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172 - Action Jackson (1988)
60 Plays8 months ago
“You have this nickname. What is it? Excitement? Enthusiasm? Esprit de corps?”
This week, we’re paying homage to one of the greats as we honor the great Carl Weathers with one of his earliest starring roles that never got a sequel - 1988’s Action Jackson! We talk about how this movie perfectly melds mid-’70s blaxploitation with late-’80s action, the state of action cinema in the late 1980s, our first and greatest experiences with the late, great Mr. Weathers, and intermittently deal with Tucker’s technical issues! R.I.P., Carl Weathers!
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:10
Speaker
you
00:00:22
Speaker
lights camera action. It is the disenfranchised podcast where that podcast all about those franchises of one those films that fancy themselves full fledged franchises before falling flat on their face after the first film. I am your host Stephen Foxworthy and joining me as always. It is the man about whom it is said
00:00:49
Speaker
He didn't have didn't even have a mother. Some researchers at NASA created him to be the first man to walk on the moon without a space suit. It's
Die Hard Anecdote: A Misunderstanding by Tucker
00:00:57
Speaker
Tucker. Hey, Tucker, how are we doing? That's me. Hi, Stephen. How's it going? It's going pretty well, man. Hey, Tucker, I got a question for you. Sure. How do you like your ribs? Damn it. Am I supposed to? Am I supposed to have a line? It's a line from this movie.
00:01:18
Speaker
OK. Like right before he burns the guy behind the right before he burns the guy behind the desk and die hard. Well, it's like barbecue, huh? How do you like your ribs? And like flame throws his ass.
Tribute to Carl Weathers
00:01:32
Speaker
So, uh, well done. OK. Speaking of fire stunts, the fire stunt that starts this movie
00:01:45
Speaker
Holy shit, that is fantastic. We're going to we're going to get into the cold open this movie because I I have thoughts. Look, our friend Brett Wright was scheduled to be here, but he did forget that it was his girlfriend's part cheesy night. So he is unable to attend. We do wish him a very speedy return. But Tucker, I think we let's just get into this. Look, we had something different scheduled for today. We're supposed to be talking about another movie today.
00:02:14
Speaker
Madam Web comes out tomorrow as of the release of this episode. So we are scheduled originally to talk about eight legged freaks. But then something happened on the day that we recorded last week's episode, which is Valentine the Dark Avenger with our buddy Mike Snunian. Last Friday, as of the date of this recording, a couple of Fridays ago, as of the date of this release,
00:02:37
Speaker
One of the greats, one of the legends, Carl Weathers passed away. And we'll get into our Carl Weathers stories here momentarily. But we, after that recording, after we said bye to Mike, Tucker and I kind of put our heads together and said, you know what? We really should probably do something for Carl.
Action Jackson: Film Discussion and Cast
00:02:57
Speaker
And this movie was just kind of sitting there. I hadn't seen it before. Had you seen this movie before?
00:03:05
Speaker
No, it's always been on my radar like always, always, but I've never I've just never engaged with it. I've always wanted to, but it's just never seemed like it's I just never watched. I have no excuse. Yeah, no, a big same like it was just it was never on my radar. Honestly, it wasn't really never on my radar. And I find that hilarious now have actually having seen it. I'm like, why was this never on my radar?
00:03:33
Speaker
But we decided that we needed to do one for Carl. And so, Tucker, what film are we talking about instead of eight-legged freaks today? We're talking about Action Jackson. 1988's Action Jackson, not to be confused with the 2014 Indian film of the same name, the 1988 American Action Jackson starring Carl Weathers, the late, great Carl Weathers,
00:04:03
Speaker
along with Craig T. Nelson, vanity. Sharon's the last dragon and Sarah Stone. Yeah, she is Sharon. So she is Sharon Stone from all that shit Sharon Stone was in. Yeah. The great Bill Duke.
00:04:21
Speaker
Robert Davie. Yes, I look a lot better in this movie, too. So he's younger. Yeah, he's younger that shows Jack Tebow, Armelia McQueen, Roger Aaron Brown, Thomas F. Wilson, Edgar Small, Chino Fats-Williams, Prince A. Hughes, Devereaux White,
00:04:42
Speaker
Dennis Hayden, Bob Miner, Nicholas Worth, Ed O. Ross, Mary Ellen Treanor, Sonny Landom, Al Lung, and so many others. Tucker, dare I say it, what a cast. What a picture. You forgot Argyle from Die Hard. I said, Deverell White. Oh, I don't know his name. So he's Argyle from Die Hard.
00:05:10
Speaker
Yeah, I get a text from you this morning saying, Argyle's in this movie, not that shitty spy movie that just came out, but the guy from Die Hard, the liberal driver from Die Hard. If you remember correctly, in maybe the last episode or whatever we were talking about, Argyle, I was like, oh, you talking about Homeboy from Die Hard? Yeah. Whatever that movie is, I don't know.
00:05:34
Speaker
This movie shares a lot of cast with Die Hard because you also got Al Long and Dennis Hayden, both of whom are henchmen of of the Rickman in that movie. Robert Davi, who plays one of the cops in that movie and Mary Ellen Treanor is one of the is like the news anchor in that movie. So like you've got a guy who's the henchman guy, the Asian guy with the mustache that's now long.
00:06:04
Speaker
OK, so when I saw him, I was like, all right. Yep. OK. OK. I know what's up. Let's go out. And he gets one great scene and he's up against. Well, I just forgot the dude's name, like literally just forgot the dude's name. I'm at Chino Fats Williams playing Kid Sable. And he's just got one. He has such a distinct voice.
00:06:43
Speaker
But like he is and there's like our lung is just one of those every man. He's a big trouble in little China. See our see our episode on that. But like I know he's a favorite of our friend, Hope Lickner. He's also like a lethal weapon. Die hard as we mentioned. He's basically the he's the that guy actor of Hinchman. Yeah.
00:06:58
Speaker
Like he sounds like he's just gargled hot asphalt.
00:07:07
Speaker
He's in he's in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. He plays Genghis Khan, Genghis Khan, who enjoys Twinkies because of their excellent
Film Analysis: Style, Pacing, and Sequels
00:07:17
Speaker
sugar rush. Mm hmm. Correct. He's in Twilight Zone, the movie. See it's like he's just a lethal weapon or running scared. I'm just looking at his IMDB or his his filmography and it's
00:07:38
Speaker
kind of and said last action here is here a previous episode on last action hero hot shots part do Beverly Hills Cup part three the future episode the shadow future episode double dragon. He's an escape from LA. He's going to be Godzilla episode on Godzilla.
00:07:56
Speaker
This is not the last time that we will be bringing up Beverly Hills Cop in this episode. That's no absolute. No, I had this. I had the same fucking thought, bro, because that's the crossover I want. Give me Axel Foley and Action Jackson. Well, you can't now. I know like if someone had had the foresight to make that happen like 10 years ago.
00:08:19
Speaker
I would have been on fucking board for that. First of all, the fact that this movie does not have at least two sequels, let alone five,
00:08:30
Speaker
is absurd to me. It's a crime. And I think I know why, and we'll get into it. Look, we will get into this movie. I have so much to talk about. Spoiler alert, I had a ton of fun with this movie. Me too. This movie is cuckoo banana pants, a fucking blast. And when it started, I was like, holy shit, is this a perfect movie? Because let me tell you, Tucker, the cold open to this movie,
00:08:58
Speaker
might be one of the best cold opens of any movie I have ever fucking seen in my life.
00:09:10
Speaker
There were moments in this movie and I'm sitting, I'm watching it on my laptop when my partner is sitting right next to me working. She's working her day job and I'm sitting here watching this movie and I'm like pumping my fist in the air and like dancing to the Pointer Sisters and just having a fucking blast with this movie. She's like, I can tell you're having fun.
00:09:31
Speaker
Speaking of Beverly Hills Cop, also Pointer Sisters, like there's another, you know, kind of Detroit, of course, is the Detroit. I was going to say Detroit. It's the Motown of it all. Yeah, that's 100 percent. That's what it is. And the sisters fucking wrote a song for this movie. This movie soundtrack was like a thing.
00:09:51
Speaker
And this movie has such a good soundtrack. Oh, my God. The music in this movie is unbelievable. First of all, this movie is not streaming anywhere. Go rent Action Jackson. Just do it for me and Tucker. Go fucking rent this beast because it is worth your time. It is worth your time to check this out. You're going to have fun. We'll absolutely have a blast. It is. It's fun on a bun, man. It is. It is just such a blast.
00:10:19
Speaker
From start to finish, it is goofy, silly. It is the perfect blend of a late 80s action movie and a late 70s Blaxploitation movie. It is all of those elements kind of merged into one thing and it fucking works. Directed by a stuntman. So you know, like the stunts are going to be off the chain. And speaking of that fire stunt at the beginning,
00:10:47
Speaker
Yes. That's let's let's fucking get into that. That whole time, like the guy blows up right and he goes out the window like the whole time he's falling. My face is just like. Mm hmm. Like this is the best thing I've ever seen in my life. The action set pieces in this movie are some of the best 80s action set pieces I have ever seen. They look great. They're so well shot.
00:11:12
Speaker
It is because this guy is the stunt coordinator of like Predator. And like some of the director, I did not say the name of the director up top, I probably should have. Craig R. Baxley is the director. This is his debut. He's the stunt coordinator on movies
Exploring Action Jackson's Complex Plot
00:11:28
Speaker
like Predator, Warren Beatty's Reds, The Warriors, the Walter Hill film The Warriors. And he was also, he also worked on the A-Team.
00:11:39
Speaker
Like he was a consistent stunt coordinator and director on the A-Team. Like his first directing gig, the one gig he had before this was an episode of the A-Team. Like he did stunts on fucking like Logan's run and the SWAT TV show and Barnaby Jones, which we mentioned on our, what are we watching for last week? If you can make Craig T. Nelson look like he's got some moves,
00:12:07
Speaker
You're doing something right. You're doing 100 percent right. Yeah. And I mean, look, this guy, this is like I because I was reminded like the modern analog of this is like a Chad Stahelski.
00:12:20
Speaker
Um, or David Leach, like the guys who did the stunts on the matrix who then went on to direct like Deadpool and Zombieland and that and, and those movies, like those guys were stunt coordinators that you just went on to direct their own stuff. And that's kind of, and we,
00:12:37
Speaker
the people who watch those movies talk about how great or fucking John Wick, the people that watch those movies are like the action is absolutely incredible. That's what action Jackson is. But for like the late 80s, ripped muscle bound,
00:12:53
Speaker
action here, like the the Stallone Schwarzenegger Van Damme Lungren era of 80s action hero, which kind of ends in 88 when this movie comes out. We'll get into that as well. Like and Carl Weathers is kind of the lone black 80s action hero. Really? He's kind of in a because all the other guys are very, very white.
00:13:22
Speaker
Yeah, like snipes doesn't come along until the 90s like snipes becomes that guy but snipes really doesn't show up until like 90 92 Yeah, like I think white men can't jump is 90 or 91 Yeah, and that wasn't even him doing action. He didn't do action until a couple years later. So like
00:13:43
Speaker
Carl Weathers is kind of it. This movie should have gotten sequels. Speaking of all those white dudes, you know I love Sylvester Stallone. Sylvester Stallone, it's one of those...
00:13:57
Speaker
He's an actor that I'm invested in. Like, I don't always I don't always like the movies he's in. But there's a straight up coming up in a few months that will have Sly in it. And we will talk all about your love of Sly at that point. I do. I love him so much. You do. But this this is the movie that I wanted Cobra to be. This is what Cobra should have been. And Cobra had the potential to do it.
00:14:23
Speaker
But it just was it wasn't as well made as this. It just wasn't your previous episode on Cobra, which I think Stephen, you enjoyed it a little more than I did. I did. But I enjoyed this one even more than I enjoyed Cobra. This is what this is.
00:14:38
Speaker
I don't know if there's such a thing as it's kind of like in the Weird Al movie where he's like the most popular in a very specific genre. You know, this is that's this like this might be the perfect movie of a very specific genre. And OK, so I had no context for this movie, but when I saw it, I figured it was something more akin to like a Leonard part six, which is to say a parody of late 80s action. Oh, really?
00:15:09
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't get that vibe at all. Well, but again, that was just that was my perception. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But having not seen any of it, having no knowing nothing about it, seeing only the poster and knowing the title like that was my that was my assumption of what this movie was. And I have never been happier. To be proven incorrect about something in my life, because I think in a lot of ways, this movie is
00:15:37
Speaker
I don't want to say it's lampooning the tropes of 80s action because it's really perpetuating them in a very interesting way in a way that like
00:15:46
Speaker
Another movie we're going to talk about a lot in this episode, I have a feeling that Die Hard isn't. Like Action Jackson is really kind of propelling those those tropes in a way that Die Hard really isn't. And I think Die Hard becomes the future and Action Jackson is kind of the next step. And Action Jackson kind of becomes a relic of the past. Yeah. The big climax of that genre. Absolutely evolves into what Die Hard turns it into.
00:16:15
Speaker
Right. And I mean, this movie comes out a few months before Die Hard. This movie is spoilers, a box office
Directorial Insights and Character Dynamics
00:16:22
Speaker
success story. And I think there were some issues with the rights like the rights kind of got tangled along the way, which is why we don't get a sequel to Action Jackson. But this movie, this feels like a movie that should have gotten again, at least two sequels, if not more.
00:16:40
Speaker
Like this feels like a franchise that could have done for Carl Weathers what Die Hard did for Bruce Willis had Die Hard not come along the same year. I mean, I think the only to go back to our discussion of like black action heroes, I think you get Lethal Weapon the previous year and Danny Glover is kind of in that spot, but he starts off being too old for this.
00:17:05
Speaker
Well, yeah. And I feel like he's a really great joke and undercover brother about that, because in the brotherhood spy like main office, there's just a big picture of Danny Glover. Love it. Because, you know, he's that's, you know, why wouldn't you if you're like part of that, you'd have to see the movie anyway. Yeah, he wasn't I mean, he did action stuff and lead the weapon, but he was kind of like like in a comedy where you have like the goofy guy and the straight man.
00:17:35
Speaker
with the weapon, you had Mel Gibson, who was kind of the action guy and Danny Glover, who was kind of the straight man sort of in that context. Right. He's he's the normal cop, whereas Mel Gibson is the crazy action hero cop. Yeah. And speaking to you were saying that you thought that it was like a comedy before you saw it. Right. Tom Wilson wasted in this movie.
00:18:01
Speaker
Oh, so wasted in this movie. So I mean, here's the thing. There are so many of these guys who show up for like a few scenes that I'm just like, I want because they're they're they go on to be either so much bigger or they started so much bigger. Like Tom Wilson gets his big break like three years before and back to the future. Like and.
00:18:22
Speaker
I think this is either the same year. Is this the same year as Back to the Future Part Two? Part two is eighty nine. I believe in case ninety or it's ninety and ninety one. One of the two.
00:18:36
Speaker
No, you're right back to the future is a part 2 is 89 part 3 is 90 your breasts Okay So like so like his the next bag the second back of the future movie is a year after this movie comes out He's still kind of doing those Smaller roles like he still hasn't he's still kind of I think looking for his his next thing but like he is
00:19:01
Speaker
He's such an incredible performer and so very, very funny in so many things. And he has opportunities to be funny in this, but they are minor at best, I'm afraid. Yeah, I think I think that like those two cops, him and that other cop were kind of originally meant to be kind of comedic relief, but
00:19:26
Speaker
Like as much as I think Tom Wilson was wasted in this, I think that if they were like funny or silly, it kind of would have killed the tone of the movie because in the ways that this movie is funny, they're not it's not in that kind of way. I agree in a goofy, silly kind of way. It's like kind of a wink, wink. See, see what we did there kind of way. And there's a part of me that wonders if they're not supposed to be like
00:19:55
Speaker
the Judge Reinhold John Ashton analogues from Beverly Hills top. I wish, but like in it three or four times, maybe like a total of like 10 minutes these guys are on screen. And I think that's one of the weaknesses of this movie insofar as this movie has weaknesses. It's not a perfect movie, but the plot is so complicated. That.
00:20:21
Speaker
Like there, and there are so many characters with so little to do that it, it, like it's bursting out of it's 95 minute runtime. I agree. And like, it almost feels like 95 minutes is too short for what, like I need another at least 10 minutes of exposition to kind of tie this movie together. This is the kind of movie that you watch it and you're like, holy fuck, that was great. What happened?
00:20:50
Speaker
Yep, like according to the IMDB trivia. And so take this with a grain of salt because IMDB trivia, you know. But according to the IMDB trivia, this movie went three months over schedule because no one in the cast could understand the plot. Oh, really? Three three months over schedule because of the plot.
00:21:13
Speaker
In a movie like this, does the cast need to understand the plot? That's kind of my question. Like, why do we need to delay filming for three months to explain the plot to the cast? They obviously know what kind of movie they're in. Like, I don't think I don't know. I mean, maybe that's true. Maybe it's not. I mean, I would hope so. But then again, like this this this movie is unnecessarily complicated.
00:21:41
Speaker
in a way that is, I don't know. And again, it is, I think, the biggest flaw of this movie is just how complicated this thing gets. And I guess we'll get into it when we get into the plot because there's just so much going on in this thing that
00:22:07
Speaker
I don't know. It doesn't need to be there. Like, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know how you feel about it, Tucker. I just felt like it was unnecessarily complicated. Five minutes later. Right. So, yeah, unnecessarily complicated. Mm hmm. We had some technical issues. We're back, though. We're back. We're good. Entire beer, Steven, an entire beer. And what happened to that entire beer, Tucker? Look,
00:22:37
Speaker
So like I have my desk is two tiers. Like there's the main desk and then there's like maybe a six inch, um,
00:22:48
Speaker
wide sort of second level of my desk. And that's where my additional monitor sets. But my actual computer, my MacBook here, it sets just right here on the desk right next to my coaster, which is real. It's a real wooden branch. Just a slice of a tree. Yeah. Yep. And my beer sits on that. And I don't know how, but I was taking a shot.
00:23:18
Speaker
while you were talking, and my beer just leapt from the coaster, unmolested, leapt from the coaster onto my computer. And there was so much beer on my MacBook. I don't know how it still works.
00:23:43
Speaker
Look, that was a lot of beer. This is a gift. This is a gift. We're not going to question it. No, it's a gift. The podcast gods have smiled upon us today. Some most days they don't. But today, today was a good day. That charging cable is still not happy. So, yeah. Yeah, I think I got some beer in the charging cable outside of that, though. It's strange because all of everything else
00:24:10
Speaker
There are four USB-C ports on this computer and that's it. So I have two hubs connected on one and then I have my power and my monitor on the other and none of the other ones got anything in them but my charging cable is being a little wonky. So yeah you might have to dunk the whole laptop in.
00:24:33
Speaker
in a bag of rice when we're done. No, I feel like it's it's either just the port like this happens to my phone all the time, too. Like my phone is waterproof, but there's also a USB-C port on it. So if there if there gets moisture, gets in there or something, it lets me know. And it's like, hey, don't don't try to charge this with the this port because there's water in it. And I feel like that's what's happening right now. But I have more than enough battery to continue what we're doing.
00:24:58
Speaker
And what we are doing is talking about action, Jackson. And Stephen, you were saying that the plot is there's a lot. There's just a lot. And it's too much, I would say like it's more plot than this movie needs.
Carl Weathers and Blaxploitation's Influence
00:25:11
Speaker
Quite frankly, which is, again, not to say that it wasn't having a good time, but there are moments where I was just like, wait, what what's happening? What who what what's going on? Like this film weren't as as well done as it is in every other aspect. Right.
00:25:28
Speaker
It would not be as good because there's just way too much going way too much going on. And like, I hate that. Like, I hate that you start out with Sharon stone and you're like, Oh, she's great. And I love like the chemistry they have and like, what's going on. And like, it's really interesting.
00:25:46
Speaker
and then she dies. Yeah so like I'm gonna let's let's talk Sharon Stone a little bit kind of where she is in 88 because she is not ascended to the Sharon Stone status that we know her at
00:26:03
Speaker
At this point, like in. Yeah, she's not a huge deal. No, she's she's actually a relatively minor deal in the 80s. Like she does the King Solomon's Minds, which I think is a canon film with Richard Chamberlain in eighty five.
00:26:21
Speaker
Based on the H. Ryder Haggard books back when they back when Indiana Jones was popular so ever they tried to remake the H. Ryder Haggard films or novels she doesn't like Alan Quartermain and like anybody else that's like even remotely Indiana Jones adjacent.
00:26:38
Speaker
Well, yeah, that's King Solomon's Minds. That is that is Alan Quarterman. Oh, where? Yeah. So she's she does King Solomon's Minds and the sequel, Alan Quarterman in the Lost City of Gold. She has both of those. She does Police Academy for Citizens on Patrol in 87. Also, I've heard that's the best police academy is I have no idea. Or is it the one where they go to Russia? It's definitely not mission to Moscow that look if the goods in it, I'm there.
00:27:05
Speaker
I think he does my show up. I show up when the Goot shows up. That's just how I am. That's who I am as a person. I will tell you the Goot is definitely in four. So I don't know if the Goot is in eight though. I think he might have tapped out by eight.
00:27:23
Speaker
Could be wrong. I can check it if you want. No, it's not worth it. I just I think Steve Gutenberg is, you know, an American treasure. No, it looks like it looks like four is his last appearance in a leaf in a in a police academy film. So there you go.
00:27:41
Speaker
Cold Steel song 87 and then Action Jackson the next year along with Above the Law and then she doesn't like her big her first movie like that she kind of gets noticed in is Total Recall which doesn't happen until 90 and I always forget she's in that she I mean maybe like
00:28:05
Speaker
more attractive than anyone has ever looked at a movie before, maybe. But like her big break isn't until 92 with basic instinct. That's like her basic instinct. And but then and then after that, she's got sliver. She's in last action hero playing her character from basic instinct.
00:28:22
Speaker
But after that, like after Basic Instinct, she is Sharon Stone. She's fully ascended. Does, you know, one of the greatest Westerns of all time, The Quick and the Dead, Martin Scorsese's Casino. Like she has fully arrived at that point. Like she's referenced in Scream. That's like you don't just get referenced in Scream. Right. You basically have to be Sharon Stone. Right. Or John Carpenter. Like exactly.
00:28:51
Speaker
But like, no, I mean, she she kind of ascends in the 90s in the early 90s. So this is well before she's at that moment. And so like this is just kind of an early role for her. But yeah, you kind of think she's going to be the girl and then she's kind of a weird sacrificial lamb in this movie.
00:29:15
Speaker
Yeah. And it sucks because she's kind of fantastic in it. And I really dig the, the chemistry she has not only with Carl Weathers, but even the stuff she's in with Craig T. Nelson, like it's all fantastic. And then she just.
00:29:31
Speaker
As I say that like the rest of the movie isn't full of fantastic performances, but like it's a shame to see that one gets snuffed so early. Right. I mean, she's she's dead within the first half. Like so much happens in this movie so quickly. Like I first pause the movie at 10 minutes in, like right after we meet Action Jackson. And I was like.
00:29:53
Speaker
Holy shit, we're just now meeting the title character 10 minutes into the movie. And then I paused at another 10 minutes and I feel like the plot is half evolved at that point.
00:30:01
Speaker
like it a lot happens very quickly in this movie like it starts out at like a good pace but then it once it gets going it it's a fucking freight train this movie like because it's got 95 minutes to fill and like no time to stop kind of like the movie what i thought of last week's movie valentine like it
00:30:24
Speaker
It got so much to do and it just books it to the end like it's like no time for development, no time for any of this, you know, superfluous shit. We're just booking it to the end. I feel like this movie does it better than Valentine, obviously. Oh, yeah. But like I feel like it's it's the kind of film that's made for that sort of storytelling. For sure, you know, because you're basically sandwiching exposition in between huge action pieces. And this movie, it doesn't exactly it doesn't
00:30:53
Speaker
unlike Valentine or even like, you know, I was mentioning a couple of weeks ago, that new Mission Impossible movie where it's like action set set action set piece. And then they explain the plot a bit. Action set piece explain the plot a bit. This one. Like it.
00:31:15
Speaker
It felt very natural, even though the plot was over complicated. It wasn't like people just sitting there talking about the plot like the most recent mission of possible like things were moving forward. You were going from location to location from person to person like it flowed. It had a rhythm to it. So I mean, even like I say, even though it's over complicated, it works. It works.
00:31:38
Speaker
I agree. For the flaws in the plotting of this movie, the pacing is incredible. The plotting is atrocious, but the pacing is really well done.
00:31:52
Speaker
Like it just it goes at a clip and it doesn't stop. Like you're you're introduced to like main characters late in
Evolution of the Action Genre
00:32:00
Speaker
the movie. Like Kid Sable, you meet him. I feel like in the back half of the second third of this movie. Yeah, I was going to say like at the beginning of the third act almost. Yeah, pretty much.
00:32:12
Speaker
And he he's a huge character, but and that's why I'm bummed this movie never had sequels, because there are every minor character in this movie is like a main character in another film like the hairdresser that he goes to for information after he tries to meet Papa Doc and of course finds out that Papa Doc is dead and his testicles are in a jar like.
00:32:38
Speaker
Like she is a lead character in another movie or like a main character in another movie. Like kids had a whole cinematic universe. Action Jackson. See you. You absolutely. A.J. see you. A.J. see you.
00:32:52
Speaker
Like you absolutely could have like I've had like spin offs and or like maybe she becomes a major character in the second film like because I mean she's in she's a one scene character but she is so over the top and so memorable and so fun and funny.
00:33:10
Speaker
that you're like, I want more of her. And I feel the same way about Kid Sable. I feel the same way about Bill Duke. I feel the same way about the two beat cops played by Tom Wilson and Roger Aaron Brown. Like I feel the same way about so many characters in this movie. Like I want
00:33:33
Speaker
more of them than this movie is willing to give me. Like you could do a whole prequel spinoff just on the invisible army characters like the henchmen that Craig T. Nelson's henchmen like in in modern terms, what this would work great as if it were made today would be something like a black mirror. Well, not so much a black mirror, but more like a Sherlock.
00:33:58
Speaker
We're like, you have seasons of like three or four episodes, but each episode is feature length. So you get to explore that world a little bit through while still following that main character of Carl Weathers and Action Jackson. Absolutely. Absolutely. That would be ideal. It would be so ideal. It was so good. I would cost a lot of money. It would. I mean, especially to do practically, practically. I was going to say action set pieces like this do not come cheap.
00:34:28
Speaker
Uh, like the chase scene with, uh, with Bob Miner as gamble, Mr. Gamble, like when he ramps that car up over and into the building, I was just in the air and just, I was just like mouth agape. Mm hmm.
00:34:48
Speaker
It's like I cannot believe how insane this is. This is fantastic. Right. Like I, I feel like every action set piece, I was just like in awe of what was being accomplished. Like I, I have long said that Die Hard is a perfect action movie and I still believe that is true, but.
00:35:10
Speaker
Scene for scene, I would put any action scene in this movie up against any action scene in Die Hard. And I feel like these would come out on top. Well, absolutely. And I think it's because this film is a little more. It's a little more out there. It's a little more over the top. The Die Hard stuff is a little more grounded.
00:35:32
Speaker
Yeah. So and that's what that's what keeps that a perfect movie, even though the action scenes are better in this one. I think the tones are different for sure. And this this film, I think, is doing a really good job of measuring tones between. And I said this earlier, between like that, those late era 80s action films with.
00:35:53
Speaker
Schwarzenegger and Stallone, just as ripped as any two human beings have ever looked in their lives.
Action Jackson: Cult Status and Reception
00:35:59
Speaker
And those 70s black exploitation movies like Shaft or Superfly, or I mean, even to a lesser degree, something like a Foxy Brown.
00:36:14
Speaker
Like it's kind of you're speaking my language. It's in that zone, right? Yeah, absolutely. And this so this whole movie is born out of Carl Weathers and Jill Silver's shared love of blaxploitation films and just hanging out talking about it on the set of Predator on the set of Predator. Right. They're just sitting there chatting about it. And Carl Weathers basically pitches the idea
00:36:41
Speaker
of, you know, well, why don't we do something like that with me? I don't know, call it Action Jackson.
00:36:47
Speaker
And like Craig Baxley is there doing the doing the stunts. And he's like, well, you know, I could I could work on that. And Joe Silver's probably like, well, why don't you direct it? And like, that's where the whole thing is born. And you got two Predator actors. You got the great, the immortal Bill Duke. Bill Duke. I cannot say enough good about Bill Duke. I fucking fantastic and everything. I love that man. He's also an amazing director.
00:37:14
Speaker
What is he directed? Tell me more. I don't know about this. What the fuck? You didn't know Bill Duke was a director? I did not know. First of all, I know for a fact you have absolutely seen one of the movies he has directed because he directed one of the sister acts. I think it is Sister Act 2. What? With Lauryn Hill? What? Yes. I am 95% sure that Bill Duke directed Sister Act 2 back in the habit. I love it and you're killing me. He is. Director.
00:37:46
Speaker
This is familiar. Oh, these are TV shows. That's why. Yes, he did direct Sister Act two back in the habit. He also directed future episode of this podcast, a rage in Harlem and a movie, a rage in Harlem. Oh, OK. Future episode of this podcast. And he also directed a really fucking great Lawrence Fishburne.
00:38:10
Speaker
It's it's the ones Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum movie called Deep Cover. That is so fucking incredible. Now, in later years, he's kind of gone on to do some like the like his early years are very like intense, like some of the stuff he's directing. And I think later in his career sort of Matlock. Yeah, man. Later in his career, he's doing like religious films, like not easily broken.
00:38:38
Speaker
You know, you get to the end of your life, you get a little spiritual, I'm sure. Sure. He's still alive, though, right? Yeah, man, he's still around. He's still kicking. Yeah. I mean, I feel like when he when he does pass, like, I feel like when he does pass, we're going to have to do Ragin Harlem or something on main feed. Absolutely. Fucking A. I'm waiting. Like he is probably the best part of the worst X-Men movie or I guess second second worst X-Men movie. But yeah, like
00:39:06
Speaker
like the best part of that movie, like whenever Bill Duke shows up, I it's it's it's the Alfred Molina thing. I feel like I can rest easy because I'm in good hands with Bill Duke like that man.
00:39:19
Speaker
can do no wrong in my mind. He is so fucking good. And he's got just one of the great faces, one of the great voices. He's got these like deep sunken eyes. He's got this voice that is recognizable and an instant gravitas as well. Like and there are a handful of actors that exist in that zone.
00:39:38
Speaker
Um, your boy who, who passed away last year, uh, Lance Reddick, I think existed in that zone as well. Like he just shows up and you know exactly who this guy is. And I think Bill Duke does that so well. And he is so fucking good in Predator. Like I, again, I told you earlier when I was watching this movie, I just,
00:39:59
Speaker
kind of wanted to watch Predator, right? Like I had shit to do, so I couldn't, but I was like, I kind of want to just put on Predator right after this and just watch Predator. Double feature. Yeah. Because you've got, and then there's the scene where you have, um, Carl Weathers fighting Sonny Landom, who is Billy in, in Predator, like,
00:40:20
Speaker
I are missing is a Shane Black cameo. Really? Really? Or a Shane Black script? Here's the thing. I think Shane Black could have done a polish on this script and probably would have elevated this movie to like a five star movie. I like that idea. I'm way into that. Shane Black, let's I don't want to say let's do a remake, but like, let's get a time machine. Honestly, though, I kind of the only thing that bums me out about an action Jackson remake
00:40:50
Speaker
Is it Carl Weathers isn't around to do it? And even like, even if it is, uh, like a remake and it's a different actor in the main role, like Beverly Hill, Billy, she would want Carl Weathers like get Carter. You would want Michael Caine, you know, like you want these people to show up just to like in solidarity, you know, that goes a long way. It goes a long way in a remake. Like if, like as bad as, uh, uh, each, um, subsequent watch of the nightmare on Elm Street remake gets for me.
00:41:20
Speaker
If Robert England showed up just like in the background somewhere, that's an extra star. For sure. That's solidarity right there. That's like, absolutely. Where's Peter Weller? I love you. But could you please have just like showed up for a minute in a RoboCop remake? Because outside of that, perfect remake. I mean, you kind of want the hat tip.
00:41:44
Speaker
Yeah, you want that? Oh, I didn't know Bill Duke was in High Flying Bird. And I want to see High Flying Bird. I was kind of like, I don't even know what the fuck that is. That's the that's the Soderbergh movie that he made like right before the pandemic. He'd like he like made it on his fucking phone. And it's got it's got Andre Holland in it. And apparently it's got Bill Duke in it, too. And I fucking love Bill Duke. So I kind of want to watch that now. Now you kind of have to see it.
00:42:12
Speaker
I look forward to it showing up on what are we watching. No, but I do. I love Bill Duke. And I think 88 kind of spells the end of like any attempt at like a rejuvenation of the blaxploitation thing because you've got I think the year before you've got Hollywood shuffle comes out in 87 and that's a Robert Townsend
00:42:38
Speaker
movie. And then also an 88. You also have but but here's the thing. In most cases, when the parody hits, the genre is dead. And I say in most cases, because you can't kill black exploitation, though. I say in most cases, but but here's the thing, how many black exploitation movies are made in the 90s? None.
00:43:07
Speaker
And the ones that come in, the ones that come in later are kind of like doing parody or homage to the black exploitation. Yeah. I mean, you get like Jackie Brown.
00:43:22
Speaker
You've got stuff like Undercover Brother, like we talked about when we were watching. But again, those are more in the parody homage territory. And that's in the 2000s too, that's not in the 90s. I mean, even you get stuff like Black Dynamite is like late 2000s. But then you get like, I mean, John Singleton Shaft is 2000 on the Nugget. And that is absolutely a black exploitation homage. But again, in the 90s, you don't have it. So like you get this,
00:43:48
Speaker
decade of a fallow period, essentially, in the 90s, where there is not, with the exception of Tarantino doing Jackie Brown, really no one else is right. And no one else is really touching the genre at all.
00:44:03
Speaker
And like Jackie Brown comes along and people are like, we could do this again. I guess. And I mean, but but but you look at the you look at some of the black stories that are being told. And I think it's honestly I think it starts with do the right thing in 1989. Spike Lee and like Spike, that's his third film, I think, like so he's doing stuff in the in the 80s like leading up to.
00:44:28
Speaker
that, but like that movie is such a seismic turning point. And then you get like boys in the whole society, boys to society. Exactly. Yes. Okay. So and that's the thing that becomes the 90s era of black filmmaking, black filmmaking. Yes. But I think at a certain point you get this new thing and you get a lot of this new thing and it's amazing. But then at a certain point, you're like, yes, but this is also valid.
00:44:58
Speaker
So maybe we should bring a little bit of this back. And that's what I mean about Singleton Shaft is. That's what Singleton Shaft is. It's because you get the guy who made Boys in the Hood doing a Black'sploitation movie. And you bring those two things together and it becomes this
00:45:16
Speaker
this kind of second wave blaxploitation that I guess technically you could say Tarantino probably kickstarted but I would say Singleton may be perfected. We're going to talk about the 2000 shaft one day so I don't want to say too much about it now. Because I want to see that new one too. We're going to do both. I just want to watch all of them all at once in one day.
00:45:38
Speaker
I own shaft on the criterion 4k. And that comes with one of the sequels. It comes with shaft goes to Africa, I think, or no shaft's big score. The second one shaft, big score shaft in Africa. I don't have, I would have to find that one, but then.
00:45:53
Speaker
It's canon. It is. It is canon. It is. Every movie in the shaft franchise is canon. It is. But I would I would call both of the most recent ones spinoffs rather than sequels. They're not direct sequels. They're they're both spinoffs in their own way. No. Yeah, it's like it's like, you know, it's it's the same kind of deal. But since the character is, you know, that's kind of passing the torch. It is.
00:46:21
Speaker
We accept, except Samuel Jackson is still the biggest star in the most recent shaft. Yeah, that's true. That is true. Because as great as Jesse T Usher is, he's he's not Samuel Jackson. No, Sam Jackson. What I mean by like black exploitations and you can't kill it is that, yeah, it may have been in its heyday in the 60s and the 70s, but it's never really going to die. It's going to keep getting resurrected. I think it's.
00:46:51
Speaker
It's something that's so ingrained in film history that you can't help but acknowledge it. I mean, it's never going to fade from the consciousness, I don't think. And I and I certainly agree with that. But like the proof is in the pudding. Like if it's not getting made,
00:47:10
Speaker
Like there are people that are always going to remember it. Like I think of Westerns are probably like a really good analog for what I'm thinking about because you don't really get Westerns anymore. But there was a time when they were like every other movie that was being made was the most popular genre. Yeah, absolutely. But like these days when a Western comes along, it's a novelty act.
00:47:34
Speaker
best. Like, um, I'm trying to think of the last Western that kind of got any kind of mainstream attention. Like, um, I don't know, but history of violence and bone Tomahawk, we're both fucking you mean in the Valley of violence.
00:47:49
Speaker
Yeah, sorry. I said, I said Cronenberg's history of violence. Yeah. Which is a perfect movie. And John Travolta is a valley of motherfucking violence. I was going to say, show the white Ty West. Yeah, I was going to say that is my favorite Ty West movie, which feels like a really hot take. But God, I love that so much. No, it's not my favorite, but I get it. It is a fantastic movie. And it's so like it's so off brand, but also on brand for Ty West like. Mm hmm. It's a really weird movie and I love it.
00:48:20
Speaker
But I feel like after Unforgiven, which is kind of Clint Eastwood's final Western and kind of his final statement on the genre. Yeah, that's the final word on the genre. Exactly. And that's 92. But after that, you still get like Sam Raimi's Quick and the Dead. A couple of years before Unforgiven, you get Robert Zemeckis' Western Back to the Future Part 3. Then after that, you get. Which works way better than it ever had any right to as a Western.
00:48:47
Speaker
Exactly. But like you so you get these Westerns, but they're sporadic at best. But because there comes a point when these things hit critical mass. And I feel like black exploitation movies had were fizzling out by the late 80s. And so 88, you kind of get these final statements on black exploitation in 87 and 88 between I'd say this Hollywood shuffle. And I'm going to get you sucka.
00:49:16
Speaker
I'd say that black exploitation hit its peak. In the mid seventies and by the late seventies, it was, it was dying down. Right. That's why when Carl Weathers was doing predator. That's why I'm sure he was like, Hey, we should do something that's like that because like nobody's doing that. I think we could, you know, it's all speculation. I wasn't there.
00:49:43
Speaker
Right. I'm just saying with the way this movie is and the way like the popularity of Black exploitation was. Mm hmm.
00:49:52
Speaker
I mean, you know, it's probably you and I mean, you have stuff like this and the last dragon, which are kind of these 80s riffs on black exploitation, Hollywood shuffle action, Jackson. Like you get these kind of like things that are kind of riffing on these ideas and then you get some other ones in like few and far between through the 90s, but then
00:50:17
Speaker
the 2000s, it starts to pick up a little bit with stuff like Shaft and Pootie Tang and Undercover Brother and Black Dynamite like and and all this shit comes in waves like but there's not it's most consistent through the 70s and then it kind of peters out. But it feels like it almost straight up. Once we get that parody, I'm going to get you suck. It feels like that's kind of. An end point.
00:50:48
Speaker
It feels like that's kind of like, uh, okay. Like this is a quote unquote dead genre and now any explorations are going to be in the homage parody area. And if you want to, if you want to like see in real time, the fluctuation of the popularity of black exploitation, just look up Pam Greer's IMDB page. Yes. And you'll have a real good idea. Mm-hmm.
00:51:13
Speaker
Fantastic, fantastic actress. Love her. But like when Blaxploitation died until like Jackie Brown, like where has Pam Greer been? Is she okay? Like, apparently she is. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean that, and that, I mean, that's.
00:51:33
Speaker
That's kind of, but again, Black Exploitation is this kind of thing that very much comes out of the 70s. You get these great auteurs like Melvin Van Peebles and Gordon Parks that are like going out and doing this great shit. And then like it starts to become folded into the mainstream and those guys start to get bigger platforms and so their movies get
00:52:00
Speaker
start to do different things and like people that are inspired by those movies start to get bigger platform, start to fold those elements into bigger movies. And so now you've got people with bigger budgets doing those things better and those movies kind of fall back. I mean, Kung Fu, that was another genre that was insanely popular through the 70s. And a same thing happens with it going forward. Like those movies start to be to take a back seat. And then we get more like
00:52:29
Speaker
Asian filmmakers actually starting to make those films like Jackie Chan, like starts directing his own films like and so that becomes again. And I'm kind of getting off the point here, but like. It. It's it's imperative that we allow people to tell their own stories
00:52:57
Speaker
Craig Baxley, by the way, white dude. I just want to throw that out there. But I would say the auteur of this film is not Craig Baxley, it's Carl Weathers. Like this is kind of his bait. Craig's invited to the barbecue. It's all right. Like, sure, sure. But like this is this. I don't think you get to invite people to the barbecue tucker. Hey, I've invited the barbecue. I feel like I could have a plus one. You're going to make Craig your plus one. All right, dude, that's your that's your choice.
00:53:26
Speaker
But like I feel like this is Carl's and I think that's why this is kind of the perfect movie to talk about to remember and memorialize. Carl is because this is his brainchild. This is his baby. And this movie comes out of his passion for this genre and this type of storytelling and this type of filmmaking. And it does feel like a perfect union between what was popular when he was getting into film and what is popular in the modern 80s context.
00:53:57
Speaker
And he's he's mostly remembered as a co-lead, like, like never, never the leading man. But this is this is his lead role. Exactly. Well, he's got a couple others, but they are. This is the the big one. Like he's got, I think, Hurricane Smith is that it's an Australian. It's I think that one's an Ozploitation film kind of borrowing elements from Ozploitation and Blaxploitation. And then there was on the list. I want to see that.
00:54:24
Speaker
I mean, I know there's another movie that he made with Billy Dee Williams. Oh, oh, yeah. I saw it sometimes in some countries. It's Action Jackson, too. Yeah. In Germany, I believe. I think it's called Desperate Passions. Dangerous Passion. Sorry. There you go. Dangerous Passion. One of those goes close. Something.
00:54:49
Speaker
But like, yeah. And then I think the last word on like, but again, this this is kind of the end, not only a black exploitation, though, but of this particular kind of 80s action movie because Die Hard. Yeah. And Die Hard changes the script so that our leading men are not these huge ripped muscle bound like. Like not even human people, but they look like Bruce Willis, they look like that guy from Moonlight.
00:55:20
Speaker
They I love that show. It's a great show. Do ducks duck? Do flies fly? He's so Bruce Willis is so fucking funny in that show. I fucking love Bruce Willis. Like he is. I wish. Look, probably my favorite movie star of all time. Early in his. Say that early in his film career, he had some some jokes. Mm hmm. But. He just got away from it, man, and he's a funny motherfucker and it's a damn it's like Tom Hanks.
00:55:50
Speaker
Almost. Yeah, it's like this dude is so fucking funny and he's a great dramatic actor like good for him and shit. Please, please give us peasants some funny. We know you're funny. Give it to us. He he can't anymore, dude. He's he's got he's got he's got dementia, dude. Oh, yeah, I was talking about no, not Bruce Willis, man. Yeah, no, I was. Yeah, I'm just
00:56:20
Speaker
I meant like Tom Hanks could still give us. Oh, yeah. I'm just saying in he does not know. And but yeah, he does. But. Man, and I think that's honestly that has a big part in my love for the lady killers, because since then and since Philadelphia up to that point. Nothing.
00:56:46
Speaker
Drives to dry spell for your Tom Hanks comedy fans right here who thinks he's one of the funniest motherfuckers in the business. Not doing any comedy. And I think that's that's I will I will admit that that is a biased reason, probably why I have a little bit more love for the lady killers than most people do, because I think Tom Hanks is fucking hilarious in that movie.
00:57:11
Speaker
He's perfect. And I love it. He's it's too much for me. He's doing too much for me, but I teach their own. That is fair. I understand that assessment, but it is not my own. I think it's fantastic. Fair. No, dude, totally fair.
00:57:28
Speaker
But yeah, uh, how do we get into that? But no, I mean, uh, 80s action movies. Oh yeah. Bruce Willis. Yeah. Because Bruce Willis, Bruce Willis kind of flips the script. And so after this, we get like, and I think Tango and Cash kind of is that.
00:57:43
Speaker
that sweet spot between what 80s action movies were, a future episode of this podcast, Tango and Cash, what 80s action movies were and what they were about to become. And you've got Stallone and Kurt Russell kind of sharing the screen together. And that, I think, is a really good encapsulation of kind of the verging roads. I didn't do it. They're coming to take you away, haha. If that's for me, I'm not in.
00:58:12
Speaker
I think is what she says in this movie of like the kind of the diverging paths of action films. And we will see like Stallone kind of gets his second wind later on, but like the 90s are kind of a struggling moment for him trying to find what's next for him. And Arnold kind of does the same thing and eventually doesn't decide to run for governor.
00:58:33
Speaker
and when, but like you start to see these guys kind of slip in the 90s like because what people are wanting from action is less what they were doing and more what Willis was doing. And honestly I think Predator is maybe partially responsible too.
00:58:52
Speaker
Because Predator kind of flips the script on what an action movie had been. And the first half of that movie is a perfect encapsulation of 80s action. And the second is a fucking slasher movie where they're all being hunted. And like none of the shit that works in any action movie fucking works on this guy. Like it's a predator, man. Come on. The motherfuckers invisible. I love the predator. I love invisible to that movie rules. Predator rules agreed.
00:59:22
Speaker
It's like it's one of my three favorite McTiernan's and it's not even close. But here's the thing. McTiernan has three perfect or damn near perfect movies. And he makes them right in a row. It's Predator. It's Die Hard. It's Hunt for Red October. Word. Now, look, I recognize that The Hunt for Red October is an amazing movie, but Stephen, you know what? The only thing that I don't like
00:59:53
Speaker
More. Than a boat movie. A submarine movie. A motherfucking submarine. That's that's more in the water, like you half in the water in a boat movie and I can't stand that shit. Here's to you all the way in the water. Fuck you. I couldn't even get into Michael's Navy and Bruce Willis was in them.
01:00:10
Speaker
Bruce Willis. Bruce Campbell isn't that motherfucker? I was going to say, not Bruce Willis. Well, Tom Arnold too, to be fair. So how could you get into that? And French Stewart. Aw. Anyway, go ahead. Hunt for Red October is the best sub movie.
01:00:26
Speaker
Crimson Tide is a close second, but Hunt for Red October is the best. That's got a surprise Courtney B Vance role. Like I always forget he's in that. And then I'm watching it like, oh, fuck, it's Courtney B Vance. Oh, fuck, I love Jones. Yes. Like, oh, man, like.
01:00:44
Speaker
But no, like McTiernan kind of flips the script on action in two years between Predator and Die Hard so that by the 90s, what we're expecting from an action movie is a different thing. And I feel like that is part of why this movie kind of is a one and done because it comes out at the wrong moment.
01:01:07
Speaker
I like this. This movie comes out months before Die Hard does. This movie comes out in February. Die Hard, first of all, it's kind of dumped in February. Like February is the dumping ground for movies. Yeah. But it still does fairly well. Like it is considered a a box office success, but it it's quickly swept away by Die Hard. And so its status now is as a cult movie as a result of that, which is a fucking bummer.
01:01:37
Speaker
Yeah, is there a 4K of this? I would I want there to be so bad. I do, too, because I was enjoying the high def version. But there was a bit a bit of noise and it wasn't digital noise. It was just the quality of whatever print that they had that they transferred for the DVD or whatever the Blu-ray. Right. I think if somebody took the original master and remastered it in 4K, it would it would look really fucking good.
01:02:08
Speaker
Yeah. And like I like that film grain on some stuff, but like I kind of want this movie to pop like Virgin Suicides kind of pop. Sure. I don't think I don't. I'm not seeing a physical media release at all. Fuck.
01:02:27
Speaker
Who made this movie? What's the what's the company was Warner Brothers. This was Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers ends up with the rights to it and the logo shit with them. The logo was surprisingly modern. Mm hmm. Like when it started up, I was like, oh, they tacked the modern logo on, but then like the music for the film started while the logo was on. I was like, oh.
01:02:48
Speaker
Wow. 1988 looking pretty fucking fancy with this modern Warner Brothers logo. So it's it's it's a Lorimar pictures. It's a Lorimar present production. So Lorimar film. So distributed by Warner Brothers. No, it's distributed by Lorimar, but Lorimar is eventually purchased in I think right before this movie comes out is purchased by Warner Brothers.
01:03:34
Speaker
change hand like that. Like they there is a sequel plant because it is a success. They plan a sequel. They sell the rights and then they end up at Warner Brothers and Warner Brothers just sits on it as Warner Brothers tends to do with shit like this. Like it's they're focused on, you know, whatever they think is the next bigger thing that they're not paying attention to this thing they have right in front of them like.
01:03:37
Speaker
is purchased by Warner's Communications.
01:03:58
Speaker
I wanted I would love if in a sequel, maybe not the next movie, but maybe the third movie that like Delaplane's son gets out of prison and takes tries to take vengeance on action like I. And then he really does rip his arm off. Yeah. Just take it clean off. I need to see it. We need to see. Just pluck it like yank it like a paper towel. Right off that motherfucker.
01:04:27
Speaker
Pulled a hamstring, pulled it right off. Yeah, that's what I want to say. That's what I want to say. Like an action figure like. Yeah, 100 percent like a fucking GI Joe into it way into it. Like that's the third one.
01:04:41
Speaker
Because I mean, again, that's kind of the thing that we hear about action through the beginning. He's a one man army. He's this like very big imposing figure. And it is so scared of him. He faints like three times, three times. And like my favorite becomes his friend. And that's so sweet and wholesome. And I love it like.
01:05:01
Speaker
is that when he first goes out with Sharon Stone and they're in the bar and the kid ducks into the bar, sees the back of his head and just darts back out there like doesn't even see him just sprints out the door. That's the comedy that works in this movie. Yes. They may have wasted Tom Wilson, but that bit fucking works 100 percent every fucking time.
01:05:21
Speaker
And Sharon Stone looks at him like, who is that? And action is just not even paying any attention. He just he cannot be bothered. Like, I love it. Shit like that. I love like it's fantastic. It's this movie is so fun. It's a fun like it's fun in the way the 80s action movies are supposed to be fun. And like it's it's it is the best of black exploitation and the best of 80s action really baked into a single movie.
01:05:50
Speaker
Like it it I just I can't say enough good about it. Look, dude, I feel like we're about ready to wrap up and we haven't even done the fucking plot like we do the plot. But but I mean, yeah, like I was thinking that, too. It's like I feel like we've really, really discussed this. Yeah, like we've gone deep on this movie, but we haven't even done the fucking plot. But like, should we?
01:06:15
Speaker
The plot is coming. I mean, I mean, I'm into leaving it out, man. I want people to go see this. Look, like normally we do the plot, right? But like, you know what? I can't imagine a lot of people have seen it. I want this to be an incentive. And then you check it out. Here's what I'll say, Tucker, like normally barely touch the plot, except to say that it's complicated. It barely touched it. It is true. Here's what I here's what I'm going to say. I am willing.
01:06:42
Speaker
willing to not do the plot in 60. But, I'm not going to make that decision. The coin of justice is going to make that decision. If the coin decides we skip, here's what I propose. If the coin decides we skip the plot, we skip the plot. If the coin decides we do the plot, you do the plot.
01:07:08
Speaker
You know what the funniest part about this is, is that we could have just done the plot in 60 seconds by now and the time that it took for us to explain that. Okay, I am way into that.
01:07:22
Speaker
All right, so this so I've got the coin of justice at the ready and we're going to determine whether or not we do the plot. OK, heads, no plot, tails, Tucker plot as penance for suggesting we not. So word. Here goes. I love that it's a punishment. Like I did wrong. You know what, Tucker? What? It's heads.
01:07:41
Speaker
Ah, the boy done wrong again, but it doesn't matter because it's head. The coin chose to agree with you. So look, you all need to go out and see Action Jackson again. It's not streaming anywhere, but it is worth your four dollar rental. Yeah, you can rent it streaming like it is there digitally, so don't get too.
01:08:02
Speaker
scared that it's not going to be there. It's not like on any streaming service, unfortunately. Right. But it is worth your four dollars for sure. For sure. For sure. Tucker, real quick, because I know I know we do need to wrap some shit up. But like, what is your because this is again, this is our Carl Weathers, our IP episode. Like, what is your first exposure to Carl Weathers? What are some of your favorite Carl Weathers performances? Like, tell us a little bit about your history with Carl. Oh, Carl Weathers and I.
01:08:29
Speaker
Uh, it's, it's really, it's all about Rocky. Like everything else is secondary. Everything else is rad, but inconsequential, honestly, because, because Apollo Creed is not only a fantastic fucking character, but Carl Weathers is so charming and.
01:08:53
Speaker
handsome, if I may say. Him and Sylvester Stallone have fantastic chemistry, which even though I love the emotional impact and within the context of the plot of Rocky IV, it makes me really sad.
01:09:15
Speaker
that we don't get any more Apollo Creed in the Rocky series, because those two together, dude, like I would have wanted I would have wanted Carl to show up in the Creed movies opposite Michael B. Jordan. Now, how rad was it? Like you wouldn't even it would have been nice to see Stallone, but you wouldn't even need them, motherfucker. Exactly. If you had Apollo Creed, like exactly.
01:09:40
Speaker
Who? Yeah, like he's I don't know. It's one of those roles where.
01:09:47
Speaker
Like, that's who Carl Weathers is to me. I don't know who he really is. And I've enjoyed him in other roles, has different characters. But when I think of Carl Weathers, it's Apollo Creed 100 percent all the time. And I feel like I'm a better person for it, honestly. Probably are because look, well, great, great. Well, Rocky Four was the first movie I saw Carl Weathers in the role that I most associate him with. And this is just I'm about to show my ass, but it's
01:10:16
Speaker
Carl Weathers from Arrested Development. With the hand. Mm hmm. No, no, no, that's Happy Gilmore. That's Happy Gilmore. Oh, wait, it's Buster that has the Buster has the hand. That's right. So where they both have fake hands and I just.
01:10:34
Speaker
But he's the acting coach. He is. He has to buy his acting coach. Yeah. Like there's still some meat on that bone. Get, you know, put in some little broth and some potatoes. Who knew that he would be like, well, you we hadn't seen him do that kind of stuff before. Like he's not a comedy guy.
01:10:53
Speaker
He hadn't been up to that point, but he's so good at it. Like he's perfectly pitched in that zone. Yeah. Like, and I think that's part of why I thought action Jackson was a comedy because that's how I saw him at that point. Oh, that tracks now that makes sense.
01:11:09
Speaker
He's he's the comedy guy. So like I was like totally, totally in to like that. But again, I like I loved him in The Mandalorian. I loved him in Predator. I loved him in the Rocky films. Like, yes, 100 percent. Absolutely. But I can't cannot get over him in.
01:11:30
Speaker
interested development like that for for me that's kind of it and again I feel like I'm showing my ass saying that but like I love it I really do so that those are those are valid thoughts even I support those thoughts but now it might be action Jackson because this movie fucking rules Tucker yeah it's it's definitely it's definitely shaken up my perception
01:11:53
Speaker
Mm hmm. Like I know when this movie started, because again, as I said, the cold open for this movie is a perfect cold open. Like the first 10 minutes of this movie are perfect. This is you know, that kind of reminds me of the way of the gun in that way.
01:12:09
Speaker
Hmm, and we've discussed that a fast past and future guest of the podcast JP lek and I Famously gush over that movie every time he saw an episode Very similar to where like the cold open just sets the tone like this is that this is the movie we're getting into So if you like this cool, if not, you should probably bail now promise. Yeah, probably good idea But yeah, like that's that's a hundred percent
01:12:36
Speaker
it, man. But as the movie went on, and as the plot got more complicated,
01:12:42
Speaker
I started to, my overall enjoyment lessened while my immediate enjoyment was still very high. When I was in it, I was having a good time, but when I had to stop and think about what was going on, I was like, I don't know about this. It's not a perfect film for me, but it's still a very good film and one that I would love to own on physical media and one that I will definitely be watching again.
01:13:07
Speaker
Please give us the 4k like I said the way that it shot the color grading on that I would love to see those colors pop But it's very very photo realistic. Mm-hmm. I love yeah I love the way this is lit and like I said the way it's it's color graded. It's perfect
01:13:24
Speaker
Action Jackson opens on February 12, 1988. It opens at number three, the number one movie in America eight weekends in release, a little movie called Good Morning Vietnam.
01:13:42
Speaker
What is your boy Robin Williams? My boy Robin Williams in second place. A new film this weekend. It's good. A new film out this weekend. It is a little film starring Tom Barringer, Richard Mazer, Clancy Brown, Kirstie Alley and Sidney Poitier. It's called Shoot to Kill. I have no idea what it's about. But that's a fantastic fucking cast. I got to watch them and put that on the list. Or what's it called? Shoot to kill. Shoot to kill.
01:14:11
Speaker
You're to kill, but not on the list for next week. We're watching that motherfucker in third place. My dream cast in third place. We've got Action Jackson, the movie we've just discussed in fourth place, three men and a baby in this economy. Speaking of the goo, no, wait, that's no, that's the mixed up. OK, who do I get mixed? I get mixed up with Guten. Fucking. That's Selleck Gutenberg and Danson, all three. Yeah, but who do I get the goot mixed up with?
01:14:41
Speaker
I don't know, dude. I get him mixed up with. Fuck, I don't know, it doesn't matter. Whatever. Go ahead. You know, some of the right now shoot to kill. Shoot to kill. Yeah. You know, do you know who directed three men in a baby? This is fucking wild. Oh, I feel like I know this. You should. Well, who is it Leonard Nimoy?
01:15:01
Speaker
Yeah, I did know that Mr. Spock things where like it's in there, but I couldn't pull it out myself. So you had to kind of poke it. Yeah, I could remember he directed the first or the second one. So I had to look it up, but he did in fact direct that one's been in theaters for 12 weeks so far. It is still at number four.
01:15:20
Speaker
In fifth place, a damn near perfect movie moonstruck. Love moonstruck. Yeah, that's a good movie. I don't give that enough attention. I need to watch it more honestly. People don't see it like twice in my life. Rounding out the top 10, you've got West Craven's The Serpent in the Rainbow at number six. Oh, that's a fantastic movie, Stephen. Go put that on your list if it's not on there already. I have not. That's one of the handful of ravens that I've not seen. Yeah, it's kind of it's kind of based on a true story, too. It's already rad.
01:15:49
Speaker
In seventh place, she's having a baby. You know, what if someone had a baby? What what if someone had a baby? I think that's yeah, that's Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth McGovern in that one. So just one man and a baby in that one. Not three like the other. OK. In eighth place opening this weekend, Satisfaction with Liam Neeson and Julia Roberts.
01:16:12
Speaker
It was a Joan Freeman movie, that one. I have no idea. I didn't figure. In ninth place, Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Ironweed. That one has been, I think that one has been is opening wide this weekend. It's been in theaters for about nine weeks. It is. It's a Sony Tri-Star movie. Yeah.
01:16:35
Speaker
Oh, yeah, that's that's that's a real ass movie. And in 10th place, opening new this week is Spike Lee's second film, School Days. We just we had talked about Spike Lee earlier in the episode and he's back again. That's one of my few blind spots in his filmography. I have not seen his face.
01:16:55
Speaker
I don't like school days for one very specific reason. There's some sexual politics in that that I feel are really gross. And there's an argument that I think some people make that that's the point. But if that is the point, he doesn't do a good enough job of highlighting that that's the point.
01:17:19
Speaker
You know, so that's that's just my thought on that. Anyway, Action Jackson makes twenty point three million dollars in the domestic box office off of a seven million dollar production budget. Again, success, but not successful enough to warrant further sequels. Now we get to hear what the critics say, and it's just rude, frankly. The Tomatometer score is a 19 percent.
01:17:48
Speaker
That's outrageous.
Critics vs Audience: Ratings and Reviews
01:17:51
Speaker
The Metascore is a 36 based on generally unfavorable reviews from nine critics. And even the audience scores on like Rotten Tomatoes aren't that good. What the fuck, everybody? I know. Are we watching the same movie? Come on, people get with it.
01:18:06
Speaker
And Letterbox, the score is a three point zero Tucker out of five stars. How are you rating 1988's Action Jackson? Before I reveal that, I want to say I'm starting to realize that pretty much everything on Letterbox sits right around a three. I mean, that's kind of an average between like two point eight and three point two is where every movie sets on letter, every movie on Letterbox, every sweet spot, baby.
01:18:32
Speaker
Anyway, this is a four. This is four stars because despite an over complicated story and and at times less than perfect script, though the script does a lot of things really, really well, this movie does so many things perfectly and especially for me, because I am a fan of both of the genres that it leans heavily on.
01:19:01
Speaker
I'm a fan of a lot of the actors in this film. Like I said before, this is what Cobra should have been. I thought Cobra was supposed to be made for me. No, Action Jackson was made for your boy, 100%. So that's four stars for me. Yeah, it's a four for me too. Like I said, it's not perfect. The plot was sort of weighing me down, but at the end of the day,
01:19:31
Speaker
I had a blast with just, and again, the action set pieces in this movie are about as good as practical action sequences get in the 80s. It's like the stop motion in Return to Oz. It's the best that it's pretty much ever been.
01:19:50
Speaker
And I mean, because after this, I mean, the next major action movie that I really register is Terminator 2 in in 91, 91, 92. And that one is that that's when CGI kind of starts. I know Cameron still doing a lot of stuff practically. I mean, to to be fair, the set pieces are with the exception of like Robert Patrick's character are, you know, practical.
01:20:18
Speaker
Right. But it's kind of the genesis of terminator genesis of, you know, the FBI kind of taking over. It's the terminator genesis of with a lie taking over for humans. Yeah. Yes. Which I mean, it works. That works on the levels that that. So I'm I'm pretty how that all funny how that all works out. Right. Right.
01:20:39
Speaker
I am really bummed I did not get a chance to talk about Vanity, the female lead of this movie, because she is a fascinating character.
Future Content and Audience Engagement
01:20:46
Speaker
You know what? We'll talk about her when we cover The Last Dragon.
01:20:50
Speaker
Okay, touche. That is fair because she is a really interesting figure. And I do want to touch on her, but I know your computer's about to die. And she fucking she got a goal. She got a raspberry for this. Fuck you, golden raspberries. Fuck off with your I mean, in general, fuck the golden raspberries.
01:21:09
Speaker
Yeah, like an institution that is dedicated, like its only purpose is to punch fucking down. Exactly. Fuck off, gold raspberries. Like is it kind of funny? Maybe, but also it's kind of funny, like when the first time you hear about it and then the more you hear about it, you're just like, fuck that fuck. Well, like like when Halle Berry shows up to pick her to to like give a speech for her cat whooping raspberry, like that's a high point in like holding the golden raspberries. Yes.
01:21:38
Speaker
Or Sandra Bullock showing up and bringing DVDs of her performance in All About Steve because people didn't catch the nuance.
01:21:48
Speaker
like those are the high watermarks of the golden raspberries, but generally, just in general, fuck the golden raspberries. Fuck them, man. Like and just because just because two people were able to like like play into it and make make, you know, lemonade a shit like doesn't mean that that that does not justify the existence of a bunch of people punching down for decades. We don't need that. Like we don't look.
01:22:14
Speaker
We talk shit about people all day, but you don't got to make a big thing out of it, man. Don't involve them like don't involve everybody else like. Fuck, man, that's like that's why gossip is gossip and not like that's why the Internet was a mistake, man. Now it's not just it's not just gossip, man. It's out there for everybody everywhere. Yep. You can't talk shit anymore like in a polite way.
01:22:40
Speaker
I know it sounds awful, but also like, no, I'm just saying, but, you know, you get into it with your friends. You're like, you know, that person we both know, there's that one thing about that. That's just can you believe that shit? Mm hmm. I don't know. But now you can't know if it's a good thing or bad thing. Honestly, I got it. That's.
01:22:56
Speaker
kind of an existential quandary that I'm going to have to work through. I was going to say, yeah, you wrestle through that while I talk about social media. I just opened up a can of worms in my own brain. So I'll get back to you on that. All right. Well, hey, while he works through that, this has been the disenfranchised podcast. You can find us on just about any social platform, but specifically we're on Blue Sky. We're on Instagram. We're on Letterboxd. We're on Facebook and we're on YouTube at disenfranch.
01:23:24
Speaker
Pod. Find us on Patreon, patreon.com slash disenfranch pod for five bucks a month. You get access to God, so much content, including our weekly show. What are we watching? Days, days of content for days and week. Yeah. And you get.
01:23:42
Speaker
Look, also, if you are on your podcast of choice, leave us a five star rating and review, particularly if you're on Google Podcasts or not Google Pocket, particularly if you're on Apple Podcasts or Apple Podcasts or Spotify, those go a long way. We actually got a new review this past week, but I don't have time to read it. So maybe next. Oh, no, you do, Stephen. Come on. You got it. You got this. Read the review, Stephen. It is from fate.
01:24:09
Speaker
It is from one of our patrons and one of our one of our good fans, Brandy. She wrote a review, five star review, a fun listen. The chemistry between the three hosts is so great and always have so much fun listening to this podcast. They're funny and they cover a wide variety of movies.
01:24:26
Speaker
Oh, we love Brandy. Brandy is all over our social media, man. We love. Yeah, we love Brandy. Thank you, Brandy. We appreciate you. Appreciate that review. We really do. And hey, if you if you're a fan and you want to hear us read your name and your words on this podcast, write it, write us a review and we'll do that for you. Another way to get us to read your name and words on this podcast is to write us an email. This in French pod at Gmail dot com. And if you do that, Tucker will get very excited. You will validate Tucker's entire existence if you write us an email. You'll keep me going for another week.
01:24:56
Speaker
It really, really will. Life will be worth living for another week. He fucking loves that shit, man. You will just make his whole life if you do that for him. So I'm actually looking at it now. I don't see that there's anything in there, which is a bummer. But hey, I'm your host, Stephen Fox, where you can find me on Instagram, Letterboxed, and Blue Sky at Chewy Walrus. Tucker, where can we find you these days?
01:25:22
Speaker
I'm on Instagram and I'm on YouTube at icedine09, I-C-E-N-I-N-E, the number's here on the number nine. Also, check out TuckMugs on Instagram at tuck underscore mugs. We've had a lot of posts lately, a couple of guest mugs and a solo mug and we got another guest mug on the way and also a delayed mug from my Christmas vacation. My computer's at 5%, so let's get the fuck out of here, Steven.
01:25:42
Speaker
All right, you can find Brett on some socials at either sus underscore warlock or sus
Conclusion and Sign-Off
01:25:47
Speaker
warlock. Hey, guys, this has been the disenfranchised podcast on on Action Jackson. I'm your host Stephen Foxworthy from my co host Tucker and my absent co host Brett Wright. Until next time. How do you like your ribs?
01:26:16
Speaker
you