No Rules (2005)

 

No Rules (2005)- * * * 

Directed By: Gerry Anderson

Starring: David Dunn, Dian Bachar, Anahit Minasyan, Randy Couture, Gary Busey, Philip Tan, Layzie Bone, Tom Sizemore, Sal Pacino, and Pamela Anderson 

Kurt Diamond (Dunn) is an MMA fighter from Jackson, Michigan. He and his sister Katie (Minasyan), and his trainer Grady (Bachar), are all dreaming of a better life. An opportunity comes when Kurt goes on a rampage after finding out Katie's boyfriend is an abusive drug dealer. After that violent confrontation, the trio flee to California. Seeking to get involved in the fight world on the west coast, Kurt turns up at House of Champions dojo. He notices immediately that they're using a logo that his famous fighting father Kain (Sizemore) always used. After a not-so-auspicious meeting with his father's former trainer Hino (Tan), he sees a flyer for an upcoming "Fight Party", and Kurt is on his way. But along the path to glory, he will have to face physical challenges - i.e., battling Mason (Couture) and his cult (yes, a cult; more on which later), but also the mental challenges of emotionally recovering from witnessing his parents' murder. He also wants to solve the murder, of course. Will Leroy Little (Busey) help him with this? All we know is that in the world of punching and kicking, there are, of course, NO RULES!




There's a lot to love about No Rules, and we might love it even more if we could actually see what was going on. All of the indoor scenes and/or night scenes are SO dark, we have to wonder if it was transferred to DVD incorrectly. Any scene in bright daylight is fine, if still a bit junky-looking, but that's not necessarily a problem. So now that we've registered our (all-too-common) complaint about the poor lighting, we can concentrate on what's good about No Rules.




ADVANCE WARNING: Going forward, should we use the words "stupid", "dumb", or some variation thereof, it is NOT to be taken as an insult. This may seem counterintuitive, but there is a shade of stupidity/dumbness that is, well, stupid, yes, but it's so earnest and enjoyable, you cannot use the word insultingly. No Rules has found that shade.




Kurt Diamond's fighting name is Diamond Boy. When ring announcers proclaim, "Kurt 'Diamond Boy' Diamond" is on the way, it does smack of a certain lack of creativity. Diamond Boy also has trouble saying the words "Santa Monica", so he may have been hit in the head one too many times.




A certain 2005 nostalgia may also be required to enjoy No Rules, as characters wearing Von Dutch shirts and hats are soundtracked to Limp Bizkit and Rage Against the Machine soundalikes. All that is stopped during any scene featuring, or about to feature, Philip Tan, so that stereotypically-Asian-sounding music can be heard.




Sometimes the stupidity is so all-encompassing it becomes dizzying, such as when a peacock walks by in the background of a scene for no reason, a slapfight breaks out a punk rock show featuring the band The Defects, or the endless parade of cameos that are fun to see, but also make you wonder why they're there or how the filmmakers got them to be involved in a bargain basement production like this. The presence of a few seconds of Pamela Anderson makes sense, because co-director/writer Gerry Anderson (presumably not the guy who did Thunderbirds) worked with her on some of her other projects, such as VIP, Stripperella, and Stacked, among others. Less explainable are Sal (not Al - Al's father) Pacino, and Kathy Pacino, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, and Layzie Bone, not to mention a whole host of fight-world-associated people like Bruce Buffer, Gene LeBell and others. It all adds to the odd and quizzical vibe of the whole thing.




Perhaps they spent too much time gathering cameos, because the movie overall could have used more Sizemore and Busey. Busey doesn't even show up until 72 minutes in. That being said, another thing that sets No Rules apart from being a standard Puncher is that the Mason character is the leader of a cult of red-robed meatheads. They unenthusiastically chant sayings and other repetitions. We can honestly say we've never seen a meathead cult before, which was great, but not nearly enough was done with this idea. Same thing with the plot thread that Kain Diamond wrote detailed "fight books" that Kurt inherited - that look exactly like The Evil Dead's Necronomicon. Interesting ideas - not a lot of follow-through. But there are some lovably dumb fight scenes and questionable acting that power you along and take the place of those things. It's all a pretty heady brew.




So, because when any scene fades to black it really doesn't have very far to go, we're hoping that a digitally-brightened, remastered print of No Rules finds its way to Blu-ray soon. Should that ever happen, we believe it will find an audience and people will appreciate what's going on here. Unless and until that happens, we're afraid No Rules may just languish in the darkness of obscurity.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Act Of Piracy (1988)

 Act Of Piracy (1988)- * *

Directed by: John 'Bud' Cardos

Starring: Gary Busey, Ray Sharkey, Belinda Bauer, Ken Gampu, Dennis Park, Nancy Mulford and Arnold Vosloo 

All Ted Andrews (Busey) wanted to do was take his two children, some friends, and his new girlfriend (Mulford) on a nice cruise to Australia on his yacht. It was there that a wealthy buyer was going to buy said yacht. His ex-wife Sandy (Bauer) was against the trip, but Ted ends up setting sail anyway, and all hell breaks loose when the Andrews family and the whole crew of the vessel are victims of an ACT OF PIRACY.

A group of international terrorists (they're always international terrorists), led by Jack Wilcox (Sharkey), Sean Stevens (Vosloo), and Herb Bunting (Gampu) kill everyone on board, and kidnap the children. What they didn't count on was that Ted Andrews survived the massacre and is an ex-military mastermind out for revenge. He and his former wife team up to get the baddies and save the children. Their journey takes them from Zimbabwe to Greece, but will the Andrews parents take back their children and stop international terrorism once and for all?


Act of Piracy is standard fare. Busey, surprisingly, doesn't go over the top in his trademarked fashion. Maybe because it was 1988 and that was before he really went insane, but he doesn't spout any wacky sayings, he doesn't really scream or make funny faces at people, and he never calls anyone a "butthorn" or anything of the sort. By Busey standards, he's actually kind of restrained here.


Arnold Vosloo, his then-wife Nancy Mulford, and director John "Bud" Cardos quickly reunited in the same year - '88 of course - after Skeleton Coast to do this. While we certainly enjoyed seeing Busey, Vosloo, Gampu, and Mulford all together, the movie itself is middling, middle-of-the-road and has no surprise twists and turns that keep audiences hooked. There's a dearth of action throughout most of the running time and fans likely won't be satisfied by that.


Ray Sharkey looks like a cross between a young Hugh Jackman and a young Steven Bauer. He has a knock-down, drag-out fight with Busey at the end, but this old tub of a movie is pretty waterlogged. 

If any movie was shot at this time in South Africa (as plenty were), Ken Gampu had to make an appearance. If anything, Act of Piracy could have used more Gampu. Also, during the opening credits, we see "introducing Dennis Park as Dennis Bryant". Not only was Park in some things before this, including No Retreat, No Surrender (1986) as "Karate Fight Referee", 'Piracy was his last movie role to date. He obviously wanted to end his movie career with a bang.

In the end, Act of Piracy is video store shelf-filler that doesn't exactly scream "see me now!" - really we would only recommend it to die-hard Busey fans.



Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Crooked (2006)

Crooked (2006)- * *

Directed by: Art Camacho

Starring: Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Olivier Gruner, Gary Busey, Fred Williamson, Diana Kauffman, and Martin Kove









When a hooker with a heart of gold named Angel (Kauffman) witnesses a murder, police officers Danny Tyler (The Dragon) and Phil Yordan (Gruner) are put in charge of looking after her so there isn't any gangland retribution before she can testify. Of course, this isn't as simple as it seems, as a perfect storm of police corruption and irate mobsters coalesce around our three heroes. While they're on the run, shootouts and fights ensue. Where do Rouse (Busey) and Jake Lawlor (Kove) stand in all this? And who amongst all of them is CROOKED?

Lone Tiger Effect strikes again with Crooked, a chintzy affair that makes Detonator (2003) look classy. You'd think you couldn't go wrong with Don The Dragon, Fred Williamson, Kove, Busey, and Gruner all together. Well, unfortunately, it appears you can. Fred and Kove have glorified cameos, so you can take them pretty much out of the equation. The material the others had to work with wasn't the best. Low budgets have never been a negative for us, but if that's the case you've got to try just a little bit harder. 

The pacing is off, the dialogue is insipid, and the whole thing has that "stupid" feel. You probably know what we're talking about. Then there are the technical issues, such as poor lighting and sound, which add to the mess. However, maybe it's best that some of the dialogue isn't heard. That can only help the situation. That being said, sometimes it provides some laffs, as there's a scene early on in a police squad room where everyone's voice sounds normal except for Gary Busey's, which sounds like it was recorded separately in a large, echoey warehouse. We wouldn't normally mention it, but it's very, very obvious. And humorous. 

In the scenes where Busey is talking and it sounds like his voice was recorded in the same county, it certainly appears like they let him run wild with his own dialogue. There are a few instances of classic "Buseyisms" on display that only he could come up with. Besides that, Don's lovable woodenness is not only present and accounted for, it almost powers the movie along. Gruner's name in the film, Phil Yordan, must be a nod to the classic Hollywood-era screenwriter. But what would the original Yordan make of what he saw here? While Gruner is obviously trying, Don and Busey come out best in all this.


Yes, there is an exploding helicopter and a (weak) barfight...but we couldn't help but think that if Crooked was a PM movie that came out in 1996, it would have been done right. So why, in 2006, should things be any different? Just learn from the greats of the past. You'd think director Camacho, who worked on so many of those classic 90's productions as a stuntman, would know better. I mean, yes, Point Doom (2000) had Sebastian Bach, and Gangland (2001) had Mario Van Obama, but what does Crooked have? It appears, sadly, that the answer is diminishing returns. 

Crooked is, at best - at best - a one-time watch. And that's being generous. We're glad our favorite stars are working, and we like to see them, even in a lesser production like this. But we couldn't help but be disappointed.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, DTVC!

Plato's Run (1997)

Plato's Run (1997)- * *

Directed by: James Becket

Starring: Gary Busey, Steven Bauer, Tiani Warden, Maggie Myatt, Jeff Speakman, and Roy Scheider








Plato Smith (Busey), along with his fellow former-Navy SEAL buddies Sam (Bauer) and Dominick (Speakman), are just, to paraphrase both this movie, as well as the song by Ensiferum, “warriors without a war”. That all changes when a mysterious woman named Marta (Warden) enlists Plato and Sam to go to Cuba and extract the son of a powerful crime boss. At first they refuse, of course, but then they decide that the money is too good, especially because Plato’s business is failing and he’s going to be evicted from his house. Since Plato is trying to repair his relationship with his daughter Kathy (Myatt), it seems like a good move.

Of course, the job isn’t as cut-and-dry as it seems, and soon Plato is on the run because he was framed for the murder of said crime boss. Additionally, the REAL power behind the scenes, dastardly arms dealer Alex Senarkian (Scheider) is now testing/using/shipping mines all over the world and even has a mine testing facility at a secret, evil compound. 

Things go from bad to worse when Kathy is kidnapped and Sam and Plato are trapped in the testing facility. With only their wits, and outside help from Dominick, will they be able to escape their doom. Will this be Plato’s last run?

Not to be confused with Hitman’s Run (1999) or Da Vinci’s War (1993), Plato’s Run is not exactly a movie you’d put at the top of your “to watch” list. To be fair, it’s better than Busey’s Warriors (1994), and about on par with the other Busey-Scheider team-up, The Rage (1997). It all starts promisingly enough – the power trio of Busey, Bauer, and Speakman are in a Florida bar and almost apropos of nothing, a very silly barfight ensues. But then it slows down and it all becomes a bit more standard. 

Yes, there are action scenes with shooting, blow-ups, beat-ups and the like. And while the movie is shot well, and it’s all very clear, somehow something is missing. Bauer and Busey had good chemistry together, which was all well and good, but the movie needed more Speakman. Certainly it needed more Speakman Martial Arts. 

The plot is unnecessarily complicated. It should have been the big boss, Senarkian, sending out waves of baddies for our triumvirate of heroes to beat up. Instead, it gets bogged down with other things such as land mines, Busey running around a lot, and plot intrigue. The central baddie of Scheider can’t hold all that together.

Of course, we should have suspected all this because we knew two things going in: It’s a Nu-Image movie from 1997, and the director, James Becket, also made Ulterior Motives (1993). For those who may not remember, that’s the unfortunate Thomas Ian Griffith outing that somehow manages to botch the idea of TIG wielding a samurai sword. But that was Becket’s first movie. He should have picked up a few tricks by the time of Plato’s Run. It seems he did not, which is a shame. 

Despite some well-placed humor, and the fact that the ingredients are all there for a successful DTV actioner, Plato’s Run, if we’re going to be brutally honest, is video store shelf-filler. We’re always looking for titles that rise above that sort of station, but, unfortunately, despite its good points, Plato’s Run doesn’t do that.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out write-ups from our buddies, The DTVC and The Video Vacuum!

No Tomorrow (1999)

No Tomorrow (1999)- *1\2

Directed by: Master P

Starring: Gary Daniels, Jeff Fahey, Gary Busey, Jodi Bianca Wise, Pam Grier, Clifton Powell, Frank Zagarino,  Master P, with Jerry Vale and C-Murder

"Ya Gonna Wind Up Daaaiiiid"- C-Murder 

Jason (Daniels) is a likable (of course) London transplant trying to make ends meet in L.A. as he chases the American Dream. Jason is a card-carrying member of his local video store and loves nothing more than to play Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park pinball at his local dive bar. His gregarious co-worker Davis (Fahey) charms him into getting involved with crime boss Noah (Busey), but Jason really doesn’t want to be a criminal. However, Noah takes a shine to Jason. It turns out that fellow criminal Maker (P) is after Noah, as is an FBI Agent named Diane (Grier). In the midst of all this chaos, Jason and Lara (Wise) forge a relationship. Will the hapless Jason walk away with his life, or for him will there be…NO TOMORROW?

As one of the final films produced by PM, No Tomorrow signaled the death knell for one of our favorite companies. The title proved to be more apt than perhaps even they realized.

If there was ever any last-ditch attempt to save the company from impending doom, handing the directorial reins over to Master P for this movie would seem to indicate that their hearts just weren’t in it anymore. You’d think a DTV outing with all these classic B-movie stars couldn’t lose, but it’s just another case of Lone Tiger Effect. The fact that footage was recycled from Narrow Margin (1990) and Air America (1990) just reinforces the “Now it’s 1999 and DTV is in the doldrums” vibe. 

Yet, because it’s still PM after all, the stuntwork, action, gunfights, pyro, and blow-ups are still excellent. The technicians behind making all this amazing stuff happen should be applauded for making it all look great on-screen. The problem is that the movie around it is a dud. It’s completely uneven; one minute Master P has some sort of combination flamethrower/missile launcher and is barbecuing everything in sight, then there are some extended dialogue scenes, then we’re in Master P’s recording studio watching Silkk Tha Shocker AND C-Murder lay down some tracks (all while wearing No Limit clothing, of course), then Pam Grier sits in an FBI control room for a while, and then we get some recycled footage, etc., etc. There no continuity, structure, or pacing, never mind a Tomorrow. 

We’re of two minds about Gary Daniels’s role in all this. On the one hand, yes, of course we want to see him do Martial Arts, which is missing from this performance. It’s hard to not see that as a missed opportunity. On the other hand, we kind of liked that he was cast against type as a humble pencil-pusher. In other casting observations, we liked Fahey’s freewheeling, smarmy performance – he probably figured he didn’t have a lot to lose here, so he hammed it up. It was pretty Charlie Sheen-esque.

Things perked up whenever Gary Busey was on screen. As usual, he brought a lot of crazy life to the scenes he was in. He even makes it a point to say that Maker produces, and we quote, “jungle music”. Fan favorite Frank Zagarino has a glorified cameo (Jerry Vale of all people has an actual cameo), and Master (thespian) P gives a mumbling, inarticulate performance, but in all fairness he did have to talk around his gold grill. It probably gave him problems, but is this guy supposed to be the hero of the movie? It’s impossible to tell. Needless to say, there’s a crazy twist at the end that turns all the nonsense we’ve heretofore seen on its head, as if that was necessary.

Yes, it’s all very junky and a fairly ignominious end to the once-fine PM organization. Even Hot Boyz (2000) is better than this. Sadly, even the classic exploding helicopter had to come from the aforementioned Narrow Margin footage. Jeff Fahey and Gary Daniels should’ve been cops who team up to bust some heads. It could have been like the classic years of PM and really cool. Instead, they came up with this muddled jumble of Homie Movie/drama/thriller/DTV actioner and it doesn’t really work.

Despite the presences of some of our favorite names, and the backing of a great company, No Tomorrow is a disappointment.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Under Siege (1992)

Under Siege (1992) - * * *

Directed by: Andrew Davis

Starring: Steven Seagal, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Busey and Erika Eleniak

When a team of baddies led by the diabolical William Strannix (Jones) takes over a battleship, the USS Missouri, with the goal of stealing the Tomahawk missiles contained onboard, things don’t look good for the crew of the ship or the stateside higher-ups. When a helicopter carrying SEAL Team 5 sent to save the ship doesn’t make it, Strannix appears to be on the verge of accomplishing his mission. He just didn’t count on one thing: Casey Ryback (Seagal). Ryback is the self-described “lowly, lowly cook” on the vessel, but the truth is that he’s a highly-trained SEAL himself with more than enough know-how to singlehandedly bring down the evil plans of the bad guys. Tagging along with Ryback is Jordan Tate (Eleniak), Playboy’s “Miss July ‘89” (which Eleniak was in real life as well). Hey, if you fall asleep in a giant cake you’re supposed to pop out of, strange things happen. Will Ryback stop Strannix and his plans for world domination? You probably already know the answer…

Under Siege is mainstream Hollywood action that even people who are not typically action movie fans have seen. It was wildly popular at the time, despite the fact that it’s the first Seagal movie to break with the “Three Word Title” tradition. Seagal re-teamed with Above the Law (1988) director Davis – who also directed Chuck Norris in Code of Silence (1985) – and the results have that glossy, professional Hollywood sheen to it that even action movie “noobs” will find palatable. The fact that Davis’s next film was The Fugitive (1993) makes sense; it’s a natural extension of the groundwork laid down with Under Siege.

Most of the street-level grit found in the early clutch of Seagal titles such as Out For Justice (1991) is missing here, presumably in a bid to garner a larger audience. It seems to have worked, even though Seagal’s viewing public was already pretty darn huge at the time. While the movie does lose a bit of steam towards the end because it doesn’t have to be as long as it is, all in all Under Siege is solid. It’s nothing to go wild about, but it’s like the USS Missouri itself: big, solidly built, steady, and professionally cared-for. To Under Siege’s eternal credit, it’s not a submarine slog, bogey slog, ship slog, or any other kind of slog, which it easily could have been. It’s simply what we call a “DieHardInA” movie, which were everywhere in the 90’s. It seemed every time you turned around, terrorist bad guys were taking over buildings, ships, nuclear plants, water treatment facilities, PathMarks, Waldenbookses, CompUSA’s or any other kind of structure that holds human beings. For a more in-depth look at the 90’s DieHardInA trend, please see our review of Sudden Death. In that case it was a hockey rink, in case anyone needed reminding.

One of the main reasons Under Siege stays afloat (sorry) is the cast. First off, we have our old buddy Seagal, who is actually pretty likable here and you do root for him. He’s backed up by the spunky Eleniak as his sidekick, and on the baddie side we have Tommy Lee Jones, who of course is excellent as the evil Strannix, and he has Gary Busey as his sidekick. Now that’s a power-team if there ever was one. Colm Meaney as another bad guy adds color, as do other incidental characters played by familiar faces such as Bernie Casey, George Cheung, Nick Mancuso, Andy Romano, and Dale Dye, among many others. Interestingly, Tommy Lee Jones gets into a knife fight with Seagal in the climactic battle, and Jones also played a knife expert in The Hunted (2003), and those to date are the only two TLJ movies on Comeuppance. Overall, by our standards at least, the violence is relatively toned-down. Sure, Seagal tears somebody’s throat out and shoves another guy into a circular saw, but somehow it all feels more muted than usual.

Under Siege was perhaps the peak of Seagal’s Hollywood career and is not bad by any means. It’s a bit mainstream for our personal taste but if you’re trying to get a non-action fan into action movies, this is a good and easy way to break them in to the genre.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett 

Hot Boyz (2000)

Hot Boyz (2000)- * *

AKA: Gang Law 

Directed by: Master P

Starring: Silkk Tha Shocker, Master P, C-Murder, Master P, Snoop Dogg, Shireen Crutchfield, C.Thomas Howell, Gary Busey, Mystikal, Anthony Johnson, Brent Huff, Clifton Powell, and Jeff Speakman









 Hot Boyz is the sad and tragic tale of Kool (Tha Shocker) and his homies (not something gay as you might reasonably expect). Kool is an aspiring rapper who is probably still aspiring because he can’t come up with a better name for himself than Kool. He and girlfriend LaShawna (Crutchfield) are in love, despite the protestations of her mother, who disapproves of Kool’s homie-ing ways. One night while walking down a dark alley (always a bad idea, especially in the ‘hood), LaShawna witnesses a murder and is then accused of it and thrown in jail. It turns out she stumbled into a network of fully corrupt cops like Officer Mack (Huff) to pretty corrupt cops like Det. Tully (Busey) to not-that-corrupt cops like Officer Roberts (Howell). 

While fighting for LaShawna’s release, Tully convinces Kool to infiltrate the criminal organization run by Saint (Powell).  But when things take a turn for the worst, Kool and his homeboys C-Dawg (Snoop Dogg, stretching), Moe (Master P), Remo (C-Murder), Tyrel (Mystikal), and Pee Wee (Johnson) suddenly become crime lords in their own right. Will all this gangsta-ism lead to a bad end for Kool and/or the gang? Also Jeff Speakman is Kool’s Kenpo teacher. Kool takes Kenpo lessons.

Here is your classic example of what we call the “homie movie”, but because it’s also a PM movie, it has C. Thomas Howell, Gary Busey, Brent Huff and Jeff Speakman in non-homie roles. And also a bunch of shooting, car chases, and other PM hallmarks. In between most scenes there is an aerial shot of L.A. while some No Limit rapper lays down his poppin’ fresh rhymes. 

And behind scenes of C. Thomas Howell or Gary Busey talking, there are yet more rap beats. And of course, during any chase scenes, more rapping can be heard. Pretty much every homie movie cliche is out in force: barbecue parties (where Snoop doles out potato salad), bouncing cars, basketball games, evil whiteys (especially cops), and young ghetto-dwellers dreaming of escaping using the time-honored methods of drugs and violence. I guess it’s what you’d call “Master P’s Theatre”(groan).

Sure, you feel every aspect of its low-budget, but certain personalities shine through. Clifton Powell and Shireen Crutchfield stand out as the baddie and Kool’s inexplicably devoted girlfriend, respectively. 

And you’ve got to respect Snoop - he remains one mellow cat at ALL times, whether hangin’ with his homeboys or shooting a bunch of people in a (wildly extended) shootout. For this reason, he comes off as highly naturalistic, especially compared to his screen-mates such as Mr. Tha Shocker, who is clearly trying, but in a way that suggests a child trying to fit their little feet into their parents’ shoes.  As for the fan favorites, Howell doesn’t do all that much, Huff is one-dimensionally evil, Speakman’s role is largely unnecessary to the plot (although it was welcome and we wished there was more of him) and Busey is Busey. Busey is no stranger to the ‘hood, having also been in Down ‘n Dirty (2001) and On the Edge (2002).

It almost goes without saying, but Scarface (1983) seems to be a natural jumping-off point, at least for the second half of the movie, where the “Hot Boyz” are born and form their own criminal empire. When Kool earns his black belt, Master Keaton (Speakman) says to him “now you’re a man”, and later, Saint congratulates him on going from a boy to a man. The movie also could have been called “Bar MitzvahZ”.

But we don’t think you’re supposed to think about it all that much, just get your own group of “Hot Boyz” together, pour out a 40 for your dead homiez, and pop in the DVD. If this is your thing at all, you’ll be in homie heaven.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett 

Also check out write-ups from our buddies, DTVC, The Video Vacuum, and The Unknown Movies!

Warriors (1994)

Warriors (1994)- *

Directed by: Shimon Dotan

Starring: Michael Pare, Wendii Fulford, and Gary Busey












Frank Vail (Busey) is the head of a team of government assassins. Apparently these guys are crazy, but they’re also effective, so they’re kept in a loony bin/barracks. When Vail escapes the compound, and takes a prostitute (Fulford) along for his joyride, a man equal to his skill in killing power is sent to stop him: Colin Neal (Pare, looking a lot like Matthew Broderick here). So now it’s a man-against-man chase to see if Neal can take down Vail. Will he do it...and will anyone care?

Warriors is not a good movie. Nu-Image strikes out again with this overlong, uninteresting, unengaging turkey. It’s Busey and Pare at their worst - it truly is “stupid” vs. “wooden” in this audience-testing, unnecessary production.

We’re trying to find worthwhile things about this movie, and it is technically well-done, and there’s some interesting cinematography. But that’s it. It has no energy and it’s not paced and plotted like an action movie. It’s unbelievably talky and slow - it’s hard to imagine a SLOWER pace - and it’s droll, dull, and insults the patience and intelligence of the audience. 

What’s really annoying about Warriors is how it tries in vain to be “different” for different’s sake. For example, during many of the too-short “action” scenes, there’s no music behind them, and maybe the camera is doing something self-consciously wacky. Sure, these things might be different, but there’s a REASON no one has done them before. Because they don’t work. Why did they not think of this? Answer: because they were trying to be clever. That’s a big mistake when making a movie. Don’t try to be clever. Try to be good.

Sure, there may be some blow-ups and shooting, but that doesn’t an action movie make, and director Dotan, who also directed Diamond Dogs, continues his tradition of mediocrity. But he got better, because Diamond Dogs doesn’t outright suck, like Warriors. Plus, weren’t they aware of The Warriors (1979)? They really couldn’t come up with another title? This movie besmirches the Baseball Furies and all they stand for.

 

The whole concept makes no sense: if these guys are insane, the army would never employ them to do serious jobs. For the concept of “mano-a-mano” fighting, check out The Final Sanction. It’s a similar idea, but done in a much more entertaining manner. And probably on a much lower budget as well. Warriors is just overly serious and bleak. 

It’s hard to imagine the filmmakers writing this and assuming the audience would really care. And when the pace is just like a lazy old river that kind of just rambles along with a total lack of verve or edge of any kind, you just can’t help but check out.

While stuck in the thick of this movie, you think it will never end. Eventually it does, and you just feel cheated. It’s a Nu-Image movie called “Warriors” with Gary Busey and Michael Pare. Naturally, fans will think this is an action movie. But we were cruelly tricked. This is deception; false advertising even. We can’t forgive that. It’s like director Dotan had never seen or heard of an action movie before, but was told to make one. 

He didn’t have a grasp at all on how to make an effective action movie, or movie of any kind, really. He probably figured his director of photography would carry him through. But you can’t slap a new coat of paint on a rotting house that’s about to collapse into a pile of dust.

Finally, we’d just like to say that Warriors fits into the “Pushing Tin” theory of box/poster art. This theory (that we invented) states that any movie art that features gigantic faces of either the two leads (or in some cases, a massive face of just the main star) means the movie will not be very good. Because the level of creativity on display is inherent in the artwork. If the best anyone can do is one or two massive faces, that’s a really bad sign. So red flag number one were the two box-filling mugs of Pare and Busey.

Warriors is a must to avoid.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Down N' Dirty (2001)

Down N' Dirty (2001)-* * *

Directed by: Fred Williamson

Starring: Fred Williamson, Gary Busey, Tony Lo Bianco, David Carradine, Bubba Smith, Sam Jones, Andrew Divoff, Randy J. Goodwin, and Charles Napier








Dak is back! That would be Dakota “Dak” Smith (Williamson) to be precise. First seen in Night Vision (1997), Down ‘n Dirty is his second appearance, followed by On The Edge (2002). He also portrayed Dak in The Rage Within (2001) the same year as D’ND, 2001. This time around, the Dakster is in a whole heap o’trouble after his partner of many years is suddenly shot. As he tries in his inimitable style (ranging between cynical Cop On The Edge to smooth ladies man) to get answers, he runs up against resistance and even outright hostility in his own department - everyone ranging from his Captain, Teller (Napier), to Det. Ward (Lo Bianco). It turns out there’s corruption and conspiracy involved from D.A. Casey (Busey), who is in contact with the mysterious Gil Garner (Carradine) - who commands an army of goons such as Jimmy (Divoff). Naturally, they all want Dak’s head, because he’s trying to get to the truth. Does even his friend Det. Cale (Smith) believe him? Dak is going to have to team up with photographer Nick Gleem (Goodwin) to ultimately find out. Can he do it?

Somehow Fred is able to corral all these great stars to be in his movies. Sure, as we noted in our review for On the Edge, the dialogue is muffled at times, and the music drowns it out - because apparently for us, the audience, hearing electronic drums bashing away is more important than hearing valuable plot points - but thankfully the great Fred Williamson carries the 70’s/80’s-style cop drama/thriller into the 21st century, with no apologies. To the jaded and cynically minded, you could say it’s filled with all the cliches we’ve all seen thousands of times before, but those people are overlooking one crucial detail: the charm of Fred Williamson. Fred’s charisma absolutely carries this movie, as well as many of his others, and even the filler (which there’s plenty of, and as a result this movie could have been shorter) is enjoyable. The cliches are fun cliches, and the filler is fun filler, and we should be happy this movie was made in the first place.

Let’s not overlook that this is Bubba Smith at his absolute best. His line deliveries are priceless. He’s a giant man who wears a short tie that only reaches to about his sternum, and his hair is just...inexplicable. It looks like as if the top of his head - which doesn’t match the sides, mind you - is a cross between Frankenstein, Alfred E. Neuman and a black lacquer floor. Moving on, fan favorite Sam Jones makes a very brief (one scene) appearance, and looks highly uncomfortable. He also has an unexplained bearded biker dude as his sidekick. So many questions, so few answers. There’s minimal Jones, minimal Divoff and minimal Carradine. Carradine does a “sit-down” role and both he and Busey don’t appear until 51 minutes in.

Nick Gleem, as the sidekick, and who adds “like the toothpaste!” every time he introduces himself, ends up being called simply “Toothpaste” as his nickname. Not to be confused with “Speedboat” from Snake Eater II (1989). In the “awesome urban compound word nickname” awards, Toothpaste has the wackier hat, so we’ll give him the prize. And, unrelated to Mr. Toothpaste, as in Direct Contact (2009) when someone says “What if he goes AOL?” here, in Down N’ Dirty, someone says “Get it to me SAP”. Either this guy is REALLY in a hurry, so much so he has no time for the initial “A”, or maybe he wants to use his TV remote to watch his favorite shows in Spanish, but like a lot of things in this movie, it remains unexplained.

Besides Fred’s screen presence and a cast of familiar faces, the other thing that keeps this movie afloat is the music. By Johnny Ross (some songs are credited to J.R. and Li’l Big - we assume J.R. is Johnny Ross), the standouts are the main title theme and “Come Back Dak”. It sounds like it could be the same singers who sang “Dakota Smith - You‘re 12 Steps Away”, from Night Vision, but we’re not sure. We love the idea that Fred Williamson has his own personal singers who are on call for him at any time. Hopefully that is the case. Supposedly, the legendary Volt label released the soundtrack, and the main title features the line “If you’re on the take, you made a big mistake”, so it might be well worth finding. You don’t hear lyrics like that every day. More top 40 hits should be about systemic inter-office police corruption.

There is plenty to enjoy here for Fred fans such as ourselves...and for non-Fred fans: what’s wrong with you? Become a Fred fan.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

South Beach (1993)

South Beach (1993)-* *1\2

Directed by: Fred Williamson

Starring: Fred Williamson, Gary Busey, Vanity, Peter Fonda, Isabel Sanford, Henry Silva, Frank Pesce, Sam Jones, and Robert Forster





 “I can breathe underwater, turnip head.” - Gary Busey






Mack Derringer (Fred) has an awesome name and used to play football. His partner Lenny is also an ex-pro player and now they’re private eyes in South Beach, Florida. And that, if the movie’s tagline is to be believed, is “the world’s deadliest strip of sand”. Mack’s latest adventure involves his ex-wife, Maxine (Vanity), who now runs “Maxine’s Services”, which seems to be some sort of phone sex operation. When a mysterious voice on the phone who calls himself “Billy” starts making threats, Mack snaps into action. As if his partner Lenny wasn’t enough, Mack calls on the services of Jake (Fonda) to help him find his way through the South Beach underworld. But Det. Coleman (Forster) doesn’t trust Mack and seems to be following his every move. But at least Mack’s mother, Mama (Sanford) is proud of him and doesn’t hesitate to tell anyone who will listen. After getting a tip from a rapper named Too Kool (Ross), Mack gets to the real heavies such as Santiago (Silva) and a man named Billy (Jones) - but is it the same Billy that’s been harassing Maxine? Mack Derringer will have to use all the power of his name to get to the truth behind this web of crime and deception. Can he do it?

If the above plot description sounds like a confusing mishmash, that’s because that’s pretty much what South Beach is. Fred is able to get amazing casts for his movies, and in finding a place for everyone, sometimes forgets about coherency. South Beach also has somewhat of a sillier tone than a lot of other Freds we’ve seen, and the end result, while not bad, is likely to not really satisfy anyone except die-hard fans of anyone involved with the production, and only viewers familiar with Fred’s style of filmmaking will be able to glean anything from this movie.

Fred’s array of great jackets is noteworthy, as is he and Busey’s round of what can only be described as “Zany Golf” at the beginning of the film. As in the later Night Vision (1997), Robert Forster plays a cop who yells at Fred. It’s basically the same thing here. There was very minimal Henry Silva - by the time his part in the movie rolled around, he was squeezed out by all the other actors in this broth. And after we were finished pondering why Peter Fonda, as well as his ponytail/mustache combination, were involved in the first place, we got to the rapper Too Kool, not to be confused with Too Short, and another brief Sam Jones appearance. But at least with Jones, there’s a fight, instead of him standing around awkwardly as he does in fellow Fred film Down ‘n Dirty (2001). But all the names in the cast distract from the amazing goons in this movie. We don’t know their names, but we all should. They outshine most of the cast, and they do it in their own lovable way: simply by being humble men, overweight men squeezed into tweed jackets, with mullets and Vuarnet sunglasses. God bless the goons, the unsung heroes of the crime movie world.

As for the DVD we viewed, it’s one of those cheapo gas station jobs and is of very low quality. It’s actually blurry, and we were told in the late 90’s DVD’s would never be blurry. The VHS is of far better quality. However, this particular disc is a double feature with the Mario Van Peebles film South Bronx Heroes (1985), and clearly this DVD company was catering to movie fans just clamoring to complete their “South” movie collections. But, in direct contradiction to that, according to the menu screen, the movie is called “Sonth Bronx Heroes”. You read that right. SONTH. How you screw up the title of the movie on the menu screen of your own DVD, we’ll never know, especially such an easy word like “South”. Either that, or the movie is referring to the heroes of an area of New York City that we’ve never heard of before.

South Beach is kind of a weird outing for Fred, yet also oddly typical of some of his other work. As Survivor once sang when they were surely referring to this movie, “It’s the paradox that drives us all”.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty


Thank you to DTVC for the hotlink to the cover! Here is his review too.

The Rage (1997)

 The Rage (1997)-* * *

Directed by: Sidney J. Furie

Starring: Lorenzo Lamas, Gary Busey, Roy Scheider,  Kristen Cloke, and David Carradine







Nick Travis (Lamas) is an FBI “Mind Hunter” on the trail of a serial killer named Dacy (Busey) (the changing of a “G” to a “D” in the name was pretty inspired). Naturally, Travis’ ways are unorthodox, so the bureau teams him up with a new recruit, the pretty Kelly McCord (Cloke), a gung-ho agent who wants Dacy and his gang as much as anyone. Second-guessing them every step of the way is Taggart (Scheider), an FBI higher-up. But Travis has just too much integrity to bend to his ways. While the deranged Dacy is putting his team of psychopathic yokels into high gear, Travis and McCord must race against time to prevent any new victims before becoming victims themselves. Not just of the killers, but of federal bureaucracy and corruption. Will their relationship survive against all odds?

In terms of technical qualities, this DTV effort stands above some of its contemporaries. It has a fairly glossy, high-quality look and feel that is just a hair away from being theater-ready. The cinematography is quite good, and the picturesque locales in Utah help that along nicely. The score is also big and booming.
Lamas puts in a personable performance as the FBI Agent On The Edge (not to be confused with his roles as a CIA Agent On The Edge in the CIA films). He has as many cool one-liners as he does snappy ties in his wardrobe. Cloke, as his partner, puts in a good amount of effort and you’ve got to love those bedroom eyes.  Roy Scheider could presumably do better (as he clearly demonstrated by being in Executive Target, 1997) in his career, but at least you get to see a fight scene between him and Lorenzo Lamas. You truly haven’t lived until you’ve witnessed Roy Scheider-Fu.

As far as Gary Busey...if he’s trying to live down his reputation as a raving psycho, movies such as The Rage aren’t helping him too much. We think the filmmakers renamed the film from Word of Honor to The Rage in honor of Busey and his performance. There are plenty of classic Buseyisms on display as he rants and raves with wild abandon.

Also David Carradine is literally wasted in a nothing role that’s almost as senseless as Klaus Kinski’s in The Soldier (1982).

Director Furie has had a long and accomplished career, so that probably accounts for why this film is well-made. There are some good stunts and chases, despite the fact that the plot is pretty by-the-numbers. But it paved the way for TV shows like Criminal Minds, which are just hour-long plots very, very similar to The Rage. Too bad Lamas, in the TV world, is known for Renegade - he should have been a Criminal Minds cast member. But Wings Hauser was on an episode recently. But we digress...

The Rage might be a good movie to see if you want to break someone into the world of DTV movies. Its “not quite ready for the movie theater” feel should help gradually wean a newbie in.

Also check a review by our buddy, DTVC!

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Detour (1998)

Detour (1998)-*

Directed by: Joey Travolta

Starring: Jeff Fahey, James Russo, Robert Miano, Tim Thomerson, Gary Busey, Evan Rachel Wood, and Michael Madsen













Danny Devlin (Fahey) and his buddy Ziggy Rotella (Russo) are in a small-time gang, and they decide to rob 1.2 million dollars from mob boss Gianni Grasso (Miano). However, Mo (Busey), who works for Grasso, double-crosses him by talking to Danny and Ziggy. Grasso’s men go after them, and eventually Danny, Ziggy, and Gillette (Williams), the third gang member, end up in small-town Rosalia, where Danny grew up. It turns out his mother died and left him the family dairy farm, and it’s in her will that he must tend to it. While back in his old stomping grounds, he reconnects with past family members such as Mel (Thomerson), Daniella (Wood), and his brother Burl (Madsen), who is the sheriff in town. Will Danny go straight, or will the temptation of future heists and crimes be too strong?

When we first saw that there was a movie that had this amazing cast, obviously we were intrigued. And the icing on the cake comes when you’re watching the opening credits, and after the extensive list of familiar names, the final credit is “Directed by Joey Travolta!” (I added the exclamation point. Sadly that’s not on his actual screen credit). You’d think, “how could this possibly go wrong?” Well, unfortunately, Detour falls prey to Lone Tiger (1999) Syndrome, which we’ve talked about before, which means that just because a movie has an impressive cast, doesn’t mean the movie itself is going to be any good. Sometimes it’s even a substitute for good writing and direction, and they hope the audience won’t notice.

Joey Travolta seems to be more talented in front of the camera than behind it, as evidenced by his role in Wilding: The Children Of Violence (1991). Disappointingly, Detour is just one of many 90’s Tarantino knockoffs. It tries too hard to be cool, and every other scene has some annoying “alt-rock” song of the time on the soundtrack. No one in the cast of fan favorites can save the uninspired writing. Busey and Madsen come off best, however - Busey slightly more low-key by his standards, and Madsen does what Madsen does, that is, look bored and contemptuous of even having to be there. But somehow when he does it, it totally works. Fahey goes a bit over the top at times, and even though this is supposedly an action movie of some kind, there are scenes of farm work - yes, FARM WORK - when other stuff should be going on to capture the viewers’ interest and imagination.

The movie also falls prey to some other common DTV pitfalls, such as the fact that many scenes are underlit and it’s too dark to see anything. That just adds to an overall junky look and feel. But on the bright side, Gary Busey wears pajamas the whole time, and James Russo has an evil hat. Take for instance a scene in a kitchen where Fahey and Thomerson are talking. On top of the refrigerator, there is a can of a Mr. Peanut product that we think are called “Zonks”, but it’s too dark to really tell. This can of Mr. Peanut Zonks (?) steals focus from the supposed drama going on. “Does that really say ‘Zonks’?” “I don’t know, I can’t read it...I hope it says Zonks...but I’ve never heard of Zonks...” “Maybe they’re only sold in Canada.” “Who is a better mascot, Mr. Peanut or the Pringles man?” “Mr. Peanut, because he has a top hat, a monocle, cuffs, a cane, and can do things, like dance around. All the Pringles guy has is a mustache”.  That’s OUR dialogue, not from the movie. In other words, Mr. Peanut out-acts some of our favorite people this time around.

An amazing, once-in-a-lifetime cast is squandered because they didn’t have good material to work with. Ultimately, this is wasteful of the talented cast, so avoid this Detour into lameness.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Lethal Tender (1997)

Lethal Tender (1997)-* * *

Directed by: John Bradshaw

Starring: Jeff Fahey, Kim Coates, Carrie-Anne Moss, Karyn Dwyer, Jonathan Potts and Gary Busey



"Money is the most explosive element."









When a team of terrorists take over a water filtration plant and start holding hostages from a tour group, only one man can stop the madness: police detective David Chase (Fahey, not the guy who created The Sopranos playing himself). He has to go up against not just the main hostage taker, the unbalanced Montessi (Coates), and his team of underlings with wacky code names such as Sparky (Dwyer) and Pogo (Potts), but the TRUE mastermind of it all, the sinister Turner (Busey). Luckily, Chase has a few tricks up his sleeve to deal with the baddies before they contaminate the water supply (he only has about four hours or so), and he has teamed up with Melissa (Moss), a plant worker, to save the day.

It’s Die Hard (1988) in a water filtration plant (I just filled in the blank from our Crackerjack  review). Off the bat, we know this is going to be an odd one. Starting with, believe it or not, some close-ups of Gary Busey's teeth as he talks to no one in particular, with some pounding music behind it, very soon we see something we know isn’t good: nefarious-looking men in overcoats and sunglasses walking in slow motion. Those have to be the bad guys. Kim Coates puts in a noteworthy performance as Montessi. He must have known he was doing the role many people have done before, so he tried to change it up. He has all these little jokes, strange vocal inflections and tics to try to put a spin on the “hostage taker” part. He does wave his gun around a lot, but he at least tried to do it differently, which is a good thing.

Jeff Fahey has a cool jacket and cool hair, and generally just seems “too cool” for the supposedly urgent situation.  We always like seeing him. Carrie-Anne Moss is on hand as the romantic interest/sidekick, and we don’t normally see her in DTV product such as this, so that was a nice change as well. Gary Busey is his normal, unhinged self, and from the bad guy team, Karen Dwyer as Sparky stands out from the crowd.

However, this came out in 1997, meaning the influence of Quentin Tarantino must have proved too hard to resist for the filmmakers. For no apparent reason, instead of action scenes or plot points, characters just start talking about The Jeffersons and Good Times. That now seems somewhat embarrassing, and unnecessary. We don’t want pop culture references, especially apropos of nothing. We’d rather hear Jeff Fahey try to woo women talking about his brie omelets. (Don’t forget, we’ve already seen teams of men walking in slow motion that have code names...but I’m sure Reservoir Dogs never played into the equation here).

For a goofier-than-usual,  shot-in-Canada DTV product, Lethal Tender (gotta love that title) is actually pretty entertaining.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

On The Edge (2002)

On The Edge (2002)-*1\2

Directed by: Fred Williamson

Starring: Fred Williamson, Ice-T, Gary Busey, Ron O'Neal, Jim Brown, Bernie Casey, and Gloria Allred



"Nobody Escapes The Streets."









 Willie Jo Harris (Derrick Franklin) is a young, star basketball player on the rise. His dad Frank (O'Neal) is very proud of him. But he did a stupid thing. He bought some drugs from local hood Slim Jim (Ice-T). Now he owes him a lot of money. But some goons dispatched to kill him accidentally got the wrong house and kill the wife and son of Rex Stevens (Casey). Harris asks Dakota "Dak" Smith (Williamson), an ex-cop, golf enthusiast, and private eye, for help. Now old buddies Frank, Rex and Dak have to team up to fight the gangsters and corrupt cops. One of the main targets is the ruthless assassin Felix (Busey). Will these "Original Gangsters" be able to take down the baddies and win the day?

Also it is worth mentioning that Jim Brown is on hand as Chad Grant (doesn't he just look like someone named "Chad"? Come to think of it, Bernie Casey doesn't scream a guy named "Rex", so there you go), an ex-football player who runs "Challenges" Community Center. Not typecasting at all. And none other than Gloria Allred has a small role as "Councilwoman Gloria Johnson". I guess she has to get herself in front of a camera at all costs. ALL costs. Where else would Dakota go for info about the streets?

Director/Star/Co-Writer Williamson corraled his old pals to appear in one last blast, and sadly, it was the last appearance of Ron O'Neal. As we've mentioned before on this site, "never have a last movie". Williamson has a nice anti-crime/drugs message here, in what can only be described as a "neo-blaxploitation" (or neoblax, for short) film. It seems to be an attempt to marry the old-school blaxploitation style of the 70's, with the newer, direct-to-video brand, represented by such titles as Dead Homiez (1993), State Property (2002), Paper Soldiers (2002), etc. Unfortunately, it has a cheap, junky feel to it, and in many scenes, the dialogue is nigh-impossible to hear because there is also some rap music blaring on the soundtrack, and it actually drowns out the actors. And don't try to turn up the volume, because the overly-loud music comes with it. So while we want to hear what The Hammer is saying, instead we hear the jam "Everybody Wants To Be A Gangsta". Luckily, it is my jam. But it just seems like a blatant attempt to "be cool" and stay hip with the kids. We, the audience, know Williamson, Casey, Brown and O'Neal don't listen to this "rap-music noise".

There are some entertaining and funny things about On the Edge, not the least of which are Willie Jo Harris' hair, Ice-T's absurd suit, the usage of the (years-old by this time) "Whhaaazzzzuuuupppp?" - I assume that's how you spell it, and the presence of Gary Busey. Sure, he's not using his classic word he pioneered in Bulletproof (1988), "Butthorn", but luckily he has a great mixed-metaphor line with: "This has all the makings of a setup...but I'm holding the ace." And if you've ever wanted to see Busey do a drive-by shooting in the same movie as Williamson's classic "Fred-Fu", this is the movie for you.

But the true headline for On the Edge should be "Bernie Casey with a rocket launcher". 'Nuff said.

Inexplicably ending with the word "Gone!", On the Edge is notable for its cast of lovable favorites, but it might be wise to stick with the more classic-era Fred Williamson titles.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Bulletproof (1988)

 Bulletproof (1988)-* * *

Directed by: Steve Carver

Starring: Gary Busey, Henry Silva, Darlanne Fluegel, Thalmus Rasulala, Danny Trejo and L.Q. Jones







"Improbable Odds. Unstoppable Force."



I know it might seem hard to believe, but there once was a time when Gary Busey had a boyish charm and could have been an action star and wasn't known as a crazy guy and late-night comedian punchline. To witness this prime Busey, simply check out "Bulletproof" (not to be confused with the 1996 film where Adam Sandler shoots people).

Busey plays Frank "Bulletproof" McBain, a rogue, but lovable Cop On The Edge, or COTE for short. He's teamed up with the original Blacula himself, Thalmus Rasulala. One of McBain's talents is he is able to withstand being shot, and he saves all the bullets he's been shot with in a jar in his bathroom. Meanwhile, somewhere in Mexico, a terrorist network of "Mexicans, Nicaraguans and A-rabs" are all working in collusion to take over the world using a supertank called the NBT-90 Thunderblast.

The evil Colonel Kartiff (Silva) and General Brogado (Rene Enriquez) are heading up the operation, so Special Ops Military Adviser Sgt. O'Rourke (Jones) and army officer Devon Shepard (Fluegel) go south of the border to investigate. They, along with some of their army buddies and a group of priests and nuns are kidnapped and held hostage by the evildoers. Only one man can save his compatriots (and Devon, his long-lost love)...MCBAIN of course! And did we mention there are also evil Russians McBain has to stop?


In the 80's, you couldn't be the hero in an action movie and not be wisecracking. Most of Busey's lines are snappy one-liners, such as "what's this Tonka toy?", "I'm a one-man suicide squad!", and he even pioneered his own insult - the immortal "Butthorn". He inexplicably says this word THREE times during the movie. I guess it didn't catch on.

There are some sensitive flashbacks, and Devon even says to him "you may be bulletproof but you're not love proof". The movie on the whole is fun, upbeat and there is plenty of humor. Henry Silva plays an Islamic extremist, and the enemies are "communist-inspired terrorists". I guess it was pretty ahead of its time.

Surely this was one of the only times Fred Olen Ray (who wrote the story) got a movie released by a major studio. What would the world be like today if all his movies were?




A movie highlight is when Busey is tied to a big circular thing that looks like a huge cheese wheel. Watch out for this scene. So if you want to see a movie where Gary Busey is a lovable supercop and ladies man, and before he was crazy (well, really crazy) in a movie with plenty of heart, sax solos and blow-ups, and a mixed bag of world villains, this is the movie for you.



Comeuppance Review by: Brett & Ty

The Prize Fighter (2003)

The Prize Fighter (2003)-* *

Directed by: Mark Mason

Starring: Gary Busey and Tonya Harding
















The Prize Fighter is a mediocre movie.

Ed Jones (Rob Boyd) is trying to become a boxing champion. He gets a manager after winning a couple fights. It looks like he's on top of the world, but a family tragedy gets the best of Ed, and he quits. Will he eventually rise back to the top? The movie isn't that good, but you can see that everybody was trying their best, but the movie looks cheap and the sound is out of sync.

Gary Busey makes an appearance as a rival boxing manager. He's always entertaining. If the movie focused on Busey's character it would have been more fun to watch.



In the end: It's not worth seeing because it has poor acting and too many clichés.


Comeuppance review by: Ty

Chasing Ghosts (2005)

Chasing Ghosts (2005)- * * *

Directed By: Kyle Dean Jackson

Starring: Michael Madsem, Danny Trejo, Michael Rooker, Gary Busey, Shannon Sossamon, and Meat Loaf









Chasing Ghosts was a pretty good mystery. Michael Madsen stars as Detective Harrison, who is about to retire. He only has one more case to solve: Who is killing the crime lords around NYC?

The best parts of the movie are the confrontations with Madsen and Gary Busey, and the twists near the end. Meat Loaf, Michael Rooker and Danny Trejo are underused. The style of the film also works. The cinematography looks great but there are a little too many quick cuts. It was shot In L.A. but the director did a good job hiding it.



It's worth seeing for an excellent Michael Madsen performance and the presence of the eclectic cast.