Megaforce (1982): Words About Deeds

When you have a name like Ace Hunter, can you go wrong? Is there any chance at all you wont grow up to be the leader of a super secret international military organization tasked with keeping world peace? Perhaps as much chance as you not wearing your bleached blonde hair feathered with a powder blue bandanna in it, which is to say, no chance at all. If you happened to wonder, today's film features a character named Ace Hunter and he's all the things I mentioned above. He's also Barry "Brad Majors" Bostwick... in a skintight gold zipped jumpsuit. At this point, you're either highly tempted by the movie I'm teasing or you've already seen just about enough of Bostwick in his tighty whities in Rocky Horror. Before the later half departs, let me also mention that the film in question features missiles mounted on dirt bikes and dune buggies, Lt. Ilia from Star Trek: The Motion Picture with hair, Henry Silva in a Fidel Castro costume, and it goes by the name Megaforce. If that doesn't do it for you, then I don't know what will. Also possibly you are not a cult movie fan... or you're dead, make sure to consult your family doctor in either case.

The nation of Sadoun is under constant attack from Major Jorge Guerera (Henry Silva) and his band of mercenaries, but rather than start an international incident, Sadoun's President refuses to let his military chase Guerera across the border into the neighboring country. Sir Edward Byrne-White (Edward Mulhare), the distinguished looking British commander of Sardoun's forces, and Major Zara Benbhutto (Persis Khambatta), daughter of the President, know something must be done. They enlist the help of Megaforce, a super secret world organization supported by all free nations of the world to keep the peace. In other words, they're like the United Nations Peacekeeping force, but in place of blue helmets, they're more about lasers, missiles, flying motorcycles, and powder blue headbands. Rocking said headgear is Ace Hunter (Barry Bostwick), the tall, blonde, dashing leader of Megaforce. Hunter and Gurrera have a sordid history together, and both are ready to square off one last time. When Sadoun pulls their support from Megaforce, Hunter finds himself and his men trapped in a desert with no choice but to fight their way out.

I thought I had no youthful recollection of Megaforce until I saw the ad to the left bearing its "Deeds Not Words" slogan. I've got dozens of comics with this image plastered on the back, but somehow I never realized it was a movie. I thought it was a line of toys, perhaps confused by Kenner's war toys Mega Force, but while it had plenty of G.I. Joe trappings, it never made the miniature leap. (It did however make it to the Atari 2600, and again I don't know how I missed this one as a kid.) The movie itself starts out a little slow with the setup taking just a little too long to get around to Bostwick in his skintight gold jumpsuit. If you're not prepared to see as much if not more of Bostwick's ass than you did in Rocky Horror, then this is not the film for you. As soon as the actor strides onto the screen for the first time the movie really takes off, and from there it's really Bostwick's show. Sliding easily between tough guy, or as tough as you can be with bleached blonde feathered hair and a powder blue headband, and comedic tones, the actor seemed to get the memo on what kind of film he was in and clearly relished the part. Bostwick's Ace Hunter is Roger Moore's James Bond, G.I. Joe's Duke, and John Travolta's Stayin' Alive hair all wrapped up in one character, no easy feat.

Barry didn't do it all on his own though. While Henry Silva was woefully underused and Persis Khambatta, while quite lovely to look at, had less personality than when her Star Trek character was possessed by a rogue satellite, there were a number of minor roles that were quite entertaining. Micheal Beck (Xanadu, The Warriors) really entertains as Hunter's confidante Dallas, even if some of the dialog literally makes no sense. The Megaforce also benefited from performances by Ralph Wilcox (More American Graffiti, Seaquest 2032), George Furth (Blazing Saddles, Shampoo), and Anthony Pena (The Running Man). No one signs onto Megaforce for the incredible skill of the actors treading the boards, but instead the thick layer of cheese upon which everything is based. As I mentioned earlier, the movie is very much like a live action version of G.I. Joe with lots of explosions, lots of missile laden dune buggies, and not many people actually getting hit in all the fire. Suffice it to say, I found it delightfully entertaining.

There have been times in my life when I felt like I must have seen all the great cult films out there. There couldn't be anything that has eluded me for years, but then a title like Megaforce comes and smacks me across the grill. I can only compare Megaforce to cult classics like Hands of Steel or Golden Queen Commandos. It's the kind of film that's fun to watch alone, and it would be incredible to watch with a group of fun loving folks. Director Hal Needman, a stuntman by trade, had already directed both Smokey and the Bandit movies, Hooper, and Cannonball Run (and would go on to direct Run II, Rad, Body Slam, and Stroker Ace), but if anything seals the deal of Needman being one of the greatest genre film directors of the early '80's then it's Megaforce. No matter if you remember the film or this would be your first viewing, I highly recommend tracking down a copy. I could go on and extol the film further, but you really need to see it yourself. And, after all, Deeds Not Words.

Bugg Rating

The King of Wilmington - Maximum Overdrive (1986): Uncle Stevie Grinds The Gears

When a movie kicks off with an ATM machine telling the director he’s an asshole, that‘s a dangerous statement to make. This is especially true if the first time director in question is coked out of his mind and promised in the trailer to “scare the hell out of you”. This is doubly true if you’re Stephen King and after famously pooh poohing Stanley Kubrick’s vision of The Shining, you also say in the trailer, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” On Dino De Laurentiis dime, the King of Horror went to Wilmington,  North Carolina to make good on his promise. There he brought to the screen his short story “Trucks” in the form of Maximum Overdrive, a movie that has been reviled and derided over the years.  While it undoubtedly caused many in the audience (and in the production for that matter) to agree with the ATM machine on the director’s character, today I am happy to be talking about Maximum Overdrive in this second installment of The King of Wilmington.

As a strange comet envelops the Earth’s skies with a greenish haze, machines everywhere decide they’re done doing what we tell them too. For the patrons and employees of The Dixie Boy truck stop that means dealing with rogue electric knives in the diner, impertinent gas pumps, and worst yet runaway 18 wheelers. Parolee Bill Robinson (Emilio Estevez) works as the short order cook at the diner, but when the machines start to rebel, Bill is the only one brave enough to fight back.  Despite the protestations of his boss, the surly Mr. Hendershot (Pat Hingle), Bill inspires the truck stop staff, newlyweds Connie (Yeardley Smith) and Carl (John Short), and hitchhiker (Laura Harrington) to band together armed with Mr. Hendershot’s private cache of weapons to fight back against the mechanical menace.

When Mr. King made his promise in the Maximum Overdrive trailer, people expected the author to remain faithful to his work and present something dark and moody. What people did not expect was a film that verged on high camp chock full of b-movie flourishes, sight gags, and inconsistent logic. The later is of course what they got, but the twenty five years since the release of Overdrive have disconnected the film from King’s promises. This allows Maximum Overdrive to be enjoyed as what it is, a silly retelling of Night of the Living Dead which recasts trucks for zombies and the farmhouse survivors as patrons of The Dixie Boy. While the film features flashes of King, Overdrive belongs on your shelf nestled right between Troll 2 and Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and in my book that’s a pretty damn nice place to be.

In general King acquits himself as a director fairly well capturing some well constructed shots, but King has even stated that he was so coked out of his mind that he doesn’t recall making the film, much of the credit should go to Italian cinematographer Armondo Nannuzzi (La Cage Aux Folles, Frankenstein Unbound). It was not like Nannuzzi walked away from the project unscathed. During a sequence involving a killer lawnmower, splinters shot everywhere including (in a Fulci-esque twist) directly into the eye of the cinematographer. He would later sue Stephen King for 18 million dollars, but the case was settled out of court. This was only one of two major accidents on the set. The other, which happened during the stunt involving the flipped over ice cream truck, fortunately injured no one.

Thankfully not adding insult to injuries, the majority of the actors in the film really sell the material. Emilio Estevez (The Breakfast Club, Repo Man) definitely got the memo about what kind of film this is. If there’s any question about that, just check out the scene where a truck pushes him across the parking lot. Emilio takes it so far over the top it comes back around (and makes Martin glad he didn’t take the Sheen name).  Also on the same page was legendary actor Pat Hingle who hams it up as “the biggest fuckhead” that Estevez’s character has ever met, Yeardley Smith (the voice of Lisa Simpson) as a screaming banshee of a newlywed, and Ellen McElduff (OZ, Homicide: Life on the Street) as the freaked out waitress. McElduff was a real highlight every time she would yell at the sky, “You can’t do this! We made you!” regardless of the fact that the only thing her character had a hand in constructing was a breakfast platter. The only actor who really missed the mark was Laura Harrington as the love interest. Not only was her acting bad, there was no chemistry at all between her and Estevez to sell their sudden, intense relationship.

Now of course this feature is all about the Stephen King films made in and around Wilmington, North Carolina, and I would be remiss if I didn’t talk some about the effect this film had on the area. While many locals were cast as extras in the opening bridge scene, many locals were also confused when the full size Dixie Boy opened up outside of town. Both locals and truckers tried to stop in on the set before a sign was erected letting everyone know it was only a set. After filming, the truck stop was bought by local investors who opened it for real, but after a few years they went under. I understand some of the Dixie Boy signing is still in existence. It also brought some special visitors into the area. Not only did King and crew descend on Wilmington, but he brought with him AC/DC who he tapped to do the soundtrack for the film. If you look very closely in the opening scene where the bridge raises, you can barely make out the Aussie rockers on a boat that passes under the bridge.

Maximum Overdrive has a reputation for being a film that’s not even “so bad it’s good”, but rather just bad. I think this reputation probably comes from a mixture of King’s own dismissals of the film and the rabid disappointment of his fans who expected the ultimate Stephen King film. For the rest of us who just like good old fashioned cheesy entertainment, Overdrive is a win all around. Even as the film sags in the middle with long, pointless expository passages, it redeems itself with trucks blowing up, military vehicles who speak Morse code, and trucks who bully Martin Sheen’s kid. So if you haven’t seen Maximum Overdrive for a while, I definitely encourage you to check it out. If you’ve never seen it and you love campy, silly horror/sci-fi fun, then invite your friends over and kick back. For those about to watch Maximum Overdrive, I salute you!

I’ll be back next Monday with the next chapter in The King of Wilmington when I cover the Wheelchair/werewolf film Silver Bullet.

Bugg Rating

The King of Wilmington - Firestarter (1984) Drew Barrymore Goes Unmatched

Hello folks and welcome to the first review of 2011 here at The Lair. Some time back I made a call out into the void of Facebook asking what people would like to see from the Lair this year. I didn’t get a whole lot of response, but one of my readers, Greg, suggested a look at something very specific, Stephen King films from the ‘80’s and 90’s filmed in his hometown of Wilmington, N.C. Even though I am no huge Stephen King fan, I couldn’t let such a strange request go unanswered. So I took a trip through the old IMDB, checked out which films had been lensed at Wilmington's EUE Screen Gems Studio, the largest domestic movie and television production house outside of California. When it opened back in 1984, it wasn't under the auspices of EUE Screen Gems, but rather the more celebrated name De Laurentiis Entertainment Group Studios, and one of the first films produced in the area was the 1984 Stephen King film Firestarter. So with no further ado I give you the first entry in The King of Wilmington.

Back when Andy McGee (David Keith) and his future wife Vicky (Heather Locklear) were college students, they decided to make a few extra bucks volunteering for a clinical trial of a drug called Lot 6. While it made some of the other students go mad or claw their eyes out, it gave Andy the ability to control minds and Vicky the ability to read them. It should come as no surprise that the pairing of the two might result in something beyond their abilities. Their daughter Charlie (Drew Barrymore) has the power to set things on fire with her mind, and unchecked, perhaps even holds the destructive force of a nuclear bomb. This draws the attention of “The Shop”, a secret government agency determined to catch Charlie and use her as a weapon. After they kill Vicky, Andy and Charlie go on the run, but they are eventually captured by mercenary John Rainbird (George C. Scott) and taken to “The Shop”. Once there, they try everything to gain Charlie’s trust, but when they fail in the worst way possible, they will truly find out what power lies inside of a little girl.

Filmed in and around the Wilmington, NC area, including parts of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock National Park, Firestarter’s backdrop is very recognizable to anyone familiar with the lower Appalachian area of North Carolina. The bucolic scenery is in stark contrast to the action in the film. While surrounded by lush greenery and crystalline lakes, Charlie and her father are pursued by the exact inverse, an organization bent of weaponizing a little girl. While King’s telekinetic adventure is the stuff of science fiction, it is a fact that the United States government has in the past participated in secret testing both of substances such as LSD and in pursuit of  latent paranormal abilities. King’s story uses these kinds of experiments as a jumping off point for spinning one of his favorite kinds of tales, one of a loss of innocence.

In the ‘80’s no one did innocent better than Drew Barrymore. Only two years earlier she had won America’s heart as little sister Gertie in E.T., and here she taps into the same kind of wide eyed wonderment though tinged with sorrow. Even from the beginning of the film, Barrymore’s Charlie is still very much a little girl, but after a year on the run with the guilt of her mother’s death hanging over her head, she is a little girl with a head full of troubles. These are only magnified tenfold as she comes under the sway of John Rainbird who masquerades as a janitor to gain her trust. Charlie had a tenuous grasp on her powers, how and when to use them, even though her father tries to teach her about the “little bad and the big bad”. Once her last tie to humanity is severed, there is no wonder she becomes a force of nature, and one has to wonder what “The Shop” thought would happen. Barrymore impresses here in a way I have seen very few child stars do exhibiting pathos beyond her years as the film’s emotional toll wears on her character.

If Barrymore is the innocent of Firestarter, then the devil must be George C. Scott’s John Rainbird. I assume Scott’s character was supposed to be of Native American decent, but if you ask me he must have been descended from Ol’ Scratch himself. Not only does his character attempt to use Charlie for his own ends, but he also has a plan to kill Charlie with his bare hands in order to prove his power in the next world. While Martin Sheen and Moses Gunn play characters whose evil has the cold impersonal nature of a Government functionary, Scott’s Rainbird is a mental case to say the least. As with so many of King’s stories, evil is not always one thing, and in this case, it wear several faces. Between the innocence of Barrymore and the evil of Scott lies David Keith’s performance as Andy McKee. He is a man who will do what it takes, at all costs, to defend his daughter, and in the end, it is his final words to his daughter that shapes the outcome of the film.

Firestarter was originally offered to director John Carpenter, but he was let go from the project before he even started due to poor reviews of his film The Thing. (It is now almost impossible to think about The Thing being poorly received.) In his place, the film was given to director Mark L. Lester whose previous credits include 1976’s Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw and 1982’s The Class of 1984. (In 1985 he filmed another unconventional father/daughter tale when he helmed Commando.) While Firestarter is no incredible piece of cinema, Lester provides the film with a well paced plot, an exciting climax, and a genuinely wonderful performance from his child star. All of this is enhanced by the film’s score by prog rockers Tangerine Dream who would famously score 1985’s Legend for Ridley Scott. Fans of Italian prog rockers like Goblin or the compositions of Fabio Frizzi should take note as Dream’s score is full of the moody atmospherics that make Italian soundtracks so popular.

I have to admit I’m not really a Stephen King affectionado. While I’ve read a few of his books over the years (I prefer Barker or better yet King’s son Joe Hill.) and seen a number of the films based on his works, they rarely leave me impressed. In this case Firestarter not only captured my imagination on film, it also lead me to run out to my local used book store and picked up a well loved copy of King’s novel. It also made me excited to see what more The King of Wilmington might have in store for me. I doubt I will find all of King’s films from the Tarheel state to be as good, but who knows. I mean for next week I have a film called Maximum Overdrive directed by Stephen King himself. That has got to be great, right?

Bugg Rating

Falling Down (1993): Crazy Never Sleeps

From the first shot, a intense close-up of teeth that pulls out slowly to reveal the sweaty upper lip, the eyes, and the horn rim glasses of William ‘D-Fens’ Foster, director Joel Schumacher establishes the pressure cooker feeling pervades his 1993 film Falling Down. As he sits in a traffic jam, the inside of his car seems to be visibly steaming with heat as he sits motionless. The world is a cacophony of sound. The air conditioner doesn’t work. The window won’t roll down. A child stares. The sharp, pointed,painted on teeth of a stuffed Garfield doll suddenly become filled with malice. William Foster has had enough, and all he wants to do is go home. So he gets out of his car and begins a journey that will take him far into the depth of Los Angeles and far out of his mind.

These days Joel Schumacher is best remembered as the man who put nipples on Batman, but in the late ’80’s he was on an incredible run of films that conventional wisdom would say started with 1985’s St. Elmo’s Fire. If you ask me it kicked off two years earlier with D.C. Cab. I mean that film had Busey in it, and that alone merits it a mention in a post about crazy people in films. After looking at all sides of death with Flatliners, The Lost Boys, and Dying Young, Schumacher turned his eye to the world of the living with Falling Down. The script by actor and occasional screenwriter Ebbe Roe Smith was so prescient of the tension building on the streets of L.A. that while the film was being shot, the riots that followed the O.J. Simpson verdict broke out.

After Falling Down came out, Michael Douglas’ performance as the out of work defense worker William Foster became the poster child for the “angry white man”. In many publications his character was cast as the embodiment of the marginalized white male. A man feeling attacked by the wilting economy, his broken marriage, and the perceived infringements of his liberty by government, immigrants, and big corporations. While there is always a fringe element that’s political or moral beliefs stray outside the norm, it always scared me that Foster was sometimes perceived as a heroic character. Falling Down is being included in 30 Days of Crazy not because the world around the protagonist had gone mad, but rather because Foster becomes completely unhinged, disregarding anything but his own rapidly warping moral compass. In simple terms, he was a massive, massive wing nut.

Many of us might have a passing daydream that we could leave our car in traffic, demand that the fast food place serve breakfast after the cut off time, or call shenanigans a construction crew repairing a road that seems just fine. The average person will stay in their car, settle for an apple pie and just call it breakfast, and just find an alternate route around traffic all the while saving up their anger to take out on friends, wives, husbands or other relations like normal people do. ‘D-Fens’ Foster felt that the world had taken everything from him and it was time to take something back. When I watch the news and see some extremist, homegrown or foreign, taking lives to prove their point or moral stance, my thoughts instantly go back to the special insanity exhibited by Michael Douglas’ character.

While Falling Down also features an excellent performance by Robert Duvall as the cop spending his last day on the job following Foster’s bloody path, Duvall’s solid acting is quickly overshadowed by Douglas’ more inspired character and performance. In 1993, Falling Down served as a warning to a world that would see homegrown terrorism and radicals rise up in the next few years during events such as Waco, Ruby Ridge, and the Okalahoma City bombing. All of these groups were lead in some way by white American men who felt like their voice had gone unheard and had clearly also gone Kookoo for Cocoa Puffs. Today we live in a world where folks regularly show up at political rallies with a firearm in tow, and people like William Foster that sit in their homes absorbing a stream of politically television designed to feed the ostracized‘s paranoia. Falling Down should serve as more than just a reflection of the early nineties tensions. It is also a warning that there will always be a danger in society lurking as close as the next disturbed person that gets pushed too far.

Bugg Rating 

The Expendables (2010): Should be Renamed The Indispensables

A couple of years back when the first whisperings that there might be a project like The Expendables in the works, I thought it sounded too good to be true. I just couldn’t see Stallone being able to corral the action greats of the ‘80’s much less share the screen with them. His last film, 2008’s Rambo, was one of the biggest, splashiest actionfests that I‘d seen in quite some time, but I‘ve been hurt so many times by projects that either didn‘t materialize (Where are you Justice League?) or didn‘t live up to expectations (Does anyone else remember Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow ?) It was too much the action fanboy pipe dream. It was kind of film that me and my friends would have put together while playing Excitebike. Even though I didn’t want my heart to be broken, I kept an open mind and followed the development of the film (or it was following me).

Just in case you’ve been living in a cave, I guess I should give you a bit of an idea of what this “Expendables” I speak of is all about. Stallone plays the improbably named Barney Ross, the leader of a band of mercenaries played by Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Terry Crews, and Randy Couture. The fellows get a job to remove a Latin American dictator General Garza ( David Zayas, Angel Batista from Dexter) who is being controlled by a rogue ex-CIA agent (Eric Roberts). The job looks like a lost cause, but when Barney is inspired by the General’s rebellious daughter (Giselle Itie), it stops being work and starts being a cause worth fighting for.

Regardless of all of that, The Expendables is a massive excuse to blow up tons of shit, pull off some spectacular action sequences, and finally (although briefly) get Sly and Arnie in the same film. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. While The Expendables doesn’t quite ratchet up the violence to the level of 2008’s Rambo, it still delivered a visceral thrillride. Though I do have to scold the film on relying too heavily on CG splatter, a no-no regardless of what genre I’m talking about. The best moments are less bombastic fight scenes. Lundgren and Li have one particularly spectacularly choreographed scene, and Statham has some fun on a basketball court that was one of the most crowd-pleasing moments. I don’t want to give spoilers, but for anyone who has seen the film, my favorite part concerned Stallone, Statham, a plane, and hefty amount of gasoline.

While the story is overshadowed by the action, I don’t think anything could overshadow the dynamite cast. While everyone was great, I have to pick out a couple of standouts. I am almost never let down by Dolph Lundgren, and this was no exception. His role is smaller than some of the other Expendables (I think he and Mickey Rourke have about the same amount of screen time.), but he really threw himself into it and turned a small role into a memorable part. A pleasant surprise was MMA star Randy Couture. I only knew him by name, but he came across very likable and would make for a solid character actor in action films. The last person I have to mention is Eric Roberts. Is there an actor out there that can do the smarmy crook quite as well as Roberts is doing it lately? Personally, I think not, and I could watch it all day.

I feel like it was Stallone’s intention to make The Wild Bunch of ‘80s action film homages, and he came pretty damn close. I left the theater with a big smile on my face, and all though the next day I was playing parts of the film over in my head. I’ve already had daydreams of who they could get for the Expendables 2. Nothing is more surprising when a pipe dream becomes an actuality, but the one thing you have to remember about this pipe dream is that it’s probably packed with C4. The Expendables is an explosive film on all levels, and I can’t wait until I can see it for a second time. Oh, and by the way, if anyone sees Stallone, tell him to give Michael Dudikoff and Lorenzo Lamas a call next time.

Bugg Rating

Expendables Week #4: 20 Thoughts on Rambo: First Blood Part 2

Hey folks. With The Expendables finally making its debut tonight and since I had some time to sit around this afternoon, I wanted to watch a film from The Expendables’ head honcho Sylvester Stallone. At first, I seriously considered watching Oscar (anyone who doesn’t like that film hasn’t appreciated Tim Curry’s performance as the title character’s speech coach.), but instead I thought that action was more apt and turned instead to Rambo: First Blood Part 2. This jingoistic little gem is a supreme slice of what the ’80’s action film was. I may have watched First Blood more times over the years, but First Blood Part 2 was the first one I saw growing up. Since this is a film that I think a lot of people have seen, I thought I would kind of do a similar format to last week’s Jackie Brown.  

1. The opening pre-title sequence. I mean seriously, they put Rambo in a labor camp breaking up rocks. That is hardcore. Plus, Richard Crenna  is back as Trautman and on the receiving end of the infamous line “Do we get to win this time?” all in the first  couple minutes. 

2. It’s sometimes stunning to see how many great genre actors are in this film. Practically the second scene features Martin Kove, Crenna, Stallone, and Charles Napier. 

3. Rambo can’t even manage to jump out of the plane before something goes wrong. He may be a badass, but things always seem to go way worse for him before they get better (if they do at all). 

4. Director George P. Cosmatos would go on to direct another classic film with an all star genre cast, 1993’s Tombstone as well as one of my favorite Sly films Cobra. 

5. Co Bau: “Is that why they picked you because you like to fight?”

     Rambo: “Nah, cause I’m expendable.”

6. So the army sends Rambo to take pictures of a supposed POW camp. Pictures. Did any of them actually think he was going to take pictures?

7. Rambo: First Blood Part 2 was such a success that it spawned a children’s cartoon in 1986. 

 8. The total body count was 67, but Rambo only accounts for 57 of them himself. What a slacker. 

9. Every time I see this film, and it doesn't matter how many times, I can't help getting pissed when the extraction team leaves Rambo and the POW he finds high and dry. 

10. Let the torture begin! First off, let's soak you in leeches, but then for the real torture Steven Burkoff is going to show up and do a Russian accent. 

11. "You may scream, there is no shame"- Lt Podovsky

12. An electric box springs. That brings magic fingers to a whole different place. 

13. You gotta love the lightning crash that happens just as Rambo tells Murdock (Charles Napier) the jerk that trapped them in Vietnam, "I'm coming to get you."

14. The whole escape sequence is great, and this is the moment when legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith's score really shines. 

15. If you think you might love John Rambo, don't tell him. You will just get shot in the next scene. However you will inspire his choice in headbands for the rest of his life. 

16. However if you are any way connected to the killing of Rambo's new (but shortly lived) main squeeze, be aware he is going to kill every last one of you. 

17. First Blood Part 2 was the first film to debut on 2000 screens, In comparison, The Expendables makes it's debut on 3200 screens today. 

18. Guns are passe. There really need to be more heroes armed with bows and arrows. 

19. Luckily, unlike Rambo III, politics mostly take a back seat to action in First Blood 2. Sure there are some pointed moments in the film, but for the most part it stays less political than similar fare like the Missing in Action films. James Cameron who wrote the script has been quoted as taking credit for the action notes and blaming all the politics on Stallone. 

20. It's not the classic that First Blood is, but it doesn't have the problems of the next film. The series wouldn't hit another high point until Stallone released the singularly titled Rambo in 2008. 

Well that's it for today. I'll be back sometime tomorrow with a review of The Expendables. I hope lots of you go and and see it tonight and come back and let me know what you thought!

A Tale of Two Matt Hunters: Norris vs. Dudikoff

I could not resist getting into The Chuck Norris Blogothon hosted by Matt-Suzaka over at Chuck Norris Ate My Baby, and I wanted to talk about one of my favorite films of his, 1985’s Invasion U.S.A. It’s a film full of classic Norris badassary, and it was something of a childhood favorite of mine. However, recently I was at a jockey lot (a.k.a a flea market to those not from the South) and I picked up several videos including Avenging Force starring Mr. American Ninja Michael Dudikoff. Imagine my surprise when I was checking out the tapes and ran across the familiar name Matt Hunter. After a little investigation, I found out that Avenging Force was a sequel to Invasion U.S.A albeit with little connection other than the name of the hero.

It seems that Avenging Force was intended for Norris, but he was committed to shooting another film at the time, a little movie called Delta Force. So Cannon Entertainment, not wanting to waste a finished script, recast the bearded, chambray shirt wearing, double Uzi wielding character that Norris had  first played with the clean shaven, cowboy hat wearing, martial artist played by Dudikoff. Needless to say, it makes for two very different films and two very different Matt Hunters. I thought what better time to look at both films, and it would give me a chance to pit two ‘80’s action stars in a fight for supremacy. Sure, one of the stars is Chuck Norris, the star of such films as The Octagon and Firewalker, the man who made Texas Rangers look cool, and a man who has nothing behind his beard but another fist, while the other is Michael Dudikoff, but the two films almost make this a fair fight.

It had been a number if years since I had last watched Invasion U.S.A, and while I really remembered liking it, I was pretty hazy on the details. For some reason, probably because the main baddie named Mikhail Rostov (played by the always entertaining Richard Lynch), for years I’ve had it in my mind that the Russians were invading the U.S., but watching this time I found it was Commies although of the South American variety. What the terrorist’s motive is and how they managed to get together such a massive army seems like an impenetrable mystery to me. For those not familiar with the film, the Commie terrorists start blowing up homes and community centers to start civil unrest, but as an added bonus Rostov is dead set on killing his old arch nemesis, ex-CIA agent Matt Hunter (Chuck Norris). After the goons blow up his home in the Florida everglades, kill his air boating friend, and endanger his pet armadillo, Hunter comes out of retirement. It doesn’t take long before Hunter is going though more Uzi ammo than the entirety of the Six Day War.

There’s really not that much plot to Invasion U.S.A. The motivations of the bad guys are never clear, and Norris’ Hunter just seems to be hell bent on laying waste to as many Commie terrorists as he can lay his hands (or guns) on. That doesn’t really matter though. Once the movie starts kicking, it becomes one excellent action set piece after another. Chuck kills Commies in the mall. Chuck kills Commies outside a supermarket. Chuck had a knock down drag out fight with the Commies in Atlanta complete with tanks, rocket launchers, and of course a final showdown against Lynch’s evil leader. Needless to say, Invasion U.S.A makes up for the lack of plot with the variety of action set pieces. Plus the film contains some great lines. My favorite Norris quote has to be when he’s trying to intimidate some random dude and warns him that, “I’ll give you so many rights you’ll be hoping for a left.” Norris is at his badass best, and Richard Lynch makes for a great bad guy as usual. As a kid, I’m sure I loved the film for its endless action while not I might enjoy some of Norris’ other films a little more as an adult.

Since I just purchased it a few weeks back, this was my first time checking out Avenging Force, and I really didn’t know what to expect. The only Dudikoff film I had seen previously is American Ninja, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Avenging Force not only starred the Dudikoff but also his Ninja co-star Steve James. In both films they share a natural chemistry that really helps sell the film. I also noticed one other name that piqued my interest, Marc Alaimo. His name might not ring a bell to most folks, but being the massive nerd that I am, I instantly recognized the actor as the evil Gul Ducat from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. With those actors on board and director Sam Firstenberg who helmed Breakin’ 2 and American Ninja, I was optimistic for Avenging Force. However, I was hard pressed to see how Dudikoff was going to fill the shoes of Chuck Norris in the role of Matt Hunter.

The story of this Matt Hunter begins when Matt, his Grandpa, and little sister go into town to meet their friend Larry Richards (Steve James) who is running for state senate. They accompany him in a Mardi Gras parade that is attacked by several gunmen out for Larry’s blood, but the only target they hit is Larry’s young son. Matt taps back into his Secret Service contacts (no CIA for this ex-agent only an elite FBI task force) and finds out about a secretive group called Pentangle that has been threatening Larry. Matt and Larry tangle with Pentangle a few times before the dastardly group tracks them down at Matt’s ranch house. They kill Grandpa and Larry as well as kidnap Matt’s little sister. It seems they want Matt to participate in their blood sport in the bayou. If he survives, he can have his sister back, but no one survives.

Apart from the subplot about the Senator, Avenging Force reminded me a lot of John Woo’s Hard Target which wouldn’t come out for five more years. Woo’s film is of course more visually impressive, but I did enjoy Dudikoff as the heroic lead. The fact that he was supposed to be Matt Hunter is another matter altogether. If Avenging Force was supposed to be a sequel to Invasion U.S.A, it sure didn’t seem like it. The powers behind the film had changed the lead actor, his former profession, and even his digs, but for some reason they didn’t find it necessary to change the name of the main character. The film also suffers because even though it has some good action sequences, many of them are laughable. The Pentangle goons chase Matt through the swamp in some hilarious outfits, and it lead to me dubbing them the "mime ninja", "survivalist Sub-Zero", "Professor Mardi Gras", and "the Gimp". While the fight scenes were good, it kind of broke the tension of the moment.

When it comes down to it, the main thing that Avenging Force lacks is an engaging plot. The writers tried to spice it up by putting together the back-story about the assassination  of the Senatorial candidate, but when you boil the movie down to its essence, it is nothing more than another version of The Most Dangerous Game, and the aforementioned Hard Target follows the same formula with better action sequences. I’ve seen many folks call this movie the best that Michael Dudikoff ever made, but I’m not so sure about that. American Ninja was a better film, and even some of the sequels come off better than this. The only reason that Avenging Force stands out is the teaming of Dudikoff and James, but sadly, the duo get split up about halfway though the film and their chemistry that had carried so much of the film was sorely missed. There’s also the matter of the little sister played by Allison Gereighty. She was incredibly irritating though thankfully she was in few scenes. Her voice and bad Southern accent just grated on my last nerve every time she showed up.

So as far as the battle of the Matt Hunters goes, there’s really no contest. After all, the host of this blog-o-thon isn’t a site called Michael Dudikoff Ate My Homework. While Avenging Force has some good moments to it, it just can’t stack up to Chuck being badass and wielding paired Uzi’s in Invasion U.S.A. I want to thank Matt-Suzaka for putting on this Blog-o-thon and all the folks out there who have participated. I’ve really been enjoying reading all your posts on various facets of the bearded one’s life and career. As a final note, I want to leave you with my favorite of the Chuck Norris facts. I know these are played out by now (and as someone who played World of Warcraft when it was at the height of popularity I’ve heard them all), but I do love this one for its simplicity. Chuck Norris doesn’t sleep. He waits.

Bugg Rating (Invasion U.S.A)

Bugg Rating (Avenging Force)