Korda

"Might I have the pleasure of your name....before I have you run through?" "Course, can't put much stock in a man who spends most part of a conversation talkin' to a bear." "You know what will be said about this in Spain, don't you?" "I collect swords, you see. I take them from the men I've killed." "Childhood's over the moment you know you're gonna die." "You ask God for help and I'll stop the moment he shows up."

WARNING: THERE ARE VIDEOS AND PHOTO GALLERIES ON THIS PAGE AND IT MAY LOAD SLOWLY

It is said that Michael Wincott is an actor who "lives the character" and he himself says, "You have to be careful so you don't make your character dull and predictable. Sometimes you have to bend the script a little". Well, just watch three different movies and you'll see three different characters, but not Michael. He blends in like a chameleon. Mind you, a gorgeous one.

This section of michaelwincott.org delves into some of the memorable characters Michael has so deftly brought to life. There are screen capture photo galleries, Flash videos, and my review of the film.

Charming yet a bit sadistic jewel thief . . .

Korda from Metro

Metro: Where the hell did the title come from anyway?

A review by Laura

Well the mid-90s style of movie making strikes again. This “cops & robbers” story comes up a bit short in story. It’s pretty bad when the San Francisco scenery steals the scenes. It’s sad when Korda, the most interesting character is lost to cliché and unmatched stylistically with the other main characters, or is severely underused and not explored.

Here’s the simple rundown. Eddie Murphy stars in Metro as Scott Roper, a hyperactive, gambling addicted, control freak hostage negotiator. There’s nothing funny there at all. The best thing about Eddie’s performance in Metro was his hair. Ouch. Par for course in the 90s cop movie curriculum, Roper’s detective friend gets killed and he’s out for revenge. Conveniently he’s called to negotiate a hostage situation in a jewelry store and the two cases cross paths. OOH, such a shock.

Michael Wincott plays Michael Korda, a man who on the surface appears charming and calm, yet can snap into a sadistic killer with little provocation. [check out video clip next door] Korda is a jewel thief planning the heist of his life. This robbery is his ticket to giving up crime and just hanging out on a beach with a hot babe. Maybe he should get away with it to keep the streets safer. He’s got a soft place in his heart for his mentally challenged cousin, but that’s about it. Korda is smart, but in this genre of movie, the “good guy cop” is always smarter and stronger.

Korda takes the employees and customers of the jewelry store hostage during the robbery and Roper is called to handle the situation. Things don’t exactly go as the cops planned and yes, you guessed it, a car chase ensues. However, to make this different than other cheap car chases in an LA set film, a San Fran cable car comes into play. [The best part of this whole chase scene for me was how bad the stunt team looked. An old lady on the cable car was holding her little fluffy dog, but it was so obviously a stuffed animal from Kmart. Too funny. I cared more about that than the excitement of the chase.]

Of course because Korda is a very bad man who kills random trolley drivers and scares old lady’s stuffed dogs, he is caught and arrested. BUT, you can’t keep an Italian down for long, and you don’t want to be the object of their revenge. I won’t tell you how he escapes jail, because frankly it’s just so dull I forget the details. I also won’t tell you how he takes revenge on Roper. You’ll just have to watch for yourself. Fast forwarding is allowed.

Climax time, and the best part is the gorgeous orange mustang Korda drives. Tied up women is danger, gun shots, fire, another car chase, and a big explosion fill hurried scenes at the end of the movie. By now if you are an avid fan of Michael Wincott you will no doubt feel confident that his character will die in some ignominious way, so I won’t reveal it here. Roper and cute girlfriend head to Tahiti to get “neked” and all it right with the world.

Are you still awake? Look it was the 90s, this type of movie was typical and expected. If we look at it from a time capsule perspective and don’t look for anything of a higher level of story or character, than we can just enjoy the flashy stunts, loud music, and pretty colors. Michael Wincott has apparently commented on not liking this movie for pretty obvious reasons. However you feel about it, just think about how dead sexy he was in that ski mask saying to Roper when the cops wanted to negotiate terms, “You wanna come Roper, then come.” Made me want to . . . What? There has to be something positive to say about Metro. So that’s it for me.