Stars: Aaron Eckhart, Gregory Sims, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Connor Paolo, Mac Brandt | Written by Johnny Lozano, Michael McClung | Directed by Mark Burman
Ambush, from director Mark Burman and his co-writers Johnny Lozano and Michael McClung (American Martyr) is the latest film to try and turn one of the most divisive events in American history, the Vietnam War, into mainstream entertainment. Despite a burst of “Namsploitation” films like Missing in Action, The Last Hunter and Siege of Firebase Gloria in the 1980s, the war has resisted attempts to make it the subject of action films, and this doesn’t seem likely to change that.
General Drummond sends Special Forces Captain Mora to a remote firebase to pick up a binder full of names and locations of Vietnamese operatives. Before he can bring it back to headquarters the Viet Cong attack and steal the binder back. This does not sit well with...
Ambush, from director Mark Burman and his co-writers Johnny Lozano and Michael McClung (American Martyr) is the latest film to try and turn one of the most divisive events in American history, the Vietnam War, into mainstream entertainment. Despite a burst of “Namsploitation” films like Missing in Action, The Last Hunter and Siege of Firebase Gloria in the 1980s, the war has resisted attempts to make it the subject of action films, and this doesn’t seem likely to change that.
General Drummond sends Special Forces Captain Mora to a remote firebase to pick up a binder full of names and locations of Vietnamese operatives. Before he can bring it back to headquarters the Viet Cong attack and steal the binder back. This does not sit well with...
- 2/24/2023
- by Jim Morazzini
- Nerdly
Boasting an intriguing premise, a compelling ensemble and frequently crisp, handsome filmmaking, Mark Burman’s “Ambush” almost qualifies as an above-average Vietnam-era nailbiter — were it not for the hopelessly below-average performances contributed by the two actors whose names stand tallest in its credits block. Aaron Eckhart and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, usually complex and appealing even in roles as small as these, play characters perched lazily outside the main story while Connor Paolo, Gregory Sims, Jason Genao and others do the narrative heavy lifting that remains after their more sellable co-stars cashed their paychecks.
Nevertheless smarter and more entertaining than one might expect from a small-scale, outwardly familiar story like this, “Ambush” feels like a throwback — mostly in a good way — to the ‘Namsploitation films that companies like Cannon churned out in the 1980s, when stories about the war were at their most commercially popular.
Paolo plays Cpl. Ackerman, the educated...
Nevertheless smarter and more entertaining than one might expect from a small-scale, outwardly familiar story like this, “Ambush” feels like a throwback — mostly in a good way — to the ‘Namsploitation films that companies like Cannon churned out in the 1980s, when stories about the war were at their most commercially popular.
Paolo plays Cpl. Ackerman, the educated...
- 2/24/2023
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Variety Film + TV
Deals close in UK, Australia, France, Germany, South Korea, Middle East.
Highland Film Group has closed multiple territory sales on Aaron Eckhart Vietnam War action thriller Ambush which has been filming in Colombia and relocates to southern California at the end of the month.
Saban Films is set to release Ambush in North America and Highland has licensed rights in the UK (Signature), France and French-speaking Switzerland (Crome Films), Germany, Benelux and German-speaking Switzerland (Splendid Film), Australia and New Zealand (Rialto Distribution), Italy (Notorious Pictures), Scandinavia (Mis.Label) and South Korea (Jane & U).
Further deals have closed in Taiwan (Cai...
Highland Film Group has closed multiple territory sales on Aaron Eckhart Vietnam War action thriller Ambush which has been filming in Colombia and relocates to southern California at the end of the month.
Saban Films is set to release Ambush in North America and Highland has licensed rights in the UK (Signature), France and French-speaking Switzerland (Crome Films), Germany, Benelux and German-speaking Switzerland (Splendid Film), Australia and New Zealand (Rialto Distribution), Italy (Notorious Pictures), Scandinavia (Mis.Label) and South Korea (Jane & U).
Further deals have closed in Taiwan (Cai...
- 5/23/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Chicago – Try selling a friend on paying to see a movie with you about machine-operated boxing where humans control robots for money.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Just call your friend on his Motorola DynaTAC retro brickphone and say: “Hey, Billy! Remember all those swell nights we had as kids when I smoked you every time in Rock’em Sock’em Robots with our two dueling robot boxers mechanically manipulated by us? There’s a new movie out that pays homage to all those times you wasted trying to decapitate my robot’s head.”
Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Real Steel”.
From that vapid premise alone, you’d likely have better luck snagging a date to a film about vaginal dentata.
But fret not, friend: there’s hope yet for Disney’s sci-fi sports movie “Real Steel,” which is a sovereign testament to the power of the absurd. What if instead you...
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Just call your friend on his Motorola DynaTAC retro brickphone and say: “Hey, Billy! Remember all those swell nights we had as kids when I smoked you every time in Rock’em Sock’em Robots with our two dueling robot boxers mechanically manipulated by us? There’s a new movie out that pays homage to all those times you wasted trying to decapitate my robot’s head.”
Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Real Steel”.
From that vapid premise alone, you’d likely have better luck snagging a date to a film about vaginal dentata.
But fret not, friend: there’s hope yet for Disney’s sci-fi sports movie “Real Steel,” which is a sovereign testament to the power of the absurd. What if instead you...
- 10/8/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
This latest installment of Soundtrack Round Up kicks off with White Lion, a film about a poor little lion cub called Letsatsi who is outcast from his family and forced to undergo trials and tribulations before he may take his rightful place as leader of his pride as an adult. Sound familiar? White Lion (as far as I can tell from the soundtrack’s cover art) implements live action lions, however, so it might actually be quite interesting to watch. The film’s score is by Philip Miller and is similarly derivative, though not in an unpleasant way – ‘Chicken Hok and the Porcupine’ is rather fun. The soundtrack as well as the plot evokes memories of a certain Disney film, though perhaps that is symptomatic of any music that includes African chants and vocalisations over light orchestrations. Seventh track ‘Mother’ is weirdly reminiscent of the lullaby from Ocarina of Time.
- 6/14/2011
- by Jack Kirby
- Nerdly
Last weekend Dread Central decided to get a bit of culture and headed over to Sacred Fools Theater to check out film/TV/viral director Ben Rock's (Alien Raiders) intense new project, Baal.
Based on the 1918 story by Bertolt Brecht, Baal is the trippy little story about a destructive and alcoholic poet named Baal (played by Gregory Sims) who destroys anything and anyone in his path. Baal has no issue with seducing friends' wives and girlfriends, deflowering young teenage girls, and drinking himself into a stupor on a regular basis. The world is for Baal's taking, no matter what the cost.
While not necessarily horror, the ramifications of Baal's downward spiral into excess are quite horrific as he manages to leave a body count in his wake. The reinterpretation of Brecht's story by Peter Mellencamp is bold, startling, and devastating. When the play finishes, you can...
Based on the 1918 story by Bertolt Brecht, Baal is the trippy little story about a destructive and alcoholic poet named Baal (played by Gregory Sims) who destroys anything and anyone in his path. Baal has no issue with seducing friends' wives and girlfriends, deflowering young teenage girls, and drinking himself into a stupor on a regular basis. The world is for Baal's taking, no matter what the cost.
While not necessarily horror, the ramifications of Baal's downward spiral into excess are quite horrific as he manages to leave a body count in his wake. The reinterpretation of Brecht's story by Peter Mellencamp is bold, startling, and devastating. When the play finishes, you can...
- 2/3/2010
- by thehorrorchick
- DreadCentral.com
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