As a kid I used to watch a lot of MY43 in Ohio, a local affiliate that showed all kinds of reruns and syndicated programming. In the 90's I recall a bit of fanfare for a series of Friday night TV movies dubbed The Action Pack, two of which I watched, Hercules and Vanishing Son. Of course Hercules became a long running action-fantasy series starring Kevin Sorbo, fresh off of losing to Dean Cain to play Clark Kent/Superman on ABC's Lois & Clark, that spawned fellow hit series Xena: Warrior Princess. I remember the commercials for the futuristic TekWar, based on a series of books by William Shatner starring My Two Dad's Greg Evigan as well as Midnight Run and Bandit but didn't actually tune in. Being an Asian youth, Vanishing Son (sponsored by KFC) caught my eye though and became taped off the tube staple for years before the internet age. The story of two martial arts trained brothers, Jian-Wa (Russell Wong) and Wago (Chi Muoi Lo) from China who flee to America after being involved in some riots with the Communist government. In the states, the brothers struggle being illegal immigrants with Jian-Wa believing hard work will give him or his kids or grand kids a chance at the American dream while Wago isn't interested in waiting and falls in with some gangsters.
Coming off Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, filmmaker Rob Cohen (who cameos as Jian's teacher) created Vanishing Son as a bit of an expanded mini-saga on the Lee mythos, oppression, martial arts and the pursuit of opportunity in the land of dreams. You see Jian-Wa as the golden child, tall, handsome, good at playing the violin but maybe more talented at fighting (Bloodsport & Dragon alumni John Cheung shows up as his sifu). Then shorter and chubbier little brother Wago who likes to fight and gets involved in protests against the government. Now targets of the state, their father forces them to flee to America to avoid execution. Vanishing Son debuted in January of 1995 and created quite a stir as Eurasian Russell Wong smoldered as the lead and shared multiple love scenes with Caucasian actress Rebecca Gayheart, hot from popular face cream commercials for Noxema. There's plenty of family, political, racial and relationship drama to go along with the fights as Jian-Wa and Wago battle police, thugs, exploitative employers and each other as they end up drifting apart. The martial arts action is terrific with prolonged back and forth fights that take place in jail cells, inside an apartment that spills out into the rest of the building and alley, in a parking lot, etc. Familiar faced stunt men like Jeff Imada, J.J. Perry, Phillip Tan, Roger and Ron Yuan and Hakim Alston pop up as hard kicking adversaries and stunt doubles. A former dancer, Wong trained for six intense weeks before shooting and showcases some excellent movement and high kicks along with leading man charisma.
Vanishing Son II picks up with Jian-Wa on the run after a gang war between Wago's newfound friends and established Chinese Triads explodes into the streets. Taking up with Vietnamese fishermen in Louisiana, Jian-Wa comes up against old boy racists and eventually the KKK as it seems impossible for the two factions to live in peace. Dustin Nguyen (21 Jump Street) shows up as an angry family member who befriends Jian-Wa while Ming-Na Wen (Agents of SHIELD), Kim Chan (Kung Fu), Dean Stockwell (Quantum Leap) and then popular singer/actor Jamie Walters (Beverly Hills, 90210) show up on both sides of the locals. Meanwhile Wago works his way up back in Los Angeles' crime scene and runs into top dog The General, played by Oscar winner Haing S. Ngor. Like the first chapter, the action is interspersed with drama and issues like the fallout of the Vietnam War and how immigrants are accepted into a fearful community. Even though their lives have taken different paths, brothers Jian-Wa and Wago are still tied together as younger brother shows up to lend some firepower during the final confrontation. Big brother can't talk little out of his life of crime and the two again go their separate ways. There's plenty of action and fights with Jian-Wa beginning his Kung-Fu like stance of not fighting if he doesn't need to but when pushed, spin kicks everybody who deserves it.
Part III finds Jian-Wa in Washington, D.C., living under a fake name and competing in a classical music competition where he runs into former flame Clair (Gayheart) and the two rekindle their romance only to be interrupted by the F.B.I. who want Jian-Wa to infiltrate Wago's gang so they can get to The General. Back in L.A., Jian-Wa gets close to Wago under the pretense of wanting to be back in his brothers life while trying to get him out. Things get tricky when family friend Lili (Vivian Wu) shows up after being thought dead as Wago wants her but she wants Jian-Wa. With the F.B.I. eager to crack the case, a deal goes bad, Wago gets killed and Jian-Wa is back on the run. Vanishing Son III benefits from the reunion between bros and there's some good fights between Jian-Wa and a room full of feds, against his brother in the rain and more. Part IV is basically a clip show and series pilot that finds Jian-Wa laid up and being cared for by E.T.'s Dee Wallace after a couple of college kids (Human Target's Mark Valley and Scream's Matt Lillard) hit him on a dark street. Wago appears as a ghost during Jian-Wa's fever dreams and beyond. There's probably only 30 minutes of original footage in IV but Russell Wong gets to ditch his shirt and handle a fight scene as usual.
Miami Vice's John Nicolella directs all four films with aplomb from Rob Cohen and Robert Eisele's scripts. I have no clue how much these films cost but it's said that the Bandit films filmed over 72 days in North Carolina with a budget of $2.5 million each so I'm guessing Vanishing Son fell in the same ballpark even though Bandit had car chases compared to Son's hand to hand sequences. Of the five series of films, Hercules, TekWar and Vanishing Son would go to series. Son ran for 13 episodes in 1995 that seemed to play sporadically on my local station, usually late at night while Hercules got the more prime Saturday afternoon time slot. Shot mainly in San Diego, the series follows Jian-Wa as he travels city to city, The Fugitive style, trying to clear his name with feds on his tail, helping oppressed citizens, romancing the ladies, taking on bad guys of all shapes and sizes while still having conversations with the ghost of his dead brother. One episode reintroduces Dustin Nguyen's character from the second film while Hercules alumni Alexandra Tydings pops up along with a pre-JAG Catherine Bell in others.
While Hercules ran for six seasons, Vanishing Son was not picked up beyond it's initial 13. Rumors swirled that Son was canceled in favor of Xena: Warrior Princess as the syndication package could only take two shows. Xena and Hercules shared much of the same crew and locations, crossed over frequently and became cultural icons. Creator Cohen would continue to work with Universal, churning out DragonHeart, Daylight and the Skulls before hitting it big with The Fast and the Furious and re-teaming with Vin Diesel on XXX. Director Nicolella would graduate to features with 1997's Kull the Conqueror starring fellow Action Pack breakout star Kevin Sorbo for Son executive producer Raffaella De Laurentiis. Lo would go on to star, write, produce and direct Catfish in Black Bean Sauce with Sanaa Lathan (Alien VS Predator) and Paul Winfield (The Terminator). While Wong would co-star opposite Christopher Walken in The Prophecy II and battle Jet Li in Romeo Must Die before making history as the only Asian actor to headline two television series with the CW's short lived Black Sash.
Since seeing Kurt Russell at Beyond Fest a couple months ago I've been revisiting his vast body of work like Tombstone, Captain Ron, Stargate, Big Trouble In Little China, Unlawful Entry, Miracle, Sky High and the 1996 classic action thriller Executive Decision. I'd nearly forgotten that Steven Seagal gets high billing but is killed off in the film's first act. Remember when I told you my theory that Dammaged Goods style action movies died in 1996? The kind starring charismatic, physical heroes who took care of the job with machine guns, muscles, martial arts and one liners? To refresh your memory, check out my piece on Sylvester Stallone, who along with Arnold Schwarzenegger, ushered in a cottage brand of action flick in the 80's and paved the way for lesser cinematic icons Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme. While no other action star would reach the heights of the two kings, mysterious Aikido expert and would be CIA agent Seagal nearly got there after bursting onto the scene with 1988's Warner Brothers starring vehicle Above the Law with no prior acting experience. The sub-$10 million flick grossed nearly $20 million.
Before that, Seagal had the distinction of allegedly being the first non-Japanese to open his own Aikido studio in the mother land. Working in Hollywood it's rumored that he broke Sean Connery's wrist while training the James Bond star for Never Say Never Again and impressed uber agent Michael Ovitz who got Seagal in with Warner Brothers. While Jean-Claude Van Damme toiled with low budget filmmakers, independent studios, first time directors, no name casts and $1 million budgets, Seagal had a major studio behind him and familiar faces beside him his first time out. Follow up Hard to Kill more than doubled Law's take and audiences were hooked on the tall, often pony tailed hero who spoke in whispers and took out dozens without ever taking a punch with painful looking joint locks and throws. Fight scenes in Seagal movies always elicited real groans and winces as it looked like people really got slammed into the floor or through a table. Seagal's "aura of invincibility" went with his mysterious past as a martial arts instructor in Japan coupled with his own hints of working with or for the CIA.
By 1992, Warner Brothers had already produced or distributed three of Seagal's four titles and backed Under Siege, a reported $35 million, Die Hard style actioner set on a battle ship. Above the Law director Andrew Davis had already lent a bit of class to Chuck Norris with Code of Silence before doing the same for Seagal on Law and was recruited for a second run. As former Navy S.E.A.L. turned cook Casey Ryback, Seagal fights, shoots, stabs and sabotages his way through a terrorist takeover lead by more than capable actors like Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey. A true action classic, Under Siege would open to $15 million opening weekend, good enough for the 9th largest of the year on it's way to an $83 million U.S. take and $156 million worldwide. Now on top of the world, Seagal would exercise his spirit and ego on his next film, the ecological themed On Deadly Ground, which he would also produce and direct. The $50 million Alaska set film takes on oil cartels and Inuit treatment head on while ending with a monologue by the star discussing how the world is dying. A noble endeavor but the film would gross less than half of Under Siege and earn few critical marks.
With success always comes controversy and rumors of Seagal's prickly attitude and unbelievable ego on and off set began to surface. A dispute with writers on Marked for Death, kicking Gary Busey off the sequel to Under Siege, thinking he could easily deliver an Academy Award winning performance if Hollywood hadn't pigeonholed him, taking potshots at JCVD on late night TV, misrepresenting the tribal nations people of Alaska, being accused of sexual harassment, Seagal's quick rise to the top was now catching up to him. Warner's had signed him to a four picture deal but pumped the brakes on Ground as the budget swelled to reevaluate. They also wanted any budget overages on 1995's $50-60 million Under Siege 2: Dark Territory to come out of the leading man's $10 million salary. Territory would hardly recapture the spirit, scale or excitement of the original but would still gross a solid $100 million worldwide.
But 1996's Executive Decision marked the beginning of the end. Long had Seagal carried a film as a super badass who never got hurt but now in Decision, he was making room for the guy who couldn't fight or shoot, the glasses wearing, tuxedo sporting analyst Kurt Russell. We see Seagal and his commando team slashing throats and taking out bad guys right away but it's Russell's smarts that save the day and stop a plane full of nerve agent from crashing into Washington D.C. While Seagal sacrifices himself for the mission and dies 40 minutes in, his career would never be the same. Warner Brothers fully backed Executive Decision with a reported $55 million budget, in house super producer Joel Silver (Die Hard, Lethal Weapon) was behind the scenes and legendary company editor Stuart Baird (Superman, Gorillas in the Mist) was making his directorial debut. I'm sure it was a shock in 1996 to see THE Steven Seagal get killed in the film but by the end you kind of forget he was even in it.
1996 follow up The Glimmer Man, a $45 million buddy picture with Keenan Ivory Wayans that he starred, produced and wrote music for, would gross a paltry $20 million compared to Decision's $69 million. 1997's Fire Down Below, another big budget action movie with an environmental message, would only bring in $16 million, $3 million less than Above the Law had nearly 10 years earlier but with $40 million more budget. By 1998 the party was truly over as The Patriot went Direct to Video. Joel Silver would provide some career juice with 2001's Exit Wounds that was part of a short stint of martial artists paired with rappers that also gave us Jet Li's Romeo Must Die and Cradle 2 the Grave. From there it mainly DTV fare with Seagal gaining more and more weight but appearing in the films less and less with filmmakers not caring if the audience could tell they were using a double or not. Seagal would crank out 2-3 films a year and still command a $5 million fee while dealing with FBI investigations, private investigators and very public lawsuits from former associates that hinted at mafia involvement.
As the home video market fell out in the 2000's, Seagal's output stayed steady as budgets got smaller and schedules shorter. A stint on reality TV followed with the short lived Steven Seagal: Lawman as the fully commissioned deputy performed his civic duty for the Sheriff's office in Louisiana. A villainous turn in Robert Rodriguez's Machete marked a return to cinemas after a near 9 year layoff. Seagal hasn't lacked for work though as he's released SIX films in 2016 alone. His latest, Contract to Kill comes out this weekend and features none other than Dammaged Goods favorite Russell Wong so it will be the first Seagal flick I've actively watched in years. Now "put your hands up!".
I had just come out of a hours long training session Friday when I saw the posts on Facebook about Roddy Piper. I honestly couldn't believe it. He was only 61. But the sad history of wrestlers has seen many pass before retirement age due to heart complications most likely brought on by drug use and lifestyle. While guys like The Ultimate Warrior and Bret Hart were my favorite wrestlers growing up, Piper was one of my favorite personalities. He transcended the sport that made him so famous, appearing in cult hit They Live and several other solid action flicks. Piper's death made me instantly sad as he seemed like the kind of guy who had been through a lot and wore his heart on his sleeve. When I first subscribed to Netflix a few years ago and found myself alone for a long weekend, I devoured hours upon hours of WWF/WWE documentaries, one of the first being Piper's. In remembrance we sat down for a viewing of They Live to see him in his prime.
Rowdy Roddy was born Roderick George Toombs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and grew up in Manitoba. A runaway from junior high age, Toombs traveled the country working odd jobs in gyms and for professional wrestlers. Being of Scottish heritage, Piper even played the bagpipes while becoming a Golden Gloves boxing champion and amateur wrestler. Toombs made his professional wrestling debut at age 15 against Larry Henning, being billed as Roddy the Piper. The business would take him to the states working in California, Kansas and Texas where he began crafting his Rowdy persona by insulting local communities and managing villains. By the 80's, Piper was a fan favorite and feuding with the likes of Sgt. Slaughter, Ric Flair and Greg Valentine. In 1984, Piper joined the World Wrestling Federation as a heel and given his own interview segment, Piper's Pit, where he would sometimes insult then attack guests like Jimmy Snuka who got a coconut to the jaw and crashed into the flimsy set. A feud with Hulk Hogan involving singer Cyndi Lauper, Captain Lou Albano and Mr. T. was shown on MTV. 1987's record breaking Wrestlemania III sold out over 93,000 seats, one of them being wrestling fan and Halloween and Escape From New York writer/director John Carpenter. Carpenter was doing low budget movies at Universal and thought Piper would be an excellent lead due to his weathered look and expertise on the mic. WWF owner Vince McMahon was having none of it, thinking that the company was based around himself and superstar Hulk Hogan. McMahon tried to offer Piper a lead in a WWF produced film but the wrestler passed, knowing that a director of Carpenter's skill would not be involved. This lead to McMahon and Hogan holing up in a hotel room for a week and coming up with the not great 1989 flick, No Holds Barred.
While Barred would actually end up grossing more than They Live, it's hardly remembered in the same regard twenty some years later. Piper plays Nada, a drifter from Denver who finds construction work in Los Angeles. While staying at a local shelter, he uncovers the truth that aliens have taken over society and placed subliminal messages on TV, printed money, magazines, etc. Armed with special sunglasses that let him see the messages and the faces of aliens hiding under human masks, Nada teams up with Frank (Keith David) as they battle the 1% alien threat. It's great stuff with some terrific dialog that was half written and half improvised along with shotgun flavored action and a ridiculously awesome alley fight that goes on for 6 minutes. Piper is pitch perfect as the drifter who can't believe what's happening and delivers a broad performance where he can be sad and mad in the same 90 minutes. The $4 million dollar movie would gross $13 million upon release and become a cult classic, prompting special edition DVD's and repertory screenings around the world. Subsequent acting roles in genre fare like Hell Comes to Frogtown and a slew of direct to video films with Billy Blanks would never rival They Live but showed Piper had some real acting chops. 1997's The Bad Pack showed his goofy sense of humor in the low budget Magnificent Seven update opposite Robert Davi and Ralf Moeller while he surprisingly delivered the best performance in 2007's street fighting flick Honor as spiritually wounded policeman and father figure LT Tyrell against Russell Wong.
Piper's outspoken personality and fractured upbringing created an adult who would give you the shirt off his back if asked but resented authority and did not take orders well. This lead to his in and out relationship with McMahon and WWF as Piper spoke out against the company several times and subsequently fired. I recall one interview where Piper claimed he wouldn't make it to retirement age to claim his pension. Sadly, he was right. Rowdy Roddy Piper was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 and is survived by his wife and four children. Mixed Martial Artist Rhonda Rousey received Piper's blessing to use the Rowdy nickname and dedicated her Saturday night title defense to his honor.
