*** Official "DARK BLUE" Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[RobertW]

saw the trailer for kurt russell's newest film and it got me thinking. for the longest time after he first became known as a child actor in bad disney films, he was basically out of the public eye, doing a few tv movies or low budget pictures. Escape From New York was a pretty big career jump for him, but was kind of a cult film, and he still seemed as if he was on the 'b' list of movie actors.

but then his career took off and he got lots of good, if not great, roles in some pretty big budget pictures, and has been in major roles in big budget pictures ever since. what was the first movie that propelled this career surge into 'a' list leading man? i'm thinking that one he was in with ray liotta and madeline stowe(name escapes me) or perhaps Tequila Sunrise with mel gibson.

 

[Chris Atkins]

I will always think of Kurt Russell as Jack Colton.

 

[Eric_E]

The movie with Liotta and Stowe was "Unlawful Entry."

 

[Eric_E]

Chris: You mean Jack Burton?
"Ready? I was BORN ready."

 

[Kevin M]

...it's all in the reflexes.

 

[Eric Fisher]

Kurt Russell = R.J MacReady first and foremost in my mind

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

"If I'm not back in fifteen minutes, call the president."

Jack Burton forever!

 

[Chris Atkins]

Of course it's Jack Burton...."hits self in head repeatedly"

I wonder where I got Colton from?

Must be a problem with my face...

 

[doug zdanivsky]

I've always liked Kurt Russel. I have since The Thing.

It's too bad he had to get sucked into a blatent "Training Day" retread.. Make the bad cop white and the good cop black and presto! At least, that's the impression I got from the trailer.

Incidentally, I wouldn't consider Kurt Russel as having been in a slump. I've been pleased with every effort he's put forth. I can't speak for the ones I haven't seen, like Escape from L.A., though.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now designated the Official Discussion Thread for "Dark Blue" please, post all comments, links to outside reviews, film and box office discussion items to this thread.

All HTF member film reviews of "Dark Blue" should be posted to the Official Review Thread.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.


Crawdaddy

 

[doug zdanivsky]

I found 2001's Training Day to be a much better film.

That's the 1st thing that jumped into my head when I saw the trailer.. "Here we go... I guess Training Day was a big enough hit to warrant blatent copycating..".

I really like Kurt Russel, and I haven't seen the movie, so I'm not saying anything about the movie, per say.. but that kind of stuff makes me frown sometimes..

"Spider-Man kicked ass, eh?", well then Dare-devil should clean up, too. Hell, let's milk this for as long as we can!! What else we got? The Incredible Hulk.. Magnificent 7...".

Nature of the beast, I guess. Still irksome, though..

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Jack Colton was Michael Douglas' character from Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile.

That's where you got it from.

I'm seeing this one in a few hours, not because the movie looks particularly great, but because (like most of you) I admire Kurt Russell's work.

(Keeping my fingers crossed...)

 

[RobertW]

after looking up kurt russell's filmography on imdb, it does appear that i mischaracterized him as being away for a while, or "in a slump" as you put it. it appears he's been working steadily his entire career.

i guess what i meant was that it seems the majority of his work was in second tier or cult movies(i'd consider Big Trouble in the latter category. but somewhere in his career, he jumped from those type pictures to getting leading man roles in big budget action pics like Executive Decision and the new one. i'm just wondering if there was one specific film that did the trick, or it's been a natural evolution.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Just FYI: The screenwriter for "Dark Blue" was also the screenwriter for "Training Day."

 

[john stomp]

Dark Blue/Training Day both certainly take place in the same world. I think both films were excellent

Dark Blue definitely had all the Jame Ellroy ingredients that would be familiar to anyone who reads his books or has seen L.A. Confidential.


Kurt Russel = Brutal cop that crosses the line in the interest of justice = Bud White

Ving Rhames = Over-ambitious cop advancing his career by hypocritically crucifying his fellow cops = Ed Exley

Brendon Gleeson = Pure evil and completely corrupt senior officer running things behind the scenes = Dudley Smith

What was lacking from Dark Blue that was in L.A. Conf was having the White vs. Exley battle raging, and then having them both realize that Smith is actually their true enemy. More of Ving's crusade against Kurt, and then maybe a more impactful exposing of Gleeson at then end would have probably made this better movie and much stronger conclusion. The ending as it is was the weakest part of the film.


Overall though, I thought this was probably the best cop flick of the last year. I would love a sequel, but considering there were only about 15-20 people in the theater with me, this probably won't happen.

 

[Elizabeth S]

I like this genre of film a lot, but I found "Dark Blue" pretty predictable and the coincidences stretched plausibility. In a comparison with the recent "Narc", I'd have to give the tip of the scale to "Narc" for its style, poignancy and the unforgettable performance from Ray Liotta. I thought "Dark Blue" was nicely cast, but the ending was truly an "only in the movies" type of moment.