Episodes
Thursday Feb 28, 2019
Over the Top (1987) VHS Movie Review
Thursday Feb 28, 2019
Thursday Feb 28, 2019
Analog Jones has to go to work (turns baseball cap) and meet this film halfway to figure out if arm wrestling is a real sport. Join us as we enjoy our last "sports" movie in our Over the Top (1987) VHS movie review.
Over the Top Quick Facts
Over the Top was released on February 13, 1987, on a budget of $25 million and made $16 million in the box office. Sylvester Stallone was reportedly paid $12 million to star in Over the Top.
Directed by Menahem Golan
Produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus
Screenplay by Stirling Silliphant and Sylvester Stallone
Story by Gary Conway and David Engelbach
Cast
Sylvester Stallone as Lincoln Hawk
Robert Loggia as Jason Cutler
Susan Blakely as Christina Hawk
Rick Zumwalt as Bob "Bull" Hurley
David Mendenhall as Michael Hawk
Chris McCarty as Tim Salanger
Terry Funk as Ruker
Bruce Way as John Grizzly
Jimmy Keegan as Richie
Greg Schwartz as Smasher
Allan Graf as Collins
John Braden as Col. Davis
Reggie Bennett as Female Arm Wrestler
Multi-time world arm wrestling champion and future professional wrestler Scott Norton also makes an appearance along with other professional arm wrestlers such as Allen Fisher, John Vreeland, Cleve Dean and Andrew "Cobra" Rhodes (as the final match referee).[3] Professional arm wrestler John Brzenk also makes an appearance.
VHS Description
Stallone goes Over the Top to be champ.
His four Rocky sagas had all America applauding at ringside. Now Sylvester Stallone gives us another reason to stand up and cheer, starring as down-on-his-luck big-rig trucker Lincoln hawk and taking us under the glaring Las Vegas lights for all the boisterous action of the World Armwrestling Championship in Over the Top.
Like Stallone's "Italian Stallion" in 1976's Academy Award-winning Bes Picture Rocky, Lincoln Hawk is an amiable underdog, a David in a world Goliaths. Relying on his wits and willpower, he struggles to rebuild his life, going against the odds as he goes after the World Armwrestling Championship's first-place prize money...and the love of the son (Davis Mendenhall) he abandoned years earlier.
Get ready for excitement as Stallone lands another knockout action-film punch. And get ready for good times as you meet a colorful, iron-armed gallery of arm wrestling giants like Rick Zumwalt, the real-life California champion who squares off with Stallone in a to-the-limit finale. Zumwalt explains his fascination with the tension-packed sport this way: "I can shake a guy's hand and then try to rip his arm off. After the match is over, we can laugh about it."
"you've got guys from M.I.T. and guys who can't spell M.IT.," says Stallone about arm wrestling's broad appeal. That appeal — and more — is vividly captured here. After Over the Top is over, don't be surprised if you want to watch it again!
Trailers: None
Soundtrack
1. "Winner Takes It All" – Sammy Hagar
2. "In This Country" – Robin Zander (International versions of the film had Eddie Money singing instead)
3. "Take It Higher" – Larry Greene
4. "All I Need Is You" – Big Trouble
5. "Bad Nite" – Frank Stallone
6. "Meet Me Half Way" – Kenny Loggins
7. "Gypsy Soul" – Asia
8. "The Fight (Instrumental)" – Giorgio Moroder
9. "Mind Over Matter" – Larry Greene
10. "I Will Be Strong" – Eddie Money
Come back next week for another sports-related VHS Movie Review.
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Email us at analogjonestof@gmail.com with any comments or questions!
Thursday Feb 21, 2019
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987) VHS Movie Review
Thursday Feb 21, 2019
Thursday Feb 21, 2019
Analog Jones and special guest Alex Vazquez from Windy City Horrorama Film Festival in Chicago, try and keep up with Bronson crawling through Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987).
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown Quick Facts
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown is a 1987 action thriller film, and the fourth installment in the Death Wish film series. Death Wish 4 had a budget of $5 million and a box office of $6.9 million.
Current movies in the theater: Fatal attraction, Hello Again, Baby Boom, Less than Zero and Suspect.
Directed by: J. Lee Thompson (following 1976's St. Ives, 1977's The White Buffalo, 1980's Caboblanco, 1983's 10 to Midnight, 1984's The Evil That Men Do, and 1986's Murphy's Law).
Produced and distributed by Canon Films Group
Starring
Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey
Kay Lenz as Karen Sheldon
John P. Ryan as Nathan White
Perry Lopez as Ed Zacharias
George Dickerson as Reiner
Soon-Tek Oh as Nozaki
Dana Barron as Erica Sheldon
Danny Trejo as Art Sanella
Tim Russ as Jesse
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown VHS description
Superstar Charles Bronson (Death Wish 1, 2 and 3, The Magnificent Seven) blows the drug underworld wide open in a blazing quest for justice and revenge in Death Wish 4: The Crackdown!
Haunted by his violent past, architect Paul Kersey (Bronson) struggles to forget the brutal deaths of his loved ones — and his obsessive one-man battle to avenge their murders. But when a dose of toxic "crack" kills the young daughter of his new girlfriend (Kay Lenz of "Rich Man, Poor Man"), Kersey again becomes the infamous "vigilante crusader." Vowing to wipe out the entire cocaine network of L.A. he skillfully goads two vicious competing drug empires into a bloody turf war. But there's a sinister force behind the scenes (Runaway Train's John P. Ryan) with his diabolical plans for Kersey in this powerhouse action-thriller!
Trailers: None
Trivia
-Death Wish 4 was the first film in the series not to be directed by Michael Winner. Winner expressed no interest in directing Death Wish 4 because Bronson was displeased with their previous collaboration on Death Wish 3 (1985)
-This was the third script idea for a Death Wish 4 and Canon went with it
-Hickman toyed with the idea of giving Kersey a surrogate son called Eric, to avoid repetition in having the character lose another daughter. He changed his mind and turned Eric into Erica because he felt that the death of a girl would be a stronger echo to the original loss in Kersey's life.
-The previous three films of the series featured young street punks as villains, while the fourth covered new ground was featuring adult representatives of organized crime. During filming,
-Bronson requested further rewrites of some aspects of dialogue and action scenes. Hickman recalled going through several rewrites daily.
- Over 100,000 cassettes were sold to rental stores. It was the best selling entry of the series in the video market.
Come back next week for another sports-related VHS Movie Review.
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Email us at analogjonestof@gmail.com with any comments or questions!
Thursday Feb 14, 2019
Rollerball (2002) VHS Movie Review
Thursday Feb 14, 2019
Thursday Feb 14, 2019
Analog Jones tries to survive this full-tilt action sports film in our Rollerball (2002) VHS Movie Review starring Chris Klein, Jean Reno, LL Cool J, and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos!
Rollerball (2002) is a Sci-Fi action film that was released into US theaters on February 8, 2002, from MGM and Columbia Pictures. Rollerball had a budget of $70 million and had a box office return of $25.9 million. Rollerball was competing against Collateral Damage, Big Fat Liar, Black Hawk Down, Snow Dogs, The Count of Monte Cristo, A Beautiful Mind, I am Sam and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Rollerball finished 3rd in its first weekend at $9 million, trailing Collateral Damage at $15.1 million and Big Fat Liar at $11.5 million.
Rollerball (2002) is a remake of Rollerball (1975) starring James Caan as Jonathan E., team captain and veteran star of the Houston rollerball team in a future dystopian society.
Directed by: John McTiernan (Predator, Die Hard and The Hunt for Red October)
Produced by: John McTiernan, Beau St. Clair, and Charles Roven (American film producer and the president and co-founder of Atlas Entertainment. He is known for producing the superhero films The Dark Knight Trilogy, Suicide Squad, Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and more.)
Screenplay by: Larry Ferguson (Beverly Hills Cop II) and John Pogue (US Marshals)
Based on: "Roller Ball Murder" by William Harrison and the 1975 screenplay Rollerball by William Harrison
Starring:
Chris Klein as Jonathan Cross
Jean Reno as Alexi Petrovich
LL Cool J as Marcus Ridley
Rebecca Romijn as Aurora "the Black Widow"
Naveen Andrews as Sanjay
Mike Dopud as Michael "the Assassin"
Kata Dobó as Katya Dobolakova
Lucia Rijker as Lucia Ryjker
Oleg Taktarov as Oleg Denekin
Paul Heyman as Sports Announcer
Janet Wright as Coach Olga
The film features cameo appearances by Pink, Slipknot, Carroll Shelby, and Shane McMahon.
Trailers
MGM "Means Great Movies" Promo
MGM.com promo "Come See What the Roar is About"
Stargate SG-1 TV Series and Jeremiah TV Series Promo
Pumpkin with Christina Ricci
A Rumor of Angels
Hart's War with Bruce Willis
No Such Thing with Helen Mirren
Rollerball Back of the box description
From the director of Die hard comes this high-octane thriller that "roars along at a...breakneck pace" (Los Angeles Times)! Starring Chris Klein (American Pie), Jean Reno (Ronin), LL Cool J (Charlie's Angels) and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (X-Men), Rollerball goes full throttle with excitement from its death-defying opening until its explosive end!
Jonathan Cross (Klein) is the newest recruit in the most extreme sport of all time...where his fast moves and killer looks make him an instant superstar. But Cross' life in the fast lane collides with reality when he learns that league's owner (Reno) is orchestrating serious on-court "accidents" to boast ratings. Now Cross plans to take down the owner and his ruthless sport...before the game puts an end to him!
Box Quotes
"Turbo Charged! Body-slamming action!" -The Washington Post
"Full-tilt action!" -Houston Chronicle
Trivia
-Although the first draft of the script was considered by many to be very good and even superior to the original film, director John McTiernan didn't like it because it focused more on social commentary, while he thought that the audience would like to see more of the Rollerball scenes. The social commentary is why he had the original script completely re-written several times and made sure that it focused more on WWE-like showmanship, including crazy costumes and stunts.
-McTiernan's first cut, which was over two hours long, was test screened in Las Vegas around April or May 2001 and got a very negative response from test audiences. The release date was then pushed back from May to 13 July 2001 by MGM to test the movie again, hoping that they would find the right audience for it.
-On orders from the studio, around 30 minutes were cut out of the original rough cut of the film and the entire ending was re-shot and changed. Some of the cuts were made because MGM thought that the movie was "too Asian." In the original ending, Petrovich gets killed by Sanjay and Jonathan and Aurora fly back to the US, during which Jonathan says that he will continue playing the Rollerball game in the US, and how he is now part owner of the game.
-The original score by Brian Transeau was also removed, purportedly because it sounded "too Arabic," and was replaced with a new score by Éric Serra. Also, some of the other music was changed or removed from the first cut of the film.
-Rebecca Romijn was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award as Worst Supporting Actress, where she lost to Madonna for her cameo in Die Another Day.
-The creator of Rollerball, science fiction author William Harrison said: "I've never watched the 2002 incarnation of Rollerball, and have no interest in it."
Come back next week for another sports-related VHS Movie Review.
Discuss these movies and more on our Facebook page.
You can also listen to us on iTunes, Podbean, and Youtube!
Email us at analogjonestof@gmail.com with any comments or questions!
Thursday Feb 07, 2019
The Last Boy Scout (1991) VHS Movie Review
Thursday Feb 07, 2019
Thursday Feb 07, 2019
We try to tackle this sports movie in our The Last Boy Scout (1991) VHS Movie Review.
Quick Facts
The Last Boy Scout was released to United States theaters on December 13, 1991. The budget for the film was $75 million and had a box office of $59.5 million. Other movies in the theater at the time were Hook, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, The Addams Family, Beauty and the Beast, My Girl and Cape Fear. The Last Boy Scout finished 2nd in its opening weekend at $7.9 million behind Hook at $13.5 million.
Directed by: Tony Scott (Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II)
Produced by: Joel Silver (Lethal Weapon and Predator) and Michael Levy (Die Hard 2)
Screenplay by: Shane Black (Lethal Weapon and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang)
Story by: Shane Black and Greg Hicks
Distributed by: Warner Bros.
Starring:
Bruce Willis as Joseph "Joe" Cornelius Hallenbeck
Damon Wayans as James "Jimmy" Alexander Dix
Chelsea Field as Sarah Hallenbeck (Teela from Masters of the Universe)
Noble Willingham as Sheldon Marcone
Taylor Negron as Milo (Russell from Bio-Dome)
Danielle Harris as Darian Hallenbeck
Halle Berry as Cory
Bruce McGill as Mike Matthews (Animal House)
Kim Coates as Chet (Sons of Anarchy)
Chelcie Ross as Senator Calvin Baynard (Major League)
Movie Trailers
Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema Century Collection
VHS Back of the Box Description
The Last Boy Scout is the Super Bowl of action movies, a flat-out blitz of excitement, blow-you-away special effects and hilarious gimme-five humor set against the world of pro football.
Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans star as a seedy detective and disgraced quarterback, teaming to dodge ambushes, fire off one-liners and bust chops. When the going gets tough, they get tougher. And funnier. They came to play. And to settle a score in this raging fireball where bigger is better, hits are harder and bad guys end up deader.
Sending in plays from the sideline are guys with experience screenwriter Shane Black (Lethal Weapon), producer Joel Silver (the Die Hard and Lethal Weapon films) and director Tony Scott (Top Gun). Along with Willis and Wayans, they ensure The Last Boy Scout isn't like other films. Be prepared.
Trivia
-Shane Black wrote this after struggling with Lethal Weapon 2 and a break up that triggered him to quit writing for almost two years:
"I was busy mourning my life and, in many ways, the loss of my first real love. I didn’t feel much like doing anything except smoking cigarettes and reading paperbacks. All things come around. Time passed, and eventually, I sat down and transformed some of that bitterness into a character, the central focus of a private eye story which became The Last Boy Scout. Writing that script was a very cathartic experience, one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I spent so much time alone working on that. Days which I wouldn’t speak. Three, four days where I maybe said a couple of words. It was a wonderfully intense time where my focus was better than it’s ever been. And I was rewarded so handsomely ($1.75 million) for that script, it felt like a vindication and like I was back on track."
-At the time this was a record purchase for an original screenplay ($1.75 million).
Troubled Production
-Joel Silver, Bruce Willis, and Tony Scott fought a lot on set. Silver was described as "insane, with long, horrible fits of sanity,” and was compared to a fighter pilot riding as a passenger. “As soon as you hit a little bit of turbulence, he’s right away going to throw the guy out of the window and take over the steering.”
-Bruce Willis and Damien Wayans DID NOT like working with each other.
-Assistant director James Skotchdopole (a fantastic second unit director, True Romance, and Untouchables) attributed the tension on-set to an “overabundance of alpha males on that project. Bruce was at the height of his stardom, so was Joel, so was Tony and so was Shane. There were a lot of people who had a lot of opinions about what to do. There were some heated, early-Nineties, testosterone-charged personalities on the line. It was a ‘charged environment,’ shall we say.” Writer Shane Black had to wrestle with the script. “I was forced to do more rewriting on that movie than on anything else I’ve done. There was tremendous pressure from the studio to get Bruce Willis and have this be a follow-up to Die Hard. He was reluctant, and rightly so: ‘This whole movie is about me saving my wife. I just did that in Die Hard.’ So they said, ‘OK, let’s minimize the wife, and while we’re at it, add a big finale.' There was a general pressure to make somehow more significant and better!
-The original cut for "borderline unwatchable."
-Different editors were hired in an attempt to address Scott's tendency for filming excessive coverage with multiple cameras. Editor Mark Helfrich (Predator and Rush Hour) described sorting through "mountains of raw material" to edit the first cut: “There was more footage shot for The Last Boy Scout than on any film I had ever worked on.”
-Expert action movie editor Mark Goldblatt (The Terminator/T2 and Starship Troopers) recalls it as one the most painful and frustrating experiences of his entire career and refuses to discuss it in interviews. Although, he did mention in a podcast interview that several other editors were hired and then fired before him and that Warner Bros. began testing the movie before it was finished.
-When editor Stuart Baird (Superman and Lethal Weapon) was hired, the film finally took a positive turn. Baird had been brought in to help re-edit other troubled productions, including Tango & Cash (1989) and Demolition Man (1993). He got the film edited down NC-17 to R with quick cuts away from the hardcore violence.
Nominated for two MTV Awards
-Best Action Sequence – For the helicopter blade sequence (Won by L.A. Freeway Scene – Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
-Best On-Screen Duo – Bruce Willis & Damon Wayans (Won by Dana Carvey and Mike Myers – Wayne's World)
Come back next week for another sports-related VHS Movie Review.
Discuss these movies and more on our Facebook page.
You can also listen to us on iTunes, Podbean, and Youtube!
Email us at analogjonestof@gmail.com with any comments or questions!