Menahem Golan and Yoran Globus, remember those names? Back in the 1980s, during the heyday of video tapes and action stars like Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Dudikoff and Sho Kosugi, you simply could not escape avoid the Golan-Globus name over and over again, courtesy of the films they produced with their company, The Cannon Group, Inc.
The Delta Force, Missing In Action, Invasion U.S.A., Over The Top, Masters Of The Universe, American Ninja, Bloodsport, Cyborg, Breakin’, and countless other B-movies, now cult favourites because of their cheese factor, are just some of the reportedly more than 120 titles that the two Israeli cousins made from 1979 to 1989 in America, after buying Cannon for US$500,000 (RM1,640,100). Mention Cannon nowadays and it is with this kind of “crap” films that people mostly associate the company with.
But not many people remember that Golan was a huge film fan, and was indeed a film-maker himself. So in addition to the B-movies that were their bread and butter, they also worked with many respected auteurs like Robert Altman, Jean-Luc Godard, Franco Zeffirelli and Barbet Schroeder. Since I’ve always loved sharing, let’s see if you’ve seen any of these not so well-known gems from the Cannon canon that I’m about to list below.
The Last American Virgin
An 80s teen film from Cannon doesn’t sound like a good prospect, does it? If you only stop halfway through this film, which doesn’t seem like it’s going to be more than just another Porky’s knock-off, you’d probably be right. But if you sit through the whole movie, I’m prepared to bet that your jaw will drop to the floor and your heart will be crushed to pieces as it still has one of the bravest endings in all of teen films – the boy DOESN’T get the girl, and in the most awful way too. And don’t even get me started on some of the startlingly non-PC scenes that somehow made their way into the movie, like the penis-measuring scene inside a boys’ locker room and the hugely uncomfortable visit to a prostitute by the three teenage boys who are the film’s main characters.
Love Streams
Golan always had dreams of nabbing the Palme d’Or at Cannes, which unfortunately never materialized even though some of his films were selected for the Competition section. But at least he managed to snag the Golden Bear at Berlin with this last film from indie legend John Cassavetes. Still hard to see today (VHS tapes of the film were rare enough to fetch prices of up to US$50 even today, and a short run of DVDs produced in France can now fetch up to almost US$200 on Ebay and Amazon), the Criterion Collection has given hints that they’ll finally be releasing this film on home video after a years-long battle to secure its rights.
Lifeforce
The only film on this list that might be called trash by some, yet it’s not a cheapo B-movie. Instead, it’s a very expensive flop by director Tobe Hooper (of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Poltergeist fame) and written by the writer of Alien, Dan O’Bannon, reportedly costing US$25 million, which was a big amount back in 1985. So why is this special? Because there’s no way a big budget film will be allowed to be this weird these days. It has a beautiful female space vampire walking buck naked almost throughout the film. It has a young Patrick Stewart (yes, that Captain Jean-Luc Picard!) speaking in a woman’s voice and kissing another man. It is just plain W-E-I-R-D, in a good way.File photo shows actor Jean Claude Van Damme striking a pose during the 14th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) in Macau on July 6, 2013. — AFP pic
File photo shows actor Jean Claude Van Damme striking a pose during the 14th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) in Macau on July 6, 2013. — AFP pic
Runaway Train
This is another Cannon prestige production, directed by respected auteur Andrei Konchalovsky, based on a script by Akira Kurosawa. It even boasts two Oscar nominated performances from Jon Voight and Eric Roberts. And yet few remember this movie, or have even heard of it today. Which is a shame, because it’s one of the most exciting action thrillers you’ll ever see, about two convicts who break out of prison and board a freight train, which unfortunately has failed brakes and a driver who died of a heart attack. If you think Tony Scott’s swansong Unstoppable was already an awesomely thrilling train film, think again.
52 Pick-Up
Surely the most obscure item on this list, this Elmore Leonard adaptation by the legendary John Frankenheimer (who made the original The Manchurian Candidate, amongst many other great films) transposed the Detroit settings of Leonard’s novel into the porn industry in Los Angeles. It may not exactly be a faithful adaptation, but it’s still a pretty remarkable one, with plenty of twists and turns that will keep you thrilled and willing the hero to turn the tables on his cold-blooded blackmailers. It’s like a battle of black hearts, and you just can’t look away.
– S
