The 5 Most Ultimate Moments from Blind Fury

By
Jourdan Aldredge
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Rutger Hauer unleashes his Blind Fury (1989)

Blind Fury is, hands down, one of the oddest action movies ever to come out of the 1980s. Rutger Hauer, who is still perhaps best known as the creepy cyborg bad guy from Blade Runner, stars as a blind Vietnam vet. He returns home to strike up an unlikely relationship as the protector of a young kid who is up against a drug syndicate.

While the premise is unique, the style is just strange. It’s not quite a pure action movie, rather it tries to be family friendly and fun – but comes off as just goofy. Not that it’s bad, quite the contrary, it’s very entertaining and unpredictable. One-liners reign supreme and the fight scenes are great. So, let’s look at some certain moments stand which stand out as odd, funny and downright ultimate!

1) His Vietnam Training Montage

To start the flick, we find our hero Nick Parker (Rutger Hauer) left blinded and stranded in Vietnam. While his situation would seem hopeless to most, to an ultimate action movie hero he simply turns it into an opportunity for a training montage. However, as far as training montages go, his lessons in swordsmanship are non-traditional to say the least.

2) The Bar Fight Scene

In our first introduction to the ultimate warrior which Mr. Hauer has now become, some local punks quickly learn just how daft the man is with his walking stick sword. Hauer also shows off his odd sense of humor which undoubtedly comes from spending the last several years of his life having snakes shoved in his face as a training technique.

3) Putting Up with a Whiny Kid

The crux of Blind Fury comes from an odd father and son relationship (or mentor / guardian I guess) with an absolutely annoying kid which Rutger has to keep alive while he goes and gets revenge on his behalf. You should feel sorry for the kid, his dad did just up and leave him to go live in Reno, Nevada for no reason, and his mom was just murdered – but, he wears that out quickly.

4) Ultimate Swordplay

A lot of crazy misadventures happen as Hauer brings the kid to Reno to find his dad (and stop drugs from being made). Most of the mishaps come from Hauer being blind, but then are solved by him being good at smacking people in the face with his walking stick sword. That is until this ultimate fight scene, deep in the ski resorts of Reno, where he absolutely annilates a group of thugs with his Vietnamese swordsmanship skills.

5) Sho Kosugi’s Fight Scene

And finally, in one of the most surprising (and arbitrary) cameos in action movie history, the bad guys literally put down their guns which they have placed squarely on Hauer and invite him to sword battle a ninja which they brought in. (Sho Kosugi, it seems, is their backup plan once they learned Bruce Lee was dead.) The fight scene is truly one of the greats and makes excellent use of the set and props by creating a sparklingly deadly hot tub jacuzzi as the place for Kosugi’s ultimate demise.

All told, Blind Fury is absolutely insane movie that probably never should have been made, but we’re all very glad that it did and it exists.

What do you think about Blind Fury? Let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page!

UAMC Discussion: VHS, DVD / Blu-Ray or Online Streaming

By
Ultimate Action Movies
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What is the true most ultimate way to watch UAMC classics?

The Ultimate Action Movie Club is meant to cover ultimate action movies from the 80s and 90s, and there are no hard guidelines on what constitutes an ULTIMATE ACTION MOVIE, but let’s get some things straight.

Judging from comments from those in the UAMC Facebook Community, there seems to be two distinct schools of thought as to what is the true proper form for watching UAMC classics. Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of both retro VHS viewings versus modern DVD / Blu-Ray and streaming) options.

Video Home System (VHS) Viewing

From a purist perspective, pulling a hard plastic video cassette from a faded paper sleeve is the most ultimate way to start an ultimate action movie club viewing. VCRs may be harder to find and upkeep these days, but it doesn’t mean that any ultimate action movie clubber shouldn’t have at least one ancient machine at the ready to whir up at a moment’s notice.

There’s just some something tactile pleasure from smashing a VHS into a VCR to fire up the action on screen that is lost from the clean and quite DVDs and the soulless online screening. Also, as vinyls long before them, VHS has become a sort of collectors hobby where buying and selling at trade swaps has become a new American pastime.

The drawbacks are obviously decay, as VHS printed sometimes 30 years ago begin to fade and taper out. However, for those who appreciate authenticity, the faded image quality and sliding wails of 80s action soundtracks can make the experience all the better.

DVD / Blu-Ray

The other option for the ultimate action movie collector is to invest not in relics of the past, but in the recent future technology of DVDs and now Blu-Rays. With Blu-ray technology now pushing 4K resolutions (and TVs finally made to match), what was once only cinema quality images can be lit up in bright LEDs on your home entertainment system.

Yet, while your image may be pristine, a timelessness could be lost with 4K restorations and director’s commentary by aged stars looking back with listless remembrance. These new Blu-Ray releases may be the clearest version of themselves, but will likely be gloss over of any imperfections or blemishes in post-production.

Bonus: Laser Disc

There’s also a small, wonderful window of time where laser disc technology, a large version precursor to the DVD was the medium in vogue. While definition was promised at unparalleled resolutions, technology caught up and burned past it quite quickly.

Yet, while VHS and DVDs are roughly the same surface size, Laser Discs were the size of vinyls and had poster-level cover art to bask in before, after or even during viewings. From a collectors perspective, if you’re lucky enough to have retained a laser disc player, all the power too you, but for holding onto some of your favorite UAMC classics for display, nothing beats a large format laser disc to show off to friends and family.

Online Streaming

Nowadays, even DVDs and Blu-rays seem to be on their way out as people become content to not even own physical copies of their favorite flicks, instead to have them available in an endless cesspool of entertainment content for them to click on at their purview. With online streaming, any tactile goodness is lost along with any appreciation for things like cover art or display – instead choices are governed by thumb and star ratings and coded algorithms to decide what you’d like to binge next.

Is there a future in this medium for appreciating the classics? That remains to be seen. It does offer potential for communities – like the Ultimate Action Movie Club – to serve as a hosting ground for specific niches or genres fans to gather to keep their favorite films alive and relevant. However, it also closes off most avenues for find new fans and limiting the possibilities of reviving genres as anything but nostalgia factories, which depending on who you ask – may or may not be a good thing.

What’s your favorite format to view ultimate action movies? Let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page!

UAMC Review: The Cannon Films Documentary ‘Electric Boogaloo’

By
Iron Fist
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Electric Boogaloo: The Wild Untold Story of Cannon Films

It’s a great day in DVD watching when you come across a documentary made with as much love as the movies it represents as Electric Boogaloo: The Wild Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014). For those of us alive in the 1980s, this upstart movie studio run by two crazy Israelis with visions of grandeur, kept us glued to our seats in theaters anxiously their next feature and kept many a star and director gainfully employed or gave others their start.

Note: Electric Boogaloo is currently streaming on Netflix here.

Golan and Globus

Menahem Golan was the king of the domestic Israeli film market who churned out over 40 films including the most successful film Israeli history over a short time span. He teamed up with his cousin Yoram Globus as the money management man with the goal of making movies that would be seen by American audiences. They bought out an existing company with a library of existing films called Cannon Films and the rest, as they say, is history as these lovers of making movies went ventured forth to take on Hollywood. They initially concentrated on low budget fare such as horror movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, teen movies containing lots of nudity, such as The Last American Virgin and historical epics with a lot of sex such as Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Their pitch was to go to investors with nothing more then a poster or a recognizable name, get the financing, make the movie as cheaply as possible. Release it in theaters. Repeat.

Enter the Ninja

Luckily for this site it 1981 they discovered the action genre and broke into the market with a little movie that started a craze called Enter The Ninja, starring a lead with no martial arts experience. Around this time, Chuck Norris also came calling stating he wanted to move on to make bigger action movies. He was signed to a five picture deal for five million and true martial arts died in cinema until Steven Seagal came along in 1988.

They also signed the other Chuck at the time named Charles ‘Chuck’ Bronson and revived the Death Wish franchise. Michael Dudikoff was cast as The American Ninja after Norris passed on the movie. Does anybody remember one of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s first roles was as an extra getting his groove on in the movie Breakin? But did you know when he immigrated to the United States, JCVD used to sleep in the lobby of the building Cannon was housed in to get a meeting with their executives.

When he came across Golan walking out one day, he did a jumping split kick mere inches from his face. Cyborg and Bloodsport soon followed. All of this made Cannon the greatest action film juggernaut in cinema history and paved the way for their expansion into more mainstream films.

The Beginning of the End

Yet despite all of this box office success, Hollywood still considered them schlock-meisters. So they decided the new business model was to become a full fledged studio. Buoyed by a cash infusion of 300 million brokered by junk bond king Michael Miliken, they adopted the old studio model of signing big name stars and directors to multi picture deals.

Directors were given autonomy to make art house movies that returned no box office – Othello or Barfly, anyone? Directors loved them because they were given complete autonomy. The truth was Cannon had so many movies in production across so many continents, they couldn’t even keep track of what was coming out. And this was the beginning of the end for our beloved Cannon Films. They lost their economies of scale and box office.

They were churning out 40 to 50 movies a year, when the big studios were only releasing 6 to 8. Among the whales they landed was Sylvester Stallone for an arm wrestling movie called Over The Top for 12 million at a point in his career his biggest payday was four million, completely inflating the pay scale on Hollywood. But they later atoned for that with the release of Cobra.

Paved the way for the Future

So there you have it. Cannon should have been Miramax Pictures had they cared more about quality. Or it could have been the predecessor to Marvel Studios, as it did have its own Captain America movie released in 1990 and a Spider-Man movie starring Michael Dudikoff in development. They did give humanity Superman IV, Masters of the Universe and Hercules. Or it could have been the studio that brought 3D back to theaters. Instead it collapsed under its own weight as the American Security and Exchange Commission moved in, and they had to sell off large parts of the company to stay solvent. The cousins then left Cannon and went on to form competing production studios. They eventually decided to both make different movies about lambada dance, even releasing them on the same day, effectively killing the box office. This turned out to be the perfect metaphor for Cannon Films and the cousins who became brothers that ran it.

Remembering The Go Go Boys

But the tale doesn’t end there! When they heard this documentary was in production, they decided to to a documentary of their own, on themselves and called it The Go Go Boys. They beat this one to the market by four months but I have yet to meet anyone who has seen it. Sadly, Menahem Golan has died of cancer.Yoram Globus is still at large, giving all of us alive in the 80s hope!

But until he resurfaces, check out this documentary directed by Mark Hartley and produced by Brett Ratner. It has interviews with the woman of our teenage years who have aged spectacularly such as Bo Derek, Sybil Danning, Catherine Mary Stewart, Molly Ringwald, Cassandra Peterson, and Lucinda Dickey among other actors and directors such as Dolph Lundgren and Michael Dudikoff.

It also has trailers for over three dozen of Cannon’s finest films. This was a fun trip down memory lane that we all need to take. After all, how will we know where we are going unless we remember where we came from.

Cannon Films Forever

Let me recount two of my favorite stories that perfectly capture the insanity that was Cannon Films. In the first, Golan was casting the female lead for King Solomon’s Mines. He began yelling in rapid fire Hebrew “Get me the Stone girl”. So they signed Sharron Stone and so began her career. When watching the dailies, Golan asked who the fuck was she? It turns out Golan was talking about Romancing the Stone’s Kathleen Turner. Apparently Ms. Stone was so unpopular on set, when she had to film a scene where she is lowered into a cauldron to be boiled alive, she complained about the smell. Apparently, the crew had pissed in the water.

The other story has Clyde the orangutan from the Clint Eastwood movies showing up for a meeting with Golan and Globus with his agent in tow. He was signed for a movie called Going Bananas on the spot, but was had to be replaced mid shoot by a midget in a monkey suit after he bit one of the child actors. They crew thought even the animals in the wild were lining up to laugh at them by the end of production. Then there’s the one where Golan pointed an Uzi at an Israeli soldiers face to get him to do another take. Or the one when they took a secretary’s lunch to give it to an actor during a pitch meeting. Or the one where…Ah, eff it, Just see this movie. I guarantee you won’t regret it. Or your money back.

Let us know what you what you think in the comments or on our Facebook page!

Seann William Scott Replaces Clayne Crawford on Lethal Weapon

By
Jourdan Aldredge
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Clayne Crawford is out, Seann William Scott is in

One ultimate bright spot for action movie fans in today’s modern pop culture has been the surprisingly well-received Lethal Weapon TV series. The show, which is on network television station FOX, has found a space for Shane Black’s buddy cop classic – Lethal Weapon – to live week in and week out to the tune of 40 episodes over 2 seasons so far.

But, as the entertainment world continues its seismic shakeup from both the #MeToo movement and plores for new decency, it appears that Lethal Weapon’s showrunners have made the tough decision to remove their Martin Riggs and replace him with Seann William Scott.

Clayne Crawford’s Downfall

While all things might have appeared to be rosy on the screen between Clayne Crawford and co-star Damon Wayans as they reprised Mel Gibson’s and Danny Glover’s iconic partners Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh, Clayne Crawford’s dismissal has apparently been a long time coming.

Not unlike his character’s predecessor Mel Gibson, Crawford had reportedly been disciplined by the series’ management several times for “emotional abuse” and “creating a hostile environment” on set. His pay had be docked with fines but issues kept rising causing cast and crew to call for a change citing “a history of bad behavior.”

You can read Crawford’s response and goodbyes in this Instagram post.

Enter the Stifler

However, while Lethal Weapon may have been hinting at a change with their suspenseful season 2 finale, their choice to replace Crawford seems a little odd to say the least. Perhaps best known as Stifler in the American Pie franchise, Seann William Scott has not been much of a name since his early 2000s teen comedy heydays.

Not to criticize the fella, his immature jock schtick was done well. He’s dabbled with starring roles before in some features like Dude Where’s My Car, Mr. Woodcock and The Dukes of Hazzard, but hasn’t really been out of the confines of pure comedy. Lethal Weapon could be a nice step for him though as its source material has always had comedic undertones – especially parterned with a similar crossover genre star Damon Wayans.

Lethal Weapon Season 3

All this is a pretty big shakeup but shouldn’t take away from the fact that FOX has picking up Lethal Weapon for a third season is a pretty good sign of the show’s action quality. Crawford, for his part on screen at least, held up pretty good but didn’t quite have the same dynamism as Gibson. Same for Wayans in Glover’s role, it works about as well as any TV spin-off can despite coming from such a rich franchise.

What is to be seen is how much Scott will change the show, perhaps making it more tongue-in-cheek than pure action drama. But as long as he channels a solid devil-may-care attitude and cracking wise in deadly situations, it shouldn’t rock the boat too much. and you never know, maybe it’ll give the show enough of a boost to get another season or two – or heck, maybe even a movie to revive the franchise full circle.

You can watch Lethal Weapon on FOX this fall.

What do you think about the news about Rambo 5? Let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page!

Exploring the Original Equalizer Movie ‘Blood and Wine’

By
Ian Young
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Before Denzel’s Reboot There Was Blood and Wine (1987)

We here at the Ultimate Action Movie Club are excited for the return of Denzel Washington as Robert McCall in The Equalizer 2 (2018). It’s coming in August but before McCall makes his big screen return. I thought I would go back and explore the original Equalizer movie Blood and Wine (1987) because, quite frankly, The Equalizer TV Series is awesome.

From Small Screen To Big Screen

Now I am sure that some of you reading this are thinking… Hang on… There wasn’t an original Equalizer movie… And you would be absolutely right… No big screen one anyway… Blood and Wine was a TV movie originally aired as a season 3 opener. The Equalizer: Blood and Wine, was rereleased just before the remake on disc, The Equalizer (2014) was released. It is still available and is well worth the visit if your not familiar with the original series that inspired the movies or absolutely worth the re watch if you saw it first time around.

Dark Days And Obsidian Nights

The plot of Blood and Wine concerns itself with McCall (Edward Woodward) hunting down a killer for hire, with a fetish for the sacrilegious, named Alpha (William Atherton) As the plot of the movie continues we are introduced to Brother Joseph Heiden (played by action movie legend Telly Savalas) who was once a former freelance terrorist and one time adversary of McCall’s. He teams up with McCall and the authorities to hunt this mad dog down.

One of the movies many strengths is its writing and the moral complexity that the characters have to deal with. In the world of The Equalizer ducking out of the way of gun fire is easier than not compromising your integrity and remaining true to justice. The writing by Equalizer regular pen man Coleman Luck still feels fresh, edgy and as engaging as it did in 1987.

A Gritty And Corrupt World

One of the most intriguing and enduring elements of The Equalizer is its setting. It bucks the trend of glamorous sleaze of so much of 1980s action genre. The show is one of downright urban decay. If Miami Vice (1984 – 1989) was all about sun, sea and suits the world of Equalizer was about the very opposite. The very honest way the show is filmed paints New York in a really grubby way… You can almost smell the rot and breathe in the smog.

Setting The Trend

The Equalizer was well ahead of its time. In terms of many elements of that we now take for granted. One of those things was getting big movie star names on the small screen… It’s easy to forget in a post big budget television world that we live in that getting a legitimate movie star on a show was a big deal. The Equalizer had stars from the movies (and the world of music… Yes that was Adam Ant in that season 1 episode !!!) in abundance and Blood and Wine is no exception.

As mentioned earlier in the article, the cast assembled in Blood and Wine is absolutely stellar, Savales’ performance as the conflicted monk is maybe one of the greatest guest starring roles I have ever witnessed. Edward Woodward carries the leading role of McCall with an amazing sense of authority and integrity. In a way a retired CIA man bucked the trend of young, muscle bound Kings of 80s action Cinema which just helps to demonstrate how innovative The Equalizer was…

In preparation for the release of McCall’s next big screen adventure go back and enjoy this future length and (re) discover the brilliantly crafted, brilliantly executed original Equalizer movie Blood and Wine!

7 Reasons Why Cynthia Rothrock is the Queen of Kicking Ass

By
Ultimate Action Movies
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Cynthia Rothrock
Cynthia Rothrock rocking out action style!

Cynthia Rothrock is the Ultimate Queen of Action Movies!

Cynthia Rothrock
Cynthia Rothrock kicking ass as usual

Women have always played roles in action movies, but in this testosterone fueled genre they mainly took a backseat to the men. They were sidekicks, eye candy, victims who needed saving. Cynthia Rothrock was the first to punch and kick her way through those stereotypes with the force of a category 5 hurricane.

While she starred in nearly 30 action flicks (including Martial Law, China O’Brien, Rage and Honor, and Angel of Fury to name a few), most studios in the late 1980s-early 1990s treated her as a novelty. “At that time, they thought that women in the lead roles of action films wouldn’t sell,” Rothrock said in Joe Yanick’s excellent An oral history of PM Entertainment for Hopes and Fears. “Van Damme, Seagal, and Chuck Norris—they all got big movies, but I was doing the same thing and never could get a big movie.”

Cynthia Rothrock is no novelty, she is the Queen of Kicking Ass. Need proof? Keep reading:

1) She’s got legit skills

Scranton, PA has never been known as the Kung Fu Capital, but it’s where Rothrock got her start. According to her website, she started martial arts training at age 13. By 1982, she was one of the premiere Kata (forms) and weapon competitors in the United States and from 1981-1985 she was the undefeated World Karate Champion. She holds 5 Black Belts in various Far Eastern martial disciplines. These Arts include; Tang Soo Do (Korean), Tae Kwon Do (Korean), Eagle Claw (Chinese), Wu Shu (contemporary Chinese), and Northern Shaolin (classical Chinese).

2) Her action movie career began in Hong Kong

In the 1970s and ‘80s, Hong Kong cinema was dominated by one company – Golden Harvest. They introduced the world to Bruce Lee and later Jackie Chan. But in the early 1980s they were searching for a new star when they found Cynthia Rothrock – who was part of Ernie Reyes’ West Coast Demonstration Team. She made her first movie for Golden Harvest, Yes, Madam!, starring alongside Michelle Yeoh in 1985, then seven more movies before returning to the states.

3) She’s got that sweet-but-deadly personality

Cynthia Rothrock’s deadliest weapon was always that she looked too sweet to kick that much ass. But, as we all know, looks can be deceiving. One second, she’s innocently taking money out of an ATM, and next thing you know she’s kicking the crap out of three robbers twice her size with weapons. All with a smile on her face.

4) Small package, big power

If action stars were batteries, Arnold Schwarzenegger would be a D cell, and the likes of Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme would be C cells. At 5’3”, Cynthia Rothrock would be a AAA. That said, she packs a lot of power and speed – something that should have rivaled that of her male counterparts. Just for fun, who would win in a fight between Rothrock and Van Damme? Discuss in the comments below.

5) She is nobody’s sidekick

Rothrock may have starred along side the likes of Richard Norton and Chad McQueen, but she relied on no one to save her. She was always in charge of her own destiny, fought her own battles and heck, even looked good while she was doing in. Which is a nice segue into …

6) She makes mom jeans hot!

OK, I’m having a little fun here. Back in the early 1990s, they weren’t called mom jeans, they were unfortunately just jeans. Unflattering, run-of-the-mill blue jeans. Today, women have better choices when it comes to denim, but back then, oooof. Somehow, by some unexplainable miracle, Rothrock made these awful, awful jeans look good. Confidence and strength can be sexy, but who knew they could overpower mom jeans?

7) She still kicks ass – at 61!

Rothrock officially retired from acting in 2004 after appearing in Xtreme Fighter to teach private martial arts lessons. Apparently, retirement didn’t last long. She had a small role three years later in the Spanish film, Lost Bullet, then for some reason playing Nanna in 2012’s Santa’s Summer House along with Gary Daniels. In 2017, she returned to her true form in Death Fighter with Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson.

Today, there are lots of women in action movies – especially in the superhero genre. Still, while big action flicks now star actresses like Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lawrence, Gal Gadot, Charlize Theron and Kate Beckinsale, they all owe a debt of gratitude to Cynthia Rothrock. She is a trailblazer, the original female ass kicker, she inspired Mortal Combat’s Sonya Blade, and, at an age when most people would be slowing down, she isn’t. It’s why Cynthia Rothrock will forever be the undisputed Queen of Kicking Ass.

Article by Eric LaRose – a Wisconsin-based connoisseur of action, horror and sci-fi movies from the ‘80s and ‘90s. A former journalist and podcaster, Eric wrote the ending to the Toxic Avenger Part 4, but the only person who will back up that claim is his wife.

Let us know what you what you think in the comments or on our Facebook page!

Karate Kid 2018: A Review of the New Cobra Kai Youtube Series

By
Iron Fist
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But does Cobra Kai carry on the Karate Kid’s legacy?

WARNING SPOILERS contained in this article! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

I love reliving the movies of my youth and The Karate Kid was up there. Just a couple of months ago, I was wondering who Danny LaRusso grew up to be. Maybe I was so curious because we are the same age and probably confronting the same issues. I wondered “What would Daniel Do?” in this situation. Then I heard that YouTube Red is doing a series on just that. I just binged watched the show ten episode Cobra Kai I loved it.

‘Cobra Kai’ Channels ‘Karate Kid 3’ in a More Ultimate Season Two

Karate Kid for the Youtube Generation

Akira Kurosawa directed a movie called Rashomon, which was all about telling a story trough each characters viewpoint and how that change of prospective altered the narrative. Cobra Kai employs the same device.

Anybody who has seen the YouTube video or Barney’s monologue in How I Met Your Mother about how Johnny is actually the wronged hero of The Karate Kid will relate to this. Here, we meet a fifty year old Johnny Lawrence. He has given up Karate, is a functioning alcoholic, works as a handyman and has a teenage son he is estranged from. He is one miserable SOB in a way we all hope the bullies of our youth end up.

Then one night he is forced to use his forgotten Karate to rescue a young man who is getting beaten atop his sweet ride. After he gets out of jail, the young man approaches him about teaching him Karate. Johnny is so down on his luck, he agrees to become his sensei, reopens the Cobra Kai Dojo and begins his path to redemption.

Catching up with Daniel-San

Then we catch up with fifty year old Danny LaRusso. He has a beautiful wife and daughter, a chubby, video game playing son he has nothing in common with. Daniel runs a successful car dealership that trades on his notoriety as a former Karate champion.

Mr. Miyagi has passed on a number of years ago and Daniel-San no longer even practices Karate. There is a sadness to him, because he has nobody he can pass his Miyagi Do Karate on to. In short, middle aged Daniel seems to have lost his center. But it seems that fates have put Daniel and Johnny on a collision course yet again.

Like Father Like Son

Their paths begin to cross when it turns out one of the bullies Johnny fought is dating Daniel’s daughter. Then she is in a car that totals Johnny’s 80’s Camaro in a hit and run while texting.

When Johnny’s car is then towed to Daniel’s dealership, their reunion sets off an escalating series of confrontations. Later in the show, Johnny’s estranged son takes a job at Daniel’s dealership to piss his father off and arrange a heist, but is taken under Danny’s wing as a sort of surrogate son and becomes Daniel’s Karate student. Of course it comes out that he is actually Johnny’s son at the worst possible moment.

In the meantime, Johnny is transforming into the worst Karate instructor since Danny McBride in The Foot Fist Way, as he teaches all the misfits and outsiders at the local high school who are all being bullied. Eventually, Johnny’s students are infected by the Cobra Kai virus as the show flips the script and the losers we were rooting for, become the bullies. Eventually, Johnny and Daniel square through their students at – where else – The All Valley Karate Tournament.

Actually Pretty Relevant

The show tackles all sorts of real world themes. A man who has hit rock bottom. Another who has lost his center. A son who hates you and another you can’t relate to. Do you ever really forget the effects of being bullied and how is it different from what our generation went trough. Are you truly happy even when you have all the trappings of success. Can you overcome a bad upbringing? And the lesson that you are a better person with martial arts in your life then not.

It turns out that there was one final Karate technique that Mr. Miyagi attempted to pass on to Daniel to which there is no defense. Does anybody master it? The final scene of the show is right up there with the one in Rogue One. The second season of Cobra Kai is practically writing itself. So take this trip down memory lane. Then when it’s over, go sign up for some Karate lessons. Cobra Kai or Miyagi Do Karate- CHOOSE WISELY!!!

Let us know what you what you think in the comments!

How Classic Cinema’s Sam Peckinpah Influenced Action Movies

By
Ian Young
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From the ‘The Wild Bunch and ‘Cross of Iron’ to modern action classics

Recently I have been thinking about the origins of the genre of movies we love. What movies really helped to define the genre that we enjoy watching and which creatives behind the movies have inspired the action greats to make these movies.

I am going to suggest that it was the creative force of one man and two movies, that man was visionary director Sam Peckinpah (1925 – 1984) and those two movies are his revisionist western The Wild Bunch (1969) and Cross of Iron (1977).

Now the Ultimate Action Movie Club mostly deals with titles made in the 1980s and 90s but I am going to suggest that it is these two films along with Dirty Harry (1971) that basically set the gold standard for 90% of Hollywood action movies. It was Peckinpah’s visionary take on action that helped to cement its success and Samuel Peckinpah basically gave the modern action movie genre its language.

There are many reasons for such massive claims – so let’s now take some time to explore and celebrate this director’s brilliant work.

From Big Screen To Small Screen

Warner brothers (distributors of Peckinpah’s films) were one of the first major studios to see the potential of the home video market and they utilized their back catalogue, which gave many films, now considered classics, a second life (and 3rd and 4th on DVD and Blu Ray). Many of these films, most famously Sci-fi actioner Blade Runner (1982), really found success and an audience on home video.

The Wild Bunch and Cross of Iron definitely shared similar success to Blade Runner on home media formats. I doubt many of us that grew up in the VHS generation have had the privilege of seeing Peckinpah’s work on the big screen and it’s the success of these movies on video that helped to promote the success of more recent action movies on home video.

Birth Of The Action Hero

Now it’s not just the good luck of Sam Peckinpah’s big budget action films being released on home video that makes his classic films The Wild Bunch and Cross of Iron worth writing about… One of his core themes in these two movies is the conflict between values and ideals and it’s because of  this that Peckinpah creates the modern action hero.

Both William Holden as Pike in The Wild Bunch and Rolf Steiner (James Coburn) in Cross of Iron are men of uncompromising honor even when that flies in the face of their superiors and will ultimately lead to grave consequences.

Peckinpah’s protagonists in both movies are because of this, renegades… Before The Wild Bunch heroes in action movies were basically white hats (with the possible exceptions of the Maltese Falcon (1941) Casablanca (1942) and The Big Sleep (1946) where Humphrey Bogart played a gray knight and of course the 007 movies where James Bond lives by his own code of conduct).

But after Peckinpah’s movies the action hero was always at odds with the establishment and had a strict personal code of honor. Peckinpah helped massively to give us the action hero that we know and love today.

Epic Action

Peckinpah’s directional style is also a major influence in the modern action movie. This influence can definitely be found in both The Wild Bunch and Cross of Iron. Epic scale, fast editing, the use of slow motion and gratuitous ultra violent action pretty much came single handedly from Peckinpah’s original style and like all truly original artists his work came with a fair bit of controversy.

Controversy Is King

Peckinpah was a controversial figure both in front of screen and behind it. It would only take a few seconds on Google to find out why so I am not going to discuss that here.

What is worth talking about is how the ultra violent content of The Wild Bunch and the still controversial subject matter of Cross of Iron set the standard for the way films were made and marketed from that point on.

Despite the moral panic of the 1980s action movies were marketed for an adult audience and were successful because of it. Peckinpah absolutely opened the door for that, sure the audiences were drawn in by the controversy but what they got from Peckinpah’s movies was intelligent and complex storytelling.

It was Peckinpah that opened the door for action movies to be marketed as controversial and bloody while still selling and still having substance.

Ahead Of The Curve In The Spy Game

Peckinpah’s impact on the action movie extends far beyond a few years. Long before the success of the franchise that started with the Bourne Identity (2002) and the renewed interest in author Robert Ludlum, Peckinpah got there first with The Osterman Weekend (1983).

It’s easy to say in retrospect but although Peckinpah was not a fan of the source material he certainly saw the potential of using Ludlum novels as a basis for action movies. Interestingly this is exactly what the Bourne franchise does.

Legacy

Peckinpah’s legacy on action movies is far reaching. The Wild Bunch and Cross of Iron have clearly influenced two of the biggest names in action movies today. Quentin Tarantino and David Ayer. It’s clear that Peckinpah’s legacy can be felt in all of Tarantino’s movies but it is especially apparent in his later works.

The DNA of The Wild Bunch can clearly be felt in Django Unchained (2012) and The Hateful 8 (2015). There is also more than just a little influence from Cross of Iron to be found in Inglorious Bastards (2009).

It could be stated that Peckinpah is even more strongly referenced in the work of writer/director Ayer, most of his characters sound they were written by Peckinpah and moral conduct is such a huge theme of basically all his work from his script on Training Day (2001) to Bright (2017).

This is simply an overview of Peckinpah’s legacy and there is a lot more information out there if you want to find out more. The Wild Bunch and Cross of Iron are early action classics and certainly deserve your attention.

Sylvester Stallone is Bringing Rambo back for Rambo 5!

By
Jourdan Aldredge
-

Everything we know about Rambo 5 and Stallone’s Involvement.

Over 35 years ago, in October 1982, Sylvester Stallone gave the world a performance of a lifetime in the first installment of his epinonimous action hero franchise as John Rambo in First Blood. Since then, four total features have been released, Rambo: First Blood II (1985), Rambo III (1988) and the more recent Rambo (2008).

Now, Stallone appears ready to rage again and bring his angsty Vietnam vet back one last time at the ripe old age of 71. While details are still falling into place, let’s look at what we do know about Rambo V.

Rambo 5: Last Blood: Everything About Stallone’s Final Rambo Performance

Avi Lerner Produced

Perhaps best known as prominent ultimate action B-movie producer during the 80s and 90s, Avi Lerner’s reputation exploded after teamed up with Stallone to launch their Expendables franchise in 2010. It’s no surprise that these two could team up again to bring Rambo back to life. Lerner appears to be the catalyst for this project getting off the ground as he’s rumored to be shopping it around with Stallone attached in an unspecified role (but with his approval for sure).

Rambo: Last Blood

For those who follow ultimate action movie news, this isn’t the first we’ve heard of another Rambo movie coming to life. There’s long been rumors of more sequels or a direct reboot to the original (there’s even been a TV show teased at times). However, the biggest suggestion has been of a canon-ending feature titled Rambo V: Last Blood to put a cap on John Rambo’s journey once and for all.

Stallone’s Involvement

Since relaunching the franchise in 2008 with Rambo (which he starred in and directed), Stallone has stayed active with his Rocky franchise spin-off Creed and his Expendables franchise as well. If he were to return to Rambo, one would assume he’d of course have the option to direct and star again, but may just lend his likeness. At 71, he’s getting up there, but the chances of him passing the torch to a younger star seem unlikely if it is meant to wrap up his highly successful franchise.

What do you think about the news about Rambo 5? Let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page!

Liam Neeson in ‘Taken’: A Study of a Modern Action Hero

By
John Acquavita
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Hell Hath No Fury Like Liam Neeson in ‘Taken’ (2008).

“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills: skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you; I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you. I will find you, and I will kill you.”

If you didn’t A) read that in a Northern Irish accent and B) get goose bumps coursing up and down your skin, you obviously have never seen the 2008 action thriller Taken. I loved this movie so much that the phrase “particular set of skills” is permanently etched on my work profile. Pop open a Guinness and read all about it …

Liam Neeson Hits His Marks

Taken is a cinematic tale seemingly as old as the genre itself: a military operative (Liam Neeson’s Bryan Mills) retires to try to recapture what little time he has with his child before s/he grows up. Said retired military operative is all too happy to live a simple life in suburbia, but circumstances beyond his control force his hand and bring him back to the former life he excelled in, knew too well, but wished to never return. In this case, his only daughter (Kim) is taken hostage by a sex slavery ring in Europe. Mills uses every trick in his arsenal — getting back in touch with his CIA buddies to help locate her; purchasing disposable cameras and phones to travel anonymously; fake names; identity theft; and perhaps the greatest hand-to-hand combat you’ll ever see from a man of his age (Neeson was 56 at the time).

Action at First Site

There are milestone moments in a man’s life when he “just knows”: when he meets the person he will marry; the time he aced the job interview for his dream gig; witnessing his son’s blossoming athletic prowess, etc. You can add “the time when you’re sitting in a movie theater and just know you’re watching a masterpiece.” That happened for me when I saw Taken in a theater for the first time.

The movie takes a somewhat atypical approach: whereas most action heroes are relatively young, this film dips into the well dug by Charles Bronson, Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris and Clint Eastwood and highlights a protagonist who is closer to old age than youth. However, just because he’s in his mid-50s does not mean he can’t or doesn’t move well. It’s just the opposite: Neeson, a former boxer, displays an athletic ability usually reserved for much younger actors. (According to IMDB, the martial art style used by Neeson in Taken is Nagasu Do, a hybrid style that borrows from Judo, Aikido and Jiu Jitsu.)

It’s not just his athleticism that sells an audience on Mills’ heroic capabilities. Neeson’s 6’4” build and thick Irish accent bode well to help distinguish him among everyone else in the movie — generic sleazy European bad guys; American family members (both Maggie Grace’s Kim and Famke Janssen’s Lenore, Bryan’s ex-wife); and even double-crossing French operative Jean-Claude, played by Olivier Rabourdin).

A Genuine Action Hero

There have been scores of “one hero against everybody” action movies over the years featuring rogue cops, soldiers, vigilantes, scorned women, etc. Touting a kill count of 35, this movie toes the line between a believable number of bad guys killed and audience enjoyment seeing the amount of collateral damage done throughout the film’s duration. I say that because had Mills notched a Rambo-esque body count, it would have moved the film toward a level of unbelievability. As an audience member, I genuinely believed Bryan Mills could kill 35 men capable of kidnapping his daughter, especially when I saw his John McClane-like vulnerability: he gets tired, battered and bruised; knows he’s running out of time, money, resources, allies, etc.

How many action movies get written, produced, filmed, watched and then forgotten about? Taken not only benefits from being extremely memorable, but Neeson’s performance was so electric that it was eventually proceeded by two sequels (Taken 2 [2012]; Taken 3 [2014]; and a made-for-Netflix prequel series (2017). You could even argue that Neeson’s roles in 2014’s Non-Stop and 2017’s Daddy’s Home 2 are homages to the Bryan Mills character.

Not bad for a 56-year old Irishman, huh?

If you watch this movie and try not to enjoy it, I have two words for you: “Good luck.”

Let us know what you what you think in the comments or on our Facebook page!

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