Four of the best ... 1997
It was the year the world mourned Princess Diana, Scotland voted to create its own Parliament and IBM’s Deep Blue defeated chess champion Garry Kasparov. Film-wise, in 1997 Harrison Ford became President in Air Force One, Bruce Willis wore Jean Paul Gaultier in The Fifth Element and Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith joined forces for Men In Black. However, after looking back through the archives, Stuff to Watch has come up with a list of four fab flicks that are turning 25 this year (and where you can watch them).
Face/Off (Disney+)
Just shading high-octane prison plane actioner Con Air for the craziest Nicolas Cage title of the year, John Woo’s sci-fi-infused thriller offers the mind-bending premise of Cage and John Travolta’s characters swapping each others phizogs. Essentially, its a re-run of Heat’s enmity between a law enforcement agent and a career criminal, as FBI Agent Sean Archer assumes the identity of freelance terrorist and homicidal sociopath Castor Troy to ascertain some vital attack-averting information.
The Full Monty (Disney+)
Part of the mid-to-late 90s re-examination of Britain’s troubled times a decade earlier under Margaret Thatcher, this ebullient comedy focuses on a group of recently unemployed Sheffield steel workers who decide to reinvent themselves as an unlikely troupe of male strippers. The film that turned Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy and Tom Wilkinson into international stars, it also balanced some seriously funny situations with surprisingly frank discussions of important social issues and a toe-tapping soundtrack.
LA Confidential
(Amazon Prime Video) Russell Crowe and Kim Basinger (left), Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, Danny DeVito and Kevin Spacey were all part of the magnificent ensemble that director Curtis Hanson assembled for this adaptation of James Ellory’s 1990 novel of the same name. Set in the tempestuous and increasingly corrupt world of the City of Angels circa 1953, it follows the fortunes of three policemen as they investigate a series of murders.
Starship Troopers (Disney+)
After the much derided Showgirls, Dutch director Paul Verhoeven decided to go back to doing what he did best – parodying Hollywood’s obsession with sex and violence. He found the perfect platform in Robert A. Heinlein’s 1959 novel about humans in a fascistic, militaristic future who are caught up in a life-or-death struggle with giant alien bugs. While the action is thrilling, it’s the subversive humour that really stays with you.