Kino Lorber
It is Sam Makin’s (Fred Ward) funeral after having been killed in the line of duty as a Brooklyn cop, but Sam is not dead
Rather he has instead been recruited by the top-secret organization CURE to be their latest top assassin, whether he wants to or not.
A confused and disgruntled Sam is sent to expand on his skills as a cop and former Marine with Korean martial arts master Chiun (Joel Grey) before he can be unleashed into the field under his new moniker – Remo Williams.
Thus, the adventure begins, but while a trilogy was planned, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins underwhelmed so severely at the box office that the two other installments were scrapped altogether.
This is not because the film’s narrative or spectacle is bad in and of itself, however, in an action landscape that had the likes of Magnum, P.I. and Knight Rider’s family friendly serial format on the small screen, and the muscular mayhem of Stallone’s Rambo and Schwarzenegger’s Commando on the big screen, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins struggled to find its audience due to it utilizing violent set pieces with spectacular stunts while also trying to remain witty and light-hearted, landing it squarely in between the two types of action audiences of the time.
None of this is due to leading man Ward turning in a poor performance, as he is not only comfortable with the physically taxing nature of such a role, he also makes for a compelling action hero thanks to his charisma and physicality in itself, and it is rather due to the film wanting to be both jovial and hard-hitting all at once, leaving it tonally ambiguous in a manner, which, ironically, fans of the film will cite as its strength, whereas others will consider it its downfall.
Naturally, more than 40 years on, there is an entirely different elephant in the room, namely the casting of Grey as Chiun.
With the studio claiming that no suitable Korean actors were available to audition at the time, and while Grey shares a great chemistry with Ward, this does not take away from the fact that this practice is no longer looked upon with such nonchalance four decades on from 80s casting standards, which would have been the last thing on an 80s movie-goer’s mind, but it is due to this casting practice perpetuating the formula going back to the likes of Mickey Rooney’s deeply racist yellowface performance in Breakfast at Tiffany’s that this at minimum needs to be pointed out, so that potential new viewers can make an informed choice as to whether they feel comfortable watching the film or not.
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins never got its continuation nor conclusion of the trilogy Ward was contracted for, but the solitary entry still manages to leave a mark thanks to being well-choreographed action caper of the 1980s that offers several impressive action sequences that are no less daunting today than they were in 1985, a charismatic titular hero unlike most of his 80s action hero ilk, and while the discourse surrounding Grey’s casting has increasingly become the enduring legacy of the film, it certainly still has its audience among fans of 80s action cinema who like to revisit the box office failures of yesteryear and view them from a different lens than the one that dismissed them back when they were originally released.
For fans of the film, this release is filled with a large amount of supplemental features including multiple audio commentaries, featurettes, a radio spot, and theatrical trailer.
Verdict 4 out of 10.
