xXx - 2002

Revolution Studios, Original Film

Directed by Rob Cohen

Cast:

• Xander Cage – Vin Diesel
• Augustus Gibbons – Samuel L. Jackson
• Yelena – Asia Argento
• Yorgi – Marton Csokas
• Toby Lee Shavers – Michael Roof
• Milan Sova – Richy Müller
• Kirill – Werner Daehn
• Kolya – Petr Jákl
• El Jefe – Danny Trejo

Story: The NSA is trying to infiltrate a very nasty group of criminals in the Czech Republic, but every time they send in an agent, he is identified and killed. Call in Augustus Gibbons, and his plan to recruit new talent from outside the agency...way outside. They go through an elaborate testing process and the winner is: Xander Cage. Xander is reluctant, to say the least. “Do I look like a fan of Law Enforcement?!”, but Gibbons encourages him to take the assignment or spend the rest of his life in prison. He flys to Prague, where the local authorities don't want him there any more than he wants to be there, and meets up with the leader of Anarchy 99, a group of former Russian soldiers with a plan to eliminate the governments of the world and create total anarchy. His mission? Stop them at all costs.

Review: Triple X, is an updated version of James Bond battling the evil forces of SMERSH or SPECTRE or whatever group of baddies are in the mix at the time. Vin's character, the extreme sport athlete known as Xander Cage, is the ideal candidate for this type of assignment. He's agile, quick on his feet, and knows how to deal with the counter culture. Some people have said in reviews he is not “acting” in this film, but they are probably the same folks who feel that Anthony Hopkins is just another pretentious Englishman. Samuel L. Jackson does an excellent job of protraying the pragmatic NSA operative who realizes the world is changing, even if his superiors do not. Marton Csokas (and the rest of his mob) are all two dimensional, stereotypical bad guys, and the good guys are the same...which is exactly what they needed to be for this film. Asia Argento may never win an academy award, but she rises to the task in xXx portraying Yelena, the forgotton FSB agent who is trying to survive. The real treats in the film are the inclusion of Danny Trejo as the Columbian drug lord and Michael Roof as Toby Lee Shavers, the “Q” of the NSA who has only two loves, making impossible weapons and chasing (unsuccessfully) hot women, of which there are plenty in this film. In short, this is an incredibly adept and insightful parody of the Bond genre that has been railroaded as an attempt at a serious action film. And that is particularly disturbing considering how often we use the letter X to denote eXtreme. When you watch this film, enjoy it for what it is, a flight of fantasy taken to the Extreme. Rated PG-13 for violence and language and some innuendo, the teens in the house ought to enjoy this as much as anyone who likes Bond genre films. If you are a collector of spy films, this is a must have.

Daylight - 1996

Davis Entertainment, Universal Pictures

Directed by Rob Cohen

Cast:

• Kit Latura – Sylvester Stallone
• Madelyne Thompson – Amy Brenneman
• Roy Nord – Viggo Mortensen
• Frank Kraft – Dan Hedaya
• Stephen Crighton – Jay O. Sanders
• Sarah Crighton – Karen Young
• Eleanor Trilling – Claire Bloom
• Mikey – Renoly Santiago
• Vincent – Sage Stallone
• Norman Bassett – Barry Newman
• Grace Calloway – Vanessa Bell Calloway
• George Tyrell – Stan Shaw

Story: A chain of events leads to an explosion and collapse in a tunnel leading in and out of New York City. The former chief of Emergency Services, Kit Latura, is a driving a limousine at one end of the tunnel and witnesses the initial explosion. As his two passengers are doctors, he hurries them out of the car, then rushes to aid injured people. When he has done all he can at the scene, he hurries off to find the current chief of Emergency Services to lend his expertise and experience, but is rejected because he was let go under questionable circumstances. Seconds later the new chief dies in a collapse, and Latura becomes the leader by default and volunteers to go into the tunnel to aide in rescuing the survivors. Its a one way ticket, with no way to get out once he is there. Once he is there, he must fight to keep the survivors from killing each other and make them work together to survive.

Review: Non-stop action with little lead in or lag, this is one of the best low budget (only $80 million to make) action films in the Stallone arsenal. The first 15 minutes of the film is lead in, and only as much character development as we need. Amy Brenneman (Judging Amy, Heat) is a disgruntled screen writer who has had it with New York. Jay O. Sanders and Karen Young, along with daughter Danielle Harris, are a dysfunctional family recovering from a separation. Throw in a bus load of Juvenile offenders in a Corrections bus (among them Sage Stallone and Renoly Santiago), a tunnel guard (Stan Shaw) with romantic attachments to a safety observer (Vanessa Bell Calloway), a hot shot extreme sports hero (Viggo Mortensen) trying to make a publicity coup out of the situation, and elderly couple with their dog, and you have the makings of a film with plenty of angst, drama, paranoia and panic. Stallone plays Kit Latura, formerly the head of the EMS division who was fired a few years back when he lost people in a tunnel explosion and collapse. He is a man of principles who immediately assumes personal responsibility for rescuing the survivors. He risks his life to reach them and works with difficulty to keep them together and alive. When the City Engineers begin to dig out the tunnel, allowing the pressure that is keeping the water from rising, he must find a way to keep them alive while trying to decide how to escape. Rated R for death and destruction, this edge of your seat drama has plenty of fine performances to keep the viewers interested. Collectible is a coin toss. If you are a Stallone fan or you like good action films, you might want this one on the shelf.