Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

RAGE is a straight-up action flick from the guys at PM Entertainment. It stars British hard-man Gary Daniels who plays a mild-mannered school teacher who is kidnapped by a Mexican guy being chased by the members of a criminal outfit desperate to clone their own army. Daniels is experimented upon but manages to escape, at which point the film becomes a big manhunt as the bad guys try to catch him. As with many PM Entertainment movies, this film is replete with straight action scenes including plenty of fist fights and car chases. It's an easy watch for sure, but I was never quite as caught up in the story as I wanted to be, despite Daniels' best efforts to convince. Perhaps they needed some more convincing villains for this to succeed better.

Alex Thomas Gainer (Daniels) is a second grade teacher beloved by all his students. He also has a great home life with a loving wife and daughter. After leaving the house and saying "I'll be right back" (never a good sign), Gainer is carjacked and then kidnapped. He is taken to a secret lab trying to manufacture SuperSoldiers. Alex manages to escape and now he is on the run. With corrupt sheriffs, insane scientists, and tons of law enforcement after him, his story becomes a media frenzy. Even though some people died in one of the many melees, no one believes Alex's innocence - except reporter Johansen (Tigar) and his camerawoman Bobby T (McWhirter). Will Alex be able to clear his good name? It is impossible not to like Gary Daniels. He tops himself in likability here - as the good natured elementary school teacher and devoted father. PM and other companies must always use him because of this, as well as his stellar martial arts abilities. He's the perfect action star to root for. Rage is simply one big action set piece after another. It's truly non-stop stunts, explosions, shooting, and car chases (both Fruit Cart and otherwise). The angle of the experimental SuperSoldiers makes things a little different, as does the subplot about "media vultures" who convict people in the court of public opinion regardless of their guilt or innocence.Only PM could include this social satire along with its classic style of blow-ups - and include references to the show Hard Copy, the OJ trial as well as Geraldo - and also include something they often use in their movies - transvestites. It's not known why. The actor David Powledge almost steals the movie as corrupt sheriff Sherman Kelly. But sadly he's not the main baddie. It's crazy - this guy has been a character actor since the early 80's but he is virtually unknown. Some people toil in the entertainment industry their whole careers and get little to no recognition, and are great (like Powledge), and some actors are hugely popular but are annoying and talentless. You can name your own example. It's a cryin' shame. Take Luis Beckford as Sgt. Beckford in the film. He's truly an American hero.But back to the subject at hand, really the only flaw with Rage is that it needed a more prominent and more evil villain. Other than that, the movie is a wildly entertaining ride. The world of PM references itself a few times here: Last Man Standing's McWhirter appears as the camerawoman, Alex's last name, Gainer, is also Erik Estrada's last name in Night of the Wilding (1990), and in one of Rage's best scenes, there is a fight at a video store, and the store is decorated with nothing but posters from other PM movies! Now that's a store we would have loved to have visited. Apparently it was in the Long Beach mall (the whole mall scene is a standout) - although surely the local glassworkers were working overtime after these fights were over.While Rage might not be on the level of the top PM's (Zero Tolerance (1994), Last Man Standing (1996), The Sweeper (1996) and Recoil, 1998) - it still is well worth seeking out.For more action insanity, please visit: www.comeuppancereviews.com

Well, if ever there was a definitive example of a 'mindless fun' action film then this must surely be it! The plot here is ludicrous, the acting even more so and the action scenes - well, let's just say that to call them OTT would be a dramatic understatement.......but by God - this is so damned ridiculously entertaining from start to glorious finish.Daniels plays a primary school teacher(!) who's seemingly idyllic life is one day plunged into absolute turmoil when a desperate man brandishing a gun jumps into his car and demands Daniels to help him escape from a group of decidedly shady pursuing government agents. It turns out that said agents are conducting clandestine and immoral experiments with an experimental serum designed to create a super soldier. Well, it doesn't take a prophet to foresee that our hero ends up as the next unwilling participant in these trials. Unfortunately for his captors however, our man turns out to be a tad more unruly than the previous experimentees and promptly goes crazy and kills everyone in the secret facility(!) before hightailing it out in a bid to reclaim his freedom. Needless to say, the dastardly agents can't allow any evidence of their illicit experimentation to become public knowledge and subsequently set out to eradicate all traces of their antics i.e by killing off our man!Well, there's the plot in a nutshell (what there is of it!) but really such a wafer thin notion is only present to serve as an excuse for the amazing non-stop action in this. Literally hardly a moment goes by without either a massive shoot out, Daniels displaying his awesome martial arts skills or else an insane car chase of some description.Best scenes? There's simply so many to choose from but a number stick out including a hair raising freeway chase upon Daniels' escape from the lab, the lab massacre itself, an hilarious scene in which Daniels is attacked by a mad dominatrix and her 'servant'(!) a mall shoot out which shamelessly plugs other PM output via having part of the carnage take place in a video store(!) and best of all, a truly sidesplittingly stupid (but hilariously fun) sequence in which Daniels swings from the side of a building and lands (amazingly!) on a helicopter(!!!!!) Simply insane fun from start to wonderful end - you NEED to see this!!!

Most discriminating fans will probably dismiss RAGE as just a standard action picture with better production values than most B-movies. However, amid the fireworks display of gunfire and exploding cars, RAGE is a rather caustic satire on the media. In any case, RAGE is an incredible motion picture. While the plot may be weird and convoluted, the action will have fans begging for more.Alex Gainer (Gary Daniels) lived a simple, serene life as a mister nice guy-type schoolteacher. He lives in a splendid suburban home with a beautiful wife (Fiona Hutchison) and daughter. Until one moment...will have a tremendous impact for the rest of his life...While driving home from work, Gainer is car-jacked by a menacing stranger. To be truthful, that is NOT the worst thing that could happen to him. The police arrive just in the nick of time to stop the car-jacking maniac, but instead of helping Mr. Gainer...they hold him at gunpoint. Talk about being an innocent man caught "at the wrong place at the wrong time."When crooked cops and government agents decide to kidnap Gainer for use as a guinea pig in a malicious experiment to create a new breed of "super soldiers," boy, have they picked the wrong guy to mess with! Injected with a series of virulent chemicals, Gainer begins to go berserk. Eventually, Gainer escapes, but not before slaughtering a whole bunch of security guards and government agents. Gainer is labeled as a madman, and this once popular kindergarten teacher has become the cynosure for tabloid shows everywhere. Talk about having a bad day!Only Action 12 News Reporter Harry Johansen (Kenneth Tigar) thinks that Gainer is an innocent man. With help from his camerawoman, Bobby T (Jillian McWhirter), Johansen is determined to help Gainer tell his side of the story so that there can be an end to the madness. However, how can one news reporter help save another man's life?RAGE is a stylish and stylized action film in all its glory. It features some of the most daring stunts ever pulled such as Daniels utilizing a merry-go-round to elude the bad guys. The car crashes too are so sweet! Definitely one of the most memorable scenes in this movie was when Daniels tried to flee both the police and government agents by driving a gigantic tanker. Also, you will not believe your eyes when you watch our protagonist stand on top of this truck and then leap out of the "danger zone" as soon as this same truck collides with a rampaging school bus. The chases and action scenes are quite extensive and exhaustive, with at least two sequences lasting over 15 minutes. RAGE is an action thriller on speed.In addition to the breathless action which should make RAGE a top choice for thrill seeking movie fans, the biting satire on the media and tabloid reports help make it stand out as a fine motion picture. Often in society, people become obsessed with sensationalism. Take for example, the scenario of the main character, Alex Gainer. Tabloid shows everywhere try to sensationalize the whole issue, labeling Gainer as either: A murderer, a homicidal maniac, or one of those "good people who have gone haywire for no apparent reason." The message that can be learned from RAGE is that people should not always follow sensationalism because that is not always the truth. Some reporters have a bad habit of manipulating the truth, making the truth become something "outrageous" so that they can satisfy their own desires. As noted, reporters have a tendency to tell the news from a biased point of view and in some cases, it can be extremely detrimental to the people affected by the news. People sensationalize for many reasons whether to entertain or to tarnish a person's reputation. However, as exemplified with reporter Harry Johansen, an admirable person with real strength and courage is one who does not whimsically take everybody else's words and agrees with them. Instead he or she follows his or her own heart and instincts, and searches for the real truth.The hero himself is also very noble. He stays strong because he knows that he is fighting for a worthy cause: His own freedom to exist. He fights for the right to live. The main character himself is also very sympathetic. He is a person who cares for the welfare of his family and despite the chaos he is going through, he still puts the safety of his loved ones even before himself.As much as I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, there are some foibles that must be pointed out. First, some of the editing is out of tune. In one instance, the bad guys try to grab the camera away from the reporter. In the next scene, the viewer suddenly sees the reporter and his assistant simply wave "good-bye!" What's going on here? Inept editing I suppose. Also, many of the plot elements in this movie are unbelievable. For one, how did this guy, Gainer suddenly learn martial arts? Or, how did he learn to use a machine gun for that matter? Or...where did these bad guys learn how to shoot? They cannot put a single bullet into the main hero! I also doubt that a person can survive a plunge of several feet into the inside of a building... There are other irrelevant plot mistakes which are only too common in movies of this character.Let's face it, nobody watches these movies in order to discover any interesting character revelations. They just want action. Well, RAGE delivers action all right, in a blazing full-throttle style. Never mind that this movie's plot is out of proportions. RAGE is a movie made simply for your enjoyment. The violence in this movie is insane, but hey, it's all in good fun. This satire on media sensationalism is guaranteed to make your day.RATING: *** out of ****.