Back to Back (1996) (TV)

Director:

Roger Nygard

Writers:

Lloyd Keith (writer)
Scott Nimerfro (writer)
(more)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

It's time to clean house

Plot:

An ex-cop finds himself caught up in a battle between Japanese mobsters and local gangland thugs and...

Cast

Michael Rooker	...	Bob Malone
Ryo Ishibashi	...	Koji
Danielle Harris	...	Chelsea
John Laughlin	...	Dussecq
Koh Takasugi	...	Hideo
Bobcat Goldthwait	...	Psycho
Vincent Schiavelli	...	Leonardo
Stephen Furst	...	Jimmy
Tim Thomerson	...	Thomas
Fred Willard	...	Loan Officer
Frank D'Amico	...	Delorenzo
Leland Orser	...	Wheelchair Guy
Jake Johannsen	...	Officer Jones
Yasushi 'Bert' Kojima	...	Joe Snapper
Michael Ray Miller	...	Deviant
John Hammil	...	Maitred
Bob Delegall	...	Sergeant Donahue
Scott Leva	...	Officer Williams
Steve Akahoshi	...	Officer Yamaoka
Jon Ross	...	Officer Tucker
Michael Caradonna	...	Chad
Ken Lesco	...	Getaway Driver
Nick Dimitri	...	Vince
Michael Wheels Parise	...	Little Eddie
Geoff Bolt	...	Limo Driver
Randall Huber	...	Officer Bryant
Ron MacLachlan	...	Officer Ross
Steve Peri	...	Elvis
Robert Belenchia	...	Goon
Tony Jonak	...	Goon
John McGarr	...	Goon
Justin Ferrari	...	Goon (as Rob Mohoff)
Tim Shea	...	Goon
Peter Mele	...	Lafayette
Tom Linka	...	Tape Operator Officer
Hi Border	...	Waitress
Christy Harrell	...	Joe Snappers Girl #1
Dawn Morgan	...	Joe Snappers Girl #2
Peggy Vesperman	...	Joe Snappers Girl #3
Eddie Frierson	...	Memphis DeeJay
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Sarkisian	...	Goon

Directed by
Roger Nygard

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Lloyd Keith		writer
Scott Nimerfro		writer (as Lloyd Keith)
Roger Nygard		writer

Produced by
W.K. Border	....	producer
Thomas Calabrese	....	line producer
Takashige Ichise	....	executive producer (as Taka Ichise)
Aki Komine	....	producer
Michael Leahy	....	co-producer
Joel Soisson	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Walter Werzowa

Cinematography by
Mark W. Gray

Film Editing by
Dawn Hoggatt		(co-editor)
Roger Nygard

Casting by
Mark Tillman

Production Design by
Anthony R. Stabley

Art Direction by
Bryan Felty
Teresa Visinare

Set Decoration by
Lisa K. Sessions

Costume Design by
Wendy Benbrook

Makeup Department
Kenneth Michael Beck	....	hair stylist
Roberta Greenwood	....	assistant hair stylist
Roberta Greenwood	....	assistant makeup artist
Constance Hall	....	hair stylist
Constance Hall	....	key makeup artist
Pamela Roth	....	assistant hair stylist
Pamela Roth	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Thomas Calabrese	....	unit production manager
Jennifer Lane	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Steve Buhai	....	assistant director: second unit
Thomas Burke	....	first assistant director
Matthew Morris	....	second unit director
Josh Oliver	....	second assistant director
Robin Solo	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Joe Arnold	....	on-set dresser
Chris Davis	....	set dresser
Brendan C. Fenton	....	set dresser
Clifford Lane	....	property master (as Cliff Lane)

Sound Department
Charles Bono	....	boom operator
Al Decker	....	sound designer
Kurt Kassulke	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mark Linden	....	sound designer
Paul Ratajczak	....	sound supervisor
Larry Scharf	....	sound mixer
John Taylor	....	boom operator
Knox White	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Erich Martin Hicks	....	special effects
Don Power	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Phillip Giles	....	digital effects supervisor
Jamison Scott Goei	....	digital animator

Stunts
Chino Binamo	....	stunts
Chuck Borden	....	stunt coordinator
Dan Bradley	....	stunt coordinator
Joe Bucaro III	....	stunts
Ken Clark	....	stunts
Doug Coleman	....	stunts
George B. Colucci	....	stunts
Scott Alan Cook	....	stunts
Christopher Doyle	....	stunts
Al Goto	....	stunts
Red Horton	....	stunts
Brett A. Jones	....	stunts
Tatsuro Koike	....	stunts
Frank Laufi	....	stunts
Leo Lee	....	stunts
Will Leong	....	stunts
Scott Leva	....	stunts
Irving E. Lewis	....	stunts
Dyanna Lynn	....	stunts
Dennis Madalone	....	stunts
Johnny Martin	....	stunts
'Wild' Bill Mock	....	stunts
Michael Papajohn	....	stunts
Pee Wee Piemonte	....	stunts
Rex Pierson	....	stunts
Laurence Todd Rosenthal	....	stunts
Rick Sawaya	....	stunts
Monty L. Simons	....	stunts
Gregg Smrz	....	stunts
Erik Stabenau	....	stunts
Chuck Waters	....	stunts
James Waters	....	stunts
Danny Wong	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Sean Antle	....	electrician
Kelly Baldwin	....	second assistant camera: second unit
Lisa Bonaccorso	....	second assistant camera: second unit
Dan Burback	....	key grip
Scott Connor	....	second assistant camera: second unit
Patrick Conrad	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Jon 'Scooter' Cousins	....	best boy grip
Erik Done	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Harris Done	....	director of photography: second unit
Scott Edelstein	....	gaffer: second unit
Anne Gentling	....	second assistant camera
Martin Hall	....	gaffer: second unit
Jerry Hill	....	Steadicam operator
Joe Hill	....	key grip: second unit
Brad Knopf	....	best boy electric
Sheri Lane	....	still photographer
Carlos Montaner	....	gaffer: second unit
Ben Ormand	....	camera loader
Anthony Q. Palmer	....	grip
Eric 'Jetson' Pfoutz	....	first assistant camera
Alan M. Rowe	....	gaffer: second unit
Lou Rubsamen	....	dolly grip
Anthony 'Spike' Simms	....	gaffer
Eric Zudak	....	electrician
Steve Zvorsky	....	electrician

Casting Department
Janiene Kuri	....	casting assistant
Debe Waisman	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Christina Mongini	....	wardrobe supervisor
Damita J. Roldan	....	wardrobe supervisor (as Damita Roldan)

Editorial Department
Carrie Ansell	....	assistant editor
Bob Fredrickson	....	color timer
Kirk M. Morri	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Melanie Miller	....	music clearance coordinator

Transportation Department
Dan O. Wiseman	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Chad Ferrin	....	production assistant
Howard Flaherty	....	stand-in
Jennifer Getzinger	....	script supervisor
Andrew Mark Leary	....	set production assistant
Ron Schmidt	....	production coordinator
Ron Cosmo Vecchiarelli	....	assistant production coordinator
Matthew Woody	....	location manager

Production Companies

• NEO Motion Pictures
• Ozla Productions

Distributors

• Alpha Media (2007) (China) (video) (VOD/IPTV)
• Blam Inc.

Also Known As:

Back to Back: American Yakuza 2

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence.

Runtime:

86 min | Argentina:97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Australia:MA | UK:18 | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Germany:18 | Portugal:M/12 (video premiere) | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

NEO Motion Pictures

Movie Connections:

Follows American Yakuza (1993)

Soundtrack:

Dancing To The Beat

Action movie with Comedy Cast

Michael Rooker is a decent actor, but he has no business being the lead except in a low budget movie. He really does not have much charisma. Ryo Ishibashi has a lot more screen presence, and sadly he is not really the main character. Most of the screen time goes to the brick-faced Rooker.

Danielle Harris (from the Halloween 4 and 5 movies) plays his daughter, and she is cute and entertaining but she is written as not being too smart and one of her dumb mistakes gets one of the main characters killed. Comedians Fred Willard, Bobcat Goldthwait, and Stephen Furst are here in interesting roles. Just watching what happens to these characters is priceless.

Vincent Schiavelli plays the Consigliare to the local Mafia Godfather, and it is hard to tell whether or not he is working the movie as a comedy. Tim Thomerson is also in this movie. He seems to be in every extremely low budget direct-to-video action movie. Thomerson is also in some low-budget comedies. Seeing so many comedians and comic actors in this film made it feel like a spoof. Is it a parody of a Yakuza movie? It is hard to tell at some points. There is certainly very little Yakuza action.

The supporting cast of Thugs and Goons is menacing and well cast. Some of these kinds of movies have Thugs that look like they work at the local Comic Book Store or as stock boys at Piggly-Wiggly. Overall this movie is very uneven. At some points it seems like a comedy or a parody. Then at other points it works as a good action movie. Then it sputters to an end. Without the contributions of Danielle Harris and Ryo Ishibashi this movie would rate a Zero in my humble opinion.