Cinematic Roundup: Dolemite, Robocop, The Terminator, The Rock, Raiders & More!

There are a lot of great frigging movies playing in Los Angeles this week. And I'm not talking about new releases The Boss, Hardcore Henry or Demolition. I'm talking repertory screenings across town, retrospectives and one killer triple feature. Starting last week, UCLA has been honoring prolific producer Jerry Bruckheimer with a month-long film festival, The Heat Is On, with screenings of Top Gun, Enemy of the State and Pirates of the Caribbean. This Saturday you can catch testosterone fueled 90's classics from Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay with The Rock and Armageddon. The Rock was one of my favorite movies growing up but I've never seen it on the big screen. Sean Connery, Nic Cage, Ed Harris and Michael Biehn all shine in the violent roller coaster ride that was a hit in '96. A supposed sequel featuring Cage's bio-chemist turned man of action was announced but never produced.

Over in West Hollywood, you can catch cinematic O.G. Harrison Ford in his prime at The New Beverly for Raiders of the Lost Ark, playing Friday and Saturday night along with a Saturday matinee. Matinees at The New Bev are fun, they're only $6.00 and you get a free popcorn! Dick Tracy is playing later in April as well so I'll be sure to check that out. In Hollywood proper, our friends at The American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theatre and Cinematic Void are premiering a new 2K restoration of grindhouse classic Dolemite! Packed with 70's kung-fu, open collars, music and rhymes, stay tuned after the film as cast and crew are scheduled for Q&A. Saturday night at The Egyptian, prepare for a killer 80's triple feature of tech-noir classics Robocop, The Terminator and R.O.T.O.R.?! Robo and Term are two of my favorite flicks of all time, making me life long fans of Peter Weller, Paul Verhoeven, James Cameron and Michael Biehn among others in two fell swoops.

I've seen Robocop twice on the big screen, both with Weller attending now that I think of it...and Terminator at least 6 times with the likes of Cameron and producer Gale Ann Hurd on hand but sadly never with the real stars, Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn. And yes, you're reading this right. You can see The Rock and The Terminator on the big screen this Saturday which means Michael Biehn on the big screen twice in one day! Throw in Aliens at the Ace Hotel later this month for LV-426/Alien Day and that equals a triple dose of The Biehn in 30 days! If only someone would screen Predator to give Los Angeles a near comprehensive 80's sci-fi/action buffet...

Biehn Scene: Deep Red

From the Dammaged Goods VHS library comes 1994's Deep Red, a science fiction action noir flick starring Michael Biehn. Written by D. Brent Mote and directed by Craig R. Baxley, Red has the distinction of being then Sci-Fi Channel's first original movie. The film opens similar to Predator as an alien vessel soars across starry space and heads towards earth. But down here, the ship is actually tiny in scale and crashes into young Gracie (Lindsey Haun), effectively infecting her with Deep Red. The alien substance provides healing ability and possible immortality. Gracie is thrust into danger as mad scientists wish to exploit the power and come after her. Enter burnt out private detective Joe Keyes (Biehn) and his ex-wife Monica Quik (Joanna Pacula) as they set out to protect young Gracie. For a straight to TV genre flick, Deep Red contains an excellent cast, surprisingly large scale action and a tone that's noir meets The Terminator.

Biehn plays haunted former police officer Keyes who is thrown into the deep end protecting Gracie against seemingly super powered thugs. Moody lighting and lengthy shots accompany voice-over discussing good and evil as Biehn is a cashed out non-believer who eventually comes around. Perennially sweating with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and disheveled hair, Biehn digs back into his bread and butter as the wounded action hero lead. By the early 90's, stunt man, driver, choreographer and coordinator Craig R. Baxley had already worked with the likes of Warren Beatty, Joel Silver, Walter Hill and John McTiernan providing explosions and fights for The Warriors, Predator and TV's The A-Team. With feature directing credits under his belt including Action Jackson and I Come In Peace; Baxley carved out a niche as a guy who could deliver an exciting, action packed and familiar face filled flick on a budget.

Baxley chimed in for the writing of this article, lamenting that Deep Red "wow, was a couple years ago" and it was the "first in house movie made for the Sci-Fi channel". Baxley worked with then President of Universal Cable Division Barbara Fisher and signed on. When asked who he saw as the lead, Baxley suggested the sensitive yet physical hero of The Terminator and Aliens, Michael Biehn. Fisher didn't think they could get Biehn interested let alone afford him. Baxley recalls, "I took it upon myself to call him on on the set of Tombstone and after a brief conversation had his commitment".  Deep Red featured plenty of character faces like Tobin Bell (Saw), Joanna Pacula, John de Lancie (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and John Kapelos (The Breakfast Club). The film was shot around LA in 20 days with no second unit on a budget of just under $3 million. Baxley states "I tried to give it a film noir look as well as the feel of a Sci-fi action flick. We didn't have the budget to do the action but I think we actually pulled it off." Like many of Baxley's efforts, the action ranges from physical dust ups (Biehn gets tossed around an office), gun exchanges, pretty Damme big explosions and some chases. Under Siege and Double Team's Gary Chang provides the ambient and kinetic score.

Deep Red debuted on Saturday, March 12th of 1994 as a Sci-Fi Channel Planetary Premiere before hitting VHS in June. Biehn would go on to star in the massive NBC mini-series Asteroid in 1997 before headlining The Magnificent Seven for two short seasons while popping up on the big screen opposite Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage in The Rock. In 1996, Baxley directed Twilight Man, the first in house movie for Starz before adapting several Stephen King works as event mini-series. Writer D. Brent Mote would reteam with the rebranded SyFy Channel in 2009 for 5 seasons of quirky action on Warehouse 13. SyFy would make Saturday night original films a staple of their programming to various degrees of success and quality. Most were budgeted around $1 million and embracing the low budget, campy quality, the likes of Eric Roberts, Lance Henriksen, Dean Cain and Kevin Sorbo fought off zombies, dinosaurs, abominable snowmen, giant snakes and blobs of ooze. In recent years their Sharknado series struck social media gold while I can't say I've seen one.

#HicksLives! aka Michael Biehn and Alien 5?

Since images of a proposed Alien sequel started popping up on Neill Blomkamp's Instagram account on New Years Day, the internet has been rife with rumors on what was going on. Blomkamp is a known fan of the Ridley Scott and James Cameron films and had revealed he'd been working on an Alien movie in his spare time without Fox's awareness or permission. The young director had just worked with Alien star Sigourney Weaver on the yet to be released Chappie and had apparently run ideas past her. Weaver's interest was piqued and soon it was officially announced that Blomkamp would be making a new Alien film, possibly two, that would follow the events of 1986's Aliens.

Fans were semi-divided on the inclusion of alive in Aliens but dead in Alien 3 Corporal Hicks, played by one Michael Biehn. Blomkamp's artwork showed off an older and scarred Hicks so unless it's a dream, the events of Alien 3 would essentially be jettisoned. I honestly don't have a problem with that as Alien 3 was released 20 years ago and was not exactly a celebrated entry into the franchise. Take into account that Hicks doesn't die on screen in Aliens and I don't see many casual movie goers being too upset about it. Approaching the release of Chappie, Weaver was announced to be returning to the series that would aim to be a sequel to Aliens without totally ignoring 3 and 4th flick Resurrection. Ridley Scott's Prometheus that was an entertaining if overreaching pseudo prequel/reboot to Alien that no one is clamoring for a follow up to. Chappie failed to garner much in terms of box office gross or positive reviews but Alien 5 is still moving forward. Scott is producing and asked Blomkamp to make a simple story change to not affect Prometheus 2.

With Weaver back, what did that mean for Biehn? With Hick's image and character so prominently displayed, readers were questioning if he would return. At a convention in Florida, it's alleged that Biehn was aware of the new film and had been contacted. Cut to last week and news hit across the internet from Empire to Dark Horizons that Michael Biehn's private Instagram was announcing his involvement in Alien 5 and his return as Hicks. The only problem is that Biehn isn't on Instagram as confirmed by wife and producing partner Jennifer-Blanc Biehn via Facebook. While it sounds like Biehn is interested and talks are in progress, nothing is official unfortunately. But on a congratulatory note, it looks like Blanc gave birth to son Dashiell Biehn this past weekend and is in good spirits.

Until then #HicksLives (maybe) and #F@ckAlien3!

Biehn Scene: Adventure, Inc. & The Wave of the Future

After working with Gale Ann Hurd on The Terminator and Aliens, Michael Biehn would reunite with the prolific genre writer and producer 16 years later on Nickelodeon's time bending family adventure, Clockstoppers.  The mild success led to another collaboration with Fireworks and Tribune Entertainment's 2002 syndicated action series Adventure, Inc.  Based on the real life exploits of Barry Clifford, a renowned under water explorer who has embarked on multiple sea excursions and discovered many a sunken ship.  Promotions at San Diego Comic-Con and The Cannes Film Festival in France followed before the 22 episodes hit the air.  Filming in Canada, England and France, the show has quite the exotic yet low budget feel, rumored to be around $40 million for the series.  But since the show was pre-sold, I'm guessing that's an inflated number.

Michael Biehn stars as professional explorer Judson Cross, a treasure seeker always down to his last couple of bucks waiting for a big job.  He's joined by the beautiful Mackenzie Previn (Karen Cliche), a badass chick with a mysterious past and tech wizard Gabriel Patterson (Jesse Nilsson, View In Peace) as they trot the globe looking for artifacts and running into those who would sell them instead of putting them in a museum and those who wish for their lost cultural items to stay unearthed.  Watching a few episodes this week on DVD, number 16 of the first and only season, Wave of the Future caught my attention simply because Michael Biehn got to kick so much ass and talk so much shit in it.  After finding a Roman Plate during an Italian dive, Cross is immediately attacked by some random black market pirates but escapes.

Later, while handing the plate over to the local university museum and the sultry curator Stefi (Daniela Olivieri), he's attacked by three hoods dressed as priests(!) who steal the plate but not before The Biehn puts a whuppin' on them, slamming a head into a concrete wall, kicking one over it, etc.  Nobody steals from Judson Cross so a pissed off Biehn finds the pirate punk who stole his plate then beats his ass at a cafe.  Cross makes a deal to buy the plate back but Stefi doesn't think the risk is worth it as the plate is insured.  But nobody tells The Biehn what to do so armed with a bag of fake cash, goes to the meeting where he puts a hurting on yet another three dudes, this time using a net and oar!  Turns out the sweet Stefi was actually playing Judson and was behind the theft in the first place but ol' Biehn was too smart for her and arranges a safe escort for her, to prison!

Directed by TV veteran Chris Bould (Who's Line Is It Anyway ?, Relic Hunter) with a script by Gene O'Neil (Lois & Clark, Hercules, Spy Game(!)) and stunts by Lloyd Adams, Wave of the Future stands out as a fun episode that utilizes The Biehn Screen persona we all know and love; funny, wise ass, a ladies man and a guy ready to kick some ass.  While Hurd has had massive success with the recent zombie series The Walking Dead, Adventure, Inc. was her first foray into episodic television over 12 years ago.  Feeling that film was more of an actors and directors medium, Hurd figured TV would allow her ideas to breathe and build into something audiences would appreciate.  While Adventure, Inc. allowed Biehn and company to have some light hearted fun around the world and the series did well in the ratings, it was not picked up by enough buyers to warrant a 2nd season.  Sadly, co-star Jesse Nilsson died of complications from pneumonia in 2003.  Biehn would go on to co-star in NBC's short lived 2004 cop series Hawaii while Cliche would jump over to Fireworks and Tribune's sci-fi syndicated series Mutant X before landing on Flash Gordon.

Cinemarked: Michael Biehn and Navy SEALs

Lone Survivor obliterated the box office competition last week with an astounding weekend haul of $37 million.  Days later, the story of stranded Navy SEALs picked up two Academy Award Nominations.  From the Death of Bin Laden to it's cinematized adaptation Zero Dark Thirty to best selling books, Navy SEALs have become firmly entrenched in the public consciousness over the last few years.  With roots tracing back to World War II, SEALs were officially formed in 1962 to fill a need for fighting unconventional warfare utilizing men trained in hand to hand combat, demolitions, parachuting and underwater deployment.  Their ability to operate at sea, air and land gave birth to the term SEAL.  The price of joining is astronomical as the physical and mental demands root out some 80% of hopefuls.

In recent years, their real life heroism has been celebrated, some would argue too much and too publicly while giving the United States something to be proud of: we know how to kick ass.  While Act of Valor, Survivor, Zero and Captain Phillips have shown us realistic portrayals lately, there was one actor who embodied the cinematic badassness of these mythical warriors before everything went docudrama:  Michael Biehn.

Biehn has played a Navy SEAL no less than 3 times, each in a very different way in very different situations.  The Biehn would put his good looks and athletic prowess to excellent use for his breakthrough role in 1984's The Terminator as a love struck, time traveling soldier.  The signature role would also forever typecast him as the sensitive action hero to many and in his own words always led to him being a current/former cop, soldier or secret agent.  Although he's played some great roles in non-action fare, it's those performances where he's running around with a gun in his hand and barking out orders that will always be my favorite. 


Let's look at Biehn's Navy SEALs filmography:

The Abyss, 1989, Lt. Hiram Coffey
The third of four collaborations with one James Cameron sees Biehn playing leader of a small detachment of SEALs sent down to assist an oil rig crew to investigate a crashed nuclear submarine.  Right away, Coffey begins experiencing deep pressure sickness syndrome and fights to control the motely roughneck crew while determining whether or not Russians are waiting around the corner to attack.  Things get even weirder when Non-Terrestrial-Intelligent creatures show up.  Sick and cut off from his chain of command with a nuclear warhead at his finger tips, Coffey decides to send the otherworldly invaders a surprise care package in the shape of a multi-megaton bomb.

Co-Stars:  Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Traits:  Mustache, jittery behavior, slices arm to stop it from shaking
Fate:  Dies in a submersible implosion after elbowing the tape deck playing shitty tunes
SEAL-ness:  Scary and ominous, as much fun as a tax audit

Navy Seals, 1990, Lt. James Curran
Biehn's follow up role as the crazed SEAL leader in The Abyss would be as another SEAL Lieutenant, this time named Curran, in Orion's action fest, Navy Seals, written by former SEAL Chuck Pfarrer.  Biehn was at the top of executive Mike Medavoy's list for leading men and found himself starring opposite Academy Award winning bad boy Charlie Sheen.  Director Lewis Teague was fresh off the success of The Jewel of the Nile, follow up to Romancing The Stone.  Here, Biehn is pure big hearted good guy, the cool, calm leader of the outfit dealing with stolen shoulder mounted Stinger missiles, middle eastern terrorists and hotshot Chuck Sheen.  With the help of a connected journalist,  Curran and his team trot the globe dispatching bad guys with silenced MP-5's and AK-47's while quipping wise and playing golf.
Co-Stars:  Sheen, Bill Paxton, Rick Rossovich, Dennis Haysbert and Joanne Whalley (Kilmer)
Traits:  Coiffed blonde hair, drunk clarity, firm yet vulnerable leadership
Fate:  Gets shot in the abdomen and thigh while blowing up a building full of missiles thus forcing wild card Sheen to Chuck up and take command
SEAL-ness:  Doesn't have time to dick around because he's too busy punching terrorist
tickets and partying at the beach, his boat house and golf course

The Rock, 1996, Commander Anderson
Biehn's final portrayal of a Navy SEAL (to date) was in Michael Bay's slam bang, summer action thrill ride The Rock, where he's been promoted to Commander.  After a decorated Marine Force Recon General goes rogue and takes over Alcatraz Island armed with missiles aimed at San Francisco, Biehn is called in to lead the responsive action.  Recruiting the only known convict who survived escape as well as a chemical weapons specialist, Biehn's SEALs infiltrate the prison fortress before coming face to face with the disgruntled Marines turned mercenaries.  A total curve ball for audiences, Biehn's heroic face and body of work is used to throw the audience for a loop 2/3 of the way through the movie.  All of Biehn's scenes are speeches:  in front of the authorities planning an attack, letting the convict and chemist know what their roles are and what they're up against, giving his troops for a pre-invasion pep talk and finally mano a mano with the pissed off Marine General.
Co-Stars:  Nicolas Cage, Sean Connery and Ed Harris
Traits:  Hard, cold, always in black
Fate:  Gets killed in a shower room massacre when the Marines ambush the SEALs from high ground
SEAL-ness:  Surrounded by real life Frogmen, Biehn is as taciturn as can be and his death ratchets up the stakes as our lab rat and senior citizen convict are left to deal with the Marines and missiles

Of course this is Hollywood we're talking about so creative license has to be taken and it's all overblown bullshit, right? Actually, a group of former SEALs from the original 1962 group enjoyed 1990's Navy Seals with it's tough guy attitudes and adrenaline pumping action. While Biehn's performance in The Rock helped land him the job of narrating a film that runs (or ran) at The National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Florida.  Along with the gig, Biehn was named an Honorary Frogman for Life by Rear Admiral E.T. Olsen.  While Michael Biehn might not be a true American hero like all of the Navy SEALs we hear about, he sure as hell looks good playing one in movies.

One of the great shouting matches of our time:

Biehn Scene: Alien 3

I love Aliens.  I've loved it since seeing it as a kid on CBS Saturday night then running around the house with a Super Soaker thinking it was a Pulse Rifle.  Years later I'd see it in all it's uncut glory on VHS and then the Special Edition in 1990 that reincorporated 17 minutes of James Cameron preferred footage.  Michael Biehn's portrayal of soft spoken, thrown into command, Biehn there, done that Corporal Hicks was a revelation.  Even though it was Ripley's movie, Biehn's turn as Hicks was calm, cool and badass while forever ingraining himself as one of my favorite actors.  Whether he's the vulnerable action hero of The Terminator, Navy Seals and Timebomb or the crazed, misunderstood mustached "villain" of Tombstone or The Abyss, Biehn always delivers a performance that can only be described as equal parts sensitive and intense...Sintense!

My love for 1986's Aliens was so strong that I never had a desire to watch 1979's Alien let alone 1992's Alien 3.  I may have caught bits and pieces of both but I didn't sit down for Alien until last summer to prep for Prometheus.  Alien 3 was still dead to me since I knew Hicks was not featured and had only heard bad things about the troubled production.  Thanks to the magic of in depth special features, we get to hear about all of those struggles from the people who lived them.  Following the success of Aliens, the producers went to work on a third installment but were stuck creatively.  Even though Sigourney Weaver's Ripley had become a north star for women in science fiction and garnered her an Academy Award nomination, female moviegoers still did not flock to Alien or Aliens.

For Alien 3, ideas were fleshed out and screenplays commissioned focusing on the male action hero Hicks could represent.  For whatever reason, Biehn, the man who brought Hicks to life, the consummate professional who replaced another actor already cast in the role over a weekend, was not going to be asked back.  When the flick finally started to roll under first time director David Fincher's eye, Weaver was center stage and Hicks was dead.  Already dead at the start of the film, Hicks was to be a carrier of a chest burster, thus bringing the xenomorph threat to new settings.  Once Biehn got wind of it, he and his agent protested and threatened to sue if his likeness was used.  Finally, a photo of Biehn from Aliens appeared on screen, for which he was paid nearly as much as his salary was on the previous film.

Now I'm trying to watch the prison planet set Alien 3, which has it's merits, but it's no Aliens and I nodded off several times.  Even though each Alien film is it's own self contained story, it's hard to watch Alien 3 and see everything Cameron and crew had accomplished in Aliens negated and jettisoned in the first 15 minutes.  That, and the cast and characters just can't hold a candle to Hicks, Hudson, Bishop, Apone, Drake or Vasquez.

Hicks lives!

Biehn Scene: American Dragons aka Double Edge aka A Tale Of Two Michaels

A buddy alerted me that MGM has their own channel and yesterday programmed a doozy of a daytime double feature with American Dragons and American Ninja IV:  The Annihilation. AD stars Michael Biehn while AN has Michael Dudikoff.  You SHOULD know Biehn's work from The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Navy Seals, Tombstone, The Rock, Grindhouse:  Planet Terror and many more but I'm here to talk about those lesser known titles, the VHS tapes I packed into my luggage when I moved out west.

American Dragons, titled Double Edge on my VHS copy, is a great direct to video action/crime thriller from the 90's.  Remember those?  Genre flicks of varied quality made on a budget in Los Angeles, Canada or Europe starring familiar (or familiar to genre fans) faces who had their moment but never quite broke through?  Sure you do.  Trimark, Live Entertainment, Imperial, Dimension, New World... No?  Starring the likes of Eric Roberts, Lorenzo Lamas, Lance Henriksen, Shannon Tweed and Joan Severance?  Still no?  Find yourself another online diary!

(Ahem, in gravelly narrator voice) A maniacal renegade enforcer and a shadowy, cold-blooded assassin have teamed up to start a gang war between the mafia and Yakuza in a bid to take control.  It's up to mismatched partners Detective Tony Luca (Biehn) and Seoul Police Department Inspector Kim (Joong-Hoon Park) to stop them!  East meets West in a furious flurry of bullets and blades, fists and fights, racism (all Asians are Bruce Lee, right?), stereotypes (greasy/douchy Italians alert!), bonding through booze and karaoke, pizza, ramen and slow-motion work out montages!  Get ready to feel the Double Edge!  Or, here comes the American Dragons!

Like I said, AD is a great piece of 90's DTV filmmaking.  TV director Ralph Hemecker acquits himself nicely in one of his few feature credits.  It's well made (in Canada) with great production values, exciting action (gun fights, fisticuffs), pulsing music and a solid cast.   Joining Biehn and Park are Don Stark (That 70's Show) as traitorous evil mob henchman Rocco, Byron Mann (Ryu in Van Damme's 1993 Street Fighter movie) as hyper efficient, knife and sword wielding assassin Shadow and Tsang Shung himself, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as a Yakuza boss.

The Biehn showcases a bit of his sensitive action hero side as well as being kind of a dick.  In a funny, "prove me wrong" kind of way.  Definitely one of my favorite performances from him in an utterly enjoyable and re-watchable flick.

Check out the horrible-great video trailer: