LIFE & DEATH (DVD) (10 MOVIES ON 5 DOUBLE SIDED DISCS) DVD

Assassin
In this made-for-television drama, a former-CIA agent is called back into to service to stop a megalomaniacal scientist's killer robot from assassinating the President and other major political figures. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef
At the time of its release, Beneath the 12-Mile Reef was considered more notable for its technical achievements than its artistic virtues, a judgment that is still valid, up to a point. It wasn't the most earth-shattering drama ever made, though the performances seem better than they were probably given credit for being at the time. 20th Century Fox's second Cinemascope production starred Robert Wagner (at the height of his male ingénue phase) and Terry Moore in a modern Romeo and Juliet story. He plays Tony Petrakis, the cocky but good-hearted son of Greek sponge fisherman Mike Petrakis (Gilbert Roland), who fishes the area off the Florida coast. The fiercest rivals of Petrakis and his fellow Greek fishermen are the English-descended hook-boat fishermen -- led by Thomas Rhys (Richard Boone) -- who are prepared to kill anyone who intrudes on their established territory. Mike Petrakis has already had one run-in with Arnold, a protégé of Rhys' and the would-be husband of Rhys' daughter, who doesn't know when to back off. In the midst of their conflict, which has come close to gunshots being exchanged, Tony meets Gwyneth Rhys (Terry Moore), Thomas' daughter. She's fascinated by this handsome young Greek who doesn't seem afraid to fight back against men bigger, older, and tougher than he is. The two end up falling in love, much to the consternation of their two families and their friends. Mike later dies in a tragic diving accident, in the aftermath of which his boat is looted and burned at the instigation of Arnold. The elder Rhys turns out to be a better and fairer man than Arnold, who mercilessly beats Tony after catching him off guard. Tony and Gwyneth end up running off together in her hook-boat, with Arnold and her father in hot pursuit, ready to kill him. Only Thomas Rhys' basic decency and Tony's bravery -- coupled with Arnold's cowardice, lust, and anger -- manages to get the conflict settled, in a surprising (and convincing) resolution. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Blood Tide
It will come as quite a shock to discover the venerable James Earl Jones and José Ferrer slumming in this Greek-lensed ultra-cheapie about a legendary sea creature aroused from centuries of sleep off the shores of a Greek island by an opportunistic American archaeologist (Jones). It seems the beastie's legacy is well known by some of the island's old-timers (namely Ferrer), including the part about appeasing the monster with a virgin sacrifice -- namely the alluring Deborah Shelton. The exotic locations and the presence of the gruff Jones (who apparently saw this as a paid vacation) lend a great deal of production value, but apparently Jones' salary came out of the filmmakers' special-effects budget -- because the feared creature of ancient legend looks like a sock puppet! This film is also known as Red Tide and Demon Lake. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

The Bronx Executioner
NYC humans attempt to defend themselves against attacks from malevolent androids in this sci-fi martial arts actioner. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Evel Knievel
George Hamilton produced and stars in this appealing bio-pic about real-life stunt daredevil Evel Knievel. Knievel's famous motorcycle stunts and early life are remembered in flashback by the performer in the moments before a big jump. The cast includes familiar drive-in movie faces like Vic Tayback, Sue Lyon, Cheryl Rainbeaux Smith, and Dub Taylor, and much of it was filmed on location in Knievel's hometown of Butte, Montana. Though Hamilton is quite good in the lead, most fans prefer the real thing -- Knievel portraying himself in the later Viva Knievel! (1978). ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

The Four Deuces
TThough barely released to theaters, the tongue-in-cheek crime melodrama Four Deuces became a Late Late Show fixture in the '80s. Jack Palance plays Vic Morano, a high-ranking Prohibition-era mobster with a weakness for women. Vic's humanity begins surfacing when he falls for gorgeous blonde Wendy (Carol Lynley). The film's title refers to the name of his speakeasy, and to his gang, which consists of himself, Wendy, and a brace comic-relief hoodlums. The plot concerns Vic's ongoing war with rival hoodlum Chico Hamilton (Warren Berlinger). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hands of Steel
In a complex sci-fi tale set at some point in the not-too-distant future, an evil industrialist named Francis Turner (John Saxon) has created Paco Querak (Daniel Greene), a cyborg who is 70% robot and 30% human. Paco has been programmed to murder a blind ecologist whose environmental activism does not sit well with Turner's bottom-line motivation. But once he is set up to do his job, the 30% human component in Paco only permits him to injure the ecologist, not kill him. With the local police (and eventually just about everyone else) after him, Paco detours to Arizona to look for his true identity. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Hangmen
Former boxer Jake LaMotta stars Hangmen along with Rick Washburn and Doug Thomas. The scene is New York's East Side, which according to this film is a hotbed of intrigue. An elite corps of ex-CIA agents form a covert terrorist team known as The Hangmen. When the hero (Washburn) finds out about this, he is targeted for elimination, but the villains forget that he's been trained by the CIA as well. Hangmen later received a home-video release due to the presence of Sandra Bullock as the heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Power, Passion and Murder
Set during the '30s, this made-for-television sudser tells the melodramatic tale of a beautiful Hollywood starlet who throws away her promising career for the love of a married man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Lethal Justice

Cast Robert Wagner as Tony Petrakis Terry Moore as Gwyneth Rhys Gilbert Roland as Mike Petrakis J. Carrol Naish as Soak Richard Boone as Thomas Rhys Angela Clarke as Mama Peter Graves as Arnold Jay Novello as Sinan Jacques Aubuchon as Sofotes Gloria Gordon as Penny Harry Carey Jr. as Griff Charles Wagenheim as Paul Marc Krah as Fat George Jonathan Jackson as Lt. Bryant Frank Joyner as Captain of Snapper William Johnstone as Crewman of Snapper James Earl Jones as Frye José Ferrer as Nereus Lila Kedrova as Sister Anna Mary Louise Weller as Sherry Martin Kove as Neil Deborah Shelton as Madeline Lydia Cornell as Barbara George Hamilton as Evel Knievel Daniel Greene as Paco Querak Janet Agren as Linda John Saxon as Francis Turner George Eastman as Raoul Fernandez Amy Werba as Dr. Peckinpaugh Claudio Cassinelli as Robert Ben as Pat Monti as Andrew Louis Coppola as Rick Washburne as Rob Greene Jake LaMotta as Moe Boone Dog Thomas as Dog Thompson Cosmo Vinyl as Kosmo Keith Bogart as Danny Greene Sandra Bullock as Lisa Edwards Michelle Pfeiffer as Natica Jackson Hector Elizondo as Morris King George Murdock as Bud Loring

Crew J.D. Mantonti - Director J.D. Mantonti - Director J.D. Mantonti - Director J.D. Mantonti - Director J.D. Mantonti - Director J.D. Mantonti - Director J.D. Mantonti - Director J.D. Mantonti - Director J.D. Mantonti - Director J.D. Mantonti - Director

Assassin
(not reviewed)
 

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef
Robert Webb's Beneath the 12-Mile Reef was only the second movie ever shot in Cinemascope at 20th Century Fox, and it presented challenges all the way around. The use of Cinemascope underwater was something entirely new and shooting in color underwater offered potential pitfalls as well. Webb succeeded, mostly with help from two central performances -- by Gilbert Roland and Richard Boone -- that had a lot of heart (this might be Roland's best movie), and the extraordinarily beautiful, Oscar-nominated cinematography by Edward J. Cronjager. Those virtues were all topped off by one of the finest scores ever written by Bernard Herrmann, the composer making full use of the range of timbrel effects and stereo separation in creating a dazzling musical accompaniment to the action. The drama itself is fairly routine, distinguished mostly by Roland and Boone's performances, though Robert Wagner and Terry Moore do try hard in what cannot have been an easy shoot, with lots of location work involved. There is also a surprising degree of depth and subtlety to the script that may be lost amid the brawling, violence, and threats of violence. This is very much a movie of its time, its plot steeped in issues of prejudice and the perceptions of prejudice. The Rhyses and the other American-born fishermen despise the Greeks as interlopers and poachers, but Gwyneth Rhys and her father are smarter than the others, recognizing in Tony and his father qualities of bravery and honor that they can respect and admire. They also see in Arnold (Peter Graves), one of their own, a lot of qualities that they come to despise. This element of the script may seem simplistic by modern standards, but it makes Beneath the 12-Mile Reef a much more serious film than it's usually perceived as being. This script would not have been written that way, or the film shot to such a script, a decade earlier, and its social subtext is one of the elements that has helped it maintain its audience across 50 years. Most viewers, however, will probably be drawn first to the film's technical virtues. The combination of Cinemascope and color in the underwater sequences are worth the price of admission, creating an enveloping effect that is completed by Herrmann's score. Alternately bright and exuberant, or dark and ominous, the music incorporates elements of impressionism in its unusual sonorities (including a cadenza for nine harps that anticipated a similar, better-known piece of music that he wrote for the movie Journey to the Center of the Earth six years later). The haunting melodies that crop up throughout are a delight to the audience, without ever overwhelming the visual component of the picture. Herrmann's music for this film was so strong and memorable that parts of his score were still being excerpted by Fox's music department more than a decade later for use in other productions. To be appreciated properly, the movie must be seen in widescreen, fully letterboxed, in one of its better home video editions. The copyright on Beneath the 12-Mile Reef lapsed in 1981, and since then it has been heavily bootlegged on videocassette, in mostly not very attractive versions. In the 1990s, however, a preservation-quality 35 mm Scope print turned up in the hands of a collector, and this has since become the source for an excellent letterboxed edition of the movie (with stereo sound) on laserdisc from Lumivision and DVD from Slingshot Entertainment. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
 

Blood Tide
(not reviewed)
 

The Bronx Executioner
(not reviewed)
 

Evel Knievel
(not reviewed)
 

The Four Deuces
(not reviewed)
 

Hands of Steel
(not reviewed)
 

Hangmen
(not reviewed)
 

Power, Passion and Murder
(not reviewed)
 
Lethal Justice
(not reviewed)
 

Disc Title: Beneath the 12-Mile Reef - People Awards: Edward J. Cronjager: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Color Cinematography (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: Sound Processing: Additional Features: Feature programs Interactive menus Scene access DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: DVD Discs Included: 5 DVD Sides: 10 DVD DVD Region Code: Content Length: 906 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- Assassin 1. Renegade Agent [14:14] 2. The Golem [9:40] 3. Dreamtime [12:25] 4. Recharge [10:44] 5. Dead Reckoning [11:19] 6. A Real Man [13:16] 7. Robot Bait [11:04] 8. Gimme Shelter [11:33] Side #2 -- Beneath the 12-Mile Reef 1. Chapter 1 [17:58] 2. Chapter 2 [17:49] 3. Chapter 3 [14:26] 4. Chapter 4 [8:15] 5. Chapter 5 [9:06] 6. Chapter 6 [18:37] Side #3 -- Blood Tide 1. Chapter 1 [10:45] 2. Chapter 2 [16:00] 3. Chapter 3 [13:29] 4. Chapter 4 [13:41] 5. Chapter 5 [15:54] 6. Chapter 6 [13:20] Side #4 -- The Bronx Executioner 1. Factory Seconds [12:13] 2. Mortal Danger [9:18] 3. Dakar [15:09] 4. The Lone Survivor [6:38] 5. Android Territory [11:29] 6. The Aphrodisiac [10:26] 7. Storming the Castle [13:08] 8. Shark Bait [9:52] Side #5 -- Evel Knievel 1. Nothing is Impossible [10:35] 2. Gotta be the Best [8:49] 3. Daredevil Debut [11:05] 4. Caesar's Palace [11:47] 5. Back in the Saddle [10:18] 6. Butte Bulldog [7:22] 7. Gotta be Careful [11:45] 8. High on Victory [16:36] Side #6 -- The Four Deuces 1. Chapter 1 [2:59] 2. Chapter 2 [12:20] 3. Chapter 3 [18:45] 4. Chapter 4 [19:03] 5. Chapter 5 [18:05] 6. Chapter 6 [5:58] Side #7 -- Hands of Steel 1. Mission: Neutralize [12:05] 2. A Little Glitch [12:06] 3. Any Means Necessary [12:48] 4. Double or Nothing [9:02] 5. Imprudent Behaviour [11:43] 6. Marble Canyon [16:04] 7. Raoul Stew [8:17] 8. Laser Tag [11:13] Side #8 -- 1-900 1. Title/Movie Begins [1:10] 2. Visit to the Morgue [4:29] 3. Ms. Chapman [12:15] 4. Cop Talk [13:34] 5. Alone [13:52] 6. Kalin's Office [1:44] 1. Watchers [5:14] 2. Good Cop - Bad Cop [12:18] 3. John & Paula [7:19] 4. One Last Job [9:43] 5. Credits [8:53] Side #9 -- Power, Passion and Murder 1. Chapter 1 [13:30] 2. Chapter 2 [13:25] 3. Chapter 3 [15:40] 4. Chapter 4 [12:50] 5. Chapter 5 [14:04] 6. Chapter 6 [18:13] Side #10 -- Lethal Justice 1. Chapter 1 [8:59] 2. Chapter 2 [13:20] 3. Chapter 3 [13:39] 4. Chapter 4 [14:59] 5. Chapter 5 [14:36] 6. Chapter 6 [12:07]