Real Men
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| Real Men | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Dennis Feldman |
| Produced by | Martin Bregman |
| Written by | Dennis Feldman |
| Starring | James Belushi John Ritter Barbara Barrie Bill Morey Isabella Hofmann Isa Andersen Gail Barle Mark Herrier Dyanne Thorne |
| Music by | Miles Goodman |
| Cinematography | John A. Alonzo |
| Editing by | Malcolm Campbell Glenn Farr |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | September 1987 (USA) |
| Running time | 85 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Unknown |
| Gross revenue | $873,903 (USA)) |
| IMDb profile | |
'Real Men' is a 1987 comedy/sci-fi film starring James Belushi and John Ritter as the heroes: suave, womanizing CIA agent Nick Pirandello and milquetoast insurance agent Bob Wilson, respectively. The film did not do too well beacuse, at the time of it's release, United Artists was still feeling the backlash of the Heaven's Gate fiasco, and did not have enough money to provide plenty of advertising. As a result, the returns on the film were nil to little. It has since become a cult hit on video and DVD.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
CIA agent Pillbox (Ritter) has been negotiating with aliens (referred to as Ufoes) for seven years over a "good package" that would destroy a biological weapon accidentially dumped into the oceans by the boys in Washington D.C. and that would wipe out all life on Earth in five years. The Ufoes will trade us this for one thing... a glass of water. However, another item up for trade is a Big Gun that could destroy a whole planet. There is a faction within the CIA that wants us to trade for the Big Gun for use against the Russians (in typical intelligence style, forgetting that the gun will destroy the United States as well). During a practice run of the meeting with the Ufoes, Pillbox is assassinated by one of the CIA, and head Millard Cunard (Morey) decides to do something drastic: draft meek insurance agent Bob Wilson (Ritter again) and have him trained by experienced agent Nick Pirandello (Belushi) in order to meet with the aliens.
Nick shows up and saves Bob from an attempted assassination by the Russians (who are also interested in the Big Gun) which leaves his house destroyed. With his family relocated for their safety, Nick and the disbelieveing Bob must get to Washington by Friday in order to meet with the aliens and must overcome a variety of hilarious obstacles in order to do so.
[edit] The Critics Rave
All blurbs are from Rotten Tomatoes.
- "James Belushi and John Ritter make a great pair in this amusingly off-the-wall buddy comedy." - Chuck O'Leary, Fantastica Daily
- "A genuinely off-the-wall comedy. It is a science-fiction film – although it passed most of those in the genre completely by and was marketed as a light comedy. On the whole it is a very silly film – scenes with John Ritter racing around in the middle of gunfire and shooting people with his index finger while yelling “Bang!” is one such scene that stands out. However what the film does have is a sense of humour that is so way out that it ends up generating a silliness that sort of transcends itself... It’s a very silly film in many places, but not unappealingly so." - Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Film Review Database
[edit] Cult Following
While the film bombed in theaters, it found a cult following on its original CBS/Fox Video home video and laserdisc release that appreciated the film's sense of humor.
A bare bones DVD release came from MGM, who now owns United Artists on December 2, 2003, almost two months after the passing of star John Ritter. With its full-frame transfer and mono sound, it looks like a port of the laserdisc edition, with the only extra a theatrical trailer composed entirely of footage shot just for it of the two men talking about their lives and showing the differences between the two, and also contains the memorable tagline "They didin't ask to be partners. Only the CIA could come up with something that stupid." It didn't win over any of the old fans, but it intorduced a new generation to the exploits of Nick and Bob.
