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WAIT UNTIL DARK (1967)--Directed by Terence
Young. Stars Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Jack Weston. Hepburn is properly vulnerable
as a blind woman living in New York with husband Zimbalist. He returns from a business trip with a gift for her: a doll that
he doesn't realize is stuffed with heroin. Psycho Arkin and partners Crenna and Weston lure Zimbalist away from his basement
apartment in an attempt to get the doll back from Hepburn. Well directed by Young with an effectively creepy performance by
Arkin. Finale contains one of the movies' all-time great shock scenes. From the director of DR. NO. Robby Benson was reportedly
an extra. Produced by actor Mel Ferrer, Hepburn's then-husband.
WAITING (2005)—Directed by Rob McKittrick.
Stars Ryan Reynolds, Justin Long, Anna Faris. Not much that’s original or interesting happens in this day in the
lives of (mostly) young slackers who work unfulfilling jobs at an Applebee’s-type restaurant. Alpha male Monty
(Reynolds) spends most of his time figuring out how to avoid work and to get inside the pants of local jailbait. His
best pal Dean (Long) is the only one who wants something more from life, if only he knew how to get it. The gags are
mainly scatological in nature, and the script often mistakes expletives for jokes. Reynolds is not a good comic actor,
but the supporting cast occasionally nails a line. Also with Luis Guzman, Chi McBride, Jordan Ladd, John Francis Daley,
Kaitlin Doubleday, Rob Benedict, David Koechner, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Wendie Malick and Dane Cook.
WAKE OF DEATH (2004)--Directed by Philippe
Martinez. Stars Jean-Claude Van Damme. Went directly to DVD the last week of 2004. Like his previous film,
IN HELL, Van Damme is very good in it, actually stretching his acting muscles and doing very little martial arts. WAKE
is a straightforward revenge flick as J-C hunts down the Chinese mobsters who killed his wife. It's grossly overdirected
by a French distributor who apparently thought he can make films that were better than the ones he was selling and couldn't
wait to experiment with all the neato camera and editing tricks he's been reading about in all those How To books. If
he had just left the story alone to play out naturally, he would have had a film that was tighter and tougher than the too-slick
mess he has. Some of the stuntwork would probably look impressive if he had actually let us see it. Valerie Tian is
very good and vulnerable as a little girl Van Damme must protect from her gangster father, and Bert Kwouk from the PINK PANTHER
movies pops up in one scene. South Africa substitutes for New York City. I don't think any of Van Damme's 21st-century
films have seen the inside of a theater.
WALKER, TEXAS RANGER: ONE RIOT, ONE RANGER (1993)--Directed
by Virgil W. Vogel. Stars Chuck Norris, Clarence Gilyard, Sheree J. Wilson, Marshall Teague. It's hard to believe
that Chuck Norris ever got a shot to star in his own network TV series, and even harder to believe that it would be successful,
yet CBS aired it on Saturday nights for nine seasons. After a rough start (Cannon went bankrupt after only three episodes
had been shot, so CBS had to bankroll the series beginning with its second season), the series settled into a routine quite
reminiscent of '70s cop shows and garnered a large following among older audiences.
The two-hour pilot is actually pretty good, presenting some
nice chases, good fighting, thoroughly hateable bad guys, a typically laconic Norris performance, and strong production values
filmed on location in central Texas. It also effectively sets up the series to come, presenting Chuck, whose big-screen
career had cooled, as Cordell Walker, a taciturn half-breed Native American and Texas Ranger who investigates a series of
fatal bank robberies being masterminded by a former CIA agent (Teague). When his partner is killed during one of the
robberies, Walker is reluctantly teamed with Trivette (Gilyard), a college-educated former athlete. A subplot finds
Walker protecting a teenage circus performer who's being harassed by the three rednecks who raped her, leading to an unintentionally
funny telling of the ranger's backstory. Veteran Vogel (THE MOLE PEOPLE) keeps the teleplay moving quickly, using Dutch
angles and slick camera moves to complement the many fights, chases and shootouts, ensuring the series' standing as one of
network television's most violent.
Wilson plays beautiful Assistant D.A. Alex Cahill, Walker's
love interest (and eventual wife at the end of Season Eight), Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman as Walker's Indian uncle Ray and
Gailard Sartain (HEE HAW) plays retired Ranger C.D. Barnes (he was replaced in the series by the older Noble Willingham).
Also with James Drury, Elya Baskin and Marco Petrella. Music by Jeff Sturges. Teague played the heavy in four
different WALKER episodes, including the 202nd and final one in 2001. Released on VHS as ONE RIOT, ONE RANGER.
WALKER, TEXAS RANGER: TRIAL BY FIRE (2005)--Directed
by Aaron Norris. Stars Chuck Norris, Sheree J. Wilson, Janine Turner, Judson Mills, Clarence Gilyard. Four years
after the CBS series completed its nine-season run, WALKER, TEXAS RANGER returned with this Sunday-night reunion movie.
Texas Ranger Cordell Walker (Chuck Norris) and his D.A. wife Alex (Wilson) are proud parents of a little girl. Former
partner Trivette (Gilyard) appears just long enough to be shunted off to Quantico, while young hotshot Gage (Mills) and forensics
expert Kay (Turner) pick up his slack. WALKER fans know pretty much what to expect--safe, old-fashioned gunplay and
high kicking between clearly delineated good guys and bad guys. It’s the kind of movie where, when Gage excitedly
shows off his new hot rod to Walker, and Walker asks if he can drive it, you know it won’t be five minutes before a
tire-screeching car chase has left the new ride in rubble.
The McGuffin is a missile guidance system that falls into
the hands of a 13-year-old boy, whose father is beaten to death by North Korean martial arts experts who want it. While
Walker and company are bouncing around Dallas trying to find the boy and pick up the bloody pieces left in the Koreans’
path, Alex has to decide how to prosecute a Ranger framed for two murders. TRIAL BY FIRE is silly, good-natured fun,
if not a bit dusty in its execution. On the other hand, whenever director Aaron Norris attempts to modernize his approach,
such as hokey MATRIX-style action or cheap, unconvincing CGI, the effect falls flat. The 65-year-old star doesn’t
move as well as he did in his prime, but Aaron does a good job of concealing the stunt double’s face, and Chuck’s
final kung fu battle ends with a hoot. It all ends on a cliffhanger that might prod CBS to do another movie. Actor
Marshall Teague, who plays a bank robber, might be a WALKER good-luck charm, as he played a heavy in both the first and final
episodes of the series.
THE WALKING DEAD (1936)--Directed by Michael
Curtiz. Stars Boris Karloff, Ricardo Cortez, Marguerite Chapman. Pretty good horror from Warner Brothers about an ex-con (Karloff)
who is framed for a murder and executed by electric chair. He is found to be innocent at the last minute, but too late to
prevent his sentence from being carried out, so he's used as a guinea pig in a scientific experiment that brings him back
to life. Extremely pissed off (hey, you would be too), Boris stalks the men who set him up and causes their deaths. Strong
direction, a good cast and a medium-sized budget bolster a routine storyline. From the director of CASABLANCA.
WALKING TALL (1973)--Directed by Phil Karlson.
Stars Joe Don Baker, Elizabeth Hartman, Noah Beery Jr., Lurene Tuttle, Leif Garrett, Dawn Lyn, Gene Evans.
"You got a warrant?"
"Yeah, I keep it in my shoe." WHAM!
Down goes another door and, with it, another illegal gambling organization,
whorehouse or still. Welcome to Tennessee in the early 1970's, where television and movie characters could scarcely drive,
ride or--worst of all--hitchhike without being accosted. Remember all those episodes of MANNIX, CHARLIE'S ANGELS and CANNON
where the heroes would visit a small Southern town, only to be met with suspicion, sleaze and corruption? We have WALKING
TALL to thank.
Released in the winter of 1973 by the now-defunct Cinerama Releasing
Corporation, WALKING TALL struck an instant chord with audiences, presumably most of them in rural areas. An advertising campaign
that posited the film as "family friendly", despite its R rating and brutal scenes of violence, helped attract females and
youngsters, who were no doubt taken with the hero's portrayal as a family man who loved his wife, kids and parents. It's easy
to see why many critics of the time hated WALKING TALL--it's crude, simplistic and extremely violent--but it's just as easy
to understand why audiences would embrace it, thanks to the real-life story of its hero, Buford Pusser, and the empathetic
performance of the actor who portrayed him, Joe Don Baker.
Buford Pusser was reportedly an extraordinary man. A former Marine
and professional wrestler, Pusser returned in the 1950's to his childhood home of McNairy County, Tennessee, where he first
became police chief in the tiny town of Adamsville, then was elected sheriff of the entire county. He became a one-man wrecking
crew against organized crime, wiping out every gin joint and house of ill repute in the territory. A colorful man, and one
with big shoes for any actor to step into. Fortunately, Baker had big feet.
The film opens with Pusser, accompanied by his wife Pauline (Hartman,
an Oscar nominee seven years earlier for A PATCH OF BLUE), son Mike (Garrett) and daughter Dwana (Lyn), returning to McNairy
to settle down on a farm located not far from his father Carl (Beery) and mother (Tuttle). Before he has even a chance to
settle in, he hooks up with an old high-school football buddy, who takes him to a honkytonk near the Mississippi border that
features booze, broads (who take their johns to campers parked in the parking lot) and gambling. Buford may not be an educated
man, but he's no dummy, and when he discovers the dice are rigged, he raises hell. He gets in a few good thumps, but he's
overcome by his opponents, who then beat him, slice open his stomach, and dump him in a muddy ditch to die.
Pusser recovers. It takes several weeks, but he recovers, only to
meet with a different sort of pain when he realizes the ineffectual sheriff (Evans) plans to do nothing to bring his attackers
to justice. Mad as hell and not willing to take any more, Pusser carves himself a heavy four-foot club and returns to the
bar to enact his own brand of justice. His exploits begin to make the rounds of McNairy, and soon Pusser is the new sheriff,
busting heads, fighting the system, and becoming a legend, even in the face of enough personal tragedy to drive most of us
mad.
How much of WALKING TALL actually happened is difficult to say.
While many of the events are public record, Pusser seems just a little too good to be true, even though Baker does an excellent
job shading his sheriff with enough ambiguity to make you wonder how much of his head-bustin' is in the name of justice and
how much is just out of pure revenge. Filmed on actual Tennessee locations under the guidance of "technical advisor" Buford
Pusser himself, WALKING TALL certainly has the feel of verisimilitude, which is the point. Both director Karlson (KANSAS CITY
CONFIDENTIAL) and screenwriter Mort Briskin had been around since the '50s and were solid craftsmen who knew how to tell an
interesting story in a straight-ahead fashion. They certainly were interested in this story, making sure to, among the beatings
and the car chases and the gore, imbue Pusser with a soul, to make him more than a one-dimensional action hero. Baker's fine
performance takes over where the script and direction stop, walking confidently tall in Pusser's path, while simultaneously
projecting a righteousness and morality seldom seen today. Whereas the real Buford Pusser was probably quite gray, Baker wears
a white hat all the way.
Slick filmmaking WALKING TALL definitely is not--the boom mike appears
so often, it should have gotten feature billing--but it is lean, manipulative and often exciting. It was such a smash for
Cinerama and its production company, Bing Crosby Productions (!), that two sequels, a TV movie, a shortlived television series,
and dozens of imitations permeated the rest of the decade--from WHITE LIGHTNING to MACON COUNTY LINE, from the regional obscurities
of Earl Owenby to THE MISADVENTURES OF SHERIFF LOBO. Baker refused to return for the sequels, but he did translate his success
as Pusser into a respectable career in small-budgeted action pictures, including the last film for both Karlson and Briskin,
1975's FRAMED, a similarly tough man-fights-the-system melodrama.
Walter Scharf's score and theme sung by Johnny Mathis (!) help lend
an elegance to the proceedings. The fine cast also includes Bruce Glover (who would appear in all three WALKING TALL films)
and Felton Perry as deputies, beautiful Brenda Benet as a helpful hooker, Arch Johnson, Richard X. Slattery, Ed Call, Rosemary
Murphy, Sidney Clute, Douglas V. Fowley, Sam Laws, Kenneth Tobey, Red West, Russell Thorson, Del Monroe, Lloyd Tatum and Logan
Ramsey as thorn-in-Buford's-side John Witter. Benet, who was married to actor Bill Bixby, and Hartman both committed suicide
during the 1980's. Baker is, of course, one of Hollywood's most dependable character actors, appearing in everything from
James Bond movies to youth-oriented comedies.
WALKING TALL (1981)--Stars Bo Svenson, Harold Sylvester,
Walter Barnes, Jeff Lester, Courtney Pledger, Rad Daly, Heather McAdam. The cinematic saga of Buford Pusser began in
the winter of 1973, when the now-defunct Cinerama Releasing Corporation released WALKING TALL, a crude, simplistic, violent
R-rated drama about an ex-Marine and pro wrestler who returned to the Tennessee county of his childhood and single-handedly
wiped out organized crime. Joe Don Baker played Pusser, who was elected sheriff of McNairy County after a severe beating
by hoodlums left him scarred and near death. WALKING TALL struck a major chord with rural audiences, who turned it into
one of the year’s most talked-about and financially successful films. Pusser planned to portray himself in the
1975 sequel, but he was killed in a mysterious auto accident, and 6’6” Bo Svenson was enlisted to play the lawman
who “walks tall and carries a big stick” in two movies and a short-lived NBC television series.
WALKING TALL, the series, premiered the same month that Ronald Reagan
was inaugurated as the 40th U.S. President, which may have been too soon. The Reagan administration’s black-and-white
views on law and order were an influence on dozens of violent, high-octane Hollywood action movies, many of them starring
macho men like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Chuck Norris. But when NBC debuted WALKING TALL on January
17, 1981, audiences were still in the sensitive grip of the Carter era and perhaps weren’t quite prepared for a single-minded
law enforcer who eschewed the civil rights of the accused if they stood in the way of what he considered to be justice.
Svenson, a familiar face to TV audiences from schlocky TV-movies
like GOLD OF THE AMAZON WOMEN and SNOWBEAST, probably felt right at home with Sheriff Buford Pusser’s badge and “pacifier”
(his term for the hefty four-foot club he carried in the back seat of his police car) in hand again. The show’s
premise was just like that of the WALKING TALL movies in which Svenson had starred. He again was a widower who lived
in McNeal (changed from McNairy) County, Tennessee with his father Carl (Walter Barnes, taking over for Noah Beery and Forrest
Tucker), son Michael and daughter Dwana. McNeal was a small rural community where everybody knew everybody else, which
didn’t make it as difficult as you would think for some of its citizens to get into trouble with the law and run afoul
of Buford’s temper.
NBC scheduled WALKING TALL for 8:00pm Central on Saturday nights.
Its CBS rival, the shortlived FREEBIE AND THE BEAN (also an action-oriented spinoff of a successful film), was no competition,
but both series were slammed in the ratings by THE LOVE BOAT, which formed a Saturday-night juggernaut with FANTASY ISLAND
for several years on ABC. After five episodes, the show was pulled, only to reappear six weeks later at 9:00pm on Tuesdays,
where another smash ABC series, HART TO HART, buried it, this time for good. Only seven episodes of WALKING TALL were
made, and all of them are available on DVD from Columbia/Tri-Star. Because I believe that no TV series should be forgotten,
what follows is a somewhat comprehensive WALKING TALL episode guide. Print it out and keep it next to your remote.
1) “The Killing of McNeal County’s Children”--Directed
by Alf Kjellin. Written by Stephen Downing. Stars Robert Englund, Charles McDaniel, Eric Stoltz, Whit Bissell.
Pusser investigates when two teenagers become brain-damaged after a few puffs of some powerful new PCP cigarettes. He
threatens pusher Bobby Joe Wilson (Englund, later Freddy Krueger in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET) and is nearly killed when Wilson’s
home lab explodes, but still fails to stop the ring led by oily businessman Oliver Moss (McDaniel). Even Buford’s
environmentally dubious strategy of assaulting Moss’ trucks and dumping their chemical contents onto the highway makes
little dent in the drug’s onslaught of the local high school. It gets personal after two classmates (one is played
by future star Stoltz) drug Michael Pusser’s drink with angel dust, which leaves him perched on the school roof thinking
he can fly.
2) “The Protectors of the People”--Directed by Daniel
Haller. Written by Donald R. Boyle. Stars Charles Napier, Jesse Vint, William Windom, William Sanderson, Otis
Young, Dey Young. One of WALKING TALL’s advantages is its weekly guest stars. Even if an episode doesn’t
happen to be working too well, there’s always an interesting actor or two to keep an eye on. This episode may
have the show’s best cast, and Boyle (the show’s executive story editor) gives them an incendiary topic to bite
into. McNeal runs afoul of the Ku Klux Klan, mainly in the personage of vile Napier (the great character actor with
the toothy grin), sadistic Sanderson (NEWHART) and store owner Vint (FORBIDDEN WORLD). In their repulsive desperation
to make the county all-white, they attack a white teenage girl while disguised in blackface and then blow up a store owned
by black businessman Otis Young (THE LAST DETAIL). It all gets terribly out of control when Pusser’s black deputy
Aaron (Harold Sylvester) is framed for raping a white woman.
3) “Kidnapped”--Directed by John Florea. Written
by Paul Savage. Stars Chuck Connors, Edward Albert. This episode could have been written for almost any other
TV cop show. Its routine plot by GUNSMOKE veteran Savage has been done many times. Theo Brewster (Connors in a
“special cameo appearance”) is shot by a guard during his commission of a bank robbery and taken into custody
to Pusser’s jail, where he lies on life support. His sons--also his fellow bank robbers--plot to break him out
by taking a local family and Buford’s father hostage.
4) “Hitman”--Directed by Alf Kjellin. Written
by Robert E. Swanson. Stars Merlin Olsen, L.Q. Jones. Also not a terribly original concept, but strong direction,
particularly during the final act, and good performances make the episode worthwhile. NBC sportscaster and former Los
Angeles Ram Olsen, just a few months before starring in his own NBC drama, FATHER MURPHY, is Webb McClain, an old friend of
Buford’s who returns to McNeal County to renew their relationship. Unbeknownst to Pusser, however, McClain is
an assassin who has been hired by mobster Jones to murder Buford. Svenson and Olsen play the tension perfectly, giving
the incredulous idea necessary weight.
5) “Company Town”--Directed by Harvey S. Laidman.
Written by Lee Sheldon. Stars Ralph Bellamy, Lane Bradbury, Art Hindle, Claude Earl Jones. Leaving his regular
supporting players behind, Pusser travels to a mining town to investigate the disappearance of a miner who had been riling
his employers with talk about low wages and unsafe working conditions. Learning of other missing mining workers with
similar rabblerousing backgrounds, Buford follows the trail of bodies all the way up to the mine’s owner, James Clausen
(Bellamy), and his hot-headed son Stuart (Hindle).
6) “Deadly Impact”--Directed by Alexander Singer.
Written by Gregory S. Dinallo. Stars Gail Strickland, Ken Swofford, Richard Herd, James Whitmore Jr. Credit director
Singer and guest star Strickland for pulling off a late-in-the-game story twist that provides this episode with an effective
dramatic punch. It smells like SILKWOOD when chemical plant employee Strickland suspects her boss of authorizing illegal
dumps of toxic wastes into the nearby river. After she’s nearly run off the road, Pusser protects her from further
attempts on her life by putting her up with Carl and the kids at his house, where his relationship with her turns from professional
to personal.
7) “The Fire Within”--Directed by Phil Bondelli.
Written by Lee Sheldon. Stars James MacArthur, Ed Nelson, Lance LeGault, Anthony Edwards, John McLiam, Richard Venture.
MacArthur, a veteran of eleven seasons on HAWAII FIVE-0, exchanges his badge for a collar in this “special guest star”
role as Father Adair, a new priest who takes the confession of a dying criminal. His vows prevent him from telling Pusser
any information about what the man was involved with, namely a gunrunning operation masterminded by McNeal County real-estate
agent Ed Campbell (Nelson). Look for future ER star Edwards as a horny teenager.
After WALKING TALL’s quick cancellation, star Svenson continued
to rack up an army of television and film credits. Many of them were in exploitation movies such as NIGHT WARNING (in
which he played a homophobic cop) and the Italian THUNDER WARRIOR (he also reunited with Charles Napier in the Fred Olen Ray
ALIEN-ripoff DEEP SPACE), but his best TV performance of the era was a memorable turn in MAGNUM, P.I.’s third-season
premiere as Ivan, a KGB agent who had tortured Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck) in Vietnam and murdered Magnum’s friend Mac
in Hawaii. The final confrontation between Magnum and Ivan was quite a corker and is probably the series’ finest
moment. Svenson continues to be a popular supporting actor in low-budget movies and was tapped by Quentin Tarantino
to portray a reverend in KILL BILL.
Brian Dennehy also played Buford Pusser in A REAL AMERICAN HERO,
a CBS movie that aired in 1978, and The Rock starred in a 2004 WALKING TALL remake that had nearly nothing to do with the
original films or the Buford Pusser legend. The seven one-hour television episodes on DVD are nothing like TV crime
drama at its finest, but its realistic location shooting (all in Southern California, it appears), fine actors, sharp action
scenes, and committed, passionate lead performance by Bo Svenson, who could usually be counted on for one deeply felt monologue
per show, make it an appealing curiosity for cop-show fans.
WALKING TALL (2004)--Directed by Kevin Bray.
Stars The Rock, Johnny Knoxville, Neal McDonough. If for nothing else, this remake of Bing Crosby Productions' "hicksploitation"
classic will be remembered for its 13-minute closing credit crawl, the longest one I can remember. Stripped of most
of its plot and characterization, WALKING TALL runs an anemic 73 minutes before credits, which were purposely lengthened to
give the reported running time more weight.
What weight WALKING TALL's narrative has comes from its charismatic
star, pro wrestler The Rock, a likable slab who stars as Chris Vaughn, an ex-Special Forces soldier who returns to his Washington
hometown after eight years to discover it's not the bucolic existence he remembers. The local lumber mill, which provided
the town with its main source of income, has been shut down by its present owner, Chris' rich-kid former schoolmate Jay Hamilton
(McDonough), and replaced with a casino, a hotbed of drugs, prostitution and degradation where the poor townspeople are encouraged
to spend more than they can afford to lose.
This version follows the story of the 1973 film closer than I expected,
having Chris be attacked, scarred and left for dead by Jay's goons, trying him on assault charges (much to the delight of
the corrupt sheriff in Hamilton's back pocket) and then winning the election for sheriff after his acquittal. Music-video
vet Bray directs the many fights and shootouts with aplomb, while the talented cast fills in the spaces between action scenes
by performing the dialogue like they mean it. The lovely Vancouver locations provide an effective backdrop. McDonough
is a capable heavy, drawing upon his arrogant roles on television's BOOMTOWN and MEDICAL INVESTIGATION. Also with Kristen
Wilson, Ashley Scott, John Beasley, Michael Bowen and Khleo Thomas. Dedicated to the late Buford Pusser, the real-life
sheriff portrayed in the original WALKING TALL by Joe Don Baker.
WALKING TALL--FINAL CHAPTER (1977)--Directed
by Jack Starrett. Stars Bo Svenson, Logan Ramsey. American International Pictures' biggest hit of 1977 was reportedly this
R-rated sequel that continued--and ended--the saga of legendary Tennessee lawman Buford Pusser, a real-life stick-swinger
who died in a mysterious car crash in 1974, after he had seen his story on the big screen in the first WALKING TALL. Unfortunately,
director Starrett and scripters Howard Kreitsek and Samuel A. Peeples ran out of story; with as much liberty as the filmmakers
must have taken with Pusser's life story, it's too bad they didn't fabricate a new second half for their FINAL CHAPTER.
There aren't many more people left in Sheriff Pusser's (Svenson)
life to kill. His many assassins kept missing their target, wiping out his wife, deputy, platonic prostitute informer and
more. Plus, the citizenry of McNairy County, Tennessee is growing a little tired of Buford's old-fashioned sense of justice,
especially after whipping an abusive father with a switch and turning a trio of juvenile car thieves into a miniature chain
gang for a day. After losing the election--and his job--to a more liberal-leaning candidate, Pusser finds himself nearly forgotten
by the townspeople he nearly died several times over trying to protect. He tries to latch on with the highway patrol, battles
mob assassins sent by perennial foe John Witter (Ramsey, who was in all three films) becomes the subject of a Hollywood movie
(in a surreal sequence, we see Svenson looking on as a film crew shoots scenes shown in the original WALKING TALL, including
stock footage from that film, which starred a different actor, Joe Don Baker, as Pusser), goes from near-bankruptcy to national
fame and fortune, and finally dies in a climactic car crash, just as the real Pusser did three years earlier.
While Starrett gets as much violent footage in the can as possible,
the sad fact remains that Pusser's life just wasn't very interesting after he was no longer a sheriff. All of the chases,
fights and burning buildings occur in the first half, while the rest of the film is one scene after another of Pusser being
pathetic, accepting handouts from his friends and forced to defend himself against thugs in the street--a far cry from the
"walk tall and carry a big stick" Pusser. Once again, AIP avails itself with authentic Tennessee locations, crude but effective
production values, solid work by the sportcoat-wearing Svenson, and a fine supporting cast, including Bruce Glover (playing
deputy Grady for the third time), Forrest Tucker (replacing THE ROCKFORD FILES' Noah Beery Jr. as Buford's father), Morgan
Woodward, Margaret Blye, Robert Phillips, H.B. Haggerty, Taylor Lacher and returning co-stars Libby Boone, Leif Garrett and
Dawn Lyn. Walter Scharf, who passed away a little over a week ago, once again scored. The film, which carries an onscreen
title of FINAL CHAPTER WALKING TALL, closes with a shot of Pusser's monument, which stands on the site of his fatal car crash.
The mangled Corvette is still displayed in a museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Although there were no more films, Buford
Pusser lived on in television, first in A REAL AMERICAN HERO, a TV-movie which starred Brian Dennehy as Pusser, and then in
WALKING TALL, a shortlived series with Svenson that lasted a mere seven episodes on NBC in 1981. Svenson went on to steady
employment in exploitation and direct-to-video movies, occasionally creeping into major studio fare like SPEED 2 and Quentin
Tarantino's KILL BILL.
WALKING TALL: LONE JUSTICE (2007)—Directed
by Tripp Reed. Stars Kevin Sorbo, Yvette Nipar, Rodrigo de la Rosa. This direct-to-video action pic is actually
a sequel to WALKING TALL: THE PAYBACK, not to any other movie with the words “walking tall” in the title.
Nick Prescott (Sorbo) neither carries a big stick nor walks tall in this movie, but he does commit the usual amount of redneck
mayhem in this Texas-shot feature that was made back-to-back with (and released less than a year after) THE PAYBACK.
It’s personal for Prescott when his FBI agent galpal (Nipar) is gunned down by thugs working for Mexican druglord Perez
(de la Rosa) when she’s the only witness left to testify against him. There’s little that’s spectacular
about this movie, outside of some brief scenes of surprisingly harsh violence, and you’ve seen it all before, right
down to the final siege where the good guys are holed up inside a house and outnumbered by the invading baddies. A plot
twist involving a crooked cop is easily predictable, and Reed sometimes goes overboard with the senseless ADD post-production
tricks.
WALKING TALL, PART 2 (1975)--Directed by
Earl Bellamy. Stars Bo Svenson, Logan Ramsey, Angel Tompkins, Richard Jaeckel, Luke Askew, John Davis Chandler. In an attempt
to play up the real-life exploits of its subject, Tennessee lawman Buford Pusser, this sequel opens with a notarized statement
by screenwriter Howard Kreitsek as to the exactitude of the stories told to him by Pusser that were used in writing the script
and ends with Pusser's actual death certificate. Buford was reportedly set to play himself in the sequel to the enormously
successful WALKING TALL, but died in a one-car crash on a McNairy County, Tennessee backroad in 1974. With Pusser dead and
original star Joe Don Baker on to other things, director Bellamy and producer Charles A. Pratt recruited big Bo Svenson, a
tall and talented Swede who had appeared on television, but had never before carried an action feature on his shoulders. While
his Pusser is more refined and "Hollywoodized" than Baker's windbreaker-wearing headbuster, he also had a less interesting
script to play with, as PART 2 WALKING TALL: THE LEGEND OF BUFORD PUSSER (the onscreen title) is little more than a straight-on
action movie, albeit a good one.
Following the murder of his wife near the end of WALKING TALL and
eight months of hospitalization to heal from the injuries he suffered in the same ambush, McNairy County, Tennessee sheriff
Pusser is obsessed with obtaining revenge against not only the gunmen responsible, but also those who hired them. Ironically,
the Nashville-based syndicate whose local action Pusser broke up also wants vengeance and dispatches slimy middle-manager
John Witter (Ramsey reprising his WALKING TALL role) to do the job. As we already have seen, killing Buford Pusser is no easy
gig, so Witter enlists several helpers, including hotshot racecar driver Stud Pardee (Jaeckel), lunkheaded Pinky Dobson (Askew)
and Ray Henry (Chandler), and voomy Marganne Stilson (Tompkins), who plans to seduce Pusser and whisk him away to be sniped
in the woods.
While lacking the moral ambiguity and character depth Baker brought
to WALKING TALL, this sequel is a sturdy and often exciting thriller filled with enough fights, explosions, burning stills
and car chases to keep action fans awake. Svenson is an imposing presence as usual, and by filming in Tennessee and returning
many cast members from the original film, the changeover in the leading role is hardly noticeable. Strangely, PART 2 received
a PG from the MPAA, even though it may have even more (but less brutal) violence than the R-rated first film and even a nicely
gratuitous topless shot by Miss Tompkins.
Walter Scharf composed the score once again. Also with returning
cast members Noah Beery Jr., Lurene Tuttle, Bruce Glover, Dawn Lyn, Leif Garrett, Lloyd Tatum and Red West, along with Robert
DoQui, Libby Boone, Brooke Mills and Frank McRae (48 HOURS). Bellamy, whose directing experience was almost completely in
television, later worked with WALKING TALL star Baker in SPEEDTRAP. Bing Crosby Productions made PART 2 for Cinerama, but
when that company went out of business, the movie was picked up by American International Pictures, for whom it became their
biggest grosser of 1975. Svenson returned two years later in FINAL CHAPTER WALKING TALL.
WALKING TALL: THE PAYBACK (2007)—Directed
by Tripp Reed. Stars Kevin Sorbo, AJ Buckley, Bentley Mitchum, Yvette Nipar. MGM produced this direct-to-video
sequel that has nothing to with any other WALKING TALL that has ever been released. It has the same basic plot as the
2004 movie starring The Rock, and a supporting character tells how his daddy used to tell him to “walk tall,”
so I guess that’s all the justification the movie needs.
After his sheriff father is murdered by rednecks using violence
to persuade the townsfolk into selling their businesses, Nick Prescott (Sorbo) returns to his Texas hometown for revenge.
Prescott, as we all know from HERCULES, is about 6’3” and muscular, while the chief heavy, a scrawny, tattooed
redneck named Harvey (Buckley), is at least six inches shorter, so you wouldn’t think cleaning up the town would take
much of Nick’s time. Come to think of it, this movie also has the same plot as ROAD HOUSE with the town boss and
his thugs wandering around, beating up citizens and blowing up their businesses, while the hero tries to convince his frightened
neighbors to fight back against a situation where law enforcement is powerless. Actually, that’s also been the
plot for about 200 old westerns.
Prescott only once carries a big stick, but he does walk tall—he
and his pump-action shotgun. He partners up with a fetching FBI agent from Dallas (Nipar), but she contributes nothing
to the film and exists only as a pretty face. The big problem is Buckley’s unconvincing performance. You
never believe this guy is sophisticated or intimidating enough to run such an elaborate criminal empire, even if it is tiny
Boone, Texas. To express rage, Buckley yells a lot, not realizing that a crazy guy who acts crazy is never as scary
as a crazy guy who acts normal. Reed also shot WALKING TALL 3 with Sorbo at the same time.
WALKING
THE EDGE (1983)--Directed by Norbert Meisel. Stars Robert Forster, Nancy
Kwan, Joe Spinell. Gritty revenge drama stars Forster as a numbers-running cab
driver in Los Angeles who comes into a whole heap o' trouble when one of his fares (Kwan) shoots at the mobsters who killed
her son. Jason Walk, Forster's character, is a guy who likes to mind his own
business. A former minor-league pitcher still dreaming about a late-in-life comeback,
his lack of aggression lets himself be pushed around by everyone, including his nosy neighbor, cheating girlfriend and unctuous
boss. So when he finds his life in danger through no fault of his own, Jason
has to learn to use the streets--and its people--to his advantage before assassin Spinell and his gang kill him. Kwan is a stranger to him, one who has placed his life in jeopardy, yet he still agrees to harbor her in
his apartment at great risk to himself.
This could have been a really good thriller in the hands of a director like William Lustig (who made VIGILANTE with
Forster), but Meisel handles the material very awkwardly. The sound and camerawork
are often quite amateurish, and the low budget doesn't help--one scene set in a fancy restaurant was obviously filmed in a
corner of somebody's kitchen. Surprisingly, the performances are quite good;
Forster in particular captures the conflict of a man reluctantly forced into action to help a complete stranger. Some of the interplay between Forster and Kwan and Forster and A Martinez as his friend seems improvised,
although it could be a product of Curt Allen's economical script. Whatever the
source of Forster's dialogue, WALKING THE EDGE is a prime example of an actor refusing to walk his way through a project beneath
his talent. It's a film that is as good as it is because of him. Also with Aarika Wells, Wayne Woodson and James McIntire. Music
by Jay Chattaway. Allen penned Forster's directorial debut, HOLLYWOOD HARRY.
WALL STREET (1987)--Directed by Oliver Stone. Stars Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah,
Martin Sheen, Hal Holbrook, Terence Stamp. Douglas won a Best Actor Oscar as corrupt Wall Street financier Gordon Gekko, who
leads young stockbroker Charlie Sheen into his web of deceit. Charlie is enjoying the good life with money, an expensive apartment
and beautiful blonde Hannah, but when Douglas goes after the airline employing Sheen's father (real-life father Martin) in
order to tear it apart, Charlie has a stroke of conscience. Good slick direction by Stone, and an entertaining scene stealing
turn by Douglas.
THE WALLS OF HELL (1964)--Directed by Gerardo
de Leon & Eddie Romero. Stars Jock Mahoney, Mike Parsons, Fernando Poe Jr., Cecilia Lopez, Paul Edwards Jr.
This World War II programmer shot in the Philippines must have made drive-in audiences happy, since it features lots of action
and barely any dialogue. It's 1945, and a small group of Filipino guerrillas, led by American lieutenant Sorensen (Mahoney),
have been blasting away at the walled city of Intramuros for over three weeks. Japanese soldiers who have taken 1000
citizens hostage, including Sorensen's Filipina wife, have invaded Intramuros, which is surrounded by 20-foot-thick solid
stone walls. With the aid of spy Papa (Parsons) and war correspondent Murray (Edwards), Sorenson's men use underground
tunnels to break through the Japanese stronghold and rescue the hostages. Although made in b&w on a tiny budget,
the use of the actual bombed-out city and creepy tunnels lends WALLS a lot of production value. Mahoney is typically
solid as the action hero, but the use of Filipino actors to play Japanese soldiers frequently left me wondering which side
was which. Romero and de Leon made a lot of genre pictures that played in American theaters and drive-ins, often starring
U.S. teen idol John Ashley, who ended up producing a lot of them as well. Kane Lynn's Hemisphere Pictures released WALLS
in the U.S.
WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE (1987)--Directed by
Gary Sherman. Stars Rutger Hauer, Gene Simmons, Robert Guillaume. Hauer (THE HITCHER) plays Nick Randall, the
great-grandson of the Wild West bounty hunter played by Steve McQueen in the '50s TV western series WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE,
although nothing is ever made of that fact. Nick is also a bounty hunter and former CIA agent who's hired by government
flunky Guillaume (BENSON) to track down a Middle Eastern terrorist (KISS's Simmons) who is blowing up movie theaters and wreaking
havoc all over Los Angeles. Hauer is charismatic enough, and Sherman (VICE SQUAD) keeps the stunts and explosions coming
hot and heavy, but the action and dialogue isn't original or outrageous enough to make this film very memorable. Also
with Mel Harris, William Russ, Jerry Hardin, Dennis Burkley and Mickey Gilley. Music by Joe Renzetti.
WAR BETWEEN THE PLANETS (1966)--Directed by Antonio
Margheriti. Stars Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Ombretta Colli, Pietro Martellanza. Not to be confused with Margheriti’s
WAR OF THE PLANETS, this colorful space opera is slow-going at first, but eventually picks up a bit of steam in its second
half. You can see where it might have influenced STAR TREK, though it’s doubtful Gene Roddenberry was queuing
up at his local bijou to see Italian sci-fi movies (actually, this doesn‘t appear to have been released in the U.S.
until 1971). Commander Rod Jackson (Rossi-Stuart) leads the military personnel aboard a space station that appears to
be the only obstacle standing between the Earth and another planet on a collision course. The quaint special effects
are fun to look at; there appear to be few opticals, so a space walk is depicted by dangling the actors on wires in front
of a black surface coated with lights to represent stars.
THE WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS (1966)--Directed by Inoshiro
Honda. Stars Russ Tamblyn, Kumi Mizuno. Tamblyn, just three years after working with Robert Wise in the horror
classic THE HAUNTING, found himself sleepwalking through this silly Japanese monsterfest. A giant green monster called
a “gargantua” is terrorizing Japan. First it fights an octopus and attacks a fishing boat, then it stomps
around Tokyo reaching into office buildings, eating people, and spitting out the clothes. Scientist Paul Stewart (Tamblyn)
and his lovely assistant Akemi (Mizuno) believe the gargantua looks like one they studied five years ago, but it escaped,
and anyway it was brown, not green. While the Army is failing (as always) in its bid to stop the Green Gargantua with
their tanks and missiles, an equally giant brown gargantua leaps into the fray too. Turns out the two monsters are split
from the same entity, much like the Good Kirk and the Evil Kirk in STAR TREK’s “The Enemy Within.”
Tamblyn doesn’t dub himself nor does he get a lot of screen time, since Honda and FX wizard Eiji Tsuburaya stage a lot
of monster attacks and monster fights in this one, which was intended to be a sequel to FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD.
When the big, furry gargantuas aren’t destroying property or each other, you’ll have a nice time ogling sexy Kumi.
Music by Akira Ifukube.
WAR OF THE PLANETS (1964)--Directed by Antonio
Margheriti. Stars Tony Russel, Lisa Gastoni. One of four colorful SF films directed consecutively by Italian filmmaker
Margheriti. On New Year's Eve, the inhabitants of the Gamma I space station are attacked by freaky extraterrestrial
green lights that possess human bodies in their quest for Earth domination. On the defensive are square-jawed Gamma
I commander Mike Halstead (Russel), his stacked lover Connie (Gastoni) and the rest of his crew, which resembles that of American
space operas of the period, including STAR TREK. Although the plot may not be enough to keep you interested (and it
is inferior to that of the previous film, WILD, WILD PLANET, with the same cast), Margheriti's primitive visual effects, swanky
futuristic sets, macho sexist attitudes straight from PLAYBOY and the Rat Pack, and assorted space battles will keep you awake.
An outer space ballet choreographed (by Archie Savage) to "Blue Danube Waltz" is pretty wacky. Franco Nero (CAMELOT)
pops up just before DJANGO shot him to stardom.
THE WAR OF THE ROSES (1989)--Directed by
Danny DeVito. Stars Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito. Hilariously tasteless black comedy narrated by divorce
attorney DeVito. He tells a client the story of Mr. and Mrs. Rose (Douglas and Turner), a wealthy couple with two teenage
children who embark on the cruelest and most vulgar divorce in cinematic history. Many viewers will be offended by the dark
humor, but biting direction by DeVito and unlikable performances by the leads make this a truly bizarre satire. They should
have killed off the dog though. Michael Leeson wrote the mean-spirited screenplay.
THE WAR WAGON
(1967)--Directed by Burt Kennedy. Stars John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Howard Keel, Keenan Wynn, Bruce Dern. Wayne and Douglas
are an appealing team in this Western with comic overtones. The Duke, newly released from prison for a crime he didn't commit,
seeks revenge against the man who framed him by robbing his gold from an impenetrable armor-plated stagecoach. Douglas is
hired to kill Wayne, but he decides to team up with Wayne and his partners instead. Fun and fast-paced.
WARGAMES
(1983)--Directed by John Badham. Stars Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, Barry Corbin. Suspenseful
nailbiter about a normal teenage computer whiz (Broderick) who accidentally interfaces with a Defense Department computer,
and starts a countdown toward thermonuclear war with the Soviets. Broderick and girlfriend Sheedy search for the machine's
programmer (Wood), the only man who can stop the countdown, while on the run from U.S. officials led by Coleman. Film works
as a thriller, while making an important statement about nuclear war. Broderick and Sheedy are a terrific and realistic couple.
Badham's BLUE THUNDER was released the same summer. Look for Michael Madsen along with Eddie Deezen, Dennis Lipscomb and James
Tolkan.
WARLORDS (1989)--Directed by Fred Olen Ray. Stars David Carradine, Sid Haig, Dawn Wildsmith.
Stoic ex-soldier Carradine wanders the post-apocalyptic desert, along with a talking mutant head he carries in a box, in search
of his missing wife, who has been kidnapped by evil warlord Haig. A light sense of humor and a little bit of action
make this Ray film a decent potboiler, although the director’s insistence upon casting his wife Wildsmith in major roles
really sabotaged a lot of his films. Count on Ross Hagen, Robert Quarry and Fox Harris to ham it up. Brinke Stevens,
Michelle Bauer and Debra Lamb provide eye candy.
WARLORDS OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY (1982)--Directed
by Harley Cokliss. Stars Michael Beck, Annie McEnroe, James Wainwright. Originally released as BATTLETRUCK (or
at least reviewed in VARIETY under that title), this New Zealand production is basically the same movie as THE ROAD WARRIOR,
but with less action, less money and a lesser star. American character actor Wainwright (JIGSAW) is Straker, despotic
leader of a band of raiders who conquer the land using a massive, invulnerable land cruiser armed with weaponry. Beck,
who flunked out of the movie star ranks after XANADU, MEGAFORCE and this, is Hunter, a typical loner with a badass motorcycle
that runs on methane created from chicken guano. Straker’s struggle to communicate with his runaway daughter (McEnroe)
helps to humanize the character, and Wainwright does a good job carrying the picture. Cokliss’ action scenes are
effective (Buddy Joe Hooker was the stunt coordinator and 2nd unit director), but the movie needs more of them. Chris
Menges (THE KILLING FIELDS) was Cokliss’ cinematographer, and future director Lee Tamahori (DIE ANOTHER DAY) was the
boom operator. Also with Bruno Lawrence and John Ratzenberger (CHEERS). Kevin Peak’s score is not good.
WARNING SHOT (1967)--Directed by Buzz Kulik.
Stars David Janssen, George Grizzard, Ed Begley, Joan Collins, Stefanie Powers. FUGITIVE David Janssen made a smooth transition
from TV to feature films with this interesting mystery, once again starring as an honest man out to clear himself of a murder
charge. Instead of a doctor, he's Los Angeles Detective Tom Valens, who guns down a prominent doctor in the courtyard of an
apartment complex. Valens claims the victim pulled a gun, but when no weapon is found at the crime scene, the embittered district
attorney (Sam Wanamaker) decides to charge the detective with manslaughter. Janssen was one of the greatest dramatic stars
in the history of television who, for some reason, never found success in theatrical films. This one's pretty good though,
thanks to Jerry Goldsmith's jazzy score and an excellent supporting cast, many in cameos, including Carroll O'Connor, Steve
Allen, Walter Pidgeon, Eleanor Parker, Keenan Wynn, George Sanders, Vito Scotti and Lillian Gish. Costumes by Edith Head.
Mann Rubin adapted his screenplay from a novel by Whit Masterson. Ultimate in-joke: the character played by the notoriously
hard-drinking Janssen imbibes nothing but buttermilk!
WARNING SIGN (1985)--Directed by Hal Barwood.
Stars Sam Waterston, Kathleen Quinlan, Jeffrey DeMunn, Yaphet Kotto. Classy actor Waterston, star of THE KILLING FIELDS,
in a zombie movie? That’s pretty much what WARNING SIGN is, at least as much as 28 DAYS LATER. Someone accidentally
smashes a vial inside BioTek, a Utah biological research center, and the employees--most of whom believe they’re working
on agricultural research--are trapped inside. The government is secretly working on germ warfare, and the insidious
toxin causes the infected employees to rage against one another, going psycho until they kill each other off. Government
flunky Kotto shows up with the Army to talk some bullshit to the worried families, who aren’t aware of what’s
happening inside the sealed-off facility. That includes local sheriff Waterston, whose wife Quinlan is the security
officer inside. When Sam realizes that Kotto’s job is to keep the situation quiet until all inside are dead, he
recruits a disgraced BioTek scientist (DeMunn) for a covert rescue operation.
Barwood, a first-time director who co-wrote the screenplay with
Matthew Robbins (DRAGONSLAYER), has little affinity for suspense or horror, and has trouble deciding what kind of thriller
WARNING SIGN should be. The infected characters act exactly like crazed zombies, wandering about whaling on one another
with fire axes, yet they’re never frightening. The apocalyptic tone of many films of this nature is neutralized
by the scenes set outdoors in the crisp, clean Utah air, and Quinlan is the only trapped character we really care very much
about. A greater sense of urgency and excitement would have helped the film. Waterston may be miscast, but Quinlan
and DeMunn are quite good. Craig Safan did the score. Also with Richard Dysart, G.W. Bailey, Rick Rossovich, Jerry
Hardin, Scott Paulin and Meshach Taylor. Filmed in Utah and in a California high school. Waterston earned an Oscar
nomination for THE KILLING FIELDS the same year this was released.
THE WARRIOR AND THE SORCERESS (1984)--Directed
by John Broderick. Stars David Carradine, Maria Socas, Luke Askew, William Marin. There once was a warrior named
Kain, who was played by David Carradine, who played Caine on TV's KUNG FU. On a strange desert planet with two suns,
Kain entered a tiny village ruled by two opposing tyrants, Zeg (Askew) and Balcaz (Marin). Both sides claim ownership
of the town's only well; why one of them doesn't just dig his own hole someplace else, I don't know. The village peasants
live only for the few drops of water provided them by whichever ruler controls the water that day. Kain thought this
process was not very fair. Since he had seen YOJIMBO nine times, he decided to pit both sides against each other, hiring
out his sword to both sides surreptitiously and plotting against them until all the bad guys were dead. There was a
sorceress too, that's true, although she did precious little sorceressing. Her name was Naja (Socas), and what she did
best of all is walk around naked. Oh, my, was she naked. Really, her only job involved being naked, and she did
that job very well. Rarely have I seen such majestic nudity for so little purpose. Not that I'm complaining, mind
you. THE WARRIOR AND THE SORCERESS runs about 80 minutes, which is what is has going for it the most. Carradine
isn't trying very hard, but he is having a good time. Of course, I imagine it's hard to be miserable when you're pretending
to mow down 200 Argentinean stuntment and extras while staring at Maria Socas' luscious breasts all day. Thank Roger
Corman and New World for this pallid CONAN imitation that does manage to entertain on the simplest level. Anthony DeLongis
and Harry Townes costar.
WARRIOR OF THE LOST WORLD (1985)--Directed by David Worth. Stars Robert
Ginty, Fred Williamson, Persis Khambatta, Donald Pleasence. Another terrible Italian post-apocalyptic saga. Earth of the future
is ruled by a tyrannical despot (Pleasence). Stoic warrior Ginty and his talking computerized motorcycle join up with Khambatta's
rebels to overthrow Pleasence's reign. You'll want to destroy that damn annoying talking cycle by the time this waste of time
is over.
THE WARRIORS (1979)--Directed by Walter Hill.
Stars Michael Beck, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, James Remar, David Patrick Kelly. One of the 1970's most stylish and memorable
action films. A street gang named The Warriors is blamed for the murder of a rival gang's leader who was attempting
to peacefully unite all of New York City's gangs. The shooting, which was actually committed by a psycho member (Kelly)
of The Rogues, incites 10,000 gang members against The Warriors, who attempt to return to their Coney Island turf from miles
away in the Bronx. Colorfully filmed by cinematographer Andrew Laszlo and punched up by Barry DeVorzon's driving rock
score, THE WARRIORS is an unforgettable fantasy, as Warriors "war chief" Swan (Beck) attempts to lead his followers past a
gauntlet of garishly garbed gangs, such as The Baseball Furies (facepainted and adorned with Yankees uniforms) and The Lizzies,
made up completely by lesbians. Hill's action scenes, particularly a rumble with roller skaters in a restroom, are excitingly
lensed. Look for Mercedes Ruehl as a cop. Remar later played the main villain in Hill's 48 HRS. "Warriors!
Come out to play-yay!"
WARRIORS OF THE WASTELAND (1982)--Directed by Enzo G. Castellari. Stars
Fred Williamson, George Eastman, Timothy Brent, Ennio Girolami. If you love dopey Italian-lensed post-apocalyptic ROAD WARRIOR
ripoffs like 2020: TEXAS GLADIATORS and 1990: THE BRONX WARRIORS, you should find plenty of fun here. Brent (real name: Giancarlo
Prete) plays Scorpion, a loner cruising the desert in his futuristic hot rod (it looks like a Pinto or something with a cardboard
frame and a fluorescent green dome) trying to avoid trouble. He usually doesn't, since he's always running into the Templars,
a band of dune-buggy-driving marauders led by the speechifying One (Eastman), who speaks like a Marvel Comics villain ("You
are the filthy, ugly dregs of society! It is against the rules to interrupt me!") every time he opens his mouth. One apparently
has some sort of personal history with Scorpion, as does One's main henchman, the samurai-haired Shadow (Girolami). Another
Scorpion acquaintance, Nadir, is played by Fred Williamson in a silly headband, and teams up with Scorpion to battle the Templars
when they threaten the lives of some pacifists, including a pair of hot, though vapid, chicks who hook up with our heroes.
It's hard to tell because of the dubbing, but Brent appears to be a relatively charismatic action star, and handles
the fight scenes well enough. Williamson is, of course, solid, even struggling with mounds of silly dialogue. He also stands
out from the pack by using explosive-tipped arrows as his weapon of choice. The plot, dialogue, special effects and budget
are all woefully inferior, but Castellari, a SF/fantasy/action veteran, keeps the pace moving quickly enough, and you certainly
won't be bored. The cars look more like modified golf carts than high-powered vehicles, but they boast mad gadgets like ejecting
doors and whirling, decapitating blades. The gore effects are pretty lame, but you'll appreciate the effort. Also with former
Miss Italy Anna Kanakis, Iris Peynado, Venaninto Venantini and Massimo Vanni. The crazy score is by Claudio Simonetti.
WATER
(1986)--Directed by Dick Clement. Stars Michael Caine, Brenda Vaccaro, Valerie Perrine, Jimmie Walker. An economically rundown
Caribbean island, governed by unorthodox Caine, is suddenly overridden with representatives of other nations, when an abandoned
oil rig hits a hidden vein of Perrier! There's lots going on, but none of it really comes together, and little is funny. British
rockers George Harrison and Eric Clapton perform together near the end (Harrison's company, Handmade Films, produced the film).
THE WATERBOY (1998)--Directed by Frank Coraci. Stars Adam Sandler, Kathy Bates, Fairuza Balk, Henry
Winkler, Jerry Reed. It's hard to imagine any film comedy being worse than this one. It isn't even slightly funny. It's not
clever or original or suspenseful or witty or likable. If it was slightly off-the-wall or subversive or unusual in any way,
or even contained dollops of anti-authoritarian behavior or nudity, I might be able to understand why someone might be interested
in it. But it's not, it doesn't, and I don't.
THE WATERBOY, about an unlikable moron with an indecipherable Cajun
accent (Sandler) who advances from waterboy for a championship college football team to star linebacker for a bad team (don't
ask why or how), grossed nearly $200 million at the American box office, and transformed Sandler into a major movie star--one
whose salary jumped to $20 million per picture. Sandler and his NYU pals Coraci and co-writer Tim Herlihy can maybe be forgiven--it
isn't their fault they were blessed without any comic talent, and you can't blame them for leaping at fame and fortune when
Hollywood called--but Oscar-winner Bates (embarrassing as Sandler's white-trash mom), Winkler (who comes off best as Sandler's
frustrated coach) and Reed (as the villainous rival coach) have been around long enough to know better. Also with Blake Clark,
Larry Gillard Jr., Clint Howard, an unbilled Rob Schneider and sports notables Dan Patrick, Brent Musberger, Dan Fouts, Bill
Cowher, Jimmy Johnson, Lee Corso, Lawrence Taylor, Chris Fowler and Lynn Swann as themselves. Music by Alan Pasqua and Waddy
Wachtel.
WAVELENGTH (1983)--Directed by Mike Gray. Stars Robert Carradine, Cherie Currie, Keenan
Wynn. Rocker Carradine and girlfriend Currie discover the military has captured three extraterrestrial beings, and is holding
them prisoner in a secret installation. They are soon taken hostage, and must befriend the aliens in order to escape. OK science
fiction, but not terribly interesting. Currie was a real-life rock star and member of Joan Jett's Runaways. Score by Tangerine
Dream.
THE WAY OF THE GUN (2000)--Directed by Christopher
McQuarrie. Stars Ryan Phillippe, Benicio Del Toro, James Caan, Juliette Lewis, Taye Diggs, Nicky Katt, Scott Wilson, Kristin
Lehman. Another graduate of the Quentin Tarantino School of Filmmaking, McQuarrie--the Oscar-winning screenwriter of THE USUAL
SUSPECTS making his directorial debut--has concocted another labyrinthine story focusing on fatalistic crooks and bloody gunplay.
Unlike SUSPECTS, which was propelled by terrific performances by Kevin Spacey (who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar), Gabriel
Byrne and Chazz Palmenteri (among others), WAY OF THE GUN is saddled with a (mostly) flat cast and underdeveloped, unlikable
characters.
Two petty thieves calling themselves Parker (Del Toro) and Longbaugh (Phillippe)--the real surnames of
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid--hatch a bold kidnapping scheme to kidnap Robin (Lewis), a surrogate mother carrying the
child of millionaire Hale Chidduck (Wilson, IN COLD BLOOD) and his young wife Francesca (Lehman, who played a Lara Croft knockoff
in a 1998 X-FILES episode penned by William Gibson). What they don't know is that Chidduck works for the Mob, and has at his
disposal Joe Sarno (Caan), a crafty old codger who's been around the block enough to see through tough-talking young Turks
like Parker and Longbaugh--or for that matter Robin's bodyguards: sharp-dressed Jeffers (Diggs) and Obecks (Katt). Of course,
almost no one is who he or she seems to be, double- and triple-crosses abound, and, by the time the closing credits begin
to scroll, most of the cast is dead with their blood spilling in copious amounts onto the dirty ground.
THE WAY OF
THE GUN has a lot of terrific individual moments, but the whole is much weaker than the sum of its parts. The opening scene,
which pits Del Toro and Phillippe against a longhaired bar patron and his foul-mouthed girlfriend, is both shocking and hilarious,
and perfectly sets the tone of what's to follow. Soon thereafter, McQuarrie stages a car chase quite unlike one we've seen
before--a chase which involves the participants leaping in and out of their vehicles and moves so slowly that they even open
the doors and push the cars along with their feet. Unfortunately, McQuarrie pushes the plot envelope too far, tossing in way
too many twists for its 118-minute running time to handle--screen time that should have been used to tell us more about the
characters. Only Caan's Sarno is given much of a backstory, and we're mostly left to figure it out by ourselves.
Although
McQuarrie does a nice job filling the frame with interesting details (I like the way Lehman's character is frequently seen
lurking in the corners; this film will definitely suffer in a pan-and-scan video version) and, along with cinematographer
Dick Pope (TOPSY-TURVY), brightly capturing the Utah desert (filling in for Mexico), he fell down in acquiring his cast. Phillippe
is grossly miscast, looking far too young and WASPy to be believable as an amoral killer. Del Toro is blessed with a wonderful
face and an appropriately rumpled demeanor, but is unable to endow his character with any reason to care what happens to him.
Lewis has never equaled her astonishing turn as Nick Nolte's coquettish teenage daughter in CAPE FEAR, and, here, delivers
another flat performance and monotonous line readings.
On the other hand, Lehman works wonders with very few words,
while James Caan reminds us why he's one of Hollywood's most enduring stars. Joe Sarno isn't exactly a stretch for this physical
actor, who's portrayed a lot of badasses in his time, but Caan wisely plays his age this time around, and, in one tense conversation
with Lewis's gynecologist, commands the screen with such power that there's no question were in the presence of a fine actor.
Caan is the best thing about THE WAY OF THE GUN.
Also with Geoffrey Lewis (Juliette's father, wasted in a sadly underwritten
role), Dylan Kussman and Sarah Silverman. Good score by Joe Kraemer. The Rolling Stones' great "Rip This Joint" from EXILE
ON MAIN STREET opens the picture.
WAYNE'S WORLD (1992)--Directed by Penelope Spheeris. Stars Mike
Myers, Dana Carvey, Tia Carrere, Rob Lowe. Probably the best feature film based on a SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE sketch (yes, I know
that's faint praise). Metalheads Wayne (Myers) and Garth (Carvey) do a cable-access show from Waynes basement in suburban
Chicago. They get a deal to nationally syndicate their show from oily salesman Lowe, while Wayne falls head over heels in
love with a gorgeous rock star (Carrere). The plot is just a clothesline on which to hang a bunch of setpieces, star cameos
and musical sequences, and it's a lot of fun. With Lara Flynn Boyle, Colleen Camp, Alice Cooper, Brian Doyle-Murray, Ione
Skye, Donna Dixon, Meat Loaf, Ed O'Neill (as the proprietor of the donut show where the boys hang out), Robert Patrick, a
babelicious Heather Locklear, and an ending that spoofs SCOOBY-DOO. Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" was a hit again on radio after
being featured in this movie. Myers scripted with SNL vets Terry & Bonnie Turner, who later created THAT '70s SHOW for
the Fox network.
WAYNE'S WORLD 2 (1993)--Directed by Stephen Surjik. Stars Mike Myers, Dana Carvey,
Tia Carrere, Christopher Walken. I thought this sequel was even better than the '92 original; its plot is even less important,
but the cameos, gags and parodies are pretty clever. This time Wayne (Myers) and Garth (Carvey) work to put on a huge outdoor
concert to be known as Waynestock. Aerosmith appears as the main band at Waynestock. Carrere returns as the foxy Cassandra,
who is recruited by a slimy record executive (Walken, who's a good sport). Also with Kim Basinger (as Honey Hornee), Drew
Barrymore, Harry Shearer, James Hong, Chris Farley, Kevin Pollak, Olivia D'Abo, Jay Leno, Ed O'Neill, Charlton Heston as himself
and spoofs of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, Chinese kung-fu flicks, THE GRADUATE, THE DOORS and Iron Eyes Cody. Myers collaborated
on the screenplay. SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE executive producer Lorne Michaels produced both WAYNE'S WORLD features.
W.B., BLUE & THE BEAN (1988)--See BAIL
OUT.
WEAPONS OF DEATH (1976)—Directed by Mario
Caiano. Stars Henry Silva, Leonard Mann, Jeff Blynn, Evelyn Stewart. Like most Italian crime dramas, this brutal
film isn’t exactly elegant, but it gets the two-fisted job done. Obsessed cop Mann tries to put mobster Santoro
(Silva) behind bars, but keeps coming up short. He even saves Santoro’s life, when he stumbles upon a hit against
the racketeer in his own front yard. And when he does manage to get Santoro into jail, the villain uses his influence
and money to buy himself a quick escape. Violent, simple and sometimes gory, WEAPONS OF DEATH isn’t Grade A Italian
cinema, but it’s a solid B- (which would have gone up a half-grade if Silva had dubbed his own voice).
WEDDING CRASHERS (2005)--Directed by David Dobkin.
Stars Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Christopher Walken, Isla Fisher, Rachel McAdams, Bradley Cooper. Overlong (two hours
+) romantic comedy is squarely funny when it concentrates on its male leads, Vaughn and Wilson as fun-loving womanizers who
crash strangers’ weddings, eat their food, drink their booze, and have one-night stands with their sexy guests.
After an exhausting spring of hooking up with drunken hotties, Wilson considers retiring from crashing, but can’t resist
joining his best pal Vaughn for one more big “score”: the wedding of the daughter of Secretary of the Treasury
William Cleary (Walken), a major Washington social affair. Unfortunately for both, Vaughn pops the cherry of Cleary’s
youngest daughter Gloria (Fisher), a psycho, clingy sort, whereas Wilson has the misfortune to fall in love with middle daughter
Claire (McAdams), who’s engaged to be married to an obnoxious jerk (Cooper). Wilson and Vaughn are an ace comedy
team that deliver big-time laughs, but the tone shifts towards standard rom-com in the second half and separates the duo to
mild effect. Trimmed of 20 minutes or so, WEDDING CRASHERS would be a lot better, although it’s a decent enough
comedy as it is. Nice to see Jane Seymour on the big screen again (playing a semi-nude scene!). Also with Henry
Gibson, Rebecca DeMornay, Dwight Yoakam, Summer Altice and Will Farrell. Music by Rolfe Kent.
WEEKEND WARRIORS (1986)--Directed by Bert
Convy. Stars Chris Lemmon, Tom Villard, Vic Tayback. A stupid slob comedy directed by the host of TATTLETALES! Who could resist?
Lemmon and Villard play a couple of dopes who join the National Guard to avoid the draft. The late gruff character actor Tayback
plays their Sgt. Carter-like nemesis. Also with Lloyd Bridges, Brenda Strong, Monique Gabrielle and Graham Jarvis.
WEIRD
SCIENCE (1985)--Directed by John Hughes. Stars Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Kelly LeBrock, Bill Paxton.
Routine Hughes teen comedy about a couple of geeks (Hall, Mitchell-Smith) who use a computer to create their dream woman,
a robot played by sexy LeBrock ("Don't hate me because I'm beautiful"). She teaches the nerds how to deal with school bullies,
mean brother Paxton and life in general. Give Hughes points by not making a film about a couple of teen sex maniacs and their
robot love slave, but this comedy is slightly overrated. LeBrock is pretty stunning though. Also with Robert Downey Jr., Steve
James, Michael Berryman, Vernon Wells, Kym Malin and Judie Aronson. The equally sexy Vanessa Angel took LeBrock's role in
the '90s USA cable sitcom version.
WELCOME HOME, BROTHER CHARLES (1975)--Directed
by Jamaa Fanaka. Stars Marlo Monte, Stan Kamber, Reatha Grey. For the first hour or so, this extremely low-budget
curiosity by Fanaka, who not only directed, but also wrote, produced, edited and scored it, plays out nore or less normally
as a serious drama. But then something happens that I've never seen in a film before and that I doubt will happen again:
the lead character, Charles, strangles somebody with his enormous phallus. And I don't mean John Holmes-enormous like
11 or 12 inches. I'm talking firehouse-enormous, as it snakes its way out of his pants and across the room, where it
wraps itself around its victim several times, including around the neck, where the murdering penis squeezes the life out of
him. Where did Charles pick up this amazing power? Does it matter?
I reveal this spoiler, since it's really the only reason to track
this film down. Not that it's bad, but it's pretty routine and slow going. Charles (Monte) is a small-time drug
pusher in Watts who is arrested by a pair of white detectives. One of them is a brutal racist, who beats Charles and
tries to castrate him with a straight razor. After three years in prison, Charles is ready to go straight, but conditions
on the street make it difficult, especially when he discovers his girlfriend has become a prostitute. His frustration
finally leads him to revenge against the corrupt white men who put him in prison, including the cop who attacked him, the
judge and the prosecuting attorney. That's where the giant penis comes in. Before using it to strangle his victims,
he first hypnotizes their wives just by pulling it out of his pants. Yep, just one look is enough to drive them to catatonia,
where Charles then has sex with them standing up and commands them to let him in the front door when he comes over to do his
business with their husbands.
Where does Charles get his powers? I dunno. I'm just
glad he does, since they contribute the only original note to this talky drama, which does conclude in an interestingly downbeat
fashion. The performances are mostly fine, but Fanaka's direction is quite crude, and the low budget doesn't help.
Still, I have to salute any film that gives me something I haven't seen before, and this one definitely fits that bill.
It was released to home video as SOUL VENGEANCE.
WELCOME HOME, SOLDIER BOYS (1972)--Directed
by Richard Compton. Stars Joe Don Baker, Alan Vint, Paul Koslo, Elliott Street. 20th Century Fox made this episodic
road movie, but didn't do much to release it and has never put it out on home video. Four former Green Berets return
from Vietnam, buy a used Cadillac limousine, and set forth across America with a dream of running a ranch in California.
Along the way, these disaffected vets accidentally kill a woman they picked up alongside the road for sex, get hassled by
local lawmen, visit Danny's (Baker) overbearing family, and finally express their frustrations by shooting up a desert town.
The movie's meandering structure (by writer Guerdon Trueblood) may frustrate some audience members, but if you stick with
it, the excellent cast and Compton's confident direction provides plenty of interesting moments, like when Baker runs across
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