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Dolph Lundgren
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« on: July 11, 2005, 11:46:00 AM »

Hey guys,

It's been a very long time since I've posted, but I got that b-movie itch once again and came crawling back.  I haven't been away or anything, and I've been reading a lot of the posts lately, it's just been awhile since I've posted.  Time to break my silence!

I posted this thread over at the 80s action forum at Ruthless Reviews, but thought I might get some good responses over here moreso than there.  You guys never fail to suggest a movie that I haven't heard of, only for me to check it out and absolutely love it.

Here are some gems I've seen in the past few months that hopefully some of you guys can relate to.  I've been on a b-movie 80s action kick lately, so a majority of these fall under that category.  These movies are more unknown than the usual classics such as Commando, Rambo, etc.  These ones are more under the radar.  Feel free to add more of your own!  Here goes:

Deadlock - stars Rutger Hauer, a favorite of mine, some girl with short hair and big hooters, and James Remar. I've always loved the premise of this movie: Hauer, a pacifist/jewel thief, gets tossed in prison after a jewel heist gone wrong. This, however, is no typical prison, as two prisoners are randomly attached to one another via exploding necklaces to prevent escapes. If they are ever more than 100 yards apart, both of their heads will explode. The warden is your typical a-hole. Hauer meets the girl with big knockers while in prison and the two of them discover they're the ones who are attached. I won't say too much else for those who haven't seen it, but the rest is a surprisingly fun and sometimes funny b-movie that's worth watching because of the crazy prison premise and the fact that it's pretty well made overall. See this if you come across it.

Bulletproof - stars Gary Busey. Simply put, one of my favorite b-movies ever. Anyone who's a fan of Busey, stupid one-liners, and Rambo-esque action will love the s**t out of this movie. Not only does this movie have a VERY young Danny Trejo in a blink-and-you'll-miss-him cameo, but it features one-liners by Busey that have one common theme: the word butthorn. What is butthorn? Who the hell knows, I'm figuring it's something crack-era Busey came up with on the fly. An example of the movie's wit:
Trejo: (seeing Busey sneaking around in the rafters of where else? An abandoned warehouse) Who the f**k is that?
Busey: I'm your worst nightmare butthorn!
Trejo: McBain!?
Busey: (teeth flaring) YEAH!
Of course, Busey then cleans house. The first part of the movie is a by-the-numbers cop action/drama movie, then it suddenly turns into a crazed Rambo fest complete with a futuristic tank Busey uses to trash everything in sight. Insane movie, please see it!

Edge of Honor - stars Corey Feldman and a younger chick with big hooters. Okay, so this movie might be more of a guilty pleasure that only I would like, but I always thought the premise was intriguing: Feldman and a group of boyscouts are out in the northwest wilderness messing on a camping trip. Feldman and a few of his cronies sneak out of camp and stumble upon a bunch of weapons - which happen to belong to a bunch of crazed drug dealing hillbillies, one of them being Patrick Swayze's ass ugly mulleted brother. The hillbillies find out the weapons have been messed with and set out to kill anyone that's seen them. They stumble upon the other group of boyscouts and kill all of them, including the leaders, except for Feldman and his pals. The rest of the movie is a Most Dangerous Game knockoff with Feldman and his pals running from the hillbillies. Low budget, and with Corey Feldman, but still worth watching nonetheless.

Blood of Heroes - starring Rutger Hauer. Awesome post apocalyptic movie with in which Rutger Hauer and a group of rag tag individuals play a futuristic game that can be described as a mix of football and deathmatches. Hauer is a washed up "jugger" (what the players of this game are referred to) who wants one last shot at the glory of being a champion - but is forced to do so with a group of inexperienced players. A really great and underrated movie that should be seen by more people.

Hunter's Blood - starring Clu Gulager, a young Billy Drago, John Travolta's brother, and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo with a very young Billy Bob Thornton. I'd be very surprised if anyone's seen this. A huge guilty pleasure and my favorite movie of the ones listed. A group of guys get together for their ritual hunting trip in the Arkansas wilderness. Once there, they meet up with a bunch of locals who seem less-than-thrilled to meet them. After an altercation with the bunch, the group of guys learn from some local cops passing through that a bunch of hillbillies are out in the wilderness killing anything and anyone that moves to use them for meat. The guys blow the cops off, thinking nothing of it. But they soon meet up with the group of hillbillies, including Billy Drago(!), and find themselves on the run. Another Most Dangerous Game/Deliverance knockoff, but for some reason, I love the hell out of this movie. The movie does a really good job of establishing the buddy-buddy connection between the guys and making a lot of them out to be likeable. When they're being chased by the hillbillies, there is actually a sense of urgency on the viewer's part to see most of the characters live. There is some good gore too, which certainly doesn't hurt. A great ending too, which while I won't spoil, is very different from your typical happy ending. See it!

Quiet Cool - starring James Remar. Since I obviously suck at writing about movie premises, this one from IMDB does a good job of summing it up:

"Joe Dylanne (James Remar) is a plainclothes NYC cop with a badge...and a robust personality. He always resorts to unconventional methods in order to capture the city's slickest criminals. When Dylanne receives a message from Kate (Daphne Ashbrook), an old sweetheart of his, the news is not as pleasant as he anticipated. Rather, it is an imperative call for help. Dylanne must swing into full action. This cop must travel to a remote location in the northwest in order to investigate the disappearances of his friend's relatives. It turns out that most of Kate's relatives have been murdered in cold blood. The only survivor of the slaughter is Joshua (Adam Coleman Howard), an angst-ridden survivalist who explains to Dylanne about a sophisticated plan implicating marijuana plant growers. Dylanne and Joshua must trespass enemy territory in the name of revenge..."

A very cool and under the radar movie that has some great action in it and moves along at a quick pace.

Survival Quest - starring Lance Henriksen, Durmot Mulroney, a bunch of other people. An awesome little movie by the guy that did Phantasm. A bunch of people from all walks of life get together to take a course in the wilderness called Survival Quest, which teaches them how to survive via teamwork. The class it taught by Lance Henriksen, the ultimate badass mountain guy that lives off of the land. He teaches the group to work together and to rely on each other in any situation - which is great, because another group, a bunch of paramilitary psychos, are camping in the same wilderness. Soon the Survival Quest team finds themselves on the run as a member of the paramilitary group goes insane and begins targeting them. I don't want to go too much into detail to ruin some of the movie, but I thought it was really well done. It does a great job of creating a sense of closeness between the Survival Quest members and how they rely on each other as a team and also a nice job of creating tension as they try to escape from the paramilitary group. Plus it has Lance Henriksen ... need I say more?

Let's Get Harry - starring Robert Duvall (!), Mark Harmon, Glenn Frey of Eagles fame (!), Gary Busey, a bunch of other guys. The penultimate guy movie, right down to the gay-sounding title. Extremely cheesy and was even disowned by one of its directors, who pulled an Alan Smithee, which, for those of you that don't know, is the name given by a person that chooses not to be associated with the final film. Again, I'm not good as describing movies, so I'll let this blurb from IMDB suffice:

"When Harry Burck (Mark Harmon), an American engineer on loan to Colombia, is taken hostage and held for ranson. His brother, Corey (Michael Schoeffling) and friend, Jack (Gary Busey), are among a group of men lead by Shrike (Robert Duvall) to go deep into the jungles of Colombia to rescue Harry and an American ambassador."

What this fails to mention is the fact that the brother holds a Soldier of Fortune-esque tryout in his barn in the middle of nowhere in Illinois, which is how Duvall gets involved. The whole premise is a riot, but I thought the movie was a unknown blast. A good timewaster.

Kid – starring C. Thomas Howell. I thought this was a really interesting movie that played out somewhat like a modern day western. C. Thomas Howell plays a drifter that stumbles upon a lonely and small desert town. We have no idea what his name is or why he’s there … until one day he meets and befriends a local kid obsessed with heavy metal and his sister. The story unfolds as Kid finally begins to spill his guts to his new pals after staying silent for so long. We learn that Kid’s parents were hippies that were murdered in the woods by local police officers and the sheriff. Plot twists and violence ensue. I’ll stop right here as more details would ruin the movie. A really quirky movie with somewhat of a slow pace, but never seems boring. There’s some vigilante justice involved in a small desert town, which is where the western influence comes into play. A neat little flick that’s worth checking out if you stumble across it.

Avenging Force – starring Michael Dudikoff and Steve James. I’ve always thought Steve James was great in nearly everything he was in and wish he were still around today. Dudikoff is a very dry actor and is just sort of there, especially in this movie. This is a pretty crazy flick with a strange premise and lots of action. Dudikoff plays your typical action hero and Steve James plays a guy running for mayor. James’ family is gunned down by a bunch of local hicks who don’t take kindly to seeing an African American as their mayor. Meanwhile, a group of unknown men are running around the Louisiana bayou hunting down innocent victims, ala the Most Dangerous Game. Eventually the identities of the men are discovered and when the plot comes together James and Dudikoff find themselves as the ones being hunted. Again, I don’t want to go into too much detail to spoil anything, but with this type of movie, is there really all that much to spoil? A crazy action movie in the same vein as the first two American Ninja flicks. I say this because Sam Firstenberg directed American Ninja and Avenging Force, so if you enjoyed American Ninja, and like the Most Dangerous Game premise, you’ll love this movie. It’s cheesy as hell and all of the hunters have their own identities/weapons (i.e. one guy wears a Samurai mask, etc.), but it’s also a great timewaster and one of those movies to turn your brain off and just watch. Definitely worth checking out if you’re a b-movie action fan.

Fifty/Fifty – starring Peter Weller. This movie certainly came out of nowhere and entertained the hell out of me. It’s basically Lethal Weapon meets Rambo, or, in other words, an entire country dies at the hands of two leads who crack jokes the entire time. Ironically enough I snagged this at a local video store closing down for 50 cents and it was the best 50 cents I’ve spent in quite some time. Shouldn’t be too tough to track this movie down for much more than that. A good beer and buddies sort of movie.

Eye of the Tiger – starring Gary Busey and Yaphet Kotto. This one isn’t really under the radar, but there still might be some people out there that haven’t seen/heard of it. Busey’s actually subdued in this one for a change and plays a man just released from prison. He returns to his small hometown in the desert with his wife and kid to discover that a local gang of tough guys are always riding around terrorizing everyone on motorcycles. Of course Busey gets involved and ends up p**sing off the entire gang, and a lot of chases, violence, and mayhem ensue. You know you’re in for a classic when this movie not only is named after the hit Survivor song Eye of the Tiger, but also shamelessly blares it during the opening credits. Pure 80s cheese at its best. Really just an all around good action movie and nothing more than that. Another good turn-your-brain-off-at-the-door-and-enjoy type of movie.

The Wraith – starring Charlie Sheen. This is the best movie that nobody’s heard of. What seems to be a really crappy teen movie somehow churns out some of the best car chase scenes in movie history. You can snag this movie for very cheap on DVD and you’d be better for it if you did. It’s a very strange melting pot of some really crappy teen acting and some really awesome action scenes, namely, the car chases. There’s not really action other than car chases though, so if they aren’t your thing, then pass. The movie actually has a Dodge Turbo Interceptor in it, which was an extremely rare concept car that looked really futuristic (by 80s standards, of course). It’s a pretty badass car and is pretty much the main star of the movie. Anyway, do yourselves a favor and grab this one, it’s worth it.

Journey of Honor – starring Sho Kosugi. I’ll admit it: Sho Kosugi’s a god to me. His 80s ninja flicks changed the way I watched movies forever and brought me to the dark side, otherwise known as b-movies. So when I mention this movie to those who were raised on his ninja flicks, they look at me like I’m crazy. But it does exist, and it’s basically Sho’s vision of an epic movie set in 17th century Japan. It’s completely ridiculous but entertaining nonetheless. It’s not even close to being on par with his other movies (it’s only PG-13, boooo), and can drag a bit in places, but I think it’s worth watching if you’re a fan of Sho.

The Hidden – starring Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Nouri. A really off-the-wall movie with aliens, car chases, guns, shooting, violence, breasts, pretty much everything you can ask for in a movie and more. Another 80s gem that somehow got lost in the shuffle. It’s pretty much a buddy-buddy cop action movie with a sci-fi twist. Again, I won’t go into much detail about the plot, but needless to say, this one’s definitely worth checking out and comes highly recommended, plus it’s on DVD, so there’s no excuse not to watch it!

Number One with a Bullet – starring Robert Carradine and Billy Dee Williams. This movie was actually pretty ho-hum, but might be worth a try if you like by-the-numbers cop action movies or seeing Robert Carradine, the same guy who played Lewis Skolnick in the Nerds/Revenge of the Nerds movies, try to act like a total badass. It was quite funny to see him running around with guns and acting like a hardass Chuck Bronson type when all I could hear that nerd Horgh he would always do in the Nerds movies in the back of my head. Really a pretty mediocre movie, but again, if you find it cheap, and if you’re a fan of the Cannon flicks like I am, give it a shot.

The Challenge – starring Scott Glenn and Toshiro Mifune! A completely badass movie that everyone should see. Interestingly enough, all of the movie’s action scenes were choreographed by none other than Steven Seagal before he became a bloated a***ole (just kidding, I’m actually a big Seagal fan). Glenn plays a man caught between two feuding Japanese brothers and is taught by one of them the ways of the samurai. What follows is his journey in becoming a badass samurai warrior who then goes and kills a lot of people. Just a very well done movie that should be seen by action fans. A lost action classic.

Ghost Warrior – starring a bunch of unknown people. A very, very strange movie in which a frozen samurai comes to life after being transported to Los Angeles. No, I’m not making this up. The samurai warrior then befriends a journalist who discovers him and helps him cope with 20th century technology. The two soon find themselves on the run from the government, who wants him to remain a secret. Okay, so admittedly it’s been awhile since I’ve seen this movie, and it could very well suck upon another viewing, but I actually remember it being quite decent. Then again, it could be another guilty pleasure of mine, so tread with caution.

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odinn7
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« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2005, 12:05:23 PM »

I've seen some of those but the one I wanted to comment one was The Hidden. I absolutely love this movie. I saw this in the theater about 4 times and got it on vhs when it came out. I don't know what it is about this movie but it's one of my favorites from its time. One of the best scenes in it is the opening car chase the way it's intermixed with the music and all. Seeing it for the first time, you have no idea why this guy is doing this and doesn't seem to care about the cops too much. Great movie.

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« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2005, 12:16:08 PM »

Right on odinn, I'm with you all the way, the Hidden is a true classic.  I wish I could've been lucky like you to have seen it in the theater once, let alone four times.  That's awesome.  I agree that there is something about the movie that keeps me coming back to watch it ... maybe it's the fact that it doesn't take itself too seriously and for the kind of movie that it is it's done very well.
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LH-C
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« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2005, 01:07:28 PM »

Out of the movies listed I've seen - The Wraith, Avenging Force, Kid, Survival Quest, Blood Of Heroes, and Deadlock. Out of those 6, I like Survival Quest the most (I even own a copy of it). This movie has a lot of heart. I also really like Avenging Force (a million times better than any of the American Ninja flicks) and Blood Of Heroes. The Wraith and Deadlock (I do have a used VHS copy, but Hauer looks old and bored in this) were only ok. I didn't like Kid when I saw it on tv. I may have to give it another try.

I'm definitely going to have to see The Hidden, Quiet Cool (beginning to be a big James Remar fan), Fifty/Fifty (I'll watch Peter Weller in just about anything), The Challenge, and Journey Of Honor. Thanks for the recommendations!



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Dolph Lundgren
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« Reply #4 on: July 11, 2005, 03:38:34 PM »

LH-C:

I'm with you on Survival Quest; you summed it up perfectly, a movie with a lot of heart.  Avenging Force and Blood of Heroes are great too.  As for Kid, it's probably one of those "either you like it or you don't" kind of movies.  So if you didn't like it before, you probably won't like it now.  Deadlock's always been a guilty pleasure of mine, same with the Wraith.

You really can't go wrong with the Hidden, it's a blast.  Quiet Cool is very short if I remember correctly but has a lot of action and, as you said, it's worth checking out if you're a fan of James Remar (he's so young in this movie).  Fifty/Fifty will probably be more of a hit-or-miss kind of movie, but Weller's funny in it, so you might like it; but be warned, it's very goofy.  The Challenge is just flat-out awesome, IMO.  Journey of Honor is so different from the other Sho Kosugi movies, so don't go in expecting Pray for Death/Revenge of the Ninja quality.  It's more epic in scale, but it's also very cheesy and very unbelieveable at times.  Still worth watching though.
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sippiecup
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« Reply #5 on: July 11, 2005, 03:53:52 PM »

what about the 1990 classic "I Come In Peace" that movie was sick!

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Dolph Lundgren
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« Reply #6 on: July 11, 2005, 04:45:00 PM »

No doubt sippie, I Come in Peace is a classic, especially the line Dolph mumbles at the end of the movie.  Those of you who have seen it know what I'm talking about.  I actually was considering including it, but I thought that a lot of people knew about I Come in Peace already, especially around here, which is why I didn't list it.  Great flick though!
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AndyC
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« Reply #7 on: July 11, 2005, 06:18:52 PM »

Two of those I especially love. The Blood of Heroes had some great lines and some cool characters. The old guy who walked around with a chest of drawers strapped to his back was hilarious. "Run Dog Boy!"

The Wraith was another great one, and yeah, hardly anybody I know had heard of it, even when it came out. Great mix of car chases (with some pretty sweet cars), crappy teen drama, weird characters and this sort of alien/ghost story AND Clint Howard in a crazy wig! What more could you want?

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« Reply #8 on: July 11, 2005, 06:50:46 PM »

I'm with you Andy.  The cars in the Wraith were out of this world.  Very cool little movie.

Some more flicks for you all:

Shakedown - starring Peter Weller and the mighty Sam Elliott.  Another mostly by-the-numbers cop action movie, but this one sports some unique action scenes, such as a fight that takes place on a roller coaster.  Weller plays an attorney, and Elliott plays the badass cop.  The plot is your typical cop/drug dealers/corrupt cop type stuff, in other words, nothing to do handstands over.  The movie as a whole is pretty good, not anything spectacular, but certainly worth a look.

Wanted: Dead or Alive - starring Rutger Hauer and Gene Simmons (?) - Yep, that's right, Rutger Hauer and Gene Simmons.  Simmons plays a terrorist and Hauer is a bounty hunter on his trail.  That's basically the plot in a nutshell.  Not much to it, but there are the requesite explosions, guns, bombs, all of that good stuff.  There's some nice action scenes overall and Simmons surprisingly does a pretty damn good job.  It's cliche city and cheesy as hell, but it's Rutger Hauer ... need I say more?

Johnny Handsome - starring Mickey Rourke, Lance Henriksen, and Morgan Freeman.  It's a damn shame what happened to Rourke ... I honestly believe he was one of the best actors of the 80s by far and had some great years ahead of him.  Then he turned into leatherface and starred in Double Team with Dennis Rodman and Van Damme and that was the end of him.  He seems to be making a comeback now, which is great.  Anyway, this movie isn't necessarily chock full of action, but it's one of those flicks that makes you wonder why it isn't more known than it actually is.  The movie is directed by none other than Walter Hill, a true god among filmmakers and the genius behind some truly great and truly b-movies.  Rourke does a great job of playing a criminal who's disfigured from birth with a severe speech impediment.  He goes to prison following a double-cross and once paroled receives a new face from a doctor whom he befriends.  He tries to come clean and rebuild his life but falls into the temptation of getting revenge on those who stabbed him in the back.  The premise is far-fetched, but the movie is one of the most underrated flicks from the 80s.  Rourke does a fantastic job of getting you to root for his character.  It might be more known than the other movies I've listed, but for those of you who haven't seen this movie or heard of it, please do so.

Band of the Hand - starring James Remar, Larry Fishburne, a bunch of other people.  Okay, so I'm sure plenty of you have heard of or seen this movie, but there might be some people out there who haven't.  And if you haven't, boy, you're in for quite an 80s movie.  Make no mistake about it: this movie is far-fetched, cheesy, stupid, corny, you name it.  But that's what makes 80s movies so great, and, in essence, that's why Band of the Hand is one of my sentimental favorites.  Basically five juveniles are sent to the Florida everglades in an attempt to straighten them out and resocialize them.  After the attempt to do so is successful and they all learn survival training (easily the best part of the movie), they all go back to Miami and endless shootouts and violence occurs with Larry Fishburne and his merry little band of gangmembers.  You really can't get more 80s than this flick, which is a good thing for those of us who want movies to be made like they used to.  A cheesy classic that always gets s**t on for no good reason.  Should be required viewing for fans of 80s action movies.

Platoon Leader - starring Michael Dudikoff.  A war movie starring Michael Dudikoff, directed by Aaron Norris, brother of Chuck.  Surprisingly, it isn't as bad as you'd think or even expect.  I about died when Dudikoff actually turned in a surprisingly decent role as a young hotshot Lieutenant that's put in charge of a Vietnam platoon.  The problem is, his platoon isn't too happy with his appointment, and gives him living hell.  They soon learn to respect him once they learn that he's Michael Dudikoff and starred in American Ninja.  But seriously, this is a decent war movie, but it's easy to see why not many people have heard of it.  There's nothing special about it.  It's worth watching, it has action, all of the usual stuff we crave, but there isn't anything spectacular about any of it.  Fairly ho-hum, but worth a shot.

Dead Bang - starring Don Johnson and William Forsythe.  Don Johnson vs. the White Supremacists.  That's this movie in a nutshell.  Johnson is your usual alcoholic/washed up cop, a lot of gunfights, cop stuff ensues, blah blah.  Pretty by-the-numbers movie from John Frankenheimer.  Not too bad, worth a look since it can be had dirt cheap on DVD.  I don't have much to say about this one as it didn't really light the world on fire.  It didn't totally suck either, which was good.

No Retreat, No Surrender 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.  Yes, there are five of these movies.  The first four are unabashed classics.  That's right, classics.  I'll defend them to my grave.  But did you all know that five of these movies even existed?  The first one needs no introduction.  Everyone's seen it and laughed at it's extreme badness, not to mention Van Damme as the villain and Bruce Lee's ghost in a co-starring role.  Two, appropriately titled No Retreat, No Surrender 2: Raging Thunder, kicks so much ass it should be illegal and is a true gem among 80s classics.  Same goes with three, No Retreat, No Surrender: Blood Brothers.  King of the Kickboxers, aka No Retreat, No Surrender 4, is martial arts mayhem at its finest.  NRNS 2, 3, and 4 are arguably three of the best choreographed American movies of all time.  No, I'm not lying, and yes, I might be smoking crack.  

Then there's No Retreat, No Surrender 5: American Shaolin.

Jesus tapdancing Christ this movie is strange.  It has some surprisingly good fights in it, and the training is out of this world, but the movie is just damn weird.  It tells the tale of a smarmy little s**t who gets his ass kicked in a karate tournament by some dips**t and travels to China to become a shaolin monk so he can get his revenge.  Of course the shaolin temple does not accept him at first, but makes him prove his way in, which he obviously ends up doing.  What follows is really bizarre.  It's almost like a coming-of-age movie as the twerp befriends a bunch of shaolin monks and they all perform a song and dance routine called "There Ain't no Cure for the Shaolin Temple Blues," an obvious rip off of the song "There Ain't no Cure for the Summertime Blues."  Yes, it is as hilariously gay as it sounds.  And yes, there is a music video-esque rendition of this right in the middle of the movie, complete with the monks doing an air guitar.  So the monks teach the kid how to fight, and he teaches them how to be American, or how to act like a gay American, however you look at it.  They all even attend a dance.  I wish I could make this up.  After this excruciating but somehow watchable section of the movie we get to the final fight which surprisingly kicks ass.  So there you have it: one good fight, one extremely bizarre middle section of the movie, some great training, and a great end fight.  Worth getting if you have a high tolerance for crap (which I do), think that any of the above sounds amusing, or if you're a fan of the NRNS series.

Runaway Train - starring Jon Voight and Eric Roberts.  What you're about to read you will not believe, but it is true: Runaway Train is a Cannon movie that actually got nominated for Academy and Golden Globe awards.  Voight actually won a Golden Globe for his role.  I'm not s**tting you.  This is a legit great movie about two prison convicts (Voight and Roberts) that board a train in the middle of Alaska after escaping a high security prison.  While on board, the engineer dies, leaving the train speeding along the tracks out of control.  Roberts, Voight, and some broad who's a railway worker try to figure out how to stop the train and save their lives as the train approaches a dead end.  A true overlooked movie in every sense of the word.  Voight does a damn good job and is one mean son of a b***h in this movie.  Roberts plays the dumb-as-s**t prisoner, but he too does a great job.  I can't say enough good things about this movie.  It might not be so bad that it's good, which a lot of the movies I've listed are, but it does deserve to be more well-known.  Plus you can get it for under $10 on DVD, so what are you waiting for?
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Menard
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« Reply #9 on: July 11, 2005, 09:10:16 PM »

Two movies from the mid 90's which are action packed:

DIGITAL MAN (1995): Ken Olandt, Kristen Dalton, Matthias Hues- Matthias Hues plays a renegade cyborg who must be stopped by a specially organized commando team. Things get complicated when a secret with the team itself causes conflict and suspicion among its members while a conspiracy is at hand within the corporation responsible for the cyborg. Although the added elements of conspiracy could have drug down an action movie like this, they only use enough to pad the plot and concentrate on the action and the interaction of the team members which accomplishes moving the movie along at a good pace with at times edge of your seat tension. Machismo and cheese combine in this Phillip Roth directed actioner to make a fun ride for its 95 minute runtime.

RETROACTIVE (1997) Kylie Travis, Jim Belushi, Shannon Whirry- Kylie Travis plays a police negotiator who has taken time off from a failed negotiation which cost the hostages their lives. She is driving down a lonely Texas road when she runs off the road, disabling her car. Luck is on her side (eh) as she is picked up by a couple (Jim Belushi, Shannon Whirry). This puts her in the middle of an abusive psychopath and his girlfriend and leads to car chases, flying lead, murder, and, oddly enough, a time machine. RETROACTIVE plays the premise of regrets, and if you could go back and change things, well. There is more than enough action to move the story at a breakneck pace, while the time travel angle introduces many twists and turns. Since this movie hinges on the sympathy garnered by the character played by Shannon Whirry, it finds exactly what it needs in an incredible standout performance by her. Kylie Travis comes off as tough and sexy, especially every time she kicks Belushi's butt. Thouroughly enjoyable for its 91 minute runtime.

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Zapranoth
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« Reply #10 on: July 11, 2005, 10:16:56 PM »

The Hidden has one of the shortest and best one-liners I've ever heard:

The baddie steps around a corner and levels a bazooka at the hero, who is standing a fairly short distance away and indoors to boot, and quips,

"bye!"

then shoots.

Also I'll never forget my best friend watching the first chase scene and muttering to himself, under his breath, "it's just a kit car... it's just a kit car... gotta be a kit car..."
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« Reply #11 on: July 11, 2005, 11:24:19 PM »

Two of my favorites from this list are The Hidden and The Wraith.

I'd like to add my nominee for under the radar fun action flick: Raw Deal.  Arnold at his finest.

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« Reply #12 on: July 12, 2005, 03:21:47 AM »

"Voight actually won a Golden Globe for his role"

He also got an Oscar nom.

Oh yeah, there's a lot of AWESOME suggestions on this thread.  I can't believe I've never heard of No Retreat, No Surrender.  The first two are directed by Corey Yuen, who is a *GREAT* fight choreographer.  He did Kiss of the Dragon, amongst *many* other films with good fight scenes.
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« Reply #13 on: July 12, 2005, 03:47:36 AM »

LOL Can't believe I've seen about half of your list, Dolph. I must be worse that I imagined. You can add "Malone" to your list, a late 80s actioner starring Burt Reynols (as a CIA operative on holidays) and Cliff Robertson (as the head of the local survivalist group who puts himself on his way). There's worse ways of kill 90 minutes, as with most of the titles of your list.

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« Reply #14 on: July 12, 2005, 07:11:49 AM »

Oh man, I loved Wanted Dead or Alive. Rutger Hauer has done some wild stuff in his career, and there was so much about this movie that was really cool, like Hauer's old factory residence with a freight elevator for his car. And I really wish Gene Simmons had played more movie villains. Great ending too: "F**k the bonus."

The mention of Runaway Train made me think of another fun little flick from the early 90s: Detonator, also known as Death Train. This movie about nuclear terrorism had Pierce Brosnan and Patrick Stewart attempting to stop Ted Levine who had a train with a nuclear bomb on it. Christopher Lee was in also in this movie as a Russian general bent on getting the Cold War going again. Pretty good little action flick, and worth seeing for the cast alone.



Post Edited (07-12-05 07:19)
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