Much of the most iconic action work revolved around Charles Bronson and Chuck Norris. Without much self awareness (particularly from Golan, who tended to have a strong creative hand on many of the films and very ‘particular’ views on what sells) the ludicrousness levels were cranked up to 11, resulting in films like Lifeforce, or Invaders From Mars. A lot of the films, to put it mildly are a hot mess, but in an unmistakably Cannon way. Films have an odd and excessive charm from an approach that was often the result of conflicting visions between both producers and the director/star. There’s something about many Cannon films that feel so unique to the studio. As much as possible, on meagre budgets, they wanted to hit the spectacle levels of the big studios. For the most part though, with their genre fare, plots and characterisation were a passing thought over delivering the requisite explosions or gore.
Cannon was this odd mix of lowest common denominator genre tropes, and high ambition (which saw directors like Cassavetes and Godard attracted by the promise of carte-blanche to work with Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus). After getting footing in the early part of the decade, they set about attracting stars to headline their films. Those with a working knowledge of Cannon Films, the independent studio cranking out low budget genre fare through the 80’s, before over-extending themselves, will have a pretty good idea of their raison d’etre. Tom Jolliffe looks back at two action films from Cannon which perfectly encapsulated the company…
0 kommentar(er)
