tomten3000

I may have mentioned before, but Robert Patrick is from Cleveland. One of the producers, Alan Schecter, was also from Cleveland and responsible for bringing the film to the CLE. So that’s the real connection. Patrick wasn’t doing many leads at that time, so this was an opportunity to do that, as well, and in his hometown.

Great post. I will say, as mentioned earlier, that Robert Patrick is from Cleveland and one of the producers, Alan Schecter, was also from Cleveland. Schecter was sort of the Russo Bros before the Russo Bros, but of B-movies. So that's likely the real reason Patrick is in the film at all. Shoot a movie in your hometown a couple years after your mega breakout role. Who wouldn't want to do that?

It was the 90s, and I remember thinking, "Huh, that's kinda cool." Because, 90s.

Oh, and FYI. Not T. Leisure. Ha!

No, no, I was not. I was just a lowly PA. We were there ALL the time. Really ridiculous long hours. But we only really hung out with the other PAs and some of the Cleveland crew. A lot of the crew was from L.A., and those folks all hung together, so it was probably those folks. Stunt team. The stunt team was partying ALL the time. There's a story - that I think is true - that the stunt team famously got in trouble for rappelling down the side of the hotel they were staying in. We would drive everyone to everything, though. My friend drove Milano to the set regularly (and upset her when he wouldn't park in a handicap spot because it was closer to the set). I would drive Mark Dacascos and Scott Wolf around a lot. Took Dacascos to the dentist. He was AMAZING. Honestly, one of the nicest guys you ever met. Wolf was nice, too. Leon Russom and the guy who played the human version of Abobo - Nils Stewart. Also very friendly - and so funny. OH! And there were no smartphones or anything like that, so no GPS, so I got chewed out by some local douche when I got a little lost driving Robert Patrick and someone else to dinner one night. That was a whole thing.

They were definitely goofy in love or whatever on set. You could just tell. But they were so young, right? I think we were around the same age. I was 23 at the time. Wolf is two years older, so he was 25. Milano was 21. So just too fast too soon. PLUS ... celebrities.

FYI, I was a PA on the movie way back when on the Cleveland shoot. That's me in the back standing.

Sort of for kids? Paul Dini and Neal Shusterman were the writers. Dini is best known for writing the critically acclaimed "Batman: The Animated Series," "Animaniacs," and "Batman Beyond" and more. Shusterman worked on "Goosebumps" and "Animporphs." So definitely some kids movie pedigree.

Oh, btw, Alyssa Milano and Scott Wolf fueled a pretty obvious romance during DOUBLE DRAGON. (They later got engaged for a hot minute.) We were tasked with picking up and delivering pictures to Milano from a one-hour photo. We so wanted to take a peek to see what was in those photos, but we didn't. I don't regret not looking - personal property and all. But I kinda regret not looking.

The gang mentions wondering why Robert Patrick would take on DOUBLE DRAGON so soon after T2. Patrick is from Cleveland (actually Bay Village, Ohio, also hometown to Patricia Heaton and RIVERDALE's Lili Rinehart). One of the producers, Alan Schecter, was also from Cleveland. He was sort of a B-movie Russo Brothers before the Russo Brothers were a thing, always trying to get films made in Cleveland. Patrick would come back to Cleveland with Schecter for RENEGADE FORCE with Michael Rooker.

A quick anecdote. While filming on the Cuyahoga, the crew accidentally turned over a small boat. One the boat? A $20,000 camera. Which, I suppose, is still somewhere on the bottom of the river. Also, while we did our best to let residents know that there would be a pretty incredible explosion on the river sometime during the summer afternoon that scene was filmed, we couldn't tell everyone. 911 was flooded with calls from people who reported the river on fire again.

A couple BTS photos for you. No digital cameras at the time this was shot, so a couple Polaroids I picked up on set.

Just joined, but had to, since I can't wait for this episode. I was a production assistant on the film in Cleveland. So many stories. Okay, well, a few stories. And, of course, somewhat new to the podcast, I started recommending this film AFTER it was already announced. Oy.