{"id":4996,"date":"2014-09-27T13:53:57","date_gmt":"2014-09-27T12:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/?p=4996"},"modified":"2015-06-02T01:08:22","modified_gmt":"2015-06-02T00:08:22","slug":"electric-boogaloo-the-wild-untold-story-of-cannon-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2014\/09\/27\/electric-boogaloo-the-wild-untold-story-of-cannon-films\/","title":{"rendered":"Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Electric<\/a>
Electric Boogaloo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

\nFormat:<\/B> Cinema

\nRelease date:<\/B> 5 June 2015

\nDistributor:<\/B> Metrodome

\nDirector:<\/B> Mark Hartley

\nAustralia 2014

\n107 mins\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Australian exploitation fan boy par excellence, Mark Hartley (Not Quite Hollywood<\/i><\/a>, Machete Maidens Unleashed!<\/i>) wraps his schlock doc trilogy with this suitably energetic ride through the highs and lows of Israeli film moguls Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus\u2019s career \u2013 otherwise known as the bold, brash forces of nature behind infamous B-movie studio Cannon Films in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

The pair \u2013 already the subject of Hilla Medalia\u2019s Cannes-feted and officially sanctioned doc The Go-Go Boys<\/i> \u2013 are notable in their absence from Hartley\u2019s film (Globus and the late Golan reportedly wished to torpedo his efforts with Medalia\u2019s project), and appear only in archive material (much of it drawn from the BBC). But Hartley rises to the challenge admirably. Talking heads \u2013 of which there are a staggering 80 in total \u2013 fire off anecdotes and sound bites with increasingly gleeful abandon, in an enjoyable ride through one of Hollywood\u2019s more bizarre eras. <\/p>\n

Oddly, there is scant mention (or analysis) of the cousins prior to their film association in Israel, nor does Roger Corman (whom Golan briefly worked with) appear to warrant a nod. The trash traders\u2019 about-turn later in Cannon\u2019s life, chasing credibility by pursuing the likes of John Cassavetes, Peter Bogdanovich and even Jean-Luc Godard, is also frustratingly not explored beyond a quick, cursory glance.<\/p>\n

But what Hartley\u2019s film does do, it does rather well. The absurdity of Cannon\u2019s low-brow, worry-about-the-plot later mentality, its shameless pre-sales for so-called star-led vehicles that existed in poster form only, its Gargantuan output (up to 50 films a year) and appetite (buying up over 40 per cent of Britain\u2019s film exhibition in one fell swoop) allowed its uncouth stars to shine briefly but brightly. Although few mourned the loss of the pair\u2019s studio \u2013 brought down by box-office bombs such as Superman IV<\/i> and Masters of the Universe<\/i>, amidst reports of false accounting \u2013 many of those interviewed clearly look back with bemused fondness at what went on.<\/p>\n

Cannon, as several note in the film, evidently provided a blueprint of sorts for the likes of Miramax (and for recent bone-head franchises like The Expendables<\/i>) to flourish. It made a star out of Chuck Norris (who is not interviewed), discovered Jean-Claude Van Damme and set a precedent with Sylvester Stallone (both of whom are also absent), with the latter scoring an absurdly inflated pay cheque, in excess of $US10million, for the doomed arm-wrestling romp Over the Top<\/i>. At one point, Cannon even owned the rights to Spider-Man<\/i>, Superman<\/i> and the Captain America<\/i> franchises, despite its shocking appetite for sexual violence (brazenly on show notably in Michael Winner\u2019s Death Wish<\/i> sequels).<\/p>\n

Golan and Globus\u2019s eventual falling out (and subsequent reconciliation) is less effectively visualized here (see Medalia\u2019s film for that). But otherwise, Hartley\u2019s geek-fuelled journey down memory lane (with its generous serving of clips in tow) delivers a vibrant, often frenetic look at a remarkable pair of film-fawning men who were \u2013 if nothing else \u2013 determined to take on Hollywood at its own game. That they ultimately failed (or were, at least, kept firmly on the periphery) only adds to the fascinating nature of their screen story. Some detail may be lacking (and the story is hardly \u2018untold\u2019), but a \u2018wild\u2019 ride it most certainly is. Cinephiles and Cannon obsessives should form a line here.<\/p>\n

Ed Gibbs<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n

This review is part of our TIFF 2014 coverage<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An energetic ride through the highs and lows of the infamous 1980s B-movie studio.
\nReview by Ed Gibbs<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,1,6],"tags":[225,544,1041,856,1044,1042,1040,1043,427],"class_list":["post-4996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-check-it-out","category-cinema-releases","category-festivals","tag-australian-cinema","tag-b-movie","tag-cannon-films","tag-exploitation","tag-jean-luc-godard","tag-john-cassavetes","tag-mark-hartley","tag-peter-bogdanovich","tag-roger-corman"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/purUP-1iA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":553,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2009\/03\/01\/not-quite-hollywood\/","url_meta":{"origin":4996,"position":0},"title":"Not Quite Hollywood","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"March 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! is music promo director Mark Hartley's affectionate no-holds-barred-pedal-to-the-metal salute to Ozploitation cinema, charting its rise in the late 60s, fall in the late 80s, and recent resurgence with the likes of Wolf Creek (2005). 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After heist movies, blaxploitation and martial arts actioners, now it's the turn of the 70s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cinema releases"","block_context":{"text":"Cinema releases","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/cinema-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":417,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2008\/09\/04\/inglorious-bastards\/","url_meta":{"origin":4996,"position":3},"title":"INGLORIOUS BASTARDS","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"September 4, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The recent DVD release of Italian 70s exploitation movie Inglorious Bastards is not exclusively due to its artistic merits but also to the publicity given to the film by that cinema archaeologist, Quentin Tarantino, who is currently working on a remake. 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Review by Sarah Cronin","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Prisoner Scorpion 1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/Female-Prisoner-Scorpion-1-594x322.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/Female-Prisoner-Scorpion-1-594x322.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/Female-Prisoner-Scorpion-1-594x322.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4996"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5102,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4996\/revisions\/5102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}