Tag Archives: review

THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND (1983) – Rutger Hauer teams up with Sam Peckinpah!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

I’ve been having the best time reviewing Rutger Hauer films every Sunday. Today, I revisit THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND from 1983. Hauer made this film the year after BLADE RUNNER, so he was in the prime of his career. It also teams him up with an all-star supporting cast and master director Sam Peckinpah. 

THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND opens with CIA Director Maxwell Danforth (Burt Lancaster) watching a recording of agent Laurence Fassett (John Hurt) making love to his wife. When Fassett hits the shower, two KGB assassins come in and kill her. Consumed by grief, Fassett hunts down the assassins and uncovers a Soviet spy network known as Omega. Fassett has identified three American men as top Omega agents… television producer Bernard Osterman (Craig T. Nelson with an awful, glued-on mustache), plastic surgeon Richard Tremayne (Dennis Hopper) and stock trader Joseph Cardone (Chris Sarandon). Rather than arrest the men and risk alarming the KGB, Fassett proposes to director Danforth that they try to turn one of the three men to the side of the West in hopes that this person will provide the information needed to bring down the Omega network. 

Enter controversial television journalist John Tanner (Rutger Hauer). Fassett knows that Tanner has been close friends with Osterman, Tremayne, and Cardone since all four attended Berkeley together, and he believes that Tanner can successfully turn one of them. Although initially highly skeptical, the super patriotic Tanner begins to change his mind when Fassett shows him videotaped evidence of his old friends talking with a Russian agent in various capacities. Tanner reluctantly agrees to try turn one of his friends at their annual “Osterman Weekend” reunion which is coming up that week at Tanner’s house. He does have one condition… that Danforth, the CIA director will appear as a guest on his show. Danforth agrees to this condition. So that weekend, Tanner and his wife Ali (Meg Foster) welcome their old friends and their wives into their home, while Fassett has video camera equipment installed and hangs out in a van spying on the festivities. There’s no doubt it will turn out to be an awkward weekend, and you can’t help but wonder if Fassett may have more sinister motives than he’s letting on. 

I’ll go ahead and say that I had a great time watching THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND for the first time in thirty-plus years. I’ve often read a criticism that the plot of this film is “incomprehensible.” Based on a book by Robert Ludlum, the story is purposely designed to keep you guessing up until its big reveal, but I didn’t have any trouble following it all. I’d say the biggest issue is that it doesn’t really stand up under close scrutiny. Some of the actions of the various characters don’t always make a lot of sense in light of the movie’s big twist near the end, but that didn’t take away from my personal enjoyment of the film. I just went along with the plot wherever it took me, and that was easy for me to do based on the cast that we have assembled. Any movie that includes Rutger Hauer, Burt Lancaster, John Hurt, Craig T. Nelson, Dennis Hopper, Chris Sarandon, Meg Foster, Helen Shaver, and Candy Yates will get a watch from me. Heck, Tim Thomerson even shows up as a motorcycle cop at one point. It’s a who’s who of excellent actors who always make their films watchable. In my opinion, it’s Hauer, Hurt, Foster and Nelson who do the most with their characters and take home the acting honors for their work here. Burt Lancaster is one of the all-time greats, and he does a good job, but it’s a one note character so there isn’t much he can do. Hopper and Sarandon are also fine, but their characters don’t really stand out. Their screen wives, Shaver and Yates, seem to be here mostly for eye candy because their tops are off for an abnormally large amount of their screen time! Speaking of eyes, the Hauer / Foster team up has to be on the list of the most striking combo pair of eyes in the history of cinema. Foster has the most noticeable eyes of any actress I’ve ever seen. 

This is the great Sam Peckinpah’s final film, and I don’t agree with the people who complain that his career ended with a whimper. THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND is not in the same league as THE WILD BUNCH, RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY, THE STRAW DOGS, or THE GETAWAY, but not many films are, including most of his own. And this movie is certainly visionary in one area, and that is found in its main theme about the damage that can be done with the manipulation of the media, including physical media, like videotape and audiotape. The primary driver of the film from the very beginning to the very end is the danger of false information that looks and sounds true. I can promise you that as I type this, and as you read it, there are people all over this world trying to make lies sound or appear true so they can share them on the news and on social media. I invite you to question everything you read, watch or hear on any outlet where you receive your news. Peckinpah’s final film beats this into our heads, just 40 years earlier. 

Sam Peckinpah was known for his stylish and violent action sequences. THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND is more of a paranoid thriller, but it does feature some good action. There’s a chase sequence early in the film where Hauer’s wife and son are kidnapped, and he’s forced to commandeer the truck of honeymooners John Bryson (a Peckinpah regular) and Anne Haney (Greta from LIAR LIAR) to take off in hot pursuit. The scene features Peckinpah’s signature stunts, slow motion, and a myriad of cool tracking shots. There’s another fun scene where Hauer is using a baseball bat to defend himself against his pal Craig T. Nelson, who’s been shown to be a martial arts expert. It’s an exciting scene even if Hauer does get his ass kicked, in slow motion no less. And I always appreciate a movie with some good crossbow action, especially when it’s being wielded by a lady. The poster of the film prominently features a lady with a crossbow and we get to see Meg Foster step into that role in the actual film. She gets one especially gruesome, blood gurgling kill. 

Overall, I think THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND is a good film. It is not nearly as bad as the critics of the time labeled it, and it’s not as good as Peckinpah’s best work, but you can certainly do a lot worse. It has a great cast, a timely message, a lot more sex and nudity than I remembered, and some cool action sequences. It’s definitely worth a watch!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 2/16/25 — 2/22/25

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yeah, I’m running late with this.  That seems to be the theme of my life this weekend but no matter!  Here it is, my week in television.

American Murder: Gabby Petito (Netflix)

Netflix’s Gabby Petito documentary didn’t necessarily tell me anything that I didn’t already know about that tragic and awful case.  Indeed, I kind of found myself getting angry at the documentary as I watched the endless footage of Gabby because it reminded me that Gabby Petito — and every other crime victim — deserved more than to be the latest subject of America’s fascinating with the morbid and the sordid.  (Of course, it’s hypocritical of me to judge as I was the one watching the documentary.)  But, in the end, I did feel that the documentary made an important point.  There were so many red flags about Brian Laundrie but no one wanted to admit it, not the cops and not Gabby’s friends. Gabby was failed by so many people.

Up until I saw this documentary, I was not convinced that Brian’s family really knew the full extent of his crimes.  Now, I’m convinced that they not only knew but tried to help him cover them up.  It’s infuriating.

Check it Out! (Tubi)

I reviewed Check It Out! here.  I’ll soon be finished with this show and I have to admit that I’m kind of proud of being the only person to have actually sat down and reviewed every single episode.

CHiPs (Prime)

I reviewed CHiPs here!

Dark (Netflix)

Case and I have now started the third and final season of this creepy German show.  It’s all about time travel, black holes, and people having nonstop sex without any emotional connection.  The architecture is brutalist, the cinematography is dark, and everyone seems to be fairly depressed.  It’s very German and very intriguing.

Fantasy Island (DVR)

I reviewed Fantasy Island here!

Friday the 13th: The Series (YouTube)

I wrote about Friday the 13th here!

Highway to Heaven (Tubi)

I reviewed Highway to Heaven here!

Kitchen Nightmares (Tuesday Evening, Fox)

Chef Ramsay was back in New Orleans, helping out another surprisingly ugly restaurant.  Seriously, how can a restaurant succeed when it looks like a trailer?  Again, a former football player was brought in to provide emotional encouragement.  I will undoubtedly find myself in New Orleans in the future but I’ll probably never eat there.

The Love Boat (Paramount+)

I reviewed The Love Boat here!

Malibu CA (YouTube)

I reviewed Malibu CA here!

Miami Vice (Prime)

I reviewed Miami Vice here!

Monsters (YouTube)

I reviewed Monsters here!

Pacific Blue (Tubi)

I reviewed this stupid, stupid show here!

Scamanada (Hulu)

I finished up Scamanda this week, watching the final two episodes.  For all the build-up, the finale was a bit disappointing.  Amanda was arrested and convicted and then, for 30 minutes, we listened to a bunch of podcast hosts talk about how they came across the story and went viral with it.  I love true crime documentaries but true crime podcast hosts are always so annoying and self-important.

St. Elsewhere (Hulu)

I wrote about St. Elsewhere here!

Welcome Back, Kotter (Prime)

I’m nearly done with this show, thank God.  I reviewed the latest episode here!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 3.8 “Mutiny on Mr. Christian”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Saturdays, I will be reviewing the Canadian sitcom, Check it Out, which ran in syndication from 1985 to 1988.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and Peacock!

This week, Howard leaves the store once again.  Chaos follows.

Episode 3.8 “Mutiny on Mr. Christian”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on November 7th, 1987)

Howard goes on another one of the 100 vacations that he seems to take during the year, leaving Christian in charge of the store.  To no one’s surprise, Christian turns out to be a total martinet who times Marlene’s check-out speed, bothers Leslie at the deli, and refuses to give out the paychecks early.  “The book says 4:00,” Christian explains, “and I’m doing things by the book.”

When Howard returns early, Marlene rats on Christian and reveals, amongst other things, that Christian attempted to strip search a female shop lifter.  (Agck!  As someone who was a compulsive makeup stealer in her teen years, I’m glad Target didn’t have the same policy.)  Howard probably could fire Christian for the strip search stunt but instead, he …. well, he does nothing.

Christian, however, gets back at Marlene by disguising his voice, calling her, and telling her that she has won two tickets to Atlantic City as a part of a newspaper sweepstakes that she was taking part in.  Marlene is super-excited and can’t wait to take her grandmother on a real vacation.  Christian suffers a pang of guilt.  When he later calls to tell Marlene that she didn’t win the tickets, Howard overhears him.  Christian is forced to tell Marlene what he did.  Instead of yelling at Christian, Marlene says she’ll just win the tickets for real.

Marlene does not win the contest.  But Howard, Leslie, and even Christian all buy her tickets to Atlantic City.  Awwwww!

Plotwise, this episode felt like a season two episode.  Howard is once again going on vacation whenever he wants.  Christian is once again acting like a jackass.  Leslie and Marlene are once again allied against the world.  Edna is not in the episode and neither is Viker.  Even the ending feels like a season two ending.  Marlene takes the tickets from Christian while Marlene returns the other tickets to Leslie and Howard so that they can get refunds.  They laugh about getting one over on Christian though they might want to consider that Christian, for once, tried to do the right thing without being ordered to do so.

That said, this episode works like a season 3 episode because it focuses on the show’s three most consistently funny performers, Jeff Pustil, Aaron Schwartz, and Kathleen Laskey.  Schwartz has fun with Leslie’s snarky insults.  Laskey brings an edge to Marlene’s sarcasm.  Jeff Pustil is always at his best when he’s portraying Christian’s attempts to weasel out of being held responsible for his actions.  The three of them more than make up for the fact that Don Adams himself feels a bit off in this episode.

All in all, this wasn’t the best episode of the show or even the third season.  But it still made me smile.

Song of the Day: Once In A Lifetime by Talking Heads

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s song of the day, much like our scene that I love for today, is taken from Jonathan Demme’s Stop Making Sense.  Here is Once In A Lifetime, performed by Talking Heads.

And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, “Well, how did I get here?”

Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, after the money’s gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground

And you may ask yourself, “How do I work this?”
And you may ask yourself, “Where is that large automobile?”
And you may tell yourself, “This is not my beautiful house”
And you may tell yourself, “This is not my beautiful wife”

Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, after the money’s gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground

Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was

Water dissolving and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Under the water, carry the water
Remove the water from the bottom of the ocean
Water dissolving and water removing

Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, into the silent water
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground

Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Leting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, after the money’s gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground

You may ask yourself, “What is that beautiful house?”
You may ask yourself, “Where does that highway go to?”
And you may ask yourself, “Am I right, am I wrong?”
And you may say to yourself, “My God, what have I done?”

Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, into the silent water
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground

Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, after the money’s gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground

Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, look where my hand was
Time isn’t holding up, time isn’t after us
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was (I couldn’t get no rest)
Same as it ever was, hey let’s all twist our thumbs
Here comes the twister

Letting the days go by (same as it ever was, same as it ever was)
Letting the days go by (same as it ever was, same as it ever was)
Once in a lifetime, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground

Songwriters: David Byrne / Phoebe Esprit / Tina Weymouth / Jerry Harrison / Christopher Frantz / Brian Peter George Eno / Ronald Amanze

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back, Kotter 4.18 “The Sweat Smell of Success”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Saturdays, I will be reviewing Welcome Back Kotter, which ran on ABC  from 1975 to 1979.  The entire show can be purchased on Prime.

Buchanan High is in chaos!  Only one man can save the day but he’s not around anymore.

Episode 4.18 “The Sweat Smell of Success”

(Dir by Norman Abbott, originally aired on March 3rd, 1979)

Where is Mr. Kotter!?

I mean, don’t get me wrong.  I know why Gabe Kaplan was hardly ever on the show during the fourth season.  He was annoyed that the network refused to allow the Sweathogs to graduate from Buchanan High, despite the fact that the actors playing the Sweathogs were all in their late 20s and early 30s.  He was not happy about working with Marcia Strassman.  And he was shooting a movie for a good deal of the fourth season.  Kaplan felt that he moved on from the series and as such, he allowed his character to become vice principal and kept his appearances on  the show to a minimum,

But, in the narrative of the show, where is Mr. Kotter?  Usually, someone will mention that he’s out of town or busy with school business.  In this episode, he isn’t even mentioned.  It’s kind of disturbing how he’s vanished and no one seems to care.  The Sweathogs need his guidance and this episode, as dumb as it was, features a plot that feels like it would have been perfect for Mr. Kotter’s corny jokes and gentle mentoring.  Even more importantly …. who is the song welcoming back?  Kotter’s gone!  He’s not around to be welcomed back!

As for this week’s episodes, it appears that the show’s writers finally remembered that, at the start of the season, each of the Sweathogs was assigned a job around the school.  Freddie and Horshack run the school store.  Meanwhile, Epstein is in charge of the audio visual department.  But he sucks at his job so Woodman reassigns him to the school paper.  Horshack’s girlfriend, Mary Johnson, edits and writes the paper and is very earnest in her efforts to make the paper something worth reading.  That’s quite a chance from the Mary who tried to kill herself just a few episodes ago.

Anyway, Epstein turns the paper into a tabloid.  He suggests that Julie is having an affair with Woodman.  (“She’s not my type!”  Woodman declares, “Too tall!”)  He writes about Freddie Washington wore diapers until he was six months old.  Epstein describes Horshack as being a diva.  Epstein says that Beau is a member of the Ku Klux Klan. He says….

WAIT!  WHAT!?

Okay, one of these stories is far worse than the others.  Washington did wear diapers when he was a baby and Horshack is a diva and Julie probably is cheating on Gabe.  But Beau is a member of the Klan?  Where did this come from?  “I’m going to need a police escort to go home tonight,” Beau says while the audience laughs.

Seriously, don’t just toss around Klan accusations, folks.  It’s just common sense.

Anyway, Epstein’s friends get mad at him so Epstein quits the paper after publishing an expose of himself on the front page.  He returns to the audio visual department.  He still sucks at his job and I guess Mary is back to having to write, edit, and publish the entire newspaper by herself.  Is this a happy ending?

Well, at least Beau didn’t get killed.

Next week, it’s time for the school talent show!  Wow, Mr. Kotter would have loved that.  RIP.

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 1.13 “Family History”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988.  The show can be found on Hulu and, for purchase, on Prime!

Usually, I review this show on Friday but, yesterday, my week of visiting Lake Texoma in freezing weather finally caught up with me and I spent most of the day congested and curled up in bed.  As a result, St. Elsewhere got preempted until today.  Now, let’s see what’s happening at St. Eligius….

Episode 1.13 “Family History”

(Dir by Kevin Hooks, originally aired on February 8th, 1983)

After being a background character for the past few episodes, Dr. Wendy Armstrong (Kim Miyori) finally gets her time in the spotlight with this episode.  When Charlie Heller (Keenan Wynn) comes into the ER with a chronic nosebleed, Dr. Armstrong is too quick to assume that it’s nothing serious.  Dr. Westphall, who is in an especially crappy mood this episode, reprimands her for not getting a family history before making her diagnosis.  A chastened Armstrong gets Charlie’s family history and comes to suspect that he has a rare blood condition that only seems to effect Jewish men.  A very expensive test confirms Armstrong’s diagnosis.  Armstrong is excited.  “I was right!” she says.  Westphall again reprimands her, telling her that she now needs to tell Charlie that he has a chronic condition and will have to take medicine for the rest of his life.

Seriously, Westphall was not in a good mood during this episode!  But I don’t blame him.  From her first appearance on the show, Dr. Armstrong has been complaining nonstop.  No matter what happens in the hospital, she seems to take it as a personal affront.  Now, after several episodes of complaining about the other doctors, Armstrong fails to do a simple thing like get a family history.  No wonder Westphall was all like, What are you bragging about?

That said, even if his mood was understandable, I would not want to get on Westphall’s bad side.  Even after Armstrong makes the correct diagnosis, Westphall takes the time to say, “Next time, do what I told you to do.”  Agck!

While Westphall was dealing with whatever was eating away at him, Dr. Chandler was getting annoyed by John Doe’s refusal to try to remember anything about his past.  Even when John Doe’s real father showed up and explained that Doe was his son, Dave Stewart, he refused to try to remember anything.  Eventually, Chandler snapped at Dave for refusing to even try.  Chandler, of course, is played by a young Denzel Washington so, when he gets mad, it’s like having the voice of God call you out.  After Chandler’s reprimand, Dave finally makes an effort to remember his past.  He realizes that, when he was shot, he had a vision of his deceased mother welcoming him to heaven.  Awwww!

Dr. Craig’s friend has his gender affirmation surgery.  Crag met his friend’s lover, a trans man.  Needless to say, this episode featured a lot of scenes of Craig rolling his eyes as he struggled to come to terms with everything he was learning about his old friend.  It was all pretty predictable but William Daniels did a great job playing up Craig’s confusion and single-mindedness.

And finally, Peter was happy because his wife wanted to get back together.  I get the feeling any happiness Peter feels is destined to always be temporary.

This episode was a bit uneven.  Armstrong’s story would have been compelling if Armstrong herself was a more interesting character.  The highlight of the episode were the scenes between Denzel Washington’s doctor and Tom Hulce’s amnesiac.  It’s always enjoyable to watch two good actors perform opposite of each other.

Next week, the great Norman Lloyd takes center stage as Auschlander’s cancer returns.

 

GANG WAR (1958) – a young Charles Bronson testifies against the mob!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Charles Bronson starred in four movies and one TV show in 1958. Two of those movies were produced by Harold Knox, written by Louis Vittes, and directed by Gene Fowler, Jr. The first of the two films was SHOWDOWN AT BOOT HILL, an excellent low budget western that featured Bronson as a bounty hunter with a chip on his shoulder and love in his heart. The second film was GANG WAR. 

In GANG WAR, Charles Bronson plays Alan Avery, a high school teacher in Los Angeles who’s walking home one night and happens to witness a gangland killing. He calls the police to report the murder, but he doesn’t want to get any further involved so he doesn’t give them his name. Avery was on his way home from a trip to the pharmacy where he had picked up a prescription for his pregnant wife (Gloria Henry) who is suffering from migraines. In the stress of the moment, he left the pharmacy sack in the phone booth and the police are able to track him down to his home. After being pressed by the police, Avery reluctantly agrees to testify. He’s a great witness as he’s able to give the police a description of the car and its license plate number. His information leads to the arrest of Joe Reno, the second in command to mobster Maxie Meadows (John Doucette). Maxie sends his attorney Bryce Barker (Kent Taylor) over to the police station to see Captain Finch. Finch happens to be on Maxie’s payroll, and he immediately tells Barker about the witness. He even leaks it to the press so they can run a story revealing Avery’s name and address. Maxie would prefer to buy Avery’s silence, but he also wants a little insurance, so he sends his punch drunk henchman Chester over to slap around Avery’s wife. This order is akin to asking Lennie Small from OF MICE AND MEN to go play with some puppies. Simple-minded Chester proceeds to kill Mrs. Avery. When Avery comes home and finds his wife dead, he heads directly to Maxie’s house to kill him. The cab driver who took Avery to Maxie’s place just happened to see his gun, so he called the cops. Just before Avery can squeeze off a kill shot, the police show up and arrest him. Pissed that Avery was able to get so close to killing him, Meadows puts an actual hit out on him this time. Will the high school teacher be able to survive his battle against the mob?!!

(Note: The analysis below ventures into spoiler territory for both GANG WAR and SHOWDOWN AT BOOT HILL. You may want to watch these films prior to reading the rest of the review.)

As a lifelong fan of Charles Bronson, I really appreciate his work with director Gene Fowler, Jr. in 1958. Fowler recognized Bronson’s charismatic screen presence, but he also recognized something deeper in the legendary icon… his heart. SHOWDOWN AT BOOT HILL seemed to be giving us Bronson as a typical western hero, only to reverse course and turn Bronson into a romantic lead who would choose to throw down his guns so he could establish roots in a community and spend his life with the woman he loves. In a similar way, GANG WAR seems to be setting Bronson up to be a vigilante, not much different than the type of character he would be portraying throughout the 70’s and 80’s. But when 70’s and 80’s Bronson would be pulling his trigger, Fowler presents a more thoughtful Bronson who recognizes that the best revenge can sometimes be in letting someone live with the consequences of their own decisions. This allows him to lower his gun, walk away and continue his life free of the guilt and the legal consequences that would undoubtedly come with taking another person’s life. This decision honors his wife’s legacy much more than murder and a lifetime in jail ever would. 

There are many good performances in this little gem. Bronson may not have been a “star” when this film was made, but there is no doubt that he was ready. He simply commands every frame that he appears in from the beginning to the end. John Doucette and Kent Taylor are also memorable as the gangster and his paid off lawyer, respectively. Doucette’s Maxie Meadows is certainly a stereotype of the gangsters in TV’s and movies at the time, but he plays the part well, saving his very best for his last moments of the film. Kent Taylor has the movie’s best story arc. When we meet him, he’s an alcoholic who can’t stand what he’s allowed himself to become, yet he continues to run every time Maxie calls. It’s a strong moment when he decides he won’t do it anymore. And Jennifer Holden is simply gorgeous as Marie, Maxie’s woman. Speaking of nice scenery, it was also fun seeing a Los Angeles that included landmarks like the Capitol Records Building and the old Nickodell Restaurant. So much of the action in GANG WAR takes place against these iconic backdrops, and for a guy who’s never been to LA, seeing these places again almost makes me feel like a resident.

Overall, while GANG WAR does feel like an old fashioned 50’s movie, it has plenty of things to recommend it, not the least of which is an excellent performance from a young Charles Bronson. At a 75 minute run time, it’s definitely worth a viewing.

The trailer for GANG WAR is presented below: