May 28, 2025 • 61 mins
It's about to get pretty cheesy, Slackers!
First though, this episode is dedicated to Rick Derringer. Rock legend, producer extraordinaire, and of course the man who brought us the classic wrestling theme song, Real American. Rest in peace, - brother.
This week we dive into a selection of 1980s sci-fi and fantasy films that shaped Gen X, including Krull, The Beastmaster, and Flash Gordon. Blending sword-and-sorcery with space opera, these films thrilled audiences with their larger-than-life stories and practical effects, despite a cheesy charm that could captivate or repel viewers, then and now. Were they “good”? Some were truly great; others were, honestly, gloriously terrible.
We explore how these films, despite their campy flair, connected with young audiences through tales of underdog heroes and fantastical worlds. Their earnest, sometimes over-the-top storytelling captured the era’s spirit, proving good intentions can make a lasting impression. And did you know The Sword and the Sorcerer brought the stars of TV’s Matt Houston and Manimal together on the big screen?
Join us as we celebrate these Gen X cult classics, embracing their cheesy yet endearing qualities that continue to entertain. Ah, the 80s, where bold heroes, mythical creatures, and cosmic battles ruled the screen with distinctive, lighthearted charm. It doesn’t always need to be bleak to leave a mark. Modern filmmakers should keep this is mind!
First though, this episode is dedicated to Rick Derringer. Rock legend, producer extraordinaire, and of course the man who brought us the classic wrestling theme song, Real American. Rest in peace, - brother.
This week we dive into a selection of 1980s sci-fi and fantasy films that shaped Gen X, including Krull, The Beastmaster, and Flash Gordon. Blending sword-and-sorcery with space opera, these films thrilled audiences with their larger-than-life stories and practical effects, despite a cheesy charm that could captivate or repel viewers, then and now. Were they “good”? Some were truly great; others were, honestly, gloriously terrible.
We explore how these films, despite their campy flair, connected with young audiences through tales of underdog heroes and fantastical worlds. Their earnest, sometimes over-the-top storytelling captured the era’s spirit, proving good intentions can make a lasting impression. And did you know The Sword and the Sorcerer brought the stars of TV’s Matt Houston and Manimal together on the big screen?
Join us as we celebrate these Gen X cult classics, embracing their cheesy yet endearing qualities that continue to entertain. Ah, the 80s, where bold heroes, mythical creatures, and cosmic battles ruled the screen with distinctive, lighthearted charm. It doesn’t always need to be bleak to leave a mark. Modern filmmakers should keep this is mind!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome to the Stuck in the Middle Podcast, the podcast
dedicated to the music hoopies and colts are Generation acts?
What is up, Slackers? And welcome to another episode of
the Stuck in the Middle Podcast. I am your host,
(00:34):
Jason Eck, and it's it. We've done it, two kids
through high school. My daughter graduated last week and I'm proud,
I am, but I just have to say sometimes our kids,
(00:54):
despier best efforts do the same stupid shit that we did.
And what I mean by that is, So she's going
to a college that she was late in developing an
interest in. I think I mentioned it on the podcast.
She didn't even apply. She ends up getting into the school,
and one of the contingent items on here is the
(01:17):
scholarship that she received is based on GPA. Now they
do ask for your final GPA. Now, mind you, it's
not bad, but I just want to say that maybe
it's because it's so relatable that I'm so annoyed by it.
(01:38):
But her final like third term, fourth term, miserably bad
in my opinion, now not as bad as my senior year.
So we just had this conversation dinner. I'm like, you
know you weren't supposed to following my footsteps for my
(01:59):
worst impulses and the stupid shit that I did in
your age, I'm hoping that I'm setting a better example
now and you kind of, you know, look at those
things as being things to uphold from the family lineage,
if you will. So I was an honor roll student
(02:20):
for the first two and a half years of high school.
Second half of junior year, eh, little little die, a
little dicey, but not bad. And then the first two
terms of my senior year were okay, third and fourth term.
Third term, I was not really interested in school. By
(02:42):
fourth term, I was rarely in school. So I will
tell you that on my fourth term report card, and
I don't have it. I'm glad that I don't. I
failed every single class for the term except for one,
and similar words I heard tonight that I said back
(03:05):
then thirty however, many years ago, came out of my
daughter's mouth, which is well, the worst grade that I
received was in an AP class, which is weighted higher,
so it doesn't have that negative of an impact on
an overall GPA. I will tell you the only reason
(03:26):
that I graduated from high school on time was like
I said, I failed every single class that last term.
I did no work the last three months of school.
Then I got a D plus in Honors Italian. Because
(03:47):
it was a D plus, it was weighted as a
C and I just squeaked by, just squeaked by. Now,
huge difference. I hadn't applied to any colleges. I knew
if I was going to college. It was a Middlesex
Community college. That's where I was headed. But the fact
(04:08):
that these same words came out of my daughter's mouth. Yeah,
my worst grades in a AP class. It would have
been worse if I got a bad grade in a
you know, a regular level class, because then that would
have negatively impacted my GPA. Now I think that her
adjusted GPA now is like a three point eight or
something like that. Her career average up until this year
(04:30):
was a three point nine, which is what got her,
you know, so many acceptances at colleges. Nothing to sneeze at. Okay,
I did not end my high school career. I think
I had a two point eighty nine when all said
was done, all of a said and done. But anyway,
it was a great, great time at commencement. We had
(04:52):
a nice dinner, had some friends join us. This little
Italian joint in town that has a great, like author,
authentically good Italian food. They do have a whole gluten
free line, so my wife will go there and indulge
because they have great pasta regardless of whether it's their
regular they're gluten free, amazing menu. So that was nice,
(05:14):
you know, have some friends conversation. The kids are all
at one table, we're all connected, but like the adults
are at one end, the kids are all down at
the other. And it was really nice. It was really nice.
And then she spent like the rest of the weekend
with her boyfriend, who wasn't going to be her boyfriend
by the way. They weren't going to make it official
because they're both going off to college, but they decided, no,
(05:35):
we're a thing. So we're we're boyfriend girlfriend. We're official.
With the understanding that they're they're probably going to go
their separate ways, you know, come August, we'll see. They're
both going to be in the same state, so we'll
see anyway. But yeah, it's good to have her through.
I'm so pleased. So the fact that you know, at
(05:57):
least for right now, my two two older kids are
really going pre K through collegiate graduation at Catholic schools
the whole way now for some of you and be like,
why does it matter? It's the fact that you do
have that faith life there, that there's always going to
(06:18):
be clergy on campus doesn't mean they don't still get
up to the same stupid shit as my just completed
sophomore year of college son has proven conclusively that it
doesn't matter. It's still partying is going to happen. It's
(06:39):
a rite of passage. I get it, you know. But
at least, if nothing else, I know that Mass is available,
that freaking the sacraments are available if they choose to.
Has he gone to Mass a single time since he's
been in college. No, anyway, Still, the fact that the
(07:00):
fools that they've chosen are Catholic institutions makes me happy.
So the youngest one, he has his eyeset on Boston College,
which is extremely difficult to get into. And it's not
because I'm trying to dismiss him or his academic pursuits.
It's just a hard school to get into for anyone.
So we'll see. If nothing else he knows, they'll say
(07:22):
plethora of other Catholic schools in the Northeast that he
could choose from, and he's probably still the most faith
based of the kids. He still has some of that,
I guess youthful enthusiasm, but we'll see. Nevertheless, Yeah, the
girl is graduated. She's eighteen, she graduated from high school. Oh,
(07:45):
I can't handle it. Sometime now, to change notes, I
just read I guess it just happened today and be like, well,
it's not jen x per se, but certainly had an
impact on a bunch of things in the field of music.
So you might have heard that Rick Derringer who burst
(08:11):
out of the teen It's seventeen years old with them
Coys with the song hang On, Sloopy, hang On, Sloopy, Sloopy,
hang On. He had a huge hit rock and roll Houchiku.
He earned a Grammy for producing Weird Al Yankovic's debut album,
which means he had an eye for talent. He knew
that what Al was doing was really good stuff. But
(08:32):
also for me, perhaps most importantly, he was the man
who brought us real American of course, the theme song
for the one and only Ole Kogan Brother. That's right,
I'm a real American fight for the rights of every
man good stuff like. I think that's his crowning achievement.
(08:58):
But he also, you know, did guitar solo on Bonnie
Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart, great song he produced
Cindy Lauper, and I think that may have been where
the rock and wrestling connection all happened in the eighties.
You may may recall the whole Cogan cartoon. Cindy Lauper
had Captain Lou Albano in her music video. She made
(09:21):
appearances at WrestleMania. So Rick Derringer has a clear, you know,
direct line to wrestling as well as rock and roll music.
Two of my loves rock and wrestling, So nevertheless LRIP
two of course the legendary Rick Deringer. And now moving
(09:44):
on to the topic for tonight, I always like to
explain sometimes where my topics come from, So this one
you just have to indulge me a moment. As you're
sitting here listening to the show. I did something this
past week that I said I wasn't going to do,
but curiosity got the best of me. I wanted to
(10:06):
watch a movie. No one else was really in the
mood to watch a movie, so I said, screw it. Well,
actually hold on, let me just very quickly say, on
a different night, my wife was like, I forget what
she was doing. She might have had like some clients
that she was working on, and she works from home,
so sometimes she's working all day every day, and you know,
(10:27):
God bless her for doing that. The kids and I, well,
actually it was the boys. It was just the boys.
My daughter was out with the boyfriend. Oh, my wife
was at some kind of party. I forget what it was.
But anyway, so it's just the three guys, right, And
I'm like, hey, you guys want to watch a movie? Like, yeah,
I'm down. So I sent a couple of suggestions and
(10:49):
the one that I'm like, okay, discuss a bust yourselves.
Don't make me pick it. It's always me. I have
to pick it. And I said, text me separately from
this list that I've curated. They both texted me separately
the same movie. I'm like, are you guys communicating to
each other? They're like, no, this is absolutely organic. This
is what we want to watch now. Unfortunately, the movie
(11:09):
that I saw online that said it was available to stream,
I misread it. It's soon available to stream so I'm
gonna put that aside. Doesn't even matter what the movie is.
So I'm like, well, shit, what are we gonna do now?
And we went through the you know, the other ones
that were on there, and I'm like, screw it. Do
you guys want to watch Until Dawn? We always end
(11:30):
up falling back to horror now, I, for one, I
find myself going down rabbit holes of YouTubers who play games.
I do enjoy that, particularly for games that I might
not want to sit down and play myself. And Until
Dawn is one of those games. And it's also one
of those games that has you know, A and B
(11:51):
plus level actors in the game. So Peter Stormayer is
in that. He's also in the movie. The game had
Romie Malick, who's gone on to become you know, Academy
Award nominated actor, Emmy Award winning actor, and Hayden Panitier,
who is I think most remembered for many as being
(12:13):
the little girl in Remember the Titans, who then went
on to become the cheerleader in Heroes Say, the cheerleader
Save for the World, and a number of other things.
She was in Oh that Country series. She's done a
bunch of stuff. Anyway, Strong cast for video game. Well,
this is a movie adaptation. None of the original actors
other than Peter Strong Mariyer in it, but it was
(12:38):
it was meta in the right way, and it kind
of it deviated from the game itself. But if you
enjoy a movie that is not what you expect going
into it, it's actually a lot of fun because even
if you read about the premise, you're going to anticipate
kind of what it's going to be, and it's not
what you expect. So they even joke about, well, now
(13:01):
that's not how things work in this little universe. A
lot of fun. All three of us really enjoyed it
far more than we would have anticipated. So then there's
I'm on my own. It was an afternoon. My wife
was out doing something. None of the kids wanted to
watch anything. I was just doing some chores around the house,
and I said, Okay, I'm gonna put on a movie.
(13:23):
I said, I wasn't going to do it on this show.
I said, screw it, I'm going to watch the remake
of Roadhouse with Jake Jillenhall. Now, I will tell you
the original Roadhouse is a classic. Less so for Patrick
(13:44):
Swayzee than the late great Terry Funk, but also just
the cast in general. But Patrick Swayze, Sam Elliott like
it's great, right, But this was a surprisingly fun take
on the movie. The basic shell is still the same,
but it went in different ways. A little bit of
(14:07):
a UFC tie in or a big UFC tie in.
It absolutely bonkers Connor McGregor in this I have come
to discover over the last couple of years there's a
handful of actors that I never really paid much attention to.
They just never really necessarily did projects that I super
stoked about. But I've come to discover that there's two
(14:28):
guys that I quite enjoy their movies. One is Ryan Gosling.
The other is Jake Jillanall. He's so enjoyable in this movie.
So even though it is a remake of an eighties
classic or was that ninety late eighties early nineties, nevertheless
it's a worthwhile watch. It's not deep. The original wasn't deep.
(14:53):
It doesn't need to be. Sometimes it's just about brawlin
and trying to do the right thing right, a classic story.
It was fun. There's some minor gripes with some CGI
augmentation to some of the fight scenes and stuff like that,
and I get it, but I don't care. It's fun.
(15:15):
And Connor McGregor, at least in the movie was showing
a very nice reverse round kick beautiful. Now it's not
like a Joe Rogan or George Saint Pierre. But anyway,
so how did that get This whole topic for tonight started?
(15:38):
Swayze was the jumping off point. In general, I think
it was more like remakes. So I started going down
the road of remakes and actors who were in some
of these kind of cult classic films and all those
kind of things, and then I realized that it was
turning into a all the movie that haven't been redone
(16:01):
and you kind of go, I'm surprised because you might
have a good idea, but an execution falls short. And
I think there were a lot of really good ideas
in the eighties that didn't quite like, didn't have the
budget or the studio behind it, or you know, the
script had a nice framework, but it never really quite
(16:25):
got there. So this episode is all about cheesy eighties
sci fi and man, there are a couple of these
on here. I've never seen other than trailers or having
heard about them. And then a handful that I've only
seen maybe once, most twice forty years ago. So let's
(16:47):
get into it. So the first one on the list
is Patrick Swayze. So we all know that Patrick Swayze
was in a movie called Red Dawn. Did you know
that he also had another Dawn based movie. I remember
only seeing the cover of this. I know nothing about it.
There's a part of me that wants to sit down
(17:09):
with my kids and go, we're just gonna watch cheesy
eighties sci fi flicks for a whole weekend. It's all
we're gonna watch and it's not gonna be good. And
that's not the point. It's not gonna be good. It's
gonna be great, but for all the wrong reasons, for
all the right reasons, depending on how you look at it.
But in nineteen eighty seven, this is before Ghosts, right,
(17:30):
because what ghost was like eighty eight eighty nine, before
Dirty Dance, and I believe right around this time Steal Dawn.
Some of you are like, I've never heard of Steele
don Well. It was released in nineteen eighty seven in
a post apocalyptic desert world that already might sound familiar
(17:52):
a nomadic swordsman named Nomad. Yes, the nomad is named
Nomads at a small settlement seeking peace when a warlord
threatens the town's water supply, No Mad teams up with
a local woman, Kasha, and her son to defend the community,
using his martial arts skills to confront the enemy in
(18:14):
a battle for survival. Now that sounds an awful lot
like the basic premise of Mad Max. I mean it does.
You have No Mad, Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi as Kasha,
Anthony Zerbi as Damnel, Christopher name as show or nime
(18:35):
as Show, and the legendary Brian James. You might know
him from Blade Runner and so many things where he
was the Goon also had great comedic timing. He is dark,
but you read it post apocalyptic. You gotta no Mad.
He's gonna help the local people from the warlord. I mean,
(18:58):
it's a tried and true formula, but I've never seen
steel Don. But Patrick Swayze is typically likable in just
about everything that he's ever been in. So if you
need something to watch this weekend, I recommend give it
Old Steele Don a shot. I can't guarantee it's any good.
(19:19):
So I'm gonna have to watch it for myself, and
if I do, I will let you know. Next Again,
a movie that I'm not sure I knew existed other
than having heard the name. I've heard the name before,
but when you dig in and find out who was involved,
(19:40):
you kind of go, oh, really, because you have some
let's just say, people involved that would go on to
become very very well known. And this was well, let's
get into let's get into it. We have Battle Beyond
(20:02):
the Stars, released nineteen eighty. A peaceful planet a Kir
is threatened by the tyrant sad Or and his mutant army,
Young Shad Richard Thomas of the Waltons Fame recruits a
rag tag group of mercenaries, including a space cowboy, a
warrior woman, an assassin, to defend his home. Inspired by
(20:25):
The Magnificent Seven and Star Wars, this side by adventure
blend's space opera with action and humor, which you have
Richard Thomas as Shad, Robert Vaughan, Yes, Robert Vaughan as Gilt,
John Saxon as sad Or, George Frickin prepared as Cowboy,
Darlene Flugel as Nameelia, and Sybil Danning as Saint exemin.
(20:50):
So here's what's interesting. This movie was produced by Roger Corman,
directed by by Jimmy T. Murriacami. And it's notable, Yes, notable,
because you had Corman's long standing writing partner, John Sales,
(21:12):
but an early score from James Horner, Yeah, the James Horner.
And special effects designed by one James Cameron. Yeah, the
James Cameron. Now it's interesting. In reading one of the reviews,
it made a particular point about the sci fi right,
(21:36):
about the special effects, and it says here that there's
a lot to be pointed up in this picture. There
is a fact that every different technology shows different lines
of development. Every ship and the way it is operated
is distinctly unique. That is because James Cameron was doing
(22:00):
the effects. He's like, if these are all different species
of alien or coming from different places, each one of
the mechanics is going to be different. This is what
makes him, even all the way back then as an
early filmmaker, kind of a visionary. Now, I haven't seen
I've ever seen Titanic, and I've only seen the first Avatar.
(22:21):
I haven't seen you know, Way of Water, and I
think next is the Way of Earth and the Way
of Fire and all that. But I just find it
so interesting because it talks about like performances like George
Prepard were great, you know, and saying actually that it
was one of George Pard's best ever films in which
(22:42):
his performance was warm, funny and touching. Right. I mean,
I get it. You're putting it out nineteen eighty. It's
clearly trying to capitalize on the space opera that was
Star Wars, and Roger Corman would have been a direct,
you know, influence on someone like George Lucas, But I
(23:04):
don't know this whole James Cameron thing. And the special
effects were so impressive, I think I got to check
it out. I got to check it out. But James Horner,
by the way, went on to do a couple of
films that one of them I'm not going to mention,
but Star Trek two The Wrath of Cohn was one
(23:25):
of them, and then eventually won an Academy Award for
Best Original Score for What Titanic. So it's just I
just think it's cool, and I think it still happens,
despite no longer having the studio system in Hollywood, that
people begin to work together, and you know they're in
multiple projects, and oh, this is the guy that I
(23:46):
want to do my score because I've worked them before.
I don't know. I think that building these teams ultimately
gives you a high level of competence in delivering what
could be a completely different story circumstances, et cetera. But
you know that you can work with person. I don't know.
I think it's kind of cool. But next up, we
(24:06):
have I do know this movie. I may have seen
it back then in part because I'm so acutely remembering
the lead actor and being in this movie. I don't
know if it was because of trailers on TV back then.
(24:30):
But if you ever thought you would get a Matt
Houston TV show, Matt Houston and Manimal TV show, somehow
those two universes colliding, well, look no further than The
Sword and the Sorcerer, released in nineteen eighty two. Prince Tallon,
played by Matt Houston Lee Horseley, a skilled warrior with
(24:54):
a magical three bladed sword, seeks to overthrow the evil
King Cromwell, who murdered his family and conquered the kingdom.
With the help of rebels, a sorceress in his own
cunning talon battles Cromwell's forces, a resurrected demon and betrayal
to reclaim his throne with this action packed sword and
(25:14):
sorcery tail. So Lee Horse Lee, but Simon McCorkindale Manimal
as Prince Micah, George Maheris as King Cromwell, and Richard
Lynch as Titus Cromwell. I mean, it's a sight to behold.
But the Three Bladed Sword did get a limited run
(25:38):
of toys because again, Lucas was so ahead of his
time as far as merch, Like he even says it.
That's why he when he first made the first deal.
I think it was what mattel and he got a
cut for merch, which was unheard of. It's like, we
are gonna make action figures, We're gonna make ships, and
(25:58):
everyone wanted to care capitalize on that. So I vaguely
remember the magical Three Bladed Sword. I don't know if
you can find that in eBay, but if somebody has
that first run, I mean, that's pretty freaking cool. Let's
actually see what else it says here. Sword and the
(26:18):
Sorcerer nineteen eighty two. Ummm, wow, get this the film
grossed thirty nine million at the box office, making it
the most profitable independent film of nineteen eighty two, and
even spawned a short lived production of three Bladed Plastic
(26:40):
Swords in resemblance to Talents Um but Roger Ebert David
half a star describing it as an identicit movie which
doesn't care much about character. But the film has become
a cult classic and regarded as one of Pune's best.
Albert Pune who is an American film director. Let's see
(27:01):
what is his filmography? Sword and Sorcerer, Radioactive Dreams, Dangerously Close.
I don't know any of these. I know Cyborg? Oh,
he directed Cyborg with John Cloud Van Dam What else?
He did the TV nineteen ninety Captain America movie? Do
(27:24):
you remember that Holy Cow with some of the worst
special effects for the red Skull blood match? Kickboxer Two?
Wait a minute, Dollman? He directed doll Man. I do
know more of his movies than I should probably admit. Yeah,
(27:48):
I mean he was still bullet face. What's bullet Face? Uh?
Who's even in this? Stephen Bauer is the only one
I know anyway. Sword and Sorcerer, h check it out.
I'm not sure if it's available for streaming. I assume
that it is, though all right, next one is very mainstream,
(28:11):
but I felt like I would be remiss if I
did not include it on the list, because it's so
a typical of the age and the time, and of
course the legendary Clash of the Titans, released in nineteen
eighty one, Perseus, the mortal son of Zeus, embarks on
a quest to say Princess Andromeda and the city of
Argos from divine wrath. Facing mystical creatures like Medusa, badass
(28:34):
Sequence by the way, giant scorpions, and of course the kraken.
Perseus uses his wits, divine gifts, and allies like Pegasus
to overcome challenges and fulfill his destiny. In this mythological epic,
of course, Harry Hamlin as Perseus, Judy Bauker as Andromeda
the Great, Laurence Olivier as Zeus, Claire Bloom as Hera
(28:58):
again the legend and the legend that is, Maggie Smith
as Fadus Ursula and dressed as Aphrodite, and Burgess Meredith.
Come on, purse, you can beat this guy as Ammon.
I mean, that's all you need to know. Burgess Meredith.
He could just have done the Penguin, Rocky and Clash
(29:20):
of the Titans. It's all good, freaking legend, absolutely phenomenal.
I quite like that movie, like it's It did get
a remake. I forget the name of the actor, the
guy who's an avatar, Sam something. I think it even
got a sequel. But the original was directed by Desmond Davis,
(29:44):
written by Beverly Cross loosely Bass of course, on the
Greek myth of Perseus. It seems to me that if
this were in the modern age, they would have done
this as a whole ip kind of thing, which is
your connected universe, which is you have one actor playing Zeus,
and then you have like the story of Hercules, and
then you have the story of Perseus and all of
(30:06):
the demigods that were, you know, spawned under Zeus. This
was so great And what is Orsies's brother, the dude,
Oh my gosh, what is that dude's name? Calibas, Dude,
Calibos was amazing, absolutely amazing. So anyway, I'm sure you've
(30:34):
all seen it. It's such good stuff. I think it
holds up. People will be like, oh, well, the special
effects and that whole you know, the stop motion thing.
I think it's a brilliant form of filmmaking. I think
it was able to bring things to the screen that
couldn't have been done obviously, all the miniature work, and
Lucas was a pioneer in that as well. Clash of
(30:54):
the Titans is tremendous and will always be one of
my favorites. Also from nineteen eighty one. I know I
said sci fi, but some of this is like sci fi,
futuristic sci fi meaning like magic and monsters, you know
what I mean. Fantasy sci fi kind of all blended
into one. I watched this next movie probably more than
(31:19):
I watched Clash the Titans, if I'm being perfectly honest
with you. I loved it because I think part of
it was that the lead character was not like a Perseus,
who was, by his very nature was meant to be heroic. Right.
Harry Hamlin, chiseled, chiseled, Harry Hamlin. What a good looking
guy to be on screen. Right. Dragon Slayer nineteen eighty one.
(31:43):
In a medieval kingdom, a young wizard apprentice Galen, takes
on the task of slaying a dragon Vermathrax Pejorative after
his mentor Ulric dies, the dragon terrorizes the land, demanding
virgin sacrifices. With the help of Valarian, a young woman poet.
As a man, Galen faces danger and political intrigue to
defeat the beast and save the kingdom. Peter McNichol was
(32:08):
fantastic as Galen. Brad Warden just fantastic, showing fear like
this is crazy, what am I doing? Caitlin Clark as Valerian,
Ralph Richardson as Ulrich, John Hallum as Tyrian, and Peter
Ayir as King a Cassiodorus. It was so fun because
(32:31):
it was like the underdog story. It was directed by
Matthew Robbins from a screenplay he co wrote with hol Barwood.
It was a joint venture between Paramount and Disney, and
all the special effects were Industrial Light and Magic. I
mean at the time, I mean that dragon was amazing,
(32:54):
you know. It was nominated for an Academy Award for
Best Visual Effects and ended up losing to Raiders of
the Lost Arc. And they were also provided by Industrial
Light Magic, but they had a forty foot model and
the dragon consists of sixteen puppets dedicated to flying, crawling,
(33:14):
or breathing fire I thought it was wonderful. I could
have watched that over and over again because it was
so relatable. Like this guy, there's no way he can
really be the hero. And I just thought to point
out Ian mcdarmond, also known as Emperor Palpatine do it
is here as brother Jacobus. I think this one holds
(33:38):
up too. I think the Dragon was amazing. Yeah, it's
such a good movie. Gosh, I haven't watched this in
so long that I just feel like this needs another
another watch Man. So good? All right? Oh yeah, there
was an appearance by the devil in this too. Huh.
(34:00):
The village priest, brother Jacobis leads his congregation to confront Vermathrax,
denouncing it as the devil. Oh it says that the
dragon is the devil. Hmm. Interesting. Yeah, he did not
survive that anyway. If you haven't seen it in a minute,
I think if you watched it back then you know
(34:23):
that's a really good flick. All right, So what's next
on the list we have? Oh? Wow, okay, so this
one has an interesting turn of events, but enemy mine
great movie. During an interstellar war, human pilot Willis Dabage
(34:47):
played by Dennis Quaid and Drack alien Jaiba Chagan played
by Luke Gossip Junior. Right there all you need to know.
They both crash land on a hostel planet during this war.
Initially enemies, they form a bond survive, learning each other's
languages and cultures. This was the plot twist. When Jeriba
(35:10):
gives birth and dies, no one is expecting that. Wait
a minute, the dude here is pregnant. This lou Gossip
Junior's character is pregnant and gives birth. Daviage raises the child,
facing challenges to protect it and find peace between their
(35:30):
warring species. Yes, who else is in this? Brian James
as Stubbs, Richard Marcus as Arnold, and Carolyn McCormick as Morris.
I mean, it was two great actors, and it was
again like the Aliens outer space kind of thing, very
(35:53):
much all just spilling out in the seventies post Star Wars,
but this was a twist on all of that. I mean,
eighty five we are still let's see when did V
come out? Let's see eighty three. So yeah, I mean,
(36:14):
I guess there had already been a couple of things
here there where you're looking at like well, I mean
Star trek shit that goes back to the sixties where
you're having these disparate species, but the fact that they
made this a very small kind of character piece with
an alien this this was like a precursor to what's
the one where the alien species has been on Earth
(36:39):
for a long time and like they're on the police force.
Was that Mandy Patinkin in that I forget the name
of it, but two great actors, you know what I mean,
Quaid and lou Gosset Junior. I mean lu Gossid Junior
was in everything back then. We haven't even gotten into
like the whole that that second can tier of like
(37:01):
the the eighties action flicks. We've talked about some, but
you know, we haven't even really talked much about Iron Eagle,
which was, you know, coming out around the same time
as like Top Gun and those kind of things. But yeah,
it was an interesting flick. I remember seeing this at
a friend's house. I don't know if it was rental
or it was HBO, I forget exactly, but I remember
(37:25):
really enjoying it. I'm trying to think anyone else in
the cast here, but this was directed by Wolfgang Peterson,
who did Dost Boot never ending story in the line
of fire, Air Force one, perfect storm, Troy Poseidon, great director,
great cast, and I think pretty damn good flick. What
(37:48):
was the reception like here? Yeah, sixty percent positive as
far as critic review talks about Quaid and Gossip juniors, chemistry,
(38:10):
inventive production design, but an over excited story diminishes the
power of the central duels relationship. Maybe it made no
compromises in its art direction, its special effects, and its performances,
but then compromised everything else in sight oh man, and
I said, this season's due because we're coming off of,
(38:31):
you know, David Lynch's Dune the year before. Interesting. Seventeen
years later, another New York Times reviewer gave the film
more positive assessment, noting that taken in the intended spirit,
it's often moving, suggesting what might happen if two of
Earth's perpetually warring people's were stranded together. Yeah, that was
(38:52):
the whole point. Sometimes critics are thinking too much. They're
trying to find stuff that's not there, and I think
it takes a way just some of the enjoyment. I
like a good popcorn flick, and it happens to have
a little bit of emotional depth to it. Great, but
I don't need it necessarily. Not everything has to be
as the kids say, it ain't that deep. Okay, the
(39:15):
next one it was it was meant to be comedic.
I've only watched it, I think once on a rental
at my dad's house and one of my weekends stays there.
The Ice Pirates from nineteen eighty four, again this whole
(39:36):
you have post Star Wars and post mad Max and
all this kind of like post apocalypse stuff or super
sci fi. In a future where water is scarce commodity,
space pirate Jason and his crew search for a mythical
planet rich in water after being captured while raiding an
imperial ship. They escape, escape and team up with Princess
(39:58):
Karina to find the lost planet, battling robots, mutants, and
time warps in a comedic sci fi adventure starring everyone's
favorite Robert Urick as Jason, Mary Crosby as Princess Karina,
Michael D. Roberts. If you don't know him, you would
see him. You'd go that guy Rules as Roscoe, Angelica
(40:21):
Frickin Houston as Mida. John Mattuzak, the Late Great John
Matuzac as Killjoy and Ron Perlman as Zeno. Quite the
talented cast. I mean it really is like bonkers, how
good that is. But I haven't seen it other than
(40:43):
like I said that one time. This is when I've
I've always talked about kind of going back and revisiting.
I mean, it is listed as an American comic science
fiction film directed by Stuart Raffle, who get this, co
wrote another movie that we'll talk about in just minute.
The film stars, like I said, Robert Urich, Mary Crosby,
(41:04):
and Michael D. Roberts. It's just meant to be fun.
It really is just meant to be a ton of fun.
Who else in the cast of No anyone down here,
because sometimes you scroll down and you like, all of
a sudden, someone pops up and you go. This is
like their first movie, which will also come up in
just a minute. It was originally called The Water Planet.
(41:26):
I think that got taken later by Water World by
Kevin Costner. Let's see, John Matusach was cast because one
of the fine financiers liked him. It wasn't my choice.
We just put everything we could into it to make
a joke in funny and just told the story. We
got lots of high tech parts from car engines and
(41:47):
gears and poured molds out of them. Cool. Anyway, at
the end of the film, they were meant to arrive
at Earth and fly over the beaches of Malibu with
everyone swimming in the water, and his studio head said,
cut that out, anyway. The Ice Pirates nineteen eighty four, Okay,
this next one, I have to pull up and see
(42:10):
how it did at the box office, because I saw
this in the movie theater and I thought it was
goddamn epic. Nineteen eighty brought us Blash Gordon, the soundtrack,
(42:34):
Queen blash Ah Battle Ming the Muscles, absolutely nuts, absolutely bonkers.
But you look at the cast, Max von Seido as Ming,
Sam J. Jones as Flash Gordon, Melanie Melody Anderson as
(42:56):
Dale Arden, be Still in My Heart Topel as Hans Zarkov,
Timothy Dalton as Prince Baron. Now what's interesting is that
I'm fairly certain and I never watched the you know,
the Flash Gordon pulp movies, and I never watched or
(43:17):
never read any of the comic strips. Really, so there's
a scene in here with Timothy Dalton that I think
might have been influence of those What year is this eighty?
It was probably based on the books. So there's a
(43:38):
scene where they have to like reach into a hole,
and I feel like that's that's very reminiscent of the
Ben Gessertz. So chances are they might have been influenced
by Frank Herbert, to be perfectly honest, but this was
produced by Dino di Laurentis, so many of those movies
back then were from that production company. Let's see, we
(44:03):
have football player Flash Gordon, along with Dyal Arden and
scientist doctor Hans Zarkov is transported to the planet Mango
after a cosmic storm caused by the Tyrant to Ming
the Merciless. They must unite warring factions, including Prince Baron
and PRIs Volton, to overthrow Ming and save Earth from
destruction in this colorful, campy sci fi adventure. I mean,
(44:28):
I know this is random, but so one of my aunts,
piano player singer, she had the Flash Gordon like sheet music,
and then she had like the Big Book of Queen. Anyway,
because as a piano player and liking rock music like
Queen was what you would gravitate towards, right, But this
(44:48):
had everything that you could want. It was colorful, it
was over the top. Sam Jones was so likable as
Flash Gordon, and again you kind of had this sense
that Flash Gordon was able to be realized because people
like George Lucas were talking about I used to love
those Flash Gordon serials that you would go to the
(45:09):
movie theater to see. So I do remember like seeing
the comic strips, like in the newspaper kind of thing,
the Sunday Funnies. But it's so fun. I'm surprised this
hasn't gotten a remake. To be perfectly honest with you,
it seemed like it would be ripe for such a thing.
I mean, who owns the IP I guess is the question.
(45:33):
As it says here. The film received overall positive reviews
eighty three percent approved. Ready, I seem to think that
this was shit on for some reason. There's definitely some
golden raspberries were were talked about here. It finished top
of the US box office opening weekend, but it dropped
(45:55):
by fifty percent. It went on to grows twenty seven
million in the United States and Canada, had a very
strong showing in the UK. Additionally, the film performed well
in Italy due to two Italian actors prominent in the credits. Yeah,
I mean Blash Gordon has played for laughs and wisely.
(46:16):
So this is a space opera, a genre invented by
Edgar Rice Burroughs and Hugo Gernsak and other men of
unlimited imagination, harnessed to define to definitely limited skills. It's
fun to see it done with energy and love and
without the pseudo meaningful apparatus of the force. Ha ha
Is it fun? Yeah, sort of it is. I don't know.
(46:41):
I thought it was fun. I'm surprised it didn't do
better than that. It definitely got a ton of press
back then, but it has since become a cult classic
with fans of science fiction and fantasy. Oh this makes
Sense is a favorite of directors Edgar Wright and Taikowatiti
makes Sense, and acclaimed comic book artist Alex Ross names
(47:03):
the film as his favorite film of all time, and
if you've ever seen Alex Ross's art, it is stunning.
It was also the favorite film of Elizabeth the Second,
who watched it with her grandchildren every Christmas. Huh, that's
really bizarre, but kind of love that, all right. So
(47:32):
last two on the list here. I think this one
got savage by critics, but I'll have to double check
here as we read through. I loved this movie. I
watched it many times on VHS, possibly on Beta Max,
I don't know. Nineteen eighty two's The Beast Master. Dar
(47:56):
a warrior with the ability to communicate with animals, seeks
revenge against the evil priest Max, who killed his family.
Accompanied by his animal companions a panther, a hawk, and
of course the ferrets. Darren barks on a question if
heat Max and his cult rescue a slave girl and
protect the city of Aruk from destruction in this sword
and sorcery adventure. Of course. Mark Singer as dar Tanya
(48:22):
Roberts says Carrie Tanya Roberts rip torn as Max, which
is amazing. John Amos as Seth and Josh Milred as Tall.
I mean Mark Singer, he had such an interesting career,
he really did you know? It's like V and B's
(48:45):
n be'st Master, Like that's all you really need. Though.
Let's see, it's an American West German sword and sorcery
film directed by Don Coscarelli. Do they give us the
names of the animals here? Because I can't for the
life of me when what the name of the animals were.
(49:17):
Oh wow, there's a throat slashing and everything. I don't
remember that. I just remember being so worried, so worried
for the ferrets. I know it's meant to be because
they're cute, And within a couple of years, one of
my best friends growing up he ended up having a
couple of ferrets as his pats. What weird little animals.
(49:39):
He has a golden eagle named Schryk, a pair of
thieving ferrets he names Codo and Podo, and a black
panther he names Ruh. I mean Codo and Podo. Those
guys ruled man. But the fact that he had like
these animals and he talked to them. What a weird conceit.
(50:02):
But the whole thing was great as far as I'm concerned.
I was based on the nineteen fifty nine novel The
Beast Master by Alice Andre Norton. Yeah, great casts really
can't go wrong. Let's see full orchestral score. It didn't
(50:25):
make a ton at the box office, but then it
subsequently received significant local TV and cable airplay, notably on HBO, TBS,
and TNT. The film was shown so often on HBO
that comedian Dennis Miller joke that HBO stood for Hey
Beast Masters on It was also shown so often on
TBS that it popularly gained a similar joke that it
(50:46):
stood for the beast Master Station. I don't care. It
was great. It was great. Someone here says it's more
serious than the Conan movies, so you can come into
it any part of it and not feel that you've
missed much. Of course, the filmmaker's arranged for star Tanya
Roberts to appear in Playboy to help promote the film,
but that issue didn't end up coming out until after
(51:07):
the film had already been released. But you know, it
grows roughly fourteen million on its initial theatrical release, has
mixed reviews. Isn't bad as much as it's over long.
It does seem like it drags at a certain part
because there's also, not, if I remember incorrectly, a ton
(51:28):
of dialogue, because I don't think Dar speaks very much.
But the film holds a score of fifty percent on
Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of five point three
one out of ten. I don't care. It ruled yeah.
And finally, I will say that I've seen this movie
(51:50):
once once yet I had a deck of trading cards
from this movie. Also definitely capitalizing on the whole Star
Wars mania and trying to get merch into the hands
of stupid kids like myself. I would have been nine
(52:11):
years old when this came out. I wish I could
find those cards. I have no idea where they are.
But I'm talking about nineteen eighty three's Kroll. Now, a
number of the movies that I've mentioned here tonight already
have some either writers or production some kind of relationship
(52:33):
with Kroll. So a lot of these movies that we're
talking about, these these cheesy eighty sci fi fantasy movies,
kind of had a lot of the same kind of
masterminds mixed around and helping with script doctoring or completing
the screenplays. But on the planet Kroll, Prince Colwin leads
a group of companions to rescue his bride, Princess Lyssa,
(52:54):
who had been kidnapped by an alien invader known as
the Beast and his army of slayers, with the help
of a magical weapon called the Glave. Do you remember
the Glave? That was the coolest freaking thing a Cyclops.
The cyclops looked amazing, a Seer and other allies. Colwyn
battles through a fantastical world, blending sword and sorcery with
(53:15):
sci fi elements to confront the Beast in his fortress
and save Lisa. Now I can't pronounce some of these names,
but Ken Marshall as Prince Colwin, Lisett Anthony as Princess Lisa.
Freddy Jones is Jiner Ainer Francesca Andis as the widow
of the Web. Alan Armstrong as Torqul and get this.
(53:40):
Liam Neeson as Keegan in one of his very first roles,
and Robbie Coltrane, most well known as Hagrid in the
Harry Potter series, as Rune, both really getting their careers
started in film with Kral. But the Glave was the
the coolest frickin' thing. Everyone wanted to have the Kroll
(54:05):
or the Glave like it looked like nothing else. The
Beast was terrifying. Excuse me, let's see this was directed
by Peter Yates. It was so who's that screenwriter? So
(54:26):
Stanford Sherman, Okay, he wrote any which way you can.
Clint Eastwood, krull Ice Pirates, the Man from Uncle and
Batman on the Batman TV series. Like those are his
writing credits. I mean, what else do you need? If
I'm being perfectly honest, that right, there is a hell
(54:48):
of a list. But yeah. It has been positively reviewed
for its visual effects and its soundtrack. They said the
plot was derivative and even nonsensical. He got the glave.
You have a cyclops. I mean does it really matter?
(55:12):
I mean, none of that matters when you have Bernard
Breastlaw as Rell the Cyclops. The prosthetic makeup covered the
actor's eyes, while a radio controlled the character's solo eyeball
on his forehead. Breslo was only able to look through
one eyehole while in costume. He explained that during the
swamp scene, the other actors had to protect him from
(55:33):
walking in to the swamp. Ah. Liam Neeson's character Keegan
get this description. A member of Torkio's bandits an axe
wielding jovial polygamist. That's a sentence. Uh. Robbie Coltrane is Rune,
a member of Torkyo's troops who fights with a spear.
But oddly enough, okay, his voice is amazing. That's what
(55:57):
makes Haggard, so cool ah, come on, Harry. His voice
was overdubbed by Michael Elphick, whoever that is anyway, Trevor
Martin uncredited as the voice of the Beast. They did
try to get a second version of the screenplay that
(56:21):
was later discarded, and Columbia Pictures president Frank Price asked
producer Ron Silverman to create a fantasy film inspired by
dungeons and dragons. Silverman stated Frank Price said to us,
how would you like to do a movie based on
dungeons and dragons? So I guess that was the original
kind of take that they were going for, But I
(56:43):
don't know. I don't think they quite did that. But
they said that making Kroll was complicated and just so enormous.
In fact, they had to take a three week break
just for the special effects artists to kind of refresh.
Twenty three huge sets were built. Think about that, this
(57:06):
is a movie back then that now they would just
do it in like CGI. They'd have like one warehouse,
like a couple of practical sets, and then everything else
would be just built. A total of twenty three sets
were built, and the film was shot at more than
ten sound stages. The budget was thirty million, which at
(57:28):
the time would have been massive. Massive. They said that
the huge budget was due to several changes of concepts
in the script that led to designers having to repeatedly
alter the designs of the set. But that is the
one thing that everyone says was great was special effects.
(57:53):
James Horner, who I mentioned earlier, did the film score
with the London Symphony Orchestra and the MBRO singers. Anything
else here, Yeah, it's a huge soundtrack to just set
orchestral and nature. Sixteen point nine million at the box
(58:14):
office against a budget of twenty seven to thirty million dollars.
It thirty five percent of the critics found it positive,
while nostalgic fans may view it through a rose crullered
see the did their glasses this would be sci sci fi.
(58:34):
Epic is painfully derivative. It's like a hodgepodge of excliber
meets Star Wars and Ciskel and Ebert both gave the
film two thumbs down and called it one of the
most boring, nonsensical, illogical fantasies in a long time. Eh
(58:57):
I think I want to watch it. I think I
just have to watch it because it's been so long.
Speaker 2 (59:03):
It's just been so long since I've seen it, and
it's just so interesting to je expose it because people
said that if you do something like beast Master, which
had a really cheap budget, right, but.
Speaker 1 (59:17):
That means it could be quote unquote throwaway where it
actually makes its money at the box office, right, instead
of having this massive undertaking and then have it fail
miserably if you don't make margin, right or it don't
even break even. It's like that sucks. But Yeahkrol forgettable
battle between good evil and a strange circular weapon with
(59:39):
confusing mythology that left many and intended audience members scratching
their adolescent head. Ah true words, true words. So anyway,
this was a little dive into some of the great
or maybe not so great fi and fantasy films of
(01:00:02):
the nineteen eighties. Tell me any of these amongst your
favorite movies, or at least a guilty pleasure that you
can't help but want to watch once in a while.
I know a couple of these. I'm like, you know what,
I gotta watch Dragon Slayer. It's been a minute, and
I always found that a lot of fun. I'm pretty
sure I did watch class with Titans with the kids
a few years ago. But yeah, I gotta check out
(01:00:25):
Battle Beyond the Stars too, because I'm really curious to see,
you know, James Cameron's work on that and see if
you can kind of pinpoint. Oh look this guy, look
what he was developing in these little nuances that great
filmmakers all do. So let me know and how do
you do that. You can email me at Stuck in
middlepod at yahoo dot com. You can find me on
Instagram X and YouTube at stuck pod X. Heading over
(01:00:48):
to the Facebook page Stuck in the Middle of gen
X podcast, please like, comment, share, leave five star reviews,
and most importantly, please subscribe to the podcast. So until
next time, Later, slackers b
Welcome to the Stuck in the Middle Podcast, the podcast
dedicated to the music hoopies and colts are Generation acts?
What is up, Slackers? And welcome to another episode of
the Stuck in the Middle Podcast. I am your host,
(00:34):
Jason Eck, and it's it. We've done it, two kids
through high school. My daughter graduated last week and I'm proud,
I am, but I just have to say sometimes our kids,
(00:54):
despier best efforts do the same stupid shit that we did.
And what I mean by that is, So she's going
to a college that she was late in developing an
interest in. I think I mentioned it on the podcast.
She didn't even apply. She ends up getting into the school,
and one of the contingent items on here is the
(01:17):
scholarship that she received is based on GPA. Now they
do ask for your final GPA. Now, mind you, it's
not bad, but I just want to say that maybe
it's because it's so relatable that I'm so annoyed by it.
(01:38):
But her final like third term, fourth term, miserably bad
in my opinion, now not as bad as my senior year.
So we just had this conversation dinner. I'm like, you
know you weren't supposed to following my footsteps for my
(01:59):
worst impulses and the stupid shit that I did in
your age, I'm hoping that I'm setting a better example
now and you kind of, you know, look at those
things as being things to uphold from the family lineage,
if you will. So I was an honor roll student
(02:20):
for the first two and a half years of high school.
Second half of junior year, eh, little little die, a
little dicey, but not bad. And then the first two
terms of my senior year were okay, third and fourth term.
Third term, I was not really interested in school. By
(02:42):
fourth term, I was rarely in school. So I will
tell you that on my fourth term report card, and
I don't have it. I'm glad that I don't. I
failed every single class for the term except for one,
and similar words I heard tonight that I said back
(03:05):
then thirty however, many years ago, came out of my
daughter's mouth, which is well, the worst grade that I
received was in an AP class, which is weighted higher,
so it doesn't have that negative of an impact on
an overall GPA. I will tell you the only reason
(03:26):
that I graduated from high school on time was like
I said, I failed every single class that last term.
I did no work the last three months of school.
Then I got a D plus in Honors Italian. Because
(03:47):
it was a D plus, it was weighted as a
C and I just squeaked by, just squeaked by. Now,
huge difference. I hadn't applied to any colleges. I knew
if I was going to college. It was a Middlesex
Community college. That's where I was headed. But the fact
(04:08):
that these same words came out of my daughter's mouth. Yeah,
my worst grades in a AP class. It would have
been worse if I got a bad grade in a
you know, a regular level class, because then that would
have negatively impacted my GPA. Now I think that her
adjusted GPA now is like a three point eight or
something like that. Her career average up until this year
(04:30):
was a three point nine, which is what got her,
you know, so many acceptances at colleges. Nothing to sneeze at. Okay,
I did not end my high school career. I think
I had a two point eighty nine when all said
was done, all of a said and done. But anyway,
it was a great, great time at commencement. We had
(04:52):
a nice dinner, had some friends join us. This little
Italian joint in town that has a great, like author,
authentically good Italian food. They do have a whole gluten
free line, so my wife will go there and indulge
because they have great pasta regardless of whether it's their
regular they're gluten free, amazing menu. So that was nice,
(05:14):
you know, have some friends conversation. The kids are all
at one table, we're all connected, but like the adults
are at one end, the kids are all down at
the other. And it was really nice. It was really nice.
And then she spent like the rest of the weekend
with her boyfriend, who wasn't going to be her boyfriend
by the way. They weren't going to make it official
because they're both going off to college, but they decided, no,
(05:35):
we're a thing. So we're we're boyfriend girlfriend. We're official.
With the understanding that they're they're probably going to go
their separate ways, you know, come August, we'll see. They're
both going to be in the same state, so we'll
see anyway. But yeah, it's good to have her through.
I'm so pleased. So the fact that you know, at
(05:57):
least for right now, my two two older kids are
really going pre K through collegiate graduation at Catholic schools
the whole way now for some of you and be like,
why does it matter? It's the fact that you do
have that faith life there, that there's always going to
(06:18):
be clergy on campus doesn't mean they don't still get
up to the same stupid shit as my just completed
sophomore year of college son has proven conclusively that it
doesn't matter. It's still partying is going to happen. It's
(06:39):
a rite of passage. I get it, you know. But
at least, if nothing else, I know that Mass is available,
that freaking the sacraments are available if they choose to.
Has he gone to Mass a single time since he's
been in college. No, anyway, Still, the fact that the
(07:00):
fools that they've chosen are Catholic institutions makes me happy.
So the youngest one, he has his eyeset on Boston College,
which is extremely difficult to get into. And it's not
because I'm trying to dismiss him or his academic pursuits.
It's just a hard school to get into for anyone.
So we'll see. If nothing else he knows, they'll say
(07:22):
plethora of other Catholic schools in the Northeast that he
could choose from, and he's probably still the most faith
based of the kids. He still has some of that,
I guess youthful enthusiasm, but we'll see. Nevertheless, Yeah, the
girl is graduated. She's eighteen, she graduated from high school. Oh,
(07:45):
I can't handle it. Sometime now, to change notes, I
just read I guess it just happened today and be like, well,
it's not jen x per se, but certainly had an
impact on a bunch of things in the field of music.
So you might have heard that Rick Derringer who burst
(08:11):
out of the teen It's seventeen years old with them
Coys with the song hang On, Sloopy, hang On, Sloopy, Sloopy,
hang On. He had a huge hit rock and roll Houchiku.
He earned a Grammy for producing Weird Al Yankovic's debut album,
which means he had an eye for talent. He knew
that what Al was doing was really good stuff. But
(08:32):
also for me, perhaps most importantly, he was the man
who brought us real American of course, the theme song
for the one and only Ole Kogan Brother. That's right,
I'm a real American fight for the rights of every
man good stuff like. I think that's his crowning achievement.
(08:58):
But he also, you know, did guitar solo on Bonnie
Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart, great song he produced
Cindy Lauper, and I think that may have been where
the rock and wrestling connection all happened in the eighties.
You may may recall the whole Cogan cartoon. Cindy Lauper
had Captain Lou Albano in her music video. She made
(09:21):
appearances at WrestleMania. So Rick Derringer has a clear, you know,
direct line to wrestling as well as rock and roll music.
Two of my loves rock and wrestling, So nevertheless LRIP
two of course the legendary Rick Deringer. And now moving
(09:44):
on to the topic for tonight, I always like to
explain sometimes where my topics come from, So this one
you just have to indulge me a moment. As you're
sitting here listening to the show. I did something this
past week that I said I wasn't going to do,
but curiosity got the best of me. I wanted to
(10:06):
watch a movie. No one else was really in the
mood to watch a movie, so I said, screw it. Well,
actually hold on, let me just very quickly say, on
a different night, my wife was like, I forget what
she was doing. She might have had like some clients
that she was working on, and she works from home,
so sometimes she's working all day every day, and you know,
(10:27):
God bless her for doing that. The kids and I, well,
actually it was the boys. It was just the boys.
My daughter was out with the boyfriend. Oh, my wife
was at some kind of party. I forget what it was.
But anyway, so it's just the three guys, right, And
I'm like, hey, you guys want to watch a movie? Like, yeah,
I'm down. So I sent a couple of suggestions and
(10:49):
the one that I'm like, okay, discuss a bust yourselves.
Don't make me pick it. It's always me. I have
to pick it. And I said, text me separately from
this list that I've curated. They both texted me separately
the same movie. I'm like, are you guys communicating to
each other? They're like, no, this is absolutely organic. This
is what we want to watch now. Unfortunately, the movie
(11:09):
that I saw online that said it was available to stream,
I misread it. It's soon available to stream so I'm
gonna put that aside. Doesn't even matter what the movie is.
So I'm like, well, shit, what are we gonna do now?
And we went through the you know, the other ones
that were on there, and I'm like, screw it. Do
you guys want to watch Until Dawn? We always end
(11:30):
up falling back to horror now, I, for one, I
find myself going down rabbit holes of YouTubers who play games.
I do enjoy that, particularly for games that I might
not want to sit down and play myself. And Until
Dawn is one of those games. And it's also one
of those games that has you know, A and B
(11:51):
plus level actors in the game. So Peter Stormayer is
in that. He's also in the movie. The game had
Romie Malick, who's gone on to become you know, Academy
Award nominated actor, Emmy Award winning actor, and Hayden Panitier,
who is I think most remembered for many as being
(12:13):
the little girl in Remember the Titans, who then went
on to become the cheerleader in Heroes Say, the cheerleader
Save for the World, and a number of other things.
She was in Oh that Country series. She's done a
bunch of stuff. Anyway, Strong cast for video game. Well,
this is a movie adaptation. None of the original actors
other than Peter Strong Mariyer in it, but it was
(12:38):
it was meta in the right way, and it kind
of it deviated from the game itself. But if you
enjoy a movie that is not what you expect going
into it, it's actually a lot of fun because even
if you read about the premise, you're going to anticipate
kind of what it's going to be, and it's not
what you expect. So they even joke about, well, now
(13:01):
that's not how things work in this little universe. A
lot of fun. All three of us really enjoyed it
far more than we would have anticipated. So then there's
I'm on my own. It was an afternoon. My wife
was out doing something. None of the kids wanted to
watch anything. I was just doing some chores around the house,
and I said, Okay, I'm gonna put on a movie.
(13:23):
I said, I wasn't going to do it on this show.
I said, screw it, I'm going to watch the remake
of Roadhouse with Jake Jillenhall. Now, I will tell you
the original Roadhouse is a classic. Less so for Patrick
(13:44):
Swayzee than the late great Terry Funk, but also just
the cast in general. But Patrick Swayze, Sam Elliott like
it's great, right, But this was a surprisingly fun take
on the movie. The basic shell is still the same,
but it went in different ways. A little bit of
(14:07):
a UFC tie in or a big UFC tie in.
It absolutely bonkers Connor McGregor in this I have come
to discover over the last couple of years there's a
handful of actors that I never really paid much attention to.
They just never really necessarily did projects that I super
stoked about. But I've come to discover that there's two
(14:28):
guys that I quite enjoy their movies. One is Ryan Gosling.
The other is Jake Jillanall. He's so enjoyable in this movie.
So even though it is a remake of an eighties
classic or was that ninety late eighties early nineties, nevertheless
it's a worthwhile watch. It's not deep. The original wasn't deep.
(14:53):
It doesn't need to be. Sometimes it's just about brawlin
and trying to do the right thing right, a classic story.
It was fun. There's some minor gripes with some CGI
augmentation to some of the fight scenes and stuff like that,
and I get it, but I don't care. It's fun.
(15:15):
And Connor McGregor, at least in the movie was showing
a very nice reverse round kick beautiful. Now it's not
like a Joe Rogan or George Saint Pierre. But anyway,
so how did that get This whole topic for tonight started?
(15:38):
Swayze was the jumping off point. In general, I think
it was more like remakes. So I started going down
the road of remakes and actors who were in some
of these kind of cult classic films and all those
kind of things, and then I realized that it was
turning into a all the movie that haven't been redone
(16:01):
and you kind of go, I'm surprised because you might
have a good idea, but an execution falls short. And
I think there were a lot of really good ideas
in the eighties that didn't quite like, didn't have the
budget or the studio behind it, or you know, the
script had a nice framework, but it never really quite
(16:25):
got there. So this episode is all about cheesy eighties
sci fi and man, there are a couple of these
on here. I've never seen other than trailers or having
heard about them. And then a handful that I've only
seen maybe once, most twice forty years ago. So let's
(16:47):
get into it. So the first one on the list
is Patrick Swayze. So we all know that Patrick Swayze
was in a movie called Red Dawn. Did you know
that he also had another Dawn based movie. I remember
only seeing the cover of this. I know nothing about it.
There's a part of me that wants to sit down
(17:09):
with my kids and go, we're just gonna watch cheesy
eighties sci fi flicks for a whole weekend. It's all
we're gonna watch and it's not gonna be good. And
that's not the point. It's not gonna be good. It's
gonna be great, but for all the wrong reasons, for
all the right reasons, depending on how you look at it.
But in nineteen eighty seven, this is before Ghosts, right,
(17:30):
because what ghost was like eighty eight eighty nine, before
Dirty Dance, and I believe right around this time Steal Dawn.
Some of you are like, I've never heard of Steele
don Well. It was released in nineteen eighty seven in
a post apocalyptic desert world that already might sound familiar
(17:52):
a nomadic swordsman named Nomad. Yes, the nomad is named
Nomads at a small settlement seeking peace when a warlord
threatens the town's water supply, No Mad teams up with
a local woman, Kasha, and her son to defend the community,
using his martial arts skills to confront the enemy in
(18:14):
a battle for survival. Now that sounds an awful lot
like the basic premise of Mad Max. I mean it does.
You have No Mad, Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi as Kasha,
Anthony Zerbi as Damnel, Christopher name as show or nime
(18:35):
as Show, and the legendary Brian James. You might know
him from Blade Runner and so many things where he
was the Goon also had great comedic timing. He is dark,
but you read it post apocalyptic. You gotta no Mad.
He's gonna help the local people from the warlord. I mean,
(18:58):
it's a tried and true formula, but I've never seen
steel Don. But Patrick Swayze is typically likable in just
about everything that he's ever been in. So if you
need something to watch this weekend, I recommend give it
Old Steele Don a shot. I can't guarantee it's any good.
(19:19):
So I'm gonna have to watch it for myself, and
if I do, I will let you know. Next Again,
a movie that I'm not sure I knew existed other
than having heard the name. I've heard the name before,
but when you dig in and find out who was involved,
(19:40):
you kind of go, oh, really, because you have some
let's just say, people involved that would go on to
become very very well known. And this was well, let's
get into let's get into it. We have Battle Beyond
(20:02):
the Stars, released nineteen eighty. A peaceful planet a Kir
is threatened by the tyrant sad Or and his mutant army,
Young Shad Richard Thomas of the Waltons Fame recruits a
rag tag group of mercenaries, including a space cowboy, a
warrior woman, an assassin, to defend his home. Inspired by
(20:25):
The Magnificent Seven and Star Wars, this side by adventure
blend's space opera with action and humor, which you have
Richard Thomas as Shad, Robert Vaughan, Yes, Robert Vaughan as Gilt,
John Saxon as sad Or, George Frickin prepared as Cowboy,
Darlene Flugel as Nameelia, and Sybil Danning as Saint exemin.
(20:50):
So here's what's interesting. This movie was produced by Roger Corman,
directed by by Jimmy T. Murriacami. And it's notable, Yes, notable,
because you had Corman's long standing writing partner, John Sales,
(21:12):
but an early score from James Horner, Yeah, the James Horner.
And special effects designed by one James Cameron. Yeah, the
James Cameron. Now it's interesting. In reading one of the reviews,
it made a particular point about the sci fi right,
(21:36):
about the special effects, and it says here that there's
a lot to be pointed up in this picture. There
is a fact that every different technology shows different lines
of development. Every ship and the way it is operated
is distinctly unique. That is because James Cameron was doing
(22:00):
the effects. He's like, if these are all different species
of alien or coming from different places, each one of
the mechanics is going to be different. This is what
makes him, even all the way back then as an
early filmmaker, kind of a visionary. Now, I haven't seen
I've ever seen Titanic, and I've only seen the first Avatar.
(22:21):
I haven't seen you know, Way of Water, and I
think next is the Way of Earth and the Way
of Fire and all that. But I just find it
so interesting because it talks about like performances like George
Prepard were great, you know, and saying actually that it
was one of George Pard's best ever films in which
(22:42):
his performance was warm, funny and touching. Right. I mean,
I get it. You're putting it out nineteen eighty. It's
clearly trying to capitalize on the space opera that was
Star Wars, and Roger Corman would have been a direct,
you know, influence on someone like George Lucas, But I
(23:04):
don't know this whole James Cameron thing. And the special
effects were so impressive, I think I got to check
it out. I got to check it out. But James Horner,
by the way, went on to do a couple of
films that one of them I'm not going to mention,
but Star Trek two The Wrath of Cohn was one
(23:25):
of them, and then eventually won an Academy Award for
Best Original Score for What Titanic. So it's just I
just think it's cool, and I think it still happens,
despite no longer having the studio system in Hollywood, that
people begin to work together, and you know they're in
multiple projects, and oh, this is the guy that I
(23:46):
want to do my score because I've worked them before.
I don't know. I think that building these teams ultimately
gives you a high level of competence in delivering what
could be a completely different story circumstances, et cetera. But
you know that you can work with person. I don't know.
I think it's kind of cool. But next up, we
(24:06):
have I do know this movie. I may have seen
it back then in part because I'm so acutely remembering
the lead actor and being in this movie. I don't
know if it was because of trailers on TV back then.
(24:30):
But if you ever thought you would get a Matt
Houston TV show, Matt Houston and Manimal TV show, somehow
those two universes colliding, well, look no further than The
Sword and the Sorcerer, released in nineteen eighty two. Prince Tallon,
played by Matt Houston Lee Horseley, a skilled warrior with
(24:54):
a magical three bladed sword, seeks to overthrow the evil
King Cromwell, who murdered his family and conquered the kingdom.
With the help of rebels, a sorceress in his own
cunning talon battles Cromwell's forces, a resurrected demon and betrayal
to reclaim his throne with this action packed sword and
(25:14):
sorcery tail. So Lee Horse Lee, but Simon McCorkindale Manimal
as Prince Micah, George Maheris as King Cromwell, and Richard
Lynch as Titus Cromwell. I mean, it's a sight to behold.
But the Three Bladed Sword did get a limited run
(25:38):
of toys because again, Lucas was so ahead of his
time as far as merch, Like he even says it.
That's why he when he first made the first deal.
I think it was what mattel and he got a
cut for merch, which was unheard of. It's like, we
are gonna make action figures, We're gonna make ships, and
(25:58):
everyone wanted to care capitalize on that. So I vaguely
remember the magical Three Bladed Sword. I don't know if
you can find that in eBay, but if somebody has
that first run, I mean, that's pretty freaking cool. Let's
actually see what else it says here. Sword and the
(26:18):
Sorcerer nineteen eighty two. Ummm, wow, get this the film
grossed thirty nine million at the box office, making it
the most profitable independent film of nineteen eighty two, and
even spawned a short lived production of three Bladed Plastic
(26:40):
Swords in resemblance to Talents Um but Roger Ebert David
half a star describing it as an identicit movie which
doesn't care much about character. But the film has become
a cult classic and regarded as one of Pune's best.
Albert Pune who is an American film director. Let's see
(27:01):
what is his filmography? Sword and Sorcerer, Radioactive Dreams, Dangerously Close.
I don't know any of these. I know Cyborg? Oh,
he directed Cyborg with John Cloud Van Dam What else?
He did the TV nineteen ninety Captain America movie? Do
(27:24):
you remember that Holy Cow with some of the worst
special effects for the red Skull blood match? Kickboxer Two?
Wait a minute, Dollman? He directed doll Man. I do
know more of his movies than I should probably admit. Yeah,
(27:48):
I mean he was still bullet face. What's bullet Face? Uh?
Who's even in this? Stephen Bauer is the only one
I know anyway. Sword and Sorcerer, h check it out.
I'm not sure if it's available for streaming. I assume
that it is, though all right, next one is very mainstream,
(28:11):
but I felt like I would be remiss if I
did not include it on the list, because it's so
a typical of the age and the time, and of
course the legendary Clash of the Titans, released in nineteen
eighty one, Perseus, the mortal son of Zeus, embarks on
a quest to say Princess Andromeda and the city of
Argos from divine wrath. Facing mystical creatures like Medusa, badass
(28:34):
Sequence by the way, giant scorpions, and of course the kraken.
Perseus uses his wits, divine gifts, and allies like Pegasus
to overcome challenges and fulfill his destiny. In this mythological epic,
of course, Harry Hamlin as Perseus, Judy Bauker as Andromeda
the Great, Laurence Olivier as Zeus, Claire Bloom as Hera
(28:58):
again the legend and the legend that is, Maggie Smith
as Fadus Ursula and dressed as Aphrodite, and Burgess Meredith.
Come on, purse, you can beat this guy as Ammon.
I mean, that's all you need to know. Burgess Meredith.
He could just have done the Penguin, Rocky and Clash
(29:20):
of the Titans. It's all good, freaking legend, absolutely phenomenal.
I quite like that movie, like it's It did get
a remake. I forget the name of the actor, the
guy who's an avatar, Sam something. I think it even
got a sequel. But the original was directed by Desmond Davis,
(29:44):
written by Beverly Cross loosely Bass of course, on the
Greek myth of Perseus. It seems to me that if
this were in the modern age, they would have done
this as a whole ip kind of thing, which is
your connected universe, which is you have one actor playing Zeus,
and then you have like the story of Hercules, and
then you have the story of Perseus and all of
(30:06):
the demigods that were, you know, spawned under Zeus. This
was so great And what is Orsies's brother, the dude,
Oh my gosh, what is that dude's name? Calibas, Dude,
Calibos was amazing, absolutely amazing. So anyway, I'm sure you've
(30:34):
all seen it. It's such good stuff. I think it
holds up. People will be like, oh, well, the special
effects and that whole you know, the stop motion thing.
I think it's a brilliant form of filmmaking. I think
it was able to bring things to the screen that
couldn't have been done obviously, all the miniature work, and
Lucas was a pioneer in that as well. Clash of
(30:54):
the Titans is tremendous and will always be one of
my favorites. Also from nineteen eighty one. I know I
said sci fi, but some of this is like sci fi,
futuristic sci fi meaning like magic and monsters, you know
what I mean. Fantasy sci fi kind of all blended
into one. I watched this next movie probably more than
(31:19):
I watched Clash the Titans, if I'm being perfectly honest
with you. I loved it because I think part of
it was that the lead character was not like a Perseus,
who was, by his very nature was meant to be heroic. Right.
Harry Hamlin, chiseled, chiseled, Harry Hamlin. What a good looking
guy to be on screen. Right. Dragon Slayer nineteen eighty one.
(31:43):
In a medieval kingdom, a young wizard apprentice Galen, takes
on the task of slaying a dragon Vermathrax Pejorative after
his mentor Ulric dies, the dragon terrorizes the land, demanding
virgin sacrifices. With the help of Valarian, a young woman poet.
As a man, Galen faces danger and political intrigue to
defeat the beast and save the kingdom. Peter McNichol was
(32:08):
fantastic as Galen. Brad Warden just fantastic, showing fear like
this is crazy, what am I doing? Caitlin Clark as Valerian,
Ralph Richardson as Ulrich, John Hallum as Tyrian, and Peter
Ayir as King a Cassiodorus. It was so fun because
(32:31):
it was like the underdog story. It was directed by
Matthew Robbins from a screenplay he co wrote with hol Barwood.
It was a joint venture between Paramount and Disney, and
all the special effects were Industrial Light and Magic. I
mean at the time, I mean that dragon was amazing,
(32:54):
you know. It was nominated for an Academy Award for
Best Visual Effects and ended up losing to Raiders of
the Lost Arc. And they were also provided by Industrial
Light Magic, but they had a forty foot model and
the dragon consists of sixteen puppets dedicated to flying, crawling,
(33:14):
or breathing fire I thought it was wonderful. I could
have watched that over and over again because it was
so relatable. Like this guy, there's no way he can
really be the hero. And I just thought to point
out Ian mcdarmond, also known as Emperor Palpatine do it
is here as brother Jacobus. I think this one holds
(33:38):
up too. I think the Dragon was amazing. Yeah, it's
such a good movie. Gosh, I haven't watched this in
so long that I just feel like this needs another
another watch Man. So good? All right? Oh yeah, there
was an appearance by the devil in this too. Huh.
(34:00):
The village priest, brother Jacobis leads his congregation to confront Vermathrax,
denouncing it as the devil. Oh it says that the
dragon is the devil. Hmm. Interesting. Yeah, he did not
survive that anyway. If you haven't seen it in a minute,
I think if you watched it back then you know
(34:23):
that's a really good flick. All right, So what's next
on the list we have? Oh? Wow, okay, so this
one has an interesting turn of events, but enemy mine
great movie. During an interstellar war, human pilot Willis Dabage
(34:47):
played by Dennis Quaid and Drack alien Jaiba Chagan played
by Luke Gossip Junior. Right there all you need to know.
They both crash land on a hostel planet during this war.
Initially enemies, they form a bond survive, learning each other's
languages and cultures. This was the plot twist. When Jeriba
(35:10):
gives birth and dies, no one is expecting that. Wait
a minute, the dude here is pregnant. This lou Gossip
Junior's character is pregnant and gives birth. Daviage raises the child,
facing challenges to protect it and find peace between their
(35:30):
warring species. Yes, who else is in this? Brian James
as Stubbs, Richard Marcus as Arnold, and Carolyn McCormick as Morris.
I mean, it was two great actors, and it was
again like the Aliens outer space kind of thing, very
(35:53):
much all just spilling out in the seventies post Star Wars,
but this was a twist on all of that. I mean,
eighty five we are still let's see when did V
come out? Let's see eighty three. So yeah, I mean,
(36:14):
I guess there had already been a couple of things
here there where you're looking at like well, I mean
Star trek shit that goes back to the sixties where
you're having these disparate species, but the fact that they
made this a very small kind of character piece with
an alien this this was like a precursor to what's
the one where the alien species has been on Earth
(36:39):
for a long time and like they're on the police force.
Was that Mandy Patinkin in that I forget the name
of it, but two great actors, you know what I mean,
Quaid and lou Gosset Junior. I mean lu Gossid Junior
was in everything back then. We haven't even gotten into
like the whole that that second can tier of like
(37:01):
the the eighties action flicks. We've talked about some, but
you know, we haven't even really talked much about Iron Eagle,
which was, you know, coming out around the same time
as like Top Gun and those kind of things. But yeah,
it was an interesting flick. I remember seeing this at
a friend's house. I don't know if it was rental
or it was HBO, I forget exactly, but I remember
(37:25):
really enjoying it. I'm trying to think anyone else in
the cast here, but this was directed by Wolfgang Peterson,
who did Dost Boot never ending story in the line
of fire, Air Force one, perfect storm, Troy Poseidon, great director,
great cast, and I think pretty damn good flick. What
(37:48):
was the reception like here? Yeah, sixty percent positive as
far as critic review talks about Quaid and Gossip juniors, chemistry,
(38:10):
inventive production design, but an over excited story diminishes the
power of the central duels relationship. Maybe it made no
compromises in its art direction, its special effects, and its performances,
but then compromised everything else in sight oh man, and
I said, this season's due because we're coming off of,
(38:31):
you know, David Lynch's Dune the year before. Interesting. Seventeen
years later, another New York Times reviewer gave the film
more positive assessment, noting that taken in the intended spirit,
it's often moving, suggesting what might happen if two of
Earth's perpetually warring people's were stranded together. Yeah, that was
(38:52):
the whole point. Sometimes critics are thinking too much. They're
trying to find stuff that's not there, and I think
it takes a way just some of the enjoyment. I
like a good popcorn flick, and it happens to have
a little bit of emotional depth to it. Great, but
I don't need it necessarily. Not everything has to be
as the kids say, it ain't that deep. Okay, the
(39:15):
next one it was it was meant to be comedic.
I've only watched it, I think once on a rental
at my dad's house and one of my weekends stays there.
The Ice Pirates from nineteen eighty four, again this whole
(39:36):
you have post Star Wars and post mad Max and
all this kind of like post apocalypse stuff or super
sci fi. In a future where water is scarce commodity,
space pirate Jason and his crew search for a mythical
planet rich in water after being captured while raiding an
imperial ship. They escape, escape and team up with Princess
(39:58):
Karina to find the lost planet, battling robots, mutants, and
time warps in a comedic sci fi adventure starring everyone's
favorite Robert Urick as Jason, Mary Crosby as Princess Karina,
Michael D. Roberts. If you don't know him, you would
see him. You'd go that guy Rules as Roscoe, Angelica
(40:21):
Frickin Houston as Mida. John Mattuzak, the Late Great John
Matuzac as Killjoy and Ron Perlman as Zeno. Quite the
talented cast. I mean it really is like bonkers, how
good that is. But I haven't seen it other than
(40:43):
like I said that one time. This is when I've
I've always talked about kind of going back and revisiting.
I mean, it is listed as an American comic science
fiction film directed by Stuart Raffle, who get this, co
wrote another movie that we'll talk about in just minute.
The film stars, like I said, Robert Urich, Mary Crosby,
(41:04):
and Michael D. Roberts. It's just meant to be fun.
It really is just meant to be a ton of fun.
Who else in the cast of No anyone down here,
because sometimes you scroll down and you like, all of
a sudden, someone pops up and you go. This is
like their first movie, which will also come up in
just a minute. It was originally called The Water Planet.
(41:26):
I think that got taken later by Water World by
Kevin Costner. Let's see, John Matusach was cast because one
of the fine financiers liked him. It wasn't my choice.
We just put everything we could into it to make
a joke in funny and just told the story. We
got lots of high tech parts from car engines and
(41:47):
gears and poured molds out of them. Cool. Anyway, at
the end of the film, they were meant to arrive
at Earth and fly over the beaches of Malibu with
everyone swimming in the water, and his studio head said,
cut that out, anyway. The Ice Pirates nineteen eighty four, Okay,
this next one, I have to pull up and see
(42:10):
how it did at the box office, because I saw
this in the movie theater and I thought it was
goddamn epic. Nineteen eighty brought us Blash Gordon, the soundtrack,
(42:34):
Queen blash Ah Battle Ming the Muscles, absolutely nuts, absolutely bonkers.
But you look at the cast, Max von Seido as Ming,
Sam J. Jones as Flash Gordon, Melanie Melody Anderson as
(42:56):
Dale Arden, be Still in My Heart Topel as Hans Zarkov,
Timothy Dalton as Prince Baron. Now what's interesting is that
I'm fairly certain and I never watched the you know,
the Flash Gordon pulp movies, and I never watched or
(43:17):
never read any of the comic strips. Really, so there's
a scene in here with Timothy Dalton that I think
might have been influence of those What year is this eighty?
It was probably based on the books. So there's a
(43:38):
scene where they have to like reach into a hole,
and I feel like that's that's very reminiscent of the
Ben Gessertz. So chances are they might have been influenced
by Frank Herbert, to be perfectly honest, but this was
produced by Dino di Laurentis, so many of those movies
back then were from that production company. Let's see, we
(44:03):
have football player Flash Gordon, along with Dyal Arden and
scientist doctor Hans Zarkov is transported to the planet Mango
after a cosmic storm caused by the Tyrant to Ming
the Merciless. They must unite warring factions, including Prince Baron
and PRIs Volton, to overthrow Ming and save Earth from
destruction in this colorful, campy sci fi adventure. I mean,
(44:28):
I know this is random, but so one of my aunts,
piano player singer, she had the Flash Gordon like sheet music,
and then she had like the Big Book of Queen. Anyway,
because as a piano player and liking rock music like
Queen was what you would gravitate towards, right, But this
(44:48):
had everything that you could want. It was colorful, it
was over the top. Sam Jones was so likable as
Flash Gordon, and again you kind of had this sense
that Flash Gordon was able to be realized because people
like George Lucas were talking about I used to love
those Flash Gordon serials that you would go to the
(45:09):
movie theater to see. So I do remember like seeing
the comic strips, like in the newspaper kind of thing,
the Sunday Funnies. But it's so fun. I'm surprised this
hasn't gotten a remake. To be perfectly honest with you,
it seemed like it would be ripe for such a thing.
I mean, who owns the IP I guess is the question.
(45:33):
As it says here. The film received overall positive reviews
eighty three percent approved. Ready, I seem to think that
this was shit on for some reason. There's definitely some
golden raspberries were were talked about here. It finished top
of the US box office opening weekend, but it dropped
(45:55):
by fifty percent. It went on to grows twenty seven
million in the United States and Canada, had a very
strong showing in the UK. Additionally, the film performed well
in Italy due to two Italian actors prominent in the credits. Yeah,
I mean Blash Gordon has played for laughs and wisely.
(46:16):
So this is a space opera, a genre invented by
Edgar Rice Burroughs and Hugo Gernsak and other men of
unlimited imagination, harnessed to define to definitely limited skills. It's
fun to see it done with energy and love and
without the pseudo meaningful apparatus of the force. Ha ha
Is it fun? Yeah, sort of it is. I don't know.
(46:41):
I thought it was fun. I'm surprised it didn't do
better than that. It definitely got a ton of press
back then, but it has since become a cult classic
with fans of science fiction and fantasy. Oh this makes
Sense is a favorite of directors Edgar Wright and Taikowatiti
makes Sense, and acclaimed comic book artist Alex Ross names
(47:03):
the film as his favorite film of all time, and
if you've ever seen Alex Ross's art, it is stunning.
It was also the favorite film of Elizabeth the Second,
who watched it with her grandchildren every Christmas. Huh, that's
really bizarre, but kind of love that, all right. So
(47:32):
last two on the list here. I think this one
got savage by critics, but I'll have to double check
here as we read through. I loved this movie. I
watched it many times on VHS, possibly on Beta Max,
I don't know. Nineteen eighty two's The Beast Master. Dar
(47:56):
a warrior with the ability to communicate with animals, seeks
revenge against the evil priest Max, who killed his family.
Accompanied by his animal companions a panther, a hawk, and
of course the ferrets. Darren barks on a question if
heat Max and his cult rescue a slave girl and
protect the city of Aruk from destruction in this sword
and sorcery adventure. Of course. Mark Singer as dar Tanya
(48:22):
Roberts says Carrie Tanya Roberts rip torn as Max, which
is amazing. John Amos as Seth and Josh Milred as Tall.
I mean Mark Singer, he had such an interesting career,
he really did you know? It's like V and B's
(48:45):
n be'st Master, Like that's all you really need. Though.
Let's see, it's an American West German sword and sorcery
film directed by Don Coscarelli. Do they give us the
names of the animals here? Because I can't for the
life of me when what the name of the animals were.
(49:17):
Oh wow, there's a throat slashing and everything. I don't
remember that. I just remember being so worried, so worried
for the ferrets. I know it's meant to be because
they're cute, And within a couple of years, one of
my best friends growing up he ended up having a
couple of ferrets as his pats. What weird little animals.
(49:39):
He has a golden eagle named Schryk, a pair of
thieving ferrets he names Codo and Podo, and a black
panther he names Ruh. I mean Codo and Podo. Those
guys ruled man. But the fact that he had like
these animals and he talked to them. What a weird conceit.
(50:02):
But the whole thing was great as far as I'm concerned.
I was based on the nineteen fifty nine novel The
Beast Master by Alice Andre Norton. Yeah, great casts really
can't go wrong. Let's see full orchestral score. It didn't
(50:25):
make a ton at the box office, but then it
subsequently received significant local TV and cable airplay, notably on HBO, TBS,
and TNT. The film was shown so often on HBO
that comedian Dennis Miller joke that HBO stood for Hey
Beast Masters on It was also shown so often on
TBS that it popularly gained a similar joke that it
(50:46):
stood for the beast Master Station. I don't care. It
was great. It was great. Someone here says it's more
serious than the Conan movies, so you can come into
it any part of it and not feel that you've
missed much. Of course, the filmmaker's arranged for star Tanya
Roberts to appear in Playboy to help promote the film,
but that issue didn't end up coming out until after
(51:07):
the film had already been released. But you know, it
grows roughly fourteen million on its initial theatrical release, has
mixed reviews. Isn't bad as much as it's over long.
It does seem like it drags at a certain part
because there's also, not, if I remember incorrectly, a ton
(51:28):
of dialogue, because I don't think Dar speaks very much.
But the film holds a score of fifty percent on
Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of five point three
one out of ten. I don't care. It ruled yeah.
And finally, I will say that I've seen this movie
(51:50):
once once yet I had a deck of trading cards
from this movie. Also definitely capitalizing on the whole Star
Wars mania and trying to get merch into the hands
of stupid kids like myself. I would have been nine
(52:11):
years old when this came out. I wish I could
find those cards. I have no idea where they are.
But I'm talking about nineteen eighty three's Kroll. Now, a
number of the movies that I've mentioned here tonight already
have some either writers or production some kind of relationship
(52:33):
with Kroll. So a lot of these movies that we're
talking about, these these cheesy eighty sci fi fantasy movies,
kind of had a lot of the same kind of
masterminds mixed around and helping with script doctoring or completing
the screenplays. But on the planet Kroll, Prince Colwin leads
a group of companions to rescue his bride, Princess Lyssa,
(52:54):
who had been kidnapped by an alien invader known as
the Beast and his army of slayers, with the help
of a magical weapon called the Glave. Do you remember
the Glave? That was the coolest freaking thing a Cyclops.
The cyclops looked amazing, a Seer and other allies. Colwyn
battles through a fantastical world, blending sword and sorcery with
(53:15):
sci fi elements to confront the Beast in his fortress
and save Lisa. Now I can't pronounce some of these names,
but Ken Marshall as Prince Colwin, Lisett Anthony as Princess Lisa.
Freddy Jones is Jiner Ainer Francesca Andis as the widow
of the Web. Alan Armstrong as Torqul and get this.
(53:40):
Liam Neeson as Keegan in one of his very first roles,
and Robbie Coltrane, most well known as Hagrid in the
Harry Potter series, as Rune, both really getting their careers
started in film with Kral. But the Glave was the
the coolest frickin' thing. Everyone wanted to have the Kroll
(54:05):
or the Glave like it looked like nothing else. The
Beast was terrifying. Excuse me, let's see this was directed
by Peter Yates. It was so who's that screenwriter? So
(54:26):
Stanford Sherman, Okay, he wrote any which way you can.
Clint Eastwood, krull Ice Pirates, the Man from Uncle and
Batman on the Batman TV series. Like those are his
writing credits. I mean, what else do you need? If
I'm being perfectly honest, that right, there is a hell
(54:48):
of a list. But yeah. It has been positively reviewed
for its visual effects and its soundtrack. They said the
plot was derivative and even nonsensical. He got the glave.
You have a cyclops. I mean does it really matter?
(55:12):
I mean, none of that matters when you have Bernard
Breastlaw as Rell the Cyclops. The prosthetic makeup covered the
actor's eyes, while a radio controlled the character's solo eyeball
on his forehead. Breslo was only able to look through
one eyehole while in costume. He explained that during the
swamp scene, the other actors had to protect him from
(55:33):
walking in to the swamp. Ah. Liam Neeson's character Keegan
get this description. A member of Torkio's bandits an axe
wielding jovial polygamist. That's a sentence. Uh. Robbie Coltrane is Rune,
a member of Torkyo's troops who fights with a spear.
But oddly enough, okay, his voice is amazing. That's what
(55:57):
makes Haggard, so cool ah, come on, Harry. His voice
was overdubbed by Michael Elphick, whoever that is anyway, Trevor
Martin uncredited as the voice of the Beast. They did
try to get a second version of the screenplay that
(56:21):
was later discarded, and Columbia Pictures president Frank Price asked
producer Ron Silverman to create a fantasy film inspired by
dungeons and dragons. Silverman stated Frank Price said to us,
how would you like to do a movie based on
dungeons and dragons? So I guess that was the original
kind of take that they were going for, But I
(56:43):
don't know. I don't think they quite did that. But
they said that making Kroll was complicated and just so enormous.
In fact, they had to take a three week break
just for the special effects artists to kind of refresh.
Twenty three huge sets were built. Think about that, this
(57:06):
is a movie back then that now they would just
do it in like CGI. They'd have like one warehouse,
like a couple of practical sets, and then everything else
would be just built. A total of twenty three sets
were built, and the film was shot at more than
ten sound stages. The budget was thirty million, which at
(57:28):
the time would have been massive. Massive. They said that
the huge budget was due to several changes of concepts
in the script that led to designers having to repeatedly
alter the designs of the set. But that is the
one thing that everyone says was great was special effects.
(57:53):
James Horner, who I mentioned earlier, did the film score
with the London Symphony Orchestra and the MBRO singers. Anything
else here, Yeah, it's a huge soundtrack to just set
orchestral and nature. Sixteen point nine million at the box
(58:14):
office against a budget of twenty seven to thirty million dollars.
It thirty five percent of the critics found it positive,
while nostalgic fans may view it through a rose crullered
see the did their glasses this would be sci sci fi.
(58:34):
Epic is painfully derivative. It's like a hodgepodge of excliber
meets Star Wars and Ciskel and Ebert both gave the
film two thumbs down and called it one of the
most boring, nonsensical, illogical fantasies in a long time. Eh
(58:57):
I think I want to watch it. I think I
just have to watch it because it's been so long.
Speaker 2 (59:03):
It's just been so long since I've seen it, and
it's just so interesting to je expose it because people
said that if you do something like beast Master, which
had a really cheap budget, right, but.
Speaker 1 (59:17):
That means it could be quote unquote throwaway where it
actually makes its money at the box office, right, instead
of having this massive undertaking and then have it fail
miserably if you don't make margin, right or it don't
even break even. It's like that sucks. But Yeahkrol forgettable
battle between good evil and a strange circular weapon with
(59:39):
confusing mythology that left many and intended audience members scratching
their adolescent head. Ah true words, true words. So anyway,
this was a little dive into some of the great
or maybe not so great fi and fantasy films of
(01:00:02):
the nineteen eighties. Tell me any of these amongst your
favorite movies, or at least a guilty pleasure that you
can't help but want to watch once in a while.
I know a couple of these. I'm like, you know what,
I gotta watch Dragon Slayer. It's been a minute, and
I always found that a lot of fun. I'm pretty
sure I did watch class with Titans with the kids
a few years ago. But yeah, I gotta check out
(01:00:25):
Battle Beyond the Stars too, because I'm really curious to see,
you know, James Cameron's work on that and see if
you can kind of pinpoint. Oh look this guy, look
what he was developing in these little nuances that great
filmmakers all do. So let me know and how do
you do that. You can email me at Stuck in
middlepod at yahoo dot com. You can find me on
Instagram X and YouTube at stuck pod X. Heading over
(01:00:48):
to the Facebook page Stuck in the Middle of gen
X podcast, please like, comment, share, leave five star reviews,
and most importantly, please subscribe to the podcast. So until
next time, Later, slackers b
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