The gorgeous Elizabeth McGovern makes up for the sketchiness with rare depth of feeling.

The situation might have seemed merely a script writer's contrivance except that Howard Franklin ("The Name of the Rose") has fashioned a plot that is both convincing and affecting. Director Ridley Scott happily keeps the human situation in the foreground while exercising his remarkable visual talent. [5 Nov 1987]

First-time director Ben Bolt, son of writer Robert Bolt, evokes excitement with the gambling scenes, but the climactic shooting is poorly staged, and the epilogue is a letdown. [21 Oct 1987]

Real Men is a far-out farce about male bonding and role reversals that sinks under the weight of its own absurdity. [16 Jun 1988]

Seeing Hamburger Hill is like watching the 6 o'clock news almost two decades ago. Part of this reality is due to the special effects, which were coordinated by Joe Lombardi. The napalm sears the screen; the tracers rip right through it. [14 Oct 1987]

Brilliant and hilarious. [29 July 1987]

It is a slick, well-acted mystery with enough stomach-turning horror to make The Exorcist seem G-rated.

Hill is a modern-day Peckinpah. But is there really a need for this pointless, graphic violence in the 1980s? Is this escapism, or is it just a distasteful, needless reflection of what has become horrifyingly common in the real world?

The original screenplay by Stanley Weiser (based on a story by Weiser and Lasker) offers intriguing situations, and Jonathan Kaplan's direction hurries the action along. Perhaps because he has covered the same territory before, Broderick's performance is surprisingly flat. Helen Hunt fares better, especially in her scenes with Willie. [18 June 1987]

The film may not be top-drawer Reynolds, but it is superior to most of today's action films. [30 Apr 1987]

Richard Donner (Superman) directed with an expert eye for action but impaired vision for logic. The climax comes with a samurai-like duel between Gibson and Busey while Glover and fellow officers watch. This is the crowning absurdity. [03 Apr 1987]

This predictable family drama leads up to an equally predictable battle of goliaths who fight with one arm only. Over the Top boasts one distinction: it is the first major movie about arm-wrestling. Don't look for a cycle to follow. [23 Mar 1987]

Light of Day flounders because of Schrader's simplistic symbolism: the rebellious children, the unhearing mother, the lifeless father. The story limps from one predictable scene to the next. [17 Mar 1987]

Radio Days maintains a joyful balance between reality and a world of dreams. [14 Mar 1987]

The ecological message is commendable, and there are some amusing situations with the space travelers in contemporary scenes. Nimoy's direction keeps a lively pace and the special effects are state of the art, as always. [08 Jan 1987]

Roland Joffe has directed an earnest and well-meaning film but the crushing inevitability of the climax makes it a less than rewarding experience. [17 Dec 1986]

Soul Man isn't designed for realism, nor does it aim at any lofty moral. It was concocted strictly for laughs, and it delivers an adequate number. [24 Dec 1986]

In terms of human understanding, the film is worth dozens of documentaries on deafness. [10 Dec 1986]

Whether these Hollywood touches will make the film appealing to the Rambo crowd is doubtful. By all means, read the book first. [24 Sept 1986]

A taut, even thoughtful thriller that offers 90 minutes of almost unrelieved tension. The plot is full of unexpected turns, the acting is terrific and the direction holds attention throughout. No "Cobra," this. [1 Oct 1986]

Flight of the Navigator won't earn a place among Disney's classics, but it's a perfectly entertaining sci-fi movie that does a creditable job with the stale human-meets-alien theme. [18 Sep 1986]

First-time director Arnold Zwick does a fine job of capturing the vitality of the singles scene. [30 July 1986]

If you have a twisted sense of humor and like cheap thrills, you'll probably love Psycho III. [14 Aug 1986]

Just when you thought that sophistication had vanished from the silver screen, along comes Legal Eagles to gladden the heart and charge the intellect. [16 July 1986]

A disturbingly vivid new film by Neil Jordan for George Harrison's Handmade Films. It is distinguished by a riveting performance by Bob Hoskins, who was named best male performer at the recent Cannes Film Festival. He is certain to receive Academy consideration early next year.

Despite the gripping action scenes and a mostly witty, mile-a-minute, off-color script, the movie ultimately fails to produce the emotional tug of other films about journalists in war, particularly Roland Joffe's "The Killing Fields" and Peter Weir's "The Year of Living Dangerously."The script borders on pompous silliness when Boyle launches into a diatribe on American hypocrisy, and unbelievable sentimentality when Salvadoran rebels are shown in heroic poses as Latin American folk songs ring out in the background... Nevertheless, "Salvador" still has the gritty, violent quality shared by other films by Stone: "Midnight Express" and "Scarface." None of these films is easy to watch, but each keeps you glued to the screen.

Ivory glides his players through magnificent Italian and English landscapes and in drawing rooms that breathe authenticity. Two scenes are unforgettable: when the two lovers witness a violent stabbing scene in the Florence piazza; and when the heroine, her mother and fiance encounter three of the male characters in an innocent nude frolic in a wooded pond. [1 May 1986]

With the help of Williams' quirky charm and a rock-solid performance by Kurt Russell, the feat is made believable. Well, most of the time. [3 Feb 1986]