F/X | | Cast : | Bryan Brown, Brian Dennehy | | Director : | Robert Mandel | | Studio : | Mgm/Ua Studios | | Format : | Color, Widescreen, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | February 07, 1986 | | DVD Released Date : | June 04, 2002 | | Language : | French (Subtitled), English (Dubbed), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 19, 2005 | | Summary | An Amusing, Not-Too-Violent Suspense Thriller | Content
 | This is such a well-crafted suspense thriller that it's almost as much a pleasure to watch the third or fourth time as it is the first. Rollie Tyler (Bryan Brown) is a special effects man much in demand in Hollywood. He not only is a gifted professional in the trade, he's probably the main reason for the success of such exploitation films he's worked on as I Dismember Mama, Planet of the Female Mummies, Song of the Succubus and Rock-A-Die-Baby. Examples from these movies litter his apartment. He's recruited by Agent Lipton of the Justice Department's Witness Protection Program to stage the fake but public murder of a mafia boss, Nick DeFranco (Jerry Orbach), who will spill his guts to the Feds. All goes well until, after the event, Lipton (Cliff De Young), tries to shoot him down.
Rollie finds himself a player in a murderous con game. He escapes, goes on the run, but sees his girl friend murdered. He doesn't know whether the DeFranco shooting was truly fake or if Lipton substituted real bullets in the gun. In the background, pulling strings, is Lipton's boss, Edward Mason (Mason Williams). While Rollie decides he has to find out what's going on if he's not to become another victim, a tough New York cop (Brian Dennehy) shows up determined to find the truth about DeFranco wherever it takes him.
The action is fast and clever. The story is satisfyingly convoluted. And there are many lessons to be learned...how to make a life mask, how to set off a pattern of fake bullet explosions on your chest, how to hide your pulse so you'll look dead, how to put out a cigarette on your wrist. One of the things that makes this movie so satisfying are the actors. Bryan Brown turns in a fine job as Rollie, confident of his skills, laid back, resourceful, but really scared when people try to kill him. Mason Adams, a skilled actor with a distinctive, rough voice, and Jerry Orbach as the confident and slimy Mafia boss, both add a great deal of interest to the movie whenever they're on the screen. The movie has a funny, good-natured and violent opening scene as well as a clever and satisfying bank shot of an ending.
There even is wisdom for us. As Rollie's movie actress girl friend says to him at the start of the film, "Nobody cares about making movies about people anymore. All they care about is special effects." And this in a film nearly twenty years old.
There are no extras to speak of. The DVD picture looks just fine. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 09, 2005 | | Summary | Excellent Service | Content
| The product was just as described and it was delivered to me in the prescribed time. Excellent service. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 14, 2005 | | Summary | Plot, plot, and then more plot | Content
| A very intricate, involved thriller about a special effects man, an expert in disguise, and a plan to fake the death of a mafia kingpin who is about to talk to the authorities. All kinds of double dealings are going on here; in fact, so much story is going on with so little attention to character development that after it's over it all quickly begins to evaporate from your memory. Quickly forgettable. Bill Conti wrote the music, which is interesting. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 19, 2004 | | Summary | Good Low Budget Fun! | Content
| Me and my brother were flipping through the TV channels, and nothing was on, I mean nothing. Anyway we got to the Movie Channel (STAR Movies) and saw what looked like the opening credits, and then big blue words came across the screen reading "F/X." So we watched it, saw if it was any good. Let me say we were pretty surprised! It was pretty obvious that it was shot on a low budget. That made me like it all the more! Becuase you usually get a famous rich director and writers to put together a good action/suspense movie. But those movies, sience the director has alot of money he just figures he'll blow the hell out of everything. It gets pretty annoying. But that is what I love about this movie. Sense they didn't have a lot of money they kept the movie good was the writing and directing. Dispite the name (F/X) it is not what the movie reliys on. It relies on a smart plot and even smarter plot twists. You never know who the villian is. Plus the well mantled suspense is a plus. I cant say the biggest part of the plot, but I can sya what it starts with. This aussie dude who makes special FX for movies (hense the name) is assigned to stage an assination on a gang member (but not really kill him, just make it look like he got killed with his special effect tricks. But after that it just takes so many turns, it makes it into a fantastic whodunit. I reccomend this for anyone who enjoys a well written and directed whodunit that will keep you thinking and guesing till the last bullet is shot. |
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