ffolkes (North Sea Hijack)

There is a reason the sites on my blog roll are so cool. They always provide me with the best images, the most entertaining posts and the most awesome movie recommendations. I can't remember who put me onto this movie but it was a good choice even though the title is THE WORST in movie history. Usually I look at Roger Moore in movies, especially BOND pictures and I give him a pass. However, like his role in 'The Wild Geese', his portrayal of Ffolkes is one of his best. He plays a wealthy Brit who trains a private mercenary army for 'emergencies' that may come up. He drinks entirely too much, does needlepoint, hates women but loves his kitties. He is also a 'know it all' with no respect for authority or those who he considers beneath him. He expects to be listened to and for his orders to be carried out precisely the way he gives them. Just the kind of arrogant asshat Moore plays so well. The poster also is extremely stupid and in NO scene do women drip themselves off him. Fricken' marketing department.


When Tony Perkins (Psycho) and his gang take over an oil rig supply ship, Ffolkes is called in to save not only the crew but the two oil platforms that the bad guys have rigged with mines. They give the government 24 hours to pay 25 million in ransom (hey this was 1980) or they will detonate the mines. Its up to Ffolkes and his brilliant mind to come up with a plan. James Mason as the Navy Admiral has to just ply along as much as he hates not being in charge.


Tony Perkins overacts as usual and the music tends to overdo it at times but I was with this one for the duration. The final resolution takes surprisingly little time out of the picture since most of the film is spent showing how Ffolkes maneuvers everything into position so that he can save the day. It helps that Perkins and gang are not really the most brilliant villains ever to conceive of a scheme like this though he does catch on to some of the ways both the crew and Ffolkes try to throw him off his game. After I viewed it I couldn't help but wonder how Bruce Willis would do the remake since 'Die Hard' on an oil rig seems the next logical step. The ending was my favorite part and those of you who read this blog regularly will easily figure out why.