“They were outlaws. Reckless. No scruples.”

Justin’s rating: A place of last resort to get movies made

Justin’s review: Lately I’ve been on a Cannon Films kick, which prompted some side reading of this crazy legendary studio’s background and investigation into what other movies of theirs is worth reviewing in the future. As I was doing that, I stumbled over an entire documentary made about Cannon, and that was a “drop everything and watch it ASAP” moment right there.

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films should be required viewing in all film schools, colleges, and dental programs. So much of the general populace is ignorant of this B-movie factory and its incredible output in the ’80s and early ’90s, and that is a crying shame.

As one subject said, Cannon Films was “slightly to the side of serious filmmaking,” and that is being too generous. This is the studio that might not have had the budget or pure talent, but did have a drive to entertain above all else. And during its run, it pumped out a Superman film, got Sylvester Stallone for two flicks, started Jean-Claude Van Damme’s career, made the best live-action He-Man movie of all time*, and even netted Oscar nominations.

Most importantly for people like us, Cannon produced a large quantity of cult films with an ’80s bent. Actors like Elliot Gould, Bo Derek, Sharon Stone, Brooke Shields, Chuck Norris, Charles Brosnon, Alex Winters, Marina Sirtis, Richard Chamberlain, Molly Ringwald, Dolph Lundgren, and Christopher Reeves slummed in Cannon’s backyard at one time or another. They might have felt shame afterward, but we reaped the rewards.

This documentary goes through a history of the studio that’s largely unknown, started by two Israeli cousins and filmmakers who came to America to make and sell films to independent distributers. And while Cannon initially began with largely sleazy exploitation films, it found a limited kind of success with sheer output and some daring deals with big-name actors.

This right here is a time tunnel to the Cannon era, starting with Joe and The Apple, then moving on to a host of significant titles like Breakin’, Enter the Ninja, Missing in Action, Cobra, Runaway Train, Masters of the Universe, Superman IV, The Delta Force, Over the Top, and Cyborg.

Watching Electric Boogaloo is like going shopping in Cannon Films’ warehouse. You’re going to get exposed to a whole lot of this firm’s library and probably come away with a few solid recommendations for future viewing. It’s kind of breathtaking to consider the sheer volume of films that this outfit produced every year, and for every 20 duds, there was at least one diamond in the rough.

I judge this a very well-done documentary with some fun graphics, plenty of scenes of all of the films discussed, and loads of great stories. I do wish that they didn’t feel pressed to show so much nudity from these films — it’s far more than expected and is very distracting from what’s being said.

While this is a celebration of Cannon Films, it’s also a condemnation of the people at the head of it. Those guys were admirable in their passion and energy, but I came away being a somewhat disgusted by how often they put their cast and crew in danger and shamelessly exploited some of their female actors. It’s a warts-and-all story, and I appreciate that the documentarians didn’t gloss over the rougher spots of this studio’s history.

*Also the only one.

Intermission!

• “They put a stamp on pop culture.”
• These opening credits are pure awesomeness
• Creating the poster first to sell the movie idea… and using that cash to actually make the film? Seems a little backward.
• People watching The Apple were so upset they took their complimentary soundtrack and threw them into the screen, where they stuck.
• This documentary seems to want to show all of the nudity in these films while criticizing it
• This place sounds like it had the worst working conditions
• “You people have a cash register where your heart should be.”
• “These were bad ideas on a daily basis.”
• “A black tie opening for a Chuck Norris film. Dude, it’s a Chuck Norris film!”