Heather Thomas and Lee Major in The Fallen Boy
In the new action comedy The Fallen Boy, Ryan Gosling plays a stuntman who must take on the responsibilities of a leading man. Gosling, fresh from his role as Ken, is a smug man of the moment. But The Fall Guy comes from a different tradition of masculinity: the men of 1980s TV action movies.
The Fall Guy is based on the TV series of the same name starring Lee Majors, which aired from 1981 to 1986. It was part of the loose genre of American action films typified by the work of showrunners such as Stephen J. Cannell and Glen. Larson, and largely follows the format of American television's weekly adventures and guest stars, and is destined to be on the air forever. Unless they got canceled after a few episodes.
Cannell co-created the biggest action movie of the 1980s, The A-Team, and created shows like The Rockford Files and 21 Jump Street on either side of that 1980s peak. Larson, meanwhile, was behind a series of action films in the 1980s, including The Fallen Boy. Some were successful, others less so, but they were always funny in their own way — another American television tradition.
Even before the 1980s, Larson was a household name in television production. He was a singer in the pop group The Four Preps before moving to television (he also frequently performed theme songs). Larson received his first writing credit on The Fugitive and became an executive producer on The Six Million Dollar Man with his future Fall Boy Lee Majors. He also created Alias Smith & Jones, Quincy M.E., Battlestar Galactica, BJ and the Bear and Buck Rogers.
He was accused of copying ideas from popular films — «Star Wars» («Battlestar Galactica»), «Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid» (alias Smith and Jones) and «Anyway But Loose» (B.J. Bear). But Larson, who died in 2014, made no bones about the reality of television production and network executives who wanted to build a production line of already popular ideas. He explained that networks often respond to suggestions by pointing to popular movies and shows and saying, «You know, we'd really like it if you had something more similar.»
Like repeating the same tropes from an episode week after week, this was a case of sticking to his own formula. Here are the 10 best—and most ridiculous—action films of the 1980s.
1. Magnum, P.I. (1980–1988)
Known for his mustaches and floral shirts, Magnum, PI was created by Glen A. Larson and Donald P. Bellisario. The long-running (and still enduring) series tells the story of private detective Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV, played by the excellent Tom Selleck.
Like many of the characters in this action film, he is ex-military — a former Navy SEAL — but settled in Hawaii. Of course, he's an action hero—he gets involved in numerous capers, tackling legal issues and crimes that seem to be beyond his level of expertise. Magnum, with the help of his military comrades, takes on the hitmen, war criminals, assassins, carjackers, drug lords, kidnappers and ghosts of Vietnam that appear regularly.
Tom Selleck in the movie “Magnum PI” Photo: Getty
But «Magnum» is also the most prominent oaf on 1980s television: a man of leisure, given a job as a trusted security guard at a Hawaiian estate, from whose owner he constantly feeds — staying in a guest house, helping himself to a wine cellar and driving his Ferrari. Not to mention milking his buddy's helicopter company every time a case needs to be solved by air.
The show's commitment cost Selleck the role of Indiana Jones. But the Magnum PI remains an icon of the 1980s in its own right. There's a pattern to other action films Larson has made: high concept, silly macho names, flashy cars and moments of unintentional fun.
Most ridiculous moment:In what might just be the most popular moment from season three, Magnum is attacked by a parrot so he shoots back and sends the parrot flying into a helicopter. blades.
2. The Fall Guy (1981–1986)
Lee Majors plays Colt Seavers, a Hollywood stuntman by day and bounty hunter by night. He puts his stuntman skills to use in weekly bounty hunting and crime fighting adventures. Watch as he clings to cars during high-speed chases, escapes danger, wheelies between articulated trucks, or saves friends from explosion videos.
Like other series in Larson's canon, it was inspired by popular films of the time, including Peter O'Toole's 1980 comedy Stunt Man and Steve McQueen's 1980 thriller The Huntsman year.
To the show's credit, some of the stunts are simply amazing — and, best of all, there's no CGI involved. They filmed some of their stunts, but Larson admitted that they used «more footage than I would have liked.» 20th Century Fox bought ready-made stunt footage or reused stunts from its own films and then built episodes around them. They even bought cars identical to those used in the pre-filmed collisions and seamlessly (well, sort of) spliced the footage together. The Fall Guy hasn't (at least so far) retained the same cultural cachet as The A-Team or Knight Rider, but it did run an impressive 113 episodes over five seasons.
Funniest moment: Everything you need to know about The Fall Guy is contained in its top theme song and intro. Not only are there a lot of car crashes and jumping off very high things, but the idea that Seavers is not the main character but a supporting player who never gets the girl — the spirit of which carries over into the 2024 film.
3. Knight Rider (1982-1986)
There's no denying the adrenaline-pumping nostalgia of the Knight Rider theme (another theme co-written by Larson, although it was borrowed in part from The Procession of Bacchus, taken from Leo Delibes' ballet Sylvia «). Electronic trembling conveys the mood of the concept — “a shadow flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist.”
David Hasselhoff in the film «Knight Rider» Photo credit: Alamy
Indeed, «Knight Rider» begins with Michael Long , a police officer and Vietnam veteran, is shot in the face. A Bruce Wayne-like billionaire rescues Michael and gives him reconstructive facial surgery to make him look like David Hasselhoff — complete with big hair — and a talking crime-fighting machine named KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand).
Under the name Michael Knight, he travels around dealing with problems, following orders from FLAG (Foundation for Law and Government).
According to Larson, Universal TV executive Richard Lindheim approached him with a rough idea for a “supercar.” The car itself was a modified 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Since then there have been various side effects. “I learned that Americans love cars,” Larson said of their success. Knight Rider ran for four seasons and 90 episodes, followed by additional TV movies and a sequel series.
Most ridiculous moment: Both Michael Knight and KITT had evil twin versions of themselves in different episodes. Garth Knight, whose face inspired Michael to undergo reconstructive surgery (that's Hasselhoff with the little devil goatee and mustache), and KARR, who wants to destroy KITT.
4. Team A (1983–1987)
With its militaristic guitar strangulation and endless supply of observational clichés—like shooting enough guns to power a small army in every episode without leaving a scratch on anyone—The A-Team is the alpha of 1980s action movies. x years. I pity the fool who didn't watch it during Saturday afternoon tea.
We all know the premise: Hannibal, B.A. Baracus, Howling Mad Murdock and Faceman—soldiers of fortune, if you will—are on the run from a crime they didn't commit, so drive around in a big van and figure it out. problems — often by creating weapons of mass destruction out of some old thing.
Team A Posted by Alami
The idea came from Brandon Tartikoff, head of NBC Entertainment, who gave Stephen J. Cannell a confusing presentation: something that combines Mad Max, The Dirty Dozen, The Magnificent Seven and Hill Street Blues. But the car was driven by Mr. T from Rocky III.
It can be assumed that Cannell was pleased when the plan came to fruition. Co-created by Frank Lupo, The A-Team became a mega hit. For a time, Mr. T was the biggest TV star in the United States.
Like other shows like it, The A-Team lost its plot when ratings fell — working for the CIA and adding a fifth member — and the show remains fodder for tired jokes about its implausibility. (If you're on the run, a pair of overalls, a Mohican hairstyle, big feather earrings and a bunch of gold chains isn't exactly modest, is it?)
Most ridiculous moment:BA Baracus, a flight phobia sufferer protests, «I'm not getting on any planes, you fool,» and then has to be discreetly sedated. Which, like most things on The A-Team, seemed to happen every week.
5. Manimal (1983)
Another of Larson's shows, Manimal, is often included in reviews of the worst TV shows of all time. Even Larson himself, in an interview with the Television Academy Foundation, chuckled at the mention of this.
The idea, he insisted, came from Brandon Tartikoff (the same NBC boss who came up with The A-Team) and co-creator Donald R. Boyle.
It stars British actor Simon McCorkindale as Dr. Jonathan Chase, a playboy/crime-fighter/werewolf whose father gave him a unique power: to transform into any animal he wants. Think James Bond — tuxedo included — except he transforms into various animals to fight crime, using a specific animal's skill set to get out of any jam. Although he mostly turns into a panther or a hawk because most of the money was spent on those special transformation effects at the beginning (it's surprising, though, how useful the panther's claws are for breaking free of rope bonds). Transformations into other animals usually happened off-screen.
Inspired by the film An American Werewolf in London, the animal transformations were created by the legendary Stan Winston, who won Oscars for the monsters in Aliens, Terminator 2 and Jurassic. A park.
It didn't last long. It was suspended after four episodes and canceled after just eight. Larson may have passed the buck on creating Manimal, but he later tried to take it back. Dr. Chase made a cameo appearance in Larson's 1990s superhero series Nightman, about a superhero saxophonist who can detect evil but never sleeps. In Night Man, Chase is now also a time traveler on the trail of Jack the Ripper. This was an attempt to start a reboot with Chase's shapeshifting daughter.
Funniest moment:Well, let's be honest, all of this.
6. MacGyver (1985–1992)
Secret agent MacGyver is the most tireless benefactor of action films. Working for an expert black ops organization, MacGyver supports social justice causes and refuses to carry a gun. Instead, he chooses to avoid certain death by using lateral thinking and creating problem-solving inventions from everyday objects. Armed with a Swiss Army knife and duct tape, he can tackle anything from liberating oppressed peoples to defusing bombs with practical, polymath-like science. The only intellectual flaw of MacGyver, played by Richard Dean Anderson, is his mullet.
Richard Dean Anderson in MacGyver Photo: Alamy
The character was created by Lee David Zlotoff after a pilot development with the Fonz himself, Henry Winkler (who produced MacGyver). The idea was to have a hero who had no guns, no cars, no support. MacGyver was the antithesis of television's more violent heroics. He builds a bazooka from car parts, pillow stuffing and a lighter. He prepares tear gas using seasonings and a heating pad. He even rustles jetpacks with washers and seat belts.
Team MacGyver had scientific advisers on his stunts and offered financial rewards to fans who came up with their own ideas. It ran for seven seasons, with 139 episodes and two TV movies. It was endlessly counterfeited to prove its cultural status. The word MacGyver even entered the dictionary as a verb — something to MacGyver.
Funniest Moment:MacGyver was tasked with too many things to choose the best, but at one point he fixed a broken car radiator by smashing an egg into it. Boiled egg white seals leaks. The idea was suggested by a young viewer. The crew tried it and it worked, so they put it on the show.
7. Street Hawk (1985)
Just as Glen Larson cashed in on popular ideas from other sources, Street Hawk, created by Paul M. Belous and Robert Wolterstorff, feels like a two-wheeled version of Knight Rider.
The series, which lasted just 14 episodes, stars pop star Rex Smith as Jesse Mach, an injured motorcycle cop and motorcycle racer who begins fighting crime as a mysterious racer on a computerized motorcycle. Or, as described in the introduction, «an all-terrain combat motorcycle designed to fight urban crime, capable of incredible speeds of up to three hundred miles per hour and packing enormous firepower.» Looks a bit like RoboCop, but it's a bicycle.
Jesse, busy with police PR work by day, sets his sights on the drug smuggler who killed his partner and generally cleans up the mean streets of Los Angeles, while the creator of the motorcycle watches the city from his main monitor management. .
Rex Smith in Street Hawk Photo: Alamy
With the Tangerine Dream theme song it's certainly corny, but there's something about the tone of the show that has aged well somehow.
The bikes were based on the Honda XL500 and Honda XR500 models, and Honda CR250 dirt bikes were used in the action scenes. Several bikes were left on standby because they fell apart during stunts.
Funniest moment: The second episode stars a fresh-faced, long-haired George Clooney (Rex Smith's real-life pal). Clooney being shot and dying in the arms of Street Hawk is a bit of drama level silliness.
8. Automan (1983-1984)
The show's core players readily admitted that it was television's answer to Tron. In fact, Larson described how the idea came to him from people who worked on the Disney film and came to him to suggest something similar.
It tells the story of Walter Nebecher, played by Desi Arnaz Jr., a nerdy cop with a particularly smart computer. The computer creates a hologram that can somehow be transferred from the software to the real world, becoming the superhero Automan, played by Chuck Wagner.
Authors: Automan: Alamy
Using the same neon effects seen in Tron, the show was, according to Larson, «way ahead of its time.» And it's funny because now it looks ridiculously campy. This is sort of a reference to the concepts of Wreck-It Ralph and Ready Player One (Automan says he once met Donkey Kong). What's most interesting is the idea that Automan and Walter are like superheroes and the secret identity is just a 1980s CGI version.
Automan also has an assistant called Cursor, a cheeky pixel that can outline and animate holograms of vehicles, including the Autocar (and neon-trimmed Lamborghini) and Autochopper. Even a tank when necessary.
Funnily enough, they couldn't figure out how to make Automan's neon glow effect work during the day, so Automan did most of his crime fighting at night. It was expensive to produce and only lasted for 12 episodes.
Funniest moment:Automan's abilities include super strength, shooting from his hands, and sucking electricity from electrical outlets. However, in one episode he was programmed to dance like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, complete with a white suit and bell bottoms.
9. Airwolf (1984–1987)
“Airwolf,” about a high-tech attack helicopter, is sometimes called a copy of the ABC series of the same name “ Blue Thunder.» But the idea came from Magnum PI co-creator Donald P. Bellisario, who featured a rogue combat pilot in Magnum PI — an attempt at a backdoor pilot for the new show — and then reimagined the idea as Airwolf on CBS.
Airwolf is about a rogue pilot named Stringfellow Hawk, the character with the most ridiculous name yet, played by Jan-Michael Vincent. After retrieving the helicopter for «The Firm», a highly secretive unit of the CIA, Hawk takes command of the helicopter (a Bell 222 with cosmetic modifications) and carries out the missions. His crew includes a pilot played by Ernest Borgnine, Oscar winner and leader of The Wild Bunch.
Jan-Michael Vincent in Airwolf Photo: Alamy
It started out as a darker adventure based on espionage — shadow government and Cold War paranoia — but then returned to a lighter adventure of the week. CBS canceled Airwolf after three seasons, but it was renewed on USA Network for one final season with a completely new cast.
CBS initially canceled Airwolf due to high costs and low ratings, as well as Jan-Michael Vincent's drug and alcohol problems. His wife accused him of abuse, and he was involved in a series of near-fatal car accidents. In one of the accidents in 1996, he broke his neck. He died in 2019 after having one leg amputated due to health problems.
Airwolf himself suffered a tragic fate. The helicopter was sold as an air ambulance in Germany. In 1992, while a helicopter was delivering a young man suffering from burns to hospital, it crashed in bad weather, killing all three crew members.
Funniest Moment: It's very satisfying to see a supersonic, heavily armed helicopter fire missiles at a gang of pistol-wielding baddies.
10. The Robber (1987–1988)
Even in the 1980s, television producers still wanted computerized crime-fighting machines. Following on from the high-speed, high-tech shenanigans of Knight Rider and Street Hawk, Larson and Douglas Hayes created Highwayman.
In the short-lived series, Sam Jones, best remembered as Flash Gordon, plays an apocalyptic lawman known only as Highwayman, or «Highway» for short. He drives a futuristic truck that turns invisible and has a built-in Gazelle helicopter and a Lotus Esprit that take off from the truck and roar into action when something starts.
It's shamelessly Mad Max-esque, with a little Terminator thrown in. «The Highwayman» feels edgier than some of Larson's other 1980s series—a muscle-bound, gas-powered Western with explosions and giant guns—but it's no less cheesy, all scowling and menacing in leather shoulder pads and acting borderline criminal.
Robber Authors: Alamy
Operate in the near future — “where the laws of the present collide with the crimes of tomorrow” — but it's very clear that they take place in 1987 America (except for the episode where they go back to 1945 to solve one particular case).
The tone and style are reminiscent of 1980s TV flowing into the 1990s. It only lasted one season with a pilot and nine more episodes.
Most ridiculous moment: All the scenes with Highway's fellow lawman, Jetto (Mark Jackson), the Australian deputy who throws a deadly boomerang, are excruciating.
Свежие комментарии