leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (10/24/85)
REMO WILLIAMS: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: A reasonable variation on the James
Bond formula directed by a James Bond director. Joel Grey
has some fun as the Korean martial arts expert Chiun and is
the best part of the film. Without him, this would be a
bland spy film.
One of the many jokes of Woody Allen's SLEEPER is that we Americans of
today have everything backwards. Tobacco and hot fudge are the healthiest
things for your body and health foods are poison. The core of REMO WILLIAMS
is a Korean martial arts expert named Chiun, and what makes Chiun
interesting is that Woody Allen's joke is part of his character. Everything
that Americans think is good is really bad; everything we think is bad is
really good. You like hamburgers? They're poison; all fast food is poison.
You think an automatic is a good weapon? It is useless. And what is the
paragon of American culture? The soap opera, and the more melodrama, the
better.
But I am getting ahead of myself. The main character of REMO WILLIAMS
(played by Fred Ward, who also played Gus Grissom in THE RIGHT STUFF) is,
not too surprisingly, Remo Williams. That's not his real name. He was a
policeman killed in the line of duty, or so the world thinks. Instead he
was given plastic surgery to make a new man of him--literally. To finish
the job of making a new man of him, he is given a mentor--the superhuman
Chiun. Based on my memories of two novels od "The Destroyer" series--the
series on which the film was based--Chiun has a greater presence in the film
than he does in the books. In the books he is the spicing that gives the
dish character, but he is used sparingly. Of course, part of the difference
is that the film concentrates on Williams's training, so there is more of
his teacher in the film. Chiun is played by Joel Grey, perhaps best known
as the owner/entertainer in CABARET. The make-up used to transform Grey
into Chiun is somehow not entirely convincing. Some of what Chiun can do in
the book--like dodge bullets--sounded good in the book but was not (and
probably could not be) realistically translated to the screen. Instead,
they just show him ducking out of the way, but not fast enough. Also in the
cast is Wilford Brimley as the head of the top secret government
organization. Brimley is a very good actor, but only playing characters who
are basically Wilford Brimley under other names. Kate Mulgrew's character
is a big disappointment. She starts out gutsy and intelligent, but by the
film's end she proves to be a more traditional bubblehead. Charles Cioffi
plays the villain, an unscrupulous defense contractor.
REMO WILLIAMS was directed by Guy Hamilton, who also directed spy
adventures like GOLDFINGER, A FUNERAL IN BERLIN, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, LIVE
AND LET DIE, and THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN. The screenplay was by another
James Bond veteran, Christopher Wood. This new film is certainly better
than the worst of the Bond series, but one suspects from the title that the
producers want to start a new series, and it seems unlikely that the public
will really want more than two or three films with this set of characters.
Rate the film +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeperboyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN) (10/26/85)
This discussion started out in net.movies as it deals with the film REMO WILLIAMS: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS. I'm cross-posting this posting to net.books since it has to do with the Destroyer books. I suggest that any follow-up to this message, at least any follow-up that concerns the book series rather than the movie, be posted to net.books *only*. > From: rtp47!throopw (Wayne Throop) > For all you Destroyer fanatics out there, this movie doesn't correspond > to any of the books. (Not that I have an encyclopedic knowlege of the > Destroyer series, but events in the movie don't *seem* to be from the > "origin" book, and yet it *is* the "Remo meets Chiun" story.) Despite > the discrepancies, I'd have to say that if you liked the books, you will > like the movie. Since Sapir and Murphy (Destroyer creators) don't like the first book, I'm sure that they figure it's just as well to "rewrite" Remo's origin. I should perhaps point out that they have written the film novelization, and that Destroyer fans should probably buy and read it as an alternate version of the first novel. > From: uwmcsd1!jerry > I also liked the movie, but haven't read any of the Destroyer novels. Is > there one to start with, etc.? Any suggestions? Well, it's a little complicated here. Sapir and Murphy have said in print that the first two novels in the series (CREATED, THE DESTROYER and DEATH CHECK) suck, with the third one (CHINESE PUZZLE) being the first that really sets the true (ie. somewhat humorous) tone for the series. *They* suggest that new readers start with #3, then go back to read #'s 1 & 2. Me, I'd suggest that you start from the beginning, bull your way through the first two books (actually, I don't think that the second book is all that bad, plot-wise), and then on through the series. I read them all in sequential order, and I think they work best that way. Since not all that many of the early books are in print, this may prove difficult unless you have a good used bookstore handy. It's not all that crucial to read them in sequential order, at least after the first 20, but the first 20 books sort of work themselves up to a climax that works best if you read them in order. Even *then*, it won't be bad to read them out of order, with some exceptions: There is a recurring character in four of the first twenty books, named Nuihc (read it backwards if you want a clue). These four books are sort of a series within the series and these *should* be read in order. They are #7 (UNION BUST), #10 (TERROR SQUAD), #16 (OIL SLICK), and #20 (ASSASSINS PLAYOFF). --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Acton-Nagog, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
esco@ssc-vax.UUCP (Michael Esco) (10/30/85)
I may be mistaken, but when Joel Gray's character removed the shells from Remo's clip, he neglected to remove the round from the gun's chamber. As he was standing at point blank range he would have virtually no chance to dodge if Remo had fired the last bullet at him. Did this occur to anyone else? Mike Esco
marvinm@ttidcb.UUCP (Marvin Moskowitz) (11/04/85)
Believe it or not, "REMO WILLIAMS - The Adventure Begins" is one of the funniest films I've seen in years. MUCH funnier than Beverly Hills Cop. (Since both have an adventure based plot, it's funny to see the different ways the two films were promoted). Most of the ULTRA-violence in Remo is done with sound (when someone is punched, it sounds like a sledgehammer hitting a body bag) but Joel Gray as the ancient Korean martial arts master steals the film. The humor is very similar to Yoda's in Star Wars. If you can stand some gratuitous violence, and are willing to suspend your disbelief for some really good laughs SEE IT!!!
fletch@ihu1e.UUCP (Fletcher) (11/07/85)
> > > From: uwmcsd1!jerry > > > I also liked the movie, but haven't read any of the Destroyer novels. Is > > there one to start with, etc.? Any suggestions? > ....... > > It's not all that crucial to read them in sequential order, at least > after the first 20, but the first 20 books sort of work themselves up to a > climax that works best if you read them in order. Even *then*, it won't be > bad to read them out of order, with some exceptions: > There is a recurring character in four of the first twenty books, > named Nuihc (read it backwards if you want a clue). These four books are sort > of a series within the series and these *should* be read in order. They are > #7 (UNION BUST), #10 (TERROR SQUAD), #16 (OIL SLICK), and #20 (ASSASSINS > PLAYOFF). > > --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Acton-Nagog, MA) *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** Also, there are two Destroyer novels which deal with a protege'[sic] of Nuihc called the Dutchman in #46 (Next of Kin) and #55 (Master's Trial). Both of these novels should be read after the ones mentioned above. "Master's Trial" is without a doubt the *best* Destroyer novel written to date. For Destroyer fans, it is a must!(but read #46 first) --- fletch (Jonathan Fletcher, AT&T Information Systems, Naperville, IL) P.S. Hope I haven't botched this; this is my first posting on the network.