Truman, a Chicago cop, sets out to find the killer of his brother. Meanwhile, another of his brothers, Briar (a hillbilly) decides to find the killer himself.
It is the dawn of World War III. In mid-western America, a group of teenagers bands together to defend their town, and their country, from invading Soviet forces.
Director:
John Milius
Stars:
Patrick Swayze,
C. Thomas Howell,
Lea Thompson
Follows Frank Dux, an American martial artist serving in the military, who decides to leave the army to compete in a martial arts tournament in Hong Kong where fights to the death can occur.
Director:
Newt Arnold
Stars:
Jean-Claude Van Damme,
Donald Gibb,
Leah Ayres
While he's deep undercover in New York, DEA agent Shane Tanner, the son of a legendary cooler named Dalton, learns that his uncle Nate Tanner got beat up by a group of men because he ... See full summary »
Director:
Scott Ziehl
Stars:
Johnathon Schaech,
Ellen Hollman,
Richard Norton
As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.
Dalton is the Cooler in bars; He backs up and directs the bouncers. He takes a job in a Road House that has gotten far too rough. His attempts to clean things up put him in conflict with Brad Wesley, the town bully and rich person. Things heat up. Written by
John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>
Dalton's the best bouncer in the business. His nights are filled with fast action, hot music and beautiful women. It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it. See more »
Both stars of the movie, Patrick Swayze and Ben Gazzara, subsequently died of pancreatic cancer - Swayze in 2009 and Gazzara in 2012. See more »
Goofs
In the scene after Jimmy hits the portly Double Deuce bouncer with a pool cue, you can clearly see that Wade Garrett is pretending to be struck when in fact, he is not. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Bouncer Checking IDs:
[to Frank Tilghman, as he enters the Bandstand]
Go ahead, sir.
See more »
Crazy Credits
While the end credits are rolling, the house band does one more number. See more »
Released last month as a Deluxe Edition DVD, ROAD HOUSE is a film that is almost impossible to ignore. Whether considered good or bad, it is one of the few pictures that is easy to watch all the way through by almost any one who comes across it. It is a rare gem. The phrase "it's so bad that it's good" doesn't apply to ROAD HOUSE. It isn't so bad it's good, it's so bad it's great. It is the very definition of a guy movie. It contains brutal and bloody fist fights, frequent nudity, a rock n' roll sound track, some of the best cheesy dialogue ever written, fancy cars, gun-play, knives being thrown, and explosions. As a movie for guys, it's a 10, as a movie to be taken seriously, it's a 5. Every attempt at drama flounders, though it never completely ruins what is going on.
Although considered a box office failure when released in 1989, ROAD HOUSE quickly became a cult hit once it reached video. Finally giving in to the cult mania, MGM's new DVD version of ROAD HOUSE contains two commentaries: one from director Rowdy Herrington and one by filmmakers Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier who were called in to do the track after talking ROAD HOUSE on the tenth-anniversary DVD of CLERKS. Both commentaries are fun to listen to. Herrington's commentary is for those who want to know more about the flick and the Smith/Mosier commentary is for those that want a nice laugh at the expense of this cinematic marvel. Also included on the DVD is a look-back documentary and a short featurette on the direct-to-video sequel.
As an actual film: 5/10 As a campy guy film: 10/10
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Released last month as a Deluxe Edition DVD, ROAD HOUSE is a film that is almost impossible to ignore. Whether considered good or bad, it is one of the few pictures that is easy to watch all the way through by almost any one who comes across it. It is a rare gem. The phrase "it's so bad that it's good" doesn't apply to ROAD HOUSE. It isn't so bad it's good, it's so bad it's great. It is the very definition of a guy movie. It contains brutal and bloody fist fights, frequent nudity, a rock n' roll sound track, some of the best cheesy dialogue ever written, fancy cars, gun-play, knives being thrown, and explosions. As a movie for guys, it's a 10, as a movie to be taken seriously, it's a 5. Every attempt at drama flounders, though it never completely ruins what is going on.
Although considered a box office failure when released in 1989, ROAD HOUSE quickly became a cult hit once it reached video. Finally giving in to the cult mania, MGM's new DVD version of ROAD HOUSE contains two commentaries: one from director Rowdy Herrington and one by filmmakers Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier who were called in to do the track after talking ROAD HOUSE on the tenth-anniversary DVD of CLERKS. Both commentaries are fun to listen to. Herrington's commentary is for those who want to know more about the flick and the Smith/Mosier commentary is for those that want a nice laugh at the expense of this cinematic marvel. Also included on the DVD is a look-back documentary and a short featurette on the direct-to-video sequel.
As an actual film: 5/10 As a campy guy film: 10/10