The Sweeper (1996)

The Sweeper (1996)-* * * *

Directed by: Joseph Merhi

Starring: C. Thomas Howell, Ed Lauter, Kristin Dalton, Janet Gunn, Felton Perry, Max Slade, John P. Ryan, Kathrin Middleton, and Jeff Fahey











Ever since he was a young boy, there was no question that Mark Goddard (Howell) would become a good cop like his father Dale (Fahey). When bad guys gun down his whole family, it traumatizes him, but he grows up to become a police officer anyway - but naturally his unfortunate past has given him a chip on his shoulder and a proclivity towards violence. Sure, the recipients of said violence are criminal scum, and this allows him entry into a super-secret fraternity of criminal-killers called J.I. or “Justice Incorporated”. If you have nine kills to your credit, you are allowed entry. Even though the naturally suspicious Goddard is wary, he reluctantly joins because the leader, Molls (Lauter) is persuasive, his associate Rachel (Dalton) is seductive, and he gets to go on off-the-books missions and kill as many bad guys as he wants and still get paid. But the awesomeness of this setup quickly wears thin as Molls hides a sinister secret. All Goddard wants to do is see his son, and reconnect with his estranged wife Melissa (Gunn)...but will he get the chance before all his incredibly dangerous doings get to him first?

This is an excellent movie. God bless PM, they’ve done it again. This ranks right up there with Zero Tolerance (1994) and Last Man Standing (1996) with the best of the PM’s. C. Thomas Howell is great as the troubled cop on the edge, and while other actors in this situation would have relied on simply having a goatee, sunglasses, necklaces and a leather vest, not to mention an awesome House of Pain baseball cap (all of which he has because he‘s a badass, duh), Howell actually adds a lot of care and subtlety to his role. You can see his rage issues and suspicions without him saying anything. It really is CTH at his best. Very under-appreciated.

Speaking of things that are under-appreciated, this movie is packed with killer and hugely enjoyable stunts and action setpieces in the true PM tradition. It takes tons of work and skill to pull these things off, but they go by in such a flash, people tend not to think about all the talent, artistry and labor that goes into them. You’ve got to admit, PM brings it, and brings it hard, and you CAN’T not love it.

There’s plenty of familiar faces on show as well, besides the aforementioned CTH, Dalton, Gunn and Lauter, there’s also John Ryan of American Cyborg: Steel Warrior (1993) fame as the head of the “Concrete Lion” gang,  PM mainstay Kathrin Middleton, the legendary Felton Perry, and lastly Max Slade, who famously was one of the 3 Ninjas (1992).  Of the supporting cast, we saved the best for last: Jeff Fahey. Perhaps the only flaw in this movie is that we would have liked to see more Fahey. His role is small. But it’s important and fits the plot, we understand.

PM understands that stunts aren’t worth jack if you don’t have characters that you care about that are in danger. Thanks to some above average acting and writing, they can now marry that to their top-notch stuntwork. PM puts in actual effort and it pays off in dividends.

We wholeheartedly recommend The Sweeper!

Also check our buddies, Direct To Video Connoisseur's review and Cool Target's write-up!

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Ballistic (1995)

Ballistic (1995)-* * *

Directed by: Kim Bass

Starring: Marjean Holden, Sam Jones, Cory Everson, Richard Roundtree, James Lew, Robert Miano Michael Jai White, and Charles Napier



“Maybe you should try Nintendo!”- Claudia






Jesse Gavin (Holden) is a tough female cop who is highly effective and dedicated. She works for an elite squad known as UCT to take down all the slime on the seamy side of Hollywood. As if this wasn’t enough, she has to deal with sexism on the force, not the least of which comes from associate Woo (Lew) and his buddies. Her Captain, Underwood (Napier) is sympathetic, especially because her father, Harold (Roundtree) was framed and put in prison for twenty years. 

 It seems the source of most of her - as well as the city’s - misery comes from one man, the arrogant, smarmy jerkface known as Nick Braden (Jones). Braden is a “businessman” who has his fingers in every illegal activity you can name. He even sends out his girlfriend, Claudia (Everson) to enforce for him (keep in mind she’s more muscular than most men). Not only that, he stages illegal Punchfighting matches for the amusement of him and his buddies, using Quint (White) as one of his preferred fighters. When Jesse is blamed for some of Braden’s bad deeds, she teams up with the people she trusts most to bring him down. Will she succeed?

Ballistic is classic 90’s video-store action through and through. It has a solid B-movie cast of familiar names, and even tries to put a “sexy” spin on things that would make it right at home on the Cinemax of the day. It has all the action and cliches ("It’s an election year!", etc.) we know and love. Sure, it has some awkward dialogue and a few awkwardly-staged fight scenes, but so what? That’s to be expected and we’re not interested in perfection. Plus it was director Bass’ first feature film.

James Lew gave a lot to the action movie of the 90’s, and here he is again, this time sporting an impressive ponytail. Richard Roundtree is in prison again, just like in Bloodfist 3 (1992). His role as Jesse’s father is one of the better ones in the movie. Charles Napier does a quasi-sit-down role as the Captain. Sam Jones puts in his second-most evil performance (next to In Gold We Trust, how could he ever top that?). Robert Miano is in pretty much everything and here he appears in a small role as one of Braden’s buddies.

Cory Everson almost steals the movie as Claudia, putting in a muscular and well-defined performance (yuk yuk). As for the star of the show, Marjean Holden, she could have been the Pam Grier of the 90’s. Or the action movie Halle Berry. She carries the movie well and makes a good hero. It was great seeing her go rogue, and she should have done more work like this. But the real star of the show is the green, angry-looking punching bag with its arms out ready to attack you. “Punchy”, as he is no doubt nicknamed, deserved a bigger and better career.

It was nice to see some surprise Punchfighting, we weren’t expecting that. Braden is so evil, he doesn’t even invite a “select clientele” to view the fighting, it’s just himself and a few of his friends. Also he has a license plate that says “BRADEN”. In case there was any doubt, that’s how you KNOW he’s evil. It was nice to see Michael Jai White in an early role. Sure, he couldn’t hope to save Universal Soldier: The Return (1999), but here you can truly see his fighting prowess.  

In an interesting coincidence, both Holden and Napier starred together in the Punchfighting episode of the TV show Renegade. As for the gunplay, the sounds used and the muzzle flashes are pretty weak and laughable. It looks like toy cap guns. But again, it’s more about the spirit than the technical issues.

As for the tape itself, it was released by Imperial Entertainment. We’re taking an educated guess that it was a fairly limited release, because this tape is rare and not often seen in video stores. The tape we were able to view wasn’t of the best quality, and maybe that’s why.  Perhaps Imperial got gun-shy and tamped down the number of copies they released to stores.

Thankfully, it’s all done with a sense of humor, which makes Ballistic definitely entertaining and watchable.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett