Bullet Points: Gale Force
The All-Star game. It has been a staple of Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League for decades. All-Star games bring together the best players from each team to represent their league or conference. While some would argue All-Star games are pointless, others would say the unique opportunity to see so many talented athletes playing simply for the love of the game is a fun diversion that helps break up the lengthy regular seasons.
Some movies can feel like the Hollywood equivalent of an All-Star game. For example 2002’s Gale Force. The movie was filled with action movie all-stars! Get a load of this line up…
- Treat Williams (The Substitute sequels and Dead Heat)
- Michael Dudikoff (American Ninja and Avenging Force)
- William Zabka (The Karate Kid and Shootfighter: Fight to the Death)
- Paul Logan (The Horde and Ballistica)
- Tim Thomerson (Iron Eagle and the Trancers series)
When I saw how much action movie star power Gale Force was bringing to the table, I knew there was no way I couldn’t enjoy this one…
- Introducing Sam Garrett: Treat Williams plays a play by his own rules cop with the LAPD named Sam Garrett. As the movie begins, Sam is tasked with being “the bag man” and delivering the ransom money for the safe return of the mayor’s daughter. Garrett is caught eavesdropping on the bad guys, which leads to some fisticuffs, then a high speed chase through the streets of Los Angeles with Sam Garrett in his convertible being pursued by the bad guys. Some of the bad guys are in a pick up truck throwing sticks of dynamite at Garrett causing a lot of collateral damage, including an ice cream truck. The rest of the baddies are in a mini-van with a mini-gun aimed directly at Garrett. Things go sideways in a hurry when Garrett actually drives on two wheels to avoid the dangers all around him in this hot pursuit and eventually Garrett drives off a bridge (and survives!). This opening scene ends with a house exploding and Sam Garrett getting in some hot water with his superior Captain Whitney. All of this amazing action takes place before the opening credits ever roll. This frenetic open was a huge selling point for me, but it wasn’t the only one.
- Treasure Hunt: After the destruction and mayhem that Garrett was involved in as the movie opened, he now finds himself suspended from the LAPD and sitting around his house, eating hot dogs and drinking beer. But as they say it is always darkest before the dawn. A a unique opportunity to be on a reality show called Treasure Hunt is presented to Garrett. With bill collectors breathing down his neck and no money to pay them with, the chance to win millions on a reality show is worth taking. Sam is joined by seven other contestants including a newspaper reporter Steve Chaney (Curtis Armstrong aka Booger from Revenge of the Nerds), stock broker Susan Billings (Susan Walters aka Mulva from Seinfeld), teacher Kim Nelson (Marcia Strassman) and retired Navy SEAL Phillip Edwards (Tim Thomerson). The premise of Treasure Hunt is eight people are put on a deserted tropical island with their objective being to find the buried treasure. To add to the entertainment for the audience and the level of difficulty for the contestants, a group of former Navy SEALS will be on the island portraying pirates that hunt down the contestants with paintball guns.
- Pirates of the Direct to Video: I told you there were two HUGE selling points to Gale Force. One was the awesome opening sequence, the other was the unique opportunity to see a villainous Michael Dudikoff. Dudikoff plays Jared, the leader of the Navy SEALS that were hired to “play pirates”. Jared and his team, that includes right hand man Rance (William Zabka), did not come to the island to “play”. They have real guns that shoot real bullets and they have worked out a backroom deal with the host of Treasure Hunt, Jack MacRae, to take the 10 million dollar prize for themselves. In exchange for the money Jared agrees to get Jack, who has a gambling problem and owes the mob money, off the island and into hiding… but Jared goes back on his word, takes the money and shoots Jack dead. Classic bad guy move! But Jared and his band of not so merry men, find out they have more than they bargained for when the Treasure Hunt contestants start fighting back as a means of survival. And everyone on the island, good and bad, is in for a rude awakening as a hurricane is headed their way in the midst of their island struggle.
Gale Force, like any All-Star endeavor, will not go down as the most memorable performances of any of the stars involved but instead it is an example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. It is the synergy of the cast, led by the calm cool of Treat Williams and the amazingly effective villainy of Michael Dudikoff, that makes Gale Force work.
With its shoe string budget, Gale Force is the type of movie that would be easy to poke holes in and nitpick to death, but if you did that you would be missing out on an enjoyable 96 minutes. And if you stop reading this review right now, you will miss out on these Bonus Bullet Points…
- Deja Vu: Even when watching Gale Force for the first time, I had an overwhelming feeling like I had seen parts of the movie before. There is a simple explanation for this… footage from The Last Action Hero, Bat 21, Anaconda and Predator was spliced into the film as an affordable way to throw in some big action sequences.
- If You Ever: …wanted to hear Treat Williams answer the phone using a stereotypical Chinese voice to avoid a bill collector, then this is the movie for you.
- Familiar Face: Cliff De Young plays network executive Stuart McMahon. Action fans will remember Cliff from movies like F/X, The Substitute and N.Y.P.D. Mounted.
- Credit Check: Paul Logan plays one of Jared’s mercenaries, but he does not receive an acting credit. Logan is credited as one of the stunt players… The movie was directed by Jim Wynorski, but Jim is credited using one of his pseudonyms, Jay Andrews.
- If You Ever: …wanted to see a single lightning strike kill off two annoying movie characters at once, then this is the movie for you.
- One Question: I wonder if Bulletproof Action Twitter follower @TrentMWeather has ever encountered a fellow meteorologist named Gale Force?
