Honor & Courage - Tough Guys of the NHL

Product Description

Only in professional hockey is a man's role to use his fists on behalf of his teammates. Physical intimidation is a large part of determining a team's success. This DVD takes an in-depth look at the on ice/ off ice life of the NHL "Enforcer" and the importance this man has to his team. Reference ID:TC01-DVD-0993

Customer Reviews:

A must have for Hockey fans.......2007-07-09

A hockey collection is not complete with out this DVD.
My husband sure was excited to get this last Chirstmas.

Interesting Documentary.......2006-03-28

Overall, this is a solid NHL Production. It offers you insight into the role of endorcers, and lets you get to know McCarty, Lapierre, McKenzie, and Cairns on a personal level. The LaPierre part is very good. My only complaint is they could of found two better tough guys than Cairns or McKenzie. How about Georges Laraques or Matthew Barnaby? Anyways, DVD is only about an hour, not much on bonus features either. If your a hockey fan, you will enjoy the documentary though!

Entertaining look at the NHL's tougher players.......2006-01-06

As a life long hockey player (and fan), I have always appreciated the role and character of the hockey enforcer. This DVD takes a general look at the role of enforcing and in-depth looks into Darren McCarty, Eric Cairns; Jim McKenzie and Ian Laperierre. Each segment provides interesting insights into the psychology needed for such a tough role (excuse the pun) and are laced with humour (especially on the Lappy section). Oh, and their wives are hot too...
Well worth the 15 bucks.

Warner Bros. Pictures Tough Guys Collection (Bullets or Ballots / City for Conquest / Each Dawn I Die / G Men / San Quentin / A Slight Case of Murder)

Average customer rating:

Positive Tough Guy's Collection
Tough guys abound in a wide variety of films
Superb 30's movie collection but...
Dames, Gunsels, the cars, you know, noir
A box of good stuff

Warner Bros. Pictures Tough Guys Collection (Bullets or Ballots / City for Conquest / Each Dawn I Die / G Men / San Quentin / A Slight Case of Murder)
Starring: Warner Bros. Tough Guys Collection
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( W ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

ASIN: B000FI9OCM
Release Date: 2006-07-18

Amazon.com

Say "Warner Bros. in the '30s" and you're talking, first and foremost, about the tough, gritty, urban, street-smart movies that help define that American decade for us. Which means you're talking about James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, and Humphrey Bogart: unpretty but charismatic guys with lived-in faces, and bodies that always seemed cocked, ready to spring. When one of them entered a room, he owned it, no matter how many people were there already. Their most celebrated habitat was the gangster picture. The genre didn't originate with them, but they, more than anybody else, defined it, gave it a face and a silhouette and a heartbeat.

The films in this set were produced half a decade and more after Little Caesar and The Public Enemy made stars of Robinson and Cagney, respectively, and after repeal had begun to lend Prohibition the patina of nostalgia. The studio's gangster franchise was evolving, and so were the careers of its top stars. When it came to toughness, the boys could still dish it out, and take it, too. But increasingly they were doing it on the other side of the law-and-order divide.

Cagney was first to reform. In 1935's "G" Men he plays a lawyer put through college by the avuncular neighborhood crimelord. After a law-school pal turned F.B.I. agent is murdered, Cagney abandons his (resolutely legit) one-man practice and joins the Bureau. The film memorializes several big moments in F.B.I. legend, but what's grabbiest is the personal drama growing out of Cagney's lingering underworld friendships. William Keighley directs the murders and shootouts with jolting ferocity, Barton MacLane and Edward Pawley supply flavorful villainy, and there are times when Sol Polito's cinematography literally glows (all these films have been restored, but "G" Men looks especially terrific). One gripe: The movie should have been presented without the F.B.I.-classroom intro tacked on for 1949 reissue (which belongs under "Special Features").

In Each Dawn I Die (also Keighley, 1939), Cagney teams with George Raft making his Warners debut. It's mostly a prison picture, with muckraking reporter Cagney behind bars after being framed by crooked politicos. Career felon Raft has little sympathy for him till Cagney proves to be a stand-up guy, whereupon the two bond in mutual loathing of sadistic guards, rat-fink convicts, and the endlessly malleable system. The movie boasts one indelible scene (involving a movie screening for the cons), some evocative prison workhouse detailing, and a fine Cagney performance as always. But it's undone by a script cluttered with melodrama and contrivance.

Bullets or Ballots (Keighley yet again, 1936) is much more satisfying. Again we get two icons for the price of one, with Robinson as a tough but square-shooting police detective and Bogart as the ambitious number-two man to a big-time racketeer. Bogart's effectively the co-star, albeit fourth-billed behind Robinson, Joan Blondell, and Barton MacLane. But it's Eddie G.'s movie, and he walks the line beautifully as an honest cop who, unjustly jettisoned from the force, signs on with the mobster he's long pursued. Despite a rhetorical reference to "ballots" as the public's means of combatting crime, it's bullets that get the job done. Bullets and fists: the movie makes clear that Robinson has beaten confessions out of people plenty of times, just as it has no illusions about the empty symbolism of crime commissions and grand juries.

The only other Bogart vehicle in the set is San Quentin (Lloyd Bacon, 1937), a scrap-work effort below the standards of everybody involved. Bogart's a small-time crook whose arrest at a nightclub occasions a meet-cute for his big sister Ann Sheridan and Army training officer Pat O'Brien--who's on his way to become yard captain at the penitentiary where Bogart will be interred! O'Brien tries to reform the lad, but with corrupt/sadistic guard Barton MacLane on one side and sociopathic con Joe Sawyer on the other, Bogart never has a chance. Neither does the viewer.

Lloyd Bacon, normally one of Warners' zippiest directors, is back on his game with A Slight Case of Murder (1938), a delicious gangster comedy. Robinson plays beer baron Remy Marco, who craves respectability as a legitimate businessman once beer is legal again. Problem is, nobody has ever had the heart to tell him his product tastes like varnish, and soon the bank is out to foreclose on his brewery. At which point Remy learns that his summer home upstate is full of fresh gangland corpses.... Based on a play by Damon Runyon and Howard Lindsay, the picture gives a trio of glorious goons--Allen Jenkins, Edward Brophy, and Harold Huber--a rare chance to shine as Marco's house staff.

City for Conquest (1940) ought to be the showpiece here. It's the longest and most ambitious entry, with prestige-picture scale and production values (including Polito and James Wong Howe as cameramen) and a cast including Cagney, Ann Sheridan, Arthur Kennedy, Frank McHugh, Donald Crisp, Anthony Quinn, Jerome Cowan, and--in his first of only two film performances--future directorial giant Elia Kazan. Working-stiff Cagney loves his gifted musician brother (Kennedy) and childhood sweetheart (Sheridan), a dancer with her own aspirations for the limelight; he becomes a boxer in order to pay for the brother's musical education. Triumph and tragedy ensue. The film's avowed aim, and Kennedy's, is to create an urban symphony of New York and the many little people striving against all odds to rise; there's even a one-man Greek chorus--Frank Craven, the Stage Manager of the recent Our Town--to hammer the theme periodically. But over the previous decade Warners' honest, hard-charging, small-scale movies had collectively achieved that "symphony," without the pompous flourishes Anatole Litvak's direction brings to the project. Here's hoping DVD showcases more of them. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

Packin' A Punch...and Packin' Heat! On the heels of the success of the Warner Bros. Gangster Collection, the Warner Bros. Tough Guys Collection delivers six all new to DVD Classics featuring Hollywood's greatest Academy-Award? winning Tough guys - James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, and Edward G. Robinson.

Customer Reviews:

Positive Tough Guy's Collection.......2007-08-07

This pack is very entertaining, with excelent movies. If you like noir or 30's films this is a must. All the movies are enjoyable, but are not truely GREAT. San Quentin and A Slight Case of Murder were the two worst of the pack I would only give these movies a 3 star rating. As for G men and Each Dawn I Die are marvalous films; and deserve a 4 star rating. Bullets or Ballots is a interesting movie featuring a feindish Bogart and a well known ruff and tough by the book cop played by Robinson. Its an OK flick but yet again a 3 star film. However, the real surprise was City for Conquest. I went into the movie thinking it would be the one I would dred; this was not the case at all. Though it has a few odd moments, for the most part the movie is brilliant. Without a dought one of Cagneys best preformances, and the movie mixes heart ach, boxing, and music into something that works. I would rank this as probably my favorite boxing movie. Maybe its from the way it peaks and falls and repeats until the passive yet memorable climax. This is defently a 5 star film and was a real treat. The whole set is well worth it if you like 30's humor and lingo.

Tough guys abound in a wide variety of films.......2007-08-03

This is a great and worthy companion to the Warner Gangsters Collection. However, this collection of films is much more varied than what you found in the Warner Gangsters bunch of films. It's not so much that we have a pre/post code comparison here of how Warner handled tough guys and gangsters in their films - there were only two precode gangster films in the Gangsters collection. Instead, we have WB's top three tough guys of the 30's - James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, and Humphrey Bogart - taking the lead in a variety of roles and films that often aren't about guys that are gangster tough, or even cop tough for that matter.

Edward G. Robinson stars in "Bullets or Ballots" and "A Slight Case of Murder". In the first film, he is the hard-working cop turned out to pasture by a past associate the minute that associate gets a promotion. Now, suddenly past offers for employment by underworld figures in return for big bucks look pretty good. Will Robinson's character turn against the system and department he has worked for his whole career? In "A Slight Case of Murder" Robinson ably shows his hand at dark comedy as a gangster who is made legitimate by the end of prohibition. Now he can sell his beer legitimately. The only problem is, nobody has the heart to tell him that his beer is awful.

James Cagney, Warners' number one gangster picture star of the 30's, shows up in three films. In "G Men" he is a lawyer who decides to go to work for the F.B.I. His education was bought and paid for by a local mobster, and thus his new associates are suspicious of him although Cagney's legal career has been on the up-and-up. This is an action-packed film with Cagney as a new G-Man who eventually has his loyalties to his old friends somewhat tested. "Each Dawn I Die" has Cagney as a crusading journalist set up on a manslaughter charge and wrongly sent to prison by the corrupt officials he was trying to expose. Month after month passes as he is sure he will be vindicated and released - but nothing happens. Only his convict friend - played by George Raft - who escapes while Cagney is inside, can find the witness that can free him. But will Raft's character bother to keep his promises once he is out? Cagney gives a top-notch performance of a straight guy turned bitter and hopeless as he realizes he may never get out of prison. Cagney's final film in the set "City for Conquest" is a very good film that has little or nothing to do with tough guys and a lot to do with tough breaks and melodrama, all of which Cagney's character gets. He and Ann Sheridan are sweethearts in a tenement district. Ann seeks escape from poverty with her dancing skills, Cagney with his boxing. Unfortunately, Cagney's character runs across a corrupt boxer who rubs a corrosive material into his gloves to temporarily blind Cagney so he can win the match. It works a little too well as Cagney's blindness is more than temporary. This film is a real tear-jerker that is a favorite of mine.

Finally, Humphrey Bogart headlines a very short "San Quentin" at only 70 or so minutes in length. Bogart is a tough-as-nails convict who believes that his special treatment by Pat O'Brien - captain of the yard at San Quentin - may be because he is exchanging Bogart's treatment for his sister's romantic favors, to put it politely. However, Bogart's character has misunderstood the entire situation. The two knew each other and began falling for one another before Bogart's character even went to jail. He decides to escape and give O'Brien the 38-calibre reward he thinks he deserves for dishonoring his sister. Will he come to his senses in time?

Bogart shows up as a supporting player in "Bullets or Ballots" in this set and as a supporting player in several films in the Warner Gangsters Collection. It's hard to believe that Humphrey DeForest Bogart - now recognized as the greatest actor of the 20th century - had to spend a decade slumming at Warner Bros. in supporting roles before his talent was finally recognized for what it was in 1941's "High Sierra". The rest, of course, is history.

In summary, this really is a great set of films supplemented by Warner's Night at the Movies treatment, commentaries on the films by film historians, and various featurettes on the gangster genre. Highly recommended.

Superb 30's movie collection but..........2007-06-21

This movie collection of the depression era is AWESOME but the reason that Im dissapointed is that G-Men is the ONLY action-packed movie of the collection, the rest of the movies have all the action in the end! except for Bullets or Ballots and A Slight Case of Murder which they didn't have ANY action at all!!!
But at least! the movies that have action are GREAT! they have car chases, lot's of shooting, boxing (City of Conquest) and cool dialoges!

I HOPE that the Gangster collection is the one that Im looking for because the ONLY thing that I care about theses movies is the action!!!!

Adios.

Dames, Gunsels, the cars, you know, noir.......2006-11-04

Great selection of noir era films and every one a hit. Just work through the selections and imagine what they would be like if the directors had color, better sets and modern effects. This is when men were men and women were glad of it. And if the dame ruined your life, so be it, you were the sap this time. Great value for the money!!!

A box of good stuff.......2006-10-02

A couple years ago, Warner Brothers issued a top-notch set of its classic gangster movies. Included were such all-time greats as Little Caesar, Public Enemy and White Heat. On the heals of that boxed set, a new one was issued: the Tough Guys boxed set. This companion piece to the Gangster set features slightly less well-known movies but is definitely worth watching.

The big difference in the two sets are the roles of its principal players. In the Gangster set, the stars - in particular, James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson - were criminals. As the studio got more pressure to stop producing movies in which the heroes were crooks, they merely switched their actors from one side of the law to the other.

In more-or-less chronological order, the first in this six-movie set is G-Men, featuring Cagney as a struggling lawyer who joins the fledgling FBI. This puts him at odds with his friend, a genial crime boss who opts to retire rather than contend with Cagney. Unfortunately, his successors are not so nice, setting up a lot of gunplay. Of the three Cagney movies in this set, this is the weakest, although it is still decent.

Also relatively weak is Bullets or Ballots which features Robinson as a cop who joins the mob after he is fired (an obvious ruse that not even the villains totally buy). Once again, there is a "good" mob boss who is Robinson's friend. Humphrey Bogart, in a standard role for him in the 1930s, is a much more evil gangster.

Bogart returns in San Quentin as a small-time crook sent to the title prison. The principal character, however, is Pat O'Brien as a reform-minded Captain of the Yard, who tries to turn Bogart around, partly out of good intentions and partly because he's dating Bogie's sister. Unfortunately, as also shown in Angels with Dirty Faces (in the Gangster set), O'Brien isn't that interesting a character: he's too straight and narrow and this allows Bogart and the other cons to steal the show.

If the first three movies are merely good, the next three are top-notch. A Slight Case of Murder is a comic gangster movie with Robinson as a crime lord gone legitimate after Prohibition ends. He sells the same beer that he sold in the speakeasy days, little realizing that the only reason people bought his stuff was because it was the only drink available. It tastes like swill, however, but before Robinson can do anything about it, he faces financial ruin. Complicating things are some dead bodies, some missing bank loot and his future son-in-law, a law officer. It may be an old movie, but the humor still works well.

Probably the best movie in the set is Each Dawn I Die, with Cagney back as a reporter who is framed for a crime after reporting on corrupt politics. Initially convinced that the truth will set him free quickly, he soon realizes that it's not going to be that easy; as time goes by, he begins to fall apart. George Raft also stars as a fellow con who is wise to the ways of prison.

Finally, there is City for Conquest, which is more of a romance than a crime movie (although there is a little bit of crime). Cagney is a boxer who is strung along by his long-time girlfriend Ann Sheridan. Her ambitions to become a famous dancer will override her love of him, with bad consequences. Among other actors, this movie features Elia Kazan in a rare acting role.

Besides the fact that these movies probably average a high four stars, we get a lot of extras, including commentaries on all the movies and "Warner Night at the Movies" for all the films as well: in addition to the movie, you get an old movie trailer, a news reel, a short subject and a cartoon. Add to this a set of mini-documentaries and some miscellaneous shorts (including several blooper reels) and this set easily rates five stars and should be watched by anyone who enjoys crime films.

Average customer rating:

Saddle stories
20 Westerns of Public Domain Goodness for a Reasonable Price
ALLRIGHT
bcieclipse goes western again
For old B-Westerns, the film transfers here are mostly pretty good considering....

Tough Guys of the West 20 Movie Pack
Starring: John Wayne , Roy Rogers , Randolph Scott , Ken Maynard , and Gary Cooper
Manufacturer: Bci / Eclipse
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Westerns | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

All Titles | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B00062IZF4
Release Date: 2004-10-12

Customer Reviews:

Saddle stories.......2007-06-20

TOUGH GUYS OF THE WEST features all the big cowboy stars of the 1930s and 40s, plus many other well-known actors. These mostly hour-length oaters were often screened back then as half of a Saturday afternoon matinee. If you've never seen in action Hoot Gibson, Ken Maynard, Buck Jones or Bob Steele (other than in his F-Troop! role of Trooper Duffy), this fine DVD box set will afford you just that opportunity. With ten double-sided discs containing twenty still well-loved westerns, TOUGH GUYS is a great way to start your "classic westerns" library off on the right hoof.

And if you really want an instant collection of films like these, why not try WESTERN CLASSICS 100 MOVIE PACK? It's about the best darn thing to come along since the silver bullet!

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The following alphabetized program lists provides viewer poll ratings (based on a 1 to 10 scale) for each film, plus years of release and their most prominent actors.

(6.3) Abilene Town (1946) - Randolph Scott/Edgar Buchanan/Ann Dvorak
(6.0) Aces and Eights (1936) - Tim McCoy/Luana Walters
(6.8) Angel And The Badman (1947) - John Wayne/Gail Russell/Harry Carey
(5.9) Arizona Gunfighter (1937) - Bob Steele/Jean Carmen
(6.0) Billy The Kid Returns (1938) Roy Rogers/Smiley Burnette
(6.0) Boss of Bullion City (1940) - Johhny Mack Brown/Fuzzy Knight
(5.0) Cavalcade of the West (1936) - Hoot Gibson/Rex Lease
(6.7) Dawn on the Great Divide (1942) - Buck Jones/Mona Barrie/Christine McIntyre
(5.8) Fighting Caravans (1931) - Gary Cooper/Lili Damita/Eugene Pallette
(???) Frontier Fury (1943) - Charles Starrett/Roma Aldrich
(5.7) Gangster's Den (1945) - Buster Crabbe/Al St. John
(6.3) Hittin' the Trail (1937) - Tex Ritter/"Snub" Pollard/Hank Worden
(5.7) The Light of Western Stars (1940) - Victor Jory/Noah Beery Jr./Alan Ladd(in support)
(5.3) My Outlaw Brother (1951) - Mickey Rooney/Robert Preston/Robert Stack
(5.7) Nevada City (1941) - Roy Rogers/George "Gabby" Hayes
(5.6) The Painted Desert (1931) - William Boyd/Clark Gable
(5.5) Phantom Thunderbolt (1933) - Ken Maynard/Frances Lee
(6.0)Range Defenders (1937) - Robert Livingston/Ray "Crash" Corrigan/Yakima Canutt
(6.0) Santa Fe Trail (1940) - Errol Flynn/Ronald Reagan/Olivia de Havilland
(6.8) Stampede (Canada/USA-1936) - Charles Starrett/Finis Barton

20 Westerns of Public Domain Goodness for a Reasonable Price.......2007-05-30

Tough Guys of the West is a collection of 20 Westerns that have only one thing in common: they are all public domain and as such it is possible for them to be presented in highly affordable collections. I paid $23.99 for my set and that comes down to less than $1.25 per movie. The way that movie tickets cost nowadays, you really cannot complain about this collection.

This deal is even better when you consider that many of the movies in this collection are available as individual movie DVD's at prices of $5 and higher. Many of the movies in this collection are presented in better condition than they are from other DVD companies.

Additionally, some of these movies are of such quality and/or proven audience appeal you just have to wonder just why the movie studios did not renew their copyrights. Chief among these are Santa Fe Trail starring both Errol Flynn & Ronald Reagan, Angel and the Badman starring John Wayne and Abilene Town starring Randolph Scott.

All in all, a great deal for the money.

ALLRIGHT.......2007-02-20

I had a problem that some of the discs were duplicated, but every thing was sorted out by Amazon who gave me a full credit

bcieclipse goes western again.......2006-05-07

this set of 20 movies is a western lovers dream. the transfers are all good for the most part and my stepfather really likes this set also. a great way to build your collection of western movies.

For old B-Westerns, the film transfers here are mostly pretty good considering...........2005-08-12

This is a review of the "Tough Guys of the West" 20 movie DVD collection issed by Brentwood Home Video.

What you have here is a very good collection of 20 B-Westerns. The films transfers range from very good or excellent to very poor. But, overall these are all watchable and are generally in fairly decent quality overall considering the age and nature of public domain films.

The film transfers for most are at least adequate and generally as good as or better than the typical low-end type of public domain product available out there. But, as I noted there are exceptions, however, and some films are in much better shape than others, but there are only maybe three or four films that I would call very poor transfers (still watchable, but in poor quality), most of the rest of the films here are such that you can generally enjoy the movie itself without being overly distracted by the scratches, fuzziness, splices, etc.

Some of the films that rank in the lower end of the quality range here include: Aces and Eights, Arizona Gunfighter, Gangster's Den, and Frontier Fury. These four films are pretty fuzzy looking - you can watch them o.k., but if you happen to really, really like any of those and were considering buying this collection just for those four films, you should look elsewhere for better copies.

On the other hand, "Abilene Town" is in much, much better quality here than I have seen in some other collections and "Hittin' the Trail", "Stampede" and "The Painted Desert" are also in very good condition here - these are all very good to excellent in terms of picture quality most of the time. Probably as good as it gets for these great old films.

The Roy Rogers film, "Nevada City" is a sharp picture, but it is washed out looking - you can compensate somewhat by increasing the contrast and still get a decent result.

In addition, please note that the Roan Group has issued a much, much better quality DVD version of the Roy Rogers film "Billy the Kid Returns" than what you find here in this collection. Also, if you are looking for a near perfect quality DVD of "Angel and the Bad Man" you need to get the one issued by Good Times which is much better than the film transfer of that film included in this collection. In both cases those two films are certainly very watchable in this collection, I'm just letting you know that if you want perfect copies of those two films and are willing to pay the extra money to get them, significantly better film transfers can be found elsewhere. The ones on this collection are certainly watchable and enjoyable, just not perfect.

Here is a list of the movies included in this set:

Abilene Town - Randolph Scott
Aces and Eights - Tim McCoy
Angel and the Badman - John Wayne
The Arizona Gunfighter - Bob Steele
Cavalcade of the West - Hoot Gibson
Dawn on the Great Divide - Buck Jones
Fighting Caravans - Gary Cooper
Gangster's Den - Buster Crabbe
Hittin the Trail - Tex Ritter
The Light of Western Stars - Alan Ladd
My Outlaw Brother -
Nevada City - Roy Rogers & George "Gabby" Hayes
Painted Desert - Clark Gable
The Phantom Thunderbolt - Ken Maynard
Santa Fe Trail - Errol Flynn
Billy the Kid Returns - Roy Rogers
Boss of Bullion City - Johhny Mack Brown
Range Defenders - Ray "Crash" Corrigan
Stampede - Charles Starrett
Frontier Fury - Charles Starrett

Average customer rating:

Great Movie
Its kinda like a creeping death, a disease so powerful you must watch
Nobody Will Read This But I'm Writing This Anyhow
Deep six the one-star reviews!
One of the Finest Films Ever

Tough Guys Don't Dance
Starring: Ryan O'Neal , Isabella Rossellini , Debra Sandlund , Wings Hauser , and John Bedford Lloyd
Director: Norman Mailer
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00009Y3PK
Release Date: 2003-09-16

Amazon.com

Tough guys don't dance--and tough authors can't direct. Or at least that was the case with Norman Mailer and this mid-1980s potboiler. An overheated murder mystery obviously written for the money, the book became Mailer's return to moviemaking (after his quixotic efforts in the mid 1960s). This one, which stars Ryan O'Neal, is about a writer whose excessive drinking means he can't remember if he committed a murder and so must talk to everyone he knows to find out. Unfortunately, even with a cast that includes Isabella Rossellini, Lawrence Tierney, and Clarence Williams III, all of that talk doesn't make for an interesting movie. --Marshall Fine

Description

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Norman Mailer wrote and directed this charmingly cracked nightmare comedy (Los Angeles Times) based on his best-selling 1984 novel. Set during the lonely emptiness of off-season Cape Cod, Tough Guys don't Dance features outstanding performances from Ryan O Neal and Isabella Rossellini. When wannabe writer Tim Madden (O Neal) wakes up from a memory-erasing drinking binge with an atomic hangover, he learns that it'll take more than a day to recover'since there is blood in his car and a severed head in his basement! Now, with a corrupt chief of police watching his every move, Tim must piece together the hazy events of the night before to solve a murder he mayor may nothave committed!

Customer Reviews:

Great Movie.......2007-09-03

Norman Mailer's genius shines through with every scene. Very entertaining and plenty of black humour.

Its kinda like a creeping death, a disease so powerful you must watch.......2005-08-24

On a scale of 1-10, i really give this movie a negative 7000. its possibly the worst movie ever made and tarnishes what is a distinguished career of a pulitzer prize winning novelist. The book, only slightly better, did lend itself to this type of bizarre movie. Here's the deal though...no matter how terrible it is, with plot holes abound and continuity errors, this movie is beyond quotable. I've found myself saying "oh man...OH GOD OH MAN!" and throwing my hands up spinning around in a circle more times than you could ever imagine not to mention the wonderful "i have deathguts" by the best southern sounding "swish" ever. Everyone should at least see this movie four or five times, and tell all your friends. Spread the cancer that won more independent film awards than should ever be given to such a wonderfully horrid movie. I know i'm buying a copy, just so i can show it to everyone I know and detract years from their lives. Join me in the darkness that is Norman Mailer's cult classic.

Nobody Will Read This But I'm Writing This Anyhow.......2005-04-18

The mere fact that MGM deemed this film worthy of a DVD release has to be a cosmic joke. I remember seeing this film on it's initial run back in 1987 in it's opening(and closing) week and there were, including myself, three people in the audience. I loved every minute of it. This film has it all. Ham-handed direction by writer Norman Mailer, convoluted plotting, overwought writing. In other words, brilliant. Mailer is ably assisted by a game cast that includes Ryan O'Neal(Mr. Box-office Poison), Isabella Rossellini(fresh from "Blue Velvet"), Wings Hauser(brilliant in the film,"Vice Squad"), Lawrence Tierney(Joe Cabot from "Reservoir Dogs"), and Penn Jillette(Penn and Teller). In a perfect world the catch phrase "Deep-six the heads" should have entered into the common vernacular. Anyone who fancies themselves a film buff should see this film once. Just to believe it.

Deep six the one-star reviews!.......2004-01-08

If "offbeat noir" is your clarion call, this is your movie. (Our one-star reviewers completely missed the bus to Irony on this one). Written and directed by iconoclastic writer Norman Mailer, "Tough Guys Don't Dance" is assured cult status,now that it is available on DVD. Ryan O'Neal gives a deadpan performance reminiscent of his work in "The Driver". O'Neal plays an inscrutable ex-con with a conniving "black widow" for a wife, who experiences five "really bad days" in a row, involving drugs,kinky sex,blackmail and murder. Due to some temporary amnesia,however,he's not sure of his own complicity (O'Neal begins each day by writing the date on his bathroom mirror with shaving cream-keep in mind, this film precedes "Memento" by 13 years!) Veteran film noir icon Lawrence Tierny (cast here 5 years BEFORE Tarantino thought of resurrecting him for "Reservoir Dogs") is priceless as O'Neal's estranged father, who is helping him sort out events (it's worth the price of admission alone to hear Tierny bark "I just deep-sixed two heads!"). Equally notable is a deliciously demented performance by B-movie trouper Wings Hauser as the hilariously named Captain Alvin Luther Regency. Norman Mailer's "lack" of direction has been roundly criticized, but his minimalist style actually works perfectly for the story, giving his movie a David Lynch feel (although that might be due to the fact that Isabella Rossilini is in the cast and the soundtrack is by Lynch stalwart Angelo Badalamenti!) Film fans who also happen to be LITERATE (i.e., those who actually READ) will eat this one up.

One of the Finest Films Ever.......2003-01-05

Disregard all the negative reviews! Whatever Mr. Mailer's intentions, this film contains some of the funniest dialogue in cinematic history! Nearly every line is a classic. Examples:

"Lonnie's dead! Jessica is dismembered! Patty Loraine's off on some kind of a toot! And I'm about to go into business with you two unbelievable sleazos!" - Wardley Meeks

Police chief: "I believe that you love your wife."
Ryan O'Neal: "No more than twice a week."

O'Neal: "What makes surgeons happy? To cut people up and get paid for it. That's happiness."

In addition to the dialogue, Tough Guys Don't Dance boasts fine photography that evokes the light and atmosphere of Provincetown, some of the wackiest characters this side of a John Waters comedy, and a labyrinthe plot that rivals Chandler's The Big Sleep in terms of complexity and utter confusion.

Customer Reviews:

Billy Halop leads the pack with little tough guys........2004-02-20

It began with DEAD END (1937), The boys came from the Broadway play and landed their first starring role togther. After Dead End (1937), First National Pictures picked them up for CRIME SCHOOL (1938) and they made many more films for over 20 years until 1958. In 1938, Billy Halop brought along Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell and Bernard Punsly in Little Tough Guy (1938). This spun off into another film series with a total of nine films for Universal from 1938-1943. They also made film serials for the new Universal: JUNIOR G-MEN (1940), SEA RAIDERS (1941) and JUNIOR G-MEN of the AIR (1942). In 1940, Leo Gorcey and Bobby Jordan bacame The East Side Kids for Monogram Pictures Corp. for 22 films from 1940-1945. Huntz Hall and Gabriel Dell would later join the new gang. Then in 1946, The East Side Kids bacame The Bowery Boys and made 48 more films from 1946-1958. Now back to Billy Halop and Bernard Punsly. They continued with The Dead End Kids with The Little Tough Guys film series until they both said goodbye in MUG TOWN (1943). Billy Halop continued a film and television career, but getting parts was hard. In between acting jobs, Halop was a chef, electric dryer saleman and in his final years was a male nurse. He played "Bert Munson" in he CBS tv series, "All in the Family" in 1972 and aired through 1977. In 1976, Billy Halop had a heart attack and passed away ending a 50-year career in show biz that started with radio in the 1920's. Bernard Punsly last film ever was MUG TOWN (1943). He became a gynocologist M.D. in Torrence ,California and recently passed away on January 20, 2004 as the last surviving Dead End Kid. Huntz Hall died January 30, 1999. Marjorie Main who was in DEAD END (1937) plays a role as Halop's mother in this film. She went on to do THE EGG AND I (1947) as "Ma Kettle" (which spawned into a new film series "Ma & Pa Kettle"). This film, Little Tough Guy is also David Gorcey's (Leo's younger brother) film debut.

Average customer rating:

Quite possibly one of the funniest Miike movies

Osaka Tough Guys
Starring: Tadashi Satô , Gajiro Satoh , Sei Hiraizumi , Kentarô Nakakura , and Yoshiyuki Omori
Director: Takashi Miike
Manufacturer: Arts Magic
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000EHT5GE
Release Date: 2006-03-28

Description

Regarded as a milestone in cult maestro Takashi Miike's career, Osaka Tough Guys (Naniwa Yuukyôden) is the bridge between his work as an apprentice director and as an auteur. It also displays the two distinct themes that he would explore in later work. Here, bonded together for the one and only time is an affectionate look at late youth that he would later develop (Young Thugs) together with the magic realist dive into yakuza life and rituals (Full Metal Yakuza, Fudoh) for which he is best known. When two street punks, Makoto and Eiji, run out of drinking money, it seems they have no choice but to look for work. But when they find an extremely well-paid job that requires no experience, they don't realize that they're about to be conscripted into the yakuza!

Customer Reviews:

Quite possibly one of the funniest Miike movies.......2006-10-09

Eiji and Makoto are two juvenile delinquents, after "voluntarily" leaving school they find themselves strapped for cash in need of jobs. They believe they find what they're looking for in an ad that pays great with little experience necessary, and most of their exploits therein deals with trying to adjust to this new world with some very strong (and peculiar) personalities.

Miike is known for his yakuza films, and Osaka Tough Guys is no exception, though they are represented in a deprecating, mocking, at times ridiculous manner. This gang is down on their luck, they've been hit hard by the anti-boryokudan laws and have not quite adapted to making money in this new world. They have a lot of great ideas (selling panties, blackmailing old ladies, extortion), with very little pay off. They are living in a world that no longer finds them threatening, where the katagi aren't afraid of standing up for themselves. This contrast has a powerful message, it speaks to the changing attitude toward yakuza members and within the gang itself, as it has to stoop to increasingly degrading and nefarious activities just to make ends meet.

But really, the movie gives off the impression as complete ham. Many of the scenes are random and never explained, the opening scene being one of them, but if you resist the urge to require that everything make sense in a movie, you can sit back and laugh. I was laughing out loud pretty much from the time the movie opened to the time credits rolled. If you enjoyed Miike's Happiness of the Katakuris, you'll probably enjoy this movie as well.

It's crude, but there is none of the cringe-worthy violence and torture scenes that make Audition difficult to watch. Don't watch if you can't tolerate vomit, molestation and manties, otherwise I recommend this movie to any Miike fan.

Average customer rating:

Toughing it out

Tough Guys 10 Pack
Starring: Charles Bronson , Lee Van Cleef , and Jackie Chan
Manufacturer: Mill Creek Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0007Z0OD6
Release Date: 2005-04-01

Product Description

10 Great Tough Guys Movies. Tough Guys Classics is hours of beat 'em up, knock 'em down fun.   Digitally Remastered onto 4 DVDs

Specifications:

4 DVD Disc set
Region 0, NTSC
Full Frame

Audio - Engli

Customer Reviews:

Toughing it out.......2007-05-30

TOUGH GUYS 10 PACK features the more obscure work by some of our best-known action film stars. Several genres are represented in this DVD set, including: crime, martial arts, adventure and war films. TOUGH GUYS is no longer available in the MILL CREEK ENTERTAINMENT catalog.

'
The following alphabetized program list includes viewer poll ratings for each film (based on a 1 to 10 scale), plus original theatrical titles (where indicated), country of origin (if other than USA), years of release and principal actors.

(4.8) Black Fist (1975) - Richard Lawson/Dabney Coleman/Philip Michael Thomas
(2.7) The Black Godfather (1974) - Rod Perry/Damu King
(5.2) Cold Sweat (Italy/France/Belgium-1970) - Charles Bronson/Liv Ullman/James Mason/Jill Ireland
(4.6) Desert Commandos (Italy/France/W Ger-1967) - Ken Clark/Howard Ross
(4.0) Fighting Mad ("Death Force") (USA/Philippines-1978) - Jayne Kennedy/Leon Isaac Kenndey (both minor roles)
(4.3) Funeral For An Assassin (USA/S Africa-1977) - Vic Morrow
(5.9) Grand Duel (Italy/France/W Ger/Monaco-1972) - Lee Van Cleef
(5.3) Mr. Scarface (Italy/W Ger-1976) - Jack Palance
(???) Ten Fingers of Death - (No info available-- may have Jackie Chan in it)
(2.9) Trained To Kill: USA ("The No Mercy Man") (1973) - Steve Sandor/Richard X. Slattery

Average customer rating:

Why people get "Tough Guys" and not "Tough Guise"
Tough Guys

Tough Guys

Manufacturer: Madacy Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000784WM2
Release Date: 2005-02-15

Customer Reviews:

Why people get "Tough Guys" and not "Tough Guise".......2007-05-25

I also have been searching for a way to purchase "Tough Guise." That film, however, is technically unavailable for individual purchase. On two websites I have searched that exhibit documentary, social awareness, etc. films, Jackson Katz's "Tough Guise" is only available for those purchasing from a high school or other institution. :(

Tough Guys.......2007-02-22

Hi: I twice ordered the film "Tough Guise" not "Tough Guys" and on both occasions I was sent the latter. I am not impressed.

Average customer rating:

In the spirit of the last reviewer, I will go ahead and rank these. Or I guess that I can try
HI-YAAAAHHH!!! Prepare for a cheesy attack!
Cheesy dialogue, bad acting, fun action

Tough Guys of Kung Fu (10pc)
Starring: Various
Manufacturer: Bci / Eclipse
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00007G1UM
Release Date: 2002-12-03

Customer Reviews:

In the spirit of the last reviewer, I will go ahead and rank these. Or I guess that I can try.......2006-07-16

#1-KILLING MACHINE-I have never been a fan of Sonny Chiba until seeing this movie. A true classic. I had to buy the real version of this called Shorinjo Kenpo. In that version, I would have to say it is one of my favorite movies ever. So really cannot recommned this collection just based on that, but still almost worth it.

#2-MILITANT EAGLE- I found this to be very hard to follow movie, but after watching it a couple more times, I finally get it and enjoy the final fight even more. The finale, just so you know, epic. And the picture quality is pretty bad and full screened, just like all the movies in this collection.

#3-DRAGON ON FIRE- a badly made kung fu movie, but the best i have ever seen of godfrey ho. He has an all star cast and makes a very watchable movie. I highly suggest watching this just to see how bad of a director Godfrey Ho is.

#4-THE CRIPPLED MASTERS-this is a pretty bad kung fu movie. Not one of the worst, but the story is just pitiful. However watching the cripples fight was sick and amazing. Watching this guy twirl a pole around this little stump that he has as an arm was pretty freaking cool.

#5-THE TATTOO CONNECTION-an all star cast in this, but the fu is decent at best.

#6-THE DEADLY KICK-this is one of the weirdest movies ever. Horrible, yes. Oringinal, entirely. I wish I could describe the badness for you, but you will have to see for yourself why I ranked it ahead of all these other great movies.

#7-FIST OF BRUCE LEE-the fists of bruce li, but it is the same thing right? So watch Bruce beat people up on his jungle gym. The final fight is actually somewhat enjoyable, but of course could never be compared with the deadly kick.

#8-NINJA TURF-a weird rip off of "the Warriors". The last reviewer is right, it is so good, it it bad. So it starts out with these gangs in high school. At least I think they were in high school. It is just that everybody looked around 30-45 years old so I was a little mixed up there. SO watch this movie before you die, I guarantee this one will finish you off.

#9-RAGE OF THE DRAGON-ah, unfortunaltely dragon lee gets the last 2 spots. It was hard to rank which movie was worse. But this one is not it. Carter wiong and his sunglasses technique was the sheeit. Also the sound effect were some of the all time best.

#10-the last movie I will not even name, it is a godfrey ho, dragon lee collaberation. If you make it to tyhe final fight, you have kung fu skills you did not even know about.

HI-YAAAAHHH!!! Prepare for a cheesy attack!.......2004-03-10

OK another Brentwood 10-movie, 5-disc set. You know what to expect: no frills versions of movies, not great quality but it's cheap, right? At least with Tough Guys of Kung Fu, most of these movies are straight from the martial arts ghetto, so you're not really losing anything here in terms of quality. From worst to best (I guess?!?):

(10) Rage of the Dragon. I can find very little to recommend this movie, with the exception of the brightly colored costumes. Oh yeah, when the main guy fights, instead of the usual cheesy dubbed in sound effects, there are very cheesy bleeping electronic effects. Enjoy.

(9) Militant Eagle. The beggar kids that followed the hero around were pretty funny. Other than that, this one was extremely boring until it got to the last couple of scenes. There were some really weird-looking opponents at the end, namely a big ogre-looking dude with a spiked club and a strange hermaphrodite (???) or eunuch person. I liked the last 15 minutes quite a bit, the rest of the movie, eh!

(8) Golden Dragon Silver Snake. Pretty standard Kung Fu Theater type material, the saving grace on this one is the humor. Lots of corny dialogue and the highlights include some egg fighting and some acoustic guitar-fu. Ridiculous.

(7) Fists of Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee had nothing at all to do with this, unless you count the resemblance of the lead actor to Bruce Lee for exploitation purposes. Lots of "borrowed" music: any movie that uses a crappy cover of Average White Band's "Pick Up the Pieces" as the theme song is OK by me. Undercover cop antics means fighting lots of people with weird hair.

(6) Dragon on Fire. More of the expected nuttiness, this time with a white-faced guy in a wheelchair as the main villain. It really gets going at the end when the wheelchair guy starts fighting. Hey the "Crippled Masters" would have killed 'im! HAHAHA!!!!

(5) Ninja Turf. Really bad 1980's Golan/Globus style martial arts nonsense. I would describe the idea as a cross between the 80's Ninja movies and "Tuff Turf." There are no ninjas in it, by the way, but there is one scene with breakdancing. Threadbare plot concerning a security agency that ends up fighting every gang in the L.A. area, apparently. Corny and terrible action scenes, at least there were a lot of them. I liked it because it was the only film in the set that was made in the U.S., so it stood out from the others. And it was bad enough to be really entertaining.

(4) Tattoo Collection. It's actually "Tattoo Connection" according to the movie itself, but I kind of like the misprinted title. It stars Jim Kelly, famous for "Black Belt Jones" and his supporting role in "Enter the Dragon." He brings a 70's blaxploitation sensibility to the table, which results in great lines like, "I've been known to be called the black six million dollar man!" Also, it is my well-researched opinion that "bast**d" is the most commonly used word in kung fu movies. Tattoo Connection uses this word more than any other movie I have seen, someone even calls a girl a bast**d! Check it out.

(3) Deadly Kick. I don't know anything about the people who did this movie, but it sure was entertaining. 2 kung fu experts trained by the same master go up against a syndicate bent on mass destruction. Some real weird scenes at times, especially the guy fighting with the blind girl. Tarantino should plagiarize this scene for his next Kill Bill sequel.

(2) Killing Machine. Hey it's Sonny Chiba, the best actor in martial arts, ever. He would be tough if he never lifted a finger. He lifts many fingers here as a Japanese WW2 vet who fights against Chinese oppression after the war. Bloody as hell. This made me want to get the 10-movie Sonny Chiba pack, AAGGHH the addiction continues.... So why is Sonny Chiba so cool? I think it's those eyebrows. I wish I had tough lookin eyebrows like that.

(1) The Crippled Masters. OK it was a great concept...dude gets his arms chopped off by an evil guy, then the same evil guy burns another guy's legs with acid and beats them until they look like last week's KFC. The twist here is that both actors are actually disfigured and they fight like there was no tomorrow. You have not lived until you see an armless man spinning a spear crazily around his head. This movie was unbelievable and I applaud both fighters who played the Crippled Masters. Brilliant stuff. Contains the great line, "If I am a ghost, would I be eating pig swill?"

So to sum it up, if you don't demand a large budget for your movies, and if you like kung fu, you are a prime candidate for this affordable 10-movie set. If you break down the price, you are paying less than the cost of a movie rental to actually own each movie. Killing Machine and The Crippled Masters alone make the set well worth it.

Cheesy dialogue, bad acting, fun action.......2003-12-12

If you remember fondly KUNG FU THEATER on USA Network on Sundays, this is the collection for you. The film quality is bad, the "acting" is barely deserving of the name, the dubbing is frequently unintentionally funny, and the kung fu is great fun to watch. This is definitely worth the money you are paying for it. The films range from about 1975 to 1986. Very good bang for the buck. The CRIPPLED MASTERS is worth half the price of the DVD set--how much more silly and fun can you get than two master of kung fu, one of whom has his arms cut off in the opening scene, the other who has no legs, fighting it out! Sick, silly, wacky fun.

Average customer rating:

Two Tough Guys
Starring: Antonio Resines , Elena Anaya , Rosa Maria Sardà , Jordi Vilches , and Manuel Alexandre
Director: Juan Martínez Moreno
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
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