Do you remember the days when movies used to be fun?
Maybe that’s not entirely fair, but let’s face it, there aren’t as many movies out there anymore that exist just to give the audience an hour and a half of cinematic fun. Instead they get bogged down in messages, political posturing, global warming, over the top visuals that do little to tell the main story, or whatever else is trendy and will be forgotten a few years from now.
Which brings us to David Giancola.
A long time ago, back in 1994, in fact, David started his film career with an interesting little time travel film called Time Chasers. It nearly disappeared unseen except that it became a hit episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Which meant he made a profit on it and went on to make other interesting if low budgeted films.
Axcellerator is his latest and it is a joyous take on the Eighties action movie. Now for those of you who do not remember, we’re talking about often absurd but fun action films, whose wild, physics defying stunts seemed far more real than the CGI fantasies we see on the screen these days because they were filmed with real stunts and practical effects.
And this is a wonderful homage to the era (which just happens to be a lot of fun in its own right): we’ve got car chases, exploding helicopters, ski chases, exploding ski lifts, sinister government agents, conspiracies, a wacky inventor who makes Doc Brown look staid and conventional by comparison, more car chases, a fist fight spanning whole continents, even more car chases, and even the Grand Canyon!
Not to mention some heavy duty Eighties actors. We’ve got Blade Runner‘s Sean Young as a mysterious agent, Dynasty‘s John James as the power hungry secret Bureaucrat main villain, and none other than Flash Gordon himself, that most Eighties of Eighties actors, Sam J. Jones, in a gleefully over the top, scenery chewing role as a psychotic Government loose cannon assassin.
Whew.
A young Pizza Delivery guy steals a car to honor his dead car thief father, only to end up with the secret Axcellerator device, which allows you go anywhere in the world you want to go.
But not through time. That would be ridiculous.
Before long, he’s acquired a checkout girl who gets accidentally scooped in by his second attempt to use the device, and everyone is after him.
Okay, we know it’s silly and absurd. But, just like so many of those great Eighties action films, it was meant to be. And, what’s more, it is fun!
Great work, David. Just remember, though, wild and fun movies are like peanuts: they leave the audience hungry for more!
(Fans of the original film will note that Dane wears a Castleton jersey through the whole film — as Nick Miller did in Time Chasers. However, what is less obvious is that “Iron Mountain” in Chile is being played by a familiar ski resort in Vermont!)
rivets on the poster 