Cinema Heroes

Today's episode is the sequel to John McTiernan's classic Predator. This time around the Predator is in a different kind of jungle: Los Angeles, California! Danny Glover is a hardened cop who doesn't play by the rules and has a fear of heights that plays no part in the story whatsoever, who's trying to take down local gangs but someone (or some THING) is killing gang members one by one. An interes...

Coming off the successful film The Terminator, James Cameron's next film was the sequel to Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror masterpiece Alien. Picking up right where Alien ended (kind of), Ripley finds herself having to face not just one alien but a whole nest of aliens including the Queen! With an all-star cast, this film is very different from its predecessor. Which one is better? Check out the...

Continuing our animated series, SmoothJStew returns to talk about Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero! Released in 1998, this straight-to-video movie feels more like an extended episode of Batman: The Animated Series, and that ain't a bad thing! If only the live action Batman & Robin could have had a Mr. Freeze like the one in this movie! Featuring Robin and Batgirl along with some newly introduced chara...

Back in 2007, Warner Bros animation decided to start producing animated feature films based on characters from DC Comics starting with Superman: Doomsday, based on the Death of Superman storyline. 14 years and over 50 films later, they're still pumping them out every year and personally, I'm happy they are. So let's revisit the first movie and see how it holds up after almost a decade and a half....

Following the success of the animated TV series, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was meant to be a direct-to-video movie until Warner Bros. decided to release it theatrically. They believed in the film and thought it could be a big success. It opened on Christmas Day in 1993 at #11 and went on to make over $5.6 million dollars. According to Wikipedia, that was considered a failure at the box office b...

If at first you don't succeed, try again with a different writer/director! After the financially succesful but poorly received Suicide Squad in 2016, Warner Bros. decided to try again but this time with James Gunn, who directed the two Guardians of the Galaxy movies for Marvel. Also this time around the film is R rated. With a new cast of character and a couple of returning faces, The Suicide Squa...

It's finally here! Episode 100! Thank you to everyone who has listened to us, whether you've listened since the beginning or if you're new to the podcast. We appreciate you and are incredibly thankful that you enjoy listening to us. We couldn't think of a better movie to do for our 100th episode than The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan and released in 2008. The follow up to Batman Begin...

The first Thor sequel came and went without much fanfare. This week the guys sit down to discuss the movie that some consider the worst of the MCU films. Let us know what you think of Thor: The Dark World! Watch this episode on YouTube! Cinema Heroes Instagram Facebook Twitter

Three years after the release of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford return for Indiana Jones's next adventure (Although, technically this takes place before Raiders)! A darker film than Raiders, Indy is tasked with finding a magical stone that has been stolen from a small village (along with all the children of the village). Accompanying him this time are Sho...

After a seven year wait, we finally got another, serious Batman movie. Gone were the campy, toy-sales driven, bat-nipple filled Batman movies. The fans wanted Batman taken seriously and director Christopher Nolan delivered the goods. Set in a much more realistic universe, Nolan gave us a Batman origin story, which was something we'd yet to see. It was a fantastic direction for not just Batman but...

Marvel is finally back at the movies! Black Widow was supposed to be released in the summer of 2020 but thanks to Covid, got delayed. It is finally out so Justin and special guest SmoothJStew discuss the first movie of Marvel's Phase 4. Taking place in between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Natasha is on the run from the government but can't stay hidden forever. Especially...

Jurassic Park was a huge deal. Especially to people like me who were kids when it was released. So the sequel to Jurassic Park was also a huge deal. I remember my excitement level was through the roof. Seeing the trailers and knowing there were two T-Rexes and more dinosaurs was almost too much to handle. Did it meet expectations? This one was a fun episode and we hope you enjoy it. Let us know wh...

They're back! Two Time Galaxy Savers! Director James Gunn brings back his galactic heroes for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2! Released in 2017, it was a pretty big success for Marvel and Gunn. This time around we meet Ego, who claims to be Peter's dad, played by the always cool Kurt Russell. We've also got Mantis and a few other characters introduced in this movie. A lot of people love t...

It's hard to imagine a time before Predator. Predators (and the xenomorphs from Alien) have been such a big part of pop culture for most of Justin and John's lives that it's hard to think of a world without these crazy creatures. Growing up there were the movies, the video games, the action figures, and eventually, the crossover movies! But this movie was the first to introduce the world to the Pr...

In 2014, we saw the sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man, with Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone returning and bringing villains Electro and Rhino to the big screen for the first time. Director Marc Webb also returned and the movie was met with a less than stellar reception. In fact, it would be the last Andrew Garfield Spider-Man movie before Tom Holland took the reigns. What do you think of the Spidey...

In space, no one can hear you scream. 1979 delivered Ridley Scott's Alien and started a franchise that would last for nearly forty years (so far). The first Alien movie is a sci-fi horror film and the guys discuss whether it stands the test of time. Check it out and let us know what you think of Alien! Watch this episode on YouTube! Cinema Heroes Facebook Twitter

Following Batman v Superman, we were introduced to the Suicide Squad, a team of bad guys coerced into saving the day! Written and directed by David Ayer, it was met with about the same reception as Batman v Superman, and people have really strong opinions on Jared Leto's portrayal of the Joker. This also marks the first live action portrayal of Harley Quinn (although Dr. Harleen Quinzel was portra...

One year after The Fellowship of the Ring was released, we got The Two Towers. This film gave us a proper introduction to Gollum and introduced us to a few new characters including Treebeard. How does the second film in the fantasy franchise hold up? Check out what the guys think and let us know what YOU think! Watch this episode on YouTube! Cinema Heroes Facebook Twitter

Following the hugely successful X2: X-Men United, director Bryan Singer left the franchise to direct Superman Returns and Brett Ratner stepped in to helm the third X-Men film. Although considered one of the worst films of the franchise, there were still seven X-Men films that followed it. How's it hold up fifteen years later? Check out what the guys think about it and let us know what you think in...

The wait is finally over. The theatrical version of Justice League made its way into theaters in November of 2017, now here we are in March of 2021 finally able to see Zack Snyder's original vision of the film. Some said it would never happen, that a cut didn't exist. Well, here we are. So, was it worth the wait? Was Darkseid as awesome as he looked in the trailer? Should WB restore the Snydervers...

The third installment of the Star Trek movie franchise finds the crew disobeying Starfleet orders to try and save their friend Spock! But wait, didn't Spock die? Yes! And maybe not really! Find out what the guys think of Leonard Nimoy's directorial debut and let us know what you think! Watch this episode on YouTube! Cinema Heroes Facebook Twitter

Along with Return of the Jedi, 1983 brought us another part 3 that is... well, not as widely loved. Christopher Reeve returns as the Man of Steel, but gone are Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder (mostly), and really anything that made the first two movies so darn great. But we do get Superman fighting Clark Kent, and maybe the closest thing to a big-screen Brainiac that we've seen so far. What do you thi...

Released roughly six months after Part II, Back to the Future Part III finds Marty McFly in the old west trying to save his buddy Doc Brown from 'Mad Dog' Tannen (not Tanner as Justin incorrectly states in this episode). Where does the third film rank among the other two and what do YOU think about Back to the Future Part III? Let us know! Watch this episode on YouTube! Cinema Heroes Facebook Twit...

The first film of Phase II finds Tony Stark with anxiety due to the events of The Avengers. He can't sleep, he just keeps tinkering with his suits and gadgets, and now there's a new threat: The Mandarin. What did the guys think of the third and final Iron Man movie? Let us know what you think! Watch this episode on YouTube! Cinema Heroes Facebook Twitter

The year is 1999. Many excellent movies came out in 1999 but perhaps the greatest (depending on who you ask) was the genre bending sci-fi flick called The Matrix starring Keanu Reeves. It's impact on cinema and pop culture is undeniable and the guys really enjoyed talking about this one. Let us know what you think of episode and The Matrix! Check this episode on YouTube! Cinema Heroes Facebook Twi...