Scorpion

Somewhere in the lackluster shell of this boring, undistinguished movie is a much better movie trying to get out. Oh, wait...that better movie is "Bullitt", which was already a classic, so this movie is entirely superfluous.

It's weird how all these "Crown International Picture" action releases make me long for the days of Cannon/Golan-Globus, who may have made this kind of genre action/martial arts movie with their frontal lobes firmly stuck in "neutral", but at least knew how to pace their scenes and pack them with delirious, cheesy silliness.

There are some decent individual performances here especially from the actor who plays the hero's partner. There are even some good setups and some nice framing shots.But the lead can't carry the movie. Think Chuck Norris without the charisma, and you've got poor Tonny T. He's not a complete stiff, but he's in over his head, and the director can't seem to help him. I feel bad for the guy - whatever potential he had, this movie buried his chances of ever improving as an actor.

Throw in some king size plot holes, some badly choreographed action sequence and some major failures of common sense in the screen play, add some leaden pacing and clinker ridden dialog, and you're left with an extremely forgettable movie.

Don't bother with "Scorpion" unless you are desperate for a movie fix.

So far, the majority of Crown International Pictures films I've watched have been sex comedies, and pretty much all of them have been sub-par. My next was SCORPION, a Crown action film, and I can report that it's as inept as their comedies. This comes across as a cheap knock-off of a Chuck Norris movie lacking the pure entertainment value of a Cannon film from the same era.

The extraordinarily wooden Tonny Tulleners stars in the titular role, playing a secret agent used by the American government. When personal tragedy hits he goes on a killing spree to bring down the terrorist group responsible. What this all boils down to is a mixture of dodgy emoting and exposition scenes mixed with some very lacklustre action bits.

Tulleners obviously has some skill in the martial arts stakes but the fight scenes are so slow and laborious that any true fan of the martial arts will merely laugh at them. I can't help but feel that SCORPION could have been a good film, somehow, despite the deficiencies of the budget; it has potential, perhaps. But in the hands of documentary maker William Riead it's a really inept movie.

The film features a Martial Artist who beat Chuck Norris in a match in real life. He isn't too much of a actor, but he could've been perfect direct-to-video star if he started in the 90's. The film has bad lighting and low production value, but I guess all the money went to the supporting actors (Don Murray, who doesn't do "B" movies and Robert Logan who just did the 20th century Fox film A NIGHT IN HEAVEN the same year) and several locations isn't cheap either(Spain/Hawaii/California). Original plot centers Tony as a agent protecting a terrorist, and his childhood friends gets killed, so now it's personal! Music seems to feel as if it was put in later by Crown International. This film opened in Seattle with no ads as a second feature in several drive-in, but it opened wide in Los Angeles. Recommended to action fans.

"When Terror Rules, Only One Man Can Break Through!" The one and only Tonny Tulleners stars in his one and only movie role as Agent "Steve Woods"and gives a appropriately wooden performance, but what else would you expect? He is not an actor. He is a karate champion who beat Chuck Norris at least once in real life. His agent codename is "Scorpion"....you don't want to get stung by this guy! The action "kicks off" in Spain when Tonny injects himself into a barroom brawl. We don't know why but he looks cool with his killer 'Stache and a nylon jacket with brown bell bottoms and boots. Then after some confusing and unnecessary location changes, hopping from Spain to Holland to Hawaii and finally settling in L.A., the story begins.

In a plot that is as relevant today as it was in 1986 (when the movie was made), terrorists take over an airplane and only one man can stop them: Larry Storch. No! It's "Scorpion" of course you fool! In an actual plot point, Woods' boss, who looks a lot like Phil Rizzuto, tells him to wear shorts when boarding a plane that terrorists have taken over. It is still on the runway and filled with hostages. The reasoning is that the terrorists will see he is not carrying a gun. Woods takes his pants off and changes into some white short-shorts. Little did the terrorists know, his fists n' feet are the real weapons. Most of the hijackers are dispatched in short order. The main baddie, "Faued" is left alive and then a 90 minute cat & mouse game ensues....Tonny style.

A creepy looking blond guy and his black partner stalk Tonny and eventually get beat up by him, and unfortunately in one of the many melees, his partner and childhood friend kicks the bucket. There is an emotional flashback of Tonny and his friend in a park where they demonstrate their strength and try to push over a statue. This strength wasn't enough to save his friend later in life. Tonny is very broken up about it. He is tough man, but he has a soft heart (and a soft voice to match). His new partner inexplicably carries around a wooden recorder and starts playing an annoying tune. This clown can't live up to Tonny's fallen partner.

A highlight of the film is the rockin' music. It was probably made by a guy playing the keytar and making a wicked "Keytar face". Tulleners beats up the bad guys with quiet dignity and grace.

Get beat by Tonny once tonight with this classic!

Comeuppance Review by Ty & Brett

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An American secret agent called Scorpion is tasked with protecting a terrorist who is set to testify against his cohorts. The job goes wrong and Scorpion's childhood friend is killed in the process, he now has a personal agenda and hunts down the killers.

Scorpion is a typically low budgeted Crown International Pictures release. It's a martial arts action flick which is extremely generic. That said I did find it consistently entertaining so it gets pass marks from me. It does have a fairly non-descript leading man, who it seems wasn't really an actor to begin with and didn't go on to make any other films. Yet the film does have a sprinkling of other people you may recognise from other b-movies, most surprisingly to me was seeing John Lazar – who played the indescribable Z-Man in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) – appear in an utterly minor role late in the film. What a waste! Anyway, it was at least nice to see him pitch up in something else. Anyhow, for what it's worth the action in this one takes place in Spain and Hawaii, as well as mainland USA. There are quite a few fights and guns to ensure things remain interesting. All things considered, I thought this one was pretty good fun. Oh and I also thought the poignant 'shoving over the statue' scene was pretty funny.