Braveheart (1995)
The movie begins in the small town of Elderslie, Scotland. William lives with his father, Malcolm and elder brother John. William's father and brother are called to a meeting a few miles from their home where they find the entire nobility of Scotland hanging. Malcolm and John then go to a battle between the English and their clan, both die tragically. At the funeral William meets his uncle Argyle who fought in the battle with Malcolm and his father.
He takes him away to live with him. The scene then cuts to an adult William on his horse. William later runs into a girl he knew before he went to live with Argyle, her name, Murron, we discover that Lords have the right to sleep with brides on their wedding night, so William marries Murron in secret. Murron is the assaulted by a English guard, the guard is killed by William, a fight ensues, and eventually Murron is killed by the lord.
This enrages Wallace who then build himself a fine army entering city's and killing all Englishman within. Wallace prepares to move on to Sterling where he prepared for his greatest battle yet, in the forest he realizes that he must find a way to beat the heavy cavalry from the ground, he decided to create spears twice as long as men. These were used in the battle to kill the entire heavy cavalry raised at the last minute to kill the on coming horses.
Eventually Wallace reaches York, the most important military city he gains control. Williams final battle at Falkirk ends in his betrayal by two nobles, whom he later kills. William is betrayed by the leper father of Robert the Bruce, is captured and refuses to bow down as a loyal subject of the king Edward I, Longshanks. Therefore, instead of mere beheading William Wallace is subject to being Hung, hung within an inch of death. Drawn, being stretched by his ankles and wrists and then having his insides shown to him before he died. Then Quartered, he was beheaded and his head was put on the London Bridge his body was torn into for pieces one sent to each corner of Britain as a warning to the citizens.
After Wallace's death we see Robert the Bruce led the battle of Bannockburn the last battle for Scotland's freedom. [Editors note] Original writing by poster stated that Wallace went against "The British". This is factually incorrect as the term "British" refers to the people of the Island Britain. Scotland is the northern half of Britain with England and Wales sharing the lower half. I have changed this accordingly to reflect that Wallace and Scotland were at war with England or more factually correct, the English crown.
Cast:
Mel Gibson .... William Wallace
James Robinson .... Young William Wallace
Sean Lawlor .... Malcolm Wallace
Sandy Nelson .... John Wallace
James Cosmo .... Campbell
Sean McGinley .... MacClannough
Alan Tall .... Elder Stewart
Andrew Weir .... Young Hamish Campbell
Gerda Stevenson .... Mother MacClannough
6:22 PM | Labels: Action, Drama, War | 0 Comments
Gladiator (2000)
In Gladiator, victorious general Maximus Decimus Meridias has been named keeper of Rome and its empire by dying emperor Marcus Aurelius, so that rule might pass from the Caesars back to the people and Senate. Marcus' neglected and power-hungry son, Commodus, has other ideas, however. Escaping an ordered execution, Maximus hurries back to his home in Spain, too late to save his wife and son from the same order. Taken into slavery and trained as a gladiator by Proximo, Maximus lives only that he might someday take his revenge and fulfill the dying wish of his emperor. The time soon comes when Proximo's troupe is called to Rome to participate in a marathon of gladiator games held at the behest of the new emperor, Commodus. Once in Rome, Maximus wastes no time in making his presence known, and is soon involved in a plot to overthrow the emperor with his former-love Lucilla, Commodus' sister, after whom he lusts, and also the widowed mother of Lucius, heir to the empire after his uncle, and democratic-minded senator, Gracchus.
Russell Crowe .... Maximus
Joaquin Phoenix .... Commodus
Connie Nielsen .... Lucilla
Oliver Reed .... Proximo
Richard Harris .... Marcus Aurelius
Derek Jacobi .... Gracchus
Djimon Hounsou .... Juba
David Schofield .... Falco
John Shrapnel .... Gaius
Tomas Arana .... Quintus
1:42 AM | Labels: Action, Drama, War | 0 Comments
The Godfather (1972)
Vito Corleone is the aging don (head) of the Corleone Mafia Family. His youngest son Michael has returned from WWII just in time to see the wedding of Connie Corleone (Michael's sister) to Carlo Rizzi. All of Michael's family is involved with the Mafia, but Michael just wants to live a normal life. Drug dealer Virgil Sollozzo is looking for Mafia Families to offer him protection in exchange for a profit of the drug money. He approaches Don Corleone about it, but, much against the advice of the Don's lawyer Tom Hagen, the Don is morally against the use of drugs, and turns down the offer. This does not please Sollozzo, who has the Don shot down by some of his hit men. The Don barely survives, which leads his son Michael to begin a violent mob war against Sollozzo and tears the Corleone family apart.
Cast:
Marlon Brando .... Don Vito Corleone
Al Pacino .... Michael Corleone
James Caan .... Santino 'Sonny' Corleone
Richard S. Castellano .... Pete Clemenza
Robert Duvall .... Tom Hagen
Sterling Hayden .... Capt. Mark McCluskey
John Marley .... Jack Woltz
Richard Conte .... Emilio Barzini
Al Lettieri .... Virgil 'The Turk' Sollozzo
Diane Keaton .... Kay Adams
1:46 AM | Labels: Action, Drama | 0 Comments
The Dark Knight (2008)
With just one year having passed after taking out Ra's Al Ghul's plan to have Gotham eliminated and the mysterious disappearance of Dr. Jonathan Crane AKA the Scarecrow, and after the city was nearly plundered with his toxins, Bruce Wayne and his vigilante alter-ego the Batman, continue the seemingly endless effort to bring order to Gotham, with the help of Lt. James Gordon and newly appointed District Attorney Harvey Dent. But a new threat has now emerged into the streets. The Dark Knight faces a rising psychopathic criminal called The Joker, whose eerie grin, laughter, and inhuman morality makes him as dangerous than what he has yet to unleash. It becomes an agenda to Batman to stop the mysterious Joker at all costs, knowing that both of them are in an opposite line. One has no method at all and seeks to see the world plunge into the fire he has yet to light. One represents the symbol of hope and uses his own shadow to bring the peace and order he has yet to accomplish doing.
Cast:
Christopher Nolan ....
1:50 AM | Labels: Action, Superhero | 0 Comments
Eagle Eye (2008)
The film begins with the armed forces getting a lead on a suspected terrorist. As the man is a recluse, getting a positive ID proves difficult, and the DOD's computer system recommends that the mission be aborted. From continued aerial surveillance of the area, the suspect is apparently attending a funeral but the possibility that it is a facade makes those present all nervous - the system continues to recommend abort. The Secretary of Defense (Michael Chiklis) agrees with the abort recommendation, but the President orders the mission be carried out anyway. This turns into a political backlash when all those killed turn out to be civilians, and retaliatory bombings are carried out in response. The scene abruptly shifts to the life of Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf), a Stanford University drop out who not only lacks any real direction in his life, but also faces great financial difficulty. He gets a phone call from his parents telling him that his twin brother, Ethan, is dead. Following the funeral, Jerry gets a $1,000 check from his dad. When Jerry tries to deposit the check and withdraw some money from the ATM, he's surprised to see that his account is filled with a lump sum of money. Soon he returns home to find his apartment filled with a large amount of weapons, explosives, and forged documents. He receives a phone call from an unknown woman, who explains that the FBI are about to apprehend him in thirty seconds and that he must escape. Not believing her, he is caught by the FBI, led by Agent Thomas Morgan (Billy Bob Thornton) and Air Force Office of Special Investigations Special Agent Zoe Perez (Rosario Dawson). The unknown woman arranges Jerry's escape and has him join up with single mother Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan). Holloman is being coerced into helping by the woman, who threatens to kill her son, Sam, a trumpet player on his way to Washington, D.C. from Chicago for a band recital. The woman helps the pair to avoid the police and FBI units, demonstrating the ability to remotely control virtually any networked device, such as traffic lights, cell phones, and even automated cranes. While Jerry and Rachel follow her instructions, the woman has a crystal explosive made into a necklace and its sound-based trigger placed inside Sam's trumpet. Jerry and Rachel are led to Washington, D.C. through various means. Along the way, they are introduced to the woman, who is actually a top secret super-computer called ARIA tasked with gathering intelligence from all over the world. ARIA, the overtaken computer, can control virtually anything electronic to that end. In light of the mistake made by the President at the beginning of the film, ARIA has decided that the executive branch is a threat to the public good and must be eliminated. ARIA plans to destroy the President's Cabinet, and calls this Operation Guillotine. It has decided to leave the Secretary of Defense, who agreed with its recommendation to abort, as the successor to the presidency. She does not reveal this to Jerry or Rachel, merely explaining that she is trying to help the people of the United States. At the Pentagon, where ARIA is housed, Agent Perez discovers that Ethan worked as a technician for the computer and locked it down to prevent ARIA from carrying out her plan. Perez warns the Secretary of Defense and they discuss the situation in a sealed room to prevent ARIA from hearing their conversation. Jerry and Rachel arrive at the Pentagon and are led to the super computer, where ARIA forces Jerry to impersonate Ethan and use an override code allowing her to go ahead with the plan. She then instructs Rachel to eliminate Jerry to prevent the lock from being reinstated, but Rachel cannot bring herself to do it. Rachel is led out of the building by ARIA while Jerry is caught by Agent Morgan. Having been warned by Agent Perez, Morgan believes Jerry's story and takes him to the United States Capitol. On their way, however, ARIA sends an MQ-9 Reaper UCAV after them. Agent Morgan sacrifices himself to destroy the craft and save Jerry. Meanwhile, Agent Perez returns to the super computer and is successful in destroying it, but not before ARIA uploads roughly a fifth of its memory to another location. Rachel is given the explosive necklace and sent to watch the President's speech. Sam's class, whose recital has been moved from the Kennedy Center to the Capitol for the President's State of the Union Address, begins to play. The trigger that will set off the explosive necklace is set to activate when Sam plays a high F on his trumpet corresponding to the word "free" in the last verse of the U.S. national anthem. Jerry successfully infiltrates the vicinity and fires Morgan's pistol into the air, stopping the performance and emptying the room, but provoking a Secret Service agent to shoot him in the shoulder. In the aftermath of the chaos ARIA caused, the Secretary of Defense urges that another super computer should not be built. Ethan posthumously receives the Medal of Honor while Jerry, injured but alive and well, receives the Congressional Gold Medal. The film ends with Jerry attending Sam's birthday party. Rachel thanks him for attending and kisses him on the cheek. She then tells Jerry that she is glad that he is there. After a second of silence, Jerry tells her, "Me too," and the film ends.
Shia LaBeouf ... Jerry Damon Shaw / Ethan W. Shaw
Michelle Monaghan ... Rachel Holloman
Rosario Dawson ... Zoe Perez
1:54 AM | Labels: Action, Thriller | 0 Comments
The Matrix (1999)
Computer hacker Thomas Anderson has lived a relatively ordinary life--in what he thinks is the year 1999--until he is contacted by the enigmatic Morpheus who leads him into the real world. In reality, it is 200 years later, and the world has been laid waste and taken over by advanced artificial intelligence machines. The computers have created a false version of 20th-century life--the "Matrix"--to keep the human slaves satisfied, while the AI machines draw power from the humans. Anderson, pursued constantly by "Agents" (computers who take on human form and infiltrate the Matrix), is hailed as "The One" who will lead the humans to overthrow the machines and reclaim the Earth.
Keanu Reeves .... Neo
Laurence Fishburne .... Morpheus
Carrie-Anne Moss .... Trinity
Hugo Weaving .... Agent Smith
Gloria Foster .... Oracle
Joe Pantoliano .... Cypher
Marcus Chong .... Tank
Julian Arahanga .... Apoc
Matt Doran .... Mouse
Belinda McClory .... Switch
2:01 AM | Labels: Action, Sci-Fi | 0 Comments
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the first film in the Harry Potter series based on the novels by J.K. Rowling. It is the tale of Harry Potter, an ordinary 11-year-old boy serving as a sort of slave for his aunt and uncle who learns that he is actually a wizard and has been invited to attend the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry is snatched away from his mundane existence by Hagrid, the grounds keeper for Hogwarts, and quickly thrown into a world completely foreign to both him and the viewer. Famous for an incident that happened at his birth, Harry makes friends easily at his new school. He soon finds, however, that the wizarding world is far more dangerous for him than he would have imagined, and he quickly learns that not all wizards are ones to be trusted.
Richard Harris .... Albus Dumbledore
Maggie Smith .... Professor Minerva McGonagall
Robbie Coltrane .... Rubeus Hagrid
Saunders Triplets .... Baby Harry Potter
Daniel Radcliffe .... Harry Potter
Fiona Shaw .... Aunt Petunia Dursley
Harry Melling .... Dudley Dursley
Richard Griffiths .... Uncle Vernon Dursley
Derek Deadman .... Tom
Ian Hart .... Professor Quirinus Quirrell
2:05 AM | Labels: Fantasy | 0 Comments