Customer Reviews

Knight Moves [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A children's chess tournament. Two boys facing each other in the final game, intently staring at each other and the chess board between them. They make their moves and register their time. Ultimately, one of them has to concede defeat. Facing "check" twice and almost out of time, he topples his king. And assaults his adversary. A doctor recommends that he not ever be allowed near a chess board while he is treated for his "condition."

Years later, another chess tournament. Grand master Peter Sanderson (Christopher Lambert) is in attendance, making a surprise return after three years' retirement. He easily wins the first rounds. After dinner with daughter Erica (whose only parent he is) and a strategy session with his advisor, Sanderson concludes the evening with a few steamy hours with a sensuous blonde ... and the psychopath who will soon hold the community in thrall has found his first target. When the woman is found murdered, gruesomely dressed up in death and the word "Remember" written on the wall above her in blood, Sanderson initially denies having been with her. This, and his arrogant demeanor towards the policemen investigating the crime - particularly, Detective Andy Wagner (Daniel Baldwin) - makes him an instant suspect. But is Sanderson the psychopath? Or is he, as appearances would have it, the psychopath's true target?

In a grisly game of strategy in which a city is turned into a chess board and women living in the target areas of town (attractive blondes all of them) are the chess pieces, Sanderson and the police hunt a serial killer who always seems to be one step ahead of them. While Detective Wagner never loses his suspicion of Sanderson, his newly minted boss, Captain Frank Sedman (Tom Skerritt) reluctantly comes to the conclusion that since the clues provided by the killer are based on chess references and directed to none other than Sanderson himself, they will not be able to solve the case without his help. Yet, for a long time the grand master, too, seems unable to decipher the killer's clues, and the meaning of the words written above the dead body of each of his victims. - How many women will have to die before his identity is revealed? Will he ever be caught? Will psychologist Kathy Sheppard (Diane Lane), brought in by the police to determine if Sanderson himself fits their suspect's profile, end up as one of his victims?

"Knight Moves" is a suspenseful thriller, intelligently built on the patterns of the royal game of strategy itself, and in which the audience is kept on their toes until the very end. Christopher Lambert in particular is believable as the astute, arrogant Sanderson, who hides his personal fears and insecurities under a mask of unapproachability which only one person seems to be able to pierce - his daughter Erica. His face-offs with Daniel Baldwin alias Detective Wagner, sarcastic and spewing barely controlled rage at each other, are among the highlights of the movie; in addition, of course, to the mind game itself which the killer plays with his hunters and, by extension, with the audience. While it is clear that the solution has to have something to do with the fateful game played by those two boys so long ago, all elements of the story are only connected up in the final scenes ... which are, however, unfortunately somewhat overplayed and emphasize gore more than psychology and hence, are a bit of a let-down. This, and the relationship soon forming between Sanderson and Sheppard, which doesn't entirely work for me (strangely enough, since Lambert and Lane were married at the time) are the only detractors I find in this movie. Overall, however, "Knight Moves" would have deserved much more attention than it has received since its 1992 cinematic release.

Also recommended:
Seven (New Line Platinum Series)
The Silence of the Lambs (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Red Dragon (Widescreen Collector's Edition)
Highlander

This movie has ranked among my favorites since the first time I saw it. It's a great suspense thriller that keeps you guessing until the very end. I was eager to add it to my DVD collection, so I ordered it as soon as it came out.

Imagine my disappointment in seeing this DVD. The transfer is horrible. This disc was released in the first quarter of 2001 -- over a year after Anamorphic Widescreen became the accepted standard for DVD -- and not only is this transfer not anamorphic, but it is worse quality than the VHS I have seen. There are a number of glitches in the transfer, including some that look as though the transfer was done from a damaged source negative -- maybe even from the VHS itself.

On top of that, the disc has NO special features. Even the VHS version had a making-of documentary after the credits rolled! It's hard to believe that transfers with quality this poor are still being released today. If the studio doesn't care enough to do it right, then why do it at all?

In summary, I highly recommend this movie.

This review contains some spoilers.

While this is a good film, it is not for the kiddies. There are disturbing images, adult situations, and some bloody scenes.

The film was well done from the opening shots of the boy stabbing another boy to the someday serial killer watching while his mother dies. The director writer team did an excellent job of drawing the audience into the movie and dropping enough hints that you could figure out "who-done-it," but you probably won't. In my circle of the fifteen folks who have watched the film with us only one of them figured out who the killer was in the first 2/3 of the movie.

Your opinion of who the killer might be shifts throughout the movie. None of the characters are paragons of virtue in the film. As an audience member, there is enough circumstantial evidence and potential motives for you to implicate most of the principals in the film.

The music and sound effects are well integrated into the film and help to build and dispel suspense. Actually some of the sounds are critical for solving the mystery.

The acting by the ensemble cast was exceptional. Even the bit roles were done by credible character actors. The characters were well written and believable, and the cast did a good job of bringing them to life.

As an interesting trivia point, Christopher Lambert was married to Diane Lane, his romantic interest, when the movie was being filmed.

One has to give writer Brad Mirman and director Carl Schenkel credit for coming up with the unique premise of a serial killer's victims tied into a game of chess with a chess master. KNIGHT MOVES opens with a 1972 chess tournament between two little boys; when one of them loses, he throws a fit, and stabs his opponent in the hand with his pen. Psychologists recommend the lad needs therapy (duh?), and recommends that he not be allowed anywhere near a chess board. When on one rainy night, the boy's father runs off and abandons him and his mother, the mother kills herself, and from there we know that many years later, this little boy is going to be our serial killer. Where the script succeeds is in making us try to figure out which of the male actors is the grown up little monster. It throws us some neat red herrings, including a real whopper near the end. Where the movie doesn't fare so well is in the over acting of both Christopher Lambert and Diane Lane (Mrs. Lambert at the time). Lambert's performance isn't surprising, since his movies have succeeded most of the time in spite of him, but Ms. Lane's performance is disappointing, considering the fine work she has done since (Unfaithful, Perfect Storm). Tom Skerritt does well, but even Daniel Baldwin didn't know when to pull in the reins in his hammy performance. Katherine Isabelle (who would grow up to be Ginger in Ginger Snaps movies) plays Lambert's little daughter. Charles Bailey-Grant has a nice turn as the computer sidekick, and veteran British actor Ferdy Mayne shows up as the blind friend of Lamberts. The plot does have some neat twists, but sometimes it's playing with the audience gets a little frustrating, but ultimately KNIGHT MOVES has a good resolution.

I'm giving this movie a high rating, not because it's a great movie, but because it has sentimental value to me. My father rented this soon after it came out back in '93, and I was about 9 or 10 years old at that time. It's sentimental to me because this is the movie that inspired me to learn chess, and I'm more in love with the game today than ever before.

I haven't seen this movie since, until I recently purchased it from Amazon Marketplace.

A few notes:

1. Unless the product I purchased is bootleg, and I've been assured it's not, the quality is not exactly what you expect from a DVD that's supposedly digitally re-mastered. The jacket's back cover looks like it was produced by a Xerox machine; the quality of the picture is very grainy at times, even for a movie made 15 years ago; NO SUBTITLES (very disappointing); oh, and the ending is horrible - way too sudden.

2. Just in case anyone's interested, in the movie, Chris Lambert's character mentioned a chess master by the name of Anton Berger who supposedly wrote one of the most famous books on chess, titled "Principles & Tactics." In the first chapter, Berger lists the 3 cardinal rules of playing chess: 1. carefully; 2. carefully; 3. carefully. I Yahooed, Googled and Wikipediaed: there's no such master and no such book.

Republic Pictures present "OKLAHOMA BADLANDS" (1948) (59 mins/B&W) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- relive those thrilling days when Allan Rocky Lane took us down the dusty trails with hard riding and straight shooting hitting the bull's eye with excitement every time ... the Allan Rocky Lane series of B-Westerns were a staple of Saturday matinees in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s ... Lane's best known and most popular series, a total of thirty eight Allan 'Rocky' Lane features, all but six of which co-starred Eddy Waller as old timer 'Nugget Clark' ... The "Rocky Lane Series" would open with Rocky riding his horse Black Jack as their names appear on the screen, then moving on to the rest of the cast, director, screenwriter and cinematographer and other credits ... don't miss any of the Allan Rocky Lane features loaded with action that will leave you wanting more of his B-Western adventures.

Under Yakima Canutt (Director), Gordon Kay (Producer), Bob Williams (Screenwriter), John MacBurnie (Cinematographer), Mort Glickman (Musical Direction/Supervision), Arthur Roberts (Editor) ------ the cast includes Allan Lane (Rocky Lane), Black Jack (Black Jack (Rocky Lane's stallion), Eddy Waller (Nugget Clark), Mildred Coles (Leslie Rawlins), Roy Barcroft (Henchman Sanders), Gene Roth (Oliver Budge (as Gene Stutenroth), Earle Hodgins (Jonathan Walpole, posing as George Black), Dale Van Sickel (Henchman Sharkey), Jay Kirby (Ken Rawlins), Claire Whitney (Agatha Scragg), Terry Frost (Sheriff), Hank Patterson (Postmaster Fred), House Peters Jr. (Stage Passenger), Jack Kirk (Stagecoach Driver) ------ take note "Oklahoma Badlands" was the 3rd feature in The 'Rocky Lane' Series at Republic, with quality in screenplay and direction .... the plot line has Rocky Lane impersonating the owner of the Rawlins Ranch, as the real owner is a woman named Leslie (Mildred Coles) ... knowing that the baddies Roy Barcroft and associates are looking for a man, Rocky takes on the task ... Eddy Waller (Nugget Clark) is the foreman and hires the real Leslie Rawlins as a cook and cleaning woman, giving her what for during the entire 59 minutes of this feature ... some hilarious scenes when Nugget provides lessons in shooting and riding to Rocky who pretends to be a dude ... director Yakima Canutt keeps Bob Williams screenplay moving in a triumphant gallop ... there's plenty of action and fancy stunt work to entertain the fans with a protracted fisticuffs near the end between Rocky and the boss outlaw ... Rocky astride his stallion, Black Jack, chasing the outlaws was always a high point of the Allan Rocky Lane features ---- they just don't make 'em like this anymore and Republic Pictures was one of the leaders of exciting B-Westerns and Serials.

Special Footnote, actor Allan Lane looked to better roles, he signed with Republic in 1940 ... after struggling a bit in his initial films, hit pay dirt after teaming with Linda Stirling in the popular serial "The Tiger Woman" (1944) ... his own serials with "Daredevils of the Red Circle" (1939) and "King of the Royal Mounted" (1940), Mountie Dave King proved popular and, around this time, he started gaining added attention as a photogenic and very personable cowboy star, with his trusty steed "Blackjack," ... Lane managed to churn out a bucketful of oaters every year beginning with "Silver City Kid" (1944)), for nearly a decade, trading blows with the bad guy Roy Barcroft and seeing justice prevail ... best remembered these days for his dashing good looks and saddle appeal on film ... it's no small wonder that Allan Rocky Lane's name was at the top of the list, working with the top directors of the day Howard P. Bretherton, Spencer Gordon Bennett, Joseph Kane, Wallace A. Grissell, Leslie Selander and R.G. Springsteen all under Republic Pictures banner.

BIOS:
1. Allan Lane (aka: Harry Leonard Albershart)
Date of birth: 22 September 1909 - Mishawaka, Indiana
Date of death: 27 October 1973 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California

Great job releasing "Oklahoma Badlands (1948) - Allan Rocky Lane, the digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on VHS, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials ---Western Classics, all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 59 min on VHS ~ Republic Video ~ (1/01/1999)

Love this movie. A favorite from my teenage years and glad that I found it on here.

A very good movie, Knight Moves, sheds light on a series of horrendous murders committed on an island off the state of Washington during a major chess tournament.
There are slight hints of Seven, The Bone Collector, Resurrection, and The Silence of the Lambs so the movie falls into the action/adventure/mystery/thriller/horror type of category.
Christopher Lambert, Diane Lane, and the rest of the cast (with the exception of Daniel Baldwin) carry out their performances very well!
The only major setbacks are in relation to:
1) Daniel Baldwin's character, Detective Andy Wagner, who was overly disruptive, thus useless and annoying, and
2) Daniel Baldwin's acting, which in one word was... sad.
School plays (and pre-school for that matter) have better acting! Somebody get this guy some acting lessons!

Overall, though not a masterpiece it is definitely a movie worth watching, as it will provide for an evening's entertainment.

Despite the lack of interest that people have displayed, Knight Moves is quite a good movie. Sure, the psychopath theme is getting a bit worn, but this time the idea has been used in a rather original fashion. The murderer is playing chess with corpses instead of pieces and is framing Christopher Lambert for it. I am not a fan of Lambert, but here he did a good job as the somewhat introvert chess-master, whose lack of openness makes him an ideal target for the frame. The supporting cast, led by Tom Selleck and Diane Lane has well worked out characters and the story moves along at a surprising pace. While not quite on the same level as Silence of the Lambs, Knight Moves will keep its audience thrilled right to the climax.

Quite honestly, this is one of Mr. Lambert's best films, just below Greystoke, Highlander and Fortress. Shot in Super 35 means the film has an aspect ratio of about 2:35.1 (like Star Wars). The laserdisc was the only widescreen version released but is now no longer available. To truly appreciate the film you need to see it in the widescreen (or letterboxed) format. I am hoping, whenever they get around to it, Republican Pictures will release the film on DVD so everyone can see what I'm talking about and perhaps include the trailer and that small featurette that was put on the initial Video releases (coming on right after the film had ended). As for the film itself, about a psychopathic killer who, it seems, wants to frame Peter (Lambert) for the murders of unsuspecting, beautiful women, as well as play a sick game with him in the process, Christoph (as he is known in France) keeps you interested and personally I think that's superb, considering for certain scenes he's playing chess. It's his facial expressions that keep you interested, rather than the game itself. Daniel Baldwin (John Carpenter's Vampires) stands out as the antagonistic cop who doesn't like Lambert at all and personally, it seems, would like nothing more than to see him behind bars (or dead). Diane Lane (Judge Dredd, The Perfect Storm) does an alright job playing the psychologist who is trying to figure out whether Peter is psychotic or not and the film takes some interesting twists and turns in that avenue (which propells the film instead of takeing away from it). The chemistry between them is apparent because they were married shortly before (meeting each other on an earlier film called, Priceless Beauty). Tom Skerritt (not Selleck, as a previous reviewer had indicated) plays the head of the police investigation with Baldwin as his partner. Honestly, when first viewing the film I had no idea who the killer was. That's what's great about the movie, it really does keep you guessing. At one point you think you've got it figured out and then it blows your mind and goes in a completely different direction, while still maintaining it's appeal. Knight Moves is the best chess movie(with suspense) I've ever seen. Check it out.