Dick Ebert

We all remember the big explosions and daring stunts in “Speed,” but some of the biggest risks had nothing to do with the on-screen mayhem. Hiring Ted “Theodore” Logan as an action star? Casting Jeff Daniels as a grizzled police vet? Letting Dennis Hopper anywhere near explosives? Mega-commissioner Jackson M....

This spoof comedy takes shots at the slew of disaster movies that were released in the 70s. When the passengers and crew of a jet are incapacitated due to food poisoning, a rogue pilot with a drinking problem must cooperate with his ex-girlfriend turned stewardess to bring the plane to a safe landing.

When warrior Beowulf (Christopher Lambert) learns that the inhabitants of the Outpost are being killed by a monstrous creature named Grendel, he offers to help the king, Hrothgar (Oliver Cotton), fight off the beast. The beleaguered fighters are grateful for his help, but a warrior named Roland (Gotz Otto) grows jealous of Beowulf when he sees him with the king’s daughter (Rhona Mitra). As Beowulf learns more about Grendel, he realizes how much danger they all are in.

A high-school hero returns from the dead to take revenge against the psychotic drag racer who killed him. The murdered boy transforms himself into a hi-tech spirit in black leathers and sets out to do battle with a gang of desert-based car thieves led by the man who destroyed him.

Police officers Ray Tango (Sylvester Stallone) and Gabe Cash (Kurt Russell) are narcotics experts working to bring down drug lord Yves Perret (Jack Palance). In an attempt to stymie their efforts, Perret sets up Tango and Cash, making it look as if they’ve killed an FBI agent. Arrested and put in prison, the two cops formulate an escape plan and, once out, team up with Tango’s exotic dancer sister, Katherine (Teri Hatcher), in order to clear their records and takedown Perret once and for all.

Dorothy discovers she is back in the land of Oz, and finds the yellow brick road is now a pile of rubble, and the Emerald City is in ruins. Discovering that the magical land is now under the control of an evil empire, she sets off to rescue the scarecrow, the tin man and the lion with the help of her new friends.

When a young woman is killed by a shark while skinny-dipping near the New England tourist town of Amity Island, police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) wants to close the beaches, but mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) overrules him, fearing that the loss of tourist revenue will cripple the town. Ichthyologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and grizzled ship captain Quint (Robert Shaw) offer to help Brody capture the killer beast, and the trio engages in an epic battle of man vs. nature.