Back In Business (1997)

 

Back In Business (1997)- * * *

Directed by: Phillippe Mora

Starring: Brian Bosworth, Joe Torry, Dara Tomanovich, Maggie Egan, Guy Torry, Alan Scarfe, Wynn Irwin, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Brion James

Joe Elkhart (Boz) is just a humble car mechanic in L.A. who is a regular caller to the radio talk show of psychologist Dr. Sonia Brody (Egan). He's trying to get over the feelings of anger and aggression he feels after being a good police officer who was kicked off the force after trying to expose some dirty cops. This leads him to re-connect with his old partner Tony Dunbar (Torry), and the current cop and the ex-cop try to catch the evil drug lord David Ashby (Scarfe). Pretty soon, the FBI is involved with them, and Elkhart is involved with fellow therapy maven Natalie Walker (Tomanovich). It all comes to a head with the final showdown between our heroes and the evil Emery Ryker (James). Will Elkhart and Dunbar be BACK IN BUSINESS? Or will they be out of business?




To quote the back of the VHS box, "Named NATO 'Action Star of Tomorrow' for his high-octane performance in Stone Cold, Brian 'The Boz' Bosworth is back in business as maverick ex-cop Joe Elkhart." We didn't know NATO was in the business of naming action stars anything, but apparently they are. Finally, some tax dollars well spent. In Germany, this movie was called Stone Cold II: Heart of Stone - which is an interesting factoid, but really this has less to do with the classic Stone Cold, and more to do with buddy cop action/comedies wrought by 48 Hours (1982) and Lethal Weapon (1987).

The movie is filled with the non-stop banter between Bosworth, who plays a more vulnerable type this time around - you could best call him a lovable lunkhead - and the Chris Tucker/Eddie Griffin stylings of Joe Torry. Don't confuse him with his brother Guy Torry, who makes a splash at the beginning of the film.

There's a lot of silly humor amongst the shootings and blow-ups, and the radio talk show angle was a bit different. The film was made during the height of popularity of shows like Dr. Laura, so why not have Brian Bosworth be a caller on her radio show? It's an interesting combination. The whole sequence at the car auction where Joe Torry dresses up like an Arab Sheik may be a comedic movie highlight, but you know there's going to be some chases or shootouts just around the corner.

Let's face it, this isn't as good as Back in Action (1994), with Billy Blanks and Roddy Piper. You could easily mistake the two. Well, at least the titles. One of the recurring themes on the soundtrack is a drum solo that sounds like the beginning of Hot For Teacher. We were just waiting for The Boz to say, "I've got my pencil..." While the movie has blink-and-you'll-miss-them appearances from Michael Clarke Duncan and fan favorite Wynn Irwin, clearly the boo-hiss baddie is Brion James this time around, and he does it well.



Director Philippe Mora was last heard from on this site as the director of Death of a Soldier (1986), with Reb Brown. He's probably best known for directing 80's horror movies such as The Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (1985) and The Beast Within (1982). He keeps things moving, and while there are a couple of slow moments towards the beginning (the basketball sequence goes on too long), things pick up considerably soon enough.


Sure, it has plenty of the "Stupid" moments we've come to love, or at least expect, but since when is that a problem? It's part of what keeps Back in Business afloat. Apparently it wasn't successful enough overall (despite its tenuous Stone Cold connection) to warrant a series of sequels with EPMD-esque titles.


Fans of The Boz (aren't we all?) and of the buddy cop genre will likely warm to Back in Business.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, The Video Vacuum! 

Phase IV (2002)

 

Phase IV (2002)- * * *1\2

Directed by: Bryan Goeres

Starring: Dean Cain, Brian Bosworth, Stephen Coats, Richard Donat, Heather Mathieson, Hannah Sampson, 

"No more Pop Tarts!" - Kaitlyn and Simon Tate

Simon Tate (Cain) is a former Navy SEAL and football player who, at the age of 30, decides to enroll himself at New England University with the aim of getting a degree in journalism. But Simon Tate gets more than he bargained for when he accidentally stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens many people's lives. Noticing a pattern among the mysterious deaths of some students of NEU (which is not to be confused with the German Krautrock band of the same name), he reaches out to Dr. Ben Roanic (Coats) for some possible answers. However, it seems Roanic knows too much about the mysterious "Phases" that a company called Stroyker Pharmaceuticals desperately wants covered up - at all costs.

Enter a team of goons and thugs headed by the scary Steven Birnam (The Boz). They're more than willing to silence anyone when it comes to Phases II-IV. When Tate gets too close to the truth, and it involves Senators and Senatorial candidates, the head of Stroyker, Karl Dean (Donat) demands that Tate be eliminated. His goons then kidnap Tate's wife Carla (Mathieson) and his young daughter Kaitlyn (Sampson), which leads to the ultimate showdown. Will we ever discover what's so important about...PHASE IV?

Not to be confused with the killer ant movie of the same name from 1974, this particular Phase IV offers up its own brand of enjoyment. There's a lot to love about Phase IV. It somehow manages to combine extreme silliness with a plot that's actually really good. The conspiracy at issue here is genuinely involving, and the film overall makes some very valid points about society. We don't want to give too much away, of course, but let's just say there's some real meat on the bone here and it's not your run of the mill empty-headed action. The filmmakers have a point to make, and they make it well. 

On top of that, we get some really entertaining action sequences, and two fan favorites in Boz and Dean Cain. Phase IV really features the Dean Cain we all want to see. He's likable, he's beating people up, and he really gets in on the action. He doesn't pull any punches this time. He fires off some classic wisecracks as the icing on the cake. The idea that the former Navy SEAL is not your classic news reporter that we often see, but is a journalism student on the campus newspaper was an off-kilter choice that we really liked. The backyard fight with Cain and the goons was a movie highlight, but all the action scenes and blow-ups were fun to watch.

As soon as the film starts, we're immediately thrown into the action as our goons are chasing down a very agitated man. This sets the tone of action, conspiracy, and humor pitch-perfectly, and it doesn't deviate for the rest of the film's running time. Normally we'd balk at 100 minutes, but this time around it's painless because it's pretty well justified. In that opening scene we're "treated" to some CGI snow and water, and we thought "uh oh". But hang in there and you'll see some massive improvements from there on in. Why they thought they needed CGI snow in the beginning, but nowhere else, remains a mystery. Much like the mystery behind Phase IV itself. 

It seems worth noting that the gaffer on the film was a dude named Dan "Bran Muffin" Grady. He seems like a cool guy that you'd want as your pal. Maybe if we lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Phase IV was shot, he would be. I bet the people are friendly there.

While it may seem improbable, we really loved Phase IV. All the ingredients really came together this time around. As of this writing, it's on Amazon Prime, so feel free to go check it out.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

One Man's Justice (1996)

One Man's Justice (1996)-* *1\2

AKA: One Tough Bastard

Directed by: Kurt Wimmer

Starring: Brian Bosworth, Jeff Kober, Bruce Payne, DeJuan Guy, M.C. Gainey, Neal McDonough, Robert LaSardo, and Hammer











Sgt. John North (The Boz) is an Army drill instructor and close-combat specialist. But he also has a sensitive side. He loves his young daughter and wife and would do anything for them. When his loved ones are tragically murdered by professional scumbag Marcus (Kober) and North is put into a coma by sustaining multiple bullet wounds, his life spirals out of control. 

Upon regaining his consciousness, he devotes his life to revenge. As he climbs up the baddie food chain, he finds Karl Savak (Payne), a long-haired, nose-ringed corrupt Federal Agent, and the villain of all villains this century, M.C. Hammer. Actually he has the classic bad-guy name of Dexter Kane, but it's still, of course, the Hammer we all know and love. Gumming up the works of North's revenge mission is 12-year old tot Mikey (Guy) who always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite the presence of Mikey, will North achieve his mission, especially with the odds stacked against him?

Here's some imagery for you: a bowl of hearty soup with a fly in it. A rich, creamy cheesecake with a cockroach on it. A succulent deluxe lobster with a rat on it. All potentially lovely food items, but you cannot eat around the fly, cockroach or rat. One Man's Justice (or totally badass alternate title One Tough Bastard) is like that. All the scenes with The Boz are gold. The fight scenes are fun, the baddies are nice and bad, and The Boz is on a revenge mission in L.A. All seems right with the world. 

But when are filmmakers going to learn that red-blooded males who watch action movies don't want to see precocious brats preventing roided-up meatheads from exacting brutal, violent revenge? To put it another way: we hate when kids play too prominent a role in action movies. There are exceptions to every rule, of course, as Sarah Dampf, Smith, Lisa Boynton, and the cast of Double Blast (1994) prove, kids aren't ALWAYS bad. But the presence of the Mikey character here prevents One Man's Justice from being all it can be, much like Sgt. John North would want you to be in the Army.

So, while they should have edited out Mikey and added some more fights, car chases or even a test pattern, let's leave that aside for a moment. One Man's Justice is classic 90's. That's a good thing, by the way. The cast is excellent, with Boz doing a stellar job, plus favorites Kober, playing a bad guy as always (you know he's evil because he wears a leather vest), Bruce Payne hairing it up, and a rare dark-haired Neal McDonough making a brief appearance. 

We've also got Robert LaSardo in the tattoo parlor fight sequence, and, in what has to be a cinematic first, both M.C. Gainey and M.C. Hammer together in the same movie. M.C. Hammer is even billed as "Hammer", perhaps so he wouldn't be confused with the rap career of Gainey. While in The Peacekeeper (1997), Montel Williams teamed up with Dolph, here, The Boz and Hammer are at odds. We'll give you a moment to unravel that last sentence. Mr. Hammer gives us his full acting range, even showing us sad Hammer, or, as it's known, Sammer.

The 90's-ness of it all comes through insofar as all the time Mikey is involved, the movie devolves into a cross between Cop and a Half (1993) and one of those classic anti-drug PSA's from back then. At any moment you think some drugged-up bugs are going to come out from behind a wall. Then it swerves into Homie Movie territory, but Jeff Kober is the lead homie. It's all very confusing. It tries to be relevant, commenting on the trend of mugging people for their sneakers. And the fact that Mikey looks like Mac Dad from Kris Kross firmly places this movie in its 90's place and time. The soundtrack, in the relevant places, features rap from UGK and Kool Moe Dee. 

The original North (1994), John North is a man you can believe in. Fun fact about Brian Bosworth's career: much like how Tony Danza strictly only plays guys named Tony, Bosworth mainly plays guys named John. In Stone Cold (1991), he was John Stone, in Blackout (1996), he was John Gray, in the TV series Lawless, he was, awesomely enough, John Lawless, and of course today we have John North. One Man's Justice is perhaps the second-ultimate Boz movie, after Stone Cold of course. 

He was born to be in B-grade action product, and you can tell from the many training sequences that this is truly in his wheelhouse. The movie has some of our favorite cliches, such as when, during the climax, the baddie says the hero's name many times, and the all-time classic "you just couldn't let it go, could you?" speech.

We loved all the non-Mikey scenes in this movie. His presence is just too prevalent and inappropriate here. I mean honestly, what is this, One Tot's Justice? But just as you cannot eat around the offending vermin in your food, we can't just watch around Mikey. Your enjoyment level of this movie will depend on your tolerance for children in your action movies.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out write-ups by our friends, DTVC, The Video Vacuum, and  Cool Target!

Blackout (1996)

Blackout (1996)-* *1\2

AKA: Midnight Heat and "A.K.A."

Directed By: Allan A. Goldstein

Starring: Brian Bosworth and Brad Dourif

"Huh?"- John Gray



Brian Bosworth stars as John Gray, a successful banker. When walking to his car one day, while jammin' out to his Walkman, he gets run over in a funny way (which is worth a rewind). He wakes up in the hospital and remembers virtually nothing but has black and white flashbacks to his former life. (Which are shot in the manner of 30's style gangster films).

Once out of the hospital, he goes back to his wealthy life which he doesn't remember. His wife looks like Kathie Lee Gifford and he seems strangely unsatisfied. As his flashbacks become more prevalent, he goes on a quest for truth and you can always tell because he wears a trench coat throughout the movie.

Meanwhile, local dandy villain Thomas Payne (Dourif) is the leader of a gang of multiracial baddies and after a prison break at the beginning of the movie, they start working out of a sleazy dive in L.A. (is any other kind of dive?) There is a grudge between the gang and "Da Boz" revolving around a past life in jail and a secret tattoo. With the help of a spunky cocktail waitress, Gray fights to take back his life!

Bosworth is perfectly cast as Gray, because it allows him to, throughout the whole movie, seem like a confused dunderhead, constantly making statements such as: "Huh?", "Oh Man!", "Aaaaahhh!" and the classic "Nooooooo!" One of its many alternate titles could be "Huh?": The Movie". One of the best lines in the movie is when Gray sees a crucifix on the wall and starts to remember something and says "Christian? That means something..." Depending on the angle, he alternately looks like Dolph Lundgren, Aaron Eckhart or Neil Patrick Harris. As a banker, he looks like a meathead stuffed in a suit with funny suspenders.



Brad Dourif seemed to relish his role as the hat lovin' baddie. ("You should wear the hat, the hat shouldn't wear you.") Let's not forget about one of Payne's minions who looks just like Sonic The Hedgehog's nemesis "Dr. Robotnik". Also when Payne threatens a Mexican bad guy at gunpoint he pleads for his "Bambinos" which is clearly Italian.

Seeing as the movie takes liberally from Robocop (1987) and Total Recall (1990), it is safe to assume the writers were influenced by Paul Verhoeven. On a bizarre note, there are a lot of allusions to the songs "Y.M.C.A.", "In The Navy", and "Macho Man". It is also safe to assume they were clearly influenced by The Village People.

At the end of the day, Blackout is better than average Direct-To-Video fare. Bosworth and the rest put in enjoyable performances.

Don't forget: He hates menthol.


Comeuppance Review by: Ty & Brett

Stone Cold (1991)

Stone Cold (1991)- * * *1\2

Directed By: Craig R. Baxley

Starring: Brian Bosworth, Lance Henriksen, Sam McMurray, Arabella Holzbog, Gregory Scott Cummins, and William Forsythe












Ah, Stone Cold. What a classic! In the tradition of Cobra, he puts the "force" in "enforcement"! It has a very similar style of highly entertaining macho-stupidity as seen in fellow classic Road House (1989), a period in our nation's history where such things flourished.

John Stone (The Boz) is a cop who goes undercover in a biker gang to weed out the leader, Chains (Henriksen) and his dangerous crew.



Okay, the plot isn't much, but how 'bout that Mullet! Only in 1991 can you get away with that hair. Boz has a couple of good lines like "Cleanup on aisle 4", very reminiscent of Cobra's "I don't shop here".

Henriksen always puts in an excellent performance. He's at his best as the villain. Forsythe looks young (and a little heavy) here, but he doesn't disappoint. The climax at the courthouse is hilarious! You gotta see it to believe it!

On top of everything else, there are many quotable lines. They truly don't make movies like this anymore,  which is a travesty. Stone Cold will always hold a special place in my heart.



Comeuppance Review by: Ty