The great Ernie Anderson voices this trailer for United Artists' asskicking action thriller VIGILANTE FORCE, which has the same plot as BUCKTOWN, which AIP released just one year earlier.
Shockingly, despite the cast, the director (George Armitage, who later made the excellent GROSSE POINTE BLANK), and the fact that it's a good movie that would be easy to sell to action fans, VIGILANTE FORCE is not on DVD. I don't think it was even on VHS, though I may be wrong about that. The version I have is recorded from a TNT telecast many years ago.
Gene Corman, brother of Roger, produced this exciting though implausible actioner that stars "dynamic young star" Jan-Michael Vincent (AIRWOLF) as a tractor salesman in a rural Southern California community that has been overrun by rowdy oil riggers that have brought violence, drunkenness, disorder, gambling and murder to the formerly quiet town. The police--at least the ones who haven't been killed by bank robbers--aren't equipped to handle the situation, so the town enlists Vincent to recruit his brother Kris Kristofferson (A STAR IS BORN), a Vietnam War veteran, to keep the peace. Kris agrees to come home and brings his war posse with him, including Shelly Novack (THE F.B.I.), Charles Cyphers (HALLOWEEN) and Carmen Argenziano (THE HOT BOX). Soon, Kris discovers that being a cop is chump change, and decides to take over the town for himself. Oh, he does his job alright. There's little crime left in town...that is, aside from his own major crime ring that pits brother against brother. The scrumptious Victoria Principal, later DALLAS' prime hottie, plays Jan's ill-fated lady.
VIGILANTE FORCE is a good movie, very well paced with plentiful action sequences and explosions. Both Kristofferson and Vincent were major Hollywood players at the time, and they perform believably as brothers. They're also often shirtless, and it's a nice change from today's movies to see action heroes built like normal human beings. No exploding pecs for these dudes.
If you pay attention, you'll see a pre-WKRP IN CINCINNATI Loni Anderson in the cast as "Peaches", along with Andrew Stevens, Brad Dexter from THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, David "Bosley" Doyle (CHARLIE'S ANGELS), Paul "You're mine for two months, Bender" Gleason (THE BREAKFAST CLUB), Antony Carbone, and Bernadette Peters.
VIGILANTE FORCE is an unassuming, straightforward action movie that deserves to be better known. My guess is that MGM owns it, so maybe there will at least be an MGM HD broadcast in the future.
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3 comments:
That's a pretty cool trailer. Love that jump out the window at the minute mark and falling to the ground.
Ernie Anderson could make anything sound good.
Great cast. Why isn't this on DVD?
Another George Armitage written film to see is DARKTOWN STRUTTERS, also produced by Gene Corman. It's sort of like a live action Ralph Bakshi cartoon.
Looking for HIT MAN, Armitage's Blaxploitation remake of GET CARTER - did it ever hit home video?
I don't believe HIT MAN was ever on VHS and it certainly isn't on DVD. It is a pretty good movie though.
I should write about DARKTOWN STRUTTERS one of these days, if I haven't already. Amazing!
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