Dragon Hunt (1990)

Dragon Hunt (1990)- * * *

Directed by: Charlie Wiener

Starring: Martin McNamara, Michael McNamara, and B.Bob

Seemingly continuing on right after the end of Twin Dragon Encounter (1986), Dragon Hunt sees the malevolent Jake (B. Bob) and his merry band of thugs, The People’s Private Army (perhaps an oxymoron there?) pursuing their obsession with The Twin Dragons (Michael “Mic” McNamara and Martin McNamara). Angered at the twins’ forcing him to now have a metal hand, Jake is more off the deep end than ever before. He recruits mercenaries and soldiers of fortune from far and wide and offers them 200,000 Canadian dollars if they can kill the twins. This Game becomes Most Dangerous when the twins are indeed kidnapped and caged, but then set free in the wilderness so they can be hunted by everyone from ninjas to overalls-wearing good-ole-boys. Of course, using their awesome Martial Arts and survival skills, the twins proceed to turn the tables on their pursuers and the hunters become the DRAGON HUNT-ed, eh?

The Macs are back! Finally! The McNamaras upped their game for this sequel to the jewel that is Twin Dragon Encounter. The cast is bigger (and “better trained” according to Jake), more diverse, and with bigger action setpieces such as machine-gun shootouts, blow-ups and even an attempted helicopter explosion. Consistent with this expansion, the movie is also even more disjointed and insane than its predecessor, with nutty narration by B. Bob as Jake, including much singing. He does a rousing rendition of “The Teddy Bears Picnic” that really adds a lot to the soundtrack. 

Speaking of the soundtrack, what would a sequel to Twin Dragon Encounter be without more catchy, rockin’ tunes by Billy Butt? Not only does he contribute a title song (with lyrics that reference happenings in the plot; we love when movies have those) but two new songs, “Survivor” and “Makes a Man Cry”. The song “Faces” from the first movie returns, but we think it’s an all-new re-recording.

The whole thing is wonderfully silly and you can’t help but enjoy it. It even gets AIP-esque at times, and while the movie was released in 1990, it has a copyright date of 1989 and surely has the ’89 spirit we’re constantly talking about. They really did a lot with their low budget and we respect that. The first credit we see after the last scene is, and we quote, “This Film Was In No Way Assisted by Telefilm Canada Or the Ontario Film Development Corporation”. So not only did they assert their true independence with the making of this movie, they went out of their way to give the finger to the powers that be! You don’t see that anymore, and it should be applauded and treasured.

However, the downside to that is that this is the lesser-seen of the two classic McNamara movies. It got no U.S. distribution on VHS because Vidmark passed. We’re really not sure why, seeing as they saw fit to release the first one, but maybe this was just too out there for them. Or maybe new management or something stupid like that. But it did come out on Cineplex Odeon Video in Canada, and a few French and German territories, but that’s about it (except for rare television screenings, but we’re talking about physical releases).

In many ways an improvement upon its predecessor, at the very least it’s just as good and worth seeing. 

Reasonable people may differ on which is the better McMovie, but one thing is certain: all the charm remains intact in this sequel, and it’s best to just see them both.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty 

Wolverine (1996)

Wolverine (1996)- * * *

Directed by: David Jackson

Starring: Antonio Sabato Jr., Matthew Cox, Traci Lind, Danny Quinn, and Richard Brooks

Harry Gordini (Sabato Jr.), his wife Monica (Lind), and their nine-year-old son Joey (of course his name is Joey)(Cox) travel from L.A. to Rome for a little family vacation. Unfortunately, in the worst case of “mistaken suitcase” ever, some evil, drug-dealing baddies led by Adolfo Jones (Quinn) end up getting the Gordinis’ suitcase filled with Joey’s extensive collection of diving gear, while the innocent family gets a case filled with 200 million dollars’ worth of a new street drug. Jones really wants the suitcase back and is willing to go to any measures to get it. Meanwhile, Special Agent John Baines (Brooks) and the FBI/police are hot on the trail of the gang. Who will find the Gordini family first – the cops or the baddies?


However, before that question is even considered, it is revealed that Gordini is no mild-mannered college professor. He is a Navy Cross-decorated Navy SEAL with the code name Wolverine. He was dubbed that by his compatriots because he is “the best” and trained to be an ultimate killing machine who stubbornly refuses to give up stalking his prey. When Monica and Joey are kidnapped (and in the case of Joey, more than once!), the tables are turned – who will reach the baddies first, Gordini or Baines? And just when you’re figuring that one out, you realize that there are several more twists and turns to go! Will Adolfo Jones or Agent Baines bring out the worst – or possibly best – in the man known as WOLVERINE?


Wolverine is a watchable, competent, and coherent outing that is quite TV movie-esque, which makes sense, as this was a pilot for a potential series. It could have worked well in syndication. Unfortunately, it was made before the golden age of television – i.e., now – and our current proliferation of cable channels that could have housed it, complete with all the violence and nudity the writers could have wished for. So, yes, the violence is pretty tamped down; there is some shooting and some neck snaps that are more funny than brutal. But they managed to squeeze out as much action as they could under the extremely limiting circumstances.

To be honest, there isn’t a ton of action in Wolverine. What action there is, of course, is more than welcome. But it’s a pretty entertaining movie in its own right and the cast carries it off well. We’ve got Antonio Sabato Jr. on board, naturally, and he’s shown time and again he can be a heroic lead we can all get behind. Traci Lind as his wife makes a good match for him, and, plotwise, as we the viewers get to know more about her character, things start to make sense (no spoilers here). 

There has to be a little kid named Joey, so one of those is here of course. He’s more interested in playing one of those zero-graphics hand-held video games from Tiger Electronics than seeing the amazing sights of Rome or, really, doing anything else. But then when he finally gets to go diving, well…we won’t say what happens, but let’s just say the baddies pull out their ultimate weapon.

Richard Brooks was another welcome face, as were some of the European actors, but it does seem hard to believe someone would go way out of their way to track down Wolverine. (Unlike in real life, where he would go way out of his way to track you down). If you see the DVD cheap somewhere, sure, pick it up, but don’t expect anything other than something decent. Just decent, that’s it. It’s not bad by any stretch, but it won’t blow you away, either. 

Maybe if Wolverine was unchained from TV censorship, that might have happened. But as it is, it’s just good, no more, no less. Some 90’s tech on display and some people sounding like they’re calling our hero “Gordita” aren’t going to change that.

In other words, it’s no Thrill (1996), but what can be?

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett