5 Questions: The Ultimate Weapon
For many years I avidly watched Hulk Hogan battle the likes of “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Andre the Giant and “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase. I was a true blue Hulkamaniac!
But when I recently stumbled upon the 1998 movie The Ultimate Weapon starring Hulk Hogan, I realized that when it came to the Hulkster’s acting career, I really didn’t make it past No Holds Barred. I questioned if I still qualified as a true blue Hulkamaniac. And after watching The Ultimate Weapon, a few more questions came to mind…
1. Was it a flashback or a symbolic dream?
The movie begins with what appears to be a flashback, “Hardball” Ben Cutter (Hulk Hogan) is running through the woods with a young girl over his shoulder (we later learn this girl is his daughter Mary Kate). The two are being pursued by some bad guys and at one point the girl falls down a hill or into a hole and Cutter can’t save her. I was leaning towards this sequence being a dream and not some traumatic flashback in the life of mercenary for hire Ben Cutter, because Cutter had a full head of hair, something I imagine the Hulkster himself has dreamed about. But then when Cutter wakes up in his barn, he has a full head of hair! I’m still leaning towards the whole thing being a symbolic dream about how Cutter’s mercenary work took him away from his young daughter when she was growing up, since as the movie progresses the adult Mary Kate never mentions her father losing her in the woods, but sure does remind him how he wasn’t there for her growing up.
2. Is there a worse scenario that a father can be in?
Wanting to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Ben decides to pay Mary Kate a visit at her place of employment. Unfortunately for Ben, his daughter is working as a stripper. #Awkward That’s a pretty bad scenario for any father to be in. Things get worse, when his daughter is used as a pawn by the IRA bad guys that Cutter pissed off in his most recent mission. It is like Cutter’s worst nightmare has come true!
3. Who in the world thought casting Carl Marotte as Cutter’s fellow mercenary was a good idea?
Just because you give Carl Marotte’s Dean character a badass nickname like “Cobra” doesn’t mean he will be viewed as any less of a “Dork”. Dean does not exude mercenary or tough guy, especially standing next to the larger than life Hulk Hogan. Dean’s screen presence is all but non-existent. In all my years of movie watching and reviewing, Carl Marotte as a mercenary is probably in my Top 10 of bad casting decisions.
I couldn’t help but wonder if the Hulkster’s real life best friend, Ed Leslie (aka Brutus Beefcake) was unavailable during the shooting of this movie? Even though he didn’t have any acting experience of note, he’d still have been a better choice and was accustomed to being second banana to Hogan. Ironically, when Ben Cutter gets into a fight at the strip club his daughter works at, Ed Leslie plays one of the thugs, so he was clearly available and would have probably worked for cheap.
4. How many women took up pottery because of Demi Moore?
Ben Cutter’s bride-to-be, Lorrie is not just a computer science professor at “the college”. She also dabbles in the art of pottery. I can’t help but think that Lorrie didn’t start messing around with pottery until she saw the movie Ghost. I also can’t help but think that is at least the fourth time I’ve referenced the very non-action movie Ghost on this very action movie related web site.
5. Why not just call ADT?
As a security measure, Ben Cutter has a “Bouncing Betty” style landmine hidden in his barn. This seems like a rather reckless idea. For instance, what if a member of Ben’s family is wandering through the barn and accidentally triggers the “Bouncing Betty”. Oh wait… that does happen when Mary Kate steps on it. Fortunately for her dear ol’ dad was there to deactivate it so Mary Kate did not get blown into smithereens. But even if let’s say the main villain of the film McBride steps on the “Bouncing Betty”. It would obviously be a great way to eliminate your foe, but I can’t help but think it could cause a great deal of collateral damage, like maybe blow up the barn that it is housed in. Oh wait… that does happen! Hopefully for any future barns Cutter just called the fine folks at ADT to install a security system for him.
