Customer Reviews

Malone [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

O.K. Let me start by saying that this is the BEST ACTION MOVIE EVER. The action scenes are superbly done, not any of that cg stuff nowadays, just good ol superior coreography and the like. This movie is based on the book "Shotgun" by william Wingate. This is a great story about a mysterious stranger just passing by when his car breaks down. He then discovers a huge plot of a local landowner to take over the town, and he uses illegal means to take stuff he wants. The action begins when the bad guy sends a big chroney to beat up out hero. But, Malone is a martial arts master, and beats the guy up real good, this scene is really well done, it even has herioc theme music! Ah, that reminds me, the best part of the movie is at the end, heck, it's the best scene in any movie ever: the finale Explosion. I'm serious, this is the biggest and best explosion you have ever seen. Forget those other wimpy action movie explosions, Malone has the holy grail of all explosions. you half to see it to believe it. Words cannot describe how amazing this explosion is. Really, its that good. The music builds,the barn EXPLODES, and theres a cool hero worship shot where Malone walks toward the camera, a look of steel determination in his eyes, with a huge wall of fire behind him. I wish there was a DVD version, because I'm afraid I'm gonna wear out my VHS copy if I keep rewinding the explosion so much. You havent seen action (or explosions) until you've seen Malone. Best. Action. Movie. Ever.

Why don't they make movies like this anymore!!! This explosive action film starring the incomperable BURT REYNOLDS will make you laugh, cry, fall in love (with Burt) then crap your pants with the absolute fantabulousness of it all. (Yes I made up the word fantabuluos just to describe this movie, because there were no words in the dictionary that could possibly do it justice.) Reynolds, in all of his action starrin', tight pants wearin', gun slingin', lady killin' glory is a CIA agent who is unhappy with his job, so he leaves, and ends up in a small Eastern Oregon town where trouble is afoot. And when Burt Reynolds is around trouble you know he can't stay out of it. Taking us from the beauty of Eastern Oregon to a breath-taking scene in Los Angeles (Very important scene!!!), this movie is like a roller coaster that is going a million miles an hour, derails, lands on another track, then the other roller coaster is coming right at it and they crash and then a barn full of maniacal patroit propaganda explodes. Then from the ashes arises Burt, with the cold, cutting eyes that warn all other maniacal patriot propagandists "Beware, Malone is coming for you!!!" Often overlooked with all the action is the beautiful love between Malone and the girl at the gas station, and then his passionate love of his old partner. At times heart warmingly beautiful at others heart racingly explosive, this movie has it all.

It astounds me that this movie exists. When I stop to think about it, my heart fills with wonder. This cinematic gem has gone unnoticed for 15 years but is an absolute delight to any who stumble upon it. Like many great artists, Burt Reynolds remains unnapreciated in his own time but his piercing eyes, succinct speech, and handlebar moustache will transcend to any future generation. This movie is the pinnacle of a career spanning nearly 40 years.
Reynolds, Richard Malone (or so you think) finds himself unhappy with his job in the CIA and pursues a much quieter life in the hills of the Cascade Mountains. While he is there he experiences many adventures, including a bare handed brawl on the city bridge and a "mysterious object beneath the barbershop newspaper." He leaves behind a trail of broken hearts and busted balls ending with a climactic exploding barn montage. This non-stop action thrill ride will keep you asking yourself; "what on Earth is going on?!" The cover art is composed brilliantly and is worth owning, in and of itself (Note: Reynolds skin tight dungarees, leaving very little to the imagination.) A must have item. When you find yourself blown away and begging for more, I would also recommend the movie "Stick." (AKA "Malone goes to Miami.)

Wow, what a stellar movie. It's so unbelievable that it went unnoticed by the movie goers of this great nation. Burt Reynolds rules, his performance in this movie is spectacular, and the cover shot is breathtaking. I strongly recomend this movie to anyone and I think it should win an Oscar, even though it's like thirteen years old. MALONE RULES!!

In "Malone", Burt Reynolds plays a former CIA agent who develops a "case of conscience" and quits a profession and organization that doesn't easily let go of its members. Reynolds decides to disappear into the countryside. When his car breaks down, he finds a friend in the operator of a small-town gas station (Scott Wilson). However, even in the "boonies", he can't escape from political intrigue. Cliff Robertson plays the rich and powerful leader of a neo-nazi group that is bent on taking back the USA from the "traitors" whom are currently in power. Along the way, Robertson is also taking over the farms and small town where Reynolds's new friend lives. The conflict between Reynolds and Robertson is just a matter of time. True, this is not an original plot. However, the story also deals with the relationship that develops between Reynolds and the daughter of the gas station owner (Cynthia Gibb). The development of this relationship is handled sensitively and realistically and transforms a movie that may have just been an "also ran" into better than average. Gibb plays the part of an ingénue that at first, is afraid of this stranger in her world. Later, she is attracted to the older, wiser Reynolds. The relationship between them is well done and seems natural. Reynolds is amused by the attentions of the young girl, but is also attracted to her, perhaps seeing in her the daughter that he never had. One area that the movie could have explored more, is Reynolds's past and his reasons for rejecting the CIA and his job. There are hints that he was engaged in some pretty "dark" operations for the CIA. There are also hints that there may have been a time when Reynolds and Richardson were not so different. But the story does not delve very deeply here. We do not get the chance to see the moral dilemma that Reynolds must be dealing with: the strong patriotic drives that led him to get involved with the CIA in the first place, and the moral beliefs that drove him away. But then, this IS an action film, not Shakespeare. "Malone" is a likeable flick. It will appeal to Burt Reynolds fans, of course. But this is more than just the usual action flick. All in all, I put "Malone" in my top 100 favorite movies.

Malone shows the serious side of Burt Reynolds capability as an actor, equally at home with comedy or tough action, Burt comes through in top form. Good supporting cast, scenery and a plot that will hold your attention quite well, one of my favorite Burt Reynolds films. Recommended

Do not buy this product. I have gotten two bad copies already. Repeat: Do not order a copy of this DVD. There is nothing but digital washout. All my other DVD's work fine and on the same player.

Not that this one can ever measure up to SHARKY'S MACHINE, which is Burt Reynolds' finest crime thriller, but I've got a fondness for MALONE, a film fueled by a low budget and starring a Burt Reynolds very much on the wane of his career. MALONE recycles one 1980s action trope after another, but the aging Burt was able to harness enough charisma and gravitas to make it work. That he exudes this air of world-weariness helps to sell the picture even more, for me anyway.

He plays a laconic ex-CIA hitman who is fed up with killing and whose true name we are never quite sure of. His new identity is "Richard Malone," but it wasn't too long ago that he was burning an ID with the name "John Haggarty" on it. The story proper opens with Malone's car breaking down in an Oregonian valley. Stranded in a remote town while his car is under repairs, he's taken in by the kindly auto mechanic (Scott Wilson) and his teenaged daughter (Cynthia Gibb). Malone soon runs afoul of the local goons and dirty cops, all of them minions of an ambitious land baron (Cliff Robertson) who suspects that Malone has come to kill him. For Malone, half an hour into the picture, it finally gets personal. Before then, he'd been content playing a spectator's role.

MALONE is lean and mean and no fuss and no frills, unless you count Lauren Hutton as frills. I guess that's the boon of a limited budget. All you're left with is to just go ahead and tell the story. The plot is straightforward, pretty much lifting from that Old West theme of the gunslinger come to clean up the town. Reynolds demonstrates that he still has enough sand in him to mete out rough justice in convincing fashion. The action set pieces aren't exactly exceptional, but Burt invests enough in them that they're kind of fun to watch. My favorite bits are when he beats the holy carp out of that fat dude at the bridge and then there's his barber shop bluff while gazing into the barrel of a gun. There's the requisite sacrifice, of course, some close friend or associate of Malone's that needed to be murdered off so that Malone can muster that last erg of blood lust. And maybe a thrill of anticipation surges up your spine when our seriously cheesed off hero storms the land baron's well-guarded headquarters. It's worth it to hear the panic in Cliff Robertson's voice as he yells at his hired hooligans: "He's coming here!" And it turns out, Richard Malone, if that's his real name, isn't so fed up with killing after all. Those poor no-chance-having henchmen. But I've always wondered how Malone was able to figure out that that hombre was the very same one who'd suffocated his friend with a plastic bag. Maybe it's a skill taught one in the CIA, the skill of super-assumption.

I've been waiting for a long time for this to be available on DVD. This movie in my opinion is the best movie Burt Reynolds ever did. Definitely worth a watch and maybe even twice.

GREAT FILM I BURNT OUT MY VHS COPY YEARS AGO,HAVE WAITED FOR THE DVD RELEASE AND YET THE STUDIOS STILL BRING OUT BURT RENYOLDS CRAP MOVIES LIKE STICK AND HEAT.BY THE WAY WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT GUY GOING ON ABOUT GIANT SQUIDS IN HIS REVIEW,GET YOURSELF INTO A REHAB CLINIC PRONTO THAT LOOKS LIKE THE REVIEW OF A MADMAN.