Dyn-o-mIte

THE DYNAMITE BROTHERS-1974-Larry Chin (Alan Tang) leaves Hong Kong to find his brother in LA. He's immediately attacked by 3 thugs ("Go back to China") hired by a corrupt police Captain Burke (Aldo Ray). Larry winds up handcuffed to a black criminal Stud Brown (Timothy Brown). They escape and run around like a low budget version of THE DEFIANT ONES. They beat up some hicks in a moving truck and finally get free and head to LA. Larry has flashbacks of his wife's death. The duo get saved by local gangster The Smiling Man (Don Oliver) from an attack by Razor J (Al Richardson), the henchman of big time time drug pusher Wei Chin (James Hong). Hmmm...Larry and Wei have the same last name...coincidence? 

 While Stud romances a mute prostitute Sarah (Carol Speed from THE BIG BIRD CAGE) Larry gets help from Betty Fong (Clare Nono) in tracking down his brother who he finds out is dead. However Larry is betrayed by Kung Fat (Richard Lee-Sung) and dropped in a pit with a rattlesnake. Meanwhile a gang war ensues with corrupt police, outrageously dressed guys with machine guns, explosions and a guy who yells really loud when he's shot and falls off a roof. While Stud has sex, Larry fights some guys in an alley. After Razor kills Burke and his wife Laura (Susan McIver) he goes after Sarah (he's too stupid to realize she can't talk). Stud and Larry arrive too late to save her but Stud gets revenge. Larry infiltrates Wei's lair and of course finds out the truth: Wei is Larry's brother and responsible for the death of Larry's wife. While The Smiling Man's minions beat up the gang Larry goes after his bro and makes his car go off a cliff. It ends with a freeze frame of the pair running away (to where I wonder?).

THE DYNAMITE BROTHERS was directed by Al Adamson in his usual hasty, episodic way. It's not very exciting but it has a lot of familiar faces to hold your interest a little while. Since this is an Independent International release it played in re-release for many years under numerous titles including STUD BROWN, DYNAMITE BROWN, BLACK BELT BROTHERS, etc. At the time this was made star Tang was a very popular star in Hong Kong. Co-star Brown was a former football player who earlier had a reoccurring role in the first season of TV's MASH. A few years later he had a role in Robert Altman's NASHVILLE. He'd work again with Adamson in 1976's BLACK HEAT.

tHANKS FOR READING!

Day The Day The Movie Re-make Ended....

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL-2008-This movie really sucks! Anyone associated with this piece of shit should not be allowed to even make a movie again (except James Hong, one of the last character actors left in Hollywood who has one scene).

Since she won an Oscar Jennifer Connelly is becoming a female Orson Welles.

Keanu Reeves is perfect and idiotic as the alien who comes to destroy Earth. He lacks any of the class Michael Rennie brought to the original role but then what the hell am I saying? Audiences today don’t even realize this is a remake (which it is not anyway…). Please do me a favor and don’t watch this piece of crap (and if you do don’t tell me how wonderful and rewarding it is by watching it, ok?).

Wooo, John Cleese has the Sam Jaffe role! Maybe he and Keanu should have done something with a dead parrot instead!

Director Scott Derrickson had previously made such gems as HELLRAISER:INFERNO and THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE. Oh yeah Will Smith’s son and Kathy Bates are also in it!

Sorry for the rant..thanks for reading it though!





　



　

Forbidden Warrior

FORBIDDEN WARRIOR-2004-This fantasy action drama (inspired by THE PRINCESS BRIDE and a few others) involves a couple who are going to have a child that according to prophesy will be able to read a secret book that holds the key to the universe. Well, something like that. An evil warlord has the mother killed but the baby is born anyway and taken to live with a blind wise man (WISH MASTER’s Andrew Divoff). Two brothers (one evil, one passive) set out to find “the chosen one”. The script is terrible and the actors say a lot of stupid things but there are some good fights.

Marie Matiko plays the grown up baby. The weirdest part for me was that it was the last role for actor Kay E. Kuter (who plays the Lord of The Rings inspired character Yawn) who had once had a reoccurring role (Newt Kiley) on the ’60’s TV sit-com GREEN ACRES! Also with Sung Kang, Tony Amendola and James Hong. The director Jimmy Nickerson was mostly a stunt coordinator and actor.

Thanks for reading!

Low, Very Low

DESTINATION: INNER SPACE-United Pictures- 1966- Navy commander Scott Brady investigates the source of some mysterious radar blips in an undersea lab head up by scientist Gary Merrill. Brady tries to make time with oceanographer Sherri North and contend with a cowardly diver (future voice over actor Mike Road). Others on board include: John Howard (who was a regular on MY 3 SONS at the time), Wende Wagner (ROSEMARY’S BABY) and Biff Elliot (who was in NAVY VS. THE NIGHT MONSTERS and TRACK OF THE VAMPIRE the same year! ). It turns out the blip is really an invading spaceship and when a metal canister is brought aboard it unleashes a giant scaly man fish (with a red tail fin and claws) bent on destroying humankind!

The whole feel of this movie is like a long episode of TV’s VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (where Merrill once subbed for Richard Basehart...) with toy models, an outrageous but cheap monster and claustrophobic sets yet despite this (and Merrill’s zombie like performance) the underwater scenes are quite well done. James Hong has a few scenes as a broken English-speaking cook and ‘40’s serial regular Ray Bancroft plays a boat skipper.

Director Francis Lyon and writer Arthur C. Pierce had both been around and would collaborate again in 1968 for THE DESTRUCTORS (which featured Howard). Lyon, a former film editor, made CASTLE OF EVIL with Brady the same year. Music by Paul Dunlop.

SPACE PROBE TAURUS-A.I.P.-1964-Better known as SPACE MONSTER this weird, boring space drama has the scientists of Spaceship Hope 1 investigating a UFO and encountering a strange alien who communicates (?) by sticking out it’s tongue!

Francine York (CURSE OF THE SWAMP CREATURE) plays the lady scientist who’s looked down on by the commander (James Brown). AIP vet Russ Bender is also one of the astro-eggheads. They kill the alien and blow up it’s ship. That’s progress for ya! After much talk, the crew lands on a planet and is menaced by giant crabs. A “ crab-man “ with fangs (who also looks like something out of VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA!) kills one of them. The “ giant crabs “ are actually little ones attacking a toy ship. I’ve been told this “ could have influenced “ STAR TREK (2 years later) and 2001 ( 4 years later ) but it looks more influenced by Bert I. Gordon!!

Writer-director Leonard Katzman overcame toy models and produced such hit TV shows as THE WILD WILD WEST, HAWAII 5-0 and DALLAS!

Thanks for reading this!