Episode 132 - Bloodsport: LIVE!

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

The mention that it seems like “they had to walk through the streets of Agrabah to get to” the tournament is ironic since those scenes are of a real place! Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong was a huge crazy maze of buildings beyond the reach of the law, overbuilt so densely that they blocked out the sun. In the late '80s to early '90s, it was cleared out and eventually demolished. Several movies filmed there during that time: this,

, the Jackie Chan movie Crime Story, and Long Arm of the Law.

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

It looks like a case of "even a broken watch is right twice a day" for Cannon in regards to this film and others like Cobra or Breakin' which did really well at the box office. Though with the award winners nominees, at least in the case of The Assault it seems like they did what WWE Studios does now by buying into a nearly completed movie with established actors already attached, like what they did with Dead Man Falling or Oculus. They seem to have had a better run doing this than their completely created films, Oculus in particular is a good horror movie, and from looking at The Assault, it seems like they maybe just joined on the production in order to help get a wider release for the film, as Cannon only really has a distribution credit on the film.

Well, broken clock is the least charitable explanation

 

They did do enough actual production on prestige movies that Roger Ebert said that “No other production organization in the world today—certainly not any of the seven Hollywood 'majors'—has taken more chances with serious, marginal films than Cannon." And Cannon had a surprising amount of established acting talent do actual work for them, not just on movies they picked up. Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films interviews Cannon actors as far from the "Chuck and the other Chuck" action-star type as

and Elliott Gould.

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

And then there's this, which I swear is not Photoshopped:

 

[RyanSz 3140]

Oh I've seen the documentary, but while they did do a lot of production themselves, not all of it was great. I mean going through their filmography and it was clear that they were using a shotgun technique of trying anything and everything and seeing what would hit the target. At points in the 80s they were releasing a movie once a week or at times multiple movies on the same day. There's a reason that the big studios don't do that kind of release schedule because it would bankrupt them like Cannon. As for the talent, yes they got Stallone and Chuck Norris in their peaks, but a lot of the time they were getting guys looking for a check like Dennis Hopper in Texas Chainsaw 2 or Charles Bronson in Death Wish 4.

 

Like from the Lake Placid episode where they read David E. Kelly's bio about living the American Dream 90s style, the cousins running Cannon I feel were running their studio in the most 80s way that they thought possible. The only thing missing is a Tony Montana size mountain of coke on each of their desks.

[Jollygreen52 57]

OK, I'm just going to post this and take the shit if it's already been discussed.

 

The end caption talking about the "real" achievements of Frank Dux included his world record of 56 consecutive knockouts in one tournament. Now, if the format of kumite fighting was pure knockout - 8 fighters in the quarter final, 4 in the semi finals, 2 in the final - 56 knockouts would be unbelievable. 56 rounds of knockout if you add it up would require 72 million billion contestants, or 12 million times the population of the Earth. No one could be keeping the tournament a secret because the whole planet would be in the tournament: old people, world leaders, babies, everyone. And then millions of nearby star systems would have to send their entire populations to compete in the tournament, so Dux was fighting martial arts aliens. Which is a film I would watch.

 

And of course there's Dux's claim that he was actually working for the CIA when he first competed in kumite, having fought in Vietnam. The CIA had sent him to infiltrate the criminal element in the tournament and he just happened to be the best fighter in the world. Match that to his date of birth and he was 19 years ago old, a decorated Vietnam veteran and a CIA operative, and the world champion of full contact martial arts. This guy is the biggest bullshitter of all time.

 

The thought of everyone on earth participating in the tournament had occurred to me too. I like to imagine Terry Crews fighting a newborn. Well, I don't like to, but that's the weird alternate reality Frank Dux has posited.

[GalenHoward 6]

I think it's worth mentioning that the director's name was Newt Arnold(!) and was primarily an assistant director who went on to work on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (which definitely could have used some Kumite).

[Smigg 1488]

Did anybody else notice the part where a guy gets kicked in the face, and he falls the in the wrong direction?

[Cockney Mackem 514]

So, is this the best movie Cannon made? Its straightforward charm definitely holds up better than any of their attempts to make more elaborate movies on higher budgets, as exemplified by previous HDTGM subject Masters of the Universe. (The Electric Boogaloo documentary quotes Golan or Globus that on their $20 million movies, they would rather be using it for 20 different $1 million movies.) And it's safe to say that it's better than almost all of their forays into prestige filmmaking. But do their rare acclaimed efforts like Runaway Train (which was nominated at the Academy Awards) or The Assault (which won; I'm not kidding) provide exceptions?

 

Is the real question "how did a movie this good get made at Cannon?"

 

Runaway Train has to be the best Cannon film of all time

[Cockney Mackem 514]

By the way, does anyone else have trouble finding Blake Harris's articles on slashfilm sometimes? I'm using a smartphone not a computer if that makes a difference, but the latest oral history article on his slashfilm page is Teen Witch and I can't find Covenant or Bloodsport despite my best Google efforts

[DanEngler 5249]

By the way, does anyone else have trouble finding Blake Harris's articles on slashfilm sometimes? I'm using a smartphone not a computer if that makes a difference, but the latest oral history article on his slashfilm page is Teen Witch and I can't find Covenant or Bloodsport despite my best Google efforts

I checked Blake's Slashfilm author page, and you're correct that the most recently publish oral history is for Teen Witch. However, he told a reader on Twitter that the Bloodsport article is scheduled to go up today.

[Smigg 1488]

 

 

I've been bouncing around an idea for a podcast/youtube show where people are interviewed while playing "Cards Against humanity" (And other similar games) called "Oh the Humanity" (Or something.) and after listening to the both of them in this episode, I'd want them as Co-hosts.

 

Or, a Youtube channel, about bad video games (E.T., Superman 64, Rise of the Robots etc.) and call it "How Did This Get Played?!"

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

I think it's worth mentioning that the director's name was Newt Arnold(!) and was primarily an assistant director who went on to work on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (which definitely could have used some Kumite).

 

Given how much the violence in TMNT II was forced to be toned down, there's no way it could have had Kumite in it. Or are you saying you'd have liked to see how much it would have needed ridiculous substitutions like "combat cold cuts" for nunchuks?

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

Another thing about this poster: if you had to guess which George Lucas movie was Cannon, wouldn't the most fitting choice by far be Howard the Duck? It totally has the punching-above-its-weight feel of a Cannon production such as Masters of the Universe, that had a big budget and epic subject matter but was made like (and looks and feels like) a B movie.

 

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

So? Same name different subject matter. It would be stealing otherwise.

 

It's not like the webmasters trademarked the phrase. But point taken. A podcast of the name would have to be careful not to tread into the topic of bad movies, to avoid ripping off the website's idea. Unless the creators of the site come back from Internet retirement to do a podcast!

[JonWithrow 10]

It says in the final title card that Dux holds the world record for most consecutive knockouts in a single tournament with 56. Now, in this film, Kumate is bracket style. This would imply that the number of combatants is 2^56 or 720 trillion. Seeing as the earth's population is only 7.125 Billion, that would imply that that Kumate Tournament has 1 million times the population of the earth, posing the question: This must be an intergalactic fighting competition.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

 

 

 

Petition to get Nicole Byer to be a return guest for all JCVD movies? Also that we use her gifs from Girl Code for every reaction?

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

 

Or, a Youtube channel, about bad video games (E.T., Superman 64, Rise of the Robots etc.) and call it "How Did This Get Played?!"

 

But those examples didn't.

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

The trope of a fighter losing in a way unfair enough to not compromise their skill isn't only found in macho action movies.

 

 

In Seven Samurai, all of the samurai who die do so via gunshot.

 

[Amy the Gorilla 732]

 

 

I've been bouncing around an idea for a podcast/youtube show where people are interviewed while playing "Cards Against humanity" (And other similar games) called "Oh the Humanity" (Or something.) and after listening to the both of them in this episode, I'd want them as Co-hosts.

 

OR... Call it something else and make it an interview show where people play games that require lots of making stuff up, the sillier the better. Like Role playing games or board games like "Say anything" or Slash ... Which... Would be just a geekier version of "Comedy Bang Bang" I guess... Dammit.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

OR... Call it something else and make it an interview show where people play games that require lots of making stuff up, the sillier the better. Like Role playing games or board games like "Say anything" or Slash ... Which... Would be just a geekier version of "Comedy Bang Bang" I guess... Dammit.

Also Janet Varney ends her podcasts with a game of MASH which is always delightfully silly and is a huge insight on the person she's talking to (sometimes even more so than the hour of talking she just did with her guest).

 

Basically everything has been done and we should just give up. JK I still like your original idea and think that would be a ton of fun!

[Cameron H. 23786]

Basically everything has been done and we should just give up. JK I still like your original idea and think that would be a ton of fun!

 

Has anyone done my idea? I want to start a podcast called "Troll Patrol--Operation: Flame War." Basically, it would be scouring the Internet for the most egregious examples of trolling (probably a lot from Yahoo! commenters), taking their points at face value, and making fun of how dumb they are.

 

Any interest? I'm looking for co-hosts...

[jarrycanada 2483]

KUMITE TIME!

 

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the real life Frank Dux.

 

 

For some reason he sort of reminds me of Steven Seagal.

[BobHudson 7]

What I don't understand is that Frank Dux (in the movie and at the end when listing his accomplishments) apparently set the world record for fastest ko with a kick at 72 mph...are you meaning to tell me that the Kumite had radar guns measuring every kick and punch to see how fast they were?

 

Also, why did they change the shape of the Mat...or Ku Mat Te for the final fight? It resembled an unfilled taco shell...

 

Also, can we discuss the Tasers that were held by OSCAR AWARD winner Forrest Whitaker and old partner? They looked like old dustbusters handles, with the filter/sucker part removed.

 

Anyway, this was one of the best episodes ever, I just wish I got to hear the questions I know June had about this one!

[jasonscokedealer 0]

A classic episode but one has to ask if any of the hosts and/or guest were, oh shall we say, chemically enhanced. My god, I could see the white residue through my headphones. And believe me, that's hard to do!

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

What's WC?

 

I think it's referring to the Who Charted? podcast.