Carradine and Other Cult Cinema

Most people remember actor David Carradine, who passed away last month in Bangkok, as wandering Shaolin monk Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970’s television series Kung Fu (or as the character’s descendant in the 90’s syndicated sequel series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues). Film buffs probably remember him as Woody Guthrie in the Oscar-winning Bound For Glory (for which Carradine also garnered a Golden Globe nom), masked Frankenstein in the original Death Race 2000, or as the titular character of Quentin Tarantino’s paean to exploitation cinema, Kill Bill. There are over 200 acting credits listed on his IMDb page, so there's no question that the man made a mark in the worlds of cinema and television.

Me, I’ll always remember him best for his appearances in dozens of B-movies and exploitation films, especially Circle of Iron – and why not? After all, Carradine assays no less than four roles in this mystical martial arts movie from 1978. Ironically, Blue Underground has just released a new version of this cult favorite, only weeks before its star’s death.



CIRCLE OF IRON (Blu-Ray)
1978, Blue Underground
Based on a story by martial arts film legend Bruce Lee and A-List screenwriter Stirling Silliphant (The Towering Inferno, The Killer Elite) for a unrealized project intended to star Lee and James Coburn, Circle of Iron (a/k/a The Silent Flute) was ultimately realized by exploitation producer Sandy Howard and star David Carradine.

The story is simple: in an unnamed, mystical land, a young martial artist named Cord (Jeff Cooper) competes for the right to go on a quest for The Book of All Knowledge. He loses, but prideful, goes on the quest anyway. Over the course of his journey he must face and defeat several champions (three of which are played by Carradine) and learn the true meaning of life from a blind man with a flute (also Carradine).

The movie, the only directorial credit of cinematographer Richard Moore, is beautiful to look at, with remarkable, otherworldly settings shot on location in Israel, and features cameo appearances by cult favorites Roddy McDowell, Eli Wallach and Christopher Lee. But the final screenplay by Stanley Mann somehow manages to be both banal and pretentious, and despite numerous martial arts sequences, the film moves at a surprisingly lethargic pace. The movie is also hurt by Jeff Cooper’s casting as Cord the Seeker – he’s a piece of wood in a blond mullet.

The movie really exists to showcase Carradine, though, and he acquits himself quite well. Though he was never quite the martial artist he wanted people to believe he was, he comes off impressively in Circle of Iron, playing all four of his roles – The Blind Man, The Monkey Man, a warlord named Changsha, and Death himself – with considerable enthusiasm. As the Blind Man, he delivers Zen wisdom with both dry wit and conviction, and that goes a long way towards keeping the movie watchable.

Blue Underground has re-issued Circle of Iron on Blu-Ray disc, incorporating all of the bonus features of their previous special edition DVD, and upgrading their beautiful 1.66:1 widescreen transfer to 1080p HD. The movie practically glows. Several audio options are provided, including 7.1 DTS-HD, 7.1 Dolby True HD, and 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround.

There’s a commentary track by director Richard Moore, and long, interesting on-screen interviews with David Carradine, producer Paul Maslansky, and Martial Arts Coordinator Joe Lewis. There’s also an audio interview with screenwriter Stirling Silliphant, and multiple TV spots and theatrical trailers.

Circle of Iron is deeply flawed, but appropriately enough, that makes it a fitting tribute to Carradine's career and his talents. It’s definitely worth checking out at least once, and if you’re a fan of the film – and there are many – then the new Blu-Ray presentation is absolutely worth getting, as it makes one of the movie’s true strengths – it’s cinematography – even more impressive.


CHILDREN OF THE CORN (Blu-Ray)
1984, Anchor Bay
Based on a short story by Stephen King, this low budget horror film from New World Pictures and director Fritz Kiersch ultimately spawned a half-dozen sequels. Watching Children of the Corn today on Anchor Bay Entertainment’s new Blu-Ray edition, I’m at a loss to understand its appeal.

Three years before the story begins, the children of Gatlin, Nebraska, led by a creepy child evangelist named Isaac (John Franklin), slaughtered all of the adults in town, save one. Isaac claims to speak for He Who Walks Behind the Rows, a supernatural entity that Isaac claims is God. Three years later, a young couple (Linda Hamilton, just pre-Terminator, and Peter Horton, pre-Thirtysomething) arrive in Gatlin – now a virtual ghost town strewn with cornhusks – and are marked for blood sacrifice by the children.

I had never seen the movie before, nor any of its six sequels. I wasn’t impressed. I found the film neither scary nor particularly interesting, and I couldn’t suspend my disbelief enough to buy the idea that no one – no tax collector, food delivery person, utility repairman, school official, out-of-town relative or State Trooper – had visited Gatlin in three years and noticed that something was up.

As a horror movie, Children of the Corn is curiously lacking in suspense and all the violence is handled tastefully – too tastefully, in fact – off-camera. Lots of knives and bladed farm implements are brandished, and a bit of blood is splattered, but no actual acts of violence are shown.

Obviously, the movie didn’t work for me. Equally obvious, however, is the fact that it made a lot of money, inspired all those sequels and clearly has a sizeable fanbase. And that fanbase should be very pleased with Anchor Bay’s new Blu-Ray release.

The disc features a gorgeous, utterly flawless, 1.85:1 widescreen transfer in 1080p HD. Audio is 5.1 True HD. There’s an informative audio commentary with director Kiersch, producer Terrence Kirby, and cast members John Franklin and Courtney Gains. There’s a "pop-up" trivia feature, and a bunch of brand-new featurettes. These include interviews with production designer Craig Stearns and composer Jonathan Elias on the sights and sounds of the film, a very enjoyable on-screen interview with star Linda Hamilton, who remembers the film and experience with fondness, and an interview with producer Donald Borchers. There’s a behind-the-scenes documentary, a still gallery, storyboards, and the original theatrical trailer.

If you’re already a fan of Children of the Corn and/or the franchise, you will absolutely want to upgrade from any previous editions of the film to the Blu-Ray version (if you’re so equipped), because I cannot imagine the film looking and sounding any better than it does here. If you’re a horror buff who has somehow missed the movie over the years (as I was), then a rental to check it out might be worth your while. Just because I didn’t like it doesn’t mean you won’t.


OUTLANDER
2008, Genius Products
Probably the most entertaining fantasy/sci-fi genre film I’ve seen in five years, Outlander, was inexplicably handled badly by its distributors (The Weinstien Company), bypassing theaters almost entirely, and being dumped on home video without fanfare. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why. It's a smart, fun, and fairly original action adventure with spaceships, swordplay and alien monsters. Seriously, who couldn't love that?

In 709 A.D., an alien spaceship crashes into a Norwegian lake, with two survivors – a humanoid space marine named Kainan (Jim Caviezel, The Passion of the Christ) and a bestial predator known as the Moorwen. The monster immediately sets out to prey on the local Vikings, while Kainan is first captured, then accepted by a tribe led by a warrior king named Rothgar (John Hurt). He falls in love with Rothgar’s daughter (Sophia Myles, Underworld 1 & 2), and leads the Vikings in battle against the creature.

Beautifully shot and energetically paced by director Howard McCain, Outlander is a surprisingly satisfying genre gem. Even Caviezel’s bland performance can’t diminish the entertainment and excitement generated by the quality production values, solid cast (which includes cult fave Ron Perlman) and effective special effects. The Canadian location work – augmented by digital matte paintings – is stunning, and the action scenes are handled with aplomb.

Genius Products’ DVD presents the film in a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that looks perfect. Audio is a robust Dolby 5.1. Extra features include a commentary track by writer/director McCain, and producers Dirk Blackman, Chris Roberts and John Schimmel. There are a handful of deleted scenes, production design galleries, effects tests, animatics, and the theatrical trailer.

Highly recommended.


G.I. JOE SEASON 1.1
1983, Shout! Factory
To tie-in with Stephen Sommers’ big budget summer blockbuster live-action re-imagining, Shout! Factory has brought the first 22 episodes of the 1983 G.I. JOE animated series to DVD in a 4-disc boxed set.

For the uninformed, G.I. JOE is the codename for a top secret American fighting force dedicated to battling the terrorist organization COBRA, a group dedicated to nothing less than world domination. Both organizations are made up of eccentric, colorfully codenamed soldiers, who use highly advanced – and highly improbable – technology in carrying out their ongoing battle.

For a kid's show that existed solely to sell Mattel action figures, G.I. JOE actually employed some fairly sophisticated storytelling, with multi-episode story arcs that would run for five or six installments and then move on to the next. Despite goofy codenames and costumes seemingly inspired by The Village People, the "Joes" were all given some rudimentary character development and personalities. The villains were more well rounded, as well, with understandable motivations. It wasn’t Shakespeare, but it was surprisingly smart for a syndicated, weekday afternoon cartoon.

Even the animation – though inconsistent – was better executed than most of its 80's contemporaries, even other shows from the same studio. Obviously, G.I. JOE was something special.

Shout!’s DVD set includes the first 22 episodes of the first season, in clean, bright full-frame transfers. Features include a three-part, on-screen interview with series writer Ron Friedman, a bunch of "Knowing is Half the Battle" PSAs, a handful of vintage G.I. JOE toy commercials from the 80s, and the 1963 Toy fair presentation for the original G.I. Joe action figure.

For fans of the show who grew up watching it every afternoon in the 80s (and there are millions), picking up this DVD set is pretty much a no-brainer. The episodes look and sound better than they probably did in ’83, and if you liked it then, you’ll probably still get a kick out of it now.


TRANSMORPHERS: FALL OF MAN
2009, The Asylum
A prequel to 2007’s highly profitable direct-to-video knock-off Transmorphers, Transmorphers: Fall of Man has alien robots invading Earth, while a small band of resistance fighters take refuge underground. Top-billed Bruce Boxleitner (Babylon 5) survives for about half the movie, and when his character expires, so does any entertainment value this production might have had. The CGI robots are adequately rendered, but not particularly menacing.

As I’ve said before, when The Asylum turns their talents – limited, as they may seem – toward their more original productions, they’re capable of some interesting work. But these quick, cheap, throwaway "mockbusters" are obviously going to continue to be their bread and butter, targeting unwary renters who might confuse the studio’s imitations for the real things. It may be a sound business plan, but it seems a sad waste of talent.

Anyway, The Asylum presents Transmorphers: Fall of Man in a 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer with5.1 Surround sound. There’s a "Making Of" featurette, some deleted scenes, a blooper reel and trailers for other current Asylum films.

Not recommended.

COMING SOON: The Green Hornet serials from VCI, and more genre DVD and Blu-Ray reviews.