Also rented a (very long) documentary called In Search of the Last Action Heroes on iTunes. This is a documentary ostensibly about action movies from the 1960s to the present… but really it’s just about 80s and early 90s. Maybe that’s enough though…
So, yeah, this film really quickly talks about action films in the 50s and 60s… then a bit more about the 70s (Steve McQueen and Bruce Lee mainly) before settling on a good ninety minutes about 80s action flicks. It’s thesis is mainly that “action” as a genre didn’t exist until the 80s where it went both high budget and low, quality and less so, but always sought to entertain and make a buck. It ventures into the 90s only in so much as the actions stars of the 80s went there. And then it offers an explanation of what happened to the action star. To say it’s agnostic and objective about action films would be a lie… this flick and all its interviewees are in love with big dumb 80s action. And that’s ok.
But the problem the documentary has isn’t that it’s one-sided, it’s that it’s preaching to the choir. The film is structured in such a way that it more-or-less chronologically jumps between action star or movie, providing interviews with various actors, producers, directors, and musicians involved in the flicks. It doesn’t offer much context or transitions from subject to subject. You’ll be watching them talk about Predator one minute and Lethal Weapon the next. People who aren’t well-versed in action flicks are not going to learn much and/or will be confused. People who do know this stuff will know it already. I certainly did… except for maybe the China O’Brien and Best of the Best franchises… and then I just scratched my head and wondered if they were really as popular as the interviews claimed they were. I have doubts.
To the film’s credit though, it gives equal time to big franchises and the cheap direct-to-video market. Hey, you want to be reminded of American Ninja and Death Wish 4? This movie certainly doesn’t judge. And I can credit the movie for not being nearly as big a snob as I am (wow were those some terrible movies).
At 2hrs 10minutes, there’s a lot of ground to cover and a lot of interviews… so I can’t say they don’t try and I can’t say I wasn’t interested. This is an imperfect but certainly loving tribute to a genre that maybe doesn’t always deserve its hero worship. Or maybe it does… that’s up to you. It’s a well-produced documentary that could have used better structure and insight from a narrator. I’m sure you already know if you are interested in the subject… if you are, it’s worth a look.
Score: 81