In my first article of this series, I talked about two of my favorite drive-in-worthy films that I still love to watch to this day. This one will be a continuation where I highlight a few more of what I consider to be ‘screen gems’ (though others might think them more ‘germs’…your mileage may vary!)
3. Hawk the Slayer (1980): While some might look down their nose at this British offering and dismiss it as a cash grab in the fantasy genre, a 12-year-old me saw it as one thing; Dungeons and Dragons brought to the big screen!
Back in the early 80s, I was just getting into D&D and enjoying the whole RPG thing. Back in the days when the Internet didn’t exist and the whole idea of “cable t.v.” was brand new (at least in my area), this was solid gold! It was your basic good vs evil story with a lot of D&D elements scattered about. Elves who could shoot rapid-fire bow shots, magic users flinging off magic missile-looking spells, and teleporting around with giants and sneaky rogues all added to the fantasy flair of, in all honesty, a pretty mediocre story. I still loved it, though.
The basic premise is good guy Hawk (John Terry) gathers a band of adventurers to defeat the forces of his villainous brother Voltan (Jack Palance) for possession of the “mind sword”…that has a fist as a pommel. I hadn’t heard of John Terry before, but it looks like his career was just starting. Since Hawk, he has done stints on such shows as 24 and Lost. Jack Palance, though, was a pretty big star even at that time. He had played Dracula, multiple ‘heavy’ roles in gangster films, and even done a t.v. series or two. By the 1980s he was already a veteran actor and I’ve always wondered why he did a movie like this. Regardless, I’m glad he did because he pretty much carries the acting portion of this one (even if it is a bit ham-handed) and still makes it a tolerable watch. Now, granted, most of the lure of this movie for me is pure nostalgia but that doesn’t make me love it any less. Like I said, it was one of the first “D&D” movies out there before a real “D&D” movie ever hit the screen decades later, and still way better than that mess with Marlon Wayans.
As of this writing, it’s streaming for free on Tubi
4. Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins! (1985) Tough guy NYPD cop Samuel Makin “dies” in an “accident” …then wakes up in the hospital with a new face and name. The newly-minted “Remo Williams” is then recruited into a top-secret government organization (who arranged for the ‘accident’, no less) led by Wilfred Brimley and trained in the mysterious ways of the mystic martial art, Sinanju, by the venerable master Chiun. Sadly, due to poor box office, the adventure ended with this one.
Starring Fred Ward as Remo, Kate Mulgrew as Major Fleming, Joel Gray as Chiun, and Wilford Brimley (yes, he really was in this movie) as Harold Smith.
Based on “The Destroyer” book series by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir and produced by Dick Clark, this was supposed to be the first of a new film franchise. A sort of ‘blue-collar James Bond’, they even brought in Bond movie veterans Guy Hamilton and Christopher Wood. Sadly, it didn’t do that well at the box office and the plans for any sequels were shelved.
It did manage to get a t.v. pilot (which didn’t fare well either) starring Jeff Meek as Remo and an Asian made-up Roddy McDowall as Chiun. The series never got past the pilot which was probably due in no small part to being pre-empted by a speech from President Reagan and being joined “in progress”, where only the last 15 minutes of the show was aired. I guess they didn’t have much faith in it, either. After watching it on YouTube, I can tell you that not much was missed. It might have had some potential, but the pilot was still mediocre at best.
This was and still is a truly underrated movie in my opinion. It had a great cast, some cool fight scenes, and was just a lot of fun all the while being a product of the times (the glorious 80s!). Even the soundtrack was pretty good. A lot of the film is spent with Chiun trying to teach Remo the ways of Shinanju (dodging bullets, walking on water, etc.) and berating him over his fear of heights and love of hamburgers. The real dynamic of Remo and Chiun never really gets a chance to take off, but this would have been a good foundation had they done sequels. Fred Ward, as always, is the quintessential tough guy and carries the Williams role. These days, people love to complain about Joel Gray (who was nominated for a Golden Globe for the role) being made up to look Asian but, in all honesty, I couldn’t see anyone else making that role work. He was great and, after all, it is called “acting”.
Either way, if the goal is grabbing a bucket of popcorn, and a Coke and plopping down on the couch for a couple of hours of entertainment, this one is for you.
As of this writing, it’s streaming free of charge on Tubi.
Have you seen/heard of either of these? If so, how did you like them?
Until next time—