Remo Williams - The Adventure Begins [Blu-ray]

Great film in the action/comedy genre unfortunately missed the mark in the 80’s but now folks are appreciating this work. Directed by James Bond director Guy Hamilton and writer Christopher Wood this film included some great action sequences using real stunt men. No CGI stuff here.When the Statue of Liberty was shrouded in scaffolding for refurbishment the director had the vision that this would make one of the great stunt pieces in the film. A rare opportunity and one that is unlikely to be repeated.The actors are great with plenty of dry humour thrown into the mix.Apparently the guard dogs in one scene took 6 months of training! When you see it you will discover why!This remastered version has a great picture in Blu-ray and excellent score by Craig Safan. So much so that MGM got out the original soundtrack master tapes and remastered them producing an excellent result with great production values. This is available separately on CD. Enjoy!

A cop is killed off and resurrected as a super assassin by a 3 man, underground government unit called CURE. Their objective is to wipe out the scum that appear seemingly untouchable to the system and so, as it says in the title, the adventure begins...Excellent comedy action adventure which hits the right key and, is to this day criminally underrated.Ward, another vastly under used actor (don't believe me? Check out Tremors, Southern Comfort and Miami Blues) plays the title character and as usual, turns in a very likeable performance.The cast do a great job, the stunts are fun, the script is lively and there is no excessive violence or sex.Admittedly its not quite The Destroyer (the books by Murphy & Sapir it was based on) and it is an undeniably, all American burger of a movie, with extra cheese but it nontheless hits the spot and is a lot better than one would think. Sucking in the viewer by not taking itself too seriously and not treating it's audience as a bunch of idiots.What a shame they never made a sequel. Bit like Doc Savage: Man Of Bronze, that could of done with a sequel coz that was ace too!Anyway, that's just my opinion.The region 2 dvd release by MGM is fairly rubbish. No extras and in my opinion a sub standard, grainy print. Don't get me wrong, the print is watchable, but come on MGM, give us fans a pristine bluray with a ton of extras... After all, we're lovely and deserve it!The Statue of Liberty sequence is extremely memorable.4.5/5 Great 80's family action film. Rounded up.

I have always been a fan of this movie since I first saw it back on TV around 1989/1990 & although the leading man is no hunk like Tom Cruise or Mel Gibson (in their 80's heyday of which this movie was released circa 1985), Fred Ward more than holds his own. Both he & Joel Grey who plays Chiun, the recluse korean & master of Sinaju are what hold this film together. The chemistry between them is very good & you can buy into, I really found it amusing when he is training Remo (Ward) & the interplay between these two characters-they bounce of each other really well. If it was anybody else it might not work so well, as this film when you look at it in comparison to todays blockbuster is pretty tame & very formulaic. The story is actually wafer thin (I am not sure if director's cut or extended edition would every be released) as this is largely forgotten film that flopped at the box office because the studio didn't know how to market it properly. But if you pay attention to the bullet dodging sequences that are employed by the hero, you realise it was actually a precursor to The Matrix the Wachoskis just developed & made it better. There was potential for this film, as it was based on a long running american novel series (which is still running today, which I not too familiar with but am interested in reading, but sadly the opportunity was squandered. This was supposed to be a franchise like the Bond series (it was even directed by former Bond alumni Guy Hamilton who did the classic Goldfinger)but this was an origins tale & really needed a sequel to flesh the story & characters out more but alas this didn't happen. But the film has some really good moments of humour & action my favourite is the fight between Remo & the bad guys atop the statue of liberty,it is just priceless & showcases the film at it's best. I brought this fullscreen version on region 1 a couple years ago but have always wanted a widescreen version (of which I recently purchased from amazon at a resonable low price). But the menu is crappily presented on the Widescreen version with symbols replacing the letter version (they should have just copied the region 1 menu as everything is the same aside from the Widescreen ratio). This film is ripe for a remake & I think given the technology availiable today & in the hands of competent you would have the makings of a great action film.

To begin with, if you've never seen REMO: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS - see it! This is an EXTREMELY classy production. It has real depth to it, and characters you will genuinely care about. But don't misunderstand me. This isn't a touchy-feely movie, it's a great action-adventure, with some great laughs thrown in. Personally, I give the film a good 9 out of 10. I never tire of watching it. The cast is marvellous. But it strikes me that the good people behind the camera never REALLY knew the best way to market the film, and as a result, it performed badly at the box office and thus the series of movies we were promised never came to pass. Incidentally, other reviews praise Guy Hamilton for his performance in the film, but Hamilton actually DIRECTED it. They probably meant to praise the always-entertaining Wilford Brimley, who plays Smith. Fred Ward is good as Remo, but the show is stolen by Joel Gray, who is quite amazing as the ancient Korean, Chiun. See the film, then read the book by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir - and see in your mind the movie this SHOULD have been.

Great fun and well made for it's time. Yes it's a little dated now and it's certainly of its era but it's just good fun. I remember seeing it many years ago and after watching some other Fred Ward stuff fancied seeing it again. I wasn't disappointed. Some good extras as well.

I enjoyed this film it goes along at a great pace. Fun and entertaining.