Luke Skywalker = Samurai

While to some of you this may be old news, I was surprised to read the other day that Tarantino is not the only director to take his ideas from old Kurosawa films. Turns out, George Lucas has also admitted to the influence of the japanese director on his very own Star Wars: A New Hope. 

I had no idea, and frankly, I was a little upset at first. I felt disoriented and confused. Star Wars has always been to me the original and complete telling of the hero's paradigm. But to hear that the first sparks of creativity for Lucas' opus were not his own threw me for a loop.

Since then I've calmed a bit. Most of the internet sources claim that Lucas only loosely based C-3PO and R2-D2 on Kurosawa characters. I think I can live with that. If it had been Han Solo or, god forbid, Obi-Wan, I would have been a bit more distraught.

Hidden Fortress, the Kurosawa film of interest, is next in my queue and, rest assured, I will give my full analysis right here on Action Direct once I've watched it. Stay tuned.

Mini Joker

I don't know about you, but I was an avid collector of all different kinds of action figures. To this day, it pains me to think about losing both my rubber head Raphael and my brother's original Stormshadow G.I. Joe. 

Maybe I can make it up to him with this 1/6 scale Joker action figure, to be released by Hot Toys. The thing has 32 points of articulation! Amazing! 

Check out more photos at /film.

Woody Harrelson to Star in Zombieland

I had to post this for two reasons. First, I love Woody Harrelson. And second, I love zombies. To hear that the two will be together in a movie called Zombieland makes me all tingly. 

Woody will play a character named Albuquerque (which is a great name and also my home town) who is "the most frightened guy on Earth" in a world overrun by zombies. Apparently, the title refers to "an old funeral home that is turned into a morbid attraction called Zombieland". 

Sounds a little stupid, but we'll have to wait and see. Check out this Zombieland game in the meantime.

A Tribute

Where were you when you first watched The Matrix? I remember that it was a Thursday, the day after its release. I had just turned 16 and my friend Jack and I went to see it on a lark. The hype still wasn't out yet and I don't think anybody knew just how amazing it was going to be. My god, I was blown away.

Now when was the last time you watched The Matrix? Too long ago, I'll bet. Much like the original Star Wars or Indiana Jones, the greatness that was The Matrix was tarnished by sequels (and prequels). But lest we forget that there was once a dream called The Matrix. This is a tribute to that dream. 

I still believe.

If you can't laugh at yourself...

Well, he is one of the most highly accredited action stars of the late 80s/90s, but we haven't seen Jean Claude Van Damme in a new film in quite some time. Suffice to say, his career isn't exactly in its prime. That's why it warms my heart to see the man star in a parody based on his very own action styled movies coming out soon in Toronto. Apparently, it is set in his homeland of Belgium, but beyond that, who knows what kind of crazy, terrorist ridden, kung fu packed, splits doing hijinx will ensue. I'm interested to see what they come up with. Take a look at Reuters report here for more details. 

Poster Challenge

One of our reader's sent me this link the other day, and I'll be god damned if I only got a handful of them correct! I must not be the most visual learner. 

Give it a shot and tell me what you get.

Over the Top (1987)

For the longest time I thought that I had seen this movie. I used the "over the top" move every time I got into an arm wrestling match and referenced it whenever it made sense to reference an movie about a truck driver named Hawk who dominates the underground arm wrestling rings. But when I sat down to watch Over the Top last night, it became apparent in the first five minutes that I had never seen it before. Go figure.

So let's talk about Over the Top, starring Sly Stallone as Lincoln Hawk. The story goes something like this: When Lincoln Hawk's ex-wife falls ill, she asks him to pick up their son from military school and drive him home. Hawk pick's up his ten-year old son, Michael (who he hasn't seen since he walked out on his wife for no good reason) and starts on what proves to be a road trip to remember. Michael is first hesitant to get to know his father and confused about how to feel (or at least, that's what his acting coach told him to think about). But after witnessing Stallone stomp some big dude at a truck stop at arm wrestling, Michael starts to think a little different. Long story short, Hawk's wife dies and her father wants to take custody of Michael. Instead, Hawk goes to Vegas and wins the national arm wrestling championship... Michael and Lincoln Hawk live happily ever after.

Okay, the truth is I was a little disappointed  in the lack of action in this movie. There is lots of really good arm wrestling. In fact, I've never seen better arm wrestling footage. But there was almost no fighting, no gunshots, very little badassery. Plus, the kid in this movie (David Mendenhall) is hugely annoying. A look at IMDB shows that his career has since amounted to a couple of Law and Order episodes as well as a cameo on "A Pup Named Scooby Doo". Next, I don't really care for much of the story. It didn't bother me when the mother died on the operating table or when the kid cries "You were never there when we needed you!" But I was pretty pumped when Stallone tells his kid, "Wait here. Daddy'd got to work." and then proceeds to win a $1000 arm wrestling. Very nice.

The good thing about this movie is Stallone. I'm pretty sure the entire point of this film was to showcase Stallone's right bicep. It's is huge! And get this, the guy drives around in a semi truck with a weight-lifting machine set up to work out his right arm exclusively. I'm surprised he doesn't look more like Freddy Rodriguez in Lady in the Water the way he works that thing. The second best thing about Over the Top is the arm wrestling competition in the end. It's awesome. They treat it like an ESPN television program, cutting to interviews with the contestants in between matches. Hilarious! 

Check out this montage of the final tournament.

Anyway, it's a fun movie worth renting and watching with your best friends and a six-pack of beer. Check it out.