Film Review: Memorial Day (1998)
Films don’t have to be good in order to be prophetic. This is the conclusion you might get after you watch Memorial Day, 1998 action film directed by Worth Keeter, which used basic premise that would become popular explanation for certain real life events three years after its premiere. The plot deals with post-Cold War situation in which there isn’t anyone left that could endanger USA or prevent US government to do what it pleases. The only exception for the latter is US Congress whose members under new circumstances lack enthusiasm for spending trillions of dollars on military and intelligence services. In order to maintain the status quo, General Willard (played by Paul Mantee), one of the representatives of military industrial complex, starts series of spectacular attacks on US military and civilian targets that would be attributed to phantom terrorist organisation. One of the key parts of the plan is Downey (played by Jeff Speakman), former Marine and antiterrorist expert who was brainwashed into targetting Senator Jerald Lancaster (played by Frederick Coffin) for asssassination. Accidental encounter with news reporter Robin Conners (played by Stephanie Niznik) would erase his mental programming and make Downey turn against conspirators and attempt to reveal the truth to American public.
Made with low budget, this relatively obscure direct-to-video film had script inspired by 1970s conspiracy thrillers like Parallax View or Three Days of the Condor. But it was the future that made it interesting, namely series of events starting with shocking terrorist attack by until that time unknown terrorist organisation which would later serve as an excuse for exponential rise of American security services, trampling of constitutional liberties and endless wars that make defence industries happy. However, that seems to be the only interesting thing about Memorial Day. Even when 9/11 made its theme more relevant than before hardly anyone remembered it. The reason might be not only in lack of budget, but lack of creativity and ambition. The main role is played by Jeff Speakman, highly respected martial artist for whom acting, to be charitable, isn’t exactly his forte. His lack of acting skill is matched by director Keeter and scriptwriter Steve Latshaw who fill the film with cliches, cheap location an script that often insults viewe’s intelligence. Bruce Weitz, character actor best known for the role of Sgt. Belker in Hill Street Blues is the only member of the cast who is actually trying to do something with his role, but his efforts aren’t enough to save this film. Memorial Day is watchable, but it can be recommended mainly to viewers interested in curiosities rather than entertainment.
RATING: 3/10 (+)
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
Leofinance blog https://leofinance.io/@drax.leo
Unstoppable Domains: https://unstoppabledomains.com/?ref=3fc23fc42c1b417
Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax
Bitcoin Lightning HIVE donations: https://v4v.app/v1/lnurlp/qrcode/drax
Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax
1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
