Hall of Fame – Page 4 – Bad Movie Twins

Street Fighter Legend of Chun Li Preview

A small note prior to this post: Last July we decided to take a look back at the movies that we watched over five years ago and choose a Hall of Fame class, five movies that we thought embodied BMT in some way. Perhaps they were particularly bad, or an example of a specific bad movie trope, whatever, something made them stand out as special in our minds. Since we didn’t do email previews back in 2011 we also decided to provide a preview for the movie as well. This is the third in a series of five leading up to our yearly awards the Smaddies Baddies. A recap (Hall of Fame speech really) will follow immediate afterwards to explain why the movie was chosen, things we loved about the movie, and things we discovered upon second viewing. Enjoy!

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009) – BMeTric: 70.2

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(I think this plot is a good argument as to Street Fighter’s lasting bad movie cred. A 3.7 is a comically low IMDb score, a score that, if this was a mere below-average or middling bad movie would have steadily crept higher as the thousands of votes flowed in since 2010. But it has basically just stayed constant around 3.8 since then. As I argued in The Wicker Man preview, it is the staying power that I think could be the defining feature of a good-bad movie. It is a movie people seek out, watch, and universally agree is garbage. And we have another one here. And of course 70+ BMeTric is nothing to dismiss.)

Leonard Maltin – BOMB – Pointless new film version of the popular video game series finds pretty martial arts-trained Asian-American Chin-Li (Kreuk) spurred into action in Bangkok after her father is kidnapped. Sher uses all her wiles to snuff out the main bad guy, local crime lord McDonough, and his henchmen, led by the imposing Duncan. The 1987 game inspired a 1994 version which is Citizen Kane compared to this inept action vehicle, where even the centerpiece fight sequences are lamely choreographed and hopelessly contrived. When Interpol agent Klein yells, “Bomb! Get out now!” it would be wise to heed his advice.

(Doesn’t he say that at the end of the movie Leonard? Too little too late I would assume. Yeah, oddly a somewhat rare BOMB from Leonard within our Hall of Fame so far. I might not go so far to say the 1994 movie is that much better, but this one does stick out as a complete mess when I think about it. So maybe a cheesy Van Damme barely-movie is better than that. Solid hyphen game early by Leonard as well.)

Trailer – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EctFEyCMDL0

(Wow, that was actually really good. Basically as good a trailer as I could have possibly expected for this film. Makes it out like it’s going to be non-stop action street fights between characters you love. I was jazzed by the end. Am I sure this is a terrible film? Looks great.)

Directors – Andrzej Bartkowiak – (BMT: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li; Doom; Exit Wounds; Cradle 2 the Grave; Romeo Must Die; Notes: It just occurred to me that if you take Exit Wounds (DMX), Cradle 2 the Grave (DMX, Jet Li), and Romeo Must Die (Jet Li) you get a nice little chain reaction. I wish Jet Li and Seagal had been in a movie. We’ve seen Doom and Romeo Must Die, but finishing his filmography is a must. He is more well known as a cinematographer and his collaborations with Sidney Lumet.)

Writers – Justin Marks (screenplay) – (Known For: The Jungle Book; BMT: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li; Notes: Kind of fascinating career just because he wrote Street Fighter for release in 2009, and then didn’t write another feature until 2016 with The Jungle Book. He now is well on his way, with Jungle Book 2, Top Gun 2, Shadow of the Colossus (video game adaptation), and FBP Federal Bureau of Physics (comic book adaptation) in production. I’d be willing to bet three of those will be BMT or borderline, can you guess which ones? I am stunned this movie had a single credited writer.)

Actors – Kristin Kreuk – (Known For: EuroTrip; BMT: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li; Ecstasy; Notes: One of her first roles was as the ex-girlfriend Fiona in EuroTrip, otherwise she’s stuck to mostly television (like Smallville). She is Canadian and has a purple belt in karate.)

Neal McDonough – (Known For: Greater; Captain America: The First Avenger; Minority Report; RED 2; Star Trek: First Contact; Flags of Our Fathers; Darkman; Ravenous; Traitor; BMT: I Know Who Killed Me (BMT); Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (BMT); Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (BMT); Fire Down Below (BMT); Timeline (BMT); The Hitcher; 88 Minutes (BMT); Angels in the Outfield; Walking Tall; Telling You; The Last Time; Three Wishes; The Guardian (BMT); Notes: BMT legend having been in seven BMT films in our first six years, pretty good rate. He’s from Barnstable, Massachusetts of all places! Studied in London. I’m loving this guy, do your thing Neal.)

Michael Clarke Duncan – (Known For: The Green Mile; Planet of the Apes; Sin City; The Island; Kung Fu Panda; Friday; Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby; Daredevil; The Scorpion King; The Whole Nine Yards; The Last Mimzy; Cats & Dogs; Bulworth; Redemption Road; BMT: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li; Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore; Green Lantern; Breakfast of Champions; Racing Stripes; D.E.B.S.; Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins; The Underground Comedy Movie; See Spot Run; Delgo; Slipstream; School for Scoundrels; A Night at the Roxbury; The Players Club; Armageddon; The Slammin’ Salmon; Brother Bear; Notes: Sadly died a few years ago from complications related to a heart attack. My favorite note from his IMDb page: On July 12, 1979, during the Disco Demolition Night fiasco at Comiskey park, Duncan ran onto the field and slid into third base. Ha!)

Budget/Gross – $50 million / Domestic: $8,742,261 (Worldwide: $12,764,201)

(A complete and utter disaster. If that budget is correct this would probably be one of the biggest bombs of that year, and only is saved a bit from being a legend by “only” having a $50 million dollar budget. To be frank I don’t really believe that, at least some of it has to be exaggeration for tax reasons.)

#95 for the Action – Martial Arts genre

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(This plot is actually kind of sad. Initial thoughts: The 90s boom is basically people like Seagal and Van Damme. Then there was a little dip before Jackie Chan ushered in another foreign / comedy boom for the genre. This came right in the final gasp there with Rush Hour 3 and Transporter 3 kind of having the genre die off. Now … is it possible that martial arts has been relegated to VOD? Are we entering an era of whole genres being shunned from theatrical release in favor of tentpoles? It makes me a bit sad, but then again I can’t think of a situation in which I would personally go and see a martial arts film in theaters. Crouching Tiger might literally have been the only one I’ve ever seen in theaters to be honest. This movie is below Dragonball: Evolution on that chart … I’ll let that be a closing statement of sorts.)

#63 for the Action Heroine genre

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(THIS MOVIE IS BELOW CUTTHROAT ISLAND ON THAT CHART. That movie literally destroyed a production company! That giant peak around 2005: Lara Croft 2, Underworld, Catwoman, Elektra, Miss Congeniality 2, Charlie’s Angels 2, Resident Evil 2, Blade 3, Domino, Aeon Flux, Underworld 2, Ultraviolet, Resident Evil 3 … that’s a lot of terrible movies. And note how little money they made on average! And naturally since 2010 the action heroine has been a huge seller for Hollywood. I wish I could say this movie blazed a trail … but it didn’t. It merely allowed Hollywood to get the garbage juice out of its system before getting serious.)

#31 for the Video Game Adaptation genre

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(We saw Warcraft this year, and Hitman Agent 47 the year before among several BMT video game adaptations. Street Fighter Legend of Chun Li sits right above Alone in the Dark the Uwe Bol classic … so not great. Video game adaptations still make less than the martial arts genre of the 90’s, which is unimpressive to say the least. Naturally they are looking to have that change over the next few years you would imagine, but this multi-bomb year probably didn’t help matters. Five video game adaptations came out this year, that is the most ever according to this chart. Someday there will be a successful video game adaptation. It will happen.)

Rotten Tomatoes – 6% (3/54): The combination of a shallow plot and miscast performers renders Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li a perfectly forgettable video game adaptation.

(Less than 10% on Rotten Tomatoes is extremely impressive. Doing it with over 50 reviews is incredible. I wonder who they are talking about when they say miscast performers … I’m so sorry Chris Klein. So so sorry.)

Poster – Sklog Fighter: Legend of Jamie (D)

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(That is unfortunate. A truly ridiculous color scheme and spacing. Glad we at least get a unique font that would make it hard to create Sklog Fighter: The Legend of Jamie.)

Tagline(s) – Some fight for power. Some fight for us. (B)

(Hmmm. My brain is telling me that I should like this, but my heart is telling me that this is terrible and sounds like garbage. Definitely has the cadence, brevity, and a bit of the plot. I think it’s OK. My heart is disappointed in me.)

Keyword(s) – gangster; Top Ten by BMeTric: 89.6 Catwoman (2004); 85.8 Gunday (2014); 82.7 Gigli (2003); 81.8 Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011); 78.6 The Avengers (1998); 77.5 Super Mario Bros. (1993); 77.3 RoboCop 3 (1993); 72.8 Striptease (1996); 70.5 Grease 2 (1982); 70.2 Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009);

(Well since we aren’t ever doing Gunday we will complete this genre with Grease 2 which has to be done at some point. Solid list obviously, but I assume a few films might be a stretch. There was around 1200 films that claim a gangster keyword (around that). All of these vaguely make sense, but was there really a “gangster” in The Avengers for example? Questionable.)

Notes – Back in 2003, Jean-Claude Van Damme was working on a sequel to the original Street Fighter movie titled “Street Fighter II”, for Universal. Several cast members had been hired to join him in the sequel, including his Universal Soldier co-star Dolph Lundgren in an unrevealed role, Australian actress Holly Valance would have replaced Kylie Minogue as Cammy White, and Damian Chapa would have reprised his role as Ken Masters. Byron Mann was also reportedly in talks to return as Ryu Hoshi. However, after a few years of trying to get the sequel off the ground, the project never materialized and any plans for a sequel were scrapped in favor of this movie. (Would have also been terrible. People try to have nostalgia for the original, but in reality it is also terrible and a sequel without Raul Julia wouldn’t have been much better)

A potential sequel with Ryu and Ken was planned but was cancelled due of the poor box office performances of the film. (Jesus)

This movie only has 7 world warriors taken from Capcom’s “Fighting Game of 2008” titled Street Fighter IV (originally, the game has 25 characters) with the legendary world warrior from Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors’ Dreams [1995] (also know as Street Fighter Zero in Japan, Asia, South America and Australia) known as Charlie Nash being a special guest to this movie rather than reusing the hybrid-character “Carlos Blanka” from Universal Pictures’s Street Fighter [1994], The world warriors that made their appearances are: Chun Li, Gen, Crimson “Maya” Viper, Rose, Balrog, Vega, Master Bison and Charlie Nash. The world warriors that are absent are: Ryu (who is mentioned by Gen once), Ken Masters, Major Guile (who is replaced by Charlie Nash), Blanka, Edmund Honda, Zangief, Dhalsim, Sagat, Cammy White, Fei Long, Akuma, Dan Hibiki, Sakura Kasugano, Able, El Fuerte, Rufus, Gouken and Seth. (All solid information, thanks IMDb)

Hall of Fame Speech #2: The Wicker Man

Brief note before we start: last July we got together and worked out a first class to be inducted into the Smaddies Baddies BMT Hall of Fame. It has been nearly six years since we started BMT and the films we had seen more than five years ago, in some cases, deserved a rewatch and reassessment. Over the next four weeks leading up to the fourth (sixth?) Smaddies Baddies we’ll bring you previews and Hall of Fame Speeches for the five films chosen. This is the second, for the spooky cult-bad-movie smash hit The Wicker Man starring Nick Cage. The intention is to reminisce a bit about what we remember about the film, what we think of it now, and why it deserved a special place in BMT history. Enjoy!

Hall of Fame Induction Speech for The Wicker Man

Ah, The Wicker Man. When people first learn about BMT upon meeting either me or Patrick (which is usually within five minutes) there is a high likelihood that the first question they have is “Have you seen the The Wicker Man?” It’s almost universally beloved. Primarily this is because it is Nic Cage at his craziest, but also because it defines what makes a bad film great for so many people: easily digestible pieces that stick in your mind. You can tell someone, “You gotta see Wicker Man,” and many different moments distributed throughout the film will deliver on your promise of a good time. While that’s not necessarily what defines many of the top BMT films (e.g. Here on Earth), The Wicker Man represents one of the very best of a certain type of bad movie.

As will be the case with all the BMT HoF films, it’s been five years since we watched this film. So let’s go through what I remember from that first viewing:

This film involves Nic Cage traveling to an island off the coast of Washington run by a bunch of women and bees. He has come to find a lost child and the inhabitants of the island seem determined to do everything to get in his way.
The film stuck in my mind as more of a series of crazy events rather than a coherent story.
The moment I most vividly recall from the film is Nic Cage waking up from a dream within a dream. It might still be the hardest I’ve laughed at a BMT film. It’s the craziest editing/storytelling choice we’ve seen, only rivalled by the triple flashback of Ghosts of Mars.
Besides that you have Nic Cage dressing up like a bear and punching women in the face and getting bees poured all over him.
In fact the whole storyline itself is kind of lost in those moments. I can only presume given the title of the film that Nic Cage dies at the end by being burned in a giant wicker man, but I honestly don’t remember as it was such a minor part of my original experience.

What I was most interested in seeing upon rewatching the film was how the original book may have influenced the remake. Since we watched The Wicker Man so early in BMT’s history there was never a thought of reading the original story. So obviously for the rewatch there was never a thought of not reading the original story. There was a part of me that hoped some of the craziest aspects of The Wicker Man came from that book. That somehow I’d be reading the story and everything would make sense in how we arrived at the remake from the original. Alas, it was not meant to be. The book certainly influenced the original film, but nothing more from the source made it further into the remake. The remake is through and through a remake of the original film. Nothing more.

But when I say “nothing more,” I of course mean, “nothing more than Nic Cage’s magnum opus.” It is astonishing to watch and there is little wonder that this film has captured the hearts and minds of those that follow bad movies closely. Replace Nic Cage with any other actor and the film is assuredly forgotten. He is an acting tornado, tearing into every scene with abandon. At times you wonder if the shock expressed on other actors’ faces is less the reacting to the odd aspects of the plot, and more a product of them watching Nic Cage leave no scenery unchewed. Further, all the scenes that I remember vividly continue to deliver today. The bear punching scene, the bee scene, and the still hilarious dream-within-a-dream scene. They are all still some of the funniest scenes we’ve seen to date. It confirmed for me that it is nothing less than top of the line in popular bad movies: a film that delivers on what it promises over and over again.

I say “popular” because I believe that the film will end up standing out amongst the other great works in the HoF as being more beholden than others on a singular aspect of the film: Nic Cage. Many bad bad films are beholden in this way (e.g. White Comanche and William Shatner playing a pair of White/Native American twins) and we’ve strived in BMT to look at the balance of a film rather than what might be perceived as a gimmick. But The Wicker Man earns its place near the top of BMT HoF despite this because it exemplifies the very best of that category.

Hall of Fame Speech #1: Old Dogs

Brief note before we start: last July we got together and worked out a first class to be inducted into the Smaddies Baddies BMT Hall of Fame. It has been nearly six years since we started BMT and the films we had seen more than five years ago, in some cases, deserved a rewatch and reassessment. Over the next four weeks leading up to the fourth (sixth?) Smaddies Baddies we’ll bring you previews and Hall of Fame Speeches for the five films chosen. This is the first, for the raucous buddy comedy Old Dogs starring Robin Williams and John Travolta. The intention is to reminisce a bit about what we remember about the film, what we think of it now, and why it deserved a special place in BMT history. Enjoy!

Hall of Fame Induction Speech for Old Dogs

Perhaps it should not be that shocking that the first film we watched for BMT made it into the Hall of Fame. After all, we’ve now watched nearly 350 films over the past six years. Something special must have clicked in those early days to tell us: This is worth it, this is the correct path for your life. BMT owes a lot to the podcast How Did This Get Made? for this reason, it was their first film as well. For the first several weeks of BMT’s existence we exclusively watched films from HDTGM, and only ventured away from their filmography because they only did a film every other week, and their bad movies tasted differed from ours. And in a way that is why I remember Old Dogs so fondly. It was the start of it all and also lead us down a path to differentiating our tastes from others in the “bad movie space”.

Considering I had seen this movie once nearly six years ago, it was mindblowing (and a testament to the film) how much of it I still remembered prior to the reviewing. A quick rundown:

Travolta and Williams are sports publicity managers and have a big meeting to represent Japanese baseball players.
Seth Green is their young partner who is sent to Japan to close the deal but instead ends up becoming a karaoke master.
They open with how Williams got a divorce ten years prior and then went to spring break with Travolta as some buddy therapy. While there Williams got a dumb tattoo (amazingly Jamie remembered the tattoo said Freemont instead of Freeman!) across his entire chest.
They close at the zoo where they use a jet pack or something to fly around. Seth Green gets captured by a gorilla, an extremely minor, and yet highly promoted portion of the film. And I have a vague sense of the zoo being in Vermont.

I remembered a ton more, but those were the highlights, and everything is as ridiculous as I remembered. Indeed, Old Dogs is a true rarity. It hits six different bad movie checkboxes: (1) Horrible and intrusive music. (2) Cut to shit. Flashbacks and side flashes galore where they clearly had a bunch of unused stuff lying around and didn’t know where to put it. (3) Montages all over the place. (4) Way too emotional and heart stringy. (5) It is a kids film with the perfect “adult storyline” that just doesn’t make sense. Why would kids want to hear about sports publicists trying to get Japanese baseball players on board? (6) It is a twin film, which obviously the bad movie twins love. My favorite part: Williams’ fake tan early in the film. Why? Because they clearly had shot a much more mundane and normal introduction to the kids, but felt the need to really get into the comedy early on. Before inexplicably leaving for a carnival the love interest reveals an “old family secret” to get it all off before leaving and the tan is literally never mentioned ever again. It is unusual for a bad comedy to hit any check marks (they are usually just boring). This is next level worst-of-the-year type work, and I’m surprised it isn’t more well known in bad movie circles.

Old Dogs is the very definition of good-bad. It is a zero-chuckle-comedy that is consistently terrible and punched up to shit, deconstructing it into a set of vignettes with a plot cloud instead of a plot line. The ridiculousness is peppered uniformly throughout the film: The crazy tan, the camp scene, the drug scene, and the finale are basically all in totally different parts of the film allowing for a sustained level of amazement throughout. I still think this could be the best-bad comedy we’ve watched, and an example of why such bad movies are almost impossible to find because something like this should never have been released to theaters, but, against all odds, it was. And I’m thankful for it.