Support This! Stories From the Trenches: Official Sam Firstenberg Book

Between The Expendables, Stranger Things, barcades, endless Transformers and Alien sequels and synthwave soundtracks everywhere, the 2010's have been very 80's centric. VHS remains a collector's niche and Cannon Film fans were treated to terrific documentary Electric Boogaloo. Cannon and Nu Image staple Sam Firstenberg is now the subject of proposed book Stories From the Trenches that will dig into his colorful history of breaking into the film business, working with independent film luminaries and genre stars. Firstenberg directed American Ninja, sequel The Confrontation as well as Breakin' 2, Avenging Force, Revenge of the Ninja, Ninja III and many more. His films were filled with the likes of Michael Dudikoff, Steve James, Kirstie Alley, Sho Kosugi, John Rhys-Davies, David Bradley, Mark Dacascos, Eric Roberts, Michael Madsen and Robert Vaughn.

Spearheaded by Marco Siedelmann, a journalist and author who has conducted hours of interviews with Firstenberg and his colleagues. Siedelmann has already provided genre fans with The Untold, In-Depth, Outrageously True Story about Shapiro Glickenhaus Entertainment, a deep dive into the foreign pre-sale, VHS fueled exploitation fun of the 80's and 90's that gave us Maniac Cop, Frankenhooker, Shakedown and other favorites. I'm currently halfway through that entertaining and educational tome of a bygone, go-go era and am looking forward to tales from some of my youth shaping flicks.

Stories From the Trenches has nearly reached it's Kickstarter fund raising goal so donate if you can before Monday, May 15th!

What the Chuck?! Invasion U.S.A.

I don't know why it's taken me so long getting around to writing about Invasion U.S.A. from 1985. It's one of Chuck's greatest flicks and I enjoyed the hell out of watching it with some whiskey at my side. Apparently, by the mid 80's, America hadn't been invaded for 200 years. Evil Russian spy guy Mikhail Rostov (Richard Lynch, View In Peace) is looking to change that with the help of a Communist army made up of his fellow countrymen, Cubans and some Arabs.  Landing on the beaches of Florida, they kill civilian men, women and children ruthlessly.  The C.I.A. tries to recruit former operative Matt Hunter (Norris) to look into the case but he's too busy wrestling and wrangling alligators in the Florida Everglades.  The company wouldn't let Hunter kill Rostov when he had the chance so now it's their problem. You see, Hunter once caught Rostov during a thwarted assassination by bazooka attempt and the Red is still plenty pissed and scarred about it.  Nightmares of Hunter sticking a gun to his temple and telling him, "It's time to die..." have him waking up in anger and fright before dispatching some dudes to take care of The Chuck.  They miss of course but kill his airboat riding, frog eating buddy John (Dehl Berti, View In Peace) so now it's on and Hunter is gonna show those dirty Commies how America kicks ass!

Meanwhile, the mercenary army creates violent havoc on the streets of Miami. Posing as cops they commit terrorist attacks and stoke the fire of social and racial unrest until civilians begin fighting each other. In a key scene the baddies attack a shopping mall during Christmas but Hunter saves the day with his jacked up truck, denim shirt and twin Uzi's. Now with a taste for bloody revenge, Hunter starts offing Rostov's army with extreme "guns, karate, explosion and knife through the hand" prejudice.

Man what a great flick.  It's funny, ridiculous, intense, violent and near exploitative.  Rostov is a real shitbag, seeing Americans as soft and not realizing how their own safety can be used against them. In an early scene, Rostov shoves a snorting with a steel straw cokehead's head into the table then throws her out the window AND shoots a dealer in the nuts. It was an interesting twist to have him so mentally messed up by Hunter and thus making some bad strategic decisions out of fear. Joseph Zito directs a script by James Bruner, Chuck himself and brother Aaron with that sleazy 80's vibe where people are violently killed via squibs and shots to the head. Chuck's unexpected but welcome dry humor is on display early talking about Social Security and being sick of eating frogs. After friend John is killed, Hunter goes sullen as it's time for Rostov to die. Norris delivers several lines in awesome yet intense whisper giving "I'm not interested or You're beginning to irritate me and Not this time" surprising menace and quotability. All in, Norris whispers "It's time to die" three times throughout the running time and makes good on his words at the end with a frigging bazooka duel!

Hot on the heels of the well received cop thriller Code of Silence, Norris would enter his Cannon Film days for schlock masters Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus with Invasion. Norris was loyal to the Go-Go boys stating that they were there for him when he needed them.  Making an estimated $2 million a film in 1985, Invasion U.S.A. is said to have cost a then staggering $16 million clams with $5 going to the mall scene alone shot over 3 nights with thousands of extras that's as harrowing as it is impressive with explosions, squibs and trucks crashing through glass and storefronts on location in Georgia. Opening on September 27th with a healthy $6.8 million weekend take, putting it ahead of flicks like Romancing the Stone sequel The Jewel of the Nile, St. Elmo's Fire, Fright Night and The Breakfast Club and behind action flicks Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Commando, Pale Rider and Rambo II.  Although Invasion opened up strong, it would gross less than all of those films on it's way to $17.5 million; putting it ahead of To Live and Die in L.A., Death Wish 3, King Solomon's Mines, Remo Williams, American Ninja and Lifeforce.

From here, Norris would team up with Lee Marvin for hit The Delta Force before facing diminishing returns on Mission in Action III, Hero and the Terror, Delta Force 2 and The Hitman. Director Zito already had successes Mission in Action and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter under his belt and would go on to the big budget Dolph Lundgren vehicle Red Scorpion before seemingly fading away from filmmaking. The character of Matt Hunter would appear in 1986's Avenging Force with Michael Dudikoff taking over the role when Norris passed.

The 80's Called: Go-Go

Looks like the 80's just ain't going nowhere, fast, as this week showed people still want their Starlog Magazine, 8-bit video games, VHS movie trailers and schlocktastic studio of the future, Cannon Films.  So cancel your Saturday night date, break out the 2-liter of Shasta and crank up the synth wave as we round up all things great eight...ies.

- Non-profit The Internet Archive out of San Francisco looks to provide historians, scholars and the general public permanent access to digital records.  Amongst their archives are over 200 issues of Starlog Magazine, the publication devoted to science fiction films, books and television series that had it's heyday in the 80's.  Started by Kerry O'Quinn and Norman Jacobs with a later assist from David Houston as a one off guide to Star Trek, Starlog expanded into regular printing and ran from 1976 to 2009 for 375 issues.  The company also published Comics Scene and Fangoria, focusing on comic book adaptations and horror films among other titles.

- The Internet Archive also unveiled over 900 8-bit coin-operated arcade game titles emulated for online play.  As mall arcades died out in the 90's, you can save your quarters and spend your free time playing classics like Bionic Commando, Street Fighter II, Galaga, Golden Axe, Q*Bert, Dig Dug and Burger Time online instead.

- Speaking of video games, remember River City Ransom?  The Double Dragon-esque NES beat'em up game where you went around punching dudes with brass knuckles and eating ramen?  An officially licensed sequel, Underground, is on the way via a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign that revisits and expands upon Alex and Ryan's army'ing into River City looking for a kidnapped girlfriend.

- YouTube masher upper extraordinaire Chiefbrodyrules dropped his latest creation, a VHS, 80's style trailer for Captain America: Winter Soldier.  Complete with Cannon Films logo, tracking lines and synth soundtrack, Brody culls footage from the Cap flicks, Avengers, Robocop, Scott Pilgrim VS The World, Machete and Nick of Time to create an awesome time capsule made way outside the actual era.

- And we can't reminisce about the 80's without talking about Cannon Films now can we?  It's been a busy year for the former Go-Go boys of Hollywood with two documentaries hitting screens heightening their profile and the passing of co-founder Menahem Golan cementing their legacy.  After several years in the making, Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films finished production and began rolling out at various film festivals.  Featuring interviews with studio staples and stars like Michael Dudikoff, Dolph Lundgren, Tobe Hooper and Sam Firstenberg; the love letter to pre-sold, hastily made, schlocky exploitation fare sure to include nudity, action and or horror has been a hit with viewers.

Founders Golan and Yoram Globus were scheduled to participate but then in true Cannon fashion, created their own documentary called The Go-Go Boys: Inside Cannon Films to beat Boogaloo to the punch.  At the Cannes Film Festival in May, the two former mini-moguls held court for a screening and attendees could check out both documentaries over the festivals run.  Sadly, in August, 85 year old Golan passed away.

Ask Me a Question: Double Impact w/ Sheldon Lettich

 "Hey, bro, we did it!" 

That's about how I felt after everything was said and done on Dammaged Goods' first live event, a Van Damme Double Dip featuring 1991's Double Impact and 1988's Bloodsport with Q&A featuring writer/director Sheldon Lettich.  Hosted by the awesome New Beverly theater, this whole thing came together rather quickly.  After a false start on trying to show Lionheart (Universal has no print, lame) then attempting to recruit Bolo Yeung (out of town), we forged ahead with the special evening(s).  The New Bev had a Bloodsport poster and Sheldon provided an original Double Impact one sheet for the lobby.  At showtime, my plan was to introduce myself, the blog and the movies then move into trivia with prizes like WWJCVDD? shirts and a VHS copy of Double Impact to be signed by Sheldon himself.  Upon hearing these ideas, Mr. Lettich dug into his own personal collection and came back with awesome promos from the release like industry invites, VHS release postcards and a press kit!  Questions ran the gauntlet of number of shooting days (63), number of times Sheldon has directed Van Damme (4), co-stars and more.

The print of Double Impact was quite good, some of the colors were washed out at times but otherwise very clean.  On the big screen you realize how frigging violent this movie is.  From the opening minutes massacre of Paul and Katherine Wagner to bloody, 90's style squib hits, multiple broken necks to kicks to the throat that look just a little too real, Double Impact delivers the Van Dammage.  Being Van Damme's first big budget, more mainstream affair, the action isn't just fists and feet as we get various shootouts, fights, chases on foot and water and explosions galore.  The movie is randomly hilarious, thanks to JCVD's acting as both the Hollywood playboy, karate and aerobics instructor Chad and the cigar chomping, woman slapping, mahjong parlor owning smuggler Alex who team up to take down the evil gangsters that killed their parents and stole their birthright to an expensive tunnel project.  Fighting through thugs, a bodybuilding, maybe lesbian security enforcer, a high kicking henchman with spurs on his boots for slicing throats and the mighty Bolo Yeung as Moon, Chad and Alex finally confront the men who killed their parents and separated them at birth.

One of my favorite parts in the movie is Chad's wearing of and Alex's multiple mentions of black silk underwear as an example of how soft Chad is and how hard Alex is for having been raised on the streets alone.  I asked Sheldon about the then throwaway line and he was flummoxed it's one of the most popular lines 20 some years later.  The scope of the film is much larger than anything Van Damme had done before as the exotic and grimy locales of Hong Kong are put on full display with the crowded streets, frog slicing markets, boat filled water front, jungle filled islands complete with abandoned hotels, shipping yards, cranes and whatnot.  We had a great crowd Sunday who hooted, hollered, clapped and laughed throughout.  Monday was a little more reserved but as the movie(s) continued, they got into the spirit too.

After the film, Sheldon, who is a great storyteller and has them for days, hit the audience with candid talk about meeting and working with Van Damme, working with Cannon, developing Lionheart, Double Impact, the twinning effects, his start as a writer and director and much more.  It was all kind of a blur being up front and asking him questions so here's some morsels of what I recall:

- Has a degree in Photography then studied Cinematography at AFI but switched to writing and directing after seeing how not great other students majoring in those fields were.

- Met Van Damme over the phone who was discussing the script to Bloodsport with Frank Dux in Hong Kong.  Lettich had met Dux earlier and during a car ride on the 101, Dux was telling his stories about a secret tournament dubbed "Bloodsport" which Sheldon thought was a great title.
- Cannon's Menahem Golan did not believe in JCVD.  The first cut of Bloodsport was a disappointment, potential had not been realized.  Van Damme went off to other companies to make movies and then when Blood hit, Golan came calling but still didn't think he was bankable, dubbed him "poison" and would never be a star like Michael Dudikoff.
- Talks about Frank Dux being a Walter Mitty style dreamer but never comes back to reality and had no proof he did anything notable in the military or underground martial arts tournaments.  In fact, his discharge form shows service dates so brief that he was most likely canned.  Claims to have won medal of honor but isn't on the actual public list.  Dux claims his work was so secret it has to be kept out of public record.
- Van Damme really did reedit the fight scenes in Bloodsport to make them what they became.
- Went to Paris for first time scouting for Corsican Brothers, Cannon went under and after a lawsuit, Sheldon walked away with the rights and that became Double Impact.
- Title came from Van Damme in the editing room, saying to show a punch from another angle to give it that "Double Impact".

- Twinning effects achieved in a non-CGI, computer era where each performance was shot with VD on one side, stand in on other, had a set of twins for over shoulder stuff and stunt men for fights who learned VD's kicking style, Van Damme would have to shower and change then do scenes from other side, reacting to audio from best takes then that is put together with an optical printer.
- A stunt man is hit by/throws himself at a car, looked so real, Sheldon went to see if he was still alive but the coordinator said he was just acting and held him back to not ruin the shot.
- Said the notion of playing two characters was not Van Damme's idea or an attempt to broaden his range, all started with original script Cannon had for Corsican Brothers.
- 1/3 of the film was shot in Valencia, outside Los Angeles, the Mahjong parlor, etc
- For whatever reason, got along fine with tough guys like Sylvester Stallone, Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Mark Dacascos and Steven Seagal, maybe it was from his Marine Corp. background or that they knew he wasn't direct competition in a sense.

Of course much more was discussed over two nights so I'll try to come back and do another post to follow up.  Thanks again to the staff at the New Bev, everyone on the Facebook page, readers here, the Van Damme Fans, Action Elite, Manly Movie, Twitter and Sherdog for all the positive vibes.  It was definitely a great way to start things off and we'll do it again soon.

View In Peace: Steve James & American Ninja 2: The Confrontation

This past Tuesday night consisted of the following:  burgers and fries from Five Guys, whiskey and ginger ale, watching Michael Dudikoff and Steve James in American Ninja 2:  The Confrontation with a buddy as in tuned to the glorious 80's as I am.  American Ninja and The Confrontation were seemingly always on TBS or My 43 as a kid and you can bet your ass I watched them both.  A lot.  Then I picked them up on VHS before some genius finally put them on DVD.  American Ninja 2 finds Army Rangers Joe Armstrong (Dudikoff) and Curtis Jackson (James) investigating a rash of missing Marines on some Bahamas-like island paradise.  Rumors of giants dressed head to toe in black suits prompts the Army to send Armstrong and Jackson as they had already taken down a weapons dealer with a Ninja training facility in part I.  Army VS Marine jokes, bar brawls, Levi jeans tucked into boots, wrist bands, sparky 80's soundtrack with steel drums, karate, genetically modified ninja, bright pastel shorts, Body Glove wetsuits, ninja laddering up rocks and ninja using a sawed off shotgun antics ensue.

Maybe it's because I've seen The Confrontation more times than American Ninja but I always liked it better.  It just moves faster and is a lot of fun.  By now, the story sees Dudikoff and James as buddies and their chemistry onscreen is palpable.  So it's a shock to learn that the two didn't get along overly well over the first two films they were paired up in, Ninja and Avenging Force.  James thinks it has something to do with Michael Dudikoff being a model turned actor thrown into an action role with no prior training.  The fact that James was a stuntman and martial arts enthusiast complete with natural onscreen charisma and a muscular build too boot would probably unnerve many a co-star.  While it was clear that Dudikoff was the star, James had some reservations and demands to be met if he was going to return.  Basically he wanted more action, more humor and at least one scene with a female costar.  All of those criteria were met and added to the fun of the picture.  As Jackson, James gets to mix it up with ninjas on the beach, locals in a bar and more ninjas at the end while armed with an auto shotgun and huge butterfly knives clad in what looked like a leather vest.  James' crazed/macho posturing, eagerness to scrap, dry sense of humor and wooing of a woman at a party give the movie plenty of memorable moments and helps make it more than just a low-budget, throwaway genre flick.

Released just under 2 years after American Ninja, The Confrontation would open on fewer screens to less box office, raking in $4 million on a rumored $350,000 dollar budget compared to the originals $10.4 million on a $1 million production.  James would return to the franchise in American Ninja 3:  Blood Hunt in 1989 before taking control of his own destiny and creating projects for himself.  Sadly, at only 41 years old, Steve James passed away in 1994.  Originally thought to have pancreatic cancer, his family believes that may have not been the case. 

Straight Flexing on the Net(flix)

In case you haven't heard, Netflix is about to lose a shit ton of titles to herald the year of the machines 2014.  Read the full list over at Dark Horizons and start crafting your To Watch list!  Among the digital casualties:

Jean-Claude Van Damme:  Hard Target, Lionheart, The Quest, Street Fighter and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.  Looks like the 65 million views his Volvo ad mustered couldn't save the Muscles From Brussels' Universal catalog along with his early appearance in Boogaloo.

Mel Gibson:  Braveheart, Gallipolli and We Were Soldiers

Cannon Films:  Breakin' 2 and Revenge of the Ninja

Lance Henriksen:  Pumpkinhead and Hard Target

Sylvester Stallone:  Stop!  Or My Mom Will Shoot (we still have Staying Alive and Antz though!)

Michael Biehn:  Dead Men Can't Dance (alongside the TV Highlander himself, Adrian Paul)

Tom Selleck:  Quigley Down Under

Arnold Schwarzenegger:  Not affected, we still got Conan The Destroyer and Jingle All the Way!

Between loads of laundry, I worked on my expiring Instant Queue with Running Scared, Peter Hyams' 1986 buddy comedy starring Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal, most memorable for an impressive car chase on top of Chicago's L train tracks and a cop car with bullet proof glass.

Next was 1988's I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, the Blaxploitation parody from Keenan Ivory Wayans featuring no less than Isaac Hayes (Duke A-Number One!), Bernie Casey (Nerd savior), Chris Rock, Jim Brown and the best sidekick who was cooler than the hero, Steve James, of American Ninja fame as Kung-Fu Joe.

Michael Dudikoff and Steve James in a Cannon Films classic:

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: