The Expendables 3

 Released Year: 2014

Directed by Patrick Hughes

Casted by:

Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross

Jason Statham as Lee Christmas

Antonio Banderas as Galgo / Felipe Silva

Jet Li as Yin Yang

Wesley Snipes as Doctor Death

Dolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen

Kelsey Grammer as Bonaparte

Randy Couture as Toll Road

Terry Crews as Hale Caesar

Mel Gibson as Conrad Stonebanks / Victor Menz

Harrison Ford as Max Drummer

Arnold Schwarzenegger as Trench Mauser

Kellan Lutz as John Smilee

Ronda Rousey as Luna

Glen Powell as Thorn

Victor Ortiz as Mars

Robert Davi as Goran Vata

 Story:

The Expendables—led by Barney Ross and formed by Lee Christmas, Gunnar Jensen, and Toll Road —extract former member Doctor Death, a knives specialist and team medic, from a military prison during his transfer on a train. They recruit Doc to assist them in intercepting a shipment of bombs meant to be delivered to a warlord in Somalia. Arriving there, they reunite with Hale Caesar, who directs them to the drop point, where Ross is surprised to find out that the arms trader providing the bombs is Conrad Stonebanks, a former co-founder of the Expendables who went rogue and was presumed dead. In the ensuing firefight, they are forced to retreat due to Stonebanks' advanced weaponry, and Caesar is severely injured in the process.

Back at the United States, CIA operative Max Drummer, the Expendables' new missions manager, gives Ross a mission to capture Stonebanks in order to bring him to the International Criminal Court to be tried for war crimes. Blaming himself for Caesar's injuries, Ross disbands the Expendables, not wanting his team to get killed following him, and leaves for Las Vegas where he enlists retired mercenary-turned-recruiter Bonaparte to help him find a new team of younger mercenaries to pursue Stonebanks. The recruits include former U.S. Marine John Smilee, nightclub bouncer Luna, computer expert Thorn, and weapons expert Mars. Skilled sharpshooter Galgo asks to be included in the team, but Ross turns him down. The new team rendezvous with Ross' rival Trench Mauser, returning a favor for Ross, who has traced Stonebanks to Romania where he is set to make an arms deal. Ross and the new recruits infiltrate an office building Stonebanks is using as a meeting place and capture him. However, Stonebanks' men catches up to them, with the aide of his GPS Tracker, and fire a missile at the team's van. Ross is thrown into a river, while Smilee, Luna, Thorn and Mars are captured by Stonebanks. Ross kills Stonebanks' retrieval team and escapes.

Stonebanks sends Ross a video, challenging Ross to come after him and gives him his location in the country of Uzmenistan. While preparing to leave and mount a rescue alone, Ross is found by Galgo, who offers his services again. Ross agrees to give him a chance, later accompanied by the veteran Expendables. They rescue the young mercenaries, only to learn from Stonebanks that he has rigged the place with explosives. Thorn is able to use a jammer device to delay the countdown, giving them just under half an hour before detonation. Stonebanks then orders the armed forces of Uzmenistan to attack the building with full force, including tanks and attack helicopters. Drummer and Mauser arrive in a helicopter to help, alongside retired Expendables member Yin Yang. The new and veteran members of the Expendables work together to kill Stonebanks' men. When a second wave of Stonebanks' army starts moving in for an attack, Drummer lands on the building to evacuate the team. However, Stonebanks personally attacks Ross, Ross kills Stonebanks just as the batteries of Thorn's device run out and the entire building begins to explode and collapse. The team makes it to Drummer's helicopter and flies away to safety.

Caesar recovers from his wounds, and Ross officially accepts Galgo, Smilee, Luna, Thorn and Mars into the team. They all celebrate at a bar together.

 L² Scored: 1.5/10

L² Comment:

This is definitely not the kind of movie i wanna spend my weekend with. No doubt that most of them were big, or still big in the hollywood... But watching a bunch of old man fighting with each other makes me laugh. A few times i even "almost" fall asleep~ should i find the expendable 1 & 2 to watch? Or am i just wasting my time?

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

 Released Year: 1984

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Casted by:

Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones

Kate Capshaw as Wilhelmina "Willie" Scott

Jonathan Ke Quan as Short Round

Amrish Puri as Mola Ram

 Story:

In 1935, Indiana Jones (or Indy) narrowly escapes the clutches of Lao Che, a crime boss in Shanghai. With his eleven-year old Chinese sidekick, Short Round (or Shorty), and the nightclub singer Willie Scott in tow, Indiana flees Shanghai on an airplane that, unknown to them, is owned by Lao. The pilots leave the plane to crash over the Himalayas, but the trio narrowly manage to escape on an inflatable boat and ride down the slopes into a raging river. They come to Mayapore, a desolate village in northern India, where the poor villagers believe them to have been sent by the Hindu god Shiva and enlist their help to retrieve the sacred Sivalinga stone stolen from their shrine, as well as the community's children, from evil forces in the nearby Pankot Palace. During the journey to Pankot, Indy hypothesizes that the stone may be one of the five fabled Sankara stones that promise fortune and glory.

The trio receive a warm welcome from the residents of Pankot Palace (which includes the young Maharajah Zalim Singh and his representative, Pankot Palace Prime Minister Chattar Lal) and are allowed to stay the night as their guests, during which they attend a lavish banquet attended by the Maharajah. The palace rebuffs Indy's questions about the villagers' claims and his theory that the ancient Thuggee cult is responsible for their troubles. Later that night, Indy is attacked by an assassin, leading Indy, Willie, and Shorty to believe that something is amiss. They discover a series of tunnels hidden behind a statue in Willie's room and set out to explore them, overcoming a number of booby-trapped rooms along the way.

The trio eventually reach an underground temple where the Thuggee worship the Hindu goddess Kali with human sacrifice. They discover that the Thuggee, led by their evil, bloodthirsty high priest Mola Ram, are in possession of three of the five Sankara stones, and have enslaved the children (as well as the Maharajah) to mine for the final two stones, which they hope will allow them to rule the world. As Indy tries to retrieve the stones, he, Willie, and Shorty are captured and separated. Indy is whipped and forced to drink a potion called the "Blood of Kali", which places him in a trance-like state called the "Black Sleep of Kali Ma". As a result, he begins to mindlessly serve Mola. Willie, meanwhile, is kept as a human sacrifice, while Shorty is put in the mines to labour alongside the enslaved children. Shorty breaks free and escapes back into the temple where he burns Indy with a torch, shocking him out of the trance. The Maharajah, who was also forcibly entranced by the "Blood of Kali", attempts to sabotage Indy with a voodoo doll. Shorty spars with the Maharajah, ultimately burning him to snap him out of the trance. The Maharajah then tells Short Round how to get out of the mines. While Mola escapes, Indy and Shorty rescue Willie, retrieve the three Sankara stones, and free the village children.

After a mine cart chase to escape the temple, the trio emerge above ground and are again cornered by Mola and his henchmen on a jungle canyon rope bridge on both ends over a gorge with a crocodile-infested river flowing within. Using a sword stolen from one of the Thuggee warriors, Indy cuts the rope bridge in half, leaving everyone to hang on for their lives. Indy utters an incantation which causes the stones to glow red hot. Two of the stones fall into the river, while the last falls into and burns Mola's hand. Indy catches the now-cool stone, while Mola falls into the river below, where he is devoured by crocodiles. The Thuggee across then attempt to shoot Indiana with arrows, until a company of British Indian Army riflemen from Pankot arrive, having been summoned by the palace maharajah. In the ensuing firefight, many of the Thuggee archers are killed and the remainder are surrounded and captured. Indy, Willie, and Shorty return victoriously to the village with the children and give the missing stone to the villagers.  

 L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:

 This is my most favorite Indiana Jones movies ever~ I used to watched this over and over a lot of times when I was a young boy. I even imagine i'm Shorty and having all the adventure with Indiana Jones :) hehe. Overall the story is good, better than the first movie, i love the way they film this film in Asia (Sri Lanka & India), and it makes the whole movie even better :P

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

 Released Year: 1981

Directed by Steven Speilberg

 

Casted by:

Harrison Ford stars as Indiana Jones
 Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood
 Paul Freeman as Dr. René Belloq

 Story:

In 1936, archaeologist Indiana Jones (or Indy for short, usually by his friends), braves an ancient temple in an unnamed South American location. The temple is filled with booby traps and Indy is trying to retrieve a golden idol. Upon fleeing the temple, Indy is confronted by rival archaeologist René Belloq and the indigenous Hovitos. Surrounded and outnumbered, Indy is forced to surrender the idol to Belloq and subsequently escapes aboard a waiting Waco seaplane after being pursued.

Shortly after returning to the college in the United States where he teaches archaeology, Indy is interviewed by two Army intelligence agents. They inform him that the Nazis, in their quest for occult power, are searching for his old mentor, Abner Ravenwood, who is the leading expert on the ancient Egyptian city of Tanis and possesses the headpiece of an artifact called the Staff of Ra. Indy deduces that the Nazis are searching for Tanis because it is believed to be the location of the Ark of the Covenant; the Nazis believe that if they acquire it, their armies will become invincible. The Staff of Ra, meanwhile, is the key to finding the Well of Souls, a secret chamber in which the Ark is buried.

The agents subsequently authorize Indy to recover the Ark before the Nazis. Indy travels to Nepal, only to find that Ravenwood has died and that the headpiece is in the possession of his daughter, Marion, who is also Indy's embittered former lover. Indy offers to buy the headpiece for $3000, plus $2000 more when they return to the United States. Marion's tavern is suddenly raided by a group of thugs commanded by Nazi agent Toht. The tavern is burned down in the ensuing fight, during which Toht burns his hand on the searing hot headpiece as he tries to grab it. Indy and Marion escape with the headpiece, with Marion declaring she will accompany Indy in his search for the Ark so he can repay his debt.

They travel to Cairo where they learn from Indy's friend Sallah, a skilled excavator, that Belloq and the Nazis, led by Colonel Dietrich, are currently digging for the Well of Souls with a replica of the headpiece modeled after the scar on Toht's hand. In a bazaar, Nazi operatives attempt to kidnap Marion and as Indy chases after them it appears that she dies in an explosion. While deciphering the markings on the headpiece, Indy and Sallah realize that the Nazis have miscalculated the location of the Well of Souls. Using this to their advantage, they infiltrate the Nazi dig and use the Staff of Ra to determine the location correctly and uncover the Well of Souls, which is filled with snakes. Indy fends off the snakes and acquires the Ark, but Belloq, Dietrich, and the Nazis arrive to take it. They toss Marion into the well with Indy and seal them in, but they manage to escape. After a fistfight with a Nazi mechanic, blowing up a flying wing on the airstrip, and chasing down a convoy of trucks, Indy takes back the Ark before it can be shipped to Berlin.

Indy and Marion leave Cairo to escort the Ark to England on board a tramp steamer. The next morning, their boat is boarded by Belloq, Dietrich, and the Nazis, who once again steal the Ark and kidnap Marion. Indy stows away on their U-boat and follows them to an isolated island in the Aegean Sea where Belloq plans to test the power of the Ark before presenting it to Hitler. Indy reveals himself and threatens to destroy the Ark with a bazooka, but Belloq calls his bluff, knowing Indy cannot bear to destroy such an important historical artifact.

Indy surrenders and is tied to a post with Marion as Belloq performs a ceremonial opening of the Ark, which appears to contain nothing but sand. Suddenly, spirits resembling Old Testament Seraphim emerge from the Ark. Aware of the supernatural danger of looking at the opened Ark, Indy warns Marion to close her eyes. Meanwhile, the apparitions suddenly morph into "angels of death", and all of the Nazi soldiers, along with Belloq, are gruesomely killed.

Back in Washington, D.C., the Army intelligence agents tell a suspicious Indy and Brody that the Ark "is someplace safe" to be studied by "top men". The Ark is permanently stored in a giant government warehouse amongst countless similar crates.

 L² Scored: 7/10

 

L² Comment:

Though this is not my most fav indiana jones' movie, but i kinda like it too. Harrison Ford is always my childhood hero which i think he is good in all the adventurous thing and he never dies :P Love the way he can control his whip like his hand's extension, which is kinda cool for me. The storyline is acceptable but just one thing i can't accept... The Nepal city looks fake!

Cowboys & Aliens

 Released Year: 2011

Directed by Jon Favreau

Casted by:

Daniel Craig as Jake Lonergan
Harrison Ford as Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde
Olivia Wilde as Ella Swenson

 Story:

In 1873, Arizona Territory, an unnamed loner wakes up in the desert injured, with no memory and with a strange metal shackle on his wrist. After killing three drifters who try to kill him, he takes their clothes, weapons and a horse. He wanders into the small town of Absolution, where the local preacher, Meacham, treats his wound. After the stranger subdues Percy Dolarhyde, a volatile drunk who has been terrorizing the town, Sheriff Taggart recognizes the stranger as Jake Lonergan, a wanted outlaw, and attempts to arrest him. Jake beats up the posse sent to take him in and nearly escapes, but a mysterious woman named Ella Swenson knocks him out.

Percy's father, Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde, a wealthy and ruthless cattleman, arrives with his men and demands that Percy be released. He sees Jake and also demands he be released to him, since Jake was the one who stole Dolarhyde's gold. During the standoff, alien craft begin attacking the town. Percy, the sheriff and many other townsfolk are grabbed by long, whip-like feelers hanging from the bottom of the alien ships and are abducted. Jake's shackle unfolds and becomes a weapon, shooting down one of the ships with a single shot, ending the attack.

Dolarhyde, Ella, and other townsfolk form a posse to track an injured alien that escaped from the downed ship. Jake, meanwhile, travels to an abandoned cabin, and in a flashback, recalls returning there with the gold just before he and a woman, Alice, were abducted by the aliens. His memories returning, Jake joins up with the posse. During the night, while they camp in an upside down paddlewheel steamboat, the alien they were tracking kills Meacham, who sacrifices himself to save Emmett, Taggart's grandson.

By the next morning, most of the posse has deserted, and the others are attacked by Jake's former gang. Jake, who stole the gang's loot after their last heist, attempts to retake control, but fails. As he and the others flee, the aliens begin attacking again and Ella is captured. Jake jumps aboard the ship and attacks the alien pilot, causing the ship to crash, but Ella is fatally wounded.

Shortly after the crash, however, the posse is captured by Chiricahua Apache Indians, who blame them for the alien attacks. As Ella's body is dumped on a fire by a Chiricahua warrior, she is fully resurrected. Ella reveals herself to be an alien who traveled to Earth to help resist the invaders after they destroyed her homeworld. The aliens, who are mining gold and abducting humans to experiment on, are far stronger and more durable than humans, and have superior weapons. But they are not invulnerable. They can be stabbed and shot to death, and Jake's gauntlet weapon can kill them with a single blast.

Ella claims Jake holds the secret to the aliens' whereabouts and says they must stop them before they exterminate all life on the planet. After taking medicine offered by the Apaches, Jake recalls that Alice was euthanized after she was used in an alien experiment, but he escaped, inadvertently stealing a gauntlet-like alien weapon. He could also remember the location of the aliens' base of operations.

Armed with this knowledge, the group, now led by Dolarhyde, prepares to attack the aliens' grounded mothership. Jake returns to his old gang and persuades them to join the fight. In a sneak attack, the humans breach the spaceship by destroying the shuttle bay, forcing the aliens into a ground battle. Jake and Ella board the ship and free the captives, but Jake is captured. Dolarhyde rescues him and both men escape the ship after killing the alien responsible for Alice's death. As the remaining aliens are taking off in their damaged craft, Ella sacrifices herself, destroying the ship using Jake's gauntlet.

Jake's memory partially returns, and some abducted townsfolk begin to remember their past. Still a wanted man, Jake decides to leave; the sheriff and Dolarhyde say they will claim that he was killed in the invasion. The citizens intend to rebuild the town with the expectation that the newly discovered gold mine will soon bring many new settlers. Jake kindly rejects Dolarhyde's offer to help rebuild the town, and rides away.

 L² Scored: 4/10

L² Comment:

Based on the novel with the same name as this movie, its kinda science fiction thingy, but its not my cuppa tea at all... Cowboys vs aliens is something new in the movie industry, but i don't know why this film is kinda boring and nothing exciting at all throughout the movie...

The Mosquito Coast

Released Year: 1986
Directed by Peter Weir

Casted by:
Harrison Ford as Allie Fox
Helen Mirren as "Mother" Fox
River Phoenix as Charlie Fox
Conrad Roberts as Mr. Haddy
Story:

The film opens with Charlie Fox explaining that his father, Allie Fox, is a Harvard drop-out and brilliant inventor with "nine patents, six pending." Allie has grown fed up with the American Dream and American consumerism, believing that Americans "buy junk, sell junk and eat junk," and that there is an impending nuclear war on the horizon as a result of American greed and crime.

Allie and Charlie go to a hardware store to buy components for a new invention, an ice machine known as Fat Boy. Upon seeing that the product was made in Japan, Allie refuses to purchase it. Allie and Charlie acquire the components at a local dump. Allie finishes assembling his creation. Allie's boss and asparagus farm owner, Mr. Polski complains that Allie is not tending to the asparagus, which is rotting. Allie, Charlie, and Allie's youngest son, Jerry, meet Mr. Polski, and Allie shows him "Fat Boy." The machine leaves Polski unimpressed. As he drives past the fields,a dejected Allie comments on immigrants picking asparagus, and says that where they come from, they might think ice was a diamond of some sort. The home of the migrant workers is in a state of disarray exemplifying their poverty.

That night, Jerry tells "Mother", that he believes something terrible is about to happen, which Mother rebuffs, explaining that she believes something good will happen. The next morning, Allie throws a party for the immigrant workers, before telling his family that they're leaving the United States. Boarding a Panamanian barge, Allie shouts a defiant "Goodbye, America!!! Have a nice day!!!," as the barge sails. Aboard, Allie's family meets Reverend Spellgood, a Christian missionary, his wife, and their daughter, Emily. Emily flirts with Charlie. Allie and the Reverend begrudgingly try to get along, despite having entirely different religious views. The barge docks in Belize City. The families disembark and go their separate ways. Allie, with the consent of the Belize government, purchases a small village called Jeronimo in the rainforest along the river.

Mr. Haddy takes Allie and his family upriver to Jeronimo. Allie meets the inhabitants and proceeds to start building a new, 'advanced' civilization, in the process inventing many new things. The locals take kindly to Allie and his family, but Allie's will to build a utopic civilization keeps them working to their limits. One day, Reverend Spellgood arrives to convert Jeronimo's citizens. In the process, Allie and Spellgood angrily denounce each other, leading to a permanent schism: Allie believes Spellgood to be a religious zealot; Spellgood believes Allie to be a Communist. Allie sets to constructing a huge version of "Fat Boy" that can supply Jeronimo with ice. Upon completing the machine, Allie hears rumors of a native tribe in the mountains that have never seen ice. Allie recruits his two sons to carry a load of ice into the jungle to supply the tribe. Upon arriving, Allie find that the load has melted, and that the tribe has already been visited by missionaries. When Allie returns to Jeronimo, he learns that Spellgood has left with much of the populace, scaring them with stories of God's biblical destruction.

The near-empty town is visited by rebels, who demand to use Jeronimo as a guerrilla base. Allie and his family accept to accommodate them while Allie constructs a plan to be rid of them. Set on freezing them to death, Allie bunks the rebels up in the giant ice machine, tells Charlie to lock the only other exit to the machine, leaving them no escape route, and starts the machine. The rebels, waking in panic, try to shoot their way through. This causes an explosion, blows up the ice machine and, thereafter, Jeronimo. Allie and his family watch on in horror.

Forced downstream, Allie and his family arrive at the coast. Mother and the children rejoice, believing they can return to the USA. Allie, refusing to believe his dream has been shattered, announces that they have all they need on the beach and, lying, tells the family that America's been destroyed in a nuclear war. Settling on the beach in a houseboat he built, and refusing assistance from Mr. Haddy, a paranoid Allie believes that the family's accomplished building a utopia. One night, there is a terrible storm, nearly forcing the family out to sea, until Charlie reveals he's been hiding motor components given to him by Haddy, allowing them to start the motor on the boat. The family becomes physically and emotionally weaker for lack of food, shelter and other human companionship. Traveling upstream once again, Allie and his family stumble across Spellgood's compound. Coming ashore, Allie sees barbed wire, and believes the settlement to be a Christian concentration camp. While the rest of the family sleeps, Charlie and Jerry sneak over to the Spellgood home. After finding out that the US was not destroyed by a nuclear war and that Emily will assist them in escaping from Allie, Charlie obtains the keys to a jeep. Before Charlie can convince Mother and his sisters to leave, Allie sets the Spellgood church on fire. Reverend Spellgood shoots Allie, paralyzing him from the neck down. The family escapes aboard the boat.

The film concludes with the group traveling downriver again, where Allie drifts in and out of consciousness. Allie asks his wife if they are going upstream. She lies to him - going against the wishes of her husband for the first time. Charlie's final narration reports the death of Allie but gives hope that the rest of the family can live their lives freely from now on.

L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:

Well, its been a while since i watch this kind of old movie, and i quite enjoy it :) The story is kinda interesting on how Allie Fox took the risk to move his family to a place he has never been before, and build up the whole things by himself. Harrison Ford of course is the Mr Hot of this film; and this would be my first time to watch River Phoenix's film. This pretty boy has left us when he is 23yo, and he is so damn cute even when he is young. Too bad the brother Joaquin is not as hot as him~