Ask Me a Question: The Warriors & Streets of Fire w/ Walter Hill

The Warriors is one of my favorite films of all time. Like Big Trouble In Little China, I first discovered the film on late night TV. But instead of TBS it was Joe Bob Brigg's Drive In on TNT. A friend's dad recognized the film, having seen it upon release in 1979. Soon a VHS copy was on repeat and I realized the TV version had additional scenes not featured in the theatrical. I loved the flick so much that middle school me found Sol Yurick's source novel from a neighboring library who then sent it to my local branch. It's not a long novel but I figured on reading it in a few chunks. After many a page, the book did not resemble the finished film much at all so I kept reading, waiting for the fight and chase scenes so prevalent in the film, to happen. They never did. Years later on the special edition DVD, writer/director Walter Hill mentioned being inspired by the Xenophon's Greek tale Anabasis where an army of soldiers are stuck deep in enemy territory and march their way back to the ocean. I found a copy of the text on Google and read that tome years ago.

Back in 2011 Edgar Wright hosted a screening of The Warriors where producers Lawrence Gordon and Frank Marshall along with actor James Remar and Hill attended. Cut to this weekend and The American Cinematheque's Aero Theatre was hosting a retrospective of the acclaimed filmmaker to celebrate the premiere of his latest work, The Assignment. On Friday night we hit newly renovated Margo's on Montana for Happy Hour (fantastic burger, fries and mussels) and headed over to the show. We were walking behind a small group and I realized one of them was Ajax himself, James Remar! Tied with Swan, Ajax was my favorite Warrior and part of my first e-mail address on Yahoo. The group was taking a picture with the marquee so I volunteered to take one of all of them then told Remar he was my favorite Warrior to which he was very gracious and a little surprised I recognized him. A terrific character actor, Remar has been many a Walter Hill film, was the original Hicks before being replaced by Michael Biehn, The Phantom, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation and oh so many more. If I had more time I would have asked him about being directed by Jean-Claude Van Damme in The Quest! Once the theater filled up though, Remar was inconspicuous no more. Apaprently Wesley Snipes, star of Hill's prison boxing flick Undisputed was in the audience as well!

From the opening shot of Coney Island's Wonder Wheel with Barry De Vorzon's mood setting synth enhanced music, The Warriors is still as iconic and awesome as ever. Hill's bread and butter has always been creating a comic book fever dream world; Hard Times, The Driver, The Warriors and Streets of Fire are all ample examples of that. The outlandish make up and costumes, the gang meet up and ensuing pandemonium after would be street soldier general Cyrus is murdered by the squirrelly Luthor (David Patrick Kelly) who then frames The Warriors, causing them to bop their way back to Coney Island with every gang in the city on their tails, is thrilling, funny and inspiring. As a kid I wanted to be cool like Swan, warlord of the The Warriors played by the steadfast Michael Beck who deserved much more of a career afterwards. Or brash like Remar's Ajax who's always looking to fight or find some chicks aka strange wool. The personalities of the gangs is still strong, the fights and chases still kinetic and the shot on the streets of New York aesthetic still impressive.

After the film, Walter Hill received a standing ovation before taking part in a bit of a quiet Q&A. Hill discussed how the film was set up after another fell apart and owing much of his career to producer Lawrence Gordon. He commended the young, unknown cast for being in top shape, enduring a hard shoot but never complaining. Shot mostly at night, the film was behind schedule nearly immediately and studio Paramount was not happy with the results, thinking this "New York youth movie" would be similar to their hit Saturday Night Fever. Remar was nearly blown up during the car explosion scene and Hill joked he should have sued the studio for millions but probably settled for $50 from Frank Marshall. Hill also spoke about the recently deceased Bill Paxton (View In Peace), saying he truly was a great guy and a great friend who could pick up where you left off even after not seeing each other for a year.

On his carte blanche financial flop Streets of Fire, Hill spoke about making it a musical with action and guns to change things up and how Edward James Olmos came in to read for the sidekick role and said it was a poorly written Latino stereotype. Hill didn't disagree and when Amy Madigan came in, said the McCoy role was the best in the film and suggested rewriting it as a woman to create a new angle, thus creating arguably the most scene stealing role in the beautifully crafted, understated love story masquerading as an action film with a truly outstanding soundtrack. I also love the costumes with their emphasis on suspenders. When asked about the potential sequels mentioned in the script, The Far City and Cody's Return, Hill responded it was simply a matter of enticing the studio to make the film since they're always looking for franchises. Even though he had absolutely no ideas for sequels but it was his job to come up with stories.

Magnificent Seven Week: VHS Origins

Can you believe I've been to a whopping 16 comic book and popular culture conventions this year?! Big and small, they've all been terrific for the most part. Well except September's Long Beach Comic Con which was a frigging mess. Comikaze looms at the end of the month but before then we'll be headed to downtown for a show I never knew existed, the western and Magnificent Seven themed M7 Con! I don't know how I missed this for the last two years as The Magnificent Seven movie and TV show are among my favorites of either media. I remember the first time I saw M7 the film was on AMC back when they still showed movies, fell in love with it then bought it on VHS and subsequent special edition DVD. Based on Akira Kurasowa's seminal film The Seven Samurai, the story of a band of ragtag samurais protecting a small village in Japan, Magnificent transplants the action to Mexico where veterans and gunfighters band together to take on a bandit and his small army. Directed by Damamged Goods Hall of Famer John Sturges with a script credited to William Roberts, Seven starred Yul Brynner as black clad leader Chris Adams while launching the careers of Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn and Robert Vaughn. Released in 1960, the film made little impact in America but made a splash in Europe and returned to become an audience favorite that garnered an Academy Award nomination for composer Elmer Bernstein's rousing score.

John Sturges had steadily been building his reputation as the go-to filmmaker for action flicks with heart and machismo with Escape from Fort Bravo, Bad Day at Black Rock and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral already to his credit. Seven would cement his status as an action director who specialized in alpha, doer-centric casts and would culminate in career high effort The Great Escape in 1963. Allegedly The Magnificent Seven is the second most played film on television. Yul Brynner lead sequel Return of the Seven was released in 1966 featuring an all new cast that included Robert Fuller and Warren Oates. Burt Kennedy (Support Your Local Sheriff!) directed the Larry Cohen scripted affair which reused Bernstein's memorable score. George Kennedy assumed the role of Chris Adams with Bernie Casey and Joe Don Baker appearing in 1969's Guns of the Magnificent Seven before 1972's The Magnificent Seven Ride! recruited Lee Van Cleef as Chris for the film franchises final ride. An update was bandied about in the 80's from Hard Times and The Warriors' Walter Hill then the 90's with Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark writer Lawrence Kasdan at the helm but those versions never materialized.

Cut to January of 1998 and CBS premiered The Magnificent Seven starring Michael Biehn, Eric Close, Ron Perlman, Anthony Starke, Rick Worthy, Dale Midkiff and Andrew Kavovit. The pilot found the new seven taking on a band of disgruntled Confederate soldiers headed by Robocop's Kurtwood Smith as he threatens a village of natives and freed slaves. Young Guns and Under Siege sequels director Geoff Murphy takes the reins for an action packed if unevenly shot 90 minutes which manages to fit in some social commentary about race relations, belief and honor back in the old west from a script by Frank Q. Dobbs, Chris Black, Pen Densham and John Watson. Of course Biehn's involvement got me hooked early on but the cast all get their time to shine. Biehn plays black clad leader Chris who is known as a cold blooded killer throughout the territory after losing his wife and son. Eric Close fills in for Steve McQueen as 2nd in command sharp shooter Vin while Perlman is Josiah, the preacher who drinks and fights, Starke is the card shuffling scoundrel Ezra, Worthy plays Nathan the stretcher bearer turned town doctor, Midkiff as ladies man Buck and Kavovit as young whipper snapper J.D. Debuting on Saturday, January 3rd in place of Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman, The Magnificent Seven pilot came out guns blazing, securing the # 8 spot for the week with 10 million viewers and 19% share of monitored viewers. I remember sitting in a movie theater on a Friday night and suddenly realizing I had forgotten to set the VCR to record an episode. I contemplated using the pay phone to tell my mom to do it for me but luckily the entire series would be released on DVD in the mid 2000's.

#HicksLives! aka Neill Blomkamp's Aliens

It was New Years day and I was recovering from the night before when it happened.  District 9 writer and director Neill Blomkamp's Instagram started posting concept art from a mysterious Alien sequel.  Not any old money wringing follow up though but what looked like a direct sequel to 1986's groundbreaking Aliens!  You know, where xenomorph attack survivor Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) joins a ragtag group of Colonial Space Marines to investigate what ends up being an overrun colony?  Then fights off the workers and their giant, bitch queen with pulse rifles, flame throwers, grenades and a power loader?  While Ridley Scott crafted an atmospheric, creepy slasher flick with truck drivers in space, James Cameron turned his sequel into a self contained roller coaster action flick.  Featuring a fan favorite and Cameron collaborating cast including Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Jeanette Goldstein and Mark Rolston; Aliens has lived for nearly 30 years in various comic book, video game and toy form.

It wasn't the artwork of Ripley wearing some kind of alien costume, or his rendition of the mysterious xenomorph ship or even the sleek Weyland-Yutani technology that caught my eye.  Instead it was the return of mother fucking Michael Biehn as Hicks, the soft spoken Marine thrown into command after his superior is wasted.  By the end of Cameron's chapter, a family dynamic between "mother" Ripley, "daughter" Newt (Carrie Henn), "father" Hicks and "weird artificial person uncle" Bishop (Henriksen) was beautifully formed.  As you know, Biehn excelled as the sensitive yet physical action hero in The Terminator and Aliens before headlining projects big and small like Navy Seals and Timebomb in the 90's.  With a third installment inevitable but Weaver's participation in question, producers David Giler and Walter Hill pursued a sequel that could or could not include Ripley's character.  A script by cyber-punk author William Gibson following Hicks and Bishop on a space station was commissioned.  Early into the process, Biehn, the actor who brought Hicks to life after original actor James Remar was fired, was told he would not be asked to return.  I'm guessing the studio wanted a known star and not an actor who had provided great performances but played second fiddle to women in two back to back hits.

Gibson's script was deemed lackluster and Friday the 13th part Four director Renny Harlin was hired.  The visual and kinetic helmer from Finland worked on the project for a year, trying to take us to the alien planet but was vetoed due to budget concerns.  An idea to bring the creatures to earth and having Ripley and Hicks fight them there was also jettisoned.  Frustrated at the lack of progress, Harlin quit and went on to direct The Adventures of Ford Fairlane and Die Hard 2: Die Harder for studio Fox.  Eventually the notion of a floating colony turned into a desolate planet prison and after lots of wasted time and money, Alien 3 was released starring Weaver as Ripley with Hicks and Newt's characters being killed off in the opening minutes.  Originally, a double of Biehn post chest burster explosion was to be featured in the film but Biehn and his agent told young director David Fincher and Fox they didn't have their permission.  In the end, a photo of Biehn as Hicks was used and the actor was paid nearly his Aliens salary for his trouble.

What did Blomkamp's version entail?  Nobody really knows.  Nobody even knows if it was sanctioned by Fox or just a side project from a passionate fan who is also a successful filmmaker.  But having older versions of Ripley and a scarred Hicks fighting aliens again set the fan forums and internets on fire.  While some argued how you could skip Alien 3 and fourth chapter Resurrection (Ripley kills herself in 3 and is a clone in 4), I honestly didn't think it was that big a deal.  These characters have lived on for nearly 30 years in various formats with Hicks and Newt fighting their way through a Dark Horse Comics mini-series and Hicks (complete with Biehn voicing) popped up in 2013's letdown video game Colonial Marines with no explanation on how he survived.  Personally, I don't think the average movie goer would notice if they made a straight sequel to Aliens with no mention of 3 or Resurrection as enough time has passed and only a handful of hardcore fans would notice.  Let's face it, Fox isn't that interested in continuity, didn't you see half prequel, half sequel Prometheus?  Or how about the X-Men franchise which has no continuity: Professor X is evaporated at the end of 2004's part 3 then magically puts his consciousness into another body and by this past summers Days of Future Past is back with no explanation.  The filmmakers tried to address the reboot/sequel plot holes (offscreen, never in an actual movie) by saying Xavier had a twin brother who was in a coma for the last 50 years...Ok that explains why he looks like Patrick Stewart but why would he be in a wheelchair too?  Exactly, the $750 million bucks worth of movie goers didn't really care.  And the small pack of complaining fanboys don't make up enough of the general population to make a difference.  While no one is clamoring to see what Prometheus 2 would bring us, there has been an outpouring to bring back Hicks and Ripley so let's do the Damme thing!

Hicks lives, fuck Alien 3!

(Almost) Ask Me a Question: Predator & Action Jackson

We're just over a week away from Carl Weathers night at The Egyptian Theatre where we'll be getting a double dose of 80's macho madness with Predator and Action Jackson on the big screen.  Mr. Weathers recently met with the wonderful Susan King from the L.A. Times for a piece which should be hitting early next week.  In addition to the usual pre-movie trivia, prizes and custom tee shirt giveaway customary to Dammaged Goods nights, I'm excited to announce that Predator Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator and Director of Action Jackson, Mr. Craig R. Baxley will be joining us to help introduce the films!  A third-generation filmmaker, Baxley has worked since 1971 as a Stunt Man, Driver, Coordinator and Director with such talents as Walter Hill and Warren Beatty on films ranging from The Warriors to Reds.

Before embarking on the tough, Mexican jungle location shoot of Predator, Baxley worked on long running action series The A-Team for it's 97 episode duration.  His first feature film credit as Director would be 1988's Action Jackson, the story of Detroit's Jericho Jackson, a police lieutenant who got busted down the ladder after nearly tearing the arm off a sexual offender whose dad just happens to be a high ranking automotive executive rubbing out the competition.  The flick starts off with some truly impressive stunts like a guy being set on fire, thrown through a window and falling from the top of an office building.  It's not only about the physical though as the flick is pretty funny and has a terrific supporting cast like Robert Davi as a strung out old friend, Sharon Stone as a trophy wife, singer Vanity as a drugged up singer, Back to the Future's Thomas F. Wilson as a smartass street cop, Bill Duke as Jackson's stern yet never shouting Captain and a surprisingly menacing Craig T. Nelson as villain Peter Dellaplane to make for a crazy and fun action flick when a hero could do a standing somersault over a speeding car.  Action fans will also spot familiar Asian dudes Al Leong and James Lew crashing into and kicking things.

Baxley's next directorial effort was 1990's cult hit I Come In Peace aka Dark Angel starring Dolph Lundgren, which is one of my all time favorite films.  How can you not love a flick about an alien drug dealer in Houston who gets people high on heroin then sucks endorphins out of their brains?!  Dolph plays a tough cop who does things his own way teamed up with a square, rule abiding FBI agent.  Together they mix it up with former decathlete Matthias Hues as the alien drug dealer through karate, gunplay, car chases and lots and lots of explosions set to Jan Hammer's awesome synth score.

After director Bruce Malmuth burned through half the budget of football star Brian Bosworth's film debut, Stone Cold, in just weeks, Baxley was called into finish the shoot.  What started as an attempt to be more than the typical one man army action flicks of the day, Heart of Stone was the story of a family man forced into going undercover to bring down the biker gang that killed his father.  There was a wife and kids and Malmuth spent 4 weeks shooting character scenes.  When said scenes weren't matching up and the budget dwindling, production was halted, Malmuth got the boot and Baxley came in to shoot stunts and explosions.  Already over budget and behind schedule, the family subplot was cut out and Stone Cold, a ridiculously fun if not intellectually challenging action cult classic, was born.  In the flick, Bosworth plays a macho yet funny cop who has a pet lizard and goes up against sneering and scary biker baddies Lance Henriksen and William Forsythe.  The flick struggled upon release but ended up one of the top selling titles on VHS for the year.

Also in my VHS collection is Deep Red, a made for TV sci-fi/noir/action flick from 1994.  Michael Biehn stars as burnt out private investigator Joe Keyes who gets caught up protecting a young girl infected with Deep Red, an alien substance that may or may not grant immortality, from an obsessed scientist.  It's reminiscent of The Terminator but given a moody and more sci-fi attitude as Baxley delivers a cool little flick that blends genres, complete with aliens fighting space prologue, Michael Biehn introspectively questioning the meaning of life and then using a flame thrower. 

From there, Baxley has directed volumes of television episodes, movies and mini-series including several based on the works of Stephen King.  Looking forward to hearing about his incredible career and working with Carl.

Bronson of the Day: Hard Times

Charles Bronson is one of my favorite on screen personalities but honestly, I don't think he starred in that many great films.  Sure his ensemble work in The Magnificent Seven, Battle of the Bulge, The Great Escape, The Dirty Dozen and Once Upon a Time in the West make each of those films more interesting but in terms of leading man vehicles, I'm hard pressed to rewatch many as they became "Charles Bronson" movies instead of just, movies.  One of my favorites, probably my all time favorite Bronson flick is 1975's Hard Times.  It's just one of those movies I can pop in anytime and still get caught up in.  A few years ago I even got to see it on the big screen with some of the surviving cast attending at The New Beverly. 

Hard Times is the story of a mysterious drifter and street fighter named Chaney (Bronson).  We don't know where he came from and never learn anything about his past.  Rolling into the Depression era streets of Louisiana, Chaney teams up with big boasting hustler and fight organizer Speed (Mag 7 & Great Escape co-star James Coburn) as they set out to make some money.  Chaney's scrapping skills attract the attention of the local shady businessmen and he's forced into a final fight with their hired hitter all the way from Chicago.  Bare knuckle brawling, oyster eating, high stakes gambling, yoked 52 year old Bronson, fox grinning James Coburn, southern man Strother Martin, fish smelling awesomeness ensues.  Chaney picks up a lady friend, Lucy, played by real life spouse Jill Ireland in arguably her greatest performance opposite her husband.  Way better than last Bronson of the Day title Cold Sweat where she overacted being high and screamed a lot.  She peppers him with questions that he somehow never really answers.  Chaney's not looking to bother anyone and doesn't look past the next bend in the road. 

Walter Hill directs a revised script from Bryan Gindoff and Bruce Henstell.  Hill is one of my favorite writer/directors with flicks like The Warriors and Streets of Fire also being examples of exciting, weird flicks set in their own worlds like Hard Times.  The flick is sparse, you could say not a ton happens but it's still somehow extremely engrossing.  The script was the same way, there's a great description of a bar being thick with smoke and losers.  Using the country vistas and industrial landscape of New Orleans (factories, warehouses, docks), Hill creates a downtrodden world without making it mean or empty as he would later do with movies like Johnny Handsome or most recent Bullet to the Head.  A mustache-less Charles Bronson is terrific as Chaney in a performance that blends world weariness and tired eyes mixed with rough and tumble fight scenes where he shows off his muscular, vascular and trim physique in effective cinematic bouts of fisticuffs that are raw, awkward and exciting versus cleanly or overly choreographed.  James Coburn gets to do a lot of the talking as fast and big mouthed Speed with his great big grin, never losing his confidence as the perennial loser.  Strother Martin is great as the strange yet endearing opium addict cut man Poe who still dresses in fine duds and recites poetry.  Barry De Vorzon provides a Cajun-folk infused score that fits the films easy going pace and would later give Hill's The Warriors a memorable, forward charging synth soundtrack.

Reportedly costing $2.7 million clams, Hard Times would be one of Bronson's first American star vehicles post 1974's mega hit, Death Wish, which was a top earner of the year bringing in $22 million.  Hard Times would turn a profit collecting $5 million with Walter Hill receiving participation checks to this day.  Hill and Bronson never worked together again after the actor didn't appreciate the cutting of several of Ireland's scenes.  Hill would remark that Bronson ran very hot and cold in the years after, on some occasions being warm and friendly and others not even acknowledging Hill's presence.  James Coburn was said to have been difficult to work with on the set, maybe feeling disgruntled after co-starring with Bronson on earlier fare, coming into his own as a leading man in films like Our Man Flint, Duck, You Sucker and The President's Analyst but was now second banana to the international action star.  Hill would go on to become a force in the industry during the 80's and 90's, producing the Alien series and directing genre and box office hits like The Warriors and 48 Hours.  Bronson would change genres and eras for follow up western-mystery Breakheart Pass, based on an Alistair MacLean novel while Coburn went on to star in a crazy sounding action flick about rescuing a kidnapped family from a mountain top terrorist lair using hang gliders in Sky Riders.  I need to find me a copy of that!

Mr. Majestic: Charles Bronson

"He was always in a corner playing with a ball...He wasn't speaking to anyone.  

He was a very mysterious man."

     - Claudia Cardinale on Once Upon a Time in the West

co-star Charles Bronson

By many accounts, Charles Dennis Buchinsky, later known as Charles Bronson, was not a happy man.  Stories abound of his stony and standoffish demeanor that saw him dispute Elvis' karate skills, argue and nearly come to blows with Dirty Dozen co-star and fellow badass Lee Marvin to refusing to shake hands with director Walter Hill after the Hard Times helmer criticized the acting performance of Jill Ireland, Bronson's wife.  Socially, he was said to be fine one on one or in small groups but would go silent in a large one.  When he did talk, one of his most discussed topics was a rough childhood where he was the 11th of 15 children of Lithuanian and Russian parents in coal country Pennsylvania.  Bronson's father died when he was only 10 years old and he soon went to work for the local coal company and eventually into the mines before enlisting in the Air Force where he served as an aerial gunner during World War II. 

After the war, Bronson headed out west where he started acting and by 1960, made a splash in John Sturges' seminal western, The Magnificent Seven.  Standing out among a cast that included Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, James Coburn and Robert Vaughn is no small feat but Bronson's portrayal of half Mexican, half Irish gunfighter with a caring paternal side Bernardo O'Reily is one of the millions of highlights the film has to offer.  Throughout the 60's, memorable roles in ensemble pictures like The Great Escape, Battle of the Bulge, The Dirty Dozen and Once Upon a Time in the West followed.  Usually as a quiet soldier with a smart mouth.  West helped launch him as a leading man in European films and by the 1970's, Bronson was one of the world's biggest movie stars.  His mysterious integrity and coiled fury transcended languages and cultural barriers.  Bronson churned out films regularly and each made a profit.  By the mid 70's he was being paid $20,000 a day plus spending cash and a slice of the grosses.  1974's vigilante revenge thriller Death Wish was a huge American hit for Bronson and spawned 4 sequels over the ensuing 20 years.  Now married to Jill Ireland, whom he met in 1962 while working on The Great Escape when she was married to co-star David McCallum.  Apparently Bronson told McCallum he was going to marry his wife and 6 years later, Bronson kept his word.  The two co-starred in 14 films before her death in 1990.  Bronson and Ireland headed a family of 7 children and took the brood to whatever location a film dictated.

Bronson worked with a who's who of tough guy movie fare directors like Robert Aldrich, John Sturges, Terence Young, Don Siegel, Michael Winner, Sergio Leone, J. Lee Thompson and Walter Hill.  Some of my favorite performances from The Chuck include his work with Sturges in Seven as well as a claustrophobic POW nicknamed The Tunnel King in The Great Escape.  Battle of the Bulge finds him as a bored yet rough and ready soldier with the badass moniker Wolenski .  His turn as a betrayed, blowhard yet dimwitted bandit in Red Sun is tons of fun in the Shanghai Noon vein while this column owes it's name to his portrayal as Vince Majestyk in Mr. Majestyk where Bronson plays a charming and easygoing yet tough and fed up melon farmer fighting gangsters.  Arguably my favorite Bronson flick is Hard Times, a Depression era, New Orleans set street fighting tale from 1975.  In it, ol' Granite face plays Chaney, a mysterious drifter who breezes into town and punches his way through the underground fighting circuit.  Magnificent Seven and Great Escape co-star James Coburn plays his big mouthed, born loser manager Speed with scheming, lovable loser and fox like glee.  In his 50's but still showing off a sinewy and striated physique in shirtless fight scenes, Bronson had an impressive muscular build in an era where not many actors were physically imposing.  He's said to have kept in shape through boxing, push ups, isometrics, weight lifting, jump roping, running, archery, squeezing a tennis ball and climbing a knotted rope using only his upper body.

Off screen, Bronson loved to paint and sold many works under the name Buchinsky.  While he claimed to be more interested in his own thoughts than those of others, didn't like to talk about himself much and purposely tried to make himself unapproachable, Bronson's macho yet cool façade made him one of the great onscreen personalities.  Happy Macho Monday, Charlie.

"This ain't ova!"