Barry De Vorzon - The Warriors OST

Perfect Friday night music from a perfect Friday night movie. Walter Hill's 1979 classic The Warriors, as well as being all sorts of cool features a pretty sweet soundtrack by Barry De Vorzon (also responsible for the awesome soundtrack to lost 70's TV show S.W.A.T.) utilizing masses of synths coupled to a rock framework, chuck in a few original numbers and a little ditty co-written with Joe Walsh and here you have it.  I shouldn't have to fill you in on the plot at all but to summarise, it borrows its premise from Anabasis ( fuck you 300 ) by Greek soldier, mercenary, theorist and writer Xenophon. A truce is called amongst the gangs of New York, during the truce the main honcho, Cyrus is shot and The Warriors of the title are framed for the killing. The film follows the journey to evade cops and other gangs to reach their own turf in Coney Island. 

You should already know this film so lets look at the musical score. De Vorzon really hit the nail on the head with this one, managing to capture the city-at-night vibe as well as the tension and energy, its a constant chase film. Scene after scene of guys in vests running away from other guys in vests. The main title track is a good high energy number and a reprise of it is used for the coolest looking gang in the movie, the Baseball Furies, when they first make an appearance.

Don't mess.

The other main number from this was co-written by that dude from The Eagles, Joe Walsh and sounds pretty much like his day job. De Vorzon had collaborated with Walsh before hand on numerous occasions and when the film called for a closing number, "In The City" was written.

But enough of me warbling, here is the soundtrack. You should already know the film.

Barry De Vorzon - The Warriors OST

- I would also recommend the game. If you can't get enough of the film or just want to kick the shit out of people, steal car stereos and throw rubbish bins through shop windows its pretty much a must.

- Orson Welles was originally meant to provide a voice over for the film. They had planned on integrating excerpts from Anabasis read out by Welles. It never happened.

- The film was in post production at the same time as the vastly inferior The Wanderers. The Warriors beat it to the post, thank god.

Despite being a pretty full on sausage party there is the scummy but attractive, bra-less Mercy. 

Movie sickness

I don't do being ill, but at least I can catch up on doing some movie viewing.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Sho'nuff

Not that anyone cares. This Saturday. Mondo jams and joints. Visual and aural treats to enjoy with a cocktail.

Gonna start uploading the playlists for you fine folk to enjoy.

Harold Faltermeyer - The Running Man OST (1987)

Are you ready for pain? Are you ready for suffering? If the answer is yes, then you're ready for Harold Faltermeyer's score to The Running Man. One of Arnie's prime 80's cinematic high points. Based on a book written by Steven King under a pseudonym ( Richard Bachman). Faltermeyer nails it again.

Harold Faltermeyer - The Running Man OST

Mark Beecher once played the famous piano riff from the main theme on a pub piano in Bolton and it surely was the highlight of that all dayer we happened to be playing.

James Horner - Commando OST (1985)

Saturday special, the soundtrack to an 80's classic. James Horner's, steel drum loving, stirring score, one of Arnie's best films, Commando. Arnie has to rescue one of those lasses from Charmed from nasty Dan Hedaya and defeat ex-comrade and now rival Bennet ( Vernon Wells, under used guy). I really shouldn't have to explain anything about this film to you. Its almost an unwritten rule for anyone that grew up in the 80's.

 The score itself wasn't released until 2003 if I remember correctly. It was part of some film club series and ended up being a pretty limited release. James Horner, for those that didn't know, loves steel drums. He used them quite a bit on the score for Walter Hill's 48 Hours back in 1982. 

As a special bonus as well I have included the Power Station track "We Fight For Love". This plays over the end credits and was never included on the original release due to licensing but I have included it within the download link along with the album artwork. That's it for now, listen to this when you are cruising around town in the early hours, waiting for a date or just to inject some drama into your routine. My drummer even had me remove this from our van playlist due to it making him feel like something was going to happen at any moment. So here you go..........

 James Horner - Commando OST

Pete Postlethwaite 1946 – 2011 RIP

 

Learned this morning of Pete Postlethwaite's death after a long battle with cancer. Despite making a few solid gold turkeys in his time he had the same thing Morgan Freeman had in that he brought a level of class and professionalism to everything he did. RIP.

Leslie Nielsen 1926 - 2010 RIP

Surely you can't be serious? Police Squad, Naked Gun, Repossessed. The master of deadpan passed away yesterday. Provider of many laughs and certainly one of the key influences on my sense of humour. Rest in peace.

Ennio Morricone - The Thing OST (1982)

Ennio Morricone's score for John Carpenter's classic. Certainly one of the all time great horror/sci-fi movies. This is a rare case of Carpenter handing soundtrack scoring over to someone else. Kurt Russel needs to have a beard in more films.

The Thing - OST

Busey week.

Yes, the living legend himself, Gary Busey. This week involves re watching most of the Busey in my collection and reacquainting myself with his deranged genius. In the firing line are.......

Act Of Piracy

Bulletproof

Plato's Run

Hider In The House

Robert Ginty remembered

November 14, 1948 – September 21, 2009

RIP

Famous for his Bruce lee like " art of acting without acting" style, Robert Ginty non the less carved out a little corner of cinema history during the 70's and 80's. I remember seeing the video cover for The Exterminator (1980) in a local shop when I was a child. The cover image of Ginty waving a flamethrower while wearing a motorcycle helmet sold it to me.
Years later I came across a VHS copy of White Fire (1984)  and slowly reacquainted myself with his work. Despite the success of some major TV roles and The Exterminator he followed it up with many gung ho action B-movies. You may never have seen or heard of Codename : Vengeance, Mission Kill, Cop Target, Warriors Of The Lost World, Programmed To Kill or any of the others but they do exist.
He went on to have a pretty successful career writing, directing and producing but its these classics people will remember him for. Rest in piece.

Awesome..........

New Jack City - OST (1991)

Once upon a time this was the baddest film about drug dealers. I first saw this when at primary school. Having to pause it or turn it off every time my parents came in the room. Looking back its not really that bad. its still a great film. Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Mario Van Peebles, Judd Nelson and a young Chris Rock are all pretty good in it. I really think it has a lot more in common with Blaxploitation than any sort of social commentary. You could draw a very definite line from this right back to Van Peebles father and his cinematic achievements.
Still the soundtrack has some good stuff on it. All that sort of late 80's hip-hop/R&B stuff where they have tons of jazz and double bass, midi keyboards and lots and lots of smooth vocals.
Plus it has Flavour Flav in it as well.

New Jack City OST

Olivers favourite......

Christopher Walken moments :

At Close Range - Awesome, true life story of a small time crime boss. Sean and Chris Penn are both pretty good in this but its Walken who towers above everything.


King Of New York - Great film, great cast. Walken wins with his dancing, sudden bursts of controlled violence and his "love of money".


Suicidal Tendencies albums : 

Classic skate/thrash/crossover/punk/metal from opposite ends of the ST discography. Both albums in one link

Suicidal Tendencies - Join The Army / The Art Of...

Favourite film snack : 

Jonnys Bacon Tasties.....

(Wipes the floor with Frazzles every time.)

This is what tonight is all about I reckon. These 3 things ( 5 actually). Be as cool as me. But don't like them as much as me.

Harvey Lawrence Pekar October 8, 1939 – July 12, 2010 RIP

For someone who hated life he had a very good time I reckon. Do yourself a favour and start reading American Splendour, then Our Cancer Year and watch the film adaptation.
He's probably complaining to god about storage for his records in heaven right now.

RIP Harvey

Best Of The Best ( 1989 )

Tonight's post is brought to you courtesy of those wonderful people at Preston Poundland. For if it wasn't there foresight to buy up massive bulk stock of all 4 Best of The Best films on DVD and then sell them for the bargain price there name suggests.
And its with my trip down memory lane viewing of them that I have uploaded the original soundtrack.
The first Best of The Best is certainly up there with The Karate Kid as a underdog/martial arts/learning your inner self film. Following Eric Roberts, Chris Penn, James Earl Jones and the US Karate Team on there journey of discovery and hard knocks to beat rivals Korea (who are not actually world beating Karate contenders). Featuring some pretty sweet fight scenes and enough pump up music montages to keep genre fans happy. obviously not up there with Rocky 4 as the defacto pump up soundtrack but not far behind in my opinion.

Best Of The Best - OST (1989)

"Drop him like a toilet seat!"

Gary Busey on the lam.

God bless Gary Busey and god bless Cex and its 40p DVD trade. Where else would you find a film of this calibre for that price.

Hired to Kill (1990)

Brian Thompson and Oliver Reed snogging! 7 female prisoners as fashion models! Awesome/terrible dialogue! A hugely anti climatic final battle! Thats why Hired To Kill is so awesomely shit and why I only paid 40p for it.

McBain (1991)

Why had I never heard of this film until the other day. Strolling through Morrison's it was sat there winking at me from the £1 DVD bucket ( alongside Swamp Thing). It could not be ignored. Especially seeing as it was directed and produced by James Glickenhaus, who was also responsible for Turner household classics like The Exterminator and Maniac Cop.
Christopher Walken has always been a favourite actor of mine. Despite the amount of shit films he puts his name to he still gives raises them up a notch in my opinion. Here he plays Bobby McBain who after being rescued from a Thunderdome style POW camp in Vietnam at the end of the war, splits a $100 bill with his Rescuer, Santos. If he ever receives the other half then he must repay his debt. Fast forward 18 years and Santos is leading a revolution against the Colombian President ( Victor Argo, great actor but pretty much sleep walks through this role). Who is a bad man. We know this by the level of armed security he has and the fact he orders prostitutes to the palace. Santos is publicly executed in a failed attack on the palace. Santos's sister, played by Maria Conchito Alonso ( the lass from Predator 2) goes to the top of a bridge in New York and calls in Walken's debt to Santos.
After assembling his old unit they set out gaining the funds to start the middle aged war against Victor. This means shaking down drug dealers and pretending to be Mossad whilst claiming responsibility for the Munich bombings. Once set up they fly off to Columbia and begin a pretty quick assault on a drug factory and then the Presidential palace. It all works out pretty much how you would expect it to. What makes the film that slightly bit more special than other low rent actioners is the obvious inconsistencies and silly events that take place. For example, a breach of Colombian airspace is resolved by McBain taking down a fighter jet with his pistol that he shoots through two separate windscreens at air speeds......



Its superbly silly stuff. neither windscreen is broken or anything. only Walken could do that. That pretty much kicks off many glaringly obvious but incredibly over the top moments. Being the military trained professionals they can stand in the middle of a huge firefight and let of sparse but accurate shots without being hit themselves. The youngest member of the team sacrifices his life so the revolution can continue after a failed bombing. The bad guys can of course never hit anything with there terrible aim and huge arsenal while the good guys tiny sub machine guns hit everything they shoot at.
This was blatantly obvious to the cast and film makers I can imagine, and they make the most of it with enthusiasm. Walken's team ( who feature Micheal Ironside with "real" ponytail and Windows from The Thing) cover the usual characters found in a military squad. All haunted by the past but can kill anyone in a instant.
I even think Walken knew how much of a silly adventure this was going to be but turns a limp script that bit better with his usual skill. He also sports the classic Walken fro. Which is worth the pound in my eyes. McBain is a fun enough action B-movie. not as good as Walken's similar film The Dogs Of War but neither is it trying to be. A quid well spent.



Yeah!

Brian May - Mad Max - OST (1979)

Childhood favourite. Now as a 28 year old adult ( on paper at least) it is still one of my all time favourite films, and one which kick started my obsession with apocalyptic fiction and film. Here we have the original score composed by Brian May, the Australian composer with a similar name to the other more famous one. Dramatic, haunting and in all honesty far to intense to actually drive to ( as I have found out on the many occasions I have hit the motorway with this blaring).

Mad Max - OST

Also for anyone with as much interest/obsession with the Mad Max universe as I do then its worth having a gander at this timeline some dude called Alex Maddison has compiled. Taking information from the novelisations of the films and various other sources he has compiled a pretty awesome read of how society broke down, the formation of the MFP and how the various characters came through the series. Complete geek stuff but I love it.

Mad Max Timeline

"We gotta give em back there heroes!"

Recent viewings

Well had quite a bit to watch these past few weeks. Continuing my disintegrating bank account mission on great/shit films has led me to acquire the following...

Crocodile (2000)
Tobe Hooper's worst film ( I have seen at least). I am a sucker for giant monster/creature films so on a Poundland shopping spree it popped up on my radar. Usual teen slaughter fare. Incredibly annoying, intensely dis likable spring breakers get munched by a giant Egyptian croc. Pretty funny in places. mostly for the fact the animatronic crocodile is so much better than the naff Ocean PC game style CGI. No where near as good as Alligator (1980).



Cat In The Brain (1990)
Budget Luci Fulci "giallo". Cobbling together footage from his previous films to tell a film-within-a-film style story. Fulci plays himself as he begins to see scenes from his own movies played out in real life. Chuck in a psychiatrist and plenty of boobs and you have it. Not one of Fulci's best by any stretch but pretty enjoyable for many amusing death scenes involving chainsaws, wheelchairs, hooks, knives and plenty of other nasty things.

3D cover woo.

Loose Cannons (1990)
Buddy cop movie with Gene Hackman and Dan Akroyd. Completely silly and ridiculous, mindless fun. There is a plot about Nazi's and stolen film but the main attraction is Akroyd's schizophrenic detective putting on different characters and persona's. Hackman is pretty good in this but he does seem to be running on auto pilot for most of it. It does have Dom Delouise in as well. Which reminded me that there is a hilarious clip from SNL where Chris Farley plays Dom and the sadly missed Phil Hartman plays Burt Reynolds. Its pretty sweet. I can't find a trailer for this film but there is a song of the soundtrack performed by Katey Segal and Dan Akroyd himself.



Inglorious Bastards (1978)
The original "macaroni" war movie version. Tarantino loved this film so much he borrowed the title for his own and gave cameos to quite a few of the cast. Sort of like the Dirty Dozen but slightly dirtier. A bunch of American soldiers under court marshal manage to escape during a attack and make for the Swiss border. Along the way they heavy handily deal with racism, first love and loyalty and get caught up in a mission to scupper some Nazi rocket. Enzo Castellari believes this was one of his best films and I would probably agree with that. Solid, WWII action fodder. Plus its got Fred Williamson in it which makes any film that slight bit cooler.

Strange Bedfellows (2004)
Another Poundland buy. 100p got me a film where Paul Hogan pretends to be gay to get tax benefits. I would say that's a pretty sweet deal. The actual plot and story was ripped off whole sale by Universal for I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry (2007). Funnily enough this film was released in Europe as I Now Pronounce You Ralph And Vince. There is some sort of legal dispute going on about all of this. I would say this is the better film. Genuinely sweet and harmless fun if not a little heavy handed in its portrayal of gay culture. But its Paul Hogan pretending to be gay! So that is worthy of a pound.

The Fist Foot Way (2008)
The first film to really show off Danny Mcbride's acting talents. Tells the tale of a black belt Taekwondo instructor as his life falls apart. Its one of those films alongside Baseketball that is best watched late at night with your friends and some drinks. Features so many quotable lines that have now passed into use amongst people I know and has one of the best characters in Mike McAlister ( Jody Hill) as a intense martial artist. Will Ferrel liked it so much he released it through his own Production Company. So there.

Other than that everything else is still pretty crap. Thank god for Sabbath and The Dillinger Escape Plans cover of "Paranoid". Originally recorded for some Earache/Sabbath comp. I don't think it ever got released. it features the original DEP line-up and a swing break in the middle. Classy stuff.

The Dillinger Escape Plan - Paranoid

Now get out my house.