Nanna Op Het Weld in Limburgia (2017) in 720p

Linda Fiorentino in Beyond the Law (1992) in 1080hd

Beyond the Law (1992) is about a cop who was raised by an abusive cop uncle, was fired by a corrupt police chief, and became an undercover narc infiltrating a biker gang. Along the way, he nearly decided that he liked bikers better than cops, but his work eventually led to record-breaking numbers of arrests. The head of the bikers is played by Michael Madsen, and the undercover cop is Charlie Sheen. Along the way, the cop meets and beds a photo-journalist doing a story on the bikers, and this role is played by Linda Fiorentino.

Beyond the Law is "based on a true story," which is to say that the names and places have been changed, but the essential core of the story really happened. According to the DVD special features, writer/director Larry Ferguson found out about Black's story from an article in Playboy. The same "production notes" mention that the story actually took place in Northern California around 1975. Given that fact, I tried to find out more about Dan Black, the real-life cop who was the model for "Dan Saxon," the main character in the film. I couldn't find a damned thing. The only relevant result from Google was a listing for Dan Black as a technical advisor on this movie. An Arizona biker gang called the Dirty Dozen also acted as technical advisors on the film.

I guess ol' Dan and the bikers did some good technical advisin', because this film has been widely praised for realism by both law enforcement officers and those familiar with biker gangs. The law enforcement types feel that the film did a good job of showing the physical and psychological perils of undercover police work, and Dan Black himself praised both the director and Charlie Sheen for an accurate recreation of the traumatic experiences he faced. The bikers were equally impressed by the film's presentation of motorcycle gang life. Both groups agree that Charlie Sheen and writer/director Larry Ferguson went to great trouble to portray the details accurately.

I do appreciate the film's in-depth development of character and atmosphere, and I was at least neutral about its symbolism, mysticism, and dime-store psychology, but I could have done without the long, wordless shots of guys, riding ... riding ... riding. (Or assembling engines!) If it were my call, I'd prefer the 108-minute film to be shorter and the script to be more economical.

Having made that point, I should add that the film has some great moments. My favorite scene occurred when Sheen wanted to warn his biker pal about an upcoming police raid. He had told his girlfriend the previous night that he would try to warn the man because "He saved my life." She responded, quite properly, "He saved Sid's (his biker alter ego's) life. Do you even know the difference any more?" Unconvinced by that argument, Sheen was still planning to warn the biker, only to have the guy put off their heart-to-heart so he could rob a convenience store and kill the young female clerk mercilessly. Sheen, of course, was shocked by the murderous action, but also shocked at himself for ever having thought that the cold-blooded psychotic was his friend. After the murder, of course, he scrapped his plans to deliver a warning. That sequence of events seems to me to capture perfectly the inner conflicts facing those who do undercover work.

Linda Hamilton in Black Moon Rising (1986) in 1080hd

The titular Black Moon is an experimental car that, despite looking like a cross between the Adam West Batmobile and a particularly silly bumper car from your local carnival, breaks land speed records and runs off of water. Linda Hamilton plays a car thief who is charged by her evil car-stealin' parent organization, run by the man from U.N.C.L.E. with his usual hammy menace, to steal the Black Moon prototype.

Meanwhile, in another movie, Tommy Lee Jones plays a thief who works freelance for the government. He is assigned to grab the tax records of a company under federal investigation. He succeeds, but foolishly hides them in the Black Moon auto. Why does this make sense? It absolutely does not, but if he had not done so, the movie would be over. Since he did, Hamilton promptly steals the car which houses the tapes, and the two movies join hands. In the process of getting the tape for the feds, Jones has to steal Black Moon back, gets into a dreary high-speed chase, gets beat up, and beds Hamilton.

If you have not yet seen this one, you should be grateful that you have been granted 90 minutes of extra life to enjoy. It ticks off every box on the cliche list. One reviewer who watched the film theatrically noted that the audience laughed out loud several times during the movie - during scenes not intended to be funny.