Another vote for Hudson Hawk, and others on my list are Xanadu, Shock Treatment and Hot Stuff.
Did he say “Fuck”? That’s an FCC violation.
Solid, raunchy laughs.
Speaking of Kurt Russell I’ll add Big Trouble in Little China. Waaay underrated movie.
Which made me think of The Golden Child, Numsie. It’s high time for a re-watch.
I like all on your list except Xanadu (no matter how much of a crush I had on Olivia Newton-John).
This was certainly not widely panned. 69% & 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. I think “gloriously absurd” is the consensus.
It performed poorly at the box office. I happen to really like Clue, but I think it’s only got a cult following and that most people remain clueless about it.
I see what you did there. ![]()
It’s got a 7.3 in imdb, as did Point Break.
Used Cars gets a 6.8 (even though there were nuns protesting).
Red Dawn gets a 6.4.
One of my guesses turns out to be higher than all of them. Ladies and gentlemen, with a 7.7 on imdb, I give you…
As if. ![]()
My usual answer in these threads is “Congo”. Not a brilliant movie, but great mindless entertainment with fun supporting roles from Tim Curry and Ernie Hudson.
First Blood is a pretty good movie whose reputation suffers because of the sequels I think. I don’t think Rambo actually even kills anyone in the first movie.
That’s what I was about to say. While Rambo: First Blood is a serious and well-made drama, its sequels are ridiculous over-the-top action flicks.
Some of these suggestions weren’t widely panned, at least not based on their Rotten Tomatoes scores but my suggestion would be EuroTrip. I liked that much better than I thought I would.
Van Helsing (the 2004 film, with Hugh Jackman). Super-cheesy, way over-the-top, and I don’t care, I still enjoy it.
Seconding votes for Xanadu and Clue.
Context: it took awhile for a studio to make the movie. The rights were bought in 1972.
For the role of Sheriff Teasle, Kassar and Vajna approached Academy Award winners Hackman and Robert Duvall but both turned the part down. Marvin, another Oscar winner, turned down the part of Colonel Trautman. James Mason, Milton Berle, Charles Nelson Reilly and Richard Jaeckel were also considered.
Milton Berle? Charles Nelson Reilly?! ![]()
If you don’t count the nasty cop who fell from the helicopter, I think you’re right. Even if you say Rambo killed him, it would be self-defense because the guy kept trying to shoot him.
The original Rambo was so bloodthirsty… the story was so hard, so terrifying every step of the way. (I think that’s one reason the book took so long to get done). What I did with Rambo was try to keep one foot in the Establishment and one foot in the outlaw or frontier image. I wanted him to be accepted by the mainstream—but also be a criminal. So he has some strong patriotic views—and he loves the system. He just doesn’t like a lot of the people who live and work in it.
Sylvester Stallone, 1985[5]
Xanadu. Silly, but fun.
Lifeforce, starring Mathilda May’s breasts, and a bunch of British actors. Oh, yeah, and one gratuitous American, who is ostensibly the star of the film, but manages to make Raymond Burr’s contributions to Godzilla look vitally important to the story.
The Keanu Reeves version of 47 Ronin. Yes, I know, they took liberties with the historical facts. But you know what? Most of what we think we know about the incident was written by poets, and dramatists, and people with social and political axes to grind. It has always been more myth than history. When this film added tengu and shapeshifting foxes, it was at least being honest about screwing with the history.
Zardoz. Silly as hell, but fun. About the time Boorman made this, he was attempting to get the film rights to Lord of the Rings. I think we can all be grateful that he didn’t succeed.
The Spielberg film 1941. A 5.8 IMBD score, 42% on Rotten Tomotoes, it’s a zany multi-threaded comedy set in California after Pearl Harbor. It’s got a great cast, it’s funny, and watching it, you see a lot of where the people involved were headed. Spielberg’s (in)famous use of light. Robert Zemeckis wrote it, and you get the same manic vibe from Used Cars and Back to the Future. And for years I’ve used to scene of Ned Beatty figuring out how to use the anti-aircraft gun left on his front lawn to talk about how people fail to recognize the path to success.
I really tried to like that movie but didn’t. Mathilda May’s breasts were the only thing that got teenage me to keep watching.
These threads always end up becoming, “Name a movie.”