Customer Reviews

Remo Williams - The Adventure Begins

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I can't tell you how disappointed I was when Remo Williams FINALLY was released to DVD and MGM had the temerity to release it in FULL-FRAME (pan and scan) rather than widescreen in its original theatrical aspect ratio! It's 2003, MGM...people are savvier about film than they used to be, and we want to see our favorite films the way they were originally presented in the theater! I don't even demand "extras" like commentary or making-of documentaries...just a crisp transfer in anamorphic widescreen with enhanced sound. Is that so much to ask?

Four stars for the movie "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins" - a wonderfully engaging '80s action-adventure flick that doesn't take itself too seriously, featuring terrific performances by Fred Ward and Joel Grey - and one star for the crummy presentation it received on DVD. Remo deserves so much better than this.

It wasn't until after I purchased this DVD that I realized it was full screen format. WHY, WHY, WHY?! Don't studios realize that we want widescreen? At the very least, they could put a large disclaimer on the front. This bites. Remo Williams is a great movie and deserves better than this cut rate DVD.

I was one of the many who wanted to purchase this movie and have been waiting for a DVD release. I'm no big fan of the movie, but it is a fun-filled action romp that just about everyone should find enjoyable in one way or another.

Unfortunately, MGM continues their short-sighted position that movies that do not qualify as epics or blockbusters do not deserve the appropriate and correct widescreen version that it deserves. The notion that only particular movies deserve to be butchered for the sake of an apathic general public is mind-numbingly absurd.

This continues to astonish videophiles such as myself in that MGM has released less-appealing and less-popular movies not only in widescreen but also in anamorphic widescreen for higher resolution on widescreen TVs.

This DVD could have been a superb DVD had it been given the right treatment. Even DVD authoring packages meant for the home are capable of 16:9, widescreen presentations. The fact that a major studio cannot put forth the same DVD creation effort that someone can do in their own home is completely mind boggling.

I saw this in the theater when it came out and anxiously awaited the sequels. This is one movie where the sequel would have probably been a much better movie if for no other reason than actors and director would get into The Destroyer legend.

I loved the books at least up until Richard Sapir passed away. The books were fun, funny and contained much social satire. They were gems of wit and wisdom.

Basically it is about a cop recruited to be a supersecret agent for the government for an agency called CURE. The theory being that the President needed a tool to combat evil that could be fought only by violating the Constitution. Of course Presidents now boast about violating the constitution but these stories are from a more innocent age.

In the movie Fred Ward is perfectly cast as Remo Williams named in a very amusing way - "We put a lot of thought into it."
Joel Gray does a marvelous job of Chiun the Master of Sinanju the latest in a line of assasins dating back a millenia or two. Sinanju being the "sun source of all martial arts".

Wilford Brimly is probably the biggest departure from the books cast as Harold Smith. In the series Smith was a much more interesting character and the interplay between him and Remo is always entertaining.

Overall the plot was weak. Iw ould have rather had them adapt one of the many stories from the book series. I just never felt that Grove was that evil a guy worthy of accelerating Remo's mission. Patrick Kilpatrick was a great villan - muscle man "Stone". I particularly enjoyed the scene where Remo uses Stone's special feature to escape from a gas chamber.

The film was well structured I thought with equal amounts of Remo's training and mission, Joel Gray doing a wonderful Chiun, soap operas and all.

I thought it was a good first effort. Had they kept it up I am sure they would have gotten the hang of it and the movies gotten better and better.

I downrated the DVD mainly because of the format. so-called "fullscreen" is really only a half a screen. I did not buy the DVD just for that reason. I have an old copy on Betamax that I still watch twice a year or so.

There are no significant bonus features on the disk as was pointed out by a previous reviewer. This is just about inexcusable these days.

If my Beta tape ever weasr out I may be forced to buy a disk, but until then maybe MGM will get their heads out of you know where and re-release this movie properly.

This review refers to "Remo Williams - The Adventure Begins" (DVD/MGM)

Remo! Remo! Remo!...I really enjoyed the fun and action packed adventure that began in 1985. It was a film about good vs. evil, that I could enjoy with my kids. But you sure do know how to keep a lady waiting. I've been waiting 20 years already, for the adventure to continue. I mean it took Bruce Willis 3 times to save the world, and the Karate Kid didn't even learn the drum technique until part three of his training.Rocky, well Rocky needed 4 sequels to complete his training! And Bond..well you know! If you wait any longer you will have to do one of those, coming out of retirement to save the world stories!

For those that missed this fun flick, here's a little of the story. As the title implies, the adventure begins. A NYC cop is set up to take a fall, right into the River.He is presumed dead,and the perpetrators of this little scheme, turn out to be a secret organization, committed to eradicating bad guys. They answer only to the President of the United States.This is their way of recruiting new blood. While recuperating, our hero is given a new look, and a new name..Remo Williams(anyone out there remember how they came up with the name?). Against his will he will be trained by a master in martial arts to fight off the villains. He will dodge bullets, balance on a pole and walk on air! The master thinks it will take 15 years to fully train this guy who "walks like a pregnant Yak", but as it happens there are some really bad guys that need to be taken care of immediately, and we get to see Remo take them on by putting all his new skills to work.

So you see, Remo had only begun to train. The title is a real teaser for fans of Remo. Now I know he had to take some time out to fight off the underground creatures, making the earth tremor, but I figure after 20 years, Remo must be trained by now! How about a sequel?

The film is a great action and adventure film that may be enjoyed by the entire family without getting too graphic on the violence or language. It takes place in New York City(most of the training is there), and has some historical views as well. Some great shots of the skyline, including the WTC, and a fabulous chase up and down the outside of the Statue of Liberty with all the scalffolding during the time it was being refurbished. Fred Ward stars as Remo, and Joel Grey is Chiun, the master. And what a pair they make. You'll be laughing and rooting for the good guys all the way.

Although the DVD has an excellent picture and the sound is very good in Stereo surround(could even be better in 5.1), I have to complain that "This DVD has been formated to fit your screen" Pan and Scan...what's up with that? There are subtitles in English, French and Spanish for those needing them.

Checking over at the IMDB, I saw two interesting things. First the tech info for the DVD lists it as Widescreen..I can't find one in widescreen? Where is it? Second, there was a TV movie made in 1988 titled Remo Williams in which he has a new assignment. I never saw it or heard about it.

Come back Remo... an entire new generation(and some of us oldies) await your return!

And oh yeah.. how did they come up with the name Remo Williams?(hide your eyes if you don't want to know)..from a bedpan..of course!

Enjoy....Laurie

also recommended for fans of Fred Ward:Tremors

This is a classic 80s film that I enjoyed greatly when I was much younger. I only buy DVDs these days because of their superior features and longevity compared to VHS. So I was happy to learn Remo Williams was finally coming out on DVD so I could add it to my collection.

Alas, my hopes were shattered when I went to my local video store to pick up a copy. The movie only comes in FULL SCREEN. I am so disappointed. One of the best reasons to own a feature in DVD is to see it in widescreen, without the sides of the movie cut off to fit TVs with a 4:3 aspect ratio. But for some ungodly reason the studio has released Remo Williams in full screen. This is a very entertaining flick I want to see again in all it's silly, nostalgic, widescreen glory. I cannot forgive the people responsible for leaving it visually incomplete. Unless of course 4:3 IS the original format the movie was filmed in, which I seriously doubt.

I give 4 stars for the movie, 1 for the format.

A late-night cable favorite since its creation, REMO WILLIAMS has always been close to my heart and revisiting this DVD recently reignited my wishes for a sequel.

REMO WILLIAMS' strong point has always been its weakness as well. "The Adventure Begins" the title tells us up front, and presents a tale devoted almost entirely to character origin and development. Whereas lesser films would have thrown in a training montage across three minutes of film, Remo's lasts ninety. And it's not even over. Never "ready" to be unleashed as the assassin he's meant to be, Remo Williams spends the entirety of the film under Chiun's tutelage, forced into action only by circumstance. Only in the final minutes does he seem ready to begin the life he has been designed for.

How does this affect the film? Well, it will feel downright slow for the Fast and Furious generation weaned on quick-cut, shallow films like XXX which speed along from one explosion to the next. For those of us who used to read way back when and enjoyed seeing these pulpy characters fleshed out onscreen - as well as those of us who dug Kung Fu Theatre on Sunday afternoons (check out KILL BILL Vol 2's "Cruel Tutelage of Pai Mai" sequence for the heavy influence of Chiun), it means this is a simultaneous delight and letdown (the latter only because, realistically, we know there will never be a sequel to continue this story).

My only other minor criticism of REMO WILLIAMS is its relatively bloodless onscreen presentation. Not that I'm looking for gore, but for an assassination film, this one is very tame. On the upside, one could feel very comfortable sharing this film with pre-teen action enthusiasts.

The REMO WILLIAMS DVD is a bare bones, full-screen affair, but at its bargain price, who can really complain? You know what you're getting and it looks better than a TV re-run. A deluxe edition DVD would be nice but this viewer isn't holding his breath.

This film gets a lot of bad commentary by people who did not read the book series that it was based on. The.......... review has this problem as well. This movie was based on a series that currently has 123+ books in it. If you are a fan of the books, the character acting by Joel Grey and Fred Ward is pretty right on, not a political correctness faux pas as the review suggests. It was not stereotypical acting, but a near perfect depiction of a character whose personality has developed over the course of a 100+ books. Yes, the action scenes are a little lukewarm primarily because it was not really possible to depict the capabilities of the book characters with the technology of the time. If you are a Destroyer fan, you will most likely love this movie and the life it brings to Chuin and Remo, and even Harold Smith (although Wilford Brimley is a little too portly to be the gaunt, perfectly groomed Smith, although he accomplishes the lemonyness perfectly).

One of my favorite movies of all time ... been waiting for it to come out on DVD... planned on buying it... but it isn't in widescreen! Whats up with the studio?? Whats wrong with Original Aspect Ratio/Widescreen?

Very Frustating... I'm not buying.

The first half of the film was quite enjoyable. Joel Grey as 'Chun the master of Shinonjouh' was absolutely hilarious. He has so many great one liners that the movie is worth seeing just for those in and of themselves. It was also quite pleasant to see the relationship build between Remo (Fred Ward) and Chun.

The action sequences although not spectacular were certainly entertaining and there are even some pretty good lessons to be learned from Chun's teachings.

But the second half of the film is particularly uninteresting. Unfortunately the director or producer(s) chose to focus more on Kate Mulgrew's character and the scandal that is brewing with a major defense contractor. It just really doesn't work.

But I always catch the first half of the film whenever it's on.