Hero and the Terror (1988)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

William Tannen

Writers (WGA):

Michael Blodgett (novel)
Dennis Shryack (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 August 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime

Tagline:

Heroes hit hardest.

Plot:

Danny O'Brien (Chuck Norris) is back in action fighting the notorious Simon Moon, also known as The Terror...

Plot Keywords:

Theater | Mayor | Serial Killer | Corpse | Hit With Rock

Cast

Chuck Norris	...	Danny O'Brien
Brynn Thayer	...	Kay
Steve James	...	Robinson
Jack O'Halloran	...	Simon Moon
Jeffrey Kramer	...	Dwight
Ron O'Neal	...	Mayor
Murphy Dunne	...	Theater Manager
Heather Blodgett	...	Betsy
Tony DiBenedetto	...	Dobeny
Billy Drago	...	Dr. Highwater
Joe Guzaldo	...	Copelli
Peter Miller	...	Chief Bridges
Karen Witter	...	Ginger
Lorry Goldman	...	Ginger's Manager
Christine Wagner	...	Doctor

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:15 | Finland:K-16 (cut) | Australia:M | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-18 | Norway:18 (video premiere)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Golan-Globus Productions

Trivia:

The last movie Steve James made with Menaham Golan and Yoram Globus, but not with the Cannon film company. That film was American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt (1989)

Quotes:

Man at food stand: [Danny O'Brien is undercover and acting like a short order cook when he gets an unsatisfied customer] These are the worst eggs I've ever had, man!
Danny O'Brien: Wait till you try the toast.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hot Fuzz (2007)

Soundtrack:

Two Can be One

More Like Hero and the Bore

I picked this film up from the local Family Video on sale for $1.50, which was probably the first sign it wasn't going to be good. Watching it with 2 friends, neither of them even wanted to finish it because of how awful this movie is. I, strangely, couldn't stop watching it. But this film is definitely a textbook case of how not to make a movie.

The plot is simple enough and sounds great: Chuck Norris has nightmares about a serial killer he put behind bars. The serial killer escapes and his nightmares begin to become reality once more. Serial murder, Norris, roundhouse kicks... this sounds like a great film.

And some of it is pretty good. The flashback scene where a man breaks a ladder with his teeth is intense, a scene where a van cascades off a cliff and gets crushed is amazing -- and I learned how to break out of prison using nothing more than Chapstick, gun powder and dental floss. But there is plenty wrong with this movie.

One: the editor is a moron. When making an action or suspense film, you have to keep the energy moving. There are far too many scenes that are not crucial to the plot left in this movie, slowing it down and distracting from the overall story. At least 10 minutes could have been cut and the pacing would have improved and the film would be slightly better. Two: The sound guy is a moron. Apparently somebody tried to film most of this movie in an area where you can't get decent sound, so most of the dialog is voiced over, killing the stereo and not lining up with mouths. Also, the music is far too dramatic in some scenes. Three: The casting director is a moron. They cast Billy Drago as a psychiatrist. Billy Drago is a great cult actor (from Brisco County, the Hills Have Eyes, and others) and would have made the proper serial killer or some sort of villain. His character is so vanilla that Drago's skills are wasted. Four: The writer is a moron. Two plots are in this film - the hunting of a serial killer and the romance between Norris and his pregnant girlfriend. Every time I saw that woman on screen, I wanted to claw my eyes out. And sure enough, she never figured into the other plot, making her story completely pointless.

Will I ever watch this again? Maybe. But unless they remaster this film at least a dozen times, you never should. Not recommended.