Dec. 11, 1991 The Lance • St. Andrews Presbyterian College /Utp, litter, & Screen Demon A Screen D5 Express Elevator to Hell Would Be Quicker took for cartoon artists slav­ Joel Silver, has teamed up Well here’s somediing you don’t see everyday — a sequel ing away to make this picture with Bruce Willis for another to a film that has become a cult classic. In the case oi — big deal. Here’s the inter­ ammo-adventure. Perhaps Hiahlanderl: UeQuickening, its presence on die silver screen esting stuff: The Little Mer­ Willis is still embarrassed has safely proven diat diere are never enough glass w m d (^ maid songwriters. Ashman about this summer’s mega­ to explode and that there are now four levels of Dante’s SAGE and Menken, have contrib­ bomb, Hudson Hawk and 222 HeU. . ,, , u u- uted six new tunes. Vocal has decided to stick with Like many cult films, the original Highlander, has this talents include Angela a producer that knows realm of fantasy and phantasmagoria that separates it from Angela A. Lynch LansburyasMrs. Potts, Jerty what he is doing. TV’s, the likes of mainstream features. And 1 have to admit that C olum nist Orbach as Lumiere. David “In “Living Colcr’ within this cult genre, it has its own strengths o f‘peculiarly Ogden Stiers (M*A*S*H’s Damon Wayans co- — mainly plot structure — that make it an interesting movie. [E ditor’s Note: A ll releases are Major Winchester) as stars. Top G un direcj Highlander 2 screenwriter, Peter Bellwood, has taken this compiled by Angela A . Lynch. Cogsworth, Jo Anne Worley tor, Tony Scott, steps structure and squeezed impossible and unnecessary factors ScreenDemon,Lynch’sre£iular as The Wardrobe, and Robby once again into the ac­ into the story. column, features two reviews for .Benson? as the Beast. (Walt tion genre as director' My main concern in this review is the use of a far away this special Holiday issue. Double Disney) (Warner Bros.) planet, Zeist, as the home of Connor MacLeod (Christopher truck design by Heather Lyn Lambert) and the rest of the Immortals. If Connor and his pal Gupton and Steve Cohn.] Star Trek VI: The Ramirez (Sean Connery) were banished from Zeist togedier, Undiscovered then how could Connor say in the original that he was born Country “of die clan MacLeod in 1518 r’ Perhaps I’m caught widi my There comes a time at the WTiat’s this ?! A really cool kilt down, but how could Connor be zapped to Earth as a man end of Fall Term when classes allusion to death and and then be born into Scottish royalty.^ This plot is structur­ are finally completed and we 1 Hamlet’s puzzled will for ally unsound. all return home to work existence? ISot quite, the crew In addition to this Planet Zeist thing, we’ve got an aging meaningless part-time jobs i ofthe Starship Enterprise suit Connor MacLeod who was chosen to live a mortal life and for meager minimum wages. Beauty and the Beast \ up again (and nearing the end in this year of 2024. By this time, the Earth Many refer to it as the H oli­ for the last had almost completely lost the ozone layer. But thanks to day Season, but Hollywood time? Say it Connor and some of his buddies, they developed a force field usually calls it Open Season ain’t so, Jim) that encompassed the Earth which protected it from danger­ on your wallet. And this year to explore a ous ultraviolet radiation. Now, die Earth is suffering from is no exception, so grab onto strange, new heat, humidity, the tyrannical rule of the company in charge your money and hold on tight of the “Shield,” and basically an all-round bad attitude of the because the TinselTown elves w orld: peace population. have over twenty-five feature w ith the In waltzes ecological Wonder Woman, Louise Marcus films aimed at your pocket. Klingon Em­ (Virginia Madsen) who claims that the Shield is no longer pire. Look for needed and must be destroyed. And back on Planet !^ist, the a contempo­ evil ruler. General Katana (Michael Ironside) has decided that N ^ j ^ b e r rary allegory Maclxod must finally die. Out to Earth go two bizarre, frog- paralleling the looking assassins and after a ten-minute fight complete with Cape Fear Communist exploding windows, decapitations, and a tanker truck fire — That GoodFellas directa, Soviet Union MacLeod emerges looking fresh and handsome like we all of yesteryear Martin Scorsese remakes the Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner knew he would. 1962 thriller that starred Gre- And it’s a good thing that Lambert’s accent didn’t clear up gory Peck and Robert — I might have been able to understand what he was trying Mitchum. This time around to say. we see Nick Nolte and Veteran character actor/bad guy Michael Ironside makes Scorsese favorite, Robert his appearance as the diabolical General Katana. He’s a great DeNiro, in die starring roles. actor, but I think that this time, he took too many cues from DeNiro’s ex-con character Alan Richman’s movies. And also his character makes too stalks lawyer Nolte’s family many jokes that are obviously inconsistent for a guy who just because of fabricated evi­ popped in from another planet. Watch for die continuity dence which sent him to jail. problem with his gloves! With this version, look for a Did I mention ^ of the exploding glass ? And never fear— shift in emphasis to a theme a few neon signs also bite die dust in this sequel. on moral guilt and punish­ Aside from the structural problems, director Russell ment, DeNiro with a South­ Mulcahy, director of photography Phil Meheux, and Produc­ ern accent — and lots of tion Designer Roger Hall pull off a better visual look for the tattoos. (Universal) H ^h la n d ^ sequel than seen in the original. There is a lot of great camera work going on, along with some outrageous sets — all of them in Buenos Aires. The fight scene that I mentioned before had some really neat tech­ An American Tale: niques — guys flying Flevel Goes West Bruce W tllu & Damon Wayans around on mini-surf­ What else can you say? boards. And hey, I only Perhaps producer Steven D e ^ ^ b e r and the strides to peace with saw the wires twice. Spielberg should call itDances America. Kirk, Spock, Bones, Sean Connery puts in with Cartoon. I doubt ifPolk’s The Last Boy Scout and the rest are back. Nicho­ another one of his great call for Manifest Destiny is Once again, the producer las Meyer (Star Trek II) re­ f)erfbrmances with arched supposed to stretch this far of action hits Lethal Weapon, turns as director. (Paramount eyebrows in tow. But his — but it’s for the kids. (Uni­ D ie H ard and their sequels. Pictures) re-death scene really sucks versal) oudoud — destroy the giant fan with his life- Beau^ and the force? Fd rather see his Beast head go flying off again I think than diat lame scene. that if you Ninety-one minutes square the of good visuals and too- number o f stupid storylines — Walt Highlander 2: TheQuick- Disney ani­ eninji gets the finger. m a t e d Don’t even bother when films you’ll it comes out on video. arrive at — MPAA Rating; R in f in ity . Westwood Six — A n y w a y , Carmike Cinema, you’ll soon be hearing re­ Fayetteville ports of how many months it