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odinn7
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« Reply #15 on: July 12, 2005, 07:50:03 AM »

Zapranoth wrote:

> 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.

The most memorable line in that movie for me is: "I want that car."

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« Reply #16 on: July 12, 2005, 07:57:25 AM »

Great suggestions, Menard.  I've heard of Retroactive and I've heard that it's definitely worth watching.  I haven't heard of Digital Man, but Matthias Hues never fails to crack me up, so I'll definitely give it a shot.

Raw Deal is a true Arnold classic and doesn't get as much spotlight as it should for being a true blue 80s action movie.  You really can't go wrong by watching it.

MALONE!  Hell yeah, Neville.  I actually enjoyed this movie and thought it was better than I had anticipated.  I had a good time with it and, like you said, there's worse ways to kill 90 minutes.  

Jim, you really are in for a treat.  The No Retreat, No Surrender series is awesome if you can tolerate tons of cheesiness.  Make no mistake, these movies are downright painful as far as acting goes.  But the action is excellent, especially in part 4.  They're really worth checking out at least, especially if you're a Corey Yuen fan.

Andy, I remember seeing Detonator for dirt cheap in one of those Walmart DVD bins.  I'll have to check it out based on your mention of it.

I'll try to add some more titles later today.
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Foywonder
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« Reply #17 on: July 12, 2005, 08:14:04 AM »

Four words that trump everything in this thread - KING OF THE KICKBOXERS

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Neville
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« Reply #18 on: July 12, 2005, 08:48:24 AM »

Dolph Lundgren wrote: "Jim, you really are in for a treat. The No Retreat, No Surrender series is awesome if you can tolerate tons of cheesiness. "

Number #2, aka Raging Thunder is one of my favourite crappy action movies ever. Lots of chesse, some good laughs, an incredibly stereotyped Russian villain (who even has a Lenin portrait in his office!!) and some creative use of hand grenades.

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« Reply #19 on: July 12, 2005, 11:05:53 AM »

Foy:  Truer words have never been spoken.  Long live King of Kickboxers; everyone see this movie!

Some more movies, and yes, in case you're wondering, I do have no life:

Rage – starring Gary Daniels.  Okay, so I’m aware that Gary Daniels doesn’t exactly have a huge fan base.  In fact, a lot of people tend to hate the guy for one reason or another – probably because he does have quite the list of crappy movies on his resume.  But for some reason I’ve always had a soft spot for the guy and thought that, with the right vehicle, he could come off looking impressive.  Well I’m glad to say that Rage is this vehicle, as is Bloodmoon, but we’ll save that title for later.  Damn, what a crazy ride this movie is.  To say it’s action packed would be an understatement.  It rarely lets up.  This is a mid 90s PM Entertainment “classic.”  I put the word classic in quotation marks because my definition of action classic might not be the same as someone else’s.  That and I’m not ashamed to admit I love PM movies.  To me, this movie has everything an action movie needs to succeed: tons of action, stunts, explosions, gunplay, martial arts, crappy acting, you name it, this movie has it.  Believe me when I say some of the stunts are completely insane.  Now they might pale a bit in comparison to Jackie Chan, but for an American made b-movie, this flick certainly delivers.  Let’s just put it this way: two semi trucks are careening down the highway at high speeds, barreling toward one another.  A stuntman for Gary Daniels is standing on top of one of the semis as it flies down the road.  Right before the semis barrel into one another, causing a massive explosion, the stuntman leaps off of the semi to avoid the explosion.  You have to see it to believe it; my explanation does this no justice.  More stunts, a lot more action, and some of the crappiest acting this side of Steven Seagal and you have a grade-b classic in my book.  A must watch for any action fan.

Last Man Standing – starring some guy.  Don’t mistake this for the Walter Hill western starring Bruce Willis of the same name.  This is actually another PM Entertainment action fest starring some guy I’ve never heard of named Jeff Wincott.  The plot is your typical thieves/cop/ type stuff, so I won’t bore you with the details.  While the plot will win no awards, the movie entertains, and it entertains well, so at least it does what it sets out to do.  Some good stunts in this and a lot of action.  And the acting?  Crappy as ever, which for me, makes a great b-movie complete.  After all, I don’t want to see Jeff Wincott giving an Academy Award performance as an inspirational figure in a motivating drama, I’m watching this movie to see action, explosions, gunplay, and dammit, that’s what I got.  You’ll get the same if you check it out.  For a much MUCH better review than I could ever hope of writing, please check out the review for this one over at unknownmovies.com.

Hard Justice – starring David Bradley and Charles Napier.  This is probably one of my favorites of the movies I’ve listed.  Hard Justice is nothing more than an all-out action fest that rips off John Woo so much it should probably be illegal.  But dammit if it isn’t satisfying and great to watch.  Hand-to-hand fighting in a prison, massive gunfights galore, all in glorious slow motion, you name it.  The plot is your typical undercover agent investigates a prison type stuff and is pretty much an excuse to squeeze out as much action as possible in a prison and every other setting.  If you’re a fan of movies that love to use slow motion ala John Woo to emphasize many guys dying, then by all means, this is your movie.  Highly recommended.

Back in Action – starring Roddy Piper and Billy Blanks.  What a combo, these two.  To be honest I don’t remember too much about this movie, but I do remember it being decent.  It didn’t drag and I don’t remember the action being too bad at all.  Both Piper and Blanks also were pretty good together and played off of one another well.  I love this plot summary from IMDB, which makes the movie seem epic, when we all know the movie is simply there to provide us action junkies with a fix and nothing more:

“The sister of a former U.S. Green Beret is involved in a love affair with a mobster, endangering seriously her life. His brother will make his best efforts to save her from her boyfriend and his friends, fighting with or without external help. But perhaps this tough cop, Rossi, could help him... or stop him...”

Piper is always worth watching and Billy Blanks is just sort of there – at least he isn’t Tae-bo-ing all over the place.  I’d say give it a shot if you find it cheap, which most likely it will be.  This will win no awards and doesn’t even stand out too much as a b-movie, but it’s worth watching at 2 a.m. when you can’t sleep.

Talons of the Eagle – starring Jalal Merhi and Billy Blanks.  Okay, so if I’ve managed to keep your attention after listing the stars of this movie, one of two things is true: either you don’t know who Jalal Merhi is, or you’re willing to give the movie a shot despite knowing that Merhi usually sucks in most movies he’s in.  Either way, this is a surprisingly decent, fast paced, cheesy action movie.  Keep your standards low and try not to hate poor Jalal and you’ll probably have a good time with it.  There’s plenty of action in the way of martial arts and it’s pretty well done to boot.  I wouldn’t really recommend this, as if I did and most of you end up hating Merhi, I’ll never hear the end of it.  Nevertheless, recommended for those with a high tolerance for crap but a yearning for some surprisingly decent action.

Back to Back – starring Michael Rooker.  Now this movie I will recommend whole-heartedly.  I’m convinced a lot of you have probably already seen it, but for those who haven’t, be ready for a pretty bizarre yet fun ride.  This movie stars Michael Rooker as a cop who intersects paths with an Elvis-obsessed Yakuza member who’s feuding with the local mob.  There’s some really good gunplay in this, and a great scene involving Bobcat Goldthwait that you really do have to see to believe.  It’s a really crazy scene but I guarantee you’ll get a kick out of it.  Anyway, this is supposedly a sequel to American Yakuza, which I don’t really understand (for those of you who haven’t seen American Yakuza, do so NOW!).  See it!

Death Ring – starring Billy Drago, Don Swayze, Mike Norris, and Chad McQueen.  No, I’m not making this cast up.  And yes, they are the brothers and son of who you’d expect.  Don is the ass ugly mulleted brother of Patrick who was also in Edge of Honor.  Mike Norris is Chuck’s brother, and Chad McQueen is the son of legendary Steve McQueen.  If I remember correctly, the box proudly displays this, and why not?  Sadly it worked on me and I was suckered in.  I thought it was hilarious that the box cover has the names NORRIS, MCQUEEN, and SWAYZE all in capital letters, but when you look at the photos, you see the actual Norris, McQueen, and Swayze and bust out laughing.  That and I’ll watch anything with Billy Drago in it at least once.  Those of you who have been somewhat following this thread have probably realized by now that I have some quirky obsession with movies based on the Most Dangerous Game premise.  Why?  I really don’t know.  But once I got hooked on the actual short story, then saw Surviving the Game, my b-movie watching was never the same.  Thankfully there are a lot of movies available that use this premise, and I’m sure there are even more I’m unaware of (if you know any, please let me know!).  Surprise surprise, this is another one of those movies.  Drago plays one evil SOB that ends up hunting down the three leads with his cronies.  That’s about as deep as the plot gets.  This movie does have action obviously, but for some reason, I was left with sort of a lukewarm feeling after watching it.  So why am I listing it?  Because I’m sure someone out there will watch it and at least get a kick out of it.  I’m sure there are some brave souls on here that would get this to see if Mike Norris is as dull as Chuck (yes), if Don Swayze is anything like Patrick (no), and if Chad McQueen has progressed any as an actor since starring as that really annoying blond haired Cobra Kai member named Dutch in the Karate Kid (no).  Those who are simply curious, like the Most Dangerous Game premise, love cheesy action, or just want something to watch with low expectations, I would recommend this to.  Everyone else should probably stay away.  To be fair, I sort of liked it, I certainly didn’t hate it.  Then again I have a very high tolerance for crap, as I’m sure you’ve all figured out by now.  Tread with caution.
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Dolph Lundgren
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« Reply #20 on: July 12, 2005, 06:11:45 PM »

More "gems:"

One Man Force – starring Sloth from the Goonies.  Okay, so not the actual character Sloth, but the big football dude who played him.  Sadly, this movie flat-out sucked.  It was pretty slow moving, the action that was there wasn’t handled too well, and not even the big lug who played Sloth could save this movie, as his character was pretty much just one big unlikable a***ole.  I don’t remember the specifics of this movie, as it’s been awhile since I’ve seen it, so I’ll let this review from Amazon.com suffice.

“Never before have I seen a film that has summed up an entire stereotype, alas, One Man Force succeeds in proving me wrong. One Man Force is simply every 80's loose cannon cop cliche personified by the smooth, oafish John Matuszak [Sloth from the Goonies]. He has fights with the chief, looses a partner, and single handedly exposes a deadly alliance that is.....still unclear to me at the moment. Featuring Ronnie Cox, Richard Lynch, and Stacey Q, this film is a must own for those who have had it with the system....probably. This film gets 5 stars for it's shocking, unending hilarity in the fact that someone thought this would be a good action movie. If you like the McBain character from the Simpsons, or dig bad movies to make fun of, or would like to see that there's always truth in stereotypes, get One Man Force.” by “indianaswanson”

While it’s true that One Man Force is very easy to make fun of, it’s not really even worth the effort unless a bunch of buddies are ripping on it with you and alcohol is involved.  I guess it’s worth checking out if you’d like to see what Sloth really looked like, but you could just as easily find a picture of the dude on Google.  Tread with extreme caution.

Steele Justice – starring John Kreese from the Karate Kid, aka Martin Kove.  The badass guy who played Kreese gets a starting role and does not disappoint.  Again, technically this movie is pretty damn bad, but you’ll have fun with it if you love a good body count and don’t mind seeing a story that you’ve pretty much seen a million times before.  This is a revenge driven action movie with Martin Kove playing the role of a Vietnam vet that kills everything in sight when his friend is killed by an enemy of his from Vietnam.  That’s as much story as you need to know.  This movie knows its role and doesn’t try to be anything else … which is good for us, the viewer.  Lots of death and gunfights fill up the movie’s running time.  This movie pretty much sums up the 80s action movie mentality that “USA rules and let’s kill all of the other nationalities.”  I’d say recommended if you happen to stumble across it.  I don’t know if it’s necessarily worth the effort to track down, but you could certainly do much, much worse.

Automatic – starring Olivier Gruner.  Who the hell is Olivier Gruner, you might be asking?  He’s pretty much your typical action dude with a French accent.  You might also recognize him in the action classic Nemesis, a movie that should be seen by everyone.  Anyway, Automatic certainly doesn’t disappoint.  In fact, I thought it was surprisingly pretty damn good, and not even in a so-bad-it’s-good way.  I think it’s legitimately good.  Gruner is a robot (a good role for him) programmed to protect human lives.  These robots are the wave of the future and are used for practically every purpose.  He saves a woman from getting raped from a corporate businessman and accidentally kills the man in the process, going against what he was created for.  This really p**ses off Gruner’s creator, the head of a company called RobGen.  The creator hires a human merc and from then on it’s a boatload of well-done action with some good thrills and sci-fi themes.  The premise of this movie is pretty decent, and even though it’s been done before, it doesn’t seem rehashed or boring.  I give this one a good recommendation; it’s worth tracking down.
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trekgeezer
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« Reply #21 on: July 13, 2005, 07:12:52 AM »

My favorite part of The Hidden is William Boyett with the boom box. Can't hate an evil alien that loves head-banging rock'n roll.

My pick would be The Brotherhood of the Wolf - French made monster/kung-fu/political thriller/love story movie. Some folks would call it a mess, but the director (Christopher Gans) actually pulls it off. It is loosely based on a real incident.

Samuel Le Bihan and Marc Dacascos, star as the King's Royal Taxidermist and his ass-kicking Indian side kick sent to investigate a "Beast" that has been killing people in a rural French province.

The movie even features Monica Belluci as a local prostitute who is actually an agent of the Vatican.

It's an  odd movie, but I think it's really great. In fact this has inspired to want to watch again soon.

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odinn7
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« Reply #22 on: July 13, 2005, 07:21:04 AM »

All this about The Hidden made me have to watch it again last night and doing so made me realize that I need to replace that old tape with a nice, new DVD.
"I want that car...I need the keys."

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« Reply #23 on: July 13, 2005, 11:40:47 AM »

Hey odinn, go for the DVD!  I got mine for dirt cheap and it was worth every penny.

More flicks:

Trapper County War – starring Rob Estes and Ernie Hudson.  This movie is flat-out bizarre.  Two city boys go out for a drive and find themselves taking a detour in some podunk town in the middle of nowhere.  They stop in a restaurant where one of the city kids, Rob Estes, becomes friendly with a local waitress.  The two hit it off and she convinces him to go to a town dance with her.  He does, and when the locals find out about this relationship, they’re none too happy.  Especially Don Swayze, a corrupt officer of the town.  It turns out the girl was taken in by his crazy parents at an early age and raised as their own.  He also wants a piece of her in the worst way.  Estes convinces the girl to flee the town with him and his friend and when the locals learn of her escape, they make it their duty to try to stop Estes and co. from escaping Trapper County.  So the insane and over-the-top parents, Don Swayze, and a bunch of hicks hunt Estes down in an effort to get the girl back.  Along the way, Estes meets Ernie Hudson, who happens to live in a cabin in the middle of the woods with a bunch of heavy artillery, and the two take on the army of hicks.  I say this movie is bizarre because everyone in it is so over-the-top it’s nearly ridiculous.  Especially the parents, who try to hard to be evil that they’re cringe worthy.  The premise is crazy and the beginning is a bit shaky, but once Estes meets Hudson, the movie becomes more fast paced and action-oriented.  It’s hard to recommend this one unless you absolutely love cheese.  If you can’t stand horrible acting, over-the-top characters, or a somewhat slow beginning, then stay away.  The hunting portion of the movie is pretty decent and makes up for the slow first half.  Recommended to those with a very high tolerance of crap.

The Isaac Florentine action movie collection, including Bridge of Dragons with Dolph Lundgren, U.S. Seals 2, Cold Harvest with Gary Daniels, Savate with Olivier Gruner, Special Forces, and High Voltage with Bruce Lee’s daughter.  Mr. Florentine is the best action director that many people haven’t heard of.  In his movies he likes to use John Woo-type gunfights and martial arts doubles that make the stars they’re doubling for look like Jackie Chan on speed.  The best thing about Florentine is that he knows what type of movies he’s making, he doesn’t try to make them into anything that they’re not, and he always delivers the action goods.  If this guy were making movies in the 80s he would’ve been making tons of action classics with the usual heavy hitters, Chuck, Arnold, Stallone, etc.  Instead he’s forced to work with such worldly talent as Antonio Sabato Jr. and Johnny Lawrence from the Karate Kid.  At least he was able to work with Dolph.  Here’s a rundown of the movies Florentine’s made:

Bridge of Dragons – starring Dolph Lundgren.  Okay, so my views might be a little skewed, with me being a Dolph Lundgren fan, but this movie, while very cheesy, is also very entertaining.  You won’t care about the plot, but you will about the action.  This movie has Dolph-fu, fights, a gunfight with Dolph jumping and diving around and killing everyone like Chow Yun-Fat, and explosions.  You really can’t go wrong with this one.  Last time I checked Wal-Mart had an abundance of this DVD in its $5 bin.  Now there really is no excuse not to check this one out.

U.S. Seals 2 – starring a bunch of people.  This movie if Florentine’s best, his masterpiece, if you could call it that.  Simply put, it has an insane amount of kung fu action in it, and I’m not talking about your Don “the Dragon” Wilson type crap either.  We’re talking full-on over-the-top kung fu fights that will make you wonder if this was even made in the states.  And it doesn’t let up.  It’s pretty much just an hour and a half of ass kicking at its finest.  If I remember correctly, it was choreographed by a relatively unknown member of Jackie Chan’s stunt team.  This is the kind of action we’re talking about.  The only annoying part about the movie is that every time a character turns his or her head, or makes a gesture, there’s a loud “swoosh” noise that plays, as if they were swinging a gigantic axe or something.  It’s really cheesy but thankfully doesn’t take away from the fact that the movie delivers the goods.  Ignore the absolutely ass-tastic cover art of the DVD, which makes this movie out to look like one of those Army commercials you see on TV, or one of those Spec Ops 4 military-type video games.  Get this flick at all costs.  Another gem you can probably get for $5 at Wal-Mart.

Cold Harvest – starring Gary Daniels.  I remember this movie being a post apocalypse action flick with a western twist that has a lot of good martial arts in it.  That’s about all I remember, as I haven’t seen this movie in ages.  I’d go ahead and say check it out for sure, unless you really hate Gary Daniels, in which case, you probably shouldn’t bother.  Another good Florentine movie as far as I remember.

Savate – starring Olivier Gruner.  An Isaac Florentine movie with Olivier in it.  Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, or if you love bad action movie actors like I do) for us it’s the one who kicks a lot of ass and can barely speak English.  Gruner’s back again and kicking ass in Florentine’s take on a western.  Only this one has kung fu in it, of course.  All westerns should.  This one’s pretty good.  Gruner’s a piece of wood in this one but he can kick ass when prompted and the movie prompts him quite well.  I got this one for dirt-cheap on VHS.  Recommended if you can do the same.

High Voltage – starring Bruce Lee’s daughter and Antonio Sabato Jr.  I liked this movie, but I do like crap, so it’s sort of a backhanded compliment.  I really didn’t like Sabato at all.  He reminds me of Lorenzo Lamas and that’s not a good thing.  Sort of like his doppelganger.  Thankfully some well-done gunplay saves this cheesy movie.  And by cheesy I mean Wisconsin dairy farmer at a Green Bay Packers game cheesy.  If you can stomach Sabato Jr., I’d give it a recommendation.  I can honestly say Florentine hasn’t steered me wrong yet.  Although Sabato Jr. shouldn’t be anywhere near this movie, Florentine makes the best of it and churns out a decent little timewaster.  Action junkies needing a fix will like this just fine.

Special Forces – starring who knows?  The newest Florentine movie and also up there with one of his best.  This movie has more of the same kind of action U.S. Seals did, with some GREAT martial arts fights, and gunplay to boot.  I don’t want to sound too gushy but I really think Florentine is one of the best direct-to-video directors out there today and is keeping the b-action movie genre alive.  Van Damme, Seagal, all these guys need to look this guy up.  He does a great job of making quality action movies with quality HK style martial arts action.  Grab this flick for cheap with U.S. Seals 2 and make a back-to-back marathon of the two.  You’ll be glad you did.

A Better Way to Die – starring some guy, Joe Pantaliano, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Natasha Henstridge.  This is actually an action movie that came out in 2000 that is very much in the same vein as late 80s/early 90s classics.  This is basic cop vs. Mafia stuff with a boatload of shootouts.  I say it’s in the vein of 80s classics because the shootouts are plentiful and the story is pretty much an afterthought, or, in other words, just the way that I like my action movies.  Turn your brain off and have a blast; it’s nice that these kinds of movies, while scarce, are still being made nowadays.  A very stylish and highly recommended movie.
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BeyondTheGrave
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« Reply #24 on: July 13, 2005, 12:52:51 PM »

Bridge of dragons. I saw that at 300am on tv one time. I was going to mention in this thread but forgot got the name. Thanks Dolph.

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Yaddo 42
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« Reply #25 on: July 13, 2005, 03:07:03 PM »

I've seen about 10 of your suggestions from the OP, Dolph. And heard of most of the others. "Shakedown" was a personal favorite, since it starts out like a serious corrupt cop drama but turns into 80s action fare, and you can get whiplash from the transition. I love how grafted on the final battle is, almost like it came from another movie. But it has all those 80s action elements: Lear jet, Porsche, big handgun, grenades, and impossible physical derringdo. It's like a primer for all those later Michael Bay films. Plus the film includes shots of the latter days of the Times Square grindhouse theaters when crack was king before they all shut down and Guliani later came to town and cleaned the place up.  

I also like "The Last Challenge" and "Dead Bang" but I'm a Frankenheimer fan anyway.

How about:

Men of War - starring......you, or your name sake anyway. Dolph's a mercenary witha small crew in the South Pacific fighting to protect the locals from bigger badder mercs hired to take over the island for the valuable mining rights. Annoying fake Aussie tough guy actor Trevor Goddard hams it up as a psycho bad guy and sports the funniest cross-shaped patch of fake chest hair you will see this side of anime. Kind of a more serious verison of "Fifty/Fifty". If nothing else there's lots of cool location scenery to see.

Silent Trigger -starring the real Dolph again, and directed by Russell Mulcahy. Dolph's a sniper hired to pull a hit from inside a high rise building under construction. Decent film with a cool opening setup and action scenes. Costars the really hot Gina Bellman, who I wish had been in more movies.

How about some of the later Charles Bronson flicks like: Assassination, Messenger of Death, Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects, Murphy's Law, etc. Not his best stuff but they have their moments.

I just saw a Daniel Baldwin flick on FX yesterday, "Tunnel". Not that great but good for some laughs since the story sets it up to use as few locations or sets as possible. The baddie majorly overacts, Baldwin looks as fat,greas,y and stupid as he usually does and he can't even pretend to move fast during the action scenes. His character is so laid back and indifferent he borders on incompetent. Or maybe Baldwin was just waiting to get paid to spend it on booze or crack.

You might also look for Baldwin in the Fred Olen Ray action non-classic "Active Stealth". Lots of familiar faces going through the motions, the DVD is worth finding since Ray's commentary is actually a good lesson in low-budget filmmaking and tricks of the trade. Also you find out that all scenes of Terry Funk running had to be cut since they were too painful to watch since funk looks weird when he tries to run due to his plastic kneecaps. Also Ray points out that Andrew Stevens, even though he's a somewhat successful film producer, still acts in Ray's films so he can keep his SAG health insurance.
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Neville
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« Reply #26 on: July 13, 2005, 03:09:34 PM »

Let me add another one: "Drive " (1997). It is the usual direct-to-video Mark Dacascos flick, the only difference being that this one is fantastic. It stars Dacascos as an augmented hitman that runs away from his employees, who of course won't give up easily.

The main differences with the other Dacascos films I've seen is that this one follows the Jackie Chan formula: Hyper-kinetic fights, constant actions and comedy. It's lots of fun, seriously, and probably the best film Dacascos has starred in.

Here's the IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116147/

Note how good ratings it has.

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« Reply #27 on: July 13, 2005, 04:49:00 PM »

Rich: no problem!  Bridge of Dragons is definitely one of the better Dolph flicks.

Yaddo: awesome recommendations!  Men of War is another great one I forgot to mention and you're so right about the main bad guy and his "anime patch."  That's hilarious.  Silent Trigger was good as well.  Neat little film and another good Dolph vehicle.  All of the Chuck Bronson films you listed, Assassination, Messenger of Death, Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects, and Murphy's Law are all good little action flicks, IMO.  Standouts among those are Kinjite, just for the fact that it's so damn goofy, and Murphy's Law.  But I love 'em all, truthfully.  Tunnel and Active Stealth sound like ones I'm going to have to track down.  As for that tidbit on Terry Funk, I can just picture him trying to run with those knees, looking more like he's waddling instead.

Neville: Drive = best DTV action movie of the 90s, possibly ever.  A true action movie classic in every way.  The fight scenes are unreal, Dacascos and Hardison have a great chemistry, I could go on and on.  Thanks to the Internet it's finally staring to get the notice it deserves, but it still deserves a helluva lot more.  I'd kill for a sequel with the same actors and directing team.
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« Reply #28 on: July 13, 2005, 07:10:38 PM »

I'm sure a lot of you have seen the following movies, but just in case, here are some more that should not be overlooked:

Crying Freeman - starring Mark Dacascos.  Strange movie name, right?  That's because this is based off of an even more strange anime, big surprise there, huh?  While I didn't really care for the anime at all, this movie delivers the goods - and then some.  It was directed by Christophe Gans, some frenchman that is two-for-two with me as far as his movies go (he also directed Brotherhood of the Wolf, a strange, long, but excellent movie).  This movie is about an assassin named Freeman (Dacascos in his best form yet) who is spotted killing three men in the woods by a beautiful lady artist - who just so happens to be a virgin.  Believe me, when you see this lady, you'll think to yourself, "least believable virgin ever."  She's gorgeous.  And, another fun fact, she's also married to Dacascos in real life.  Anyway, back to the flick.  Freeman also sheds a tear every time that he kills.  Why?  It's based off of anime, that's why.  It doesn't have to make sense.  I think the movie says it's a "tear of regret" or some BS like that.  At any rate, the "virgin" is captivated by Freeman, even though she witnessed him murder a bunch of guys.  I think the tear did it for her.  Freeman is ordered by his organization to kill the virgin, which he obviously doesn't like.  Instead he does his duty of taking that virginity away and the two form an alliance while trying to stay away from the cops and taking on Yakuza gang members.  It makes me want to cry myself that some people on IMDB say this film's weakness is its action.  Not a chance.  Gans films the action brilliantly, with touches of slow-mo, but not so much that it seems the characters are constantly moving like molasses.  The action, while not a mile a minute, is certainly in abundance and is certainly done very well.  There are more gun battles than there are actual hand-to-hand fights, and the end of the movie finds Freeman taking on a group of guys in an 80s-esque finale where everyone dies.  Gotta love that.  I had to sadly resort to grabbing a bootleg of this movie because I don't have a region-free player and, as far as I know, there isn't a VHS of this movie.  It might be a bit more hard to come by than the other movies I've listed, but it's definitely worth it.  Fans of stylish action will love this.  Highly recommended!

Bloodmoon - starring Gary Daniels.  YES.  Finally another movie that shows Gary Daniels does have some talent in him - when it comes to martial arts.  This flick's directed by Tony Leung Siu Hung, an HK movie veteran who knows how to direct Daniels to make him look like a badass.  And he does this very well.  Honestly, the plot of this movie is downright horrible.  But I'm hoping those interested in watching a martial arts movie called Bloodmoon with Gary Daniels do not care about such things like plot or acting.  Nevertheless, I can easily sum up the plot in one sentence.  Daniels plays a cop who tries to stop a murdering martial arts master from killing sports champions.  No, I'm not making this up.  But the fights, oh, the glorious fights.  There are many of them and they're done very well with an obvious HK style.  This isn't your usual punch-punch-punch-punch choreography.  There's some truly eye-popping stuff on display here, especially the kendo master fight and the warehouse finale.  To those of you who are WWE/ECW fans, keep an eye out for Rob Van Damme, who makes a cameo and fights against the main bad guy.  Everything else but the action in this movie sucks.  But don't let that stop you from checking it out - it's very worth it, believe me.

Death Hunt - starring Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin.  Those two names alone should prompt a rental out of any action/guy movie fan.  Bronson plays a trapper in the Canada during the 1930s.  After being accused of committing a murder by a bunch of men during a run-in, Marvin the Mountie and the men spend the entire rest of the movie hunting down Bronson, although Marvin does have some regret.  Bronson just wants to be left alone and fights for his innocence and freedom.  Supposedly this is based on a true story.  I think they made the right choice casting-wise.  I know if there's anyone I'd want to play me, it'd be Bronson.  He obviously does a great job in this, as does Marvin.  I'd say this is a must for any action movie fan, and an obvious must for any fan of Bronson and/or Marvin.  No special effects, no PG-13 BS, no pretty boy actors, just straight ahead, violent action the way they used to make it.  Those craving the way action movies "used to be" will love this.
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« Reply #29 on: July 13, 2005, 09:49:24 PM »

Wow, this topic is loaded with goodies. The only film out of all the ones mentioned that I have seen is DEATH HUNT which is a good one with Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin.

Some great sounding titles and b-movie actors under this topic. Anyone have any prices on DVD's of all these fine titles. What are the cheapest prices you have all found for each film?

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