Tom Jolliffe delves into The Dusty VHS Corner for a trio of stock footage spectaculars in Strategic Command, Stormcatcher and Steel Sharks…
In the mid to late 90’s, there was an almost epidemic boom of straight to video films that featured plot-lines involving submarines or fighter planes. Why? Well given the vast majority of these films were shot for about $3.00 each, the idea was to have plot-lines with these elements in order to use stock shots of F-16 fighter jets, stealth fighters, U-boats and other military based vehicles of air and sea in order to give the illusion that these films were more lavishly budgeted than they actually were, and indeed to further save time in the remainder of the shoot. If you go into a film knowing that you’ve already got 15 minutes of screen-time ready in a stock footage library, then you’ve only got to worry about the remaining 75 minutes of screen time.
If you’ve seen any number of these, you may see a common name appear. That of actor turned low rent movie producer, Andrew Stevens. Upon watching the following stock footage specials I did indeed notice that Stevens was involved in all of them. The lack of effort involved in most of these films and the slipshod way in which they’re churned out was pretty remarkable too. To say Stevens, and others like him, were prolific, would be an understatement.
And so it begins…
Strategic Command (1997)
Mix one part Executive Decision with one part The Rock, and then add a dash of Die Hard, and you have Strategic Command. The stock aspects of choice in this are Fighter jets (with footage that doesn’t often match in quality), as Scientist/badass Michael Dudikoff has to sneak aboard a hijacked plane which has a deadly toxin on board as well as his wife (of course) and the vice president.
Also on board the plane is Heisenberg/Malcolm’s Dad. Before hitting the big time in Malcolm in The Middle, and long before Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston was a jobbing actor flitting between gigs like this, voice over work and sitcom appearances. Here he’s essentially playing the douche reporter role from Die Hard and despite limited screen-time effortlessly manages to steal the movie.
In terms of these kind of films, this isn’t too bad. The cast is fairly good. Permatanned Michael Dudikoff is solid enough in roles like this. He’s all wide eyed gesticulation, as if (half heartedly) channelling the manic nature of Nic Cage. That said Dudikoff is more at home fighting Ninjas than being a scientist/badass. Richard Norton is a good villain and there’s a few fairly decent fight sequences. Paul Winfield (The Terminator) also appears as well as Amanda Wyss (A Nightmare On Elm Street).
Surprisingly watchable, Strategic Command may borrow footage from films such as Iron Eagle (as well as re-using footage from other Dudikoff films of the time), but it doesn’t pilfer as much as other films of this genre do, and a great deal more effort has gone into the shoot than is normally given to these films. That’s not to say that this has anything close to a logical plot or originality. If you ever wondered too, whether Hans and Simon Gruber had another brother lurking somewhere, causing trouble, then wonder no more, because Carlos Gruber (Norton) is the villain with the plan in Strategic Command.
Beer rating: ★ ★ ★
Storm Catcher (1999)
Without any storms, or catching of storms, Storm Catcher is a film that doesn’t really do what it says on the tin. At the tail end of the last century, this was one of a string of films that represented a low ebb for action icon, Dolph Lundgren. In particular the double whammy of Storm Catcher and Agent Red represented new lows for Lundgren in terms of not just quality but budget.
Storm Catcher sees Lundgren playing a fighter pilot who is wrongly accused of stealing a new top of the line stealth fighter. He must clear his name and also stop terrorists from destroying the White House.
This is not nearly as bad as it could have been, thanks to director Anthony Hickox’s valiant attempts to inject energy into such a quick and cheap film. Lundgren is kind of bored and uninspired whilst his on screen wife (Model Kylie Bax) and comedy sidekick (Mystro Clark) tend to grate. That said, tragically patriotic villain (think Ed Harris in The Rock) General Jacobs, is played with a surprising amount of intensity and passion by Robert Miano. Surprising only in that the script gives him little to work with (as is generally the case in these films) but he goes that extra mile to at least give the film an interesting antagonist.
Should any of you get a hold of the Region 1 DVD copy of this, it comes with a fascinating commentary track from director Hickox, who goes into great (and often self deprecating) detail about the trials and tribulations of shooting a film like this and working for people where the chief goal is to get a coherent film out as quickly and cheaply as possible, with quality a distant afterthought. The commentary itself is far more involving and entertaining than the film it must be said, but still, Storm Catcher isn’t that bad.
Lundgren would follow this up with Agent Red (read the review featured in this Lundgren themed article here), a complete shambles of a film which featured a double dip of air and sea based stock footage, but then went one step further and took an entire action scene shot by Hickox in Storm Catcher. Ironically that one brief action sequence was probably the best scene in Agent Red, and indeed, probably Storm Catcher too.
Beer Rating: ★ ★ ★
Steel Sharks (1997)
These days when perusing a DVD chart you’ll probably notice some awful sounding monster film with a title like Mega Shark Vs Crocosaurus (genuine). There are loads of that ilk. One might see the title, Steel Sharks and assume this might be a film about robot sharks on a rampage. That sounds awesome though right? Yep, it sure does. Unfortunately, Steel Sharks does not feature any sharks of a steely persuasion. Instead it’s a standard terrorists seize control of a submarine kind of film.
Adorning the front cover are Gary Busey and Billy Dee Williams. One might assume that they take centre stage, and particularly Busey who had a string of leading roles in low budget action flicks in the 80’s and early 90’s. Sadly at this stage of his career he was getting a little bit long in the tooth for centre stage in a film such as this. Busey appears intermittently as a sub commander, whilst Billy Dee Williams even less frequently as an Admiral. They both coast in their roles offering a little token gravitas, whilst the cast is headed by a pretty non descript and uninteresting group of soldiers.
If you’ve seen one low rent mid 90’s submarine flick, you’ve kind of seen them all, and probably seen the stock shots used over and over again. This one adds nothing new whilst the film also becomes a chore to sit through and fails to engage on any level, including badness. Indeed, to allow the maniacal side of Busey to go unchecked in a film sorely lacking in maniacal scenery chewing, is pretty criminal. Likewise it is lacking in a solid action man lead. It’s crying out for a Dudikoff. When a film is left crying out for a Dudikoff, you’ve got problems!
Beer Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ (largely to numb the pain).
Others to take note of: Scorpio One and Fallout. These two indentikit films, both from Stevens, feature not just the same plot but also the decision to team a C grade action star with a less famous sibling. In Scorpio One’s case, Jeff Speakman headlining with Robert Carradine, whilst Fallout saw Frank Zagarino headlining with William Baldwin. Likewise effects shots and stock shots would be used in both.
Next time: Bloody Bloodfists part 1.
Tom Jolliffe
