![]() ![]() Rayner Fleming (Kate Mulgrew), whose presence in the film is so unimportant, the screenplay can't even find time to develop a relationship between her and Remo. The most dismissible character in the movie is sadly its only female role – that of Maj. In fact, the relationship between Remo and Chiun, more than anything else the story has to offer, is the big reason why 'Remo Williams' has attained a cult classic status. ![]() Buried behind convincing prosthetics (which earned the movie its one and only Academy Award nomination), Grey develops a completely convincing character that is the best performance in the movie. Ironically, one of the film's most controversial decisions (even by 1985 cinema standards) turns out to be one of its best: the casting of Broadway legend Joel Grey to play the role of Chiun, a Korean martial arts master who trains Remo during the course of the movie. His first mission (and his only one, considering no sequels were ever produced) is to take out a crooked military defense contractor (played by Charles Cioffi) – not exactly the kind of world-dominating "supervillain" we see in the Bond flicks – yet another flaw of this film's story. CURE wants Remo to take care of the problems the American legal system can't.in other words, he's to become a trained assassin. Sam Makin is presumed dead and Sam now goes by the name of Remo Williams (the source of his new name is one of the movie's better jokes). He's rescued by a secret government organization called CURE, who actually caused the accident to begin with. New York City cop Sam Makin (Fred Ward) has just taken care of a group of thugs when his police car (with him inside) is pushed into the water. The story is rather simplistic given all the money that went into the film, although it's not without its moments of entertainment. ![]() The movie was given a $40 million budget (among Orion's most expensive films of the time) and tons of publicity.and promptly landed with a dud. Screenwriter Christopher Wood (who wrote two Bond movies, including The Spy Who Loved Me) penned the script. Further evidence of everyone's thinking that Remo Williams could be the next Bond came when Guy Hamilton (who helmed four Bond movies, including Goldfinger) signed on to direct. Based on a series of pulp novels featuring the character, the attempt to turn Remo into cinema's "Blue-collar James Bond" finally got traction when Orion Pictures (a studio founded by a quartet of former United Artists execs – the then-home of the James Bond franchise) saw the potential of a big-budget franchise. The history of Remo Williams making it to the silver screen might be more interesting than anything that happens in the actual film. Which is not to imply that 'Remo Williams' is a great has too many issues for that, but there's enough good stuff in the film to make it worth checking out – and perhaps even warrant a purchase of this limited edition release. The film was almost an instant flop for Orion Pictures (and the loss on the film almost certainly contributed to the studio's early 90s bankruptcy), but like many movies of the day, found somewhat of a cult status on home video. I don't know if I should be proud or ashamed of the fact that I was actually one of the moviegoing patrons back in October of 1985 who saw 'Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins' during its opening weekend. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |