James Coburn

When his daughter is shot just before Christmas, Martin Tillman journeys across the U.S. using the gun's serial number to track down the truth behind Penny's killing. A father who embarks on a nationwide journey to trace the line of ownership of the gun that killed his daughter. Starting with the gun factory, Martin travels to gun stores, trade shows, and individuals, also searching for his runaway granddaughter. —Conrad Gangone

John Kruger (Arnold Schwarzenegger), code named "Eraser", is a U.S. Marshal who works for the Federal Witness Security Protection Program (WITSEC). John specializes in "erasing" high-profile witnesses: faking their deaths and giving them new identities. U.S. Marshal Robert DeGuerin is John's mentor. WITSEC has 14,600 witnesses under their protection program. John erases mobster-turned-informant Johnny Casteleone (Robert Pastorelli) and his wife. In the process, John saves Johnny and his family from being killed by mob agents who wanted revenge against Johnny for turning informant. John is given a new assignment by his superior U.S. Marshal WITSEC Chief Arthur Beller (James Coburn). John is assigned to protect Lee Cullen (Vanessa L. Williams), a senior executive for Cyrez Corporation, a company that creates and manufactures weapons for the military. Lee has come across plans by Cyrez to sell a top-secret electronic pulse rifle to Russian terrorist Sergei Ivanovich Petrofsky (Olek Krupa). The sale of such weapons of unparalleled firepower to the wrong hands would tip the balance of power. To procure evidence, Lee copies critical data onto two discs: one for the FBI, the other as evidence in order to publicize Cyrez's transgressions. She hides the 2nd disc in her compact in her purse. However, William Donahue (James Cromwell), the corrupt CEO of Cyrez, catches wind of Lee's intentions and orders her into his office. Donahue confiscated her camera and aims the gun at Lee but commits suicide in order for him to escape punishment, and Lee barely escapes from Cyrez. Disappointed with the FBI because of failure to guarantee her safety, she delivers the evidence (The first disc) but refuses to submit herself to WITSEC, despite John's advice. The FBI's disc is secretly replaced with a fake on the orders of Under Secretary of Defense Daniel Harper (Andy Romano), the conspiracy's mastermind. Lee goes home and tries to open the 2nd disc on her computer, raising an alarm at Cyrez, who inform somebody named Morehart, that Lee is trying to access the data on the disc. The data is encrypted and can only be opened on specific computers as it requires a hardware Decryption. The same night, Lee is targeted for assassination by a group (led by "J. Scar" (Mark Rolston) the mercenary leader) wielding a couple of the aforementioned pulse rifles. The rifle has extraordinary capabilities such as an X-Ray vision and an ability to shoot through solid walls. John rescues Lee and takes her to New York City to hide her. Lee tells rescue that Cyrez was contracted by the military to scale down the Navy's Rail gun system and make a compact, hyper-velocity pulse weapon. Cyrez took millions in R&D grants from the military, but eventually said that the physics were impossible. It is likely that Cyrez found a higher bidder for the guns and hence wanted to hide them from the military. Morehart reports to Daniel Harper that Lee is alive and has a copy of the disc. Daniel orders Morehart to get the disc back at any cost. Morehart also adds that Lee called a woman named Claire Isaacs (Roma Maffia), a reporter for the Washington Herald. Soon afterwards John learns from his mentor, fellow Marshal Robert DeGuerin (James Caan), that someone, perhaps a mole within the WITSEC, is targeting witnesses in top-level cases, including Lee. They (including Marshals Calderon (Nick Chinlund), Schiff (Michael Papajohn), and new recruit Monroe (Danny Nucci)) proceed to the location of one of the targeted witnesses. DeGuerin and John kill several men inside the witness's cabin, who seem to be there to kill the witness, just like DeGuerin said it was. Turns out the men were working for DeGuerin, and he sacrificed them to lure John into a false sense of danger to the witnesses. But then, DeGuerin kills the witness personally, revealing himself as Donahue's U.S. Marshal mole and a major player in the scam, which includes even Undersecretary of Defense Daniel Harper, the true mastermind. John cannot understand why 5 assassins were sent to eliminate one woman. Schiff "finds" a photo of Lee on one of the assassins and alerts John. John says that Lee is an Atlanta, as he could sense that this was a ruse for DeGuerin to get John to divulge Lee's location. Flying back to Atlanta, DeGuerin drugs John, who manages to warn Lee on phone before losing consciousness. Lee was instructed to leave the safe-house and wait for John by a pay phone a few blocks away near the city zoo. The warning call is traced to New York City and DeGuerin kills Monroe with John's gun, framing him as the mole. Revealing he, Calderon, and Schiff are corrupt, DeGuerin explains that they are the go-between for a wealthy buyer who plans to purchase the rifle. John escapes from the plane to rescue Lee from the same mercenaries who tried to kill her before. John and Lee flee through New York City Zoo; John releases several alligators to trap and kill the mercenaries. DeGuerin has John and Lee branded as fugitives. With help from Johnny, John and Lee infiltrate Cyrez and use Donohue's terminal to Decrypt Lee's second disc. The disc reveals that a huge shipment of EM rifles has been stashed at the docks in Baltimore. The buyer is Russian Mafia boss Sergei Ivanovich Petrofsky, who plans to resell the weapons to terrorists. The company detects the intrusion, pinpoints their whereabouts, and remotely erases the disc. DeGuerin then kidnaps Lee and takes her to the docks as the shipment is being loaded onto Petrofsky's Russian-flagged freighter. Johnny contacts his mobster cousin, Tony Two-Toes (Joe Viterelli), who controls the docks; angered that he's being cut out of the deal, he has his men assist John. They kill Petrofsky, his henchmen, Calderon, and Schiff. In a struggle atop a shipping container, DeGuerin tries to shoot Lee, but John comes to her aid and destroys the pulley system on the container crane, dropping DeGuerin and the container to the ground and exposing the presence of the EM rifles. John secures DeGuerin, leaving him to be detained by the authorities. This proves John and Lee's innocence. Weeks later, DeGuerin, Harper, and Morehart are indicted for treason. However, it quickly becomes clear that without solid evidence, they will likely be acquitted in court. For their safety, John fakes his and Lee's deaths in an explosion. After being liberated, DeGuerin, Harper and Morehart (Gerry Becker) leave in a limo that stops at a railroad crossing. The driver - a disguised Johnny - locks the doors and exits the vehicle. Seconds later, a massive freight train plows through the car, killing the three men in a staged accident. Lee asks John what happened, to which he responds, "They caught a train". They then drive off for a new life.

Lance Perkins (Eddie Murphy) is hosting an exercise program on TV for overweight people. At the Wellman College, thousands of hamsters are overrunning the entire campus, causing general chaos. This is due to the obese, yet loving and kind-heart, Professor Sherman Klump (Eddie Murphy) accidentally releasing them by grazing the switch that opens the hamster's cages. The problem having been contained, Sherman is given an update by his assistant, Jason (John Ales), about their latest project an experimental formula that reconstructs the DNA of an obese person to make weight-loss easy. It seems that their fattest hamster, Shelley, has lost 3 ounces, proving that the serum works. Jason suggests increasing the amount Shelley is fed, but the ever-kindly Sherman argues against it, saying it could be dangerous. He then has an unpleasant meeting with Dean Richmond (Larry Miller). The Dean tells him that the incident with the hamsters has cost the science department most of its funding. Harlan Hartley (James Coburn) is the school's last remaining wealthy alumnus and is planning to award a $10 million grant to the college. After class, Sherman meets and instantly falls in love with Carla Purty (Jada Pinkett), a chemistry graduate student who is a big fan of his work. Sherman had dinner with his obese, impolite family including father Cletus, mother Anna Pearl Jensen-Klump, Anna's mother Ida Mae Jensen and Sherman's older brother Ernie (all of whom are also portrayed by Murphy). After noticing that he's taking very small amounts of food from the table, Sherman reveals that he's trying to watch his weight and avoid the calories. His father, Cletus, scoffs him, believing that there's nothing wrong with being fat and that while Sherman can do whatever he can, he'll never get rid of his fat. After his mother, Anna, brings up Colon Cleansing she saw about on T.V., Cletus starts his habit of randomly passing gas, much to the humor of Ernie Sr. and Jr., but to the disgust of Sherman, Grandma, and Anna. Sherman is hurt by the comments Cletus makes, but Anna, tells him that he is "beautiful inside and out," saying that he can do anything if he just believes in himself. This prompts Sherman to attempt to ask Carla out on a date, which she accepts, much to his surprise. While watching Lance Perkins on TV giving one his speeches of motivation, Sherman falls asleep and dreams he is making out with Carla on a beach, but she gets buried in the sand by his weight. Sherman is motivated, full of energy, and is determined to lose some weight. A Rocky-style montage ensues, showing Sherman trying various methods to get fit before the big date. At the date, it begins well with Carla showing admiration for Sherman's work, but Sherman falls victim to the club's wicked comic Reggie Warrington (Dave Chappelle), who attacks him with cruel jokes about his obesity. Back at Carla's home with tears in his eyes, a deeply hurt and humiliated Sherman says goodbye to his date. Carla insults Reggie for what he did to him and tells Sherman that he is brilliant. Sherman tells her to have a pleasant evening and shakes her hand. At home, completely depressed, he has a nightmare in which he becomes a giant with Reggie being present insulting him again, his mother offering him fried chicken, and his father supporting his fat weight. He lays waste to the city with just a single fart, which is then accidentally lit on fire. When he awakens, he yields to the temptation to try the serum on himself. It works, as he loses 250 pounds in seconds. Overwhelmed he goes out and buys many normal size clothing (mainly spandex) as a celebration. He initially celebrates the weight loss but later finds the effects of the serum are only temporary. Dubbing himself Buddy Love (Eddie Murphy), he invites Carla out on a date at the same club again while the serum begins to wear off. Carla later tells Sherman about Buddy and Sherman encourages her to go out with him. Reggie is present again, and Buddy takes revenge and heckles him mercilessly largely by targeting Reggie's "mama" with fat jokes similar to the ones Reggie pelted him with. During this Buddy develops a personality of his own as the high testosterone levels causes him to be overly assertive and confident. Finally angered, Reggie tries challenging Buddy to a Karate match, but he is once again overpowered as he performs Minnie Riperton's 1975 hit Lovin' You on the piano for Carla, and forces Reggie to perform her signature high-pitched squeal. Buddy then proceeds to stuff Reggie into the piano. Sherman's "Buddy" persona starts to develop an independent personality due to the heightened testosterone levels of the transformation, gradually changing from his regular good-nature self to perverted, arrogant and cruel. This transformation is seen by Sherman's lab assistant, Jason. He gives a waiter a credit card to pay for the meal. Buddy and Carla then share a kiss. Immediately after, the serum begins to wear off and Buddy makes a quick exit, attributing it to an allergic reaction to Carla's lipstick (the 'bulking up' beginning with his lower lip, and his midsection begins to swell up). Jason happens to be at the bar and notes that the card Buddy is using belongs to Sherman. He follows Buddy into the sports car to confront him, only to learn Sherman's secret when he discovers him in mid-transformation, culminating in Sherman's having to be cut out of the car when he becomes too big to use the door. The next morning, Sherman is very late for a class and his students have all left. The Dean Richmond ((Larry Miller), however, is there and he confronts Sherman about the sports car, which Buddy bought on Sherman's faculty account. The Dean threatens to strangle Sherman and asks him to meet Hartley (James Coburn) at a hotel restaurant called The Ritz to describe the weight-loss serum. Later, in the lab, Jason tells Sherman that he can't control Buddy, whose testosterone levels keep rising per transformation, as Buddy acted the exact opposite of who Sherman, and Buddy is now becoming an independent personality instead of a thin Sherman. Later, Carla talks to Sherman about her date with Buddy and Sherman takes the opportunity to ask Carla to dinner with his family, who promptly embarrass him by making various suggestive comments about their relationship, his grandmother especially pushing the question on whether or not they're having relations, and that there's nothing wrong to admitting if they are, calling it a beautiful thing. Cletus farts again. His confidence low and, after Carla mentions that she would like the opportunity to get to know the caring person she sometimes sees in Buddy's eyes, he uses the serum again. Sherman arrives at The Ritz as Buddy Love with Carla. When the dean spots him, Carla asks Buddy if he will take Sherman's place. With the Dean desperate to get the grant, he allows Buddy to talk to Hartley. He does, and he takes all the credit of his work to Hartley much to Carla's shock and outrage. Hartley and the dean are very impressed with his work, and the dean invites him to the alumni ball. Carla catches Buddy flirting with three women and dumps him out of disgust. Undaunted, he throws a loud party at Sherman's house that night, burning all the health food products in the fridge. Having transformed back to his normal self during the night, Sherman awakens to find himself surrounded by strange women. He has no memory of the previous night and is stunned to find the whole house in disarray. Carla arrives shortly thereafter to tell Sherman that she has left Buddy and to apologize about her encouraging Buddy to talk to Hartley. Carla finds the reverted Sherman with the women and breaks off their friendship as well. To add to Sherman's problems as he chases after her, he finds an eviction notice taped to his front door by his unseen grouchy downstairs neighbor and landlord, Mr. Wilson, owing to all the noise Buddy and the party had made during the night. After the falling out with Carla and Richmond gleefully telling Sherman that Buddy will be taking his place at the Alumni Ball, which means that Sherman is effectively fired from his job. At home, depressed, Sherman accidentally activates the VCR, where Buddy has left a message taunting Sherman and encouraging him to take the serum once again. This inspires Sherman to take his life back, resolved to prove that he can defeat Buddy. Sherman, having had enough of his alter ego, destroys all of the serum samples. However, Buddy, having anticipated this, has laced a sample of the serum in one of Sherman's diet shake cans, which Sherman drinks, causing him to transform into Buddy again. Jason that he has calculated that if he drinks 500 ml of the serum, he will have enough cellular stability to be thin forever, thus "killing" Sherman. However, he cannot drink all of that serum at once, as it would (literally) kill Sherman and therefore Buddy, too. Buddy, however, has a plan to drink 250 ml of the serum while still in the lab and the other 250 at the alumni ball. Sherman's young assistant Jason (John Ales) tries to stop him from going to the ball, but Buddy knocks him out and departs. At the ball, Buddy demonstrates the effects of the serum to the audience, but Jason arrives in time, as he has found out that Buddy's testosterone levels are at a lethally high 60,000%. Buddy plans to drink the serum to get rid of Sherman permanently, resulting in a fight between the two identities. The two of them get into a brief fist fight, but Sherman begins to fight Buddy from within. Sherman eventually transforms into his regular self and tells the alumni that he was wrong for what he did, that Buddy was who he thought he (and everybody else) wanted him to be, and that he should accept himself for who he is. As he leaves, Carla stops him and asks why he lied. He says he did not believe that she would accept him, but she says it doesn't matter if he is overweight or not. Carla forgives Sherman and invites him to dance with her. Jason presents Sherman with a tuxedo that will fit him. Richmond rehires Sherman and Hartley, impressed by Sherman's brilliance and genuine nature, donates the grant to Wellman. Sherman's mother cheers him on as he dances with Carla.

Set in the American Old West, the story is a first-person account by a wisecracking gambler Bret Maverick (Mel Gibson), of his misadventures on the way to a major five-card draw poker tournament being held on the paddle steamer Lauren Belle. Besides wanting to win the poker championship for the money, he also wants to prove, once and for all, that he is "the best". Maverick rides into the fictional town of Crystal River intending to collect money owed to him, as he is $3,000 short of the poker tournament entry fee of $25,000. His efforts to make up this $3,000 provide some plot motivation, as well as diversions caused by, and in the company of, three people he encounters at a poker game at Crystal River: an antagonist named Angel (Alfred Molina), a young con-artist calling herself Mrs Annabelle Bransford (Jodie Foster), and legendary lawman Marshal Zane Cooper (James Garner). The first two are also rival poker players. Maverick, Bransford and Cooper share a stagecoach. They narrowly escape a fatal plunge into a ravine after their elderly driver suddenly dies. During their journey they agree to help a wagon train of migrant evangelist settlers who have been waylaid by ruffians. The settlers offer Maverick a percentage of the recovered money they desperately need to start their mission, while one spinster missionary suggests marriage to Cooper, but both men turn down the offers. They are also headed-off by a troop of Indians led by Joseph (Graham Greene). Unknown to his companions, Joseph and Maverick are good friends, and Maverick allows himself to be "captured." Joseph is another one of his unreliable debtors, and Maverick tries to collect the $1,000 that Joseph owes him. In and around his tribal grounds they collaborate on a scheme to swindle a Russian Grand Duke. Still seething over his loss in the Crystal River game, Angel receives a telegram instructing him to stop Maverick from reaching the Poker game at Lauren Belle, and has also learned that Maverick had conned him in Crystal River. Angel catches up with Maverick after he has left Joseph's tribe, beats him up and attempts to hang him. Despite being tied to both a tree and to his horse, Maverick escapes and reaches the poker game, which is taking place on a paddle steamer. Bransford and Angel have also reached the game, and Cooper has been engaged to oversee its security. Still $2,000 short, he makes his way to the Lauren Belle and finds Bransford, who is still $4,000 short herself. Spotting the Archduke aboard, Maverick poses as a Bureau of Indian Affairs agent investigating the shooting of Indians for game, conning the Archduke out of $6,000 to cover his and Bransford's entry. Commodore Duvall welcomes the competitors to the tournament, with Cooper overseeing the security of the game and the $500,000 prize money and watching for any cheaters, who will be summarily thrown overboard if discovered. After the others are eliminated, the four finalists are Maverick, Bransford, Angel, and Commodore Duvall (James Coburn), the boat's owner and the tournament organizer. Prior to this game, Maverick and Bransford have a tryst in his quarters. Maverick almost fails to reach the final table by the 5:00 AM deadline, having had his stateroom door chained shut (by an unknown person) after a short tryst with Bransford. He manages to climb outside the steamer to reach the table on time. The game proceeds, with Bransford the first eliminated, and shortly thereafter a "fixed" hand is dealt to the three remaining players. The Commodore is given four 8s and Angel is given a low straight flush, whilst Maverick has the 10, jack, queen and king of spades. The Commodore and Angel each bet "all in". Maverick observes the dealer bottom-dealing to the others, protests the conduct of the hand, and eventually accepts one card dealt by Angel and calls without checking the card. It turns out to be the ace of spades, giving Maverick an unbeatable royal flush and the championship. An enraged Angel draws his gun, but he and his stooges in the audience are gunned down by Cooper and Maverick. Three plot twists follow Maverick's win. First, Cooper steals the $500,000 prize money instead of presenting it to Maverick. Second, it is revealed that the Commodore and Cooper were secretly in cahoots on the theft and that Angel had actually been working for the Commodore. Third, the Commodore betrays Cooper, but before he can shoot him, Maverick ambushes the two around a campfire and steals back the money, leaving them a single gun to settle their affairs. The gun turns out to be unloaded, and Cooper beats up the Commodore, then sets out to take revenge on Maverick. Later, Maverick is relaxing in a bath-house when Cooper finds him, and drops the facade to reveal that he is in fact Maverick's father. The real conspiracy was in fact between the two of them. However, Bransford enters the bath-house and robs Cooper and Maverick (whose relationship she had surmised from their similar mannerisms). After she escapes, Maverick reveals she only got away with half of the money, as Maverick had hidden the rest in his boots. Maverick and his father smile as he comments that it will be a lot of fun getting the rest of the money back from her.

A New Yorker heads to California to find the look-alike brother of his conman dad. After he accidentally kills his father, Mike, during a sting, Joe tries to carry out Mike's dying wish by recovering valuables that Mike's twin brother Lou stole from him years earlier. But Uncle Lou is also a confidence artist, and Joe is soon drawn into his increasingly dangerous schemes. —Marg Baskin <marg@asd.raytheon.ca>

A cat burglar is forced to steal Da Vinci works of art for a world domination plot. Eddie Hawkins, called Hudson Hawk has just been released from ten years of prison and is planning to spend the rest of his life honestly. But then the crazy Mayflower couple blackmail him to steal some of the works of Leonardo da Vinci. If he refuses, they threaten to kill his friend Tommy. —Harald Mayr <marvin@bike.augusta.de>

On April 18, 1942, during World War II, a squadron (16 planes) of B-25 bombers (The Doolittle Raid) from the USS Hornet launches a lightning raid on Tokyo. The strike stuns the Imperial Japanese Navy and its commander Admiral Yamamoto (Toshiro Mifune). With hard evidence of the threat posed by the carriers of the American Pacific Fleet to the Japanese home islands, Yamamoto devises a plan to lure out the American fleet and destroy it once and for all by forcing it to sortie against the invasion of Midway Island. At Pearl Harbor, Captain Matt Garth (Charlton Heston) is tasked with gauging the progress of decryption efforts at Station HYPO, headed by Commander Joseph Rochefort (Hal Holbrook), which has partially cracked the Japanese Navy's JN-25 code (they have cracked 10% of the code), indicating that a major operation will soon take place at a location the Japanese refer to as "AF". The US only have 4 carriers and need time to build more. They are concerned that Yamamoto will strike back, due to the Doolittle raid. Rochefort says the Japanese are planning an attack in Coral Sea and give Garth a list of ships they will be using for the attack. Garth is also asked by his son, naval aviator Ensign Tom Garth (Edward Albert), to help free his girlfriend Haruko Sakura, an American-born daughter of Japanese immigrants, who has been interned with her parents, by calling in favors to have the charges against the family dropped. Yamamoto and his staff present their plans for Midway to the commanders (on his flagship battleship Yamato) who have been chosen to lead the attack - Admirals Nagumo (James Shigeta) and Yamaguchi (John Fujioka) of the Japanese carrier force and Admiral Kondo (Conrad Yama) of the invasion force. Kondo is not happy with the plan devised by strategist Captain Kameto Kuroshima (Seth Sakai). The plan calls for Nagumo's carrier-based planes to destroy Midway's US defenses, before Kondo can land his invasion forces there. But the land-based carriers of the US at Midway have a range of 400 miles more than the carrier based planes that Nagumo has. The Jap carriers will be destroyed, if they are spotted. Vice Admiral Boshiro Hosogaya (Dale Ishimoto) wants more time to study the plan and suggests postponing the decision till after Coral Sea. Yamamoto is convinced that the only way to defeat US is to strike now when they are weak. After the inconclusive Battle of the Coral Sea (US lost one ship and sunk one Jap light carrier and some smaller ships. Carrier Yorktown was heavily damaged), Rochefort uses a simple ruse to confirm that "AF" is Midway (He gets the Midway unit to transmit a fake message, which he knows will be picked by the Japanese. Once the Japanese transmit over their radio, they identify the location as "AF", thus confirming that its Midway). Now knowing the location and roughly the date of the attack, Admiral Nimitz (Henry Fonda) and his staff prepare a trap of their own. Captain Vinton Maddox (James Coburn) is the US naval strategist who says that the midway plan is a Jap ruse to divert forces from Hawaii. Maddox says that the safe play is to defend Hawai and give up Midway. Rochefort informs Nimitz that the Japanese have changed the JN-25 code. it will take 2 months to break it. US is now blind. Yamamoto lays out the plan. Hosogaya will attack the Altusian Islands to divert Nimitz's attention away from Midway. 24 hours later, Nagumo will attack Midway and Kondo will move in with his invasion force. Vice Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey Jr. (Robert Mitchum) would be leading the US fleet, but it would take them 48 hours to get there. By which time, Nagumo would be ready for them. Unknown to them Halsey was injured at Coral Sea and is hospitalized in Hawaii. Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance (Glenn Ford) is the replacements, and the Japanese are unfamiliar with his battle tactics (Ray is a cruiser commander and he got the job only because Halsey was asked to recommend his own replacement). Yamamoto is aboard the Akagi (Rear Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka (Pat Morita) is Yamamoto's COS). Lieutenant Joichi Tomonaga (Sab Shimono) is the air commander filling in for Fushida (who led the air raid on Hawaii), as he is in sick bay with a flu. The carriers USS Enterprise and USS Hornet, augmented by a hastily repaired USS Yorktown that had been damaged at Coral Sea, will sail to a point north of Midway and lie in wait for the Japanese fleet (Raymond plans for a contingency just in case the Japanese are going for Hawaii again). Meanwhile, Matt has been unsuccessful in freeing the Sakuras, infuriating Tom, who ships out on his carrier. The Japanese had sent 2 scout planes to check for the US fleet at Pearl Harbor, but it could not complete the mission as it could not be refueled due to the presence of an enemy ship at the rendezvous point. Yamamoto is advised not to break radio silence to speak with Nagumo and continue as planned. Meanwhile Nagumo is unaware of the failure of the scout planes and since he didn't hear from Yamamoto, he assumes that the US fleet is still at Pearl Harbor. The battle begins on June 4 as Nagumo's carrier force launches its air attack on Midway Island. Nagumo is not sure of the position of the US fleet and holds back half his planes and the best pilots. Kusaka protests, but Nagumo is adamant. The American base is attacked, but the airstrip remains usable, meaning Midway can still launch aircraft. The Japanese carriers are then spotted by American scouts (The US ships had spotted Kondo's invasion force but had still no clue of Nagumo's carrier strike force. So, Raymond launches a second strike of seaplanes to look for the carrier behind a storm front that was hitting Midway). A massive aerial force is launched from the American carriers. Meanwhile Nagumo is elated that the first strike on Midway is a success and Kusaks convinces him to launch the 2nd strike by arming them with contact bombs instead of having them armed with torpedoes against enemy carriers. Meanwhile, Nagumo is shocked to learn of a sighting by a scout plane of an American carrier, throwing his plans into disarray as he orders that the next strike wave (which was being rearmed with bombs for an attack on Midway) be rapidly re-armed for an attack on the carrier. He has to wait more as the returning planes from the first strike on Midway are near empty on fuel, and Nagumo orders them to be recovered before launching the strike against the US carriers. Raymond has intel on only 2 enemy carriers and knows 2 are still missing. He takes a gamble and launches 114 aircraft against the 2 knows carriers. But due to Enterprise and Yorktown waiting to recover their scouts, only the torpedo planes are launched, and the fighters and bombers are delayed by a few minutes. Torpedo bombers from Hornet are the first American planes to locate the Japanese fleet. With fuel running low, they attack without fighter protection and are slaughtered by the Japanese Combat Air Patrol. Tom is severely burned when gunfire starts a fire in his cockpit. The Japanese fighters, however, are drawn down to wave-top altitude by the low-flying torpedo planes, leaving them out of position when dive-bombers & fighters from Enterprise and Yorktown arrive. As the Japanese are preparing to launch their second wave, the American bombers attack and reduce three of the Japanese carriers - Akagi, Kaga and Soryu - to burning wrecks within minutes. The remaining Japanese carrier Hiryu immediately launches aircraft. Following the returning American bombers, they soon discover Yorktown and inflict severe damage. The crew manages to bring the fires under control as a scout plane reports that Hiryu has been spotted. Below decks, Matt meets Tom and reconciles with him. Due to a shortage of pilots, Matt joins the counterattack against the Japanese carrier just before its second wave of aircraft strikes. Yorktown is soon burning, and the order is given to abandon ship. But the Japanese think they have sunk a 2nd carrier, not knowing that they just hit the Yorktown once again. Hiryu is sunk, dealing a fatal blow to the invasion. The American planes return to Enterprise and Hornet, but Matt, his plane badly damaged, is killed during landing. Yamamoto receives news of the loss of all his carriers. The admiral orders a general withdrawal as he contemplates how he will apologize for his failure to the Emperor.

A pair of ex-Rough Riders, a former prostitute, a gunfighter, an aging cowboy and an English gentleman enter a 700-mile horse race through the Southwest desert in 1908. In 1908, a newspaper organizes an endurance horse race through the desert: 700 miles to run in a few days. Nine adventurers are competing, among them a woman with unclear motives, a Mexican, an Englishman, a young gunfighter, an old cowboy and two friends from their days with the Rough Riders in Cuba, Sam Clayton and Luke Matthews - all matched against a thoroughbred backed by the race's sponsor. These individualists will be challenged to respect each other as the competition becomes increasingly brutal and strenuous. —Yepok In 1908, the popular Western Post newspaper sponsors a demanding cross-country horse race, attracting a motley crew of ambitious contestants against a thoroughbred backed by the publisher. With a tempting $2,000 prize, the bold competitors - including plucky former prostitute Miss Jones; ex-Rough Riders Luke Matthews and Sam Clayton; a Mexican vaquero with a terrible toothache; English gentleman Sir Harry Norfolk; aging cowhand Mister, and the arrogant gunfighter Carbo - will have to endure 700 miles of unforgiving desert and rugged terrain. The race is on. Who has what it takes to bite the bullet? —Nick Riganas

Chaney (Charles Bronson) rides into New Orleans with two dollars in his pocket. He meets Speed Weed (James Coburn), a fast-talking promotor of bareknuckle fights. Speed, against his own instincts, gets Chaney a bout with one of the local toughs, and a career (or two) is launched. Chaney quickly makes a name for himself, but Speed does his best to self-destruct, setting up a final fight that's a life or death matter for Speed.

A year after Sheila is killed by a hit-and-run driver, her wealthy husband invites a group of friends to spend a week on his yacht playing a scavenger hunt mystery game. The game turns out to be all too real and all too deadly. Sheila Green (Yvonne Romain) is killed in a hit-and-run car accident while walking home from a party one night. A year later, her multi-millionaire husband Clinton (James Coburn) invites a group of friends (James Mason, Raquel Welch, Dyan Cannon, Richard Benjamin, Joan Hackett, Ian McShane) to spend a week with him on his yacht. Clinton loves to play elaborate games and he assigns everyone a secret--one is an alcoholic, another an informer and so on--that they are not to share with anyone. Every day for the next six days, they will call into a port where they will be given clues to discover one person's secret. The game takes a deadly twist when a murder takes place and it all has to do with the game they have been playing and the secrets that Clinton assigned at the outset. —garykmcd Megalomaniacal movie producer Clinton (James Coburn) invites six acquaintances on a week-long cruise on his yacht, the Sheila, named after his late wife, Sheila Green (Yvonne Romain). All are B-list Hollywood types looking for their next project. On board, they play a game that Clinton calls "The Sheila Green Memorial Gossip Game". The game quickly changes when some of the guests figure out Clinton's real motivations. —Huggo

A psychiatrist suddenly gets assigned to be the US president's shrink. Paranoid from the many spies tailing him in hope of kidnapping him, he runs away, and dozens of spies, and the FBI, CIA, and various agencies scramble to retrieve him. At first, Dr. Sidney Schaefer feels honored and thrilled to be offered the job of the President's Analyst. But then the stress of the job and the paranoid spies that come with a sensitive government position get to him, and he runs away. Now spies from all over the world are after him, either to get him for their own side or to kill him and prevent someone else from getting him.

A paroled conman co-ordinates the robbery of an L. A. Airport bank with the arrival of the Soviet premier. Involved crime drama about an intricate plan to rob an airport bank. Watch for the surprise ending and look quickly for a barely-recognizable Harrison Ford in his film debut, playing a bellhop. —Brett England Eli Kotch is a manipulative conman who seduces his prison psychiatrist in order to gain parole. Utilizing his skill with various accents and disguises, he further seduces a variety of women in order to raise the money he will need to buy the security plans of L.A. Airport bank from a fellow inmate and finance its robbery. Under yet another identity, he also charms and marries beautiful Inger Knudson as she unknowingly helps him in the preparations for the heist. Kotch is able to co-ordinate the robbery with the high-profile arrival of the Russian Premier at the airport as he and his accomplices cleverly tries to utilize the resultant commotion as a diversion. —Gabe Taverney (duke1029@aol.com) In seducing Dr. Marion Hague, the psychiatrist at the San Francisco area prison where he's being confined, convict Eli Kotch is able to secure parole, which he quickly violates in the reason for his want to get out of prison at this time: to carry out a heist at the bank at LAX, the heist which he plans to carry out at the same time as the Soviet premier's visit to Los Angeles when the authorities, including the airport police, would be preoccupied with security for that visit. A large part of the front end of the plan requires Eli to raise an additional $85,000 to purchase the bank layout blueprints. In doing so and to carry out the heist itself, Eli relies on his usual M.O.s of seducing women, much like he did with Dr. Hague, dropping them after he's gotten what he needs from them, and using a variety of personae, which not only includes disguises but also foreign accents. What happens with the heist may be affected by two unexpected things for which Eli may not have made contingencies. First, secret service discovers a breach in their security making them have to change their security detail from their original arrangements. And second, Inger Knudson, the personal secretary to a New England matron, Inger the woman on who he has the longest con, his seduction which includes a sham marriage, has something happen in her and by association his life. —Huggo

In 1864, due to frequent Apache raids from Mexico into the U.S., a Union officer decides to illegally cross the border and destroy the Apache, using a mixed army of Union troops, Confederate POWs, civilian mercenaries, and scouts. During the last winter of the Civil War, cavalry officer Amos Dundee leads a contentious troop of Army regulars, Confederate prisoners and scouts on an expedition into Mexico to destroy a band of Apaches who massacred soldiers and civilians in New Mexico. —scgary66 In 1864, the Apache warriors led by Sierra Charriba slaughter a Union troop of soldiers and a family of settlers. They abduct their three sons and flee to Mexico. Major Amos Charles Dundee, who was disgraced at the Battle of Gettysburg and sent to a POW outpost in New Mexico, decides to hunt down Sierra Charriba and his Apache seeking for glory. He recruits an army of Confederate prisoners-of-war, black soldiers, a reverend that knows the boys and outcast people (thieves, drunken etc.) and chases the Apache group seeking also revenge, crossing illegally the border with Mexico. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1864. After one of his patrols is massacred and some children kidnapped, the commander of the local garrison, Major Dundee, sets out to hunt down the Apaches responsible. He has limited resources so recruits some unlikely allies: Confederate prisoners of war and local civilians. The Confederate commander and Dundee go way back and don't see eye-to-eye. Fighting the Apaches might not be Dundee's greatest concern. —grantss In 1864 Major Amos Dundee leads his troops into Mexico after a group of renegade Apache Indians, led by Sierra Chariba. On a recent raid, they kidnapped some young boys and Dundee is committed to retrieving them. His own Union troops are supplemented by Confederate prisoners of war. Led by Lt. Benjamin Tyree - he and Dundee were once friends - he gives his word that he will follow Dundee's orders until Chariba is caught. Over the course of several months, Dundee and his men not only have to fight the Apaches but also French troops. As the mission continues, tensions rise between the Union and Confederate troops leading to a final confrontation with their foe. —garykmcd

After her husbands death, Reggie finds herself being chased by three men who stake a claim to her husbands fortune, but a mysterious stranger named Peter helps her get away.

Small squad must hold off German attack. World War II drama where the action centers around a single maneuver by a squad of GIs in retaliation against the force of the German Siegfried line. Reese joins a group of weary GIs unexpectedly ordered back into the line when on their way to a rest area. While most of the men withdraw from their positions facing a German pillbox at the far side of a mine-field, half a dozen men are left to protect a wide front. By various ruses, they manage to convince the Germans that a large force is still holding the position. Then Reese leads two of the men in an unauthorized and unsuccessful attack on the pillbox, in which the other two are killed; and when the main platoon returns, he is threatened with court-martial. Rather than face the disgrace, and in an attempt to show he was right, he makes a one-man attack on the pillbox. —alfiehitchie

An experienced gunslinger forms a team with six other men in order to save a Mexican village from a group of bandits led by Calvera. However, each of the seven men have their own plan. Based on the classic Japanese film - Seven Samurai , directed by Akira Kurosawa.

A bounty hunter escorts a killer to be tried for murder, with the killer's brother after them. A wanted murderer, Billy John (James Best), is captured by Ben Brigade (Randolph Scott), a bounty hunter, who intends to take him to Santa Cruz to be hanged. Brigade stops at a staging post, where he saves the manager's wife (Karen Steele) from an Indian attack, and enlists the help of two outlaws (Pernell Roberts, James Coburn) to continue his journey more safely. However, the Indian attacks persist, the outlaws plan to take Billy for themselves, tempted by the offer of amnesty for his captor, and Billy's brother Frank (Lee Van Cleef) is in hot pursuit to rescue him. But Brigade has plans of his own.. —David Levene <D.S.Levene@durham.ac.uk>