Over the Rainbow? The Time-Warp? The Sho’ must go on? There’s something of a musical feel to our look at some of the action-news items you may have missed this week…
STEVEN SEAGAL IS OVER THE RAINBOW… Another week and yet another trailer for yet another Steven Seagal movie. This one comes in at over four minutes long, making us wonder if there is there any need to watch the whole movie thereafter? Directed by Daniel Zirelli, The Asian Connection stars Seagal, Michael Jai-White, Jon Edward Lee, Ron Smoorenburg (Who Am I?) , Dean Alexandrou and Sahajal Boonthanakit (No Escape) and is based on a story by actor Tom Sizemore.
The premise: Two expats, Jack and Sam, rob a series of banks in Thailand and make off with the money… unfortunately including a druglord’s money. They become the target of the gang’s vengeance and determination to get their money back and make the robbers pay. When Sam is killed, Jack and his girlfriend become a modern day Bonnie abd Clyde, taking the fight to the gangsters and the evil druglord (played by Seagal).
The trailer for the film can be seen below…
… AND DEAN ALEXANDROU DOES THE TIME WARP… Director Daniel Zirilli unleashes another low budget actioner with Time Rush (aka Reflex) which was also shot in Thailand and is due to hit the small screen in April. As with the Seagal entry above this film also stars British martial arts actor Dean Alexandrou and Ron Smoorenburg alongside Selina Lo and Byron Gibson (Only God Forgives).
Our central character Alex (Alexandrou) finds himself stuck in a repeating time loop with no memory of who he is and how he got there. In this rather more dangerous and action-filled version of a Groundhog Day dilemma, he must find his way through the city, learning more and more as he goes along and hoping to finally uncover the truth before he gets himself killed… once and for all.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v83vKSVbJ2s
THE SHO’ MUST GO ON… 80s Ninja icon Sho Kosugi has been back on the small screen in a big way in recent months, with many of his cult classics including the Cannon Ninja trilogy (Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, Ninja 3: The Domination), Pray For Death, Rage of Honour and even his collaboration with a young Jean-Claude Van Damme in Black Eagle being re-released in various formats in both the UK and North America. It’s reigniting a lot of interest in the man last seen on the big screen in Ninja Assassins.
Recently Kosugi has spoken of writing his English language autobiography – which we hope would be far more accurate than the ‘bio’ for him which appeared during the Ninja boom of the 1980s, where his traditional karate background was suddenly brushed under the carpet and he received all his training from a mysterious Ninja uncle! According to Kosugi he is planning his big screen comeback with a project that originally began life being developed with Pray for Death and Rage of Honour director Gordon Hesslet, who sadly passed away in 2014.
According to Sho: “We put together a screenplay, but I can’t tell you too much about it. But, it’s big studio, big budget. It’s very interesting. But unfortunately, he [Hessler] passed away a couple of years ago. But in memory of our relationship, I’ll definitely make this big budget movie…” He also speaks of how the project will not fall foul of the CGI that detracted from rather than enhanced the action in Ninja Assassins; “Nowadays, everything is CG. That’s why my next movie – with my son and myself – will be very good. The main fighting sequence won’t have CG at all. Great fighting sequence. We can show my skill and my son’s skill. This original screenplay I wrote with Gordon Hessler about 10 years ago. And from there – I scratch here and there – putting it together. And finally, at the end of this year, the book is coming out. We’re going to shoot in Japan, and in Los Angeles, California. I am the main guy and my son. Not Kane. My second boy, Shane. He’ll be the lead. And I’ll be director, producer, actor, choreographer and writer.”
Both Kane – who has since gone on to become an action hero in his own right (Tekken 2, Ninja Shadow of a Tear, Muscle Heat) and Shane Kosugi (Ninja Warrior), were frequent co-stars in Kosugi’s earlier movies, appearing in everything from Revenge of the Ninja, 9 Deaths of the Ninja, Pray for Death , and Black Eagle. While for their own reasons, it seems that Kane and his father may not be working together anymore, it will be interesting to see Sho and Shane working together on film once more…
CAN YOU HEAR THE CANNON ROAR..? The last week or so saw a lot of speculation following the news that Cannon Films were returning
The original Cannon Group lead by Menahem Golan and Golan Globus was a force to be reckoned with back in the 80s, unleashing everything from American Ninja, Breakdance, The Delta Force, Over the Top, Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, Ninja 3: The Domination, Death Wish 3, The Wicked Lady, Bloodsport and Superman 4: The Quest for Peace, making movies with everyone from Sylvester Stallone, Jon Voight, Charles Brosnan, Chuck Norris, Sho Kosugi, Michael Dudikoff and introducing the world to a young man named Jean-Claude Van Damme.
The announcement by Lancaster-based writer and would-be film-maker Richard Albiston that he had spent many years as the protege of Cannon founding father , the late Menahem Golan and that the newly formed Cannon Films Ltd. was announcing a slate of Cannon sounding projects (including American Ninja Apprentice, Return of the Delta Force, U.S.Sniper, Zombi: They Live, another Allan Quartermain outing and talk of an Over the Top 2) got plenty of people excited.
We did wonder about the hype vs.authenticity side of the story. While the original Cannon Group may be gone, the majority of titles are now part of and owned by MGM, and without their involvement or blessing there would be all manner of copyright issues. But a statement on 19th February seems to clear up at least that aspect. It read as follows…
In late 2014, Cannon Films Ltd was established by Richard Albiston. The aim of this new venture was to continue film-making in the tradition set forward by Israeli Mogul Menahem Golan, after Mr Albiston had worked under his tutelage since the inception of their first collaboration, the screenplay for Allan Quatermain & the Jewel of the East. The company is in no way a resurrection of Mr Golan’s previous company, The Cannon Group Inc, or any other institution, as it has been incorrectly reported. In naming the new enterprise Cannon Films Ltd, the hope was to allude to the spirit of Menahem Golan and the ideals that he lived and worked by; believing in the artist, creating work with passion in an industry controlled by corporate entities and giving the audience a fresh and new experience with certain works that were close to Mr Golan’s mind and heart. The projects announced previously, and continue to be announced, by us are new, fresh and original projects that have in some instances been misconstrued as ‘sequels’ to properties produced by The Cannon Group Inc. The majority of properties produced by The Cannon Group inc are owned and incorporated into the property library of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. The films we are producing currently, and plan to produce in the future, are new and original motion pictures with no connection to The Cannon Group properties or any other copyrighted material currently under the control of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. Our projects, from Zombi: They Live! to American Ninja Apprentice are our attempt to appeal to fans, not only of the former companies of Menahem Golan, but to the wider ‘genre appreciating’ audience. Our films are vastly diverse in their content and approach, with the majority being original in house developments, whereas others including Zombi: They Live!, Return of the Delta Force and Allan Quatermain & the Jewel of the East being collaborations with Menahem Golan, that we hope will bring new attention to this one of a kind filmmaker and his life’s work. Other projects, such as American Ninja Apprentice are a fresh and original look at an established genre and bringing it to a 21st century audience. None of these projects should be in any way advertised in 3rd party printings as sequels, remakes etc. to copyrighted materials not owned or controlled by Cannon Films Ltd.
Without Cannon would much of the world have really become aware of the Ninja (and would we ever have heard of Jean-Claude Van Damme and Bloodsport and the Kumite?) While we wish Mr.Albiston and the new Cannon Films the very best establishing a company using the Cannon name and a website that very much represents the former glory days of the original Cannon and their output AND announcing titles that are very Cannon inspired, does seem to be sailing very close to legally-troubling waters… For example, as much as I’d like to I can’t just announce a movie: Star Warfare: The Lightsaber Apprentice, and really expect people not to think there is some connection to the Lucasfilm franchise. But here’s hoping Albiston and his new company are able to find a way to move forward with their projects and bring back the feel of the halycon days when we’d all run down to the video shop looking for the latest Cannon releases. For the moment, the new company can be found online at: http://www.cannon-films.com
