No Man's Land (1987)

The greatest movie ever made..!

The Age of Commercialism

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Absolutely Fantastic

I hate to praise Charlie Sheen, but I must.He played this role so perfectly, that I forgot I was watching a movie. I know that's a cliché by now, but it applies.You know the plot from the other reviews. Boyish undercover cop infiltrates a mechanic shop and befriends the owner, whom he is assigned to tail. That's because he is a suspected car thief and murderer.Think "Point Break" here, only 4 years earlier. A charismatic bad boy, sucks a peer into his criminal world, and the peer is actually in law enforcement.If you love 80s movies set amidst the glitz of 80s L.A., with fancy cars and classic obscure 80s dance tunes thrown in, you will love this one.I couldn't help envying the adventure that the D.B. Sweeney character was having. Nothing exciting ever happens to me. He gets introduced to the world of "the rich and aimless," gets a brother-like best friend who gives him money and lavish gifts, and he falls in love with a beautiful rich girl.There were a couple of authenticity problems I have to mention. The Sweeney character was supposed to be a 22 year old rookie, yet he was working undercover. Wouldn't that be a bit advanced for him? He was not a detective. But I guess they had to use him, because of his mechanical acumen with Porsches.Also, in order to get hired as a Porsche mechanic, wouldn't he have to show that he passed certification classes? Having just worked on some old cars in his driveway, would he really be skilled enough to work with professional foreign car mechanics, without taking any courses?The Randy Quaid character was a little comic-bookie, or over-the-top angry, but I guess they had to establish the tension between him and the rookie.The final showdown will again remind you of "Point Break." Enjoy it. This is definitely a guy's movie.

This is a fun film with Charlie Sheen playing a guy who likes to steal cars. He gets involved with a guy he doesn't know is an undercover cop. There are some cool scenes in this film and the music is great.I had some fun with this film and it reminds you of how great some shoot out scenes can beI recommend this film for fans of CharlieGreat fun and direction. I watched this on MGM last night and enjoyed itCharlie was great in these roles at this age for example Platoon and Wall StHe is a better dramatic actor than people give him credit for

The eighties might be considered a fairly relaxed era for movies. So many classic films come out of the eighties and they are ripe with sex, materialistic lust, violence, bad language, and the ultimate in cool. No Man's Land, despite a rather dull title, is exactly what the eighties genre is all about. Sleek cars (the Porsche) fast women, cool guys, guns, suits, and basically chock full of testosterone. This film is exactly what Fast and The Furious or Gone In Sixty Seconds was years later. Although No Man's Land has a fairly stereotypical storyline, the cop goes undercover to bust a car thieving ring and becomes entranced with the sweet lifestyle, something makes this different. It might be the cast who all work really well together without really giving any truly outstanding performances, it's a fast paced action film with an incredible car chase scene right at the climax and it's just a good time. It's not that will rake in the Oscars but at the same time you'll just feel pumped up watching it.Charlie Sheen...king of The Brat Pack, some might say. He was at the top of his game going into No Man's Land following Platoon and shortly thereafter Wall Street and Young Guns, and Major League. The guy was big in his day. In this film he plays bad guy, smooth talking businessman Ted Varrick. Varrick is so cool that you barely notice his illegal activities. Sheen is slick and easy to watch and commands a screen presence for his young age. And he's actually playing a grown up which is always a good move for a young actor trying to break into adult roles. He is very good as Varrick. D.B. Sweeney plays undercover rookie cop Benjy Taylor. Now Sweeney has done a bit of character acting although he was fairly new out of the gate when he filmed this one but I didn't think he was quite as good as someone stronger could have been in the role but he does alright. He tries to come across as the bad boy and never quite gets there. He's too soft but still he's likable and you can relate to him as the hero who gets too deep in with Varrick. Sheen and Sweeney do share some decent chemistry on screen together, which makes for some truly likable scenes and a killer ending. Lara Harris is Sweeney's love interest and Varrick's younger sister. She does a decent job although a little quiet for her role and her and Sheen seem to have too much sexual chemistry to be brother and sister which comes across as creepy at times but she also has decent chemistry with Sweeney although again he's not much of a bad boy like they try to portray him. Randy Quaid plays a small role as Sweeney's boss who sends him undercover. Quaid plays a tough as nails Lieutenant who seems to only yell and scream most of the time which is unfortunate because Quaid could have added a lot to the cast.As I mentioned before one of the absolute highlights of the film is the car chase scenes, one in particular at the height of the film. Sweeney behind the wheel, Sheen in the car with him and rival mobsters on their heels but there is plenty of action surrounding that chase. Gun fights, violent beatings and an intriguing underworld look at the parties, the women, the drugs and the stealing of the cars. I can't believe this film doesn't get more credit for being a classic eighties film because it truly is very entertaining and I only happened to come across it in my local video store and I thought it looked a little like a buddy cop film so I went for it and at times it does have that feel despite being on the other side of the law. Sheen and Sweeney hold their own and hold your attention and a decent story to go along with it. Moonlighting director Peter Werner establishes a deep friendship between them making the climax all the more thrilling. This one is a sure fire eighties hit!! 8/10

In No Man's Land, Charlie Sheen returns for another action flick about high-stakes car theives, having previously co-starred in Clint Eastwood's high action thriller, 'The Rookie.' But, whereas before he was a cop, here he plays one the primary villain, a wealthy Porsche thief who proves to go too far to protect his interests. A young D.B. Sweeny is Billy Isle, a rookie cop hired by a Lieutenant (Randy Quaid) to work undercover at a suspected chop shop that deals exclusively in Porsches. His assignement is to track Ted Varrick (Sheen), the wealthy hot shot behind the business, who the Lieutenant suspects is guilty of murdering a cop. However, Billy, after befirending Varrick and often forgetting he is a cop as he embraces the fast times of Porsche stealing and wealthy parties and carefree lifestyle Varrick introduces him to, clouding his judgment of Varrick, who he claims could not possibly be responsible for the cop's death, let alone anyone else's. But Billy begans to realize Varrick places no limits on how far he's willing to go to protect himself when the undercover operation is jeopardized, exposing high-level police corruption. And after Varrick gets wind of it, the body count starts mounting. Billy's trust of Varrick is tested when he becomes Varrick's next target. Billy's just got to wake up and get real when it comes to Ted. It is a pretty good story, though initially slow moving. That is, until the Ted Varrick character enters the scene. D.B. Sweeny does a good job with the lead as the impressionable young cop, and Sheen plays his usually monotonous toned hot shot. Often, it is the lengthy big-action car chase scenes that propels through the repetition. Good stuff highly recommended for 80s action fans.