Re: The Return of Torgo and Wooley's September Excite-o-rama!
 

You had me at hello

https://i.postimg.cc/GhNY1nPR/darkangel-poster.jpg

Dark Angel -

Dolph Lundgren is tough, no-nonsense Houston vice cop Jack Caine, a man who plays by his own rules. With reservations, he's paired with Brian Benben's Agent Smith (not that one) after some White Boys - a gang of yuppie drug dealers resembling the American Psycho cast - and Caine's former partner are massacred at a club. If a lot of this sounds familiar to you, I don't blame you, but the villain likely won't: he's a tall, white-eyed alien (Matthias Hues) who injects his victims with heroin and extracts their endorphins in order to make his planet's illegal wonder drug. While Caine and Smith pursue him, they have to fend off the surviving White Boys who blame Caine for thinning their membership as well as another tall visitor who may or may not be on their side.

This movie came out in 1990 and it's very much a product of that year and in the best way for how it has traces of the '80s and predictors of what the '90s had in store. Synth pioneer Jan Hammer composed the soundtrack, which also has its fair share of fun rap and glam rock tracks, and the movie is very much in line with the gritty neo-noir/action subgenre that was the bread and butter for so many filmmakers and actors in the '90s like Shane Black, Bruce Willis and, well, Steven Seagal. Its theme of white-collar drug trafficking very much reared its ugly head in the preceding decade, though, and the way it uses sci-fi to tackle it is fun and insightful. The action is always exciting, the highlights being a car chase through a Houston mall and any time our villain uses his favorite weapon: a magnetic, serrated CD that we follow from its perspective as it shreds its victims. As for the performances, Lundgren's hulking, rebellious man of few words and Benben's fast-talking company man play off each other very well. It's also nice to see familiar faces like Al Leong and Michael J. Pollard, who plays one of his many odd informants. Also, with its towering skyscrapers, Houston proves to be a surprisingly cinematic city - not to mention a welcome change of pace from the oft-used New York and L.A. - and the city’s stench of capitalism's dark side is more than appropriate.

For serving up fun if not cheesy sci-fi action and for not handling its theme with kid gloves - it's not a coincidence that the alien's victims are homeless people, blue collar workers who can barely make ends meet, i.e., the actual victims of this drug trade - this movie is worth checking out. Just don't expect to see anything you've never seen before since the plot is barely distinguishable from Split Second from a couple years later, and it's rife with the kind of clichés that inspired National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon. It still proves that not everything starring B-movie gods like Lundgren, Van Damme and Seagal from this era should be so quickly dismissed. There's just one more thing, though: how does a vice cop afford such a luxurious apartment?

My rating: 3 spinning discs of death out of 5

My guy (or gal): The "other" alien, who I don't want to say too much about for fear of spoiling it. I will say, though, that basketball lovers and ESPN watchers will recognize him: he's played by Jay Bilas!

Re: The Return of Torgo and Wooley's September Excite-o-rama!
 

I was reading your description of Dark Angel and thought "Man, they totally ripped off that other Lundgren flick, I Come in Peace!"

Turns out it is the same film - it was renamed when released in America.

Good call, that is the title everywhere else besides America. Oh, and if someone says that in this movie (or in real life, really), be suspicious of them. :shifty:
I Come in Peace was a apparently a popular video rental in the U.K., being a top ten rental for months, FWIW.

Re: The Return of Torgo and Wooley's September Excite-o-rama!
 

I wonder how many of the films I've seen when this spectacle is over. This far I'm 2/2.

Legend I'd need to rewatch at some point. Dark Angel, well, not sure if that deserves a rewatch :)

This sounds right on point, particularly with the music-video concept. And I definitely think the movie should have opened in the woods instead of with Darkness and built both him and the story of what the hell is going on from there. I'm gonna see if I can find the DC on blu-ray on Amazon. I'm pretty sure they used to have it but last time I checked it was gone. If I can get it I'll watch it this month and write up a comparison.
Curry's Darkness could still make it a decent lead in to October late in the month.

Fwiw, I Come in Peace is what I remember the VHS tape at Blockbuster said back in the early 90s (in the US). Be warned though, I was in middle school at the time, so the memory isn't the most reliable, but "Dark Angel" as a title, didn't ring any bells for me.

It's really nice having you back.

Wow. Nice. I did not see this one coming.
I didn't even know this movie existed, and yet you have me at Jan Hammer and Glowing-eyed Alien Dude.

Funny because I do remember I Come In Peace, I'm just not sure if I ever saw it.

Should I have used the I Come in Peace poster to begin with since it's so much cooler?

https://i.imgur.com/CuSILuu.jpg

Dolph seems to think so:

https://i.imgur.com/RaxsWF3.gif

Ha! The Dark Angel poster reminded me of Split Second, so I thought "I'm gonna impress the guys and bring up that one." But you stole my thunder.

I watched Split Second last month and found it surprisingly entertaining. I say "surprisingly" because early-90s low-budget action movies are definitely not my comfort zone, but I kind of loved it. I rated it higher than you in fact on the ol' LB. I was left wishing there was a sequel.
From the director of The Burning!!

https://64.media.tumblr.com/16c43044...s6yo7_500.gifv

https://64.media.tumblr.com/7ade6567...s6yo1_500.gifv

If you liked that, you should like Dark Angel a.k.a. I Come in Peace as well since the Lundgren/Benben partnership reminded me of Hauer and Duncan's. While they're not quite as funny - Lundgren could have chewed the scenery a bit more like Hauer does - I'll just say that the best quotes on IMDB are from their exchanges.

As for that review, I see I mentioned National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon I there, too. I need new material.

When I was reading the plot description I was like "Wait . . . have I seen this film?" And my mind was trying to reconcile my movie memories with a clear lack of Lundgren.

I'm 0/2 so far.

Funny that you would mention it because that was one of my favorite parts. The uptight partner bit is an overused one, but here it was genuinely funny and the nerdy guy was actually given some sort of personality beyond just "frets over partner's recklessness".

Consider Dark Angel watchlisted.

I love Split Second. I remember being underwhelmed by I Come In Peace (which is the title in Canada).


I have no idea if I've ever seen Legend. It's the kind of film I can't imagine not having watched, but I have no recollection of it.

Obviously I cannot vouch for the film but I think it's something to see.

I do know that I saw it.
I cannot remember much beyond the basic premise though.