The Eric Roberts Collection: Megaboa (dir by Mario N. Bonassin)

Posted on April 22, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Bless the Asylum and their love of giant monster movies!

In 2021’s Megaboa, a group of college students accompany Dr. Malone (Eric Roberts) a field trip to a remote island. They’re on the island specifically to explore some caves and study some drawings. It’s time to have some fun with anthropology! But when Dr. Malone gets bitten by a venomous spider, a group of students go off in search of an orchid that can neutralize the venom. This eventually leads to them discovering that they’re not alone on the island. There’s also a giant snake, a megaboa if you will.

This is pretty much a typical Asylum film. Giant snakes, tank top-wearing heroines, and Eric Roberts hamming it up in his usual delightful fashion. “Far out!” Dr. Malone says when he first sees the giant snake and how can you not agree with him? Those who complain that the Asylum makes cheap movies are missing the point. The film may be cheap but they’re almost always fun as well. This one features a giant snake that is actually kind of cute and it also features a scene of someone shouting, “Get me out of here!” after being swallowed by the snake and how can you not enjoy that? It’s like a much more honest and self-aware version of Anaconda and, best of all, it’s got Eric Roberts delivering his lines with a twinkle in his eye. He knows better than to take any of this too seriously and hopefully, you do as well.

Megaboa is fun. It’s like the type of films that I used to look forward to watching on the SyFy channel. Get together with a group of your wittiest friends and watch it. Don’t be afraid to talk back to the movie. Don’t be afraid to laugh when the snake first shows up. Tell the characters when they’re doing something dumb, that’s the point of the film. Megaboa is pure entertainment.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

The Eric Roberts Collection: Strange Frequency (dir by Mary Lambert and Bryan Spicer)

Posted on April 21, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

2001’s Strange Frequency is an anthology film. Usually, I hate anthology films because it always seems like the viewer ends up with one good story and three mediocre ones. As well, the anthology format is one that sometimes seems to be specifically designed to bring out the worst tendencies in otherwise talented directors. Often times, they seem to treat the anthology format as a lark, an excuse to show off their technical mastery without really paying much attention to anything else. The results often feel thematically shallow.

Well, guess what? I liked Strange Frequency. It was a lot of fun. Each of the four stories mixed horror with music. The first story features two heavy metal fans (Erik Palladino and Danny Masterson) who, after a car accident, find themselves in a club where disco is played nonstop. For them, it’s Hell. For me, it sounds like a fun afterlife. (Yes, it’s not easy to watch Danny Masterson nowadays but he does suffer in this story.) The second story is about a middle-aged serial killer (Eric Roberts) who targets younger hitchhikers, specifically because he dislikes their taste in music. However, when he picks up a young grunge fan (Christopher Kennedy Masterson), he suddenly finds himself being targeted. It turns out that this hitchhiker targets old people who won’t shut up about Woodstock. They then meet an older man who has never forgiven the baby boomers for rejecting big band music. In the third story, a rock star (John Taylor) who enjoys destroying hotel rooms is confronted by a maid (Holland Taylor) who can literally clean up any mess. (“I want my headlines!” the rock star shouts as he realizes he’s never going to get credit for destroying his current room.) Finally, the fourth story stars Judd Nelson as an A&R man who has the ability to find up-and-coming stars but whose discoveries inevitably end up dying.

All three of the stories were well-done and genuinely clever. My favorite was the second story, which featured Eric Roberts giving an enjoyably unhinged performance as the Woodstock refugee with a hatred for Lollapalooza. The story was both clever and suspenseful and it actually had something to say about the cultural differences between the generations. As you get older, you really do come to hate whatever music came after the artists you grew up listening to. Eventually, all the Swifties will be in their 40s and 50s, wondering why the younger generation doesn’t appreciate good music about feelings.

Strange Frequency was a pilot for a series that aired on VH-1 in 2001. How come I don’t remember this show? The pilot was actually really good! Thank you to Australia’s own Mark V for telling me about this pilot and letting me know that it was on YouTube! Check it out if you get a chance.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

The Eric Roberts Collection: Best of the Best II (dir by Bob Radler)

Posted on April 20, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Eric Roberts, Phillip Rhee, Simon Rhee, and Chris Penn all return for more martial arts action in 1993’s Best Of The Best II!

In the years since the American team’s quasi-victory over the Korean team in the first Best Of The Best, Travis (Chris Penn) has fallen on hard times. While his former teammates, Alex (Eric Roberts) and Tommy (Phillip Rhee) attend to the day-to-day operations of running a martial arts studio in Las Vegas, Travis spends his time fighting in underground “colosseum” matches. These matches, hosted by Weldon Mardano (Wayne Newton), are modern-day gladiatorial contests where the fighters often battle to the death while a bunch of rich people watch and cheer. (We can tell they’re rich because they all wear tuxedos). “There are no rules!” the crowd shouts as Travis defeats opponent after opponent.

Travis is convinced that he can defeat the colosseum’s German champion, fearsome Gustave Brakus (Ralf Moeller). It turns out that Travis is wrong. Travis loses to Brakus and is promptly killed after the crowd starts to chant, “Die! Die! Die!” (In Brakus’s defense, he may have thought they were just chanting, “The! The! The!”) (Actually, don’t ask me how that works in Brakus’s defense. I really didn’t think that joke through.) Travis’s death is witnessed by Alex’s young son, Walter (Edan Gross). Travis, Walter, and Tommy go on the run, ending up at Tommy’s boyhood home. Tommy, it turns out, is half-Native American and his bitter uncle, James (Sonny Landham), trains Tommy and Alex for their inevitable fight against Brakus. Dae-han Park (Simon Rhee) also shows up, saying that he owes Tommy a debt for not killing him at the end of the previous film.

Best of the Best II is an improvement on the first film, if just because it doesn’t take itself seriously at all and it cheerfully embraces and celebrates the absurdity at the heart of the storyline. Just the fact that one of the film’s villains is played by Wayne Newton should tell you everything you need to know about this film’s style. This is a pure Vegas film, full of glitz and neon and plenty of tuxedos. Eric Roberts even wears a tux at the end of the movie. Just as in the first film, Roberts does most of the acting while Phillip Rhee supplies the action. Roberts is a bit less emotional in this film. If he spent the first film continually on the verge of tears, he spends the second one trying not to smile at the silliness of it all. Towards the end of the film, you can actually see him starting to laugh at Wayne Newton’s over-the-top performance and it’s actually kind of a nice moment. Don’t take this too seriously, the film seems to be saying, We’re not! Just enjoy the fights!

Best of the Best II is definitely an improvement over the first one, even if it is unfortunate that neither James Earl Jones nor Sally Kirkland returned. (Then again, if you were the Tony-winning, widely-celebrated, universally-beloved, and very much in-demand James Earl Jones, would you have returned?) Best of the Best II doesn’t take itself too seriously and, as a result, it’s far more entertaining than you might otherwise expect.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

The Eric Roberts Collection: Best of the Best (dir by Bob Radler)

Posted on April 19, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

“No!” James Earl Jones says towards the end of 1989’s The Best of the Best, his already deep voice made even more imposing by the use of slow motion.

“No, Tommy, no!” Eric Roberts joins in as he watches martial artist Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee) internally struggle with whether or not to strike a blow that will definitely kill his opponent and, if James Earl Jones is all gravitas and stern wisdom, Eric Roberts is all emotion and desperation.

The Best of the Best is a bit of an oddity, in that the script features just about every martial arts tournament cliche imaginable (right down to the other “bad” team having a history of killing people in the ring) but those cliches are all acted out by a surprisingly distinguished cast. I counted four Oscar nominees (and one winner) in the cast. James Earl Jones (nominated for The Great White Hope) plays Coach Couzo, who gets a team of Americans prepared to fight in an international tournament. Sally Kirkland (nominated for Anna) plays their trainer, who worries not just about the team’s physical health but also their mental burdens. Eric Roberts (nominated for Runaway Train) is Alex Grady, the former martial arts champion-turned-auto worker who makes the team despite having a bad shoulder. Louise Fletcher (who won for One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest) plays Alex’s mother, who looks after his son while Alex is off getting ready to face the Korean team. And then there’s Chris Penn (who seems like, if not for his early death, he would have eventually been nominated for something) as the arrogant Travis, a cowboy who can throw a punch.

(The American team is filled out by John Dye as Virgil, an intellectual Buddhist, David Agresta as Sonny “I’m Italian” Grasso, and Phillip Rhee, who not only plays Tommy but also wrote the film’s script.)

Roberts gets top-billing in this and he does get a lot of important moments, including a scene where he breaks the Coach’s rules so that he can visit his son in the hospital. That said, the story centers around Phillip Rhee’s Tommy. Tommy’s older brother was killed in the ring by the one-eyed Dae Han Park (Simon Rhee) and — wow, what a coincidence! — that just happens to be who Tommy needs to beat for the Americans to win the big tournament. Both of the Rhee brothers actually are martial artists and they are very convincing in the fight scenes, which is good because neither Phillip nor Simon Rhee were particularly strong actors. Eric Roberts is not a particularly convincing martial artist but it doesn’t matter because he acts the Heck out of every scene in which he appears. What happens when you bring method intensity to the type of martial arts film that Jean-Claude Van Damme would later make his specialty? You get scenes of a heavily-bruised Eric Roberts crying but, because Roberts is a good actor, the tears feel earned. Still, whenever I saw Alex’s eyes starting to glisten, I imagined James Earl Jones saying, “Noooooooo!” How can you win the world’s greatest tournament when you’re constantly on the verge of tears? Well, maybe you don’t need to win. Maybe you just need to show that you have more honor than anyone else there.

Best of the Best is a classic of its kind. There’s nothing surprising about it but it’s entertaining in its own dumb way and, in the end, it reminds us that America doesn’t need medals to be the best. It just needs Eric Roberts.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

Scenes I Love: James Woods and Eric Roberts In The Specialist

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Since both Eric Roberts and James Woods are celebrating a birthday today, it seems only appropriate that today’s scene of the day should feature both of them. In this scene from 1994’s The Specialist, Woods, Roberts, and Rod Steiger all compete to see who can steal a relatively simple conversational scene.

The Eric Roberts Collection: Depth Charge (dir by Terrence O’Hara)

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s Die Hard On A Submarine in 2008’s Depth Charge!

Dying of a brain tumor and passed over for a promotion (and wow, you thought your week sucked), Commander Krieg (Eric Roberts) and a band of mercenaries take over a nuclear submarine. They force off all of the actual crew of the sub but they somehow miss the doctor (Jason Gedrick) and an electrician (Chris Warren). The mad commander announces that unless he is sent a certain amount of money, he will launch the nuclear missiles. While the President (Barry Bostwick) dithers and an admiral (Corbin Bernsen) searches for the sub, the doctor and the electrician beat up mercenaries and work their way to the bridge.

“Get off my boat!” Gedrick growls several times.

Yeah, dude, we get it. Air Force One. Good movie.

This on the other hand …. well, let’s be positive here. This movie provides Eric Roberts with a substantial role and he does a good job as the villain, even if his motives never quite make sense. (He’s got a year to live so what exactly would he have done with a promotion or any of that money that he’s demanding?) But this movie asks us to believe that a bunch of mercenaries could not only sneak onto a submarine but also defeat almost the entire crew without a single bit of trouble. And then for submarine’s doctor to just happen to turn out to be a former boxer or UFC fighter or whatever he’s supposed to be (“He was a fighter,” a presidential aide explains) is just a bit too much of a coincidence.

That said, you get Eric Roberts, Corbin Bernsen, and Barry Bostwick, all in the same movie. All three of them deserve better but at least they all gave it their best here!

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Eric Roberts Edition

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots from 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots from 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Happy birthday, Eric Roberts!

4 Shots From 4 Eric Roberts Films

Star 80 (1983, dir by Bob Fosse, DP: Sven Nyvkist)

The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984, dir by Stuart Rosenberg, DP: John Bailey)

Runaway Train (1985, dir by Andrei Konchalovsky, DP: Alan Hume)

The Dark Knight (2008, dir by Christopher Nolan, DP: Wally Pfister)

The Eric Roberts Collection: Border Blues (dir by Rodion Nahapetov)

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

2004’s Border Blues features Gary Busey as a wild-haired LAPD police chief who has psychic visions that enable him to track down a mad bomber.

Wow, that sounds great!

Well, believe it or not, that’s really only a minor subplot in this film. The majority of the film is about Andrei Samurov (Rodion Nahapetov), who was the greatest detective in Moscow before he immigrated to the United States. Now, he works in a restaurant and dreams of being the greatest detective in the LAPD. During a trip to Mexico, Andrei meets Larry (Eric Roberts), an American who now helps people sneak across the border. Larry is helping a Russian woman (Anna Nakhapetova) and her daughter make their way across the desert. Larry seems to take a special interest in the woman’s daughter. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Larry’s own daughter died under tragic circumstances.

Oh, and Erik Estrada’s in this too! He plays a Mexican cop named Morales and he yells a lot.

Gary Busey, Erik Estrada, and Eric Roberts!? How could this go wrong? Well, you could stick them all in a film that doesn’t make much sense and which has a plot that is next to impossible to follow. This is one of those movies where you get the feeling that the names were cast first and then a story was built around them. On the plus side, Eric Roberts actually gets a good deal of screentime and turns Larry into a rather interesting character. Larry is menacing but, there are times when he’s almost sympathetic. Roberts gives a good performance but, unfortunately, the majority of the film is focused on Rodion Nahapetov’s unconvincing turn as the greatest detective in the world. Nahapetov both directed and starred in this film and the end result is a vanity project that doesn’t seem to lead to anywhere in particular.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

The Eric Roberts Collection: 69 Parts (dir by Ari Taub)

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’m going to guess that there’s quite a backstory to the production of the film …. well, I’m really not even sure what to call the film.

The version that I just watched on Tubi was called 69 parts and it clocked in at a little over 90 minutes. It’s the story of gangsters, cops, and one hapless law student in 1979 New York. Jack (Ryan O’Callaghan) needs money to go to law school. His best friend, gambling addict Gino (Johnny Solo), arranges for Jack to get a loan from his uncle, Dennis (Aidan Redmond). However, Gino swears that he can double the loan if Jack goes with him to the tracks. Unfortunately, Gino’s hot tip turns out to be a bust so now Jack is broke and can’t pay back the money. So, Dennis forced Jack to marry Dennis’s mistress so that she can get her green card but then Dennis gets jealous and decides to kill Jack but then he discovers that Jack is the son of an imprisoned criminal associate (Eric Roberts). It’s all a bit too complicated for its own good and the use of multiple narrators, many of whom sound exactly alike, doesn’t make the film any easier to follow.

Tubi claims that 69 Parts was released in 2022. However, on the IMDb, there’s a film called 79 Parts, which is listed as being a few minutes shorter than 69 Parts but it has the exact same cast and the exact same plot. This version was released in 2016, six years before 69 Parts. And then there’s 79 Parts: The Directors Cut, which clocks in at over two hours and which was released in 2019. In short, there appears to be multiple versions of this film and really, I have to be a little bit impressed by the determination necessary to keep re-editing, re-titling, and re-releasing the film.

As for the film itself, the version I saw was a bit too busy and difficult to follow but I appreciated the work that went into recreating the 70s. That obviously take some effort. Aidan Redmond was properly avuncular and menacing as Dennis but Jack was such a wimpy character that it was difficult to really care about him. As for Eric Roberts, he appears for about five minutes and is even less impressed with Jack than I was. Maybe Eric gets to do more in the director’s cut.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

Music Video of the Day: We Belong Together (2005, dir by Brett Ratner)

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, we wish a happy birthday to Eric Roberts!

In our music video of the day, Roberts nearly marries Mariah Carey, just for her to leave him for Wentworth Miller. This video is a sequel to the video for It’s Like That and Mariah wears the same wedding dress when she married music exec Tommy Mottola. (Make of that, what you will.) Personally, I think Eric dodged a bullet here because everyone knows that he and Eliza were meant to be.

Enjoy!

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed: