Product Details

• Actors: Fred Ward, Joel Grey, Wilford Brimley, J.A. Preston, George Coe
• Directors: Guy Hamilton
• Writers: Christopher Wood, Richard Sapir, Warren Murphy
• Producers: Dick Clark, Judy Goldstein, Larry Spiegel, Mel Bergman
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• DVD Release Date: July 15, 2003
• Run Time: 121 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (112 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000092Q5C
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,618 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Remo Williams - The Adventure Begins" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Talk about hubris: this film, released at the height of sequelmania in the mid-1980s, came with its own intimations of future sequels built right into the title. Unfortunately, you have to make a good first film in order to generate follow-ups--something these filmmakers didn't manage--so the adventure began and ended with this one. Based on the pulp paperback adventure series The Destroyer, the film deals with a ne'er-do-well, Remo Williams (Fred Ward), who is recruited to battle the forces of evil. He is trained by an Asian martial arts master who, in those days before political correctness, was played by Joel Grey in heavy makeup. But the action is both forced and preposterous, jokey without every really being funny. The best thing about the film is Grey--and his stereotyped depiction of an Asian is pretty hard to take today. --Marshall Fine

Product Description

When a street-smart NYPD cop (Fred Ward) regains consciousness after a bizarre mugging, he has a new face and a new identity! Now heÂ's Remo Williams, the #1 recruit of a top-secret organization, and heÂ's toppling evil at every turn – even atop the Statue of Liberty – in this Â"spectacular and funny adventure filmÂ" (Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune)! Trained by a quirky Korean martial arts master (Joel Grey) to dodge bullets, brave terrifying heights and thwart attackers with his bare hands, Remo becomes the ultimate criminal exterminator. But when he faces off against a corrupt millionaire and his army of henchmen, the real adventure begins!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 48 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars 4 Stars for the movie, 1 star for the DVD! August 13, 2003

By Lulu

Format:DVD

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.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Nooooooo! Full Screen Format?! Why?! July 27, 2003

By Kevin Wohler

Format:DVD

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.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars If it's not in the correct aspect ratio it shouldn't be sold August 7, 2003

By John L. Berger

Format: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.