Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man

source: Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man

Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man

Harley and The Marlboro man are your typical western heroes in this. Kind of like Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Is this one of the last great B Movies to made and they say that this didn't do anything good for Mickey Rourke's career. That is true but that doesn't make it a bad film. It's as straight as it is going to get as far as storytelling goes. Harley goes back to his hometown after two years to see his best friend The Marlboro Man played by Don Johnson and to see the place where he grew up is under the threat of closure and has to come up with $2 million to save it. He rustles up all his old pals including the Marlboro Man to rob the bank and of course it goes al horribly wrong and realise the people they stole from are actually the people they need to pay the $2 million dollars to, so it doesn't get much simpler than that really. You have your thrills and chills during the movie but the characters that are brought to life through Rourke and Johnson make this film all the worth while as there are some incredible exciting action sequences. There is also some nice tender moments between the two main characters were they share each thoughts on the philosophy of life which also makes this intruding to watch. Do not expect a masterpiece or the best action comedy ever. I think it is worthy of that title but others won't and never will but this is a good story of friendship and is a lot better than most B-movies which come your way these days.

There are some movies that perfectly encapsulate the late 80's, early 90's epitome of trash bag, chromed up, machismo soaked, violently silly over the top theme park ride vibe of the action genre at that time. Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man is a perfect example of that. It's a down and dirty sleazeball flick that is just so fun. Mickey Rourke plays Harley, a biker cowboy on a steel horse who makes his way back to a slightly futuristic LA to reconnect with his old barfly friends, including the rodeo riding Marlboro Man (Don Johnson). Rourke claims he only did this one for the dough, but I call bullshit. He has such a ball with his leathery tan, cocky prick attitude and spiked hair it's impossible he wasn't invested, even in a purely camp form. Don Johnson is slick and deadly as his trigger happy buddy Marlboro. Between quips, fist and gunfights, smoking and boozing, they try to exact revenge on the tyrannical big city banker (Tom Sizemore) who laid waste to their friends inner city bar. Sizemore is no stranger to dangerous, mean spirited roles, and he plays the megalomaniac financier with a razor sharp, homicidal calm that's giddily entertaining. A young Tia Carrere shows up as his sultry assistant, as well as work from Daniel Baldwin, Kelly Hu, Vanessa Angel and Chelsea Field. It's no smart action flick, but it's a brutal, tongue in cheek modern western with dusty, broken glass and whiskey soaked style that will entertain anyone who has nostalgia for that era of action movies.

Harley Davidson (Mickey Rourke) and Marlboro (Don Johnson) along with their pals Jimmy, Jose and Jack Daniels rob a bank transport carrying two and a half million dollars to save the local bar they frequent from closing down. Turn out they picked the wrong transport and snagged drugs instead so now Chance (Tom Sizemore) sends his henchmen, including Daniel Baldwin after them. This is a vastly under-rated film, lambasted by critics when it was first was released unfairly. Mickey Rourke, just like he would over a decade later in "Sin City" OWNS this movie. My Grade: B Eye Candy: Chelsia Fields shows ass; Mitzi Martin and Bobbie Tyler show breasts and buns

Look, this movie is one of the most fun movies I've ever watched. Its not some heady uber intelligent movie for one to contemplate and discuss afterwards what the other possible motives might be in the characters. Its for quoting not discussing. Its a buddy movie, its fun and it was in my opinion well done by all with good performances from a majority of the cast. If its on i cant help but watch it if only to see a couple of the great quotes in it as well as the action. I hope Mickey doesn't truly feel like a sell out for this movie because it was in fact a very well done movie and something that was a great deal of fun for many people that were even already fans from as far back as 9.5 weeks.

In a version of "Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid" made for the nineties, this buddy-movie finds Mickey Rourke and Don Johnson in some of their most unwatchable work. Harley and Marlboro rob a bank to save the bar in which they love to get drunk, only to find they've accidentally stolen mob dough, and naturally, lots of one-liners and violence result. The attempted character-depth conversations between Harley and the Marlboro Man atop a billboard and elsewhere are boring and cheesy, while the action takes up the rest of the film. However, the film is easily comparable to "Butch and Sundance"...the latter was great, while this is pointless.

Or in this case, a DVD case. I read a few positive reviews on this movie and thought i'd give it a shot. I should have listened to instinct. Better yet, I should have listened to the girl at the checkout counter at the rental store. It's hard to tell who gives the worst performance, Rourke or Johnson. Both are bad. The action scenes are bad, real bad. In fact, I can't find one thing about this film that I liked. Cliché after cliché, bad line after bad line, I thought it would never end. I somehow stuck it out as I have been known to give up on a movie when it's really bad. I should have given up on this one. I wished I had been able to catch this on TV. Maybe I could have saved my 3 bucks. Now i'm out 3 bucks and 2 hours.

Not one line of dialogue, not one frame of film, nothing about this piece of crap was entertaining. Don Johnson should be ashamed, Mickey Rourke probably said, "another lousy acting performance, nothing new for me." The action scenes were pitifully set up looking; a 5 year old couldn't get excited over this boring humdrum silliness. After emptying a trash can full of banana magazines at the 2 "heroes", one would think professional hitmen could put at least one round where they wanted it. Absolute trash - 0 out of 10.

Harley Davidson and the Malboro Man had the potential to be a pretty decent "Man's Man" movie, but it took too long to get started. Then, once it did get good, and the story got interesting, it fails at about the point our heroes and their relentless nemeses decided to be too invincible. Harley Davidson (Mickey Rourke) and the Malboro Man (Don Johnson, hubba! hubba!) are the subject of our story as two loner heroes. Their "rugged terrain" in their Texas town, one that motorcycle riders and cowboys love--dirt roads, dust, etc--is being overrun by skyscrapers. Amidst their routine bar brawl and pool hustling, they learn that their close friend's bar, the 'Rock N' Roll Bar', is facing a tough financial crises because, with all the development in town, rents are on the rise. The bar owner's five year lease is now $2.5 million, and without it, his landlord is threatening to shut him down. So, Harley Davidson gets the bonehead idea that he and his buddies, including Malboro Man should rob the bank. Only, what they steal turns out to be blue bricks of "Crystal Dream." The bank CEO (I guess that's what he is), played by Tom Seizemore, orders his three invincible goons in bulletproof Matrix-like trench coats to get back their stash--no matter what. Harley Davidson and Malboro Man think they're just going to hold the junk ransom and order that the bank goons pay $2.5 million and that will be the end of it. No way. ****SPOILERS BEYOND**** There's too many far-fetched action sequences that for me, ruined the makings of a pretty decent action flick. For example, when Harley and Malboro stow away on a plane to Las Vegas, their trench coat-wearing nemeses still magically find them. Even know the hotel where they're staying and what floor they're on. Then, Harley and Malboro, having to run for cover on the roof, decide that it would be a good idea to jump off the hotel into a swimming pool. Jumping from that height into a pool of water would be the equivalent of jumping onto concrete. They would have never survived the fall. Harley Davidson and Malboro Man (except for the very end for Malboro Man) never ever get shot despite the fusillade of gunfire they always manage to step into. The villains always carry around something like Uzi's and the heroes carry around plain old handguns. But they never get hit. There's that part in the airport graveyard where, even though one of the guys is wearing the bulletproof trench coat, and Harley and Malboro know they have to shoot him in the head, they still pierce his chest with bullets despite the trench coat. The end is even more ridiculous as Tom Seizemore is hanging out of the window by the heel of his shoe. I was just starting to enjoy the movie before all of that happened. But, that's basically what you're in for. So, if you like a movie with bar brawls, pool hustlers, *, motorcylces, and shoot outs, and can still have fun with it, despite all of those incredulous flaws, then this movie is probably good for you. I thought it was only half good.