Tag: action heroes

Really Awful Movies: Ep 80 – Cobra

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Everybody must get Stalloned.

Cobra.

One word, one syllable, one inimitable action hero.

On this episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast, the George Cosmatos 1986 shoot-em-up.

There’s a hostage situation in the City of Angels. Who you gonna call? A member of an elite LAPD unit known as “Zombie Squad,” and it’s lead by this badass to the right.

Turns out, there’s an elusive group behind a rash of crimes affecting the city. It’s an Illuminati-type association called New Order (not to be confused with the occasionally dour Manchester synth rock band nor the WCW wrestling faction New World Order).

Crimes are pinned on one the Night Stalker and a witness is put in Cobra’s protection.

A Dirty Harry by way of Cannon films (Golan and Globus produced this one), this Sly and Brigitte Nielsen action flick is dark, daffy, goofy, violent and well worth checking out.

Really Awful Movies: Ep 45 – Darkman

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Darkman is a 1990 superhero flick directed and co-written by Sam Raimi, one of our Horror Movie Heroes.

The film is based on a short story Raimi wrote that paid homage to Universal’s horror films of the 1930s.

On this episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast, a deep dive into Darkman and what makes it so f-ing memorable.

Peyton Westlake is a scientist who has discovered a way to produce synthetic skin. First off, you gotta love crazed scientist movies. That conceit alone carries many a genre film, especially the ones that influenced Raimi and company here.

Dr. Westlake’s discovery could revolutionist skin grafting, except for one minor kink they’ve gotta work out: the synthetic skin degrades after 100 minutes of exposure to light. Whoops. When gangsters attack Peyton, he is horrifically burnt, and left for dead. In his quest for revenge, Peyton, aka the Darkman, is able to take on the appearance of anyone (using the synthetic skin,) but with that time constraint.

Your hosts Chris and Jeff discuss similarities to the Batman franchise, happy endings and the dark spirit of Darkman’s aesthetic.

This film is early in Liam Neeson’s career. He was not the first choice for Dr. Westlake. They considered Bill Paxton (not to be confused with Bill Pullman!). Raimi felt Neeson was the right fit to show the monster’s soul. The film also features Larry Drake as the villain. He’s best known for Dr. Giggles and many other roles.

Tune in for smart genre chat on our show!

Really Awful Movies: Ep 33 – Firestorm

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Without a word of a lie, Firestorm is one of the most dunderheaded films we’ve ever encountered (and we’ve endured four films made by Steven Seagal in the 2000s!).

Howie Long is a firefighter, battling blazes in Wyoming. Long was a long-time Raider football player and is one of the greatest defensive linemen of all time – as an actor? Not so much.

This piece of crap was initially set up to star Sylvester Stallone but the production company went belly up and the budget was given a slash ‘n’ burn. So they got Howie instead.

And what is Scott Glenn doing in this??? He’s a legend, who should’ve known better. He plays a grizzled firefighting captain and has a mobile home land on him! (and escapes unscathed for the most part).

A bunch of inmates out on a work program are on firefighting detail. They break free and jet off into the wilderness. One among their ranks (William Forsythe) has a bunch of money stashed away and they exacerbate the blaze to avoid being captured. And there’s only one lunk-head who can stop them.