Red Heat

Red Heat

United States - 1988

Director - Walter Hill

International Video Entertainment, 1989, VHS

Run Time - 1 hour, 46 minutes

Oh what a classic. Walter Hill, the man and master director behind such exploitation classics as The Driver, Hard Times (BEST), The Warriors and Streets of Fire went even more culturally specific with this little buddy-cop gem which I wish to Thanatos I hadn't gotten rid of. Sure, sure, it's out there, I can buy a new one but I damned sure wish I could just pop this fucker in the player and watch Schwartzy wrestle mostly naked in the snow.
Doesn't that one-liner, nay one worder, when Schwarty's Ivan Danko stumbles across the porno channel in his hotel room in the US just say it all? Shaking his head in expected disappointment;
"Capitalism."

Over The Top

Over The Top

United States - 1987

Director - Menahem Golan

Warner Home Video, 1987, VHS

Run Time - 1 hour, 34 minutes

Well before I ever saw Over The Top I had been witness to its long lasting impact. Any time anybody ever had an arm wrestling contest, drunk or sober someone inevitably yelled "Over the top!" If someone included the phrase "over the top" in the conversation, chances were good someone else would mutter approvingly. Directed by Israeli expatriate Menahem Golan, Over the Top is really an attempt to re-legitimize working class morality in an era of accelerating hyper-wealth.

This is the "arm warmer-less" version of the promotional artwork which can be found at The Movie Database, an open-source Wiki-style alternative to IMDB. It's actually rather nicer than the arm-warmer version seen above on my VHS tape and fortunately with the additional material, namely smashed gate and chrome sky ripples, it also includes the artists signature. One "R. Casaro", or Renato Casaro who I believe is responsible for the Conan the Barbarian poster below.

I found a few other posters attributed to Casaro, but other than these two, they're all too low resolution to confirm the artists signature.If you visit Imp Awards where I got this Running Man poster you'll find a number of other Casaro pieces. I just couldn't help but keep the tough guy theme rolling here.