THE STORY: A school child (Brandon Lee) witnesses a gangland hit. Betrayed by witness safety, he’s recruited by a process drive headed by a no-nonsense cop (Powers Boothe) as a pawn, however little do they know he’s greater than capable of deal with himself in opposition to any of his foes.
THE PLAYERS: Starring: Brandon Lee, Powers Boothe, Tzi Ma & Nick Mancuso. Directed by Dwight H. Little.
THE HISTORY: The early nineties had been the heyday of the martial arts film star. Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme had been persistently churning out hits, so if they may change into icons, why not a man like Brandon Lee? He was film star good-looking, may transfer, was charismatic and will act. Oh yeah – he additionally occurred to be the son of the best Kung-Fu film star of all time, Bruce Lee.
“I wouldn’t want to refer to them as stepping stones. That seems to demean them. But I’m hoping they will get me to another place. I don’t think of this (`Rapid Fire’) as a stepping stone, but neither would I like to think it will be my bread and butter. I’d like to have the kind of career that would leave a wide body of work, like Mel Gibson, who does the `Mad Max’ and `Lethal Weapon’ films but can also step off and have credibility with `The Year of Living Dangerously’ or `Hamlet.’ ” – Brandon Lee Interview (1992)
After an aborted try at Hong Kong film stardom (the place Legacy of Rage oddly solid him as a gun-toting hero within the Chow Yun-Fats mannequin), Lee ecked out a no-budget direct-to-video actioner referred to as Laser Mission that helped get him observed. A supporting half as Dolph Lundgren’s associate within the gonzo actioner Showdown in Little Tokyo (which we love right here on JoBlo) was sufficient to propel him to main man standing with Speedy Fireplace.
To launch what they hoped could be a brand new star, twentieth Century Fox gave Speedy Fireplace a good price range and a powerful supporting solid of powerful man actors, together with Powers Boothe and Nick Mancuso. The critiques had been inexplicably poor, however even those that hated it acknowledged Lee was a star-in-the-making, regardless that the $14 million field workplace take was meager (it was an enormous hit on VHS). Lee, utilizing it as a stepping-stone, went on to make The Crow, a film which might have firmly established him as a star, when catastrophe hit and he was killed in an on-set taking pictures accident.
WHY IT’S GREAT: I used to be heartbroken when Brandon Lee died (in an incident the director of this film discovered inexplicable)– and at that time, I hadn’t even seen Speedy Fireplace. I used to be about eleven when it occurred, and this one hadn’t fairly made it to the Canadian model of HBO, The Film Community, which is the best way I normally bought my motion repair. Saturday nights at 9:30, proper after Dream On was when TMN would program the hardcore motion flicks, and I tuned in each week. I’d watch just about any actioner, from the most recent from Seagal and Van Damme (Stallone and Schwarzenegger would advantage a visit to the theater), to the occasional nice shock like Thomas Ian Griffith’s Extreme Power and the Pierce Brosnan bomb-romp Dwell Wire, to the decrease finish of the spectrum – DTV films with Lorenzo Lamas. Most of the time, my dad would be part of me, and the week Speedy Fireplace lastly premiered, I used to be psyched but in addition unhappy as a result of I knew that if I favored it, I’d by no means see one other film prefer it with Lee within the lead.
“Well, Brandon was such a natural star. He had that quality. He had the acting, the physicality, his dad was Bruce Lee. He had the whole make up to become a huge star and he would have been, I think, become a huge star had he not gotten killed. It was extremely sad what happened.” – Dolph Lundgren – Den of Geek interview
Certain sufficient, Speedy Fireplace kicked my ass, and even my past cynical about these sorts of flicks dad needed to admit it was respectable – principally because of Lee, who was a hell of an excellent main man. Speedy Fireplace has picked up a little bit of a cult following through the years. Nonetheless, few actually discuss it now, with a lot of the ink predictably going to The Crow (which I believe is a masterpiece) or Showdown in Little Tokyo for the gonzo, unintentional (?) homo-erotic vibe (it’s sort of a blast).
Speedy Fireplace, although, has all of it. Watch this and see what Brandon Lee as an motion star may need been. A giant movie buff, Lee knew his craft properly and had tons of artistic management right here. He cherished HK motion cinema and sprinkled in references to among the classics, like a quick motorbike scrap he took out of Jackie Chan’s Police Story. He wished John Woo to direct this so badly he couldn’t assist however throw in references to A Higher Tomorrow, The Killer and Laborious-Boiled. Lee and Woo collectively would have been epic, however the director, Dwight H. Little really did a terrific job. Little has at all times been underrated, together with his Steven Seagal film, Marked for Dying, additionally being top-notch (choose up his current memoirs right here).
It helps that the supporting solid is aces, with the late Powers Boothe getting one in every of his higher roles because the grizzled cop making an attempt to assist Lee’s Jake Lo get out of bother whereas additionally utilizing him as a pawn. He makes for a really cool Soiled Harry-style cop. I additionally dug Nick Mancuso because the smooth-talking Mafioso baddie, with him throwing in some nifty “Actor’s Studio” ticks to evoke a sadistic streak that offers him further menace.
BEST SCENE: There are loads of good ones, with two actually stable mano-a-mano bouts, one with the well-known Al Leong (the skulleted henchman who confirmed up in seemingly each eighties motion film) and the battle royale with Tzi Ma’s principal baddie. Pretty much as good as these are, I actually favored the best way Lee would tackle a roomful of foes, mixing in props like Jackie Chan, but in addition bringing out the firepower when given the chance (how a school child bought so good with weapons is rarely defined – however no matter). The sting operation gone unsuitable is the large motion spotlight for me, however there are many others.
PARTING SHOT: So far as I’m involved, Speedy Fireplace is the nice unsung motion basic of the 1990’s. Lee would completely have change into an iconic hero, and it’s an absolute tragedy that he by no means bought his second within the solar. Even nonetheless, he left behind a few nice films, and Speedy Fireplace is one which’s simply ready to be found.
