Adventure

  • Jacques Tourneur – Way of a Gaucho (1952)

    1951-1960AdventureJacques TourneurUSAWestern

    Synopsis:
    Set in the Argentina of about 1875 in which a customary punishment for killing was a sentence to army service. A young gaucho deserts his army sentence and becomes a bandit leader and also gets his sweetheart pregnant. Seeing the futility of his ways, he takes her to a church to be married prior to surrendering himself back to the army.Read More »

  • Michael Curtiz – The Sea Wolf (1941)

    1941-1950AdventureClassicsMichael CurtizUSA

    Synopsis:
    Humphrey van Weyden, a writer, and fugitives Ruth Webster and George Leach have been given refuge aboard the sealer “Ghost,” captained by the cruel Wolf Larsen. The crew mutinies against Larsen’s many crimes, and though van Weyden, Ruth, and George try to escape Larsen’s clutches, they find themselves drawn inexorably back to him as the “Ghost” sails toward disaster.Read More »

  • Eddie Romero – Beast of Blood (1970)

    1961-1970AdventureEddie RomeroHorrorPhilippines

    A mad scientist creates a monster, but after its head is cut off, he keeps it alive in a serum
    he has invented.Read More »

  • Richard Viktorov – Moskva-Kassiopeya AKA Moscow-Cassiopeia (1974)

    1971-1980AdventureRichard ViktorovSci-FiUSSR

    Quote:
    This is, in essence, a Soviet rendition of Star Trek with a teenage crew. The story revolves around a project to send a manned spaceflight to Alpha Cassiopeia to investigate a signal received from there, and, due to the relative slowness of the fastest available engines, the trip is predicted to take something around 27 years in one direction. Therefore, a crew of teenagers is recruited – in hope than when they reach their destination, they will all be aged around 40 and capable of carrying out whatever adult actions necessary to establish First Contact. But, as always, things go awry… The storyline is split up into two parts – this is the first, dealing with the foundation of the plot and the ship’s launch.Read More »

  • Viktor Ivanov – Oleksa Dovbush (1959)

    1951-1960AdventureDramaUSSRViktor Ivanov

    Story about Oleksa Dovbush, a famous Ukrainian outlaw, who became a folk hero, often compared to Robin Hood.Read More »

  • William A. Wellman – Wild Boys of the Road (1933)

    1931-1940AdventureDramaUSAWilliam A. Wellman

    Synopsis:
    At the bottom of the depression, Tom’s mother has been out of work for months when Ed’s father loses his job. Not to burden their parents, the two high school sophomore’s decide to hop the freights and look for work. Wherever they go, there are many other kids just like them, so Tom, Ed and now Sally stick together. They camp in places like ‘Sewer City’ as long as they can until the local authorities run them off. They travel all over the mid west and when they get to New York, Ed thinks that they may finally find work.Read More »

  • Ramesh Sippy – Seeta Aur Geeta (1972)

    1971-1980AdventureComedyIndiaRamesh Sippy

    Quote:
    Seeta is ill treated by her cruel aunt Kaushalya. Fed up with her atrocities, one day Seeta leaves the house and runs into Raka. Meanwhile, her look-alike, Geeta, is apprehended by the police and brought to Kaushalya. Geeta, unlike Seeta, is unafraid and soon assumes control of the house. But as fate could have it, Geeta’s cover is blown and she is arrested for impersonation. Seeta, in the meantime, is unable to meet life’s harsh demands, including dancing in the street, as was Geeta and Raka’s profession. As Geeta is got rid off, Kaushalya locates Seeta and brings her back to her life of mute slavery, abuse, and confinement.Read More »

  • John Farrow – Calcutta (1947)

    1941-1950AdventureFilm NoirJohn FarrowUSA

    Dennis Schwartz writes:
    John Farrow’s Calcutta is a fast-paced old-fashioned adventure yarn, shot entirely in Paramount’s backlot. Seton Miller does the screenplay. It’s an entertaining potboiler, though a minor work … Ladd gives an icy action-hero performance as someone who revels in his disdain for women as untrustworthy companions. By Ladd’s politically incorrect moves, he takes on the characteristics of the film noir protagonist–which gives this programmer its energy. Ladd quotes an ancient Hindu saying ‘Man who trust woman walk on duckweed over pond,’ which tells us all we want to know about how he has stayed alive for so long while in the company of dangerous women, ones like Virginia, while Bill so easily succumbed to the beauty of the femme fataleRead More »

  • Martin Rosen – Watership Down (1978)

    1971-1980AdventureAnimationMartin RosenUnited Kingdom

    A group of rabbits flee their doomed warren and face many dangers to find and protect their new home.

    Criterion essay:
    Watership Down delivers all the stuff of a solid animated adventure. Its visual style is naturalistic, even cautious, but often quietly lovely. There’s clever interplay among the nervous Fiver, the gently heroic Hazel, and the blowhard Bigwig, and there’s some genuinely funny comedy involving Zero Mostel’s extravagantly accented seagull. The climactic battle is ingenious and exciting. General Woundwort is one of the truly scary cartoon villains. That solidity gives us a comfortable place to stand while the story opens up to less familiar terrain.Read More »

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