In The Land of Saints and Sinners

T

Tom Roper

Veteran
I can't say I'm a Liam Neeson fan, but this action thriller was more authentic, genuine and period correct. The Irish Coast scenics were beautiful and abundant. The peaceful visuals offset the violence characteristic of Liam's movies, western themed in the Irish way. The accents were thick and Liam portrayed his versatility as an actor. It was an uncomplicated story with the right amount of suspense and pacing that maintained my interest.

Afterward came Mission Impossible, The Final Reckoning. That was a terrible movie, and way too long.
 
You can scarcely call Mission Impossible movies movies anymore. They're more like a collection of stunts with top notch cinematography. I do remember liking the scene where they're scaling up a train car as it plummets into a river. That was this film, right? A couple entries ago there was a scene in one take where Henry Cavill is knocked unconscious while parachuting. I loved that scene. The cinematography for the upcoming release looks fantastic. I'm sure the plot won't be.

The original mission impossible was fantastic.
 
I didn't make it through, woke up when the credits were playing. I do remember the scene of the train car hanging, thinking it was stupid. Kittridge was in this movie, as in the very first, the one filmed in Prague which I loved, and Jon Voight as Phelps but Dead Reckoning was a bad movie. The cinemetography, or filmography in, "In The Land of Saints and Sinners" was honestly much better, authentic.
 
If there is one impressive aspect to the recent Mission Impossible series, is that the stunts are real or some of them, I can't say and Tom Cruise is doing them. Not since Hal Needham or Robert Conrad but I thinks he's topped them easily. I hope he doesn't get caught or killed, should he choose to accept the mission. The theme song from Lalo Schifrin is magic, and the redux's are nice too.
 
Have you watched Bullitt? Lalo Schifrin does those music scores as well, and Dirty Harry, just classic. Bullitt was a pretty decent period piece too, good movie, plenty of plot holes but had some realism about it, technology for the day, a good suspense thriller. Steve McQueen was super cool, maybe the Tom Cruise of his era, doing (most) of his own driving. The real driving star however, was in the black Charger, Bill Hickman, who also drove in The French Connection and the The Seven Ups.

Bullitt is definitely worth a rewatch or two, not just the chase scene but Robert Duvall, Robert Vaughn and Jacqueline Bisset, good plot and acting, wonderful cinematography in the beautiful S.F. Bay area.
 
The Liam Neeson film, I watched maybe 6 months ago. It was OK and was a change of style and pace. I liked the matter of fact ending which didn't fit what Hollywood would demand but was certainly plausible; so were most of the characters.

I am a sucker for the scenery. When I stayed at a cottage in Rossbeigh we drove to Dingle and discovered a tiny impression in the rock cliff of a beach cove. I got a feeling similar to deja vu that was strong. We also got a strong feeling to get a move on or we'd be statistics because the tide was quickly coming in and we'd be trapped in that little 'cave;.

Years later I corroborated it was indeed the spot of a scene from Ryan's Daughter, a 70's film. It looked a lot bigger in the film. What doesn't? Inch Beach, Kerry, Ireland.
 
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