predictable, a bit of a paint by numbers action film. These types of characters have been done to death and are a bit obvious and whilst there are some funny moments in the movie the jokes and sight gags used have been seen and heard before. Some scenes are just ridiculous; like the phone operator in the call centre offering the package deals, whilst things are blowing up in the background on the other end of the phone, it's all a bit silly. 

The acting is passable from all except Megan Fox who is at times a bit weak, however her character hardly requires a Meryl Streep type performance. There is A LOT of shouting and that gets a bit annoying after a while. Shia's parents in the movie are really good and provide some good laughs and it's always nice to see Bernie Mac on my screen. 

The movie has a lot of scenes of the main characters dodging, ducking and diving all kinds of debris, bullets, flying robots and cars and it appears everyone who has a line of dialogue in this movie has this superhuman skill! This is something that really annoys me and I think is very lazy storytelling. Shia LaBeouf's character can't see a massive bump in the road whilst riding his mothers bike and ends up flipping over, yet manages to avoid being shot or crushed whilst all sorts of things are blowing up around him, it's silly and insulting to the viewer. 

The CGI is very good, however in parts the action is so fast it's hard to tell what's going on and I find it difficult to tell the robots apart when they're fighting.  

All this aside it is still a very watchable movie if you switch your brain off and just enjoy it for what it is! I've seen it a number of times before and would watch it again! 

Pan's Labyrinth (2006) - #50

Empire top 301: #50
IMDb top 250: #116

Rating 10/10

Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writers: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Sergi López, Ivana Baquero, Mariabel Verdú & Doug Jones

"You're getting older, and you'll see that life isn't like your fairy tales. The world is a cruel place. And you'll learn that, even if it hurts."

Pan's Labyrinth is the story of Ofelia who along with her pregnant mother goes to live with her evil Step-Father Captain Vidal who hunts and fights the Spanish Maquis in Franco's Spain 1944. Ofelia escapes this dark and dangerous world into a mystical world just as dark and dangerous and has to complete three tasks before the next full moon to reveal if she is the true Princess of the Underworld - who had left to join the surface many years before and the sunlight had erased her momory. When I first saw Pan's Labyrinth I was blown away, so much so I immediately went to the next showing to watch again. 

The word masterpiece is thrown around so nonchalantly when people describe movies but to me this is a masterpiece. The film is essentially a fairytale but is given a really dark and brilliant twist which works so well against the backdrop of post civil-war Spain. The film is so beautifully made by Guillermo and co and features some amazing CGI and makeup. 

The cast are stunning especially Sergi Lopez as the sadistic Captain Vidal; whilst his actions are brutal and extreme you can understand why he is this way and how his fathers death made him the man he became. Ivana Baquero is delightful as Ofelia and gives a very mature and lovely performance. I love Maribel Verdu in this movie - who I had previously loved in Y Tu Mamá También - and think Mercedes is a great character! During her scenes alongside Captain Vidal in the last 30 minutes you see her character really grow and you'll be cheering for her when she does! 

For a fairytale, the movie is extremely violent and very tense in scenes, not least the one with The White Man and is definitely not for children; my kind of fairytale.  

Pan's Labyrinth is an amazing and magical movie that really deserves it's place in the Empire 500! 

An American Werewolf in London (1981) - #196

Empire top 301: #196
IMDb top 250: -

Rating 8/10

Director: John Landis
Writers: John Landis
Starring: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, John Woodvine & Griffin Dunne

"Beware the moon, lads."

Two American college students on a tour of Europe start off in Britain and are attacked by a werewolf when visiting a small village outside of London. The movie is part horror and part comedy and it delivers on scares and laughs aplenty. It's most notable for having the most realistic werewolf transformation scene pre CGI. 

When I first saw this film, many moons ago (pun intended), I did find it quite scary, now after many viewings I watch it and appreciate how hilarious it is. Comedy and Horror are two genres that are hard to combine and get right but Landis does it superbly. There are some genuinely scary moments that'll have you jumping out your seat and then you'll be laughing out loud at some great very funny dialogue and sight gags! 

The scene in the zoo where David (David Naughton) runs around naked is very funny but the best scene for me is in the porn theatre with David's victims and his dead best friend Jack (Griffin Dunne) giving him advice on how to kill himself. It is genius! 

If it's gore you're after your in for a treat as the movie has it in spades, the Piccadilly Circus scene is particularly gruesome. The movie rightly won the Oscar for Best Makeup for Rick Baker, his first of seven. If made today most if not all the 'special effects' would be CGI but it looks so much better with prosthetics and makeup. 

The acting's a bit ropey at times, especially from David Naughton but it's not particularly terrible from anyone. Jenny Agutter is very sexy and I'd completely forgotten Rik Mayall was one of the patrons in The Slaughtered Lamb. 

An American Werewolf is a great movie with some of the most amazing makeup ever seen on screen. Listen out for the Moon inspired soundtrack too, another nice little touch! 

Psycho (1960) - #70

Empire top 301: #70
IMDb top 250: #30

Rating 10/10

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: Joseph Stefano
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles & John Gavin

"It's not like my mother is a maniac or a raving thing. She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?"

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is one of the greatest psychological thrillers/horror movies ever made.  By today's standards it probably wouldn't be classed as a horror movie, but in 1960 when it was released I can imagine it really did terrify audiences. The film is beautifully written by Joseph Stefano, the dialogue is simply perfect and the overall pace of the movie works so well. Even if you've never seen this movie you'll know about the now iconic shower scene, and the point at which it comes in the movie is brilliant! 

At the time of the films release in 1960 most horror villains where vampires or werewolves, scary to the eyes grotesque movie monsters! But with Psycho Hitchcock gave us an even scarier monster, the boy next door. Perkins does a stellar job as Norman Bates, never playing the crazed killer as a raving lunatic. His performance is really layered as whilst he does come across rather creepy and unsettling he's also rather sweet and charming, to begin with anyway. Janet Leigh gives an Oscar nominated performance as Marion Crane and her scene in the parlour with Perkins is fantastic, brilliant acting from both of them. The rest of the supporting cast are great as well. 

The real star though is Hitchcock, his direction is outstanding and he builds the suspense brilliantly. Not just for one good scare, but time and time again! There are so many great moments, not just the shower scene, that have now been copied to death but never with the same flair as Hitchcock. But the shower scene is just perfect. I watched the film with my dad who said when he first saw the movie he thought the blood was in colour. It's so well executed you see nothing but still feel every stab of the knife. That's how good the direction and editing is. 

Not only is the direction, acting and writing amazing the movie also boasts one of the greatest scores ever. Bernard Herrmann's music is as iconic as the scenes it plays over. I'm a big lover of Hitchcock and for me this is his greatest picture! I just love it. 

If you've never seen this movie before, why the hell not! Get to it! 

The Sting (1973) - #219

Empire top 301: #219
IMDb top 250: #96

Rating 8/10

Director: George Roy Hill
Writers: David S. Ward
Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford & Robert Shaw

"Not only are you a cheat, you're a gutless cheat as well."

The Sting reunites from - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - Director George Roy Hill with Paul Newman and Robert Redford. It is a great movie full of so many twists and turns that you don't see coming and it keeps you guessing right up until the final moment. Robert Redford plays grifter Johnny Hooker (Redford) who seeks out Henry Gondorf (Newman) after the death of his partner to teach him "the big con"- an elaborate scam known as "the wire", using actors and con artists to create a fake off-track betting parlour - to fleece money from evil Doyle Lonnegan (Shaw) who was responsible for the death of his partner. 

The three leads are all equally great, although Robert Shaw's Irish accent dips here and there. Robert Redford is charming and perfectly cast. Newman is a hoot as Henry and gets the best lines, which are delivered to perfection and have me laughing out loud every time I hear them. I've not seen this movie in a while and completely forgot that Miles (Harold Gould) from the Golden Girls was in it. 

One of the best things about the movie is the music, Scott Joplin's rag lends itself so well to the fast, crime caper tone and period of the movie. You'll be whistling 'The Entertainer' for hours, long after the movie is finished. The sets are just right and the costumes are wonderful, every detail perfect right down to the clicking of Johnny's Brogues. 

The Sting has a great script and a fast pace and it really does have some 'didn't see that coming' twists, where no one or nothing are what they seem. It is a classic that totally deserves to be in the top 500!