Reviews (21)

CLINT ' S SHADOW
In the sixties, Howard Hawks, Richard Brooks, Sam Peckinpah and a few other american directors tried to challenge the -spaghetti- westerns filmmakers who were following the steps of an inspired Sergio Leone. Richard Brooks's THE PROFESSIONALS is, in my opinion, one of the last masterpieces Hollywood has produced in this very peculiar genre : the Western.

With a legend of the screen, Burt Lancaster, three first-class actors of the Dream Factory's golden era, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance and Lee Marvin and, at last, an italian star, Claudia Cardinale, Richard Brooks had all the living material to build a solid western. And he did it.

THE PROFESSIONALS is not a lyric movie nor a nostalgic one. Robert Ryan and Lee Marvin don't regret their past, they only try to survive with their particular skills in the 1915-1920 America. They don't feel outcasted by the new century because they have something to believe in : friendship, respect and compassion.

The pathetic couple Jack Palance-Claudia Cardinale has the terrible task to symbolize the ineluctable destiny of all revolutions ; pure in their beginnings, they become soon the whore of all human lowest vices and passions. In this perspective, THE PROFESSIONALS is one of the most realistic movies I've had the opportunity to see. It's also clearly a very personal movie of director Richard Brooks, a director who should absolutely be rediscovered one of these days.

The choice between the wide-screen and the standard (beurk !) version, a trailer, different subtitles and rather extended filmographies as bonus features. Perfect sound and above-average images, even in the multiple night scenes.

A DVD for your library.

One Of The Greats
Can there be any better actors than Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode and Jack Palance. And then you throw in Ralph Bellamy and Claudia Cardinale and you have one of the great movies of all time. All these personalities create individual characters that work together as well as against each other in a rousing tale of intrigue, love, and deception. Keeps you interested from beginning to end as the characters and story unfold to a surprise ending. Some of the best one liners I've heard in a long time. A must for anyone who enjoys good acting, a tight script, and action -- all in one movie.

"In this desert, nothing's harmless until it's dead."
Given the credentials of the people involved in bringing The Professionals (1966) to the screen, written and directed by Richard Brooks, who also did The Killers (1946), Key Largo (1948), Elmer Gantry (1967), and In Cold Blood (1967), starring Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode, and Jack Palance (Believe it....or not!), you would have thought I would have heard about it before now, but I didn't, and there you go...

Anyway, the film begins with the assemblage of four men by a rich, Texas cattleman named Joe Grant, played by Ralph Bellamy (the old dude who wasn't Don Ameche in the John Landis/Eddie Murphy/Dan Aykroyd movie Trading Places), for the purpose of rescuing his young wife Maria, played by the voluptuous Claudia Cardinale, from the clutches of her kidnapper, a Mexican rebel bandit named Jesus Raza (Palance). Seems Raza has made off with the woman and is now demanding $100,000 for her safe return, an amount Mr. Grant would be willing to pay, except he fears that even after he pays the monies, Raza would still harm his wife. As the men come together with the offer of $10,000 apiece if they're successful, we learn of their particular talents. First there's Henry 'Rico' Fardan (Marvin), a master tactician and someone who actually knows Raza as they served together in the Mexican revolution, followed by Bill Dolworth (Lancaster), who also served with Fardan and Raza, and is an expert with explosives, Hans Ehrengard (Ryan), whose skills involve horse wrangling, and finally Jake Sharp (Strode), an expert with weapons, specifically guns and the bow and arrow, and also an experienced tracker. Given that Raza has a good number of men at his disposal, I'd say maybe close to 200, the task would seem highly unlikely, but the men also must deal with first getting to the camp, which involves trekking through the Mexican desert, where temperatures during the day could fry your face off, while the cold night after the sun drops is nearly enough to freeze your blood, but $10,000 is a lot of money, and the group, being men of honor, did give their word, fully aware of the dangers involved, and the probability of success.

While the story may not be highly original, the elements that make it up work very well to make this a highly enjoyable movie. Marvin is great as the brains behind the operation, carefully planning everything, knowing exactly what he has to work with and also having the confidence in the men to perform their tasks, keeping things simple, and avoiding complexities that would normally foul things up. He pulls off his character well, an intelligent man would understands the value in proper preparation especially when the odds are high. Lancaster is also wonderful, presenting a highly likeable character with color, one whose priorities seem simple enough in money and women, but who also exhibits more depth as the film unfolds. Ryan (a highly under-rated actor, in my opinion) and Strode are also quite good, despite the lack of character development given to Marvin and Lancaster, which isn't a negative as we are given just enough to endear the characters to the audience, but not so much to bog the film down, and all four displayed a level of credibility respective to the skills each possessed. Claudia Cardinale was certainly nice to look at, and she was capable, but if I had to choose a weak link in the film, it would probably be her, but given how well all the other elements of the film worked, this was entirely a minor issue. Now when I heard Jack Palance was going to be playing a Mexican, I had my doubts as I just couldn't see it, but he pulled it off. We didn't see much of him in the first half, but in the last half his character really came to life, giving us more than just a character motivated by greed, but one driven by his ideology, in doing what he has to to survive and further his cause. The expansive desert scenes throughout the film are really beautiful, giving a wonderful backdrop to the story, providing a realism you just can't get shooting on a studio backlot. There were a number of twists and turns within the story, as very little is as it seems, and while some of it was predictable, this did little to take away from the film. I also enjoyed the study of the motivations of the various characters, their questioning of the moralism in past and present actions. The film could have gotten mired within this element, but, as with other elements of the movie, there was just enough present to keep things interesting and add a bit of welcome diversity while not taking away from the overall story. The movie does run just under 2 hours, but rarely slows down, as the excellent direction by Brooks keeps things fairly balanced and moving along at a good pace.

The digitally remastered picture here looks amazing, available in both wide screen and full screen formats, and I thought the audio was also very good, being very crisp and clear. With regards to special features, there is any number of subtitles (including English) available, along with an original theatrical trailer and somewhat comprehensive, yet concise, biographies of the talent, including selected filmographies. Also included on the insert in the DVD case are production notes which detail the people involved, the locations the film was shot, along with information about the original release date and the various awards nominations the film received. All in all an excellent film, maybe not the quintessential western of Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969), but certainly required viewing for fans of western films and certainly worth looking into for anyone just interested in a good film in general.

Cookieman108

The Dirty Who?
Look...let me cut right to the chase on this film.
It's an ignored classic.
Why...?...I do not know.
I even looked up Lee Marvin under Ask Jeeves and there was a Bio... very detailed... that I pulled up that did not even mention this film.
I think it to be Marvin's best.
Yes...better that the Dirty Dozen which has become a Mantra title for some Marvin fans.
The performances of Marvin and Lancaster are impeccable and charged with a timeless charisma that is also exhibited by Woody Strode and Robert Ryan as well.
I have seen this movie now several times now and could sit down and watch it again and still enjoy it.
Everything about this movie works at just the right time and in just the right way.
This is one of the great films to ever come out of the 1960's and certainly a "have to own" item for any Lancaster, Marvin, Strode or Ryan fan.
Oddly...few people, who love westerns, admire Marvin, Lancaster, Strode or Ryan...have ever heard of it.
Pass the word.....

Wild Bunch I
Ever since Sam Peckinpah made The Wild Bunch in 1969, he has received credit for creating a unique, poetic western masterpiece about the passing of a certain time (the late 19th century), place (the "West," specifically the American Southwest and Mexico), and type of man (a criminal or gunslinger with a code of honor). And The Wild Bunch IS a masterpiece - but it is not unique.

Its ballet of slow-motion blood came from Arthur Penn's 1967 instant classic, Bonnie and Clyde. And much, much more, in terms of story, place, and atmosphere - hard men hired to go on a violent mission to Mexico - came from this 1966 movie, which Richard Brooks directed and wrote, based on Frank O'Rourke's novel, A Mule for the Marquesa. An honest assessment of either movie requires that one discuss the other. Of The Wild Bunch, because it owes so much to The Professionals; of The Professionals, because it has largely, and unfairly, been relegated to obscurity, due to the legendary status of The Wild Bunch.

The Professionals has a dream cast - the four men of the title are played by Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan and Woody Strode. But there's so much more - in those politically incorrect days, Italian star Claudia Cardinale could play a Mexican spitfire ("Maria Grant"), while Jack Palance could portray a Mexican revolutionary ("Raza"). Ralph Bellamy plays railroad tycoon "J.W. Grant," whose Mexican wife, Maria, has been kidnapped, and Marie Gomez plays yet another spitfire ("Chiquita"). (Note that the spitfires are both handy with six-shooters.) The story unfolds ca. 1920, under the shadow of Pancho Villa and the recently concluded Mexican Revolution.

The four men of the title - experts in explosives (Lancaster, as "Bill Dolworth"), weapons (Marvin, as leader "Rico Fardan"), horses (Ryan, as "Hans Ehrengard"), and tracking and using a bow and arrow (Strode, as "Jacob Sharpe") - are hired to rescue the tycoon's wife, whose captor demands $100,000 ransom. The tycoon will pay the men $10,000 each, should they successfully complete their mission. But they must brave the searing heat of the Mexican desert going in and returning, and best a gang that outnumbers them over 30-1. Note that Dolworth and Fardan were expressly chosen for the mission, because they had long fought alongside Raza, for Pancho Villa.

Brooks, a onetime newspaperman and novelist who had an eclectic, successful career writing, helming, and sometimes producing social dramas (Blackboard Jungle, Something of Value, Elmer Gantry), westerns (The Last Hunt, Bite the Bullet), psychological stories (Lord Jim, In Cold Blood) and female-centered pictures, particularly based on Tennessee Williams plays (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Sweet Bird of Youth, Looking for Mr. Goodbar), packs enough movie into The Professionals for two and a half hours, rather than the hour-fifty it runs. (I expect that he was under strict instructions regarding length.) The story opens by deftly sketching each character in about thirty seconds, has several excellent action set-pieces -- Lancaster insisted on doing all his own stunts -- and yet, leaves time for irony, for wistfulness, for gallows humor.

At one point, Burt Lancaster's Bill Dolworth muses, "Maybe there's only been one revolution since the beginning - the good guys versus the bad guys. The question is - who are the good guys?" (...)

The Professionals has several surprises, some humorous and some poignant, and a simpatico, South-of-the-Border-style score by Maurice Jarre. And some great lines(...)

The acting by the four "professionals" is wonderfully natural (especially Marvin's line readings), the work by Palance and Gomez wonderfully over the top.

Like most great movies, particularly westerns, this movie could not be made today. Hispanic ethnic hustlers would demand that mediocre Hispanic actors play the Cardinale and Palance roles. And no black actor today would play the Woody Strode role as written, and no white director would have the nerve to make him do it. Too realistic. At the height of Jim Crow, the railroad tycoon asks Fardan, "Do you have any problem working with a Negro?" And while whites usually address Jacob Sharpe by his first name, he always addresses white men as "Mister," as in "Mr. D," and "Mr. Sheriff." You can hate it all you want, but that's the way it was.

Raza : How do you come to this dirty business?
Dolworth: The usual -- money.
Raza: Everything is as usual. I need guns and bullets -- as usual. The war goes badly -- as usual. Only you -- you are not as usual.

The Wild Bunch cannot be properly measured, without taking into consideration the standing-on-the-shoulders-of-giants factor. And even if one should still conclude that The Wild Bunch is more powerful than The Professionals, in the way that Peckinpah is poetry to Brooks' prose, one still must give Richard Brooks his due.

(The DVD offers both full-screen and widescreen versions, cast information, the theatrical trailer, and scene selections. The sound and color resolution are excellent. Considering the lack of extras, the DVD is pricey ... yet it is worth every cent.)

The Critical Critic, April 7, 2004. ... Read more

Reviews (21)

CLINT ' S SHADOW
In the sixties, Howard Hawks, Richard Brooks, Sam Peckinpah and a few other american directors tried to challenge the -spaghetti- westerns filmmakers who were following the steps of an inspired Sergio Leone. Richard Brooks's THE PROFESSIONALS is, in my opinion, one of the last masterpieces Hollywood has produced in this very peculiar genre : the Western.

With a legend of the screen, Burt Lancaster, three first-class actors of the Dream Factory's golden era, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance and Lee Marvin and, at last, an italian star, Claudia Cardinale, Richard Brooks had all the living material to build a solid western. And he did it.

THE PROFESSIONALS is not a lyric movie nor a nostalgic one. Robert Ryan and Lee Marvin don't regret their past, they only try to survive with their particular skills in the 1915-1920 America. They don't feel outcasted by the new century because they have something to believe in : friendship, respect and compassion.

The pathetic couple Jack Palance-Claudia Cardinale has the terrible task to symbolize the ineluctable destiny of all revolutions ; pure in their beginnings, they become soon the whore of all human lowest vices and passions. In this perspective, THE PROFESSIONALS is one of the most realistic movies I've had the opportunity to see. It's also clearly a very personal movie of director Richard Brooks, a director who should absolutely be rediscovered one of these days.

The choice between the wide-screen and the standard (beurk !) version, a trailer, different subtitles and rather extended filmographies as bonus features. Perfect sound and above-average images, even in the multiple night scenes.

A DVD for your library.

One Of The Greats
Can there be any better actors than Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode and Jack Palance. And then you throw in Ralph Bellamy and Claudia Cardinale and you have one of the great movies of all time. All these personalities create individual characters that work together as well as against each other in a rousing tale of intrigue, love, and deception. Keeps you interested from beginning to end as the characters and story unfold to a surprise ending. Some of the best one liners I've heard in a long time. A must for anyone who enjoys good acting, a tight script, and action -- all in one movie.

"In this desert, nothing's harmless until it's dead."
Given the credentials of the people involved in bringing The Professionals (1966) to the screen, written and directed by Richard Brooks, who also did The Killers (1946), Key Largo (1948), Elmer Gantry (1967), and In Cold Blood (1967), starring Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode, and Jack Palance (Believe it....or not!), you would have thought I would have heard about it before now, but I didn't, and there you go...

Anyway, the film begins with the assemblage of four men by a rich, Texas cattleman named Joe Grant, played by Ralph Bellamy (the old dude who wasn't Don Ameche in the John Landis/Eddie Murphy/Dan Aykroyd movie Trading Places), for the purpose of rescuing his young wife Maria, played by the voluptuous Claudia Cardinale, from the clutches of her kidnapper, a Mexican rebel bandit named Jesus Raza (Palance). Seems Raza has made off with the woman and is now demanding $100,000 for her safe return, an amount Mr. Grant would be willing to pay, except he fears that even after he pays the monies, Raza would still harm his wife. As the men come together with the offer of $10,000 apiece if they're successful, we learn of their particular talents. First there's Henry 'Rico' Fardan (Marvin), a master tactician and someone who actually knows Raza as they served together in the Mexican revolution, followed by Bill Dolworth (Lancaster), who also served with Fardan and Raza, and is an expert with explosives, Hans Ehrengard (Ryan), whose skills involve horse wrangling, and finally Jake Sharp (Strode), an expert with weapons, specifically guns and the bow and arrow, and also an experienced tracker. Given that Raza has a good number of men at his disposal, I'd say maybe close to 200, the task would seem highly unlikely, but the men also must deal with first getting to the camp, which involves trekking through the Mexican desert, where temperatures during the day could fry your face off, while the cold night after the sun drops is nearly enough to freeze your blood, but $10,000 is a lot of money, and the group, being men of honor, did give their word, fully aware of the dangers involved, and the probability of success.

While the story may not be highly original, the elements that make it up work very well to make this a highly enjoyable movie. Marvin is great as the brains behind the operation, carefully planning everything, knowing exactly what he has to work with and also having the confidence in the men to perform their tasks, keeping things simple, and avoiding complexities that would normally foul things up. He pulls off his character well, an intelligent man would understands the value in proper preparation especially when the odds are high. Lancaster is also wonderful, presenting a highly likeable character with color, one whose priorities seem simple enough in money and women, but who also exhibits more depth as the film unfolds. Ryan (a highly under-rated actor, in my opinion) and Strode are also quite good, despite the lack of character development given to Marvin and Lancaster, which isn't a negative as we are given just enough to endear the characters to the audience, but not so much to bog the film down, and all four displayed a level of credibility respective to the skills each possessed. Claudia Cardinale was certainly nice to look at, and she was capable, but if I had to choose a weak link in the film, it would probably be her, but given how well all the other elements of the film worked, this was entirely a minor issue. Now when I heard Jack Palance was going to be playing a Mexican, I had my doubts as I just couldn't see it, but he pulled it off. We didn't see much of him in the first half, but in the last half his character really came to life, giving us more than just a character motivated by greed, but one driven by his ideology, in doing what he has to to survive and further his cause. The expansive desert scenes throughout the film are really beautiful, giving a wonderful backdrop to the story, providing a realism you just can't get shooting on a studio backlot. There were a number of twists and turns within the story, as very little is as it seems, and while some of it was predictable, this did little to take away from the film. I also enjoyed the study of the motivations of the various characters, their questioning of the moralism in past and present actions. The film could have gotten mired within this element, but, as with other elements of the movie, there was just enough present to keep things interesting and add a bit of welcome diversity while not taking away from the overall story. The movie does run just under 2 hours, but rarely slows down, as the excellent direction by Brooks keeps things fairly balanced and moving along at a good pace.

The digitally remastered picture here looks amazing, available in both wide screen and full screen formats, and I thought the audio was also very good, being very crisp and clear. With regards to special features, there is any number of subtitles (including English) available, along with an original theatrical trailer and somewhat comprehensive, yet concise, biographies of the talent, including selected filmographies. Also included on the insert in the DVD case are production notes which detail the people involved, the locations the film was shot, along with information about the original release date and the various awards nominations the film received. All in all an excellent film, maybe not the quintessential western of Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969), but certainly required viewing for fans of western films and certainly worth looking into for anyone just interested in a good film in general.

Cookieman108

The Dirty Who?
Look...let me cut right to the chase on this film.
It's an ignored classic.
Why...?...I do not know.
I even looked up Lee Marvin under Ask Jeeves and there was a Bio... very detailed... that I pulled up that did not even mention this film.
I think it to be Marvin's best.
Yes...better that the Dirty Dozen which has become a Mantra title for some Marvin fans.
The performances of Marvin and Lancaster are impeccable and charged with a timeless charisma that is also exhibited by Woody Strode and Robert Ryan as well.
I have seen this movie now several times now and could sit down and watch it again and still enjoy it.
Everything about this movie works at just the right time and in just the right way.
This is one of the great films to ever come out of the 1960's and certainly a "have to own" item for any Lancaster, Marvin, Strode or Ryan fan.
Oddly...few people, who love westerns, admire Marvin, Lancaster, Strode or Ryan...have ever heard of it.
Pass the word.....

Wild Bunch I
Ever since Sam Peckinpah made The Wild Bunch in 1969, he has received credit for creating a unique, poetic western masterpiece about the passing of a certain time (the late 19th century), place (the "West," specifically the American Southwest and Mexico), and type of man (a criminal or gunslinger with a code of honor). And The Wild Bunch IS a masterpiece - but it is not unique.

Its ballet of slow-motion blood came from Arthur Penn's 1967 instant classic, Bonnie and Clyde. And much, much more, in terms of story, place, and atmosphere - hard men hired to go on a violent mission to Mexico - came from this 1966 movie, which Richard Brooks directed and wrote, based on Frank O'Rourke's novel, A Mule for the Marquesa. An honest assessment of either movie requires that one discuss the other. Of The Wild Bunch, because it owes so much to The Professionals; of The Professionals, because it has largely, and unfairly, been relegated to obscurity, due to the legendary status of The Wild Bunch.

The Professionals has a dream cast - the four men of the title are played by Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan and Woody Strode. But there's so much more - in those politically incorrect days, Italian star Claudia Cardinale could play a Mexican spitfire ("Maria Grant"), while Jack Palance could portray a Mexican revolutionary ("Raza"). Ralph Bellamy plays railroad tycoon "J.W. Grant," whose Mexican wife, Maria, has been kidnapped, and Marie Gomez plays yet another spitfire ("Chiquita"). (Note that the spitfires are both handy with six-shooters.) The story unfolds ca. 1920, under the shadow of Pancho Villa and the recently concluded Mexican Revolution.

The four men of the title - experts in explosives (Lancaster, as "Bill Dolworth"), weapons (Marvin, as leader "Rico Fardan"), horses (Ryan, as "Hans Ehrengard"), and tracking and using a bow and arrow (Strode, as "Jacob Sharpe") - are hired to rescue the tycoon's wife, whose captor demands $100,000 ransom. The tycoon will pay the men $10,000 each, should they successfully complete their mission. But they must brave the searing heat of the Mexican desert going in and returning, and best a gang that outnumbers them over 30-1. Note that Dolworth and Fardan were expressly chosen for the mission, because they had long fought alongside Raza, for Pancho Villa.

Brooks, a onetime newspaperman and novelist who had an eclectic, successful career writing, helming, and sometimes producing social dramas (Blackboard Jungle, Something of Value, Elmer Gantry), westerns (The Last Hunt, Bite the Bullet), psychological stories (Lord Jim, In Cold Blood) and female-centered pictures, particularly based on Tennessee Williams plays (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Sweet Bird of Youth, Looking for Mr. Goodbar), packs enough movie into The Professionals for two and a half hours, rather than the hour-fifty it runs. (I expect that he was under strict instructions regarding length.) The story opens by deftly sketching each character in about thirty seconds, has several excellent action set-pieces -- Lancaster insisted on doing all his own stunts -- and yet, leaves time for irony, for wistfulness, for gallows humor.

At one point, Burt Lancaster's Bill Dolworth muses, "Maybe there's only been one revolution since the beginning - the good guys versus the bad guys. The question is - who are the good guys?" (...)

The Professionals has several surprises, some humorous and some poignant, and a simpatico, South-of-the-Border-style score by Maurice Jarre. And some great lines(...)

The acting by the four "professionals" is wonderfully natural (especially Marvin's line readings), the work by Palance and Gomez wonderfully over the top.

Like most great movies, particularly westerns, this movie could not be made today. Hispanic ethnic hustlers would demand that mediocre Hispanic actors play the Cardinale and Palance roles. And no black actor today would play the Woody Strode role as written, and no white director would have the nerve to make him do it. Too realistic. At the height of Jim Crow, the railroad tycoon asks Fardan, "Do you have any problem working with a Negro?" And while whites usually address Jacob Sharpe by his first name, he always addresses white men as "Mister," as in "Mr. D," and "Mr. Sheriff." You can hate it all you want, but that's the way it was.

Raza : How do you come to this dirty business?
Dolworth: The usual -- money.
Raza: Everything is as usual. I need guns and bullets -- as usual. The war goes badly -- as usual. Only you -- you are not as usual.

The Wild Bunch cannot be properly measured, without taking into consideration the standing-on-the-shoulders-of-giants factor. And even if one should still conclude that The Wild Bunch is more powerful than The Professionals, in the way that Peckinpah is poetry to Brooks' prose, one still must give Richard Brooks his due.

(The DVD offers both full-screen and widescreen versions, cast information, the theatrical trailer, and scene selections. The sound and color resolution are excellent. Considering the lack of extras, the DVD is pricey ... yet it is worth every cent.)

The Critical Critic, April 7, 2004. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Where's Frankie And Annette When You Really Need Them?
I thought this would be a lighthearted comedy, in the tradition of the "Beach Blanket Bingo" movies, but I was wrong. This film is heavy on melodrama and light on comic relief. Three California surfing buddies travel to Hawaii to catch the ultimate waves at Waimea Bay. Naturally, the veteran surfers there resent them, but to such a degree that it borders on hatred. A wipeout causes damage to Fabian's surfboard, which later causes him to crash into another surfer, who is carried on to the beach with a bloody, broken nose. Another surfer gets drunk on New Year's Eve and dives off a steep waterfall, and ends up cracking some ribs. Frankie Avalon and his gang sometimes wiped out, but they never emerged from the ocean bloodied and battered. The final surfing showdown is an endurance test to determine who is the best surfer in the world. The competition goes on and on and on, becoming an endurance test for the viewer. I can sum up my feelings for this movie in two words - wipe out!

Ride, ride, ride... the wild cliche!
Dudes, babes, and fabulous footage of the north shore of Hawaii, plus the classic theme song co-written by Brian Wilson and sung by Jan & Dean. This is about as good as '60s beach movies get, partly a good impersonation, part pure Hollywood fantasy, of my own childhood backdrop of surfing action in southern California and Hawaii. Dig the scenes in which the "surfers" are waiting for their waves on perfectly calm blue water on what is probably a giant studio backlot wading pool! Thrill as their doubles paddle out to attack the scary gray curls of Waimea Bay "and conquer those waves 'most thirty feet high"! Shelley Fabares and Barbara Eden are among the girls on the beach.

It's cool, buddy boy.

Guaranteed to get sand in your shorts!
A group of handsome, well-built, "young" board heads take a Hawaiian vacation to ride the wild surf of Hawaii. The boys fall in love within ten minutes of meeting their bikini-clad, beautiful female groupies who reluctantly watch as surf bum beaus risk life and limb in the unpredictable waves. Never a swear word is uttered and everything has a happy ending. Barbara Eden plays the spunky "Augie Poole," the original party girl who brings lots of laughs to the show.

There is no doubt that this is that rare film that is fun for the whole family to watch. The scenic footage of the Hawaiian islands is beautiful. The scripts are corny and the acting enthusiastic, but overall a fun film to watch. Although the actors played the parts well, they seemed a little bit too old (thirty-something) to play the proverbial beach-boy-in-college scene. But ten minutes into the show, we're too caught up in the undertow to care about trivial things like time and age!

Ride, ride, ride, the wild surf...
Campy, campy, campy, campy, campy ! Great nostalgic film . Sometimes when I watch it I think, "man, this movie didn't age well " and then other times I think, "who cares! This is a fun movie !" Far better than most of the stuff that Hollywood has been trying to pawn off on us for years .

Ride The Wild Surf
In 1964 three friends went to the show to see a surf movie for the first time. We returned to see this movie over and over again, (7 times to be exact). Being young and impressionable we wanted to be like Fabian, Tab Hunter, and Peter Brown riding Big Waves in Hawaii and falling in "Love" with girls like Susan Hart, Shelley Fabares and Barbara Eden. This movie made our summer of '64 a fantasy summer, we went to the beach, tried to surf, listened to Jan & Dean, The Beach Boys and dreamt of the girls in "Ride the Wild Surf". By todays standards this movie seems "Hokie", but for three fourteen year old boy's in 1964 it was a movie and Summer to remember. ... Read more

Reviews (24)

A Must See for any SciFi Fan
For the present-day SciFi fan who is used to huge explosions, amazing visual effects, and all those modern conveniences, this movie may be a little slow. But for a fan like me, who grew up on the old films of yester-year, it will be an amazing tale, and well worth your time and money.

Anyone who had the extreme pleasure of watching the old TV series will enjoy seeing their favorite actors and villains when they were first introduced. Buck, played by Gil Gerard, is the hunky astronaut from 1987 who is mysteriously frozen, and awakens in the 25th Century. Erin Gray is the gorgeous Wilma, who we may all remember running around in high heels and midrif outfits, while carrying a blazing laser gun. Here, we see Buck's attempts to deal with the loss of everything he knew, and being introduced into the future, where he is still the best pilot around. We get an interesting view into what Earth looks like outside the sanitized buildings of New Chicago. It's truly a good introduction into the struggles Earth is dealing with in future episodes.

I will make one concession. The visual effects are just terrible. Watching this film with my youngest sister, we just began to laugh at the tractor beams, close-up shots of ships, and explosions. Definitely not made today. But for the time this was made it's pretty good. And perhaps simply because of the enjoyment it brought so many of us, you can definitely overlook some of the lesser qualities of the film.

Boy, did I oversleep this time!
Universal Studios updated the popular matinee movie serial sci-fi hero from the thirties to the seventies in this film which was the pilot for the TV series. Gil Gerard takes on the role which was first played by Olympic athlete turned actor Buster Crabbe. A twentieth century astronaut is frozen in suspended animation and is revived in the late twenty-fifth century where his new surroundings are totally different and unfamiliar. Somehow, he quickly and nonchalantly accepts his new surroundings and quickly adapts to help the earth inhabitants defend themselves from the Draconians, an extraterrestrial race bent on conquering the earth. From watching this film, I got the idea Universal Studios was trying to salvage some of the props and sets from their expensive and somewhat unsuccessful show "Battlestar Galactica". Apparently, they must have recovered some of their losses with "Buck Rogers" because the TV show lasted for several seasons. This is the only place you'll be able to hear the lyrics to the TV theme song and also be able to see the TV-censored way Buck overcame and defeated the Tiger Man. Overall, it's entertaining and worth watching to the average science fiction junkie.

This show was nothing special
Well, this series I vaguely recall from 1979. It was only on two seasons in two very revamped versions that never worked. The visual effects were sub-par phooney, often using stock footage from Battlestar Galactica to save costs and neither gerad nor Erin Grey ever worked on TV again afterward. Nothing large anyway. About 35 shows were made in all. Not a great sci-fi Tv show at all. Better off watching something better like the Twilight Zone.

Please, Please, Please! Give us Buck on DVD!
One of the best shows from childhood, I love the rare times I come accross an episode on the SciFi channel! Having Buck Rogers released on DVD would make a lot of us 30-some-things so happy! Buck and Twekie(sp?) are the best! Please release this!

I can't wait!!
I'll make a separate review for video/sound quality when the discs appear, but I've been watching the sci-fi channel's reruns of Buck Rogers.

The series itself is underrated, and despite borrowing/warping from "Star Trek" and "Battlestar Galactica" to justify Buck now being on a space ship to find lost Earth colonies for the second season, the new style of season 2 is mostly a joy to watch, with its more serious tone. It's a shame they cancelled it as early as they did. (there were a couple of clunkers, but the good eps more than make up for it.)

While some episodes are campy, with many featuring bad science (this is sci-fi, there is no such thing as ACCURATE science, star trek not excepted...), others (particularly in season 2) contain a morality that's absent from modern day television, or in some cases (especially as seen in 'Testimony of a Traitor' and 'The Dorian Secret') people's actions.

Episodes which prove the producers were on the right track include:

From season 1 (of those I'd seen, I'd missed 10 of them, so this list could be longer...):
Planet of the Slave Girls
Escape from Wedded Bliss
Cosmic Whiz Kid (obviously a sweeps week episode but it's campy fun!)
Space Vampire (the best of season 1, this one's a true classic, and Erin Grey puts in a tour-de-force performance that should NOT be missed)
Ardala Returns
Twiki is Missing

From season 2:
The Guardians
Mark of the Saurian
The Satyr
Testimony of a Traitor (overlook the naivity of a VHS tape surviving 500 years (LOL!), this one's plot otherwise holds up reasonably well)
The Dorian Secret (there's an eerie twist at the end of the story, and it has nothing to do with aging, so don't let the name "Dorian" throw you off...)

All in all, late 1970s sci-fi is a mixed bag. Buck Rogers shows us the best - and at times the worst - of the trend. Fans of the show will want to buy this release immediately, and it's got a charm that'll grow on everybody else. The innocent family/kiddie-show is refreshingly kitschy as well, I grew up on this stuff...

And, if nothing else, Erin Grey and Gil Gerard provide some yummy eye candy for those who want to look. :-) Gil looks better in season 2, IMHO... ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Typical 80s Shatner movie
As part of a look at the portrayl of the President throughout the decades, I took a look at Kidnapping. Compared to the other movies I watched, State of the Union (1948), Seven Days in May (1964), and The American President (1995), this is by far the worst. With its nonsenical plot in which Shatner gives the President to the terrorist to ultimate victory by a herotic Shatner, this movie is mundane, dull, and pointless. Typical non-Star Trek Shatner in the 80s. A definate "Don't Buy" unless you're researching a project.

Hey Shatner punched me!
Forget that Shatner is at his hammiest best, forget that Hal Holbrook is the President we'd all like to have, forget the Police Chief of Toronto is played by the "Nabob Coffee Guy," what you want to take away from this video is that I was in this movie and Shatner punched me in the gut just before the President gets handcuffed to the guy with the dynamite-now THAT'S action!

Stompy ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Typical 80s Shatner movie
As part of a look at the portrayl of the President throughout the decades, I took a look at Kidnapping. Compared to the other movies I watched, State of the Union (1948), Seven Days in May (1964), and The American President (1995), this is by far the worst. With its nonsenical plot in which Shatner gives the President to the terrorist to ultimate victory by a herotic Shatner, this movie is mundane, dull, and pointless. Typical non-Star Trek Shatner in the 80s. A definate "Don't Buy" unless you're researching a project.

Hey Shatner punched me!
Forget that Shatner is at his hammiest best, forget that Hal Holbrook is the President we'd all like to have, forget the Police Chief of Toronto is played by the "Nabob Coffee Guy," what you want to take away from this video is that I was in this movie and Shatner punched me in the gut just before the President gets handcuffed to the guy with the dynamite-now THAT'S action!

Stompy ... Read more