Retro Reviews – An Intro

As a child, I remember spending my Saturday and Sunday afternoons sitting in front of a 13” tv in my room, with the two knobs to change the channel, U-12 and 12-64, watching movies on the local fox affiliate WCCB and another local station WJZY.  They always showed two or three movies ranging from blockbuster movies to B-grade cinema.  This established my love for movies such as Predator, Aliens, and Robocop, and probably had a good bit to do with my fondness of cult classics.

I can remember wanting to be a ninja from watching American Ninja 2:  The Confrontation with Michael Dudikoff.  Had I seen the first American Ninja?  Of course not!  But these movies were so cheesy, that knowledge of the plot wasn’t strictly needed.  I will say that American Ninja 3:  Blood Hunt wasn’t as good, but that may have been from Michael Dudikoff not returning.

In short, there’s a lot of older movies I grew up watching and still enjoy.  How many times have I seen Aliens?  Couldn’t tell you, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was in triple digits.  With this series of reviews, I will take a look at movies I grew up with, or are at least from that time period or before, and try to give them critical reviews through fresh eyes.  Will they hold up?  Is my love for them rooted more in nostalgia than in quality filmmaking?  Keep reading, and let’s find out together.