The B Action Movie Thread - Page 11

I forget which missing in action movie (or was it a delta force movie? a little help molti) it was, but I always loved that scene after we find out that ppl are captured, then they cut to Norris standing in a circle and we just watch for about 3 minutes a montage of norris beating the hell out of soldiers and making them scream like little girls.

Speaking of patriotic movies, I would like to add Navy SEALs to the mix. I always enjoyed Michael Biehn's non cameron appearance in this film, and it actually made me believe topper harley could be an action star rather than just a somewhat funny guy with an unhealthy sexual appetite.

DELTA FORCE 2. Not as good as the original but quite watchable thanks to Billy Drago.

Yes, directed by Aaron Norris, who also directed BRADDOCK: MISSING IN ACTION 3.

Has anyone here seen Delta Force 3? I had no idea this movie even existed, with Nick (son of John) Cassavetes, Eric (son of Kirk) Douglas, and Mike (son of Chuck) Norris.

I've never seen part 3 and if that ends up in my obituary I will be okay with that. But here's a review of the DVD from this site that was done last year:

http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=dvd&id=4117

Of course then there is the whole OPERATION DELTA FORCE series as well.

I have. Russian and American special forces types work jointly to bring in terrorist mastermind. Not bad, but there are a few goofy scenes. Like the part where they run through an open marketplace, chased by soldiers and there's firing and the fruit piled up on tables and fruit stands bursting and tables and carts get knocked over by grenades and enemy soldiers pop up only to fall after apparently being shot, even at times when our heros don't actually appear to be aiming their rifles.

Missed that review I guess, seems absurd I hadn't even heard of that one.

Produce markets make for good action, you should know that! Were there any guys walking around carrying big glass windows?

Sorry I'm late with this, but....

"COURT ADJOURNED!"

Van Damme's next, SECOND IN COMMAND, has been announced for release on May 2nd. Here's the DVD cover:



Another unimaginative Sony cover. Honest to Christ, how hard can it be to make these a little more engaging? Oh well, here's a shot from the film:

What are the qualifications for the art designer that does DVD covers? Most of this garbage looks no better than an elementary school cut-and-paste job.

Between the generic titles and the even more generic covers, sometimes I get confused as to whether or not I own or have seen the film.

It's mainly Sony who screws these up. They release the majority of the "big" DTV action fillms. Take a look at the one for SECOND IN COMMAND and then look at a few they have done in years prior:

I thought TODAY YOU DIE and BLACK DAWN were the same movie, just that it got retitled or something, and didn't buy them both because of it.

Those covers could have been from any of 1000 movies, and you know that half (or all) of that crap on the cover won't even be in the film.

THE HUNT FOR EAGLE ONE, have you seen that? Is it any good?

edit: I see Desslar didn't like it. What is the deal with Dacascos? Does no one know what to do with him in an action movie?

It's too late, I've already seen TODAY YOU DIE, it's not as bad as the absolute hilarity that is OUT FOR A KILL, or OUT OF REACH, the film that nearly made my head explode.

Look at the cast on THE LAST DROP, I'm impressed.

Cool. Madsen, Zane, and crazy John Wayne guy from RUNNING SCARED. I guess this will help pass the time before Madsen hopefully heads to WW2 in INGLORIOUS BASTARDS.

I'm still interested in seeing SECOND IN COMMAND, bad cover or not. Van Damme's been delivering of late and I'm betting he's not quite ready to go back to sleepwalking through his movies.

What ever happened to using pictures of Van Damme from 20 years ago on these DTV covers?

At least his headwear isn't as ridiculous as it has been in the past for SECOND IN COMMAND.

I finally caught LEGIONNAIRE a few months back and it was dull. THE QUEST was a period piece of sorts but it to stunk.

Lundgren's THE INQUIRY is gonna be a period piece which is a first for him. I wish Seagal could have gotten his Ghengis Khan project going, for the sheer comedy if nothing else.

Saw passenger 57 over the weekend on TBS (they were showing a handful of excellent movies over the weekend on cable The golden child, Bev. Hills Cop II, Last Boy Scout, demolition man).

I forgot how much fun that movie was. I also forgot possibly one of the greatest on screen comebacks ever.

(Jack Cutter is trying to convince a southern country bumpkin that he was actually on the plane and is a good guy as a terrorist showdown is going on in the airfield)
Lt. Briggs: Put yourself in my position son. What would you do if you were me?
Cutter: KILL MYSELF!

That was a good moment. But my money scene from that film is when Snipes pops Liz Hurley in the mouth, then looks at the guys flying the plane and says "What a waste."

I remember liking The Quest, when I saw it and it was directed by Van Damme I think. He was like a theif in 1930's America? Right? Then something went wrong and he was a stowaway and ended up in a fighting tournament some where, right? I liked that one. Call me crazy.

Legoinnaire, I got bored and never even fininshed it, thought it sucked.

That, The Last Drop, looks interesting (I didn't watch the trailer yet though), Karel Roden made that horrible character, with horrible dialouge in Running Scared actually watchable. That guy is one hell of a character actor.

I'm glad that both Van Damme and Lundgren seem to be getting and making better films, I hope they keep it up, and (I know it won't happen, but...) work together again, while the gettin's good.

I won't call ya crazy. To me it was just a more epic version of BLOODSPORT, which isn't a bad idea, but then you have Roger Moore running around for no reason and the movie sort of turns into a mess. Though it should get comedic points for showing us Van Damme in old man makeup.

I don't see that in the immediate future. But since these type of movies must be making studios a nice profit (it seems like 2 months can't go by without something put out by Van Damme, Lundgren, Seagal, or Snipes) I wouldn't be shocked if down the road you see 2 of these guys teaming up. We came oh so close with THE HARD CORPS.

How many times has van damme made bloodsport now? kickboxer (albeit a classic is also in the same vein, then there is lionheart, then there is the quest, and im sure some others im forgetting)

IN HELL was another variation of BLOODSPORT. It was illegal fights in a prison so it was sort of a melding of BLOODSPORT and DEATH WARRANT. Only instead of being locked up with "Benson" he was locked up with Lawrence Taylor.

I read a bit about the BLOODSPORT sequel in the works in which director Sheldon Lettich said that Daniel Bernhardt, the guy from the other BLOODSPORT sequels, will be involved with this one as well. But he said it would primarily be a behind the scenes role.

Of course in the same article Lettich said that the sequel isn't financed yet so who the heck knows what's the deal with that one.

That trailer... wow. Only Michael Caine and Roger Moore could sell those lines.

As for this thread, anyone remember "Toy Soldiers"? I thought it would fit into the b-movie paradigm, a pretty decent terrorists at prep school action picture. It's been a long time since I've seen it, so it may be garbage, but I remember it being surprisingly well-acted. And it has Lou Gossett Jr., right? Or am I thinking of someone else?

On a related note, what about "Masterminds" with Patrick Stewart? I remember this, terrorists take over a prep school again, as earning a PG-13 (and I recall "Soldiers" being a solid R). Apparently there's a scene where Stewart gets so riled up, he tears off his dress shirt to reveal a Manchester U shirt, yelling, "United!" Can anyone verify this?

Who wouldnt give Lettich and Van Damme money for a movie? Their last three projects together Lionheart, Double Impact, and Legionnaire...and the currently in post Hard Corps. Thats just guaranteed deutchmarks in the bank!!!

Lettich and Van Damme did team up to make THE ORDER a few years back, which was one of Van Damme’s most putrid DTV films. Though it did give Van Damme a chance to work with Chuck Heston. Sadly Heston still looked as though he had all his faculties so it wasn’t as fun as it would be if they made a movie together today.

There’s a Van Damme forum that I’ve heard of (wink!) where Lettich posts and answers damn near every question that is asked of him. It’s both cool and sad at the same time.

Here's the trailer for SECOND IN COMMAND:

http://videodetective.com/trailer-pr...ishedid=944073

I doubt we're going to see much WAKE OF DEATH-style emotional range in this one but who has time to cry when the American Embassy in Moldavia needs protecting.

Moltisanti, who's that in your avatar?

Strike team member and Oscar winner Walt Goggins.

Been doing some more lurking at the local video stores. One place is getting rid of all lot of the VHS junk no one rents anyways, and no one buys unless you're willing to fork out change for various cheap-o action films, comedies and other deservedly obscure titles. One thing I noticed talking with the owner was they finally noticed a few of these old titles were actually missing. The cover was out on the racks but the actual tape was long gone.
One of these titles was The Glass Jungle a mostly and again justly obscure flick from 1988 or so, directed by good ol' Joseph Merhi. Starring, no one really except for some palooka named Lee Canalito whose only other film role was as a younger, dumb brother of Stallone's character in his Paradise Alley. The ultimate in awful b- no Z-grade action films, some have called it.
Here's the set up. Canalito plays a cab driver who gets mixed up with terrorists rampaging in LA, they demand their extortion money or else they'll continue killing random elderly people and forcing motorcyclists to swerve off the street towards windowfronts that shatter a split second before they would smash into it. For some reason, Canalito's cabbie is enlisted by the terrorists to drive around town with their cash stashed in his vehicle. I think. They murder his brother and kidnap his wife to ensure his compliance and he proceeds to cruise along the LA streets in an aimless, pointless film-padding fashion, set to a hideous "metal" song "Warrior in a Glass Jungle". But there's also padding in the form of flashbacks. Canalito's character has flashbacks to driving hsi cab around, yakking with his wife, flashbacks to things he had not seen, flashbacks to dreams and even other flashbacks.

Finally after lots of aimless driving around and sitting in his crappy apartment and such the cabbie proceeds to rescue his wife from the terrorists and their frizzy-haired leader. He finds their super secret hideout easily and proceeds bust in and kill them all through some really imcompetent action scenes. Really, mere words are not enough to describe how lame the 'action' sequences in Jungle are.

The final confrontation has the leader holding Cabbie Wilfe hostage. Cabbie is forced to drop his gun, and then somehow, while wearing jeans and a tucked in t-shirt, reaching behind him to pull out a small crossbow, loaded and ready to go. A weapon he had no way of concealing, especially loaded, and that had never been seen in the movie before. He shoots and kills the frizzy-haired guy and prety much...The End.

There's a little bit of Fred Dryer in Goggins. It works for me.

I almost resurrected the "Direct Action" thread, but all of you interested are already in here. I saw it for the first time today becausem, thanks to you guys, I'm on a strange DTV kick with an emphasis on Dolph. Very cool little movie, definitely as Moltisanti described a B grade "Training Day". Nice arm breaking, shotgun blast to the face action. Nice plot too, surprisingly detailed.

DIRECT ACTION worked for me because Lundgren was in a bit of his SHOWDOWN/I COME IN PEACE mode where things aren't quite so serious (I still enjoy him beating up the guy with the Punisher shirt). It was also cool to see him throw in a bit more martial arts than he normally puts on display. Extremely different tone from THE RUSSIAN SPECIALIST, at times the low budget is clearly on display, but enjoyable all the same.

It was also the first fun flick he'd done after a few years of some truly bad choices.

Yeah, goofy and fun. I just watched "The Defender" too which had a surprisingly complex plot and some really nice action sequences. Jerry Springer as the President was a little hard to stomach, but I guess that's part of the DTV charm. I think it's sort of ridiculous in its War on Terror views, but hey, you come for the action.

It was worth casting Springer to hear him say "You messed with the wrong country, and you fucked with the wrong President!"

At times even I was a bit lost on who was supposed to be who, and why certain people were supposed to want others dead in THE DEFENDER but then somebody would be violently shot in the head and I remembered that it's probably not a plot I should over-analyze.

He's made both of his directorial efforts look far more expensive than their miniscule budgets would lead you to believe. I caught a bit of his underrated flick MEN OF WAR on cable the other night and that had a budget twice that of THE DEFENDER and was made over 10 years ago.

While we await the interview with the man on this site, here's a radio interview he did on something called "The Bob Rivers" show. Noteworthy because we finally hear what we have all been waiting for: What does Lundgren think of Iran's current political climate?

http://www.bobrivers.com/asx/TR_4758.asx

What are the budgets like for his films? "The Defender" and "The Russian Specialist" look really nice, and I was surprised by how big they seemed given their budgets, the latter film in particular. With strong foreign sales and the fact that his movies do well on DVD even without a theatrical lead-in, you'd think someone would put him in a theatrical release.

THE DEFENDER was made for $6 million, while RUSSIAN was done for only 5 which is odd because RUSSIAN has more locations and a bit more of a polished look to it. Maybe Springer was more expensive than Ben Cross.

Those numbers are even more insane when you consider that the rush jobs Seagal has been spitting out every few months are being done for $15 million a pop.

That's amazing. I think Seagal must take a heftier fee than Lundgren. "The Russian Specialist" looks fantastic for $5 million, especially with its helicopter aerial shots and Russian location shooting. Wow. Is there any way to keep track of how much films like these make through DVD sales and rentals?

Seagal does get a lot more because for some reason, even after all the slop he has been making for the past few years, he has a huge following. Of course I generally throw in my $4 everytime he cranks one out so I'm not one to judge.

The place I check every now and again for how these films are doing is this site:

http://www.dvdexclusive.com/

Speak of the devil they have Lundgren on the front page at a DVD signing. If you look at the recent charts you can see how Seagal does in comparison to Lundgren. Seagal's horrid BLACK DAWN has been out for a couple months and only a couple slots behind THE RUSSIAN SPECIALIST after only that film's 2nd week.

Wow, I didn't know there was a STUART LITTLE 3.

Just watched Army of One/Joshua Tree this morning, and I have to say thank you Moltisanti!

Just like you said it had a pretty decent John Woo ripoff warehouse shootout. The nudity from that chick and her body double wasn't bad either.

The acting was pretty bad overall, and the pacing was off in places, but for a low budget action movie it was pretty good.

The trailer is hilarious. It has the movie voice guy, saying things like "He's a cop...with a badge" and "She was caught in the middle (shows a close up of the main girl's cleavage)".

The movie really didn't take itself seriously, it was just a good ol' fashioned action movie. It said 1993 on the Netflix dvd info, but it was all 80's.

That warehouse scene is a ripoff of John Woo's Hong Kong type sequences but I think it's perhaps the best ripoff I've seen of that style in an American film. It's the only movie directed by stunt legend Vic Armstrong and it's too bad he hasn't directed any since, though he probably makes more as a stunt coordinator for the Bond films and the rest of the blockbusters he works on.

It also has a hell of a group of character actors. Geoffrey Lewis, Beau Starr, Ken Foree, Michael Paul Chan, Nick Chinlund, and George Segal who hams it up in style.

I wish the DVD was widescreen because both the main shootout and the sports car chase towards the end would look so much better than they already do.

Oh yes. Again, one of the local Spanish stations shows a lot of dubbed DTV films, many from the 90s and they were showing Army of One and yeah, there's the chop shop shootout which is righteous and just so busy and kinetic. Other DTV shootouts and big screen shootouts have lots of stuff going on, lots of frantic movement and such but they just come off flat, or jumbled and confused. And they don't have a gunman get set alight and then kicked into a bullet-riddled stack of paint thinner jugs.

Local store has a couple of copies of The Russian Specialist on the shelves. Going to watch it soon, I instead went with the somewhat competently made The Hunt for Eagle One which is slightly like a film version of a Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon expansion pack.