Bullet Points: Rescue Me (1992)

I consider myself something of a connoisseur of Cannon Films. I have gone down many a internet rabbit hole researching the independent movie company helmed by Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus. If there is a documentary on Cannon Films, I have probably seen it. My personal collection of movies is filled with Cannon classics and if there is a special edition of a Cannon action film with a commentary track, I have probably listened intently to get as much information about the inner workings of a company that dared to take over Hollywood in the 1980’s.

If I were to rank my top five action stars of all-time, there is no question that Michael Dudikoff would make the cut. After the first two American Ninja films, Michael Dudikoff could basically do no wrong in my eyes and his performance created a fan for life. The fact that everything points to Michael Dudikoff being a genuine good guy away from the cameras makes it all the easier to admire him.

So given my love for Cannon Films and Michael Dudikoff, how is it that it was not until just recently that I had the pleasure of checking out Dudikoff’s 1992 film, Rescue Me… a film that was released by Cannon!?!?!

• The Skinny: Fraser Sweeney (Stephen Dorff, Steal) is not the coolest or most popular guy at school. Fraser is the high school shutterbug and he is absolutely infatuated with the hottest cheerleader in school, Ginny Grafton (Ami Dolenz, Demolition University). Ginny loves the attention she gets from Fraser and his camera and she is really hoping to be prominently featured in the high school yearbook (a pretty big deal to a teenage girl before the days of Instagram). Unfortunately for Fraser, Ginny has a boyfriend named Todd (Danny Nucci, The Brotherhood of Justice). Todd is the captain of the football and is no fan of the attention that Fraser gives Ginny. Despite several warnings from Todd to stay away from Ginny, Fraser can’t help himself and one day when he finds out that Ginny and Todd have plans to head up to the lake after school for some skinny dipping, Fraser’s hormones kick in and he hops on his scooter and gets to the lake before Todd and Ginny, climbs up a tree with his camera and prepares to get some very revealing photographs of the girl he is madly in love with.

• Peeping Ain’t Easy: While he is up in the tree Fraser sees much more than he bargained for and not from Ginny. Fraser witnesses what appears to be some sort of illegal exchange between a trio of guys… there is the combo of Kurt (William Lucking) and Rowdy (Peter DeLuise) who are looking to buy some contraband from Mac (Michael Dudikoff). But that’s about the time Ginny and Todd pull up and everything goes haywire. Todd freaks out when he sees that Kurt and Rowdy have guns, he tries to peel away but his convertible gets stuck in the sand so Todd hops out of the car and takes off running, abandoning Ginny in the process. Rowdy grabs Ginny, Kurt grabs the money and the contraband and Mac takes cover as Kurt and Rowdy start shooting at him… but Fraser is still up in the tree doing some shooting of his own.

• Dream Team: Fraser realizes he finally has an in with Ginny… if he could rescue her, he would be her knight in shining armor and make her forget about her yellow boyfriend Todd. So Fraser comes up with a plan and he tracks down Mac at a local biker bar where he cuts a deal with him… if Mac helps him rescue Ginny, he won’t turn the photographs he took to the authorities. Mac agrees to help Fraser (or Fraze as he calls him) and then it happens… the world gets the Dudikoff/Dorff team up it didn’t even know it wanted. There was a dynamic between the two male leads as Mac took on the role of father/big brother to Fraze (who lost his father when he was very young). The two played well off of one another with Mac, the drifter and military vet, handling most of the heavy lifting on their adventure to rescue Ginny and to get even with Kurt and Rowdy. But time and time again Fraze kept proving he was a valuable member of the team and a resourceful young man to boot.

• The Wild Card: The Ginny character is a real wild card and far from the classic damsel in distress. Ginny has little to no fear and uses her feminine charms and the information that her father is rich to manipulate her captors and keep them and the audience guessing. Ginny helps the movie zig when you think it is going to zag, which makes for some engaging entertainment.

Rescue Me was unlike any Cannon Film I had ever seen. The PG-13 rating and two of the main characters being high school students gave the movie a much different vibe than say The Delta Force. Rescue Me was also unlike any other Michael Dudikoff movie I had seen, especially the movies he made during his Cannon years. Seeing Dudikoff in the reluctant fatherly role was a change of pace for sure and for me only added to the man’s charm. And while Dudi was not dispatching evil ninjas or taking down a group of white supremacists, you still knew his character was a legit badass.

It doesn’t take a badass to see that these Bonus Bullet Points are also legit…

• If You Ever: …wanted to see a teacher threaten to revoke Stephen Dorff’s Bunsen burner privileges, then this is the movie for you.
• Nip Slip: The opening credits feature Fraser and Ginny getting ready for school including shots of both of them taking showers. Can you guess which of the two charcters’ nipples we see? Remember this is a PG-13 film.
• AKA: Rescue Me was known as Street Hunter in Germany and The Infernal Venture in Belgium. Both are awful names for this film in my opinion.
• Familiar Face: Fraser’s mom was played by Dee Wallace-Stone, who at this point had quite a bit of motherly movie experience in films like Critters, Cujo and probably most famously, E.T.