IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

MBunge Quicksand is the sort of cheap hunk of rubbish that you have to do if you're a working actor. For those fortunate performers who land the lead role on a network TV show or manage to string a couple of big movie paychecks together, they have the financial security to say "no" to awkward, stumbling hodgepodges like Quicksand. For just about everyone else, there are times when they have bills to pay and the only job they're being offered is in something they know they'll regret doing. I'm not sure what financial bind Richard Kind, Dan Hedaya or Brooke Theiss were in that made them agree to be in this movie, but I hope that at least their checks didn't bounce.Set on a U.S. Marine base in Arizona, this film focuses on Captain Bill Turner (Michael Dudikoff), a psychiatrist called in to work with General Stewart's (Dan Hedaya) rebellious daughter. A Marine officer herself, Randi (Brooke Theiss) has caused a scandal and rather than see her court martialed, General Stewart wants her to be given a Section 8 and quietly drummed out of the service. But when General Stewart is murdered, Bill and Randi find themselves caught up in an ill-defined scheme involving political corruption, medical malfeasance and a little incest to top it all off. Assisted by a Marine criminal investigator (Richard Kind), Bill and Randi have to avoid some of the most inept bad guys in the history of cinema and reveal the truth.Quicksand is a stark reminder of how bad low-budget movies used to look. With modern equipment and a little imagination, today's filmmakers can largely disguise not having much money for their production. 20 years or more ago, however, it was very noticeable when a film couldn't afford decent sets, costumes or even more basic things like lighting. Quicksand may have been made in 2002, but it looks like it jumped into a time machine and was produced in 1976 for about $327. It was apparently filmed at a retirement community or country club with homemade signs and banners strung up in a feeble attempt to make it look like a military base. Many of the military uniforms worn in the film appear to have been stitched together by someone's grandma. There's a scene between Michael Dudikoff and Richard Kind where the lighting is so bad, the two men don't even appear to be on the same planet, let alone in the same room. Most of the extras resemble illegal immigrants picked up in the morning outside Home Depot. At least 4 of the minor speaking roles were done by actors so appalling, their dialog was redubbed with someone else's voice. This movie is so cheap, these filmmakers couldn't even pay attention. There's a scene with Dan Hedaya where one moment his face is sweating like a pig and the next it's dry as a bone.In addition to the overall bargain basement nature of Quicksand, these filmmakers don't display any significant skill in anything. There are bad camera angles, horrible staging, scenes that go on and on until the actors basically wander out of frame, a chase scene that is more ridiculous than your average Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoon and a soundtrack that was evidently composed by a cat walking across a Casio keyboard.Amidst all that dreck, there are a couple of good acting jobs on display here. It's interesting to watch Richard Kind try and amuse himself when he's on screen and a rather pretty Brooke Theiss gives her all to a poorly written role that swings her from vixen to victim to loony and back again. On the other hand, Michael Dudikoff is a stump with a hairdo that looks like the most expensive thing in the entire production and Douglas Weston, as Randi's politician brother, gives a performance that makes you think he's a key grip that got the role when the real actor quit on the first day of shooting.If there was a decent amount of nudity in Quicksand, it might have been able to pass itself off as trashy fun. With everyone remaining completely clothed at all times, it can't even achieve that meager level of entertainment. This is the second bad movie I've reviewed with the title of "Quicksand" and this one is worse than the first. If there's a third Quicksand film out there that's even worse than this one, I don't think I ever want to see it because I'm afraid it would make my eyes bleed.

Frank Markland Michael Dudikoff stars as Bill Turner, a marine psychiatrist who's new client Randi Stewart (Brooke Thesis) is accused of killing her father Gordon(Dan Hedaya) however some things come to surface such as meds with deadly side effects and such new things come to surface including Stewart's past that involves her brother(a politician by the way) in a story that manages to keep your interest throughout. Quicksand is a collaboration between American Ninja veterans Michael Dudikoff and director Sam Firstenberg, back in the military horizons where American Ninja took place. This time there are no ninjas (And sadly no Steve James) and what most surprises is just how much Dudikoff has softened his approach and has acted. There aren't really a lot of action sequences (Although there as an effective car-chase) and Dudikoff doesn't do any ninjitsu that one would expect from the people who brought you American Ninja. Quicksand is indeed somewhat old fashioned in the style it's made and directed, therefore the drama contradicts the look of the film at regular intervals while the terrible music score (the film's major weakness) comes off laughably overblown. Still there are some effective moments and Dudikoff shares good chemistry with Thesis and Richard Kind. Hedaya is of course wasted and some of the subplots are half baked but I'd be lying if I said that this movie doesn't contain an energetic quality that keeps you mildly engrossed.* * out of 4-(Fair)

Yale-6 The crew crammed an amazing number of inaccuracies into just the first 10 minutes: (1) The Corps would not assign an enlisted woman to the base of her general father. (2) Even if the officers-club bartender were a Marine, he would not have been serving drinks in uniform. (3) The enlisted woman would not have been allowed in the officers club, even in civilian clothes. (4) The enlisted woman in civilian clothes would not have been allowed to drive the jeep. (5) There would have been range personnel, not just the two senior officers, at the target range. (6) Everybody at the target range would have been wearing ear protection.This abysmal film highlights the need for military advisers. We know that movies are fictitious stories, but they must seem plausible to be enjoyable. This film's excessive number of inaccuracies rubs our noses in the fiction, spoiling our enjoyment. There was no reason to believe that filmmakers would devote any more effort to details of the story than to details of the Marine Corps, so there was no reason to watch much more of the film.There's more entertainment in a couple of fortune cookies.

bl-11 Unsurprisingly low budget, the sets consist of the same 3 buildings or so and the cast are led by straight to video regular michael dudikoff but not in an action hero role (tho dan hedaya is the biggest name, albeit in a small part). The main 'action' scene, a car chase, is full of consistency errors, but the low budget lends a feeling of authenticity (keeping away from the 80/90's folly of blowing up everything). All this is to be expected but the main thing is the story; it is relatively small and neat, they have kept it simple so that it seems to fit well with the scale of the film. I leave the synopsis to give you some of the story, but all in all I wouldn't say rent this (I gave it a 4) but it is surprisingly ok and I actually wanted to watch the whole film to see how it all turned out in the end.