Bullet Points: American Hunter
There are days I absolutely dread logging on to Twitter. But then there are days like last Saturday when I was scrolling through my Twitter feed and saw a post shared by our good friends over at Exploding Helicopter… it was the trailer for an Indonesian action flick and just seconds into the trailer I realized I needed to see this movie ASAP.
The movie was 1989’s American Hunter starring Chris Mitchum…
- Buy It Now: Mitchum plays an International Man of Mystery type named Jake Carver. Carver is after a piece of microfilm that contains vital information that could bring Wall Street to its knees and in turn throw all of western civilization into chaos. A wheeler and dealer named Hope Selleck (Peter O’Brian aka Rambu from The Intruder) is in possession of the microfilm and has a million dollar offer from Carver for the vital piece of info… Selleck balks at the offer and ends up getting Carver to up his price to two million. But before the deal could be made Selleck receives a phone call from another interested party, a Mr. Frank Gordon, who I would like to point out makes this call while sitting on his couch in his bikini style swimwear seconds after coming out of the pool. Gordon (Mike Abbott, Final Score) offers Selleck five million for the microfilm! Carver does not accept being outbid and tells Selleck that he’ll be back in an hour for the merchandise and then starts kicking some ass to prove how serious he is about wanting the microfilm.
- Foreshadowing: I should point out before the bidding war, there’s an awkward scene where Selleck presents a gift to one of his employees named Janet (Ida Iasha). The gift was a makeup compact that is supposed to make her think of him whenever she used it (who wants to think about their boss when they aren’t at work?). This scene was also about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the gonads since it was obvious that this makeup compact was going to come into play later on in the film based solely on how it was shoehorned into this meeting scene between Carver and Selleck.
- Serious Bidders Only: Back to our story… Jake Carver is not the only one who really, really, really wants the microfilm… as he is leaving Selleck’s office Carver hears a barrage of bullets. Frank Gordon sent some armed men to Selleck’s club to retrieve the microfilm and they are shooting up the place… Carver jumps into action and along with the local authorities take down several of the gunmen. One of Gordon’s men grabs Janet and takes her hostage so he can get away… but his plan is foiled by Carver, who saves Janet in the process.
- Worst Auction Ever: At this point in the film Frank Gordon does not have the microfilm. Jake Carver is also sans microfilm, plus he gets whipped, electrocuted and is nearly blown up for his trouble. And last but not least is the seller… Hope Selleck. He gets sandwiched between the front end of a car and a brick wall… and then while his mangled body is laying on the hood of the car is driven THROUGH the brick wall.
- Isn’t It Romantic?: Jake recovers from the injuries he suffered while being tortured by Gordon’s goons just in time for his first date with Janet… the date seems to consist of Jake instantly bedding Janet and then having some clothed fun with her in the shower… the next morning when she goes to make Jake some breakfast, she is abducted and once again finds herself as a pawn in the race for the microfilm.
- Let’s Get Lethal: With all the players clearly established, American Hunter gets down to business with some car chase action including Carver’s car that apparently has a “turbo boost” option to avoid crashing into a tanker truck… There’s also a scene that involves not one, but two helicopters and Janet taking a big plunge… Carver rides on top of a car at one point and he also jumps a motorcycle onto a moving train where he has a big fight with Gordon’s animal loving business partner, Adam (played by Bill “Super Foot” Wallace of A Force of One fame).
One thing I learned while doing research for this post is that I was terribly late to the American Hunter party.
A few years back a successful crowdfunding campaign was put together by OMG Entertainment to bring this gem to DVD for the first time. And after watching American Hunter I can see why it is such a fan favorite.
Chris Mitchum, makes up for his lack of screen presence by putting forth maximum effort in everything he does in American Hunter. Meanwhile, Bill Wallace effortlessly came across as a badass… probably because he is a legit badass. The demented Dr. Doolittle aspect of Wallace’s character also helped him stand out and make him a memorable movie villain.
A review ending with some Bonus Bullet Points is as much of a sure thing as the microfilm being hidden inside Janet’s makeup compact…
- AKA: American Hunter is also known as Lethal Hunter.
- Directed By: American Hunter was directed by Arizal. I don’t really know much about Arizal… but I assume by his single moniker that he is as eccentric as all get-out.
- Like Father, Like Son: Chris Mitchum is the son of legendary actor, Robert Mitchum.
- First Impression: Before the opening credits even roll, a jeep crashes into an office building.
