Tag Archives: Robert F. Lyons

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 5.4 “The Killer Indy”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Mondays, I will be reviewing CHiPs, which ran on NBC from 1977 to 1983.  The entire show is currently streaming on Prime!

This week, Baker has a new partner!

Episode 5.4 “The Killer Indy”

(Dir by Leslie H. Martinson, originally aired on October 25th, 1981)

When a group of bikers start holding illegal street races, Getraer wants it stopped before someone is seriously hurt!  Jon Baker and his partner Steve McLeish decide to end the races by any means necessary, especially since Steve’s brothers are involved….

Wait, who?

Played by a pre-transition Caitlyn Jenner, Steve McLeish serves as Baker’s partner in this episode.  We don’t really get much of an introduction as to who Steve is or why he’s even riding with Baker.  Everyone just acts as if Steve has always been there.  Ponch is not even mentioned and it’s difficult not to notice that Larry Wilcox seems a bit more cheerful than usual in this episode.  For once, he’s the one who gets to do all of the cool stuff while everyone else watches.

This was the first of several episodes that Erik Estrada missed during the fifth season, the result of being injured during a stunt gone wrong.  Jenner, who was then best-known as an Olympian, was brought in to play Steve McLeish.  Judging from this episode, Jenner was a remarkably bad actor.  Compared to everyone else in the episode, Jenner comes across as being awkward and stiff.  Like many nonprofessional actors, it’s obvious that Jenner was not sure what do when not delivering dialogue.  Jenner stands there, hands awkwardly positioned and occasionally trying to react to the other actors.  It’s really almost painful to watch.

It’s obvious that this episode was written with Ponch in mind.  Like Ponch, Steve has two brothers and used to be a motorcycle-racing delinquent when he was younger.  His older brother (who is played by the legendary character actor Robert F. Lyons) is named Toro, which might make sense if he was Ponch’s brother but, as it is, you really do have to wonder about the parents who would name one son Toro and the other sons Steve and Ted.  Ted, incidentally, is played by Kevyn Major Howard.  Howard, Lyons and Jenner have next to no features in common, leading one to wonder how they could possibly all be members of the same family?

There was some good motorcycle chase action in this episode.  There was also so much dialogue about the importance of wearing a helmet that, as soon as the gang’s leader announced he didn’t need a helmet, the most viewers had to know that he was doomed to ultimately be thrown from his motorcycle and crash headfirst into the pavement.  “He hit his head,” Getraer says and that’s the last we hear about the guy.

As for this episodes comedic subplot, Grossman begged his fellow patrol people to join him and his nieces at the waterpark.  While Baker, Steve, and everyone else took care of his nieces, Grossman hung out with his two bikini-clad neighbors.  Grossman winked at the camera as the CHiPs theme music started to play.

And so, it’s another day in L.A….

Happy Birthday to Actress Jan Gan Boyd, the “This Week in Charles Bronson” Podcast, and a Lifelong Obsession with Charles Bronson!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Happy Birthday to one of my favorite people in the world, Jan Gan Boyd, Charles Bronson’s co-star in ASSASSINATION (1987)!

We’ll be back to that in a bit, but first a little about me. My parents purchased a VCR for our family sometime around 1985 or so. I was about 12 years old at that time, and it’s fair to say that I’ve been obsessed with movies ever since. It’s actually fair to say that I have somewhat of an obsessive personality, so when I latch onto something, I really, really latch on. At the very top of that list is my lifelong fascination with the actor Charles Bronson. To be completely honest with you, it’s a passion that not many people really understand or appreciate. Beginning around 1986 with my discovery of DEATH WISH 3, I would talk about his movies to my friends constantly. Now keep in mind that I was a young teenager and Bronson was around 65, with his best movie-making years well behind him. Charles Bronson was not high on the list of topics my friends wanted to discuss. I’m in my 50’s now, and my old high school friends still tease me about Charles Bronson. I don’t care, because I still think he’s awesome!

As a matter of fact, my obsession with Charles Bronson has only gotten stronger over the last five years or so. Back in November of 2021, I met a guy from Pennsylvania named Eric Todd who had started the “This Week in Charles Bronson” Podcast and Facebook page. After joining the page, we became fast friends. For the first time, through the Facebook page, I had a whole group of friends who love Charles Bronson as much, or at least close to as much, as I do. In the summer of 2022, when my wife and I drove 17 hours from my home in Arkansas to the Mahoning Drive-In in Lehighton, PA, to watch a triple feature of classic Bronson films, Eric asked me to join him on the podcast and while on-site at the drive-in, I recorded my first episode. I thought this would just be some fun social media or podcast activity where us “Bronson weirdos,” as we call ourselves, would discuss our hero and his movies. I never thought it would lead me to getting to meet some of the actors and actresses who actually worked with Bronson in the movies. Boy, was I wrong!

Through my participation with the “This Week in Charles Bronson” podcast and Facebook page, I have met Paul Talbot (author of the “Bronson’s Loose” and “Bronson’s Loose Again” books), Jordan Rhodes (co-star of MR. MAJESTYK and THE INDIAN RUNNER), Henry Brooks (writer of “Charles Bronson, More than a Vigilante, The Musical” ), Robert F. Lyons (co-star of DEATH WISH II, TEN TO MIDNIGHT and MURPHY’S LAW), and Lindsay Ireland (Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland’s niece and author of the book “Why Not Me?”). I have met fellow Bronson fans from all over the country and world. Not only have I met these people, but I’ve also developed some true friendships along the way. Eric and I now plan family vacations together, and if I ever find myself in a city where one of my “Buchinsky Boys” reside, I will definitely find the time to break bread with them. It’s one of the nicest communities I’ve ever been a part of, and I’m thankful for it.

To bring this full circle, one of my favorite people in the world, who I now consider a friend, just so happened to co-star with Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland in the 1987 action film, ASSASSINATION. Back in January of 2023, Eric and I were able to interview actress Jan Gan Boyd. It was such an honor to be able spend some time with her as she talked about working with Bronson, Michael Douglas, Richard Attenborough, Martin Kove, Ted Danson, and even Richard Roundtree. She remained close friends with Charles Bronson up until his death in 2003. If any of you would like to watch that podcast episode, I’ve linked to it below.

Happy Birthday, Jan! You’re absolutely the best!

I Watched Perry Mason: The Case Of The Lost Love (1987, Dir. by Ron Satlof)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Perry Mason’s ex-girlfriend, Laura Robertson (Jean Simmons), is about to be appointed to the Senate when blackmailer Pete Dixon (Jonathan Banks) threatens to reveal that she once underwent shock treatment after having a nervous breakdown.  When Dixon is murdered, Laura’s husband (Gene Barry) is arrested.  Laura hires Perry (Raymond Burr) to serve as his attorney.

At first, this movie felt weird to me because it didn’t seem right for Perry to have an ex-girlfriend when we all know that he and Della (Barbara Hale) were in love.  When Laura is at the office waiting to see Perry, she and Della have a conversation and it’s obvious that each is jealous of the other.  When Laura asks, “What about you and Perry?,” Perry shows up before Della can answer.  We all know what the answer was though.  Della loves Perry and, probably because she was so upset over Perry dating Laura, she threw herself at Paul Drake, Sr. and that’s how we got Paul Drake, Jr.

As for Paul Drake, Jr. (William Katt), he flirts with two different women in this movie but he doesn’t get to do as much investigating as he did in the first few films.  This movie is almost all Perry Mason interrogating people.  Raymond Burr uses a cane in this movie and there’s a few scenes where it’s obvious that he was in pain but he still gives a very good performance.  The movie is very talky but it also has the best courtroom confession scene yet and Raymond Burr really sells Perry’s ambivalent feelings.  The identity of the killer actually took me by surprise!

It was weird to see Perry in love with someone oter than Della but this was still an excellent entry in the series.

Brad reviews SHOOT OUT (1971), starring Gregory Peck & Robert F. Lyons! 

Posted on by Bradley Crain

After serving a stretch at the Canon City penitentiary, Clay Lomax (Gregory Peck) gets out with only one thing on his mind… revenge on his former partner Sam Foley (James Gregory), who shot him in the back during a bank robbery, leaving him to take the rap. Foley isn’t a fool, though, so he’s hired a trio of young punks, Bobby Jay (Robert F. Lyons), Skeeter (John Davis Chandler), and Pepe (Pepe Serna) to surveil Lomax and let him know if he’s heading to his home in Gun Hill with payback on his mind. These guys are about as crazy as it gets, and they make two major mistakes. First, they kill Lomax’s friend Trooper (Jeff Corey) who lets him know where Foley is with his dying breath. Second, they kidnap the prostitute Alma (Susan Tyrell) just because they want to treat her like crap and have fun with her, which turns out to be a dumb move. Interrupting Lomax’s quest for revenge, he finds himself being forced to care for a young child named Decky (Dawn Lyn), who just may be his daughter with a lady back in Kansas City who used to be his “friend.” Looking after Decky, and then meeting and falling for the widow Juliana Farrell (Patricia Quinn), Lomax is soon facing off against his most dangerous foe, the crazed Bobby Joe, as he attempts to protect all these new people that he loves so he can move on with his life. But is it all too late?!!

I love westerns, but I must admit that I’m not the biggest fan of director Henry Hathaway’s SHOOT OUT. Hathaway has directed some of my favorite actors and movies, like Charles Bronson’s debut film with Gary Cooper, YOU’RE IN THE NAVY NOW (1951), along with the Jimmy Stewart film CALL NORTHSIDE 777 (1948) and John Wayne’s Oscar winning TRUE GRIT (1969). Unfortunately, it seems his best years are behind him, and he would only direct one more film after this, the less than excellent black action film HANGUP (1974). This isn’t exactly Gregory Peck’s best work either. Coming nine years after his Oscar winning performance in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962), this is definitely not even close to that kind of level. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy his turn as Lomax when he’s the wronged outlaw looking for revenge, but I don’t really care at all for his part as the reluctant father figure trying to deal with the six-year-old Decky. I found Dawn Lyn to be more annoying than cute in the role, and this storyline distracted me from the revenge plot that I actually enjoyed. As a co-host of the “This Week in Charles Bronson Podcast,” we had the opportunity to interview Robert F. Lyons, who plays the bad guy, Bobby Jay Jones. I specifically asked him about this film and what it was like working with Gregory Peck. While he enjoyed working with Peck, his response about the film itself was telling…. “The work in there is not my work.” If you’ve watched much of the excellent actor’s work before, you can immediately understand what he means. Lyons goes so over-the-top as the spying outlaw Bobby Jay Jones, that his performance is inconsistent with the bulk of his career. Lyons told us that his performance was orchestrated by Hathaway in a way that he disagreed with, and he essentially disowns his work in the film. You can see a similar vibe with his “gang” that includes the actors John Davis Chandler and Pepe Serna. 

While I’m not a huge fan of the overall direction of the storyline or the focus of some of the main performances in SHOOT OUT, I am appreciative of the genre and the classic western stars that Hathaway cast in supporting roles. I especially enjoy seeing Jeff Corey in the small but pivotal role as the wheelchair bound Trooper, Paul Fix as the train brakeman who delivers Decky and a stack of cash to Lomax, and Arthur Hunnicutt as the ranch owner who barters with Lomax over the price of a pony. Hunnicutt is a particular favorite of mine although his role here is very small. Nominated for an Oscar for his performance in Howard Hawks’ THE BIG SKY (1952), Hunnicutt is from the small town of Gravelly, Arkansas, which is not far from where my own family is from. He even attended the same college that I graduated from, the University of Central Arkansas, which was known as the Arkansas State Teachers College when he (and my dad) went there. And then there is the setup of the revenge scenario at the beginning and the final showdown at the end, classic staples of the western genre. These are enjoyable and satisfying moments as Lomax settles his scores and the bad guys get their comeuppance.

Overall, SHOOT OUT is best enjoyed by fans of old school westerns and star Gregory Peck. It veers aways from the best storylines of the genre and wastes a lot of time with uninteresting melodrama, but it does offer us another chance to see some of our great character actors doing what they do. That means something to me. 

I’ve included our podcast episode with Robert F. Lyons below. He discusses SHOOT OUT at around the 1:00:30 mark.

Happy 86th Birthday to the excellent actor, Robert F. Lyons!! 

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Every so often in life something incredible happens when you least expect it. First, a little background… back in 2021, Charles Bronson celebrated his 100th birthday in heaven. At that point in my life, I had mostly celebrated my love of Bronson movies by myself. But back in 2021, I saw a news article that stated that Bronson fans around the world were celebrating his 100th birthday on social media using the hashtag #Bronson100. Following the hashtag on Twitter, I discovered a group of people who were doing a “live tweet” of the Bronson classic DEATH WISH 3! That night I met Doug Dietz, Chris Rauch, Lisa Marie Bowman, and many others who just wanted to celebrate Bronson like I did. These folks have become so important in my life! As I continued to search the world of social media for all things Charles Bronson, this time on Facebook, I came across the THIS WEEK IN CHARLES BRONSON PODCAST, run by a man from the Philadelphia area named Eric Todd. I made my request to join the page and was happy when they let me in. Soon I was sharing my love of Bronson, and they even asked me to be part of the podcast!! I guess they thought it would be nice to have someone on the podcast who sounded like the biggest hick in America. After all these years, I had found my people!! Eric and my friends in the THIS WEEK IN CHARLES BRONSON PODCAST Facebook group have become some of my very best friends. We would talk about Bronson and his movies on the show, but we thought it would always just be a bunch of Bronson geeks talking shop. And then another strange thing happened, we started reaching out to actors and actresses who had worked with Bronson and asked if they would come on the show. Lo and behold, many of them started saying YES! Soon Juan Fernandez (KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SUBJECTS), Jordan Rhodes (MR. MAJESTYK, THE INDIAN RUNNER), and Jan Gan Boyd (ASSASSINATION) had joined us for an episode!! It was so fun hearing their firsthand stories of working with Bronson. Which brings us back to Robert F. Lyons… 

Robert F. Lyons was a hot young actor in the late 60’s and early 70’s. He was incredible in his debut film PENDULUM (1969) as the psychopath Paul Martin Anderson opposite George Peppard. Soon he was stealing scenes in movies like GETTING STRAIGHT (1970) with Elliot Gould and SHOOT OUT (1971) with Gregory Peck. Before long he was headlining his own films like the creepy THE TODD KILLINGS (1971) and the oddly titled DEALING: OR THE BERKELEY-TO-BOSTON FORTY-BRICK LOST-BAG BLUES (1972). As great as Robert F. Lyons is in these roles, his career as a leading man didn’t take off and he was soon back to character parts on movies and TV. He continued to play some really interesting parts along the way, like the awful Harrison Hancock in the Jesse Vint redneck action film BLACK OAK CONSPIRACY (1977) and the doomed vigilante Skeeter Norris in the TV horror film DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW (1981). It was in the early 80’s when Robert F. Lyons, his friends call him Bobby, began working with Charles Bronson. It was also in the early 80’s when I discovered Charles Bronson. From 1982 to 1986, Bobby worked with Bronson in three of his classic Cannon films, first in DEATH WISH II (1982), followed by TEN TO MIDNIGHT (1983), and finally in MURPHY’S LAW (1986). I truly became Bronson’s biggest fan around the same time DEATH WISH 3 and MURPHY’S LAW were hitting home video. Lyons plays Bronson’s trusted partner Art Penney in MURPHY’S LAW, and I’ve watched the film at least 100 times in my life. Over the years, 10 TO MIDNIGHT has developed into my personal favorite Bronson / Cannon Films movie. If you’ve seen the film, Bobby’s in the interrogation scene where Bronson confronts the killer with his masturbation device and he’s also in the courtroom scene (spoiler alert!) where Bronson has to admit he planted the evidence against the killer. These are very memorable scenes in Bronson’s “slasher” film. Bobby, Charlie, and Jill Ireland got along great during these years, the same years I was becoming obsessed with my lifelong movie hero. In some ways, he was part of that obsession!

Later in his career, Bobby appeared on top notch TV shows like COLD CASE and CRIMINAL MINDS. He’s had a phenomenal, five-decade career as a working actor and teacher. Well, in 2024, Bobby agreed to join Eric Todd and me for an episode of the THIS WEEK IN CHARLES BRONSON PODCAST. Knowing how much I love Robert F. Lyons, Eric, who’s the host of the show, let me introduce him at the beginning. Introducing Bobby Lyons and being part of an interview with him is one of those incredible and unexpected things that have happened in my life. He’s the nicest guy, and he spent a couple of hours with us discussing Bronson, his movies, and everything else that came up. It’s one of the greatest nights of my life, and I’m sharing that podcast episode below! Please forgive me for totally fanboying out, but that’s just how it is. Happy Birthday Bobby Lyons! You’re in my film-watching Hall of Fame! 

Charles Bronson interviews the slasher in 10 TO MIDNIGHT (1983)!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Charles Bronson played a cop a bunch of times in the 1980’s, but my personal favorite is Leo Kessler from 10 TO MIDNIGHT. Kessler wants to be a better dad to his daughter Lori (Lisa Eilbacher), but first he needs to catch a psychotic killer who’s murdering beautiful young women. One of the most interesting things about 10 TO MIDNIGHT is the way it tries to fuse a badass cop film with the popular slasher films of the 1980’s. It’s arguably Bronson’s best Cannon film, and Gene Davis is a certifiable creep as the slasher, Warren Stacy. Enjoy this infamous scene where Kessler confronts Stacy about his, ummm… private sexual activities!

Made For TV Horror: Death Car On The Freeway (dir by Hal Needham)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I, for one, am tired of the stereotype that women cannot drive.

I’m a woman and I can tell you right now that I am an above average driver.  I’ve only had one major accident.  Admittedly, I did smash into a parked car but it was raining and I really couldn’t see that well because I was driving convertible and the window was fogged up.  Plus, whoever parked that car must have done a bad job and left it sitting out in the middle of the street.  For the record, my convertible flipped over on impact so the parked car did far more damage than I did.

Other than that, I usually manage to stop in time for red lights.  I’ve only driven through a few stop signs and that was just because I didn’t notice them. I’ve very rarely been given a speeding ticket.  Instead, the police have always been very polite about just giving me a warning.  And yes, it is true that I have trouble with curbs and turns and going in reverse and all that but I’ve seen plenty of men do the same thing.

The statistics show that, while women are involved in more accidents, the accidents are more likely to be fatal if a man is driving.  Men are also more prone to get upset and pull a gun during a road rage incident whereas women just give other drivers the finger.  Women are not inherently bad or dangerous drivers.  The one exception, at least down here in Texas, are middle-aged women who drive SUVs with faded Beto stickers.  You really don’t want to get stuck behind one of them in traffic.

I found myself thinking about the misogyny behind the “women-are-bad-drivers” stereotype as I watched 1979’s Death Car On The Freeway.  Death Car On The Freeway features a madman who is so sick of women driving in Los Angeles that he starts using his Dodge van to cause them to have accidents.  We don’t actually see his face or really learn much about him.  What we do see are his black-gloved hands on his steering wheel, which is a nifty homage to the giallo genre.  (Giallo killers have a thing for black gloves.)  Whenever the driver does try to force a woman into a fatal accident, he pops in an 8-track of hyperactive fiddle music.  The fiddle has never sounded more menacing than it does in Death Car On The Freeway.  It’s almost like prog rock fiddling.  Imagine a country western fiddler who has just done a mountain of cocaine and you’ll get a feeling for this guy’s taste in music.

News reporter Shelley Hack thinks that the public has the right to know that there’s a man causing women to crash their cars.  Her ex-husband, played to smarmy perfection by George Hamilton, thinks that Shelley should quit her current job and come work with him.  Meanwhile, police inspector Peter Graves is concerned that the media going to start a panic and make it more difficult for him to track down the “Freeway Fiddler.”  (One gets the feeling that Graves feels this entire mess could have been avoided if women had never been allowed to drive in the first place.)  At one point, Hack meets with a defensive driver instructor and he’s played by the film’s director, Hal Needham.

Oh, how I love this film!  Seriously, it’s got car chases, car crashes, 70s outfits, George Hamilton, Peter Graves, and a genuinely frightening villain.  This is one of those films where you might be tempted to be dismissive.  Folks like Dinah Shore, Sid Haig, and Abe Vigoda show up in small roles, reminding you that this really is a 70s made-for-TV movie.  But then, that fiddling explodes on the soundtrack, that van starts tailgating someone, and Death Car On The Freeway suddenly becomes a cinematic nightmare.  It’s not a surprise that Hal Needham was able to stage some impressive driving stunts in Death Car On The Freeway.  That was Hal Needham’s thing.  But Needham also manages to craft a compelling and, at times, genuinely frightening film.  Anyone who has ever glanced into their rearview mirror and suddenly realized that another vehicle is following them will be able to relate to the fear of the Fiddler’s victims.

This is a great movie and a reminder that women are not the most dangerous drivers on the streets.  Unless, of course, they’re driving an SUV with a faded Beto sticker….

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 4.4 “The Poachers”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Mondays, I will be reviewing CHiPs, which ran on NBC from 1977 to 1983.  The entire show is currently streaming on Prime!

This week, Ponch brings us all closer together.

Episode 4.4 “The Poachers”

(Dir by Barry Crane, originally aired on October 19th, 1980)

In the beautiful hills surrounding Los Angeles, Jon and Ponch (but mostly Ponch because, as of the start of season four, this is The Ponch Show) pursue two poachers (Robert F. Lyons and Michael Gwynne).  However, Ponch is not the only one after the poachers.  A Native American grandfather named Nathan (Michael Ansara) is in the hills with his grandson (Tony Raymond) and, together, they shoot arrows at the poachers.

Hey, that’s attempted murder!

Well, no matter.  No one like poachers, least of all me.

While Ponch captures the poachers and befriends the grandfather, the rest of the Highway Patrol spend their time at the drag strip and try to win races and set records.  Ponch insists that he should be the one allowed to represent the force on the track and he’s probably right because he’s Ponch and this is The Ponch Show.  Instead, Sgt. Getraer — who technically outranks Ponch but who knows how long that will last — takes to the track himself and amazes everyone with his speed.  Woo hoo!  Meanwhile, poor Baker stands in the background and perhaps remembers how, when the show started, he actually got to do stuff other than follow Ponch around.

This episode was nothing special.  It was well-intentioned with its anti-poaching storyline but it also featured even more cliches than usual.  Michael Ansara was himself not Native American.  He was born in Syria.  The actors who played his son and his grandfather were also not Native American, at least not as far as I could detect from their IMDb profiles.  In short, this was an episode about the wisdom of Native Americans that doesn’t appear to have featured any actual Native Americans.

All that said, it was nice to Robert Pine get to have some fun with the role of Sgt. Getrear.  Pine’s tough-but-fair performance as Getraer has often been this show’s secret weapon and, in this episode, he at least got to smile for once.  He earned it!

Brad reviews 10 TO MIDNIGHT (1983), starring Charles Bronson!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Charles Bronson is Leo Kessler, a veteran detective who’s seen it all and has grown sick of a system of justice that he thinks favors criminals over their victims. When girls start getting murdered, he immediately suspects the arrogant Warren Stacy, played by Gene Davis in the best role of his career. When Kessler and his partner Paul McCann (Andrew Stevens) start putting the pressure on Stacy, the killer responds by going after Kessler’s daughter Laurie (Lisa Eilbacher). Needless to say, our hero will do anything to stop the madman, ANYTHING!

10 TO MIDNIGHT is a special movie in my house because it’s my wife’s favorite Charles Bronson film, even when she didn’t have any overall appreciation for Bronson as an actor. Luckily for her, she had me to introduce her to the rest of the iconic actor’s voluminous catalog of movies. I saw 10 TO MIDNIGHT myself when I was pretty young, probably 13 or so. I remember being scared that first night after I watched the movie when I was trying to go to sleep. My wife and I watched it today on my old VHS tape that I’ve owned going back to the late 1980’s. 

There are several elements that elevate 10 TO MIDNIGHT above the average cop / slasher thrillers of the 1980’s. First, it’s Charles Bronson in the lead role. Bronson has such a strong presence on screen that his presence alone elevates almost any material. He looks great in the film, and the role gives him some good opportunities, as both a mentor to the young cop, and even more importantly, as a dad who wants to do better for his daughter. It’s a solid role that seems to fit Bronson like a glove. Second, we know from the very beginning of the movie that Warren Stacy is in fact the killer. We also know that the law seems to be working in his favor. And because of that, we’re on Kessler’s side as he goes to extreme lengths to stop his reign of terror. Finally, the script and director J. Lee Thompson go all in on the sex and violence. Examples include Stacy killing his often naked victims while he himself is in the nude. There is much talk in the film about items of a sexual nature and Stacy even has a sexual release device that almost has to be seen to be believed. It definitely adds a decadent and voyeuristic feel to the proceedings. And I haven’t even mentioned yet that it has one of the very best endings of any Bronson film, second only to THE MECHANIC, in my humble opinion.

I highly recommend 10 TO MIDNIGHT!

For a more detailed review of 10 TO MIDNIGHT, check out Lisa’s review from a couple of years back below:

Film Review: 10 to Midnight (dir by J. Lee Thompson)

Command 5 (1985, directed by E.W. Swackhamer)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Morgan (Stephen Parr) is a mysterious government operative who puts together a special paramilitary force to take on extreme threats.  He says that only misfits are allowed to join his group because they have the edge he needs.  Smith (William Russ) is a wild Texan who drives like a maniac.  Psychiatrist Winslow (Sonja Smits) can fire an Uzi better than any man.  Kowalski (John Matuszak) is a demolitions expert who listens to Beethoven.  Jack Coburn (Wings Hauser) is a rebellious detective who is good with a throwing knife.

After a montage of their extensive training and a scene where our heroes take a look at the bullet-proof RV that they’ll be traveling the country in, the movie finally gets down to business.  A motorcycle-riding terror cult led by Delgado (Gregory Sierra) has taken an entire town hostage and is threatening to kill everyone unless they’re given a flight out of the country.  Our heroes drive their bulletproof van into town and try to defeat the bad guys.  There’s one good scene where the RV is driving down the town’s main street and getting hit nonstop with bullets.  The scene was obviously ripped off from the end of Clint Eastwood’s The Gauntlet but it’s still exciting to watch.  Otherwise, the action in this one is pretty rudimentary.

I guess Command 5 was supposed to be a pilot for television show that never went into production.  It is very much a television production.  There’s a lot of shooting but no blood.  Wings Hauser is less dangerous than usual.  The whole thing ends with Command 5 looking forward to adventures that were never to come.  Watching the pilot, you can see why it never became a show.  The characters were all thinly-written and never seemed to have much of a connection with each other and Hauser and Russ both seemed to be competing to be the loose cannon of the group.  This one is for Wings Hauser completists only.