I love movies.
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Good movies. Bad movies. I really don’t care, as long as I’m entertained, and hopefully not insulted. I believe it was Nietzsche who once said, “You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have…” – no, strike that. I’m mistaking Nietzsche for Tootie again.
My favorite flicks, however, are those made by folks with a passion for the medium. More often than not, you can tell their heart and soul was poured into the celluloid. Call them homage or plagiarism, but one of the main reasons Quentin Tarantino’s films are so popular is because the guy fucking *loves* cinema – and it shows.
Like Tarantino, Alvin Ecarma is male. Oh, and he also loves cinema. LETHAL FORCE is a violent love letter to genre film. The story is simple and the budget nil, but nonetheless, Sir Al and his amazing crew pull off an incredible feat by not only making a wonderful homage to the movies he loves, but making a great action flick in and of itself.
After his wife is killed and his child kidnapped, devoted family man/assassin Jack (a stoic Frank Prather) is blackmailed into trying to capture and/or kill Savitch, his friend, fellow hit-man, and hetero lifemate. Despite having an army of ridiculously-dressed henchmen under his charge, Jack finds it very difficult to seal the deal, since Savitch also happens to be the baddest thing since Coy and Vance took over The Dukes of Hazzard.
LETHAL FORCE has it all, folks. You like gunplay? Enjoy heads being blown off. You like martial arts? Enjoy wireless fisticuffs, with the occasional baseball bat thrown in for good measure. You like burly Fez-sporting lesbians? That probably goes without saying, but LETHAL FORCE has Fezbians, too.
Now, I like unmitigated violence as much as the next Bastard, but what puts LETHAL FORCE over the top is its clever strain of humor. When your film has a five-minute fight scene pitting a deadly assassin against a bikini-clad stripper, not taking yourself too seriously is a must. Sir Al proves quite adept at mixing and mashing action with comedy. Case and point: It takes a sure hand to follow up somebody being thrown off a parking garage with a scene where the hero (who literally just fell several stories) has a theological conversation with a confection-dealing Jesus.
If you consider yourself a true cinephile – or maybe just a huge nerd – I challenge you to try and catch all the movie references strewn throughout the film. Some are obvious: SHOGUN ASSASSIN, THE KILLER, LOVE ACTUALLY, and THE WARRIORS coming immediately to mind. But if you want to seriously geek out, rumor has it there are exactly 734 movie references – overt and otherwise – layered throughout. 731 of said films star Charles Bronson, and the rest feature either Michael Rappaport and/or Conrad Bain.
In short: Do yourself a solid and pick up LETHAL FORCE. Not only are you supporting independent film, but you’ll also own a relatively unknown gem to complement your vast collection of Hentai and Judy Garland musicals.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
BONUS FEATURES:
LETHAL FORCE: Trailer
LETHAL FORCE: Behind The Scenes
LETHAL FORCE: Audition Footage
CLICK THAT LOVABLE MUG TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SIR ALVIN ECARMA,
OUR FEATURED FILMMAKER!
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