Albert Pyun Honorable Mentions
Last month as part of our 6 year anniversary celebration we presented The Ultimate Albert Pyun Countdown.
Now not every movie nominated by our “panel of experts” made the final cut, but in Bulletproof Action tradition, we wanted to recognize some of the other films that were nominated with some Honorable Mentions.
Allow me to turn things over to filmmaker Dominik Starck, the DTV Connoisseur Matt Poirier, the Movie Graveyard, Screen Mayhem’s Matthew Whitaker, Michael Scott, Robb Antequera and Andrew Babcock from the Ultimate Action Movie Club and our very own Matt Spector as they provide their analysis of these Albert Pyun Honorable Mentions…
Movie Graveyard: Andrew “Dice Clay stars as Ed “Brainsmasher” Malloy. Brainsmasher because he’s a top bouncer who can cave you face in (he does it at the end) basically smashing your brain. One night while on duty at the club he works at he encounters Samantha Crain (Teri Hatcher) a model on the run for a gang of Chinese gangster monks with old school martial arts super powers. They want a rare lotus flower that Samantha has in her possession. See her sister Cammy (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) found the lotus when she was on an expedition. The Lotus is blessed granting anyone who eats it “Eternal Power” and the monks will kill to get it. When Samantha is grabbed at the bar she is saved by Brainsmasher who she hires to protect her. The two of course fall in love and save the day. This is a very different style of film for Dice. Not a raunchy comedy, but more a love story with old school martial arts action. The entire cast works well together, and all the action scenes, although comical are all well done and the film moves at a fast pace. This is not only a different film for the actors but for Pyun as well.
Robb Antequera: Quite the change of pace for Pyun, Brainsmasher… A Love Story is a highly enjoyable blend of comedy, action, adventure, and romance that stars Andrew “Dice” Clay as the titular character who must protect a gorgeous model (Teri Hatcher) from a deadly group of Chinese Monks (They are not Ninjas!) after she comes into contact with a mythical flower. Filled to the brim with laughs, action, and romance, Brainsmasher is a tremendously fun romp from Pyun that deserves more fans and appreciation.
Matt Poirier: This is a standard 80’s-style romp done in the early 90’s and on a budget, but also with the Pyun touches that make it that much more fun. Also, Teri Hatcher does a great job taking the lead, which offsets the Diceman so he’s not too Dice-y… if you know what I mean.
Michael Scott: I only saw this just this year. Unfortunately it’s never been released on DVD in the US but it does turn up on YouTube occasionally. Pyun’s love letter to hard boiled detectives filtered through a post-apocalyptic lens. John Stockwell and Michael Dudikoff play two detective -obsessed friends who grew up in a fallout bunker. They decide to venture out into the world and encounter various mutants, monsters and survivors. The movie’s soundtrack is killer, and Stockwell and Dudikoff bring the right mix of naivete and cynicism to their roles. Pyun’s imagination is on full display here, and this film is probably the purest Pyun experience. It’s everything he loves in one film. It’s truly a shame Pyun never got to work with an actual big budget, because what he accomplishes here is spectacular.
Matt Poirier: Another fun 80’s-style romp, but this one was actually made in the 80’s. It has all the cyberpunk futuristic elements you want from Pyun, juxtaposed with all of his influences growing up in the 60’s, especially the pulp detective novel. Also, a young Michael Dudikoff acquits himself really well in more of a comedic role.
Dominik Starck: Shortly before Lance Henriksen turned into a more known face and name outside cinephile circles thanks to his three-years-run on MILLENNIUM Pyun hired him to be his small scale James Bond in SPITFIRE. The movie has its moments and a ton of familiar faces, but in the end it deals with the gymnast daughter of Henriksen’s spy character who’s also a karate fighter whenever needed. It’s weird. Sometimes close to a spy thriller parody, sometimes way too straight or boring. But hey; Lance in a tux and a 007-style opening sequence? I’m in for the ride!
Matt Spector: Gymnasts are some of the most impressive athletes so it should come as no surprise that there was a short period when gymnast action heroes were hot. While many remember Kurt Thomas and Mitch Gaylord, don’t sleep on Kristie Phillips in Spitfire. It doesn’t hurt that Tim Thomerson is a hoot as a very dedicated sports reporter and Lance Henrikesn plays it straight as the suave spy, even though those around him aren’t always serious.
Matthew Whitaker: A retelling of Yojimbo that stars Rutger Hauer as a robot with some messed up programming that turns the other robots against each other? I am in. Humans take the back seat in this one as we have two warring clans of robots, dead set on the destruction of mankind. Enter Omega Doom (Rutger Hauer). It is a fun beer and popcorn movie. Effects are terrible and delightful. Huge shout-out to gorgeous Tina Cote (Isn’t she a real estate stager in LA now?). Norbert Weisser from Arcade and the Nemesis franchise. It is just good fun.
Matt Poirier: Leave it to Pyun to take a Kurosawa great like Yojimbo, throw in cyborgs and set it in the future, and then cast someone like Hauer in the lead, but the alchemy works for a fun DTV film that is more tribute to Kurosawa than a bite on Kurosawa.
Matt Spector: I love that Hong Kong 97 throws in all of the political and economical implications of the United Kingdom handing over sovereignty of Hong Kong to China with a legit action movie. If you want a movie with a little more than just a mindless action, Hong Kong 97 could be for you. Pyun got this movie out three years before the hand-off and somehow it still works today. Hong Kong 97 and Spitfire were filmed back to back so be on the look out for numerous of the same actors.
Andrew Babcock: I’m a sucker for Die Hard-style movies. I can’t get enough of them and Pyun’s offering into the genre and it has enough memorable aspects to make it onto this top 5. We have Johnny Cage himself, Linden Ashby as the hero janitor, going up against one of the most underrated genre baddies, Andrew Divoff. You also can’t forget the one and only Rutger Hauer, rolling his way into the action as well.
Matt Spector: An action kickboxing mystery movie. Bloodmatch is as crazy as that sounds and Albert Pyun is the only director I want to see combining those genres. Bloodmatch also manages to combine some real deal martial artists with some Albert Pyun regulars. I can’t say that it always works and was clearly done with a lesser budget but it is an action kickboxing mystery movie.
Matt Poirier: I can’t decide whether I prefer Cyborg or Pyun’s director’s cut of it, Slingers, so I’ve picked this movie instead, the one he made using equipment rented for the reshoots on Cyborg that Van Damme insisted on, because it feels like a way to split the difference. Beyond that, this is the ultimate F You movie, which I love. He even thanks Van Damme in the credits, which had people on my site wondering what that meant, and thinking how cool it was that Van Damme helped him make it. Then Pyun came into the comments and set every straight, saying he took the equipment they rented to do Van Damme’s reshoots, and used it to make Deceit at night for $25,000. To me the idea of an F You movie is the greatest thing ever, and I just love that Pyun went for it with this.
Dominik Starck: Since I’m a German filmmaker, and thus far did a lot of work in the action space, I had to include this ill fated flick. Martial Artist Mickey Hardt was the lead in the first ever German martial arts TV show back in 1999. Donnie Yen served as the action director on that very show. And now, Mickey took the lead in this action b-movie, shot in Guam under (again) difficult circumstances. Basically, Pyun wasn’t allowed to finish the movie and Isaac Florentine came in to add another fight scene (the bar fight). But is the movie any good? Well, the action is! Plus, it offers David Carradine as the big bad (always a good idea, just ask Quentin Tarantino). If you’re able to ignore the annoying amount of flashbacks to stretch the running time, the flat story and boring co-stars this is a nice martial arts flick.
