Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins probably has a decent concept but the execution wasn’t the best and Fred Ward, as fine of a character he might be, doesn’t quite work in the lead. Still, there is some entertainment value.
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins
(1985)
Genre(s): Action, Adventure
Kino Lorber| PG13 – 121 min. – $24.95 | February 15, 2022
Date Published: 02/13/2022 | Author: The Movieman
|
|
|||||||||||
Kino Lorber provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 2½/5 |
|
Plot Synopsis: When a street-smart NYPD cop (FRED WARD) regains consciousness after a bizarre mugging, he has a new face and a new identity. Now he’s Remo Williams, the #1 recruit of a top-secret organization, and he’s toppling evil at every turn — even atop the Statue of Liberty. Trained by a quirky martial arts master (JOEL GREY) to dodge bullets, brave terrifying heights and thwart attackers with his bare hands, Remo becomes the ultimate criminal exterminator. But when he faces off against a corrupt millionaire (CHARLES CIOFFI) and his army of henchmen, the real adventure begins. Quick Hit Review: Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins was the first and only theatrical film and it’s one strange movie, the first half especially as I did not expect to see Fred Ward being trained by a white guy playing a Korean in bad prosthetic makeup (and making jokes about white people no less). Beyond that, the central plot takes a while to develop with the primary focus on Fed Ward being trained in the ways of… Koreans I guess, before we get to a second half, and more specifically third act, with this agent of a top secret organization (of only 3) to take down a corrupt millionaire duping the government, which let’s be honest, probably not a tall order. Beyond that, this a rather forgettable action-adventure from the 1980s that didn’t lead to any kind of a franchise (there was a 1988 TV movie, Remo Williams: The Prophesy where only the last 15-minutes aired due to a presidential address by Reagan (it would air in full on a movie channel years later). Fred Ward is a fine supporting actor but not in a leading role and the whole yellow face with Joel Grey playing a Korean was cringey, but the norm back then (see Fisher Stevens in brown face for Short Circuit). And I’m not exactly PC, but it was distracting. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3½/5 |
|
This release comes with a matted slip cover. Most of the features were ported over from the Twilight Time release. Audio Commentary – Film Historians Eddy Friedfeld, Lee Pfeiffer, and Paul Scrabo Featurettes:
Also included is a Radio Spot () and the Theatrical Trailer (2:57). |
VIDEO – 4¼/5 |
| Kino Lorber re-releases another previous Twilight Time title and since there’s no mention on the back cover is likely the same 1080p transfer. Even so, the picture here looks fairly good for the most part, detail is relatively sharp while colors are on the darker side. However, this transfer is littered with little specs here and there along with dust marks and dirt, so not at all clean and probably could’ve done with a clean-up, though a movie like this might not be worth that expense. |
AUDIO – 4¼/5 |
| Similarly, the DTS-HD Master Audio track may be similar to the one from TT. Still, this track sounds very good, dialogue coming across with decent enough clarity and no obvious signs of pops, hisses or other audio ailments. Nothing incredible but still more than satisfying. |
OVERALL – 3/5 |
|
Overall, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins probably has a decent concept but the execution wasn’t the best and Fred Ward, as fine of a character he might be, doesn’t quite work in the lead. Still, there is some entertainment value if only for one viewing. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.
I’ve always enjoyed the novel series of “The Destroyers.” I really was disappointed that the movie sequels didn’t follow the first Remo movie. Additionally, I wanted to see more than two Derek Flint movies. (Our Man Flint and In Like Flint.) The American Spy hero seems to be incomplete, while the British James Bond series has continued since the 1960s, seven decades with end in sight as they search for the successor to Daniel Craig.
I think Brad Pitt would make a great Derek Flint for a restart of that series.