The King of Comedy (1982) Review

The King of Comedy is directed by Martin Scorsese, and is about a young stand-up comedian wanting to enter the game by trying to star on Jerry Langford’s show. It stars Robert De Niro as Rupert Pupkin (the young stand-up comedian) and Jerry Lewis as Jerry Langdord.

Robert De Niro is excellent in the film, this is a true testament to his ability. He plays the character so well that I believed that he could be a stand-up comedian, not De Niro playing a character. He never looked like he was trying, he always looked effortless playing this role. Because of that he gets your attention, especially mine straight away, never giving me the opportunity to make me stop staring. It shows that Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese were a perfect match and can complement each other so well. He was also very funny in the film when he had to. There are other actors and actresses that also grab the eye, notably Jerry Lewis, who gave a solid performance as a talk show host that does not want interactions with his fans. Sandra Bernhard, an actress I don’t really know did a good performance, she played a convincing women who stalks and obsesses herself with Jerry Langford. But there is no doubt that Robert De Niro was the star man, it was truly a stellar performance.

I liked the concept of the film with Robert De Niro’s character not giving up, even when the odds were against him, he does some crazy things to get what he wants but when he does, he never lets it go and makes it count. I found the way Martin Scorsese represents showbiz as true with some stars that will say anything to get the fans but then not repay them back (but not true to all of course). Or that the business will take on anyone with a bit of fame, shown by the actions Rupert Pupkins commits but still getting a reward.

I did have an issue, the film felt a bit repetitive, with Rupert Pupkins always trying to get the attention of Jerry Langord. Of course the film does not hold over other Scorsese films which a far better but it is a great gem to watch.

Overall The King of Comedy is great, funny, and sometimes repetitive, that has a good story, with fantastic acting by Robert De Niro. It is a shame that it is a forgotten Scorsese classic and The King of Comedy shall get 8/10

The Terminator (1984) Review

Terminator is directed by acclaimed director James Cameron and is about a Terminator, which is basically a cyborg, coming back in time to the year 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, while a human soldier from the future also comes back in time to protect her

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The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, and Michael Bien as Kyle Reese. With the film being only 1 hour and 40 minutes long, the duration was fine. The film is all action, which means it doesn’t need to be any longer, because any longer then the film drags. I believe the films sole purpose was to be a great action film, nothing else not romance or drama, no, just an action film. Which it achieves, many viewers might say that the love connection between Linda Hamilton (Sarah Connor) and Michael Bien (Kyle Reese) was a big part of the story. I’ll agree that it is a big part but it is not presented as a big part in the film, they only had one romance scene and that was it. The story is straight forward and doesn’t ask questions, it just gives the viewer’s action. For me this wasn’t a big deal because I wanted to watch this film so I can just see people get shot and stuff get blown up, and I got that, so I’m satisfied. But for others who do want more than one element then it might be boring for you, and a little repetitive.

The acting from the main three actors was satisfying, it didn’t blow me away where I could not stop thinking about their performance, they all did their part well. But Arnold’s performance is more of the memorable ones out of the lot, maybe because in the film he’s a man (or cyborg) that has little words, which is credit to his acting ability because he fits the Terminator character so well ,but when he does open his mouth magical one liner come out (“I’ll be back”). And let’s be honest we know Arnold more than anyone from Terminator because of his one liners. Going back to the other characters, I actually thought that Sarah Conner was going to be some whiny person that does nothing but whine, so I give credit to James Cameron and the other writers for not going down that road and making Sarah Conner likable.

What I did find a shame was that we didn’t see more of the Terminator without its artificial flesh because it looked awesome. I wanted to see it hold a gun or crush someone but to be fair watching the terminator walk, I don’t think they could have pulled it off. I’m not faulting the special effects team because probably back in the 80s the terminator walking would have look real (maybe).    

I enjoyed this movie as I went to watch it wanting all action and I got that, I did not care that the story lacked any other element. If you are wanting to watch this thinking you’ll challenge your mind or get a dialogue based movie then you probably won’t enjoy it, but for me I found entertaining and will give it 8.5/10