John-Rhys-Davies Movie Reviews

Director Douglas Camfield somehow manages to bring this classic retelling of this Sir Walter Scott legend to life on a made for TV budget that few others have managed with much larger outlays. Much credit should be given here to this films's expert casting, and it's attention to detail in accurate costumes, and weaponry, heralding back to the golden days of chivalry, romance and thrilling swordplay! Anthony Andrews brings to life this version of Ivanhoe, the young Saxon knight devoted to his king and religious faith. James Mason and Olivia Hussey co-star in this classic tale of valiant warriors and beautiful damsels. When Ivahoe returns to 12th-century England after fighting with Richard the Lion-Hearted in the Crusades, he learns that his true love Rowena (beautifully portrayed by Lysette Anthony) has been betrothed to another and Richard's evil brother, Prince John, is intent on stealing his throne. Ivanhoe faces overwhelming odds in his fight to save Rowena and defeat the villainous Normans. Spectacular battles scenes, featuring some excellent knights-in-tournament footage rarely seen on film, and stirring heroics make this version of Ivanhoe a must see movie for history buffs of this time period. Excellent!!!

This made-for-tv movie shines with beautiful scenery and splendid acting. Anthony Andrews stars as the chivalrous Ivanhoe, but he is not even the center of the film much of the time. Two other characters, Sam Neill's Brian Gilbert and Oliva Hussey's Rebecca, keep the story going as much as the titled hero.

Some fascinating historical issues are explored here: the Saxon/Norman rivalry, the monarchy vs. the Church, medieval Christian prejudice against Jews, chivalry (there are several wonderfully detailed tournament scenes), and courtly love.

There are also several timeless issues explored, from prejudice (which emerges as a complex cultural issue here) to love. One might think that a television movie might simplify love stories, but there is a lot going on here. Even at the end of the movie, one wonders whether Brian died for love, whether Ivanhoe loves Rebecca or Rowena, and whether Rebecca loves Ivanhoes. There are no simple answers offered, as in real life.

All of this, and it still maintains an exciting and adventurous pace! This is a rich movie, worth watching over and over for the subtle details. Though not always historically accurate (King Richard emerges as a far too heroic monarch) it provides a glimpse of the rich tapestry that was medieval life.

Director Douglas Camfield somehow manages to bring this classic retelling of this Sir Walter Scott classic to life on a made for TV budget that few others have managed with much larger outlays. Much credit should be given here to this films's expert casting, and its attention to detail in accurate costumes, and weaponry, heralding back to the golden days of chivalry, romance and thrilling swordplay! Anthony Andrews brings to life this version of Ivanhoe, the young Saxon knight devoted to his king and religious faith. James Mason and Olivia Hussey co-star in this classic tale of valiant warriors and beautiful damsels. When Ivanhoe returns to 12th-century England after fighting with Richard the Lion-Hearted in the Crusades, he learns that his true love Rowena (beautifully portrayed by Lysette Anthony) has been betrothed to another and Richard's evil brother, Prince John, is intent on stealing his throne. Ivanhoe faces overwhelming odds in his fight to save Rowena and defeat the villainous Normans. Spectacular battles scenes, featuring some excellent knights-in-tournament footage rarely seen on film, and stirring heroics make this version of Ivanhoe a must see for history buffs of this time period. Excellent!!!

I love Indiana Jones, and even though I like "Last Crusade" a little better than "Raiders of the Lost Ark," I decided to buy this video. It has two parts, each detailing special effects and stuntwork used in "Raiders". It's really funny to see all the cast behind-the-scenes, a young Steven Spielberg, and so on. And learning how they did a lot of the stunts was very cool too. I especially liked finding out how they created the pit of snakes in the desert. Most of those snakes were REAL! This video was a little long, though; some of the stunts they showed in the first segment on this video were repeated in the second part. I would recommend this video only to die hard fans of "Raiders" or really huge movie fans who want to know more about special effects and stunts.

This video was amazing! The stunts were top draw, and the behind the scenes footage was class! I would recomend this vid to everyone as its entertaining, funny and more to the point educational! May I please make a point to George Lucas & Steven Spielberg. If you both have similar footage of the other two indy films could you please produce the same kind of videos? Or perhaps make a stunts and behind the scenes video of Indy 4!

A behind the scenes double feature. Two looks at the blockbuster film Raiders of the Lost Ark. The first concentrates on the history of movie stunts as well as the stunts of Raiders. The parallels are interesting and give a perspective on the movie's place in action filmmaking history. I doubt, for instance, that most moviegoers recognized Indy's escape under the moving truck as an homage to John Ford's Stagecoach. This first feature is narrated by Harrison Ford. The second feature is a well made and in-depth look at the making of Raiders. Good interviews with cast and crew including Ford, Lucas, and Spielberg. Plenty of coverage of Spielberg's manner behind the camera. We watch an energetic and childlike Spielberg create a massive blockbuster. We're allowed peaks at the making of almost all scenes in the film. As Raiders required great technical skill the behind the scenes moments are always fascinating. Great fun for Indy fans.

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie it was great to have two videos to watch which made it spread out just right. One video would have made the events go too fast. Biblically it is pretty accurate the events happened in the order that they appeared on video. Anthony Hopkins Plays a great Saul Paulus of Tarsus. The only thing I would have liked to see different is that, for the sake of keeping it a two video series, they jumped ahead more than a few times by saying "four years later" another "four years later", and then "eight years later" etc. I would have liked to see what was going on during those times as well. Other than that I would highly recommend this video.

Fabulous! Absolutely worth your time. Every christian should have this in their video collection. Anythony Hopkins and Robert Foxworth do a phenominal job of portraying Peter and Paul. Though not perfect, a highly reliable, detailed and very accurate portrayal of those incredible days. Do yourself a favor, make church history real to your kids and new converts to the faith.

I thoroughly enjoyed the video plus got insight into the importance of both figures in the history of the church. The acting was superb, and the pace was great. It was informative but never tried to be a documentary of strictly "this happened and then that happened." A few liberties may have been taken with the textual account, but it was not disruptive or salacious or even detrimental to the whole effort. On the whole, I would endorse it wholeheartedly, particularly to those who are interested in church history and who want a video with a realistic "feel" for the period portrayed.

This movie was light and entertaining. The scenery was lovely and the acting was good. Lambert Wilson the love interest for Brooke Shields is gorgeous and someone I wouldn't mind being caught in Saudi Arabia with.

I truly like this cute romantic action movie. Very different role for Brooke Shields, Strange twists and turns in this movie but overall something for the family to enjoy....

I enjoyed the funny antics, the mystery, the adventures,and the racing in the desert of Saudi Arabia. It made you feel like a noble nomad of the desert. The actors were awesome!! It was definitely worth having, especially for the 80's. Old and very interesting to watch over and over, again.

This is one of the funniest movies i have ever seen. All of its main actors (Samuel Jackson, John Lovitz, Peter Berg, Damon Wayans, Jamie Fox, and Jeff Goldblum) are great! If you are a boxing fan this movie will be much more interesting, but if you're not a boxing fan don't fret you will still get a good laugh. Samuel plays a more extreme version of Don King and other events in the movie make you wonder if the boxing world really is this like this in some ways. My favorite scene-the mispronunciation of Chevy Brougham!

I was one of the 3 or so people who actually saw this film in the theatre and I enjoy it more every time I see it. It's an excellent, funny, satirical look into the world of professional boxing where athletes, who risk their physical health and financial future, are treated like commodities for the gain of promoters, who risk nothing and always get the big payoff. The flamboyant promoter (Samuel L. Jackson) deftly uses white America's obsession/anger with African-American dominance in sports to produce a payday as the media plays a willing pawn in the game. All of the performances in this movie are excellent but Peter Berg deserves a special mention.

In my opinion, this is one of the funniest movies made during the 1990's.

Sure it has some racist overtones, but we all need to be able to laugh at ourselves sometimes...

This is one of the funniest movies i have ever seen. All of its main actors (Samuel Jackson, John Lovitz, Peter Berg, Damon Wayans, Jamie Fox, and Jeff Goldblum) are great! If you are a boxing fan this movie will be much more interesting, but if you're not a boxing fan don't fret you will still get a good laugh. Samuel plays a more extreme version of Don King and other events in the movie make you wonder if the boxing world really is this like this in some ways. My favorite scene-the mispronunciation of Chevy Brougham!

I was one of the 3 or so people who actually saw this film in the theatre and I enjoy it more every time I see it. It's an excellent, funny, satirical look into the world of professional boxing where athletes, who risk their physical health and financial future, are treated like commodities for the gain of promoters, who risk nothing and always get the big payoff. The flamboyant promoter (Samuel L. Jackson) deftly uses white America's obsession/anger with African-American dominance in sports to produce a payday as the media plays a willing pawn in the game. All of the performances in this movie are excellent but Peter Berg deserves a special mention.

In my opinion, this is one of the funniest movies made during the 1990's.

Sure it has some racist overtones, but we all need to be able to laugh at ourselves sometimes...

This film is worth watching for Deborah Foreman's character. She was the lead in the Valley Girl teen flick. Here she plays a very different role, a girl who is conflicted about her desire to submit to the likes of The Marquis de Sade.

Yes, the plot is silly. A group of teens discover an enchanted wax museum and begin disappearing into the displays to become human sacrifices to the characters on display, most of them fictional such as Dracula and Frankenstein. Deborah Foreman becomes wistfully fixated on a figure of The Marquis de Sade, whom she eventually experiences up close and personal, thanks to the magic wax museum.

Since most of the film is so unfocused and full of high camp, it is surprising that it happens to contain a very moving commentary on forbidden desire. The commentary is subtle but it's there. I liked this film because of the Marquis de Sade segment but it isn't bad for schlocky horror flick.

It also includes a hilarious and very bloody vampire scene. I can't tell if this movie is a spoof or it ended up spoofing itself accidently but it works somehow.

I saw this movie for the first time a long time ago and it was easily one of my favorite horror movies. So recently, I decided to go back and see it again just to see if I still liked it which I did. I still enjoyed the humor, the story, the characters, and the gore.

The movie itself is about a wax musuem that displays some of the most evil men/creatures to have ever existed such as a vampire, a werewolf, a mummy, and so forth. They appear to be harmless wax figures, most of which are missing victims. A closer look can prove to be fatal for whatever unsuspecting person enters the exhibit and is taken to the scene that is displayed. When all of the exhibits on display have claimed a victim then the creatures in the display will come to life and wreck havoc on the world.

I have seen this movie at least 20 times and it gets better each time I watch it! Who can resist David Warner in anything?? This movie has everything. Gore, sexuality, and comedy. Who can forget Dana Ashbrook's classic line "Who put the acid in my drink again, China!" Too funny for words.

Though the movie itself was reasonable; without Jafar, it was lacking in a few ways. Not to say Return of Jafar was a great movie either, but Jafar is one of Disney's best modern villains and an Aladdin movie without him is kind of weird.

The Return of Jafar wasn't that great because of a lack of effort on the part of the animators and writers. Aladdin & the King of Theives wasn't great because it was missing the villain of the series; and he wasn't replaced with someone equally interesting. The villain in this movie, if you could call him that, was a minor character who had no real motivation to do what he did and certainly no goals in mind.

Cinderella II. Lady and the Tramp II. Lion King II. Pochahontas II. The Hunchback of Notre Dame II. Return of Jafar. The list of direct-to-video stinkers made by Disney seems to be endless. Fortunately, Aladdin and the King of Thieves is the exception.

Released early on before Disney decided to defile it animated classics, Aladdin and the King of Thieves features a solid, new storyline that does not simply rehash the original. Maybe this extra attempt at quality was made to get Robin Williams to reprise one of his coolest roles? After two movies and countless tv episodes, Aladdin and Jasmine are finally getting married. Then the forty thieves show up and trash the wedding, and Aladdin goes on a quest to find his father and a unique treasure with the golden touch. While not targeted to older kids like Disney's Atlantis was, this movie is slightly darker than the two that came before it, which is a good thing. A lot of this comes from the forty thieves, who sing about robbing, plundering, in an endearing kind of way. There is a sword duel conveyed in hellish reds, murky blues, and shadows, and lightning is used to symbolize Aladdin being wounded. And the villain's demise is quite original, not the usual "falling to their death" we've seen over and over. In fact, I daresay Atlantis even borrowed the demise for their film's climax. All in all, it's an entertaining, never-boring, thrill ride, and ties up the saga nicely, with a nod to the street merchant who began this whole thing.

The songs in Aladdin and the King of Thieves are not up the quality of the original, but they are much better than all the other Disney DTV's. The two songs the forty thieves sing are quite hilarious and memorable, the romance song didn't make me cringe at all, and the opening number gets the ball rolling really well. The only semi-clunker is the father and son song, but that wasn't bad either. The animation isn't cinema-quality, but it's also above-average and commendable. My only curiosity with this movie is some of the Genie's jokes. The animators went with whatever ad-libs Robin Williams came up with, and even after six years of watching this movie, I still can't understand most of them, especially the homages to past comedians. This is the only part children won't understand.

Aladdin and the King of Thieves is a high-quality Disney DTV, and as things stand, their ONLY high-quality release ever. Worth picking up on video, or even on the eventual DVD release.

This is so odd. Aladdin has an amazon sales rank of about 39,000th, but the sequel, actually the third movie of a trilogy, Aladdin atKoT has a rank of 13,000. My family ranked AatKOT at 14th out of 41. Not so oddly, some in our family liked it better than the original, which we ranked 13th.

The story here is real interesting and Star Wars-esque. Luke tried to save his father Darth Vader from the Dark Side. In Aladdin atKoT Al tried to save his father from the figurative dark side. Robin Williams returned and the magic is back. We think you will like this movie at least as much as Aladdin, and we sometimes play them back to back, skip the second in the trilogy, return of Jafar.

This is the last of our 4 star rated Disney Animated movies.

We had a lot of fun by gathering the family together to rank the 41 Disney movies we have that include some cartoon work. All the kids, ages 6 to 27, participated along with mother and dad. Lion King was selected number 1 of the 41 as the family favorite, but narrowly. Peter Pan was 2. Pete's Dragon 3, Beauty & the beast 4, Sleeping Beauty 5, Snow White 6, Robin Hood 7, 101 Dalmatians 8, Fox and the hound 9, Cinderella is 10th, Rescuers 11, Hunchback of ND 12 and Aladdin 13.

This film won't win any awards and some people will find it's humor to be crude, but if you are a true Ben Affleck fan, you will appreciate his low-key performance as the leading man in Glory Daze. It's a great film to put on late at night when you can't sleep. Ben looks great in his graduation robe and NO shirt. The bus scene is funny - see if you can recognize the annoying couple that "Jack" talks to on the #3 bus. The soundtrack is great, if you can find it. It made me a NOFX fan and I also go around singing "Acetone". I have seen parallels between this movie and GWH. It made me wonder if Ben wrote similiar scenes on purpose. This movie gives you some great quote lines that no one else will understand unless they've seen Glory Daze. "as for me, my name is Jack - happy go f***ing lucky as the day I was born" ! Rent or just buy Glory Daze!!!!!

OK, I'm not a film student/critic of any kind, but I saw this movie about 4 months before I graduated college, and it really struck a chord with me.

Brief synopsis: The focus is on five college roommates who are close friends, some of whom are facing graduation in a week or so. What follows is how they react to the group being broken up, and how they spend time together before going their separate ways.

Ben Affleck actually turns in a fairly good performance as a disaffected slacker type who chose to pursue an art degree despite his parents' wishes; French Stewart is his typical self despite his role as a "professional student", but I thought the best performance in the movie was turned in by Sam Rockwell. To top it all off, some hilarious bit parts with Matthew McConaughey, Matt Damon (it's quick, and he doesn't say a word), as well as Spalding Gray, who plays Affleck's dad.

There are some heavy-handed pieces of symbolism -- check out the very end of the scene when "We're Only Going to Die for Our Own Arrogance" is being played -- but then again, college was rarely about metaphors, and (for me, anyway) more often about friends, parties, and cheap beer. I think anyone who has spent time living with several of their close friends, in college or otherwise, and then has had to go their separate ways, will enjoy this film.

Sometimes films don't have to be artistic or expensive to be good; they just have to tell a story that people will enjoy watching again and again. For me, this is one of those stories.

P.S. - An outstanding punk soundtrack, including NOFX, The Vandals, The Mr. T Experience, the New Bomb Turks, and a pretty good cover of the above mentioned Bad Religion song by Sublime.

If you'd EVER partied in college, lived with roommates, drank, had post-teen angst, or knew people who did, you will love this movie. If you'd NEVER swear in your life, had no angst from growing up, and considered yourself to be perfect and normal, you'll hate it.

THOSE THAT GAVE BAD REVIEWS HERE EITHER CANNOT RELATE TO IT OR DO NOT UNDERSTAND IT. A movie should not explain everything in plain view for you. Let it make you think a little and you'll walk away enlightened!

Glory Daze is rather a cleverly written movie with unconventional dialogs. It is set in the small town of Santa Cruz, California.. and I believe it to be based on a true story. The characters are not typical and therefore are much more interesting to watch than your average American Pie flick. You will probably find similarities between yourself and one or more of these characters.

The CAST consists of Ben Affleck, French Stewart, Sam Rockwell, Vien Hong, Matthew MacConauhey(sp?), Alyssa Milano, Megan Ward, Brendan Fraser, Vinnie Deramus, Matt Damon(cameo), Spauding Grey, and John-Rhys Davies. I thought the two most stunning performances were from Sam Rockwell(ROB) who played the party guy gone conservative.. and Vien Hong (SLOSH) who was a computer science major dropout turned Bukowski-drunk. Sam Rockwell can be seen in many other wonderful movies such as Charlie's Angels, Green Mile, and A Box of Moonlight. And Vien Hong is not as well known, very versatile, and can be seen in smaller roles in big movies like We Were Soldiers playing Mel Gibson's interpreter, City of Industry(a Harvey Keitel movie). He's one of those skilled-actors that can take a small part and give it a lot of life. Affleck, although not bad.. I thought he did a better job in Chasing Amy.

I'd recommend you to buy it. Why waste your money and rent it, when you can have it delivered to your door. If you end up hating it, you can always give it to someone who'll appreciate it. Chances are there'll be more people loving the movie than not.

Again, the movie is perfectly cast. It's got a great sound track. And It is destined to be a cult classic!

This film won't win any awards and some people will find it's humor to be crude, but if you are a true Ben Affleck fan, you will appreciate his low-key performance as the leading man in Glory Daze. It's a great film to put on late at night when you can't sleep. Ben looks great in his graduation robe and NO shirt. The bus scene is funny - see if you can recognize the annoying couple that "Jack" talks to on the #3 bus. The soundtrack is great, if you can find it. It made me a NOFX fan and I also go around singing "Acetone". I have seen parallels between this movie and GWH. It made me wonder if Ben wrote similiar scenes on purpose. This movie gives you some great quote lines that no one else will understand unless they've seen Glory Daze. "as for me, my name is Jack - happy go f***ing lucky as the day I was born" ! Rent or just buy Glory Daze!!!!!

OK, I'm not a film student/critic of any kind, but I saw this movie about 4 months before I graduated college, and it really struck a chord with me.

Brief synopsis: The focus is on five college roommates who are close friends, some of whom are facing graduation in a week or so. What follows is how they react to the group being broken up, and how they spend time together before going their separate ways.

Ben Affleck actually turns in a fairly good performance as a disaffected slacker type who chose to pursue an art degree despite his parents' wishes; French Stewart is his typical self despite his role as a "professional student", but I thought the best performance in the movie was turned in by Sam Rockwell. To top it all off, some hilarious bit parts with Matthew McConaughey, Matt Damon (it's quick, and he doesn't say a word), as well as Spalding Gray, who plays Affleck's dad.

There are some heavy-handed pieces of symbolism -- check out the very end of the scene when "We're Only Going to Die for Our Own Arrogance" is being played -- but then again, college was rarely about metaphors, and (for me, anyway) more often about friends, parties, and cheap beer. I think anyone who has spent time living with several of their close friends, in college or otherwise, and then has had to go their separate ways, will enjoy this film.

Sometimes films don't have to be artistic or expensive to be good; they just have to tell a story that people will enjoy watching again and again. For me, this is one of those stories.

P.S. - An outstanding punk soundtrack, including NOFX, The Vandals, The Mr. T Experience, the New Bomb Turks, and a pretty good cover of the above mentioned Bad Religion song by Sublime.

If you'd EVER partied in college, lived with roommates, drank, had post-teen angst, or knew people who did, you will love this movie. If you'd NEVER swear in your life, had no angst from growing up, and considered yourself to be perfect and normal, you'll hate it.

THOSE THAT GAVE BAD REVIEWS HERE EITHER CANNOT RELATE TO IT OR DO NOT UNDERSTAND IT. A movie should not explain everything in plain view for you. Let it make you think a little and you'll walk away enlightened!

Glory Daze is rather a cleverly written movie with unconventional dialogs. It is set in the small town of Santa Cruz, California.. and I believe it to be based on a true story. The characters are not typical and therefore are much more interesting to watch than your average American Pie flick. You will probably find similarities between yourself and one or more of these characters.

The CAST consists of Ben Affleck, French Stewart, Sam Rockwell, Vien Hong, Matthew MacConauhey(sp?), Alyssa Milano, Megan Ward, Brendan Fraser, Vinnie Deramus, Matt Damon(cameo), Spauding Grey, and John-Rhys Davies. I thought the two most stunning performances were from Sam Rockwell(ROB) who played the party guy gone conservative.. and Vien Hong (SLOSH) who was a computer science major dropout turned Bukowski-drunk. Sam Rockwell can be seen in many other wonderful movies such as Charlie's Angels, Green Mile, and A Box of Moonlight. And Vien Hong is not as well known, very versatile, and can be seen in smaller roles in big movies like We Were Soldiers playing Mel Gibson's interpreter, City of Industry(a Harvey Keitel movie). He's one of those skilled-actors that can take a small part and give it a lot of life. Affleck, although not bad.. I thought he did a better job in Chasing Amy.

I'd recommend you to buy it. Why waste your money and rent it, when you can have it delivered to your door. If you end up hating it, you can always give it to someone who'll appreciate it. Chances are there'll be more people loving the movie than not.

Again, the movie is perfectly cast. It's got a great sound track. And It is destined to be a cult classic!