I wish this would have been a straight-to DVD release

Rating: Null/10 (21 August 2010)

Yes, I know. That statement deserves an explanation. After all, this is the movie we all dreamed of in the 80s. So why, then, do I wish this was a straight to DVD?
Well, because, quite frankly, I saw this at the cinema last weekend. It was money well worth, and probably the most enjoyable film I've seen all decade. It might not be deep, it might not be too stylish, but there are times when some coarse, honest action is just the thing you want to see. But going into the cinema, I realized just how out of place this feels on the silver screen.
I am fairly confident that even Winston Churchill himself would have felt the urge to call over a bunch of the guys, order some pizza and open some beers just so he could watch this movie the way it was meant to: in the living room, on the sofa, burping loudly, with a can of Budweiser in one hand, the remote in the other and pausing every 10 minutes to say "that's awesome"
But, going into the cinema to see this, I felt somehow awkward for enjoying it. And I got the feeling that most of the other people did too. Were they embarrassed for being seen watching a B movie? Or just unwilling to show their wives and girlfriends just how much they failed to grow up since the 80s? I don't know, and I don't care either way, because I enjoyed it beyond words. But, in that huge, dark and surprisingly silent room, there wasn't that same feel I had back then, in the glory days of action movies, when renting a Stallone or Schwarzenegger VHS tape was the social event of the week for my generation.
In the end, it's solid piece of entertainment, that critics might never dignify it with anything more than a gilded raspberry, but who cares? If you ever liked this kind of movie, you might want to lock up your family for the day, throw away the key, and go see it now. My advice, however, would be to avoid the theater, and the next time you go out for a beer, bring the guys over and stop by a DVD rental on your way...