Episode 50 ~ The French Connection (1971)

We finally got some Friedkin in! It's been a journey to get to this point, but considering the DNA in this movie, it was one we had to get to eventually. So for our special 50th episode of Bonus Feature (and technically 350th overall!) we decided to cover this increasingly overlooked classic! To this day, there's nothing quite like The French Connection.

If you wish to know why that is, I suggest kicking back, relaxing, and enjoying today's episode. We really loved this one.

Randy's Score: 5/5

JD's Score: 5/5

Spotify link here!

Up Next: Top Secret!

Episode 34 ~ Blast (1997)

Finally we return to the weird world of Albert Pyun! And with a surprisingly fun Die Hard riff on top of it. This one doesn't have a lot of what you might think of from Pyun, in fact it even feels a lot like a Cannon Film though not one he ever made for them. You can take that is a negative or positive if you want to.

That said, it's also surprisingly competent in ways you might not expect. Check out how in today's episode!

Randy's Score: 3/5

JD's Score: 3/5

Spotify link here!

Up Next: Tremors 2!

Episode 162 - Link (1986)

Now we get into something a bit weirder, though "weird" is very much in the cannon milieu. This is a killer monkey movie of the sort you've probably heard of. However, this one is made by the director of Psycho II, which gives it a but of a kick and an interesting spin you might not expect, including an ending that surprises a good deal. There is much to discuss in the overlooked thriller horror gem of 1986's Link.

It's a shame this one isn't as well known as it should be, even if it's not quite as great as it could be. That said, check out today's episode and learn just what you've been missing! You definitely won't see this one coming.

Randy's Score: 3/5

JD's Score: 4/5

Up Next: One More Chance!

Episode 161 - Deja Vu (1985)

This might seem strange. Weren't we done with Cannon? Well, actually we are near the end, but since we were so close to 300 total episodes, we decided to just go for broke and do one last run of five Cannon movies to help hit the magic number. This is the first of our final run.

As for 1985's Deja Vu, it ended up being quite a strange watch, but one of our least favorite Cannon flicks. As always, check out today's episode to see why that might be.

Randy's Score: 1/5

JD's Score: 1/5

Up Next: Link!

Non-Cannon ~ Episode 112 - Road House 66 (1985)

No, this isn't a revisit but another movie with Road House in the title. And this one is much different than either the 1989 classic or the 1948 noir favorite. In fact it is so bizarre that I decided to include both covers/posters for the movie to show you how difficult this film was to advertise back in the day. It is neither a comedy nor an action thriller, making both covers off in describing just what this is (the later bland DVD art is FAR worse, however) and cannot quite sell the film to the viewer. This movie is a fairly different sell for the post-1980s market. No wonder reception was so mixed at the time, and now.

But let us get to it.

Road House 66 is a throwback to old black and white pictures where a drifter comes into town, partnered up with a mysterious stranger, stumbles into a new situation, and eventually has to solve it at the end.

We use the term "they don't make 'em like that anymore" a lot here, but that was definitely the case when this movie came out. It doesn't neatly fit into the "action", "drama", or "comedy", boxes, but has many elements of each. It is truly an example of a throwback work before genre-fication occurred. Nonetheless, check out the episode above to hear about a hidden gem you've probably never heard of before. Who knows? You might end up finding a new favorite! I know I did.

Randy's Score: 3/5

JD's Score: 4/5

Up Next: Too Much: The Robot With a Heart!

Non-Cannon ~ Episode 111 - Alien Private Eye (1989)

Sometimes a movie comes out of nowhere to surprise you in ways you might not expect. Sometimes it exceeds your expectations in ways you might not expect while also falling short in areas that are just plain bizarre. Alien Private Eye is such a movie. Part detective story, part alien flick, and part action, it's all low budget but with a lot of charm. This is one very much of its era and couldn't have been made in any other time or place.

Think Miami Connection only for detective movies and you might get close to what makes Alien Private Eye tick. Of course, as always, the full episode will give you the full score on this one. A description can't really do it justice.

Randy's Score: 4/5

JD's Score: 4/5

Up Next: Surrender!

Episode 141 - Ordeal By Innocence (1984)

In this unexpected adaption of an Agatha Christie novel, Cannon manages to present something a bit different than the usual. Ordeal By Innocence ends up being far more noir-ish than one might expect, with an execution that has to be seen to be believed. Cannon didn't really do much else like it, but then, neither did anyone else.

That said, it's still an Agatha Christie story, so expect some twists and turns and reveals as we barrel towards an ending hedging on the theme of the importance of innocence. It's not quite perfect, but it is perfectly unique. check out the episode to understand why.

Randy's Score: 3/5

JD's Score: 4/5

Up Next: That Championship Season!

Non-Cannon ~ Episode 106 - Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)

What is typically considered the black sheep of John Carpenter's filmography, Memoirs of an Invisible Man is not only not a horror movie, but despite it starring Chevy Chase, it's also not a comedy. What it is is an action thriller that is quite exciting and inventive with impressive special effects. At least, that's what the film is at it's best. When it's not it becomes an entirely different, and less interesting movie, which slows the story down.

That said, Memoirs of an Invisible Man is well worth seeing and is not a bad time by any means. It could have just used less interference to make it work. As always, be sure to give the full episode a listen to find out just how much it does (and doesn't) work.

Randy's Score: 3/5

JD's Score: 3/5

Up Next: Christmas Special!

Episode 132 - The Fourth War (1989)

In this strange Frankenheimer picture, tensions between East and West in the Cold War are stoked due to a feud between two members on opposite sides and their personal beef. The Fourth War is a story that is acted and directed extremely well, but comes apart at the seams due to one important flaw. The writing is just not up to the task and lets the rest of the project down. Check out the full episode to see just why it falls a bit flat.

Despite that, the movie is worth a watch. There is more potential in the concept than is shown here, but that doesn't make it a waste of time. The Fourth War is still a fun time overall. It just could have been more than the sum of its parts.

Randy's Score: 3/5

JD's Score: 3/5

Up Next: Ninja III: the Domination (Revisited)!

Episode 131 - Mercenary Fighters (1988)

One would think a 1980s action movie from Cannon Films starring Reb Brown would be a match made in Heaven. There are plenty of genre classics made that tick more than one of these boxes, so one that hits them all should work out for everyone. Unfortunately, Mercenary Fighters fumbles the ball in just about every way and manages to make this sure winner a disappointment. How this happened is anyone's guess.

It's not quite a total flop, but Mercenary Fighters misses the mark where it counts and where other Cannon movies (and Reb Brown flicks) managed to understand why people went to see these films. It's just not what it could be.

Check out the full episode to see just what we thought on this one.

Randy's Score: 2/5

JD's Score: 2/5

Up Next: The Hidden!

Episode 130 - Lifeforce (1985) [Revisited]

We went back to the well once again to cover a film that hasn't really got a lot of attention over the years, possibly from coming out during a time that was stacked with releases. Lifeforce, however, is quite a unique movie made by some of the top talent of the time that could not have existed at any other period. It takes everything Cannon and director Tobe Hooper was known for and pushes it to the limit, ending up with a chilling horror adventure straight out of the pulps that they simply could not make today, in many ways.

A story about the evils of temptation and putting base pleasures first, Lifeforce has actually aged like fine wine and turns out to be one of the hidden gems of the 1980s. That is wasn't a hit actually feels almost insulting watching now. Despite that, it holds up as a marvel of practical effects, traditional horror storytelling, and some of the best acting from the time period. This is one that will hopefully get the attention that it deserves sooner than later.

Lifeforce turns out not to be the misfire it is unfairly pigeonholed as, but one of the most unique movies of the 1980s. Do not skip out on it.

Randy's Score: 5/5

JD's Score: 5/5

Up Next: Mercenary Fighters!

Non-Cannon ~ Episode 103 - Extreme Prejudice (1987)

A return to the cinematic world of Walter Hill was overdue, and in this, perhaps the most overlooked film of the 1980s. Partially written by John Milius, Extreme Prejudice feels like a movie that could have been made at the time but just missed being made, except that it was. Part action, part western, part neo noir (for real, this time), this is as close to Sam Peckinpah that Walter Hill ever got. And it is as good as that sounds.

Starring such actors as Nick Nolte, Powers Boothe, Rip Torn, William Forsythe, and Clancy Brown, the movie is a high testosterone thrill-ride where the intensity starts from the word go and doesn't let up for its 100 minute screen time. Extreme Prejudice is everything you would hope a movie like this would be, and then some. All this, and it never finds a way to be unengaging. This is a film that gets everything that matters very, very right.

Check out the full review to see why we think Extreme Prejudice is a downright classic and very badly needs a reappraisal. It comes very highly recommended!

Randy's Score: 5/5

JD's Score: 5/5

Up Next: Sahara!

Summer Special #40 - Brainscan (1994) [Non-Cannon ~ Episode 100]

For the last episode of our special we thought we would look at something a bit different. This time we dove into the cult favorite, Brainscan, from 1994. This is a horror thriller about a teenager playing a video game that seems to invade his real life. Or does it?

Unfortunately, it doesn't quite do enough for us. We go why in the episode above. It nonetheless remains a good watch, but it was missing something to completely satisfy. We discuss what that is in the episode above.

That's it for out summer special, and thank you for helping us get to 100 Non-Cannon episodes! It's been quite the ride to get here. We still have some curve balls ahead of us. Nonetheless, have a great summer and we'll see you again next week!

Randy's Score: 2/5

JD's Score: 2/5

Up Next: Barfly!

Summer Special #38 - Arcade (1994) [Non-Cannon ~ Episode 98]

This time we went obscure again with one of our favorite directors to cover on Cannon Cruisers, Albert Pyun. This is his 1994 (1993, if you're German) horror movie Arcade. Of all the ones of his we've covered so far, it is probably the most obscure, though not the worst.

Stop me if you've heard this one before. A video game comes to life and starts attacking the people who play it, dragging them into its depths where our main character has to go in to save them. The makers of this one even got sued by Disney over similarities to Tron at one point, which meant they had to redo all of the early CG. And make no mistake--it's early CG.

That said, the film doesn't quite live up to its potential and makes some oddball turns that don't quite work. Check out today's episode to learn exactly why that is. You could do worse than Arcade, but you also could do much better.

Randy's Score: 2/5

JD's Score: 2/5

Up Next: Joysticks!

Episode 118 - Under Cover (1987)

Cannon released quite a few thrillers back in the day. Some of these thrillers were baffling (Down Twisted), off the rails (Tough Guys Don't Dance), or even quite great (A Cry in the Dark), but they always managed to have more character than the basic genre film of the time. Even the recent Naked Face that we covered did as much.

However, Under Cover is not one of those. It's competently made and shot, with competent acting, and competent storytelling, but it manages to not feel very Cannon-like at all. Instead it feels like completely interchangeable. How do you do this with a concept like 21 Jump Street in a Cannon production? See how in today's episode.

Randy's Score: 2/5

JD's Score: 2/5

Up Next: Journey to the Center of the Earth [Revisited]!

Episode 117 - The Naked Face (1984)

No, this isn't a repeat episode. The Naked Cage was a similarly titled movie with a much different plot to it. This week we take a look at Roger Moore's The Naked Face, a twisting thriller about a man having his life pulled apart by psychopaths and needing to find the truth.

Unlike some of the other thrillers we've covered from Cannon, this one does a good job of keeping you on your toes and has turns that make sense. It also features quite good performances from all the actors involved. It might have a few too many lazy logic moments, but it's never dull. That is what made it fun to watch for this episode. 

Excuse my cough, however. I was having some bad allergy reactions around the time this was recorded.

Randy's Score: 3/5

JD's Score: 3/5

Up Next: Under Cover!

Episode 115 - The Graduates of Malibu High / The Young Warriors (1983)

One of the movies we missed the first go around, The Graduates of Malibu High (or The Young Warriors) was a bizarre attempt at a genre mash-up. This was a try at stirring Death Wish and Animal House together into a gumbo of the kind that hadn't been made before. It is surprisingly ambitious.

Unfortunately, despite having many good points, it is stifled by bad pacing and incongruous genre elements that are jarring to what each half of the movie wants to be. It isn't a total loss, and deserves the cult audience it has, but we did have to dock it points for fumbling crucial elements that could have been done better with tighter editing. Nonetheless, it isn't a half bad watch. We talk about it more in depth in the above episode.

JD's Score: 2/5

Randy's Score: 2/5

Up Next: Alien Contamination!

Episode 113 - Dangerously Close (1986)

Once again we went back to cover a movie we missed the first time. In this case it is Cannon Cruisers favorite Albert Pyun, and his third film Dangerously Close. This one is about a school "neighborhood watch" type group going a bit mad with power.

This one is a bit different from the usual Pyun fare, being oddly coherent and down to earth. However, this also keeps it from having that weird factor a lot of his other films do. Despite that, it's not a bad watch. Just not the most memorable movie.

Randy's Score: 2/5

JD's Score: 3/5

Up Next: Tammy & the T-Rex!

Episode 112 - Death Warrant (1990)

You might be doing a double take at the inclusion of this film. Wasn't Death Warrant an MGM film? Well, actually, not really. Originally titled Dusted, this movie was made by Cannon Films but held up due to the company going bankrupt at the time. Though it was released by MGM, it is actually a Cannon movie.

That said, it's not quite what you'd expect from a Van Damme flick, being more of an eerie and surreal prison movie with spikes of action here and there. Eventually, however, Death Warrant culminates in a finale worthy of both Van Damme and Cannon. You definitely won't find another movie quite like it in either of their oeuvres.

Randy's Score: 3/5

JD's Score: 4/5

Up Next: Dangerously Close!

Episode 111 - The Naked Cage (1986)

Here's an obscure one we missed from 1986. It's the women prison movie, The Naked Cage. This is more or less what you expect, except with a bit of a Cannon edge to it. If you've watched any of their action or horror movies, I think you know where this is going.

That said, it isn't quite manic enough to impress, despite enough going for it to drag it out of pure middle of the road entertainment. Hard to fully recommend, but it does hold together as a story. If even just barely.

Randy's Score: 3/5

JD's Score: 3/5

Up Next: Death Warrant!