Paul L. Smith

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.

Discontent leads to a daring escape plan in a women's prison where the inmates are all lingerie clad models and the lesbian warden demands unusual favours for early parole. Kathie (Roxanna Michaels) is innocent when they lock her up ... but that won't last long. Women in chains, a deviant warden and murderous guards ... no wonder the cops claim Honeywell State Prison doesn't exist. Her only hope of being freed lies with Harley-riding hero Victor (Erik Estrada) and combat karate champ Dirk (Richie Barathy), who'll take on the whole prison mano a mano if need be. This women-in-prison film also stars Paul L. Smith (Midnight Express), Jack Carter (Alligator), Michael Parks (From Dusk Till Dawn) and adult film stars Janine Lindemulder and Kascha. —Official synopsis Dreaming of making a name for herself in Hollywood, beautiful and naive would-be actress Kat Collins leaves her family home in Utah. However, instead of getting her big break, Kat ends up in the secret Honeywell State Prison for Women, a hellhole ruled by leather-clad Warden Sybil Thorn and her twisted guards. Now, it is up to Kat's new friends, motorcycle stunt rider Victor and his hard-as-nails kick-boxing mercenary buddy Dirk, to help Kat escape a fate worse than death. But has anyone ever fled from Thorn's concrete cage? —Nick Riganas

The fearless warrior Red Sonja sets out to avenge her family's murder and rid her kingdom from the tyrannical rule of evil Queen Gedren. The tyrant Gedren seeks the total power in a world of barbarism. She attacks and kills the keepers of a powerful talisman just before it is destroyed. Gedren then uses the power of the talisman in her raid of the city Hablac. Red Sonja, sister of the keeper, sets out with her magic sword to overthrow Gedren. The talisman's master Kalidor follows to protect her. Of course they fall in love - however Red Sonja's power bases on the oath to never give herself to any man... —Tom Zoerner <Tom.Zoerner@informatik.uni-erlangen.de> After her family is murdered a young woman named Red Sonja becomes a master of the sword and seeks revenge on the evil queen responsible for the mayhem that has befallen her. Also, it seems the queen has stolen a powerful, carefully guarded, glowing orb right before it was meant to be destroyed, one that has powers of its' own, allowing for the possessor to control elemental forces and call down storms and earthquakes, if they so wish. Kalidor, one of the individuals in place to oversee the destruction of the orb, joins forces with Red Sonja, as their paths may differ, but they ultimately lead to the same place. An impudent, young prince named Tarn and his guard/manservant Falkon, whose kingdom was unceremoniously wiped out by Gerden as a test for her newfound powers, soon joins them. —Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

Perhaps the the best word one could use to describe this storyline would be "serpentine," so let's dig in. We start with an armored truck marked as belonging to the US Treasury Department. The truck is hijacked in a rather clever way, but the thieves aren't looking for the money inside; instead there's something else in there that they're after, but we're not sure what it is yet. The thieves get away and one of them meets with a man named Vince, played by Peter Falk. He gives the ill-gotten gains to Vince and tells him that he needs to pay the fee for it the next day. Vince is appalled by the short timeline but promises to work something out. From there we meet a mild-mannered Manhattan dentist named Sheldon Kornpett (Alan Arkin). His daughter Barbara (Penny Peyser) is about two days away from getting married to Tommy Ricardo (Michael Lembeck). He and his wife Carol (Nancy Dussault) are going to meet Tommy's parents for the first time. All they know about Tommy's dad is that he's involved with international business deals somehow. Tommy and his parents show up late for the dinner...and we learn that his father is Vince. Sheldon is a little suspicious of Vince, because he's telling some weird stories about a nine-month stint in Guatemala that involves giant tsetse flies with beaks, and the Guacamole Act of 1917. At an introductory dinner in which Sheldon meets his new in-law Vince, he finds Vince suspicious; during the dinner, Vince tells a crazy story of a nine-month "consulting" trip to 1954 Guatemala. Vince's son and wife (Arlene Golonka) seem oblivious. At one point in the dinner Vince excuses himself to make a phone call, and he hides something in the basement. Later that night, Sheldon pleads with his daughter not to marry into the Ricardo clan, since he doesn't trust Vince, but he is talked into giving the marriage a chance. The following day, Vince appears at Sheldon's office, claiming that he wanted to say hello. He asks Sheldon for help with a five-minute errand that involves breaking into Vince's office safe. Sheldon reluctantly agrees. After retrieving a mysterious black bag from Vince's cramped office in an old Herald Square office building, two armed hit men surprise Sheldon. After a chase down a fire escape and the ensuing shootout, Vince explains to Sheldon-in the middle of a crowded diner, no less-that he has worked for the CIA since the Eisenhower administration and robbed the United States Mint of engraving plates to crack a worldwide inflation plot hatched in Central America. He also mentions that he's gone rogue, because the CIA thought the caper was too risky and turned him down. Vince claims that Sheldon is not involved. However, if Vince is caught, he will be jailed for 20 years and fired from the CIA. Vince further upsets Sheldon by mentioning he left one of the engraving plates in the basement of Sheldon's house the previous night. While taking a delivery of supplies for the wedding, Mrs. Kornpett discovers the engraving and brings it to her local bank, where she is informed by the U.S. Treasury Department that it was stolen. Sheldon arrives home to find vehicles from the Treasury Department parked out front, and he high-tails it out of there, leading to a car chase through suburban New Jersey. After shaking the Feds, Sheldon calls Vince and explains what happened. Vince tells Sheldon he wants him to accompany him to Scranton, Pennsylvania, and the whole ordeal will be cleared up by the time they return. At a small airport near Lodi, New Jersey, Vince and Sheldon board a private jet. We get a very funny scene aboard the plane involving one of the plane's crew, played by James Hong. To Sheldon's dismay, during the flight he notices they are flying over the ocean. Vince assures Sheldon they are still going to Scranton, but they need to make a brief stop along the way in Tijata, a small island south of Honduras. When they arrive, Vince is supposed to meet a corrupt member of the small country's legislature, General Jesus Braunschweiger. But shortly after they land, Jesus is shot and killed before he can greet and debrief the two. Vince and Sheldon fall under sniper fire and, using the general's car, escape and drive into town. At their hotel, Sheldon, understandably tired of the ordeal, refuses to be shot at anymore. Vince agrees to leave him out of the rest of the operation. Sheldon goes to the lobby on a pretense and calls the United States Embassy to tell the story so far. Barry Lutz, the CIA agent-in-charge (Ed Begley Jr.) tells him that Vince is a madman who was mentally discharged from the agency a year earlier . Sheldon tells this to Vince, who prevents him from escaping, assuring Sheldon that the embassy told him that specifically to get Sheldon off the trail. Sheldon is still reluctant. Leaving the hotel, Vince hails a taxi driven by one of the airport snipers. Sheldon realizes who it is and chases after it, eventually leaping onto the roof of the car. Vince takes control of the car, crashing into a fruit market. The car chase resumes, this time with Sheldon INSIDE the car. They manage to get away and they reach the general's estate. General Garcia (Richard Libertini) gives them $20 million for the plates, awards them medals, and promptly marches them in front of a firing squad. Vince stalls for time until hundreds of CIA agents, led by Barry Lutz, overwhelm the army and take Garcia into custody. Lutz reveals that Vince was telling the truth the entire time. However, Vince suddenly announces his retirement, as he has had enough and he's looking forward to grandchildren. He gives Lutz the $10 million he had agreed to deliver from the general. The general overhears this and protests that he gave them $20 million but Vince says he's clearly crazy. We next find ourselves at the wedding. Everybody's there but Vince and Sheldon. They get ready to start without the fathers but suddenly a helicopter shows up and lowers a cable with Vince and Sheldon, sitting on a plank and wearing top hats and tails. They say that the wedding can start in five minutes, once the Paramus Symphony Orchestra, whom they've hired for the day, has tuned up. The men each give their children a million dollars as a wedding gift. Suddenly a government vehicle shows up and it's Lutz. He's furious at Vince. Sheldon is about to confess, but before he can, it comes out that Lutz is only angry about not being invited to the wedding. The orchestra begins to play and the wedding goes forward.

Billy Hayes, a young American, faces physical and emotional brutality in a Turkish prison after being caught smuggling drugs.