Iโve been catching up on two involuntary omissions in my Andrew Davis collection โ the Chuck Norris Action-Thriller ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ (๐ญ๐ต๐ด๐ฑ) and ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ถ๐ด, ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ (๐ญ๐ต๐ต๐ฑ), starring Andy Garcia. I say involuntary, because these titles have been quite difficult to track down, and not for lack of trying.
Iโll circle back to Chuck and Andy later in this piece, first letโs talk about Davis.
I first became aware of Davis when I saw ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ด๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ (๐ญ๐ต๐ต๐ฏ) more than three decades ago. At the time, we had what was called the riksbioscoop in Amsterdam. โriksโ is Dutch slang for โrijksdaalderโ, local currency equivalent to about three dollars. The name referred to the price of admission, which was of course a bargain compared to regular movie theaters. The riksbioscoop could afford to offer these low prices because they reran blockbusters in a so-called second theatrical window, two to three months after initial release. In todayโs streaming-dominated world, this particular window has become premium pay for home entertainment, bypassing cinemas completely.
But I digress.
I saw ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ด๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ for three bucks in the riksbiocoop and was completely blown away. I was already a fan of Harrison Ford after growing up with Star Wars and Indiana Jones, and ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ด๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ made me an instant admirer of Davis as well. If there was such a thing as a gold standard for the Action-Thriller genre, it would be this film, ๐๐ถ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ (๐ญ๐ต๐ด๐ด) and ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ (๐ญ๐ต๐ต๐ฐ).
It was only after ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ด๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ that I discovered ๐จ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ (๐ญ๐ต๐ต๐ฎ). I wasnโt a huge fan of Steven Seagal, but when I found out that Davis directed this Die-Hard-on-a-Battleship, I couldnโt get to the video store fast enough. ๐จ๐ฆ led to me finding out about ๐ก๐ถ๐ฐ๐ผ a.k.a. ๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ (๐ญ๐ต๐ด๐ด), and suddenly everything clicked โ Davis had helped kickstart Seagalโs movie career!
After ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ด๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ, Davis was fully on my radar. I remember being very excited about ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป (๐ญ๐ต๐ต๐ฒ) after seeing the promo which featured Keanu Reeves on a motorbike being chased by a giant explosion. This was right around the time the game-changing trailer for ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ (๐ญ๐ต๐ต๐ฒ) had come out, so big booms had become the norm for marketing campaigns. I liked ๐๐ฅ, but it wasnโt on the level of ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ด๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ.
In โ98 I fulfilled my childhood dream of coming to America, when I found a job working as a dishwasher at an all-boys camp in Eagle River, Wisconsin. There wasnโt much to do in Eagle River, except for drinking beer and going to the movies. Fortunately, 1998 was a formidable year for cinema, so I saw many.
A standout was Davisโ ๐๐ฅ follow-up ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ (๐ญ๐ต๐ต๐ด), a loose remake of Hitchcockโs ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ (๐ญ๐ต๐ฑ๐ฐ). I personally can never get enough of Michael Douglas playing a narcissistic billionaire, so this was right up my alley.
And speaking of narcissistic characters โ ever since I first discovered him in ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ถ๐๐ผโ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ (๐ญ๐ต๐ต๐ฏ), I was eager to see Viggo Mortensen play another shady lowlife. Iโm sorry, but Mortensen just has a knack for playing neโer-do-wells, and the deliciously deceptive David Shaw in ๐๐ฃ๐ certainly is one of โem.
I guess it was inevitable that Davis, who by the turn of the century had become one of Hollywoodโs hottest directors, would at some point team up with Tinseltownโs biggest star โ Arnold Schwarzenegger. That eventually happened with ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ (๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ), a pretty dark tale about a firefighter who goes after the people behind an act of terror that killed his family. ๐๐ is a solid film, but itโs one of the very few in Schwarzeneggerโs oeuvre that I havenโt seen a gazillion times. That says it all, I guess.
Davis last two feature films before he disappeared from the Hollywood scene, were ๐๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐ (๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฏ) and ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป (๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฒ). I havenโt seen either in a while, but the quality is always there in Davisโ pics. Especially ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป, an Action-Thriller about a traumatized US Coast Guard rescue swimmer (Kevin Costner) who takes a shine to a cocky rookie (Ashton Kutcher) really floats my boat, so to speak.
Now that Iโve finally seen Chuck Norrisโ ๐๐ผ๐ฆ, it seems to me that this film was more or less a dry run for ๐ก๐ถ๐ฐ๐ผ. Not only is the storyline very similar, much of the cast and crew reappears as well. The most notable recurring character is Henry Silva, the venerable actor who plays the big baddie in both pics. ๐๐ผ๐ฆ is just a very well-made Eighties Action-flick that was unfortunately overshadowed by the more high-profile entries of that era.
๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐, Davisโ only attempt at Comedy to date, is a bit of an outlier in his filmography. Garcia plays twin brothers Ruben and Robby who find themselves clashing over their recently deceased adoptive motherโs estate. Davis wrote the script himself, and the result is a charming but pretty chaotic hotchpotch. Still โ Joe Pantoliano, Alan Arkin, Rachel Ticotin and two Andy Garcias are never not engaging.
Davis hasnโt directed a movie since 2006, and I always wondered what happened to his career. Turns out that the Chicago native was actually co-authoring a novel titled Disturbing the Bones with acclaimed writer Jeff Biggers. According to IMDb, Davis is simultaneously developing this fascinating story about a Chicago detective and a young female archeologist who accidentally stumble upon a geopolitical conspiracy into a feature film. Sounds like a return to his Action-Thriller roots to me, I canโt wait.
So, what happened to the riksbioscoop? Unfortunately, the concept ultimately couldnโt compete with the rise of Pay TV and streaming platforms. The cinema disappeared, and the building briefly housed a location of Planet Hollywood before finally remodeling into a casino.
For me however, it will always be the place where I saw a timeless film and discovered a great director.
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Twitter (X): Robin Logjes | The Screen Addict