Genres

Visitors Review

ghoulieguru 2013-05-23 19:42:50

The Passion of the Chrysler

I remember seeing a trailer for this in the movie theater a year ago...and then it never showed up and made a quiet appearance on the videostore shelves. Never a good sign. Still, the trailer looked interestingto me, and I'm a fan of the road horror movies like "The Hitcher" and"Joyride", so I decided to give this one a spin.I should have stuck to just watching the trailer, since it actuallyshows the only good part of the movie, where the evil car latches asteel hook to this poor girl's vehicle and drags it down the street at60 with her trapped inside.I wanted this to be better. It had a flicker of ingenuity, and then itjust died. If you're looking for a creepy road movie on the Blockbusternew release wall, I suggest "Dead End" before this one.

Scarecrow-88 2013-05-23 04:07:43

Highwaymen

Homicidal motorist(Colm Feore), whose 1972 pepper green El Dorado(witha bum headlight)is his tool of execution, is being pursued acrossAmerica by the film's protagonist(James Caviezel), the husband of avictim he run through in cold blood. Next on this madman's list is ahaunted woman by the name of Molly(Rhona Mitra; DOOMSDAY), amotorphobic since being orphaned when her parents were killed in ahit-and-run crash. Cray(Caviezel)will have to protect Molly whileengaged in a cat and mouse road game with 'Fargo'(Feore), aligninghimself with a state traffic investigator, Mackin(Frankie Faison), whenshe is kidnapped by the psychopath. Fargo, whose mangled, mechanizedbody was caused by Cray on purpose when he drove his car into thekiller out of revenge for his wife's sadistic murder, will wish tostage a similar crash for Molly..confined to a wheel chair, Fargo has amechanical brace for his right arm, a prosthetic left arm, andmechanized legs/feet thanks to Cray's handiwork. While following afterFargo, Cray is often left prosthetic arms as bread crumbs..Fargo alsoenjoys teasing Cray over the CB. Mackin is the investigator when Fargocauses a massive pile-up in a tunnel(and another crash which killsMolly's friend, Boone, portrayed by Gordon Currie)which involvesMolly..Molly herself has a reason to get even with Fargo, he hit herpal, Alexandra(Andrea Roth)with his El Dorado as well. Cray has donehis homework and gives a psyche evaluation of Fargo to Macklin, howhe's always been obsessed with a fascination for "vehicular carnage"since his own father was an automobile insurance agent(pictures ofdamaged cars and humans were often shown to Fargo as a boy, and thiswarped him to the degree that he himself had a desire to inflict suchharm). Pretty straight-forward, well-acted action thriller, fast-pacedwith a rather basic, non-complex plot. It all goes as you'd expect andis over before you know it. Feore(Stephen King's STORM OF THECENTURY)is in the movie for maybe ten minutes, but leaves an impressionbecause he is always good at playing characters that are pure evil.Caviezel remains distant and cold, but I think that's appropriate forhis character who is tormented by this man who took his beloved away.Mitra is mostly quietly anguished and aloof, her tragic past havingshaped who she is at present. As you might expect in a movie such asthis, good use of rural locations and desolate highways, not to mentionsome well-staged auto crashes and vehicle stunts.

2013-05-19 11:26:06

predictable action flick

This movie is fairly predictable. In the beginnig the villan kills the hero's wife and in the end the hero gets revenge and a new girl. Jim is a good actor as always and the idea for the film being set in cars and on the road is a bit unique. It is suprising that there are not better car chase scenes in a movie that centers on the road. The movie also failed to provide any great twists to the plot that might keep one guessing. If you don't mind simple action movies, then you may like this film. It is the epitomy of cheeseburger cinema.

Maugrim 2013-05-18 21:28:27

A little-seen masterpiece that deserves your attention!

Living in a country where this film sadly wasn't shown in theatres, myoptions were either to download it from the Internet (something I am proudto say I don't do) or to wait for the eventual DVD. I got the DVD yesterday.I'd been dying to see this film ever since I first saw the trailer for it ona New Line DVD (I love the words "Also from New Line"), I think it mighthave been "Blade II", not sure. The whole premise of the movie seemed socool; A madman that has integrated himself into his own car, drives downhighways all over America hitting (and thus killing) people with his car. Heis followed by a man whose wife he killed, a man that will do everything forrevenge he has already been given once, as he demolished the madman's carputting him into a wheelchair. I love films like this; that are different.As I watched the film last night, I found myself looking at the DVD-playerevery 10 minutes or so just to know how much of it was left, thinking itcouldn't last, but it did! It's that great!! The film opens with theseextremely gorgeous wide shots orchestrated by the films DP Rene Ohashi, whoalso worked with Harmon on "They". A lot of it is shot using a helicopter,and it's among the best I've seen using one, but even the more static shotsare truly unique, almost evoking a sense of poetry. As the film tightens andget into high gear with it's amazing action-sequences, including a massivecrash-scene in a tunnel, the quality of the photography does not oncedeteriorate. The beautiful visuals of "Highwaymen" are accompanied by anequally as poetic score crafted by the always as talented Mark Isham, almosta veteran by now, having scored more than 93 films including "Kiss TheGirls", "Blade", "Spartan" and "Miracle". There is elements of originalityhere, and it's certainly a one of a kind score even though you might notremember it the following day, in part due to the relatively short runningtime of the film itself. "Highwaymen" is also a very professionally edited film. The way in whichflashbacks are shown here is genius, truly unique. Sure, I've seen it donein a similar matter before, but not nearly as cleverly executed. Of course,there's no problem with the editing of the rest of the movie, as it is justas finely tuned. The car-chases and crash-scenes are also edited in a waythat the most experienced editor would have a hard time complainingabout.As for the actors, well, what can I tell you? With a cast like this youcan't really go wrong, can you? In one corner, we have Jesus Christ himself;James Caviezel, a man who, without a doubt, will grab the best actor of theyear Oscar come next March. In the other? The very beautiful up-and-comingstar Rhona Mitra. Both are talented actors carrying their roles without aflaw in sight. The chemistry between these two is hot. Colm Feore, whom someof you might recognize from his menacing role of André Linoge in the StephenKing miniseries adaptation "Storm of The Century", does not deliver a quiteas energetic performance here. The character he plays here is better off,left in the shadows though. You've heard this before: "The more you show,the less scary it gets". He does a great job establishing a threat, andthat's enough to garner a build-up of tension. Frankie Faison's Macklincharacter is a paper-thin one we don't really get to know much about otherthan the fact that he seem to think that his job is boring and that hespends most of his time filling out forms. If I have to (was forced to) come up with something to complain about here,it would be A) that the film regrettably is way too short and B) the lastten seconds of the film. Let me explain why:A)I would love to get my hand on whatever scenes they edited or deletedaway, cause there's bound to be some usable material that could have boostedthe length of the film. There would have been nice to see some scenes shotas flashbacks from the two years Rennie spent tracking down this maniac.There has to have been a lot of "So close" moments and exciting car chasesacross the country during that period. Some of this is explained in thescenes used for the V.O. in the theatrical trailer though.B) Why these add-on endings consisting of 10 extra seconds of sillyconclusiveness still exists is beyond me. Who wants this??SPOILER!!!It really surprise me that a character such as Macklin (am not sure if thiswas his name), who has been portrayed as a slow-moving traffic investigatornot entirely aware of the full story, would shoot a man in the head at closerange. Especially since it has clearly been established that he does notcarry a gun, or as in this case; a shotgun, in his service, only a block offorms and a simple pen. Where'd he get that shotgun!???? And was is not himthat told Rennie they were there to "help, not to commit homicide", justminutes before? Where did all the logic go?As you might have noticed reading this review, I quite liked this film. Ican not tell you how much I enjoyed it. It have to be one of my favoritefilms that I've seen, this year at least, and I highly recommend it toanyone with an open mind and a love for movies that are a bit odd and strayfrom mass-produced mainstream-trash. This film has enough atmosphere andstyle to more than fill your needs for something special. Oh, and NO, I amnot employed at or in any means associated with New Line Cinema, I just lovethis film!

2013-05-18 17:16:18

Best Buy ..!!

This review is from: Highwaymen (DVD) It's cool , they delever it fast and it's NTSC ..!!16:9 and Full Screen ..!!I Love it ..!!

2013-05-18 00:14:52

A great thriller

This movie is incredible. Is it believable? Not really, but it's a solid 90 minutes of entertainment. And the score of this movie is one of best I've heard in a long time. The music is haunting and just enough to pull you in. It's a shame they don't sell it. The actors are good, but Jim does the most convincing job as a haunted man out to find his wife's killer. Rhona is incredible too as the woman with a past that will never let her rest. This won't win any oscars, but it's worth the time and money. Recommended.

2013-05-17 00:36:29

One of the stupidest movies I have seen in memory!

I do not write movie reviews. This movie silently surfaced while storm clouds gathered around the anticipated opening of Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ, and I went to see it to see Caviezel's last "pre-Jesus" film role. I'm glad I did, so don't let the previous review throw you off. This is an intelligent movie: Cavievel plays a decent man who is at the end of his sanity - convinced that he saw his wife murdered, sent to prison for an accident (or was it?) which leaves him wondering if he is the reason for the highwayman's coast to coast automotive killing spree, which is seen by the authorities as simply unrelated traffic fatalities. Until he discovers the highwayman has finally made the mistake of leaving a survivor - who is the witness (and bait) he needs. The film borrows elements from "The Car", "Christine", "Hannibal" and, of course, "Mad Max". With Cavievel's character driving a muscled-up vintage Plymouth Duster, and the imminent release of "The Passion", I kept thinking I would see Gibson in this movie with a walk-on role, or at least see his name somewhere in the credits. It's that good.

sol1218 2013-05-16 10:03:36

He saw her..He toyed with her..He killed her., And then he came after ME!

**SPOILERS** The movie "Highwaymen" that takes place on the wide openroads of California is a fairly entertaining as well as interestingfilm if you overlook some of the major inconsistencies of it's plot. Ahomicidal driver Fargo, Clom Feore,who's mode of operations is runningdown, and killing, young women drives his car into and kills James"Rennie" Cray, James Cavlezel, young and beautiful wife Olivia,Guylaine St.Onge,right before his eyes. Tracking the killer down James slam his car into him causing Fargo tolose an arm a leg and an eye. That action also puts James behind barsfor three years for vehicular homicide. Out of jail and still lookingfor his wife's killer James connects a string of hit-and-run"accidents" to Fargo and starts to close in on him. Fargo after hisaccident is more robot then man and as James puts it "His body is hiscar". Fargo begins to play a deadly cat-and-mouse game with James thatsoon involves Molly, Rhona Mitra, who herself had been traumatized as alittle girl when she survived a car accident that killed both herparents.James Cavlezel is so glum and serious in the film that he acts as if heon a mission from God to stop and apprehend or kill the mad motorist,Fargo, from his deadly rounds of killing people all over the state. Clom Feore is both weird and terrifying as the machine-like killer whouses his car as an ingenious and effective killing device. This despitehis serious disability is more then a match for the entire CaliforniaHighway Police Department. Rhona Mitra is both pretty and courageous as Molly the person who Fargohas in his sights as his next victim and who's used, somewhatunwillingly, as bait by James to trap and catch him. Frankie Falson isa reluctant hero as State Traffic Investagator Will Macklin who doesn'tcarry and never shot a gun in his life. It was Will who put the crazedFargo's rampage of murder on the roads and highways to flaming andbloody end. The movies many action scenes, that are really stunning, includes aheart-stopping car and truck smash-up in a traffic tunnel that seemedto have be done without the use of any computer-enhanced specialeffects, thats so common in movies like "Highwaymen" today, that madeit all that more startling and effective.

2013-05-06 06:40:35

Eldorado vs. Barracuda

"Highwayman" (2004) is one of those films where an inanimate object takes on a persona. One of the first (and best) of these films was "Duel" (1971) a made for TV movie starring a homicidal truck and Dennis Weaver and directed by Steven Spielberg.The film stars a 1972 Cadillac Eldorado and a 1968 modified Plymouth Barracuda with a 426 hemi super stock engine. Colm Feore drives the homicidal green Eldorado and James Caviezel is the avenger in the red Barracuda. Rhona Mirtra plays the damsel in distress and Frankie Faison plays a traffic inspector drawn into the feud.James Caviezel is best known for his portrayal of Jesus in "The Passion of the Christ" (2004) or his break through role in "A Thin Red Line" (1998) as Private Witt. He plays this one with all the seriousness of his work in "Passion", which doesn't feel right under the circumstances.Rhona Mitra is best known for her work on "The Practice" (2003-4) and "Boston Legal" (2004-5) as Tara Wilson. She alternates between TV series and movie roles, and has appeared in "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" (2009) as Sonja and "Shooter" (2007) as Mark Wahlberg's love interest. I really like the work she did in "Doomsday" (2008). She does a good job as the endangered, traumatized, yet spunky girl who is being hunted by Feore and his homicidal Caddy. Considering how believably she plays the hardcore in films like "Underworld" and "Doomsday" it's a real tribute to her acting abilities that she plays the fragile victim in this film.Colm Feore is barely recognizable among the prosthetic devices being used to hold him together. He's best known for his work as Pierre Trudeau in the TV series of the same name, and for his role as the husband of the President in TV's best series, 24 (2009). I liked him best as Lord Marshall from "Chronicles of Riddick" (2004).Frankie Faison is the only actor to appear in all 3 Hannibal Lector films with Anthony Hopkins. He played Richard Evans in "One Life to Live" (2009-10) and Police Commissioner Burrell on "The Wire" (2002-8). Faison does his usual dependable work.The film is directed by Robert Harmon, best known for his 1986 horror flick "The Hitcher", which also deals with death on the highway. Since 2005 Harmon has been busy with the Tom Selleck "Jesse Stone" series which produces nearly one TV movie per year. He received a DGA and an Emmy nomination for his work on "Gotti" (1996) and an Emmy nomination for "Ike: Countdown to D-Day" (2004).The film is well directed, has lots of action and thrills, including a memorable multi-vehicle crash in a tunnel that includes a horse roaming free. There are many plot flaws, but you barely have time to process the inconsistencies (e.g., in the final scene, where do the ambulances come from?) before another action scene draws your attention.One of the problems with this film is that it tries to have a foot on both pedals, i.e., it shows us the car and the driver. Far more menace could be produced by hinting at the driver and spending more time on the car. Another problem is the ending. I don't want to spoil it, so suffice it to say that IMHO there were several better ways to end the film.Bottom line - an entertaining action thriller.

2013-05-05 12:33:59

EXCELLENT film

This review is from: Highwaymen (DVD) Great movie that throws you right in and pulls you right out in what seems like too short of a time frame. Love the Barracuda, and Caviezel never fails.

2013-04-15 23:17:28

Awesome movie!!!

This review is from: Highwaymen (DVD) This movie gets 5 stars simply for starring Rhona Mirta! Doomsday, Beowulf, Invisible Man - Rhonda Mirta is always hot! The movie itself is pretty good too. A crazy pyscho drives around in a heavily customized car and runs people over from coast to coast. Ms. Mirta's friend gets pancaked by the psycho, resulting in her being introduced to James Cavielize who is a bit of a nut himself as his wife was squished years back by the psycho. Most of this movie is a cat and mouse game between Cavielize and the psycho but at least its an entertaining one.

Leofwine_draca 2013-04-15 21:10:02

Lean and mean

This lean, fast-paced thriller does exactly what it says on the tin: itdelivers a breakneck contest between two men, modern day knights of theroad, tooling up for a life or death battle. Director Robert Harmonmade THE HITCHER back in the day so he's on familiar ground in thismovie. Essentially, at 80 minutes in length, it's nothing more than aseries of car chases, all of them shot with verve and intensity.Characterisation takes a back seat, the story isn't much to write homeabout and the script is largely forgettable. But the car chase scenesare good, and that's the important thing.Jim Caviezel (OUTLANDER) is fine as the hero, and Rhona Mitra(DOOMSDAY) acceptable as the damsel-in-distress. I particularly likedFrankie Faison's world weary cop, even if his character is a bit of acliché. Colm Feore is perfectly despicable as the villain of the piece.Things build up to a nice set-piece climax that definitely isn't forthe politically correct among us. I liked it.

Ancher Swartz 2013-04-12 18:39:30

A helpful opinion.

First off, with the creator of "THE HITCHER", I was hoping for a realthriller, a joy ride of some suspense intensely centered around somereal scenes of action and personal pain with what people go through inthese situations. But all I was left with was watching a verypredictable film with unrealistic and comical deliveries of farce. Ifound myself laughing at some of the hit and run scenes. Honestly Ithought that when professionals created movies their would be a senseof wonder and amazement instead of quick and eye-rolling stupidity. Ithink the next time they let the same writer and director match up anddo another movie they should just call it "TRASH". HIGHWAYMEN, all ican say is, "take the bus".

2013-04-12 09:33:50

Highway Men is Awesome!

This movie rating is as with any movie depending on taste for action, suspense, and gore. This movie has a little of all three elements. I really enjoyed this movie. It's a great Saturday Night thriller!

2013-04-10 20:06:07

"There's A Lot Of Me Still In That Car ~ Separating The Mind From The Machine"

In the tradition of the '71 made-for-television classic `Duel', `Joy Ride' from `01 and numerous other road rage genre films the '04 film `Highwaymen' is a not too original but overall entertaining exercise in persistence, vengeance and the always enjoyable subject matter of vigilante justice.The strongest draw to this movie is in the presence of James Caviezel and the stunning Rhona Mitraspect in the lead roles of two strangers thrown together on the California highways, one pursuing, the other begin pursued by a maniacal serial killer who wields his car as a weapon of destruction.Conversely the main weaknesses I perceive in this production are; the lack of originality in the storyline and the fact that most of the car chase sequences take place in the darkness of night limiting the audience ability to visually partake in the full cinematic experience.My Rating: Well worth at least one watch; -3 1/2 Stars-.

kellywells26 2013-04-10 07:38:20

3 out of 10, and I'm being generous

This movie interested me because it was not advertised on T.V.,and now Iknow why. I'm sure the distributor took one look at it and decided not tospend one more dime on it. In the beginning of the film it seemed like theplot might make a decent B-movie thriller,but it was not to be. I can'trecommend seeing this film, unless you have nothing else to do for an hourand a half.

ctomvelu 2013-04-06 02:50:27

Not exactly THE HITCHER

This action flick by the director of THE HITCHER starts out with a bang, asa serial killer on wheels mows down a series of innocent victims. JimCavaziel plays a doctor whose wife is killed at the film's outset by amaniac driving an ancient El Dorado, and Cavaziel is determined to hunt downand destroy the killer. We flashforward a few years to find a bearded,haunted Cavaziel chasing after the maniac, only instead of his doctor'sMercedes, Cavaziel is now driving a funky 1968 Hemicuda. Rhona Mitra, aSandra Bullock lookalike with sex appeal but little acting talent, plays ayoung woman who escapes the maniac's clutches and pairs up with Cavaziel totrap the killer. The film unfortunately runs out of gas long before thebang-em-up, rock-em-sock-em finale. The revelation of the killer in thesecond half drains all suspense from the film. The believeability factorquickly goes into the trashcan as well, despite some very good car stunts.Cavaziel ain't bad. It's the story that stinks. And imagine my dismay whenafter watching this as a rental just a couple of days ago, I turned on theTV that very evening to find this flick playing! What the hey?

Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone 2013-04-05 22:36:09

Road rage taken to the extreme... something to tide you over until the summer no-brainer action movies come along.

Claudio Carvalho 2013-04-03 16:17:20

A Movie of Stunts

James 'Rennie' Cray (Jim Caviezel) is a man who has been chasing thepsychopath Fargo (Colm Feore) for years. Fargo kills lonely women inroads, and Rennie's beloved wife was one of his victims. When thetraumatized Molly (Rhone Mitra) escapes from Fargo in a tunnel, Rennieuses her as bait to attract Fargo and eliminate him."Highwaymen" is a movie with great action scenes, but also having animbecile, incredible and full of clichés story. Indeed it is a movie ofstunts, which wastes the good actors Jim Caviezel and Colm Feore. It isvery impressive the scene, in the beginning of the story, when Fargoruns over Rennie's wife. I found amazing the resemblance between theactress Rhona Mitra and Sandra Bullock. Therefore, "Highwaymen" is aforgettable movie, indicated for killing time only. My vote is five.Title (Brazil): "Velozes e Mortais" ("Fast and Mortals")

director3 2013-04-03 06:14:42

Fantastic Car Film

It is great to finally get a film that doesn't run to the safety ofdigital video, computer special effects, and loud music."Highwaymen" finally gives us a thriller, that avoids all the crutchesof the mainstream film-making that we have seen in the last few years.The stunts are all metal cars crashing into each other - no fancyeffects (i.e. Nic Cage jumping a bridge in a digital mustang during thecheesy "Gone in 60 seconds" remake). Here we have car doors gettingripped off and then actually being replaced with second-hand parts bythe characters in the film - a realistic car chase film. Finally.The music, by Mark Isham, is very simple and very scary. It brings backmemories of "Halloween" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" - when filmmakersknew how to use frequencies to build tension. There is no BrittanySpears or Metallica singles on the soundtrack, indicating that at leastone filmmaker still can hold his own, and not fall to the popular votewhen designing a film's soundtrack.The acting is excellent - Jim Caviezel is great.The cinematography is first class - and on film, which is refreshingwhen much of the movie takes place at night and many filmmakers getscared and run to video nowadays (Michael Mann "Collateral"). Greatland scapes and long empty roads are brilliantly photographed bycinematographer Rene Ohashi.By far the best are the sound effects. All the car engine sounds aregreatly accurate - from the Barricuda's Hemi to El Dorado's big block -all sounds are accurately placed and brilliantly timed. This, and allthe great car-talk within the dialogue makes for a true car film thatanyone who loved the old car chase films of the late 60's to the late70's, would greatly enjoy this one as well.