Bullet Points: Nightstick
Whether it is scrolling through streaming options looking for movies to review, going down an IMDb rabbit hole while researching a post or interacting with our followers on social media… Bulletproof Action has afforded me the opportunity to learn about movies I have never heard of before.
The latest example of a movie I had never heard of is 1987’s made for TV movie Nightstick...
- Chemistry: The movie begins in the midst of the latest in a string of robberies targeting chemical manufacturing companies in New York City. These robberies have left the authorities bumfuzzled since the robberies, while obviously being done by professionals, are only seeing inventory in the hundreds of dollars being stolen from each company while much more valuable items are left behind. The heat is turned up on solving these robberies after this latest robbery ends with a security guard and two cops dead. Police Commissioner Thad Evans (Leslie Nielsen, Creepshow) wants to bring in maverick cop Jack Calhoun (Bruce Fairbairn) to investigate… something that straight arrow Captain Ray Melton (Robert Vaughn, River of Death) objects to, calling Calhoun an internal affairs nightmare… but Evans overrules him and Calhoun gets the call.
- Psychiatry: We are introduced to Jack Calhoun as he shows up to a hostage situation at a mental hospital. A husband has flipped out after his wife attempts to have him committed… now the emotionally disturbed husband has a shotgun and is holding his wife and one of the hospital staff hostage. Jack Calhoun shows up, asks a doctor outside for his coat and walks right into the lion’s den posing as a doctor and managing to use his wits to diffuse the situation without anyone getting hurt. This was a strong introduction for Jack Calhoun and you can see why Commissioner Evans wants him for the chemical robbery case… especially after Calhoun figures out that the connection to the items stolen. Glycerin, nitric acid and cellulose which combined form nitroglycerin or in layman’s terms, dynamite. And the bad guys have enough dynamite to blow up half the city!
- Economics: This is about the time Adam Beardsly (John Vernon, Animal House) the president of one of New York’s most prestigious banks with branches all over the work, receives a phone call that is meant to sound like it is coming from a terrorist group threatening to blow up all of Beardsly’s banks unless he pays them 5 million dollars. In actuality the call was made by some poor sap that the chemical robbers strong armed. Now would probably be a good time to tell you that the robbers are three brothers… Roger, Jerry and Pat Bantam. It would probably also be a good time to tell you, that all three have cross paths with Jack Calhoun in the past and he was responsible for them “going away” for a little while.
- Genealogy: Super sleuth Jack Calhoun eventually figures out the Bantam brothers are behind the robberies and that there is no terrorist group… the Bantams just want the money. Calhoun has Police Commissioner Evans get the Bantams mug shots out all over town and when Pat Bantam is stopped at the airport and freaks out, Calhoun is there to shoot Pat Bantam dead. If things weren’t already personal between Calhoun and the Bantams they are now… and it is about to get even more personal for Calhoun. Roger and Jerry Bantam kidnap Calhoun’s doctor girlfriend, Robin Malone (Kerrie Keane) and make one last call to bank president Adam Beardsly. Roger Bantam lays out the time and place of the 5 million dollar drop off… and gives Beardsly implicit instructions that they want Jack Calhoun to personally deliver the money. The Bantams have thrown down the gauntlet… and Jack Calhoun is ready to pick it up!
Here is what I learned after watching Nightstick… there is good reason I had never heard of this movie. Nobody stinks up the joint but nobody shines either. Jack Calhoun, who made a great first impression ended up going down as the tamest “renegade cop” in movie history. And even though I am only days removed from watching this movie as I type this, I could not pick out any of the three villains out of a lineup.
Nightstick also has no stand out scenes, good or bad. Nightstick is just there… it is not harming anyone, but I can’t imagine anyone who has ever seen Nightstick has said “boy, I can’t wait to watch Nightstick again”.
I can imagine some of you saying, “Boy, I hope there are some Bonus Bullet Points at the end of this Nightstick review”…
- Play It Straight: The most interesting thing to me about Nightstick is that it cast Leslie Nielsen in a serious role. In my mind and I am sure many others’ minds, Nielsen will forever be Lt. Frank Drebin from the Naked Gun franchise.
- AKA: Nightstick is also known as Police Force in Spain and Metal Force in the UK.
- Montage Alert: There is a scene where Jack Calhoun hits the streets of New York gathering information on the chemical robberies. The music used in this scene and a lot of the transition shots showcasing New York City is overpowering.
- Directed By: No surprise that a TV movie like Nightstick turned to Joseph L. Scanlan, a director with a vast amount of TV experience. Some of Scanlan’s other action directorial credits include the series Night Heat (starring Jeff Wincott), Kung Fu: The Legend Continues and La Femme Nikita.
