Review: Raw Deal

Raw Deal original HBO/CANNON VIDEO VHS

1986
Directed by: John Irvin
Category: Badass Cinema

This was one of Schwarzenegger's early films that I never really gave too much credit. My main beef is that I just can't help but feel how Schwarzenegger was just horribly miscast here. Especially when you consider the film he made the year before this was Commando, and the film after this was Predator. It just doesn't make any sense. It feels so wrong for him and the kind of films he was trying to do. You have to also consider at this time he was going head to head with Stallone and both of them were the two biggest action stars of the decade and to have this oddly out of place film smack in the middle of his one-two punch of Commando and Predator, well it just feels oddly out of place in his filmography.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad film by any means. It just doesn't feel like an Arnold picture. This seems like it would have been more suited for someone like Burt Reynolds. Now that I think about it, he would have been perfect for this role because at the time this film was made, he wasn't exactly knocking them out of the park anymore and probably could've used modest hit. In either case, Arnold does the best he can with the role and even though he looks and sounds completely out of place in this Italian mob world. The main thing the big guy has going for him is an amazing aura of confidence. He might be miscast in this film, but he's gonna give it his all anyway and the film's all the more entertaining for it.

Mark Kaminsky (Schwarzenegger) is a small town backwoods country sheriff after being kicked out of the FBI for improper treatment of a suspect. When his old friend and FBI chief Harry Shannon (Darren McGavin) asks for his help after his son is killed by the Italian Mob in a botched raid, he promises Mark re-enlistment into the bureau if he can infiltrate the Italian mob and take down everyone that had anything to do with his son's death. For Harry, it's all about revenge. For Mark, it's a chance to get his old job back and a chance for him and his wife to get out of the sticks where they clearly don't belong. 

More than anything, this is a crime drama/action film that only offers any real action here and there. We're introduced to a bloody shootout and a car chase right from the get go, but it's a while before any other type of action comes into play and when it does, it's a few fist fights here and there and a pretty cool car chase later on. It's not until the last 20 minutes or so where we're given two big action sequences but even then, they pale in comparison to any of his other films from this era. Also, during one of these big action sequences towards the end of the film, Mark aka Joseph P. Brenner takes down a bunch of guys at a gravel pit while he's simultaneously driving his car and shooting at guys a hundred yards away, but not before he pops in The Rolling Stones "Satisfaction" into his tape player. I don't know, that seemed like such a weird song choice for a big action scene and for me, just didn't work.

The system gave him a Raw Deal. Nobody gives him a Raw Deal.

One of things I'll always remember about this film is that I saw this at my local drive-in theater back in '86. I remember that they showed a trailer for Stallone's Cobra before this film and I remember thinking that I couldn't wait for that film to come out. Just one of those random thoughts that pop into my head whenever I think of this film.

Thankfully, Arnold is given a really solid supporting cast to flesh out the Italian mob world. The always reliable Robert Davi has a pretty big role as mafia heavy who he's forced to work with under head mob boss Luigi Patrovita's orders, and they do not get along. Darren McGavin (A Christmas Story) is great as Mark's FBI mentor, friend and cohort Harry Shannon and Kathryn Harrold does a good enough job as the seductress who you can never figure out which side she's on.

It's not a bad film, but in a time when Schwarzenegger was making a name for himself and dominating the action genre with films like The Terminator, Commando and Predator, Raw Deal is probably (next to Red Sonja), one of his most forgettable and most underrated films of the 80's. If IMDB is to be believed, then Arnold only agreed to star in this film as more of a compromise to fulfill his contract with Dino De Laurentiis, whom he still had one film left under there agreement. That makes sense since this doesn't seem like the kind of film that he would have actively sought out to star in at this period in his career. If you can get past the presence of a huge Austrian with a thick accent who's twice the size of everybody else playing a back woods country sheriff and then goes undercover as an Italian heavy by wearing nice clothes and slicking his hair back knowing full well that it would be a hell of a lot more plausible and believable with "anybody" else in that role, then you'll have a good time with it because underneath all that, it's a really well made crime film with a decent amount of action and a few moments of brilliance.

Review: Pulling John

2009
Directed by: Vassiliki Khonsari, Sevan Matossian
Category: Documentary

Casually browsing Netflix Instant this past weekend I came across this fascinating and completely engaging documentary about the world of professional arm wrestling. You know, I actually had no idea that this was even a "thing" anymore. But it is and apparently it's pretty huge all over the world. You don't hear or read about it in the news or sports pages and even more shocking to me is that outside of the United States, it is a government funded sport program. The U.S. is one of the only places in the world where it's not recognized by the government or funded, but elsewhere in the world it's even taught in schools. Crazy!

Right from the opening frame this documentary pulls you into the lives of amateur and professional arm wrestlers, all with one common goal; to beat John Brzenk. You see, the mild mannered and unassuming Brzenk has been the world champion arm wrestler for the last 25 years without having ever lost a match, no matter the size or stature of his opponents. Pulling John follows Brzenk as he contemplates retirement as he hits 40 and wonders if there is really anybody out there that could actually beat him. He notices also that because of his age, his endurance is lessening and if there is a much younger and stronger opponent out there worthy of a challenge, will he be able to last in a match of strength and endurance if he doesn't take him down within the first 5 seconds?

I remember when Over the Top came out in 1987, I thought arm wrestling was going to explode. It didn't. And that's a topic that they touch on in the documentary because everyone, including the filmmakers of Over the Top and the world of arm wrestling, thought it was going to also, but it didn't. Yea, the movie sucked, mainly because of the whole subplot involving Lincoln Hawk (Stallone) his son, and his ex-father in law, but the arm wrestling scenes were pretty cool and I remember thinking that after watching it arm wrestling was going to be the next big thing.

Synopsis via IMDB:
John Brzenk is troubled by when to call it quits; should he retire when he is on top or wait until someone takes his title. After twenty-five solid years of total world domination, John Brzenk, is aware that his dethroning may be near, he just doesn't know the cause. As the prodigal arm wrestler, Brzenk excelled in a way that seemed humanly impossible. Hungry for the best arm wrestling competition, Brzenk traveled the world beating every opponent. With a humble and understated character, his legend supercedes him in the hearts of arm wrestlers in over 120 countries. Among the super warriors of arm wrestling are 2 titans from opposite ends of the world, bonded by one defining goal, to beat John.

Sylvester Stallone and John Brzenk

In Pulling John, we're introduced to 3 main characters, John Brzenk, Alexy Voevoda and Travis Bagent. Brzenk (the world champion 25 years running) and fast rising up and comer Travis Bagent are both from the United States while Alexy Voevoda is from Russia. Both Travis and Alexy have grown to idolize John Brzenk in there young lives, knowing that if Brzenk continues to compete professionally each of them will have to likely face each other and ultimately attempt to defeat Brzenk if they ever want to claim the crown of arm wrestling champion of the world. No matter what part of the world you are from, John Brzenk is the all time reigning champ.

I think what's really fascinating is that Brzenk is so completely unassuming. He's not very big, yea you can tell he works out, but you'd never in a million years guess he's the all time world champion arm wrestler for the last 25 years just by looking at him. By trade, he's an airplane mechanic, and uses that career to be able to fly free anywhere in the world when he has to compete. Right there that shows you how smart this guy is. And he's so mild mannered and extremely humble too. That's one of the things that's always said about him whenever any of the amateur or professional competitors are talking about him, even the cocky arrogant guys. They look up to him because he's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. There's no attitude or arrogance about him at all; he's just happy to be doing what he loves and somehow keeps winning. Unlike the young and rising up and comer Travis Bagent. He's loud, obnoxious, arrogant and completely cocky to a fault. It's one thing when you want to be the world arm wrestling champion, but it's another thing when your an ass and nobody likes you. In arm wrestling, they push sportsmanship and basically getting along and helping each other out. There's no reason it has to be ugly. But Bagent see's things differently. He's there to kick your ass. He's not there to make friends or be nice. Alexey on the other hand is the complete opposite of Travis Bagent. Though he's much bigger than both Bagent and Brzenk, Alexey is always calm, cool and collected 24 hours a day. Never losing his temper, talking smack or even getting excited. He's knows he alone is representing his country and cherishes that responsibility more than anything.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Pulling John is how Brzenk is able to keep winning, even though he's almost twice there age and smaller in size. And that's a big issue in this documentary. Somehow, some way he's able to possess this incredible strength that defies explanation. What the documentary ultimately boils down to is a final "big" match at the end where all three of these guys meet for the biggest arm wrestling championship to date. Whoever wins this match becomes arm wrestling champion of the world and the directors here have gotten you invested so deeply into all of there lives that when the final showdown hits, you don't know who to root for and it's completely riveting. We were actually screaming at the television during this final showdown because it was so intense. I hadn't had that kind of reaction from a film, let alone a documentary, in a very long time. I think more shocking than anything for me is that this documentary is two years old and I've never heard of it until now. Do yourself a favor and check out this thoroughly entertaining documentary while it's currently still available on Netflix Instant. If you're like me, you'll be screaming and hollering at the television by the end and wanting to arm wrestle everyone in your family.

Review: Friday the 13th Part 3

1982
Directed by: Steve Miner
Category: Horror

As you know, I'm slowly going through the Friday the 13th series chronologically after going out and purchasing the entire series recently on DVD. Yea, I've seen "most" of them before and remember bits and pieces of each one, but it's honestly been many, many years since I've had a mature viewing of any of them and what better time than now to finally get a chance to sit down and watch them all with fresh eyes.

So now we're talkin'. Jason Voorhees more closely resembles the guy we've grown accustomed to in all the following films and now he's finally got his trademark hockey mask. Funny thing is that this film is supposed to take place literally a day after the last entry, Part 2, yet Jason seems to have grown and aged considerably within that one day. Either that was an insane oversight on the filmmakers part or they decided to switch gears and have Jason be more of a physically imposing monster instead of the hillbilly looking country boy with a bag over his head from Part 2.

I actually liked this one more than Part 2. For me, Part 2 felt almost like a remake of the original and at least here, though there are plenty of homages to Part 1 that can drive you crazy, it does add a few new and original elements to it that for me, made it stand out more than Part 2 in terms of originality. As we all know by now, this came out when we had a small 3D explosion back in the early 80's, and this time the filmmakers wanted to capitalize on the craze and offer something new to the franchise. In that respect, it succeeds, but only slightly.

As I mentioned in my review of Part 2, I'm not a fan of director Steve Miner's (House, Warlock) work. When I saw that he was also director of this installment as well, I was a little apprehensive because as a visualist, I just don't see any talent there. His work in Part 2 was so subpar and for me, completely uninteresting. But as Michael Bay had to do with Transformers: Dark of the Moon, he was forced to be a little more creative with the camera work and a little more "stable" since a lot of the 3D gimmicks involved shooting or pointing objects directly at the camera lens. Hey, I'm no fan of fads or gimmicks when it comes to filmmaking, but somehow it all worked and he was able to craft a much more professional, atmospheric and interesting looking horror film as opposed to his previous effort from the year before. Don't get me wrong, a lot of it looks so hokey and annoyingly staged, but for the most part it works.

Again, despite warnings, stories and rumors, a bunch of horny teenagers head out to a cabin which just so happens to be close to Camp Crystal Lake for a weekend of fun. What is it with these kids and camps? If all they're interested in is getting it on, then just go get a room! Jason makes his presence known pretty quickly by killing a couple at a store in the opening sequence, but it's a while before he starts killing the group off one by one. There doesn't seem to be any real reason this time either. Last time it was because the teenagers were too close to his home, but here he's just portrayed as more of an unstoppable and even slightly clever killing machine who just seems to be out for a kill.


A lot of Friday the 13th Part 3 works so much better than Part 2 did. The atmosphere and sense of dread lurking behind every corner is amped up to 10 here, and though most of the teenagers are pretty unlikable, some of the kills are pretty awesome. Again, a lot of it has to do with the use of the 3D gimmicks, but even in 2D having stuff flown at the camera is fun to watch. Director Steve Miner also creates a much more fun film for me. I know it's a horror film, but I just had much more of a better time with this one. The pace is faster, the girls are prettier, and as opposed to most of Part 2 taking place at night, most of Part 3 takes place during the day. Jason looks much bigger, scarier and meaner. The kills a little more creative. And the added element of watching this in cheesy 80's 3D only adds to the kitschy camp factor. Yes, if you purchase the deluxe DVD, it comes with both the 2D and 3D versions complete with 3D glasses. How cool is that?! Just watch the first 15 minutes of this great film. If the first 15 minutes doesn't grab you, then I don't know what will. After the intro sequence where were shown that Jason is still alive, the film goes into this incredibley cheesy but wholly fitting 3D title sequence complete with equally absurd and oddly out of place title music that sounds like something from the late 70's. You gotta see (and hear) it to believe it.

We're also introduced to a biker gang where one of it's members actually offers Jason somewhat of a challenge, but only really adds as a distraction to some of the films enormous plot holes and continuity issues (of which there are plenty). My main beef, which they "never" explain, is why Jason looks so drastically different (even wearing different clothes than in Part 2), from the previous film if only one single day had gone by since the events of the last film. Hey, he looks cool and all, but I'd still like to know the logic in all that.
There's also a scene (the last scene to be exact) that plays homage to the last scene of Part 1 when Alice is in the boat in the lake at the end of the movie and a young Jason leaps out from the water and pulls her under. This scene at the end of this film is so stupid and makes no sense whatsoever. I guess the logic would be they needed to throw another scare in there, but come on!

I wish I was a little older when these came out in the theaters back in the early 80's. Being 8 I doubt my parents took me (I would have to wait for VHS), but this was such a fun time in terms of horror films. Beginning with the first film in 1980, there was a Friday the 13th film released every single year in the theaters until Part 7 took a two year break and didn't hit theaters until 1988, when it should have hit theaters in 1987. How fun is that?! To know that pretty much every year we were sure to get a Friday the 13th film. The good ol' days. For me, this is the film that really got me into the Friday series. I still think Part 4: The Final Chapter will always be my favorite, but in terms of the older films in the series, Part 3 would come in a close second.

Badass buy - Star Wars 1982 VHS Drawer Case Release

This is an original 20th Century Fox Video VHS release of the original unaltered Star Wars. From what I gather, this was released in September 1982 in an oversized cardboard "drawer" case. So I think this would make it the third VHS release of this film from this year. The first two were "Video Rental Library" versions specifically intended for Libraries, one in a black clamshell case (the "Holy Grail" of Star Wars VHS tapes), and the second is in this same exact format here, except it has the words "Video Rental Library" displayed on the front, spine and back with some subtle differences on the back. This one here would be the third official VHS release and the first release available for purchase and along with the other two previous versions released this same year, is one of the rarest and most sought after by collectors. I've had my eye out for one of these for a long time and have bid and lost on many eBay auctions this past year. Usually they go for anywhere from around $50 to over a hundred, depending on the condition and if there are any bidders out there looking for this at that particular time. 

Funny thing though is that about a week ago I was casually browsing eBay for some VHS tapes in the sci-fi section (not even looking for this in particular) and this was at the top of the list with only 2 days left and a starting bid of only $10, with no bids at that point. I thought "what the hell?". I've certainly bid on and lost on plenty of these in the past to know that I would more than likely walk away the loser on this one again, but it never hurts to try. To my astonishment, no other bids were placed and when the auction was over, I had won it with my $10 starting bid and I couldn't be happier. The condition of this VHS is pretty decent (the main issues being edge wear), but for the most part looks great. I guess it just goes to show you that sometimes it just pays to be patient. 

Review: Cloak & Dagger

Cloak & Dagger Japanese VHS cover

1984
Directed by: Richard Franklin
Category: Cult Classic

Growing up in the 80's, I had a handful of films that I absolutely loved and watched obsessively to the point of knowing every single line of dialogue by heart. This was one of those films, as was The Goonies, The Last Dragon, Real Genius, Fright Night and The Monster Squad to name a few.

I love this film and still continue to pop it in every once in a while just to have something playing in the background when I'm working from home. I can't really pin point any one specific element because I feel the film as a whole works wonderfully for me. Cloak & Dagger was filmed in San Antonio, TX, a place I've visited often as I also live in Texas and I enjoy pointing out location spots that I've actually been to while watching it. It's just a nerdy thing I guess. This came out in 1984 before Nintendo took the video gaming world by storm, so the system they use in the film frequently is an Atari, and I suppose that also adds to the nostalgia factor for me, because at the heart of the film it's a video game that ultimately gets the ball rolling so it's an important aspect of the entire film.

Davey Osborne (Henry Thomas) is an 11 year old with an active imagination with a military father (Dabney Coleman) who doesn't understand him. Obsessed with the video game "Cloak & Dagger", Davey utilizes the spy tactics and situations learned from the game and it's central character Jack Flack (also Dabney Coleman) in his day to day activities, even seeing and talking to the imaginary Jack Flack on a regular basis. Always dragging his one friend Kim along, they decide to visit there friend Morris (William Forsythe), who owns a video game store in the local mall. Morris asks them to do a "covert" operation and run an errand for him where Davey witnesses a murder. Before dying, the scientist that Davey comes across hands him a Cloak & Dagger game cartridge that he says has Military secrets encoded on it. Soon a group of bad guys led by the evil Dr. Rice (Michael Murphy) are after Davey and will stop at nothing to get that game cartridge.

One of the things this film has going for it, is that it never lets up. Writer Tom Holland (Fright Night, Childs Play) keeps the pace moving along smoothly, never letting the viewer ever get bored. Unfortunately, there's not a lot to admire in terms of Richard Franklin's direction. It's all pretty standard stuff with not an ounce of visual flare, which just proves Holland's script is what makes the film, as well as Dabney Coleman in dual roles. It's funny because whenever I think of Coleman, my mind automatically goes to all of his asshole roles, because he's so good at it. Around this time he was knocking them out in droves with films like 9 to 5, The Muppet's Take Manhattan and Tootsie. But here he plays both Davey's no nonsense military dad, which he plays effortlessly, but he also plays Davey's imaginary friend Jack Flack, the main character in the Cloak & Dagger game. But as Jack Flack, Dabney Coleman plays a role you're not used to him playing. As Jack Flack, Coleman is smooth, charming and above all things, cool; all the things Davey wishes his dad could be. To differentiate Jack Flack from Davey's dad, Coleman sports a head-to-toe leather getup with a berrete hat (not sure if I spelled that right) and pencil thin jet black and nicely groomed mustache, compared to the bushy salt and pepper mustache he wears as the dad and in real life. As Flack, Coleman exudes confidence and charisma and whenever he's on screen as Jack Flack, he steals the show. 

Regular baddie William Forsythe was fun to watch as a young and nerdy video game store owner with coke bottle glasses and a shaggy beard. I sometimes forget that while usually always playing a bad guy, the guy's done comedy (Raising Arizona), drama and everything in between. Henry Thomas, who two years before this starred in E.T. is a really fun kid to watch. The kid's a natural pro and I'm surprised is career didn't explode after the one-two punch of E.T. and this. 

This is a great film from beginning to end. I'm always surprised when someone tells me they've never heard of it or they have, but have never seen it. Growing up in the 80's, I remember this running continuously on HBO along with The Last Starfighter and Commando, especially during the summer. Good memories. I'll always jump at the chance to watch this film again, even though I could recite the entire thing for you line for line. It's just one of those all-time classics for me and always will be.

Review: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Original Media 1985 VHS release image courtesy of Ghoulbasement.com

1984

Directed by: Wes Craven

Category: Horror

After just finishing the brilliant 4 hour documentary on the Elm Street franchise, Never Sleep Again, I went out and bought every single film from this series. It was more of an excuse really as I hadn't seen any of the earlier films in at least ten years or so. But if you haven't yet had a chance to check out the excellent Never Sleep Again, I strongly suggest you do so. Thoroughly entertaining and informative on every single aspect of the entire franchise from the first film to Freddy vs. Jason to the television series and everything in between, Never Sleep Again will have you dusting off your Nightmare films and popping them in. 

I've probably seen this original Nightmare on Elm Street close to 100 times to date. 

Growing up in the 80's as a kid moving into teenager-hood was probably the best era in terms of horror films. You honestly couldn't have asked for a better time to be a teenager and to be into horror films. Most of them around this time were originals or sequels, not like now where they're all pretty much remakes and needless ones at that. All they end up doing is showing you how inventive and creative the originals were and what they did with a quarter of the budget without digital effects. Case in point, the Nightmare on Elm Street remake from 2010. If there was ever a needless remake that offered "nothing" to the franchise or the story, ANOES (2010) was that film. I guess since they were on a roll with remakes like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween and Friday the 13th, they felt they needed to complete the list of all time horror franchises. I'm not totally against remakes in general, but do feel that some films just need to be left alone like The Thing and Fright Night. If it's not broken, why fix it!? I quite enjoyed Friday the 13th (2009) much more than I thought I would though, even though the whole thing about Jason taking a hostage made absolutely no sense whatsoever. And I liked the TCM (2003) and TCM: The Beginning (2006) quite a lot too.Of course those were more style over substance, but they were a fun watch nonetheless.

Watching the original Nightmare on Elm Street this past Sunday reminded me of how great this film was, from the casting to the practical effects and to Wes Craven's creative genius. From beginning to end this is a creepy film with some pretty outstanding sequences and no matter how many times you've seen it, still manages to impress. Ok, so they never explain how the hell Nancy is able to pull first Freddy's hat and then Freddy himself out of her dreams and into the real world, but it's a fun concept and gave Nancy an opportunity to go all MacGyver on Freddy in the finale. What I found even more fascinating is that she was able to do this all in the span of 20 minutes, because from the time she calls her dad and says to check up on her in exactly 20 minutes to the time she's pulling Freddy out of her dream, she was able to construct all these booby traps, fall asleep and bring him into the real world. If anything it shows that she utilizes her time very wisely. 

Pretty much the entire cast is pretty great in this. I always had a crush on Heather Langenkamp and John Saxon was awesome as Nancy's dad. Johnny Depp does what he can with the "jock" role and teaches us never to fall asleep with a set of headphones on and a television sitting on your lap. That sequence along with the music accompanying it is still pretty freaking awesome and disturbing. As is the scene where Nancy's friend Tina is attacked by an invisible Freddy in bed while her boyfriend helplessly watches as he slices and dices her to death. The music played to that sequence is pitch perfect and still creeps me out. The real kudos obviously goes to Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger. It just goes to show you that despite a ton of makeup, it's still the guy you hire to don the makeup and not the makeup itself who scares the bajeezus out of you. I remember how for part 2, in an attempt to save money and not wanting to pay Englund what he was asking for to reprise the role of Freddy, the studio hired some other guy who mostly stayed in shadows. I think that only lasted like a week before they realized they made a huge mistake and paid Englund what he wanted to come back. There are a few scenes with this other guy still in the film and if you look closely, you can totally tell. He looks different and walks different with more like a weird wobble.

No matter how many times I see it, the original still delvers the goods. I always remember Part 2: Freddy's Revenge always being my favorite, but as I'm going through this in chronological order, that will be my next one and we'll see if my memories still hold true. Thanks again to Jayson over at Basement of Ghoulish Decadence for the VHS cover scan. 

Megaforce flying motorcycle sequence - pure epicness

Boy, I really needed a good laugh today, and this did the trick. Thanks to my buddy Ingo over at Hellford 667 Movie Reviews for bringing this to my attention. Fucking hilarious! 

This is the flying bike sequence from the cult classic Megaforce (1982) starring Barry Bostwick. Yes, it's "that" Barry Bostwick. Thanks to YouTube member lucienpsinger for the video. It made my day.

Review: Showdown in Little Tokyo

1991
Directed by: Mark L. Lester
Category: Badass Cinema

Check out the guy's over at Comeuppance Reviews who also recently reviewed this great 90's gem where we all unanimously agree, this film kicks some serious action ass.

Man, I love Dolph Lundgren's output in this point in his career. Masters of the Universe, Red Scorpion, The Punisher, Dark Angenl aka I Come In Peace, Showdown in Little Tokyo, Universal Soldier and Army of One aka Joshua Tree. Yes, I know MOTU as a film is a joke, but it did kinda put his name out there.

But this output is so badass for any action star wannabe and next to the Governator, Stallone and Willis, who else did we have? I fully expected Lundgren to take the mantle as the Planet Hollywood trio were really getting up there in age and we hadn't yet found a suitable replacement. But a funny thing happened. After a string of badass aforementioned films, he went straight to the DTV market with the exception of a few roles here and there. I don't know why and I can't explain it. I fully expected this larger than life Swede to take over but unless you were hardcore into DTV stuff, you kinda forgot about him until he slowly started to appear in better than average fare in the DTV market and then when The Expendables hit theaters, "everyone" was like, "It was so good to see Lundgren back on the big screen kicking ass.". Or was that just me?

One's a warrior. One's a wiseguy. They're two L.A. cops going after a gang of drug lords. Feet first.

Showdown in Little Tokyo is a prime example of a certain kind of film they just don't make anymore, the cop/buddy movie. Back in the 80's and early 90's this formula was rampant, but extremely rare these days. You know the formula, the mismatched pair of detectives who don't like each other at first but are forced to work together anyway and end up being friends. Here Dolph is teamed with the late great Brandon Lee. Brandon plays more of the straight edged-clean cut type to Dolph's renegade tough guy-doesn't give a shit about the rules-can't keep a partner kinda cop. And it all works so wonderfully here. Director Mark L. Lester  (Commando) keeps the pace and action going at a relentless speed that not 5 minutes go by without some kind of a shootout or fist fight, it's just great. And I'm totally serious, this film is nonstop relentless action from the opening credits to the end. Dolph is in the best shape of his life here and plays the part with such ease. Brandon Lee is also great as the new partner who is also really good a Bushido, but isn't very interested in his heritage, for which Kenner (Lundgren) constantly gives him shit for. You see, Kenner is white, but grew up in Japan, speaks the language, knows the moves and wears the clothes when the situation calls for it. Murata (Lee) only possesses his martial arts skills because his mother forced him to beginning at age 4 and couldn't really give a shit about the importance of his heritage.

There's so much to love about this film if you're an action fan. For one, you have pretty much any Asian looking character actor known to man during this time have a role as a bad guy in this, even if they weren't technically asian, but looked it. Another is the splendidly cheesy 80's score that would effortlessly move from asian themed guitar, to 80's cop/buddy action playful movie theme, to serious searing action sequence music. I think I counted about 3 different types of theme music in here all played regularly when the mood changed. The action scenes and fight sequences are handled well by director Mark L. Lester, utilizing both Lundgren's and Lee's martial arts abilities frequently and to great effect. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as the main villain Yoshida is always a blast to watch in anything he's in. He's so good at being a bad guy that whenever you see him in any role other than the villain (which is extremely rare) you're always shocked. Tia Carrere, who hadn't yet made a name for herself with Wayne's World-that would be the following year, does a solid job as the pretty witness who Kenner and Murata (Lee) must protect so she can testify against Yoshida (Tagawa) and who "undoubtedly" falls in love with Kenner in the process and uses a body double frequently for her nude scenes. No, that's not really Tia Carrere getting butt naked into the hot tub.

If I had any gripes about this film at all, it would be only two things. One is that I wish the final sword fight "showdown" between Kenner (Lundgren) and Yoshida (Tagawa) was longer. Yea it was pretty cool anyway, but it felt kinda brief. And the second issue would be that when you watch Brandon Lee, you can't help but get a little sad and miss the guy. He's really great in this and such a natural. It feels like such a travesty that we only got 3 great movies out of him before he left us and it's truly a tragedy for modern cinema. Who knows how high this guy could have gone.

I'm sure you noticed that no plot summary was offered this time. Honestly, there's no need and who cares. You have Dolph Lundgren in his prime. You have the awesome Brandon Lee. They play two mismatched cops teamed together to solve a case who don't like each other at first but learn to be buddies. You have nonstop wall to wall action from Commando director Mark L. Lester. And you have Tia Carrere looking hotter with the help of a naked body double. Mix this all together and you have one of the best straight to video action/martial arts films to come out of the early 90's before that genre pretty much dissolved altogether.  Showdown in Little Tokyo is pure cop/buddy-action/martial arts epicness.

VHS Cover Of The Day - The Terminator 1985 Thorn EMI VHS

Original Thorn EMI June 1985 VHS release of James Cameron's The Terminator. 

I've always loved this version of the VHS cover art as opposed to all the later slightly altered versions where they seem to have used art school rejects who used some kind of Photoshop filter to give it a different look. Ugh, I hate those covers. This is the original, how the image looked on the theatrical release posters. I'll always remember this mainly for one thing. Back when it was first released into the theaters, I remember for some odd reason they had this poster in my local convenience store. I don't know why. Maybe there was some kind of tie-in with a specific soda or something, but I remember this poster being on the wall. Weird. 

Most people forget that at it's heart, this is a straight up B-Movie. What ultimately made it stand out from the crowd is having all the right talent at just the right time. James Cameron hadn't yet proven himself a director until this. Stan Winston knocked the practical effects work out of the part here. And Schwarzenegger, though having starred in two Conan films by this time, solidified his career with his no holds barred approach to a cybernetic killing machine. Cameron, Winston and Schwarzenegger created an icon in sci-fi cinema and with this being the first time uttering the now famous catchphrase "I'll be back", made movie history.