Gale Force
Cast
Treat Williams .... Sam Garrett
Nikita Ager .... Kendra Darrell
Directed by
Jim Wynorski
Rater #2 has description and review.
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #2
3/10. There are two reasons why Treat Williams is a B-movie king. First is
he is not that good of an actor, and second is he always gets roles
like his in Gale Force. Campy B-movie actors are usually ok as long
as they don't try to become "real" actors, which is something that
Williams unfortunately has tried to become. Although he can portray
his campiness well in such movies as Hollywood Ending, he's better
suited in his direct-to-video type movies, such as Gale Force, in
which he's the best part.
In Gale Force, Williams plays Sam Garrett, a cop who breaks all the
rules, according to an unintentionally hilarious opening scene. Due
to that, he's on suspension, and to get back on the force, he has to
go on a new reality show called "Treasure Hunt." The host has
ulterior motives, and there's a giant storm (a gale force�get it?)
that threatens everyone. Whatever is Treat Williams to do?
I understand that this is not a movie to be taken seriously, and the
first half or so actually wasn't that bad; it was cheesily good. The
acting was horrible, and so was everything else. However, it was
entertaining, and, in some ways, an eye opener to reality shows. Once
the storm came, that's when everything fell apart. A new subplot came
in and anything enjoyable from the first half went away. It wasn't
cheesy, it was just stupid.
Although this is a minimal budget movie, you would at least think
they could get better special effects. In the opening scene, at one
part Williams is being chased by the bad guys. He has to go around a
truck, so he goes on two side wheels. How this happens is randomly he
just tilts to one side with the most obvious backlighting I have ever
seen. It was more obvious than those "special effect" rides at
Universal Studios. The hurricane looked extremely fake; yet again,
just something out of an amusement park ride. I would expect
something more from Artisan and Phoenician Entertainment.
Adding to the fakeness was also in the opening scene. When Williams
is being chased by the bad guys, they throw dynamite at him (of
course). The dynamite explodes at various times, but never the same,
especially when Williams would be killed. Another time, Williams
shoots someone who flies out of his car (did I mention that he is
also being chased by a minivan?) at a 90 degree angle and then flies
into an ice cream truck which immediately explodes. It's so bad it's
good, which is something I can't say about the abysmal second half.
Williams is actually quite good when he isn't required to act.
Sometimes the script by Steve Latshaw throws him some one-liners,
which are pretty funny. When someone asks him, "Who do we have to
f**k to get us out of here?", he replies, "Probably the pilot." This,
of course, leaves the second half, which is so bad it makes me want
to go up to Artisan (who has made quality projects like Terminator 2)
and yell in their face. If you wind up watching Gale Force, only
watch the first half. I guarantee you'll be in convulsions in the
second half.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rated R for violence and language.
Running time: ? minutes
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