Considering the major talents involved here, one would expect to find something more than a run-of-the-mill crime thriller. In a sense one does, for 8 MILLION WAYS TO DIE is a paralyzingly inept film.

Caustic, vivid, and without question the best major film about recent conflicts in Latin America.

Ultimately, LEGEND--a pet project of Scott's that took years to research, shoot, and edit--is done in by the director's ambition. What might have been a pleasantly innocuous children's story becomes an enormous, lumbering FX machine into which the actors, particularly a nervous Tom Cruise, seem to disappear.

Relentlessly grim, At Close Range offers a frightening glimpse at the dark side of American life and poses disturbing questions about family ties. Unfortunately, although director James Foley handles the performances with skill, he also indulges in too many flashy directorial pyrotechnics, muting the emotional impact.

A visually inventive and energetic pop musical.

Often funny, though just as often tasteless.

Though it is silly, sleazy, and graphically violent, The Toxic Avenger does hold a bit of warped charm for fans of this sort of thing.

One of the most enjoyable films of the summer, Critters harks back to the low-budget science fiction films of the 1950s and balances the thrills with heavy doses of humor.

Although the first hour of BAND OF THE HAND is fairly engrossing as we watch the rowdy, explosive teens slowly discover self-worth, respect for others, and teamwork under the stern guidance of Lang, the rest of the film dissolves into a teenage DIRTY DOZEN that seems to condone and encourage vigilantism. Major conceptual problems aside, BAND OF THE HAND does feature a solid performance by Lang.

Director Stephen Frears and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi have fashioned a wonderfully fresh examination of the political and racial climate of Margaret Thatcher's Britain.

It's hard to believe A Room With a View cost so little; the costumes and sets are dazzling and the acting is superb--from two-time Oscar-winner Smith to the smallest role, there's not a false note.

On paper it looks like a bad idea for a comedy, but on film it looks even worse.

Seltzer's characters are real; and Haim, Green, and Sheen play them wonderfully. As a result LUCAS is not just a film for teenagers but for anyone who has ever been a teenager.

Conner's screen debut is inauspicious--to put it kindly--in the quality of both his acting and the material chosen, and someone else is obviously doing his riding.

Clever enough; but, as is the case with all stalk-and-slash films, it becomes repetitive and boring very quickly.

While there is some imagination behind the destruction of the title abode, the film quickly grows into a tired repetition of one long joke.

Nudity and foul language make this off limits to children. Downright stupidity makes it off limits to adults.

Sure, the humor is witless and the gags are often inane, but, given the quality of its predecessors, POLICE ACADEMY 3: BACK IN TRAINING has the dubious honor of being the funniest of the series to date.

There is nothing original or especially interesting about this film, though in-jokes abound.

With its unpretentious moral tale of good and evil, CARE BEARS MOVIE II does a good job of meeting the needs and expectations of its target audience.

As poorly animated features go, this one ranks down there with the worst of them. The characters have no real personalities, and the whole thing is just too somber for its own good.

Working from a screenplay that drew on scriptwriter Fusco's experience as an itinerant young blues man, Hill and cinematographer Bailey perfectly capture the look and feel of the Mississippi Delta, heretofore little seen on film.

Though not without problems, Desert Hearts is a triumph for director Donna Deitch and an inspiration for any independent filmmaker.

TROUBLE IN MIND is offbeat, unique, and interesting, and for that alone it should be noted. It is a shame that none of the elements ever come together, so this film winds up being a beautiful, atmospheric mess.

While the script contains trite and unbelievable dialogue, the superbly convincing performances make up for these faults.

As so often happens in Hollywood, what is advertised as daring and provocative turns out to be glib, essentially tame, and largely soporific.

Feature debuts don't come much better than director Robert Harmon and screenwriter Eric Red's sleek, dream-like thriller about a naïve college boy who crosses paths with devil in the flesh after taking a wrong turn on some lost highway.

Golan barely touches on the fundamental conflicts that created the situation there and simply offers a pack of wild-eyed, swarthy Arabs preying on passive, middle-aged Jews represented by the likes of Winters, Balsam, Bishop, and Kazan. Such horrors do happen, but they do not have to be presented as a cartoon.