James Bond Movie Review: **** The Living Daylights (1987)

 This movie has the same Bond theme but with a different actor portraying James Bond (Timothy Dalton).  There really does seem to be some chemistry with his co-star, Maryam d'Abo portraying Kara Milovy who is a cello player.  Q is the same actor, while Moneypenny (Caroline Bliss is new.  M (Robert Brown) is played by the same actor as the previous movie.  Of course then there are the villains, who are trying to make money selling arms, heroin and diamonds.  Jeroen Krabbé plays Koskov who plays a defecting KGB agent but in reality is defecting to this criminal organization,  Joe Don Baker portrays the arms dealer Brad Whitaker.  Andreas Wisniewski plays Necros, the killer for this organization.  With the KGB is John Rhys-Davies as General Pushkin.  And an Afghani leader is Kamran Shah played by Art Malik.  

Bond is trying to disrupt the network.  Most of the good action is in Afghanistan, during the time when the Russians were fighting there.  There is a chase of a taxing plane, and then the plane taking off and a fight with the back cargo hold of the plane.  Bond and Necros actually go out of the plane holding to nets and fighting with knives.  finally Necros is holding to Bond's boot, which Cond cuts away and Necros gets the boot as he falls out of the plane.

Very good Bond Movie and introducing Tim Dalton as James Bond.

Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

 This is a very good Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) movie except for just before the end.  Indiana Jones is in pursuit of the Dial of Destiny, as is Dr. Jurgen Voller (Mads Mikkelson).  Voller is a Nazi who wants to go back in time and effect a different result to the war.  His men are unscrupulous.  They seem to kill people right and left.   They are trying to get a piece of the devise from Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Dr. Jones' god daughter.  She knows that her father gave the piece to him to destroy it.  Of course Dr. Jones did not destroy it, but has stored it safely in the university vaults.  Helena gets the device, and is away with it, leaving Dr. Jones to deal with the peopler chasing her.  They both get away in the end.  They all end up in Morocco, where Helena is selling her piece.  In all the action Voller ends up with the piece.  Helena has a young friend, Teddy (Ethann Isidore) she rescued from the streets when he tried to steal her purse.  

The next stop is scuba diving in order to find the other piece.  Of course our villains show up just as they are finding it.  More murders take place, Dr. Jones' friend Renaldo (Antonio Banderas).  The the hel of dynamite they are able to get away and then decipher the clue which leads them to caves in Cicily.  In the end Voller comes away with both pieces and puts them together.  He then calculates how to go back in time to 1939 as he intends to kill Hitler, thus freeing Germany from him, so they can win the war.  Dr. Jones tases him that his calculations are wrong--and in fact they are.  They over shot their time and end up in the Roman Greek war long ago.  Having gone back in time in an airplane, they meet Archimedes (Nasser Memarzia), the inventor of the Dial of Destiny, who then took it apart so it couldn't be used.  He is the only person who could help them get back to their own time.

Now the part I don't like.  Suddenly Dr. Jones wants to stay in the past.  Helena punches him in the jaw to knock him out and the take him back.  I do not think there was motivation for Dr. Jones to stay nor for Helena to knock him out.

Karen Allen as Marion and John Rhys-Davies as Sallah have cameo parts.  They were both in the first Indiana Jones.

Disney Animated Movie: **** Aladdin: King of Thieves

With Robin Williams back we have the comedic genius of Genie restored, who even turns into Mr. Doubtfire for a second.  New actors if John Rhys-Davies as the King of Thieves and Jerry Orbach as Sa'luk.

They are finally getting married, Aladdin and Jasmine; but things do not go right at the wedding.  The King of Thieves and his thieves raid on elephant back and destroy everything.  They were after an oracle which will answer one question for you.  Aladdin asks to know where his father might be.  He discovers he is with the thieves.  This results in Aladdin going after the King of Thieves, and the wedding is put on hold.  Everything is now in doubt as we Aladdin has to deal with his heritage.  

Voice Cast:

Robin Williams as The Genie

Scott Weinger as Aladdin

Linda Larkin as Princess Jasmine

John Rhys-Davies as the King of Thieves

Gilbert Gottfried as Iago

Val Bettin as Sultan

Frank Welker as Abu (Aladdin's monkey), Fazahl, Raja (Jasmine's tiger)

Jerry Orbach as Sa'luk

Brad Kane as Aladdin (singing voice)

Liz Callaway as Jasmine (singing voice)

Movie Review: *****Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

 I think with regards to this franchise The Last Crusade puts everything right.  Again we have Jones (Harrison Ford) facing the Nazis and this time looking for the Holy Grail.  We are introduced to Jones' father, Dr. Henry Jones (Sean Connery).  We also see a young Indiana Jones (River Phoenix).  Returning characters include Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) and Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott).  The Nazis have taken an interest in the Holy Grail, and have kidnapped Indiana's father who is an expert on the Holy Grail.  He has mailed his journal to his son trying to keep it from the Nazis.  However Indiana Jones has brought it with him when he is seeking his father.  They are both caught, and the journal taken, but a map has been removed.  

There are many adventures in getting away from the Nazis.  Indiana says he is use to people trying to kill him, while for his father it is a new experience.  I found this movie delightful many years ago and again today.  It is always important to choose wisely.  

Movie Review: *****Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

 What a fun ride the Doctor Jones has been; and it all started with The Lost Ark.  The first Dr. Jones episode is in South America where Doctor Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) rescues a rare artifact, only to have it stolen by Belloq (Paul Freeman).  Then we get to the real story of the movie--the search for the lost ark and covenant, in which is kept the ten commandments.  This reportedly has great power and the Nazis want anything with power; so they too are searching.  Indy first visits a former girlfriend, Marion (Karen Allen) in Nepal, whose father was an archeologist and had collected a piece to help find the ark.  They both escape a murder attempts and head to Egypt, where they meet the third member of their crew, Sellah (John Rhys-Davies).  Belloq is working with the Nazis, but they are digging in the wrong lace.  One of the cute things of this show is the persistence of Indiana Jones.

This movie is terrific fun. It puts Harrison Ford in his second successful trilogy and indicates he is truly a star performer.  

Christmas Movie Review: Winter Thaw

This movie is currently playing on BYUTV.org.  It is really spectacular with John Rhys-Davies playing an old man, who lost his wife when she was young, and raised their only son alone.  He is a poor cobbler.  His wife appears to him in a dream, and says He will come today, let Him in.  He takes this to mean the Lord.  That day the cobbler has four visitors.  The first a man of means, needing a shoe repair.  This man talks to him about his family, and he admits he is estranged from his son.  The man says "it is never too late."  He then receives a neighbor, who is in the cold sweeping the sidewalk.  He comes in and warms himself, and the cobbler gives him a new pair of boots as the cobbler notices the need.  He asks the man to come and make sure he is not dead, as he expects the Lord is coming to take him.  The man agrees, if he will let him know what the Lord said if he is not dead.  Next a woman and her baby appear on her door step.  He takes them in and feeds the woman, while holding the baby.  This is the food he intended for the Lord.  He arranges board for her, until her position starts in a week.  Next a young man is taken in the act of stealing.  He has been stealing from many merchants.  He is hungry.  The man intercedes for him, pays off what he has stole, and talks to the boy about working for food, not stealing.  It seems he has changed.  While the man was out, he figures the Lord visited, and marked his scriptures.  He realizes the message given him is that it is not too late, even though now he has nothing but himself to give to his son.  He makes the journey to his son's farm, and tears are shed.  The man returns in the morning, and does not find the cobbler in his home.  On the table is carved, "It is not too late."
This movie has a similar theme to "A Christmas Carol." that of redemption.  The man had made mistakes during his life, which alienated his son.  However his son still needed him.