Hollywood isn’t
the only place which spawns crazy anecdotes from the film-making
world. Here are some little-known tidbits about little-known kick
flicks.
No Retreat, No
Surrender 3: Blood Brothers
(1990) – A Standoff Between Stars
Working
on this movie was no picnic, and tensions nearly
reached a
breaking point while
filming
the story’s
emotional high point.
In a scene where the film’s protagonists
discover the dead body of their father, star Loren Avedon repeatedly
played the scene against direction – making it impossible for his
onscreen sibling,
Keith Vitali, to complete his blocking. Eventually, the filmmakers
collectively appealed to Avedon, who grew frustrated and screamed
at his
assembled coworkers.
This sort
of disrespect
didn’t set well with Vitali, who
happens to be
one of the most
decorated
karate competitors in history. According to writer Keith Strandberg,
Vitali was “ready to tear into” Avedon, who eventually diffused
the situation by apologizing to his costar. That was probably for the
best: Loren Avedon is cool, but I don’t favor his chances against a
former pro fighter. [SOURCE]
Martial Law (1990)
– Cynthia Rothrock: Ball-Buster
Stuntwork
is a potentially risky business, and no one other than trained
professionals have any business being stunt personnel.
This sentiment wasn’t shared by an ill-fated layman whose
friend invited him onto this film’s
set
to participate in a fight scene with one of America’s top martial
arts stars. I can see the appeal of wanting to work directly with
Cynthia Rothrock, but the perils of not knowing what you’re doing
were
made apparent when this individual forgot the
choreography. In scene where a gang of thugs descend upon a
bat-wielding Rothrock, the heroine was to strike at a downed opponent
with her weapon; he was to evade by rolling away, but this man rolled
in the wrong direction. Rothrock brought the bat down so hard on this
fellow’s groin that he required a visit to the hospital. Ouch!
[SOURCE]
Karate
Cop
(1991) – Real Life is More Dangerous than a Post-Apocalyptic
Wasteland
Following
a day of shooting, Ron
Marchini and
his wife went for a walk in Stockton, California’s Grupe Park.
Marchini had probably spent the day dodging bullets in the context of
the film’s plot, but found himself doing
it for a real when a car
pulled up within feet of the couple and an
occupant opened
fire with a rifle. Despite the close proximity between shooter and
would-be victims, neither Marchini nor his wife were injured. As
deplorable as this act was, you can’t blame the shooter for their
spinelessness: if you had a murderous beef with a
legendary
karate competitor, would you be willing to settle it face-to-face?
The person’s lucky they were never apprehended. [SOURCE]
Martial
Outlaw (1993)
– Jeff
Wincott’s Body
Motivation
I
think writer Thomas Ritz crafted a pretty good vehicle for star Jeff
Wincott, but apparently
Jeff
wasn’t entirely satisfied. As was the case for this
stage of
his career,
he
was in particularly good shape – having prepared for
his role with
a three-month training regimen. Thus,
you can imagine his disappointment when the script called for no
opportunity to showcase his bare body. Not about to forego the
opportunity to display himself, Wincott had
the filmmakers alter a fight scene on
the day of filming. From
out of nowhere, a thug
rips Jeff’s modest
sweater off to reveal his chiseled physique – no
doubt to
the delight of our star, now secure in the knowledge that his fans
will have the opportunity to ogle his killer abs.
[SOURCE]
Last
to Surrender (1999)
– Wherein Everything Possible Goes Wrong
When
big-budget features encounter many behind-the-scenes
problems,
the film may gain eventual
cult
fame via trivia about its production woes. In the case of low-budget
features, we’re lucky if we ever hear anything about the production
process at
all.
However, the cornucopia of ills befalling this little-known
vehicle for Roddy Piper and Hans Ong was so tragic
that it not only
warranted telling the public about it,
but gave
it more than enough credit to
hang with just about any film’s horror stories. Shot in Indonesia,
this
one had to contend not only with flash floods and anti-government
riots destroying sets and halting filming, but had three trucks full
of film equipment overturn
and almost go
falling down
a cliff.
Less
fortunate still was the time when,
while filming aerial footage, a plane crashed into the jungle and
caused
the death of the pilot. After all that, the
film’s
still virtually unknown. Genuine
injustice. (See the Region 1 DVD’s production notes)
B-Movie Dragons 