A look back at Cannon Films and their search for critical acclaim which led to some memorable successes and failures… When aficionados think back to the glory days of Cannon Films, most notably in the peak years under Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, they invariably cast their minds to unashamedly schlocky and low-budget genre fare […]
Le Tigre: The Dolph Lundgren/Andrzej Zulawski Film That Never Was
Tom Jolliffe looks back at Le Tigre. A film that never was with the strange combination of Dolph Lundgren and director Andrzej Zulawski… Cinema is absolutely loaded with films that came tantalisingly close to seeing the light of day before falling at the final hurdle. Even this year will bring us a new Bond film, […]
Flagrant Misuse of a Bazooka, the Cannon Films Way
Tom Jolliffe looks back at two action films from Cannon which perfectly encapsulated the company… Those with a working knowledge of Cannon Films, the independent studio cranking out low budget genre fare through the 80’s, before over-extending themselves, will have a pretty good idea of their raison d’etre. After getting footing in the early part […]
How Superman IV: The Quest For Peace Killed the Superman Franchise and Helped Close a Studio
Back in 1983, the Superman franchise was in full swing, despite the tense and fractured on-set fights and fallouts which saw original director Richard Donner leave after Superman: The Movie before he was able to finish Superman II, released almost three years later under the new direction of Richard Lester. Both films were huge financial successes […]
Blu-ray Review – The Ninja Trilogy (Enter The Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, Ninja III: The Domination)
Enter The Ninja / Revenge of the Ninja / Ninja III: The Domination, 1981/1983/1985. Directed by Menahem Golan and Sam Firstenberg. Starring Sho Kosugi, Franco Nero, Lucinda Dickey, Susan George, Christopher George, Arthur Roberts, Jordan Bennett and James Hong. SYNOPSIS: The three Ninja films produced by 1980’s low-budget kings Cannon Films that like many of […]
