Nails

Its every single cop movie cliche in existence...but Dennis Hopper is pure entertainment here. The plot is Hopper's trying to get the guys who kill his partner in the first five minutes of the movie. There's apparently a hundred plus bad guys that Hopper has to go thru in order to find the responsible party. Along the way, you get to see Hopper do thinks like: he puts a bad guy's head into a big huge bowl of shrimp that he's gobbling down, at another point he runs to catch a bad guy who's climbed onto the back of an escaping truck and of course Hopper catches him and pulls him off the truck and beats the crap out of him. Oh and there's the scene where attacked by drive by gunfire while in the bathtub with his dog Hopper grabs his gun and runs out of his house after the bad guy while stark raving nude. (shrugs) I had fun watching it. Its a very enjoyable hour and a half if you like Hopper. (and who doesn't like Hopper come on now!!!) Also Keith David is in it and the end credits song is by Eddie Money! How can you go wrong??? You can't--He's Nails!!!!

This is a low-class film with low-class, profane characters. Many times that spells death to whether I like the film but in this case, not so. That's because Dennis Hopper (perfect for profane, sick roles) is entertaining and the story moves at a brisk pace. There simply are not any dry spots. I always like to look at Anne Archer, too.

However, you can overdo the swearing, and that's the case here, and the usual modern-day clichés are here (i.e. the police captain fires the cop, who is the hero; Rambo-type action in which the good guys never get hit while the bad guys always do, etc.)

Those things downgrade this film to an average crime movie, which means it's still worth a look - especially if you like Hopper - but rent it before buying it.

I came by casually with this movie when I decided to watch various movies with Keith David (who has one of the best voices ever heard on film) and when I arrived to this one I thought I would have hated since it has a pathetic score of 5,1 but instead, I ended up loving it very much. And I think it's criminally underrated especially here!

Harry Nails (Dennis Hopper) is a though Los Angeles cop that when he goes investigating one night with his partner has his partner killed. Furious about what happened, he is recommended by his superiors to take a little vacation as they think that he might be stressed, but he refuses. Nails instead goes on a rampage towards all the criminals and their co-horts and he won't stop at nothing for having justice served (and he won't take a NO for an answer). He would also manage to expose the corrupted nature of his former colleague.

This is a great action movie despite it's a made for TV one. It has lots of chase scenes (including with cars), shootouts, fistfights, places trashed around... you can't get better than this one! I was surprised at how many twists and turns were as the bad guys were real jerks.

Dennis Hopper steals the show in every scene he's in as the tough cop Harry Nails, who has a ruggedness a bit reminiscent of Clint Eastwood in his prime and I really loved his performance. I thought that his treatment towards those scumbags was necessary. The supporting cast is full of then unknwon faces that soon become famous as they were more active in movies: John Hawkes, Keith David, Jay Acovone and even Danny Trejo as a barman were quite a surprise to watch. And the soundtrack was very funky in some points.

If you ever have a chance to watch this movie... watch it at all costs! It's a great action movie that fans of the genre will enjoy and it's not like your typical made for TV movie. When it was over I thought ''why they didn't released it in theaters?'' because I think that if it was released in theaters it could have today a much higher score and more reviews.

Nails is one of those movies that since it's made for TV, then no one can see how bad two big stars can be. Dennis Hopper and Anne Archer should have known better. Hopper was in a pre-Speed slump and had I seen this stinker first, then I would've never seen Speed (What a mistake that would've been). I was suprised at the level of violence and language used in this movie. Never would I have believed that it could've made it to TV like this.

+ (GOOD THINGS) 1.) The car chases 2.) The opening credits

• (BAD THINGS) 1.) The sets (ugh!) 2.) Hopper's performance 3.) The script 4.) The direction 5.) Archer's performance

Total: 2/10

Deplorable this property has yet to be properly telecined (w exception of long out-of-circulation German DVD); still only accessible via used VHS cassette tapes. Infinitely better than Striking Distance (1993) or Boiling Point (1993). Nails is director John Flynn's Vice Squad (1982).

Fantastic casting; everyone steps up here - with Hopper eclipsing his crazy-mad Texas Chainsaw Massacre II (1986) performance. The narrative is not without its flaws and could have benefitted with an additional 12 - 20 minutes breathing room. Nails is still easily one of the best renegade cop flicks of the 90s, alongside China O'Brien (1990) imho.