James Earl Jones Archives

The Man (1972)

Rating: ★★★½

Jun 4, 2006First Black US President

Strong political What IF drama from a Rod Serling script that has James Earl Jones as the first Black President of the USA (something that did not occur in reality for another 36 years with Barack Obama)

Director: Joseph Sargent

Actors: James Earl Jones, Burgess Meredith, Martin Balsam, William Windom, …

Category: Science Fiction

4 June 20062 June 2020 by Roog

Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

Rating: ★½

Mar 19, 2010Demonic Possession

This is regarded as one of the worst sequels ever made, featuring many of the actors but with John Boorman stepping in as director. It's an incomprehensible mishmash of ideas but not without some laudable elements

Director: John Boorman

Actors: Richard Burton, Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher, Kitty Winn, …

Category: Horror

19 March 201031 January 2026 by Roog

Star Wars (1977)

Rating: ★★★★★

Dec 16, 2000Space Opera

The single most influential science-fiction film of all time, one that created a massive industry of sequels and spinoffs, not to mention copycats, and changed the way that people thought of science-fiction

Director: George Lucas

Actors: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness, …

Category: Science Fiction

16 December 200030 July 2026 by Roog

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Rating: ★★★★★

Apr 4, 2001Space Opera

George Lucas’s first sequel to Star Wars and a work that holds up every bit as well as its predecessor, in many places betters it. The story darkens the mythos and introduces new characters, while the special effects sequences are the peak of the series

Director: Irvin Kershner

Actors: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, David Prowse, …

Category: Science Fiction

4 April 200115 February 2023 by Roog

Conan the Barbarian (1982)

Rating: ★★★½

May 31, 2001Sword and Sorcery

Adaptation of Robert E. Howard's pulp adventure stories and the film that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a star. The script from Oliver Stone takes unevenly from Howard but director John Milius gives the film a brutal, primal majesty

Director: John Milius

Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones, Sandahl Bergman, Mako, …

Category: Fantasy

31 May 200117 September 2025 by Roog

The Flight of Dragons (1982)

Rating: ★★½

May 29, 2012Animation/Epic Fantasy

One of Rankin-Bass's animated films, this has an ambitious epic fantasy plot with original themes about the line between science and magic, although this is undone by Rankin-Bass's limited animation

Director: Arthur Rankin Jr, Jules Bass

Actors: John Ritter, Harry Morgan, James Earl Jones, Don Messick, …

Category: Fantasy

29 May 201214 February 2026 by Roog

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)

Rating: ★★

Mar 21, 2001Space Opera

A disappointing end to George Lucas’s original Star Wars trilogy. The script lazily wraps up loose ends while sidelining the new characters introduced the last time, and the climax rehashes the climaxes of the two other films

Director: Richard Marquand

Actors: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, David Prowse, …

Category: Science Fiction

21 March 200124 March 2025 by Roog

Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986)

Rating: ½

Feb 12, 2005Lost City Adventure

This is a sequel to Cannon Films' excruciating camp version of King Solomon's Mines. Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone are back. This is a marginal improvement but far from a good film

Director: Gary Nelson

Actors: Richard Chamberlain, Sharon Stone, James Earl Jones, Robert Donner, …

Category: Fantasy

12 February 20058 November 2025 by Roog

Field of Dreams (1989)

Rating: ★★★★★

Feb 15, 2002Mystical Baseball Field with Ghost Players

Beautiful fantasy where Kevin Costner hears a voice that directs him to build a baseball diamond in his cornfield where dead players to return to life. A genteel fantasy filled with nostalgia for lost Americana and the 1960s

Director: Phil Alden Robinson

Actors: Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Amy Madigan, Timothy Busfield, …

Category: Fantasy

15 February 20021 February 2026 by Roog

Grim Prairie Tales (1990)

Rating: ★★★

Mar 10, 2001Anthology of Wild West Horror Tales

An interesting, if not completely successful, attempt to revive the horror anthology – in this case with four tales that all take place in a Western setting

Director: Wayne Coe

Actors: Brad Doruif, James Earl Jones, Marc McClure, Michelle Joyner, …

Category: Horror

10 March 20011 March 2026 by Roog

By Dawn’s Early Light (1990)

Rating: ★★★

Aug 14, 2024Nuclear War

The last gasp of the Cold War nuclear film. A tv movie that features Martin Landau is the US President who tries to stop an accidental Russian nuclear release escalating into full-out war

Director: Jack Sholder

Actors: Martin Landau, Powers Boothe, Rebecca De Mornay, Darren McGavin, …

Category: Science Fiction

14 August 202426 May 2026 by Roog

The Ambulance (1990)

Rating: ★★

Apr 8, 1999Mysterious Ambulance/Sinister Medical Experiments

One of the last directorial outings from cult director Larry Cohen. Comic-book artist Eric Roberts is wound up in trying to trace a mysterious ambulance that is abducting women into illicit experiments

Director: Larry Cohen

Actors: Eric Roberts, James Earl Jones, Megan Gallagher, Red Buttons, …

Category: Science Fiction

8 April 199917 March 2026 by Roog

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

Rating: ★★★★

Jun 28, 2002Tom Clancy Techno-Thriller/Advanced Submarine

The first and best Tom Clancy adaptation about a hi-tech Soviet submarine whose captain goes rogue. Director John McTiernan conducts the undersea maneuverings with gripping psychological tension

Director: John McTiernan

Actors: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, …

Category: Science Fiction

28 June 20026 April 2026 by Roog

Sneakers (1992)

Rating: ★★★★

Jun 22, 1999Hi-Tech Thriller

Standout thriller set around the world of computing, one of the earliest techno-thriller to adapt to the new internet age

Director: Phil Alden Robinson

Actors: Robert Redford, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, Sidney Poitier, …

Category: Science Fiction

22 June 199911 October 2024 by Roog

The Meteor Man (1993)

Rating: ★

Nov 1, 2000Black Superhero

Robert Townsend directs and stars as the screen's first Black superhero in this comedy take on the superhero film

Director: Robert Townsend

Actors: Robert Townsend, Eddie Griffin, Robert Guillaume, James Earl Jones, …

Category: Science Fiction

1 November 200028 March 2023 by Roog

The Lion King (1994)

Rating: ★★★★

Dec 31, 2001Disney Animation/Talking Animals

One of the best films to come out of Disney's animation renaissance during the 1990s, this uses all the studio as its disposal to create a work that is epic in its scope

Director: Rob Minkoff, Roger Allers

Actors: Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, James Earl Jones, …

Category: Fantasy

31 December 200129 December 2024 by Roog

Casper: A Spirited Beginning (1997)

Rating: ★½

Dec 12, 2004Friendly Ghost

The first of the video-released sequels to the Casper the Friendly Ghost film, this is played down to children and comes with much in the way of slapstick

Director: Sean McNamara

Actors: Steve Guttenberg, Michael McKean, Lori Loughlin, Rodney Dangerfield, …

Category: Fantasy

12 December 200428 December 2025 by Roog

The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (1998)

Rating: ★★½

Oct 28, 2013Disney Animation/Talking Animals

Another of the interminable video sequels to their animated classics that Disney made throughout the 90s-00s. This is somewhat better than most of the others

Director: Darrell Rooney, Rob Laduca

Actors: Neve Campbell, Jason Marsden, Matthew Broderick, Suzanne Pleshette, …

Category: Fantasy

28 October 20133 July 2026 by Roog

Fantasia 2000 (1999)

Rating: ★★

Jan 3, 2000Disney Animation and Music Anthology

Disney's sequel to Fantasia comes weighted with a sense of its own self-importance - the first theatrical release of the new millennium. However, it fails to produce much that has the stature of the original

Director: Don Hahn, Eric Goldberg, Francis Glebas, Gaetan Brizzi, Hendel Butoy, James Algar, Paul Brizzi, Pixote Hunt

Actors: Penn Jillette, James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, Steve Martin, …

Category: Fantasy

3 January 20001 February 2026 by Roog

Scary Movie 4 (2006)

Rating: ★★

Jun 21, 2006Genre Spoof

Fourth of the Scary Movie films and the usual crude inanity, although under David Zucker the movie parodies have expanded well beyond what can be labelled scary movies any longer

Director: David Zucker

Actors: Anna Faris, Craig Bierko, Regina Hall, Leslie Nielsen, …

Category: Horror

21 June 200628 July 2026 by Roog

Rogue One (2016)

Rating: ★★

Jan 7, 2017Star Wars Prequel

Disney are now doing what Lucasfilm did with their novels in the 80s and spinning adventures off from even minor background characters. This is a grittier Dirty Dozen adventure but still recycles the same basic elements

Director: Gareth Edwards

Actors: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, …

Category: Science Fiction

7 January 201730 July 2026 by Roog

The Lion King (2019)

Rating: ★

Oct 19, 2019Disney Live-Action Remake/Talking Animals

Jon Favreau had success recreating The Jungle Book in live-action with CGI animals and does the same with The Lion King - only to produce an exacting, lifeless replication missing the charms of the original

Director: Jon Favreau

Actors: Donald Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Beyoncé Knowles, James Earl Jones, …

Category: Fantasy

19 October 20191 August 2026 by Roog