Customer Reviews

Thunder in Paradise Collection

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Okay, yes, I know. I'm giving high praise to a Hulk Hogan movie, or actually three Hulk Hogan movies (all from the same series). I'm a grown man with lots of degrees, a family, a wonderful life as a public school teacher in a respectable house, with children, a loving wife, and two dogs and a budgie. So that said, this is high praise indeed. The Thunder Collection is made by the same blokes who created Baywatch, which was a huge hit here in the UK, but frankly I never understood (except for the obvious treat for the eyes). However this Thunder series is a true joy. Colorful, fun, clever, amazing production, wonderful music, and what I would call a great escape. And isn't that what this is all about? The first in the three-play can be a bit confusing since it gave Hulk a wife and a different daughter. But it is still great fun, and has the wonderful contribution of our own alumni Patrick Macnee (he's in all three actually). The second really sets the pace. The best of the three, (though I love them all) The duo of Hulk and Chris Lemmon, Carole Alt's charm and beauty and the incredible production values makes this perfect winter time viewing (how delightful to see the blue skies, hot sun white sands and attractive woman wearing as little as possible!). I've been pleasantly surprised to read so many other reviews which seem to agree with me, since I thought I was going to be a fan in a land of curmudgeons. But I guess we are all the same under the sun, and know great entertainment when we see it. Excuse me if I echo some of the thoughts of the others here, but it's worth repeating. You can also watch this collection again and again, and if you have children... it's perfect for them. The action is more bombastic than bloody, and the use of Hulk's daughter (that is, the actress playing his daughter) in the film gives the movie a great "attitude" for kids to watch and feel apart of the adventure. The dialogue is amazingly clever, characters well drawn out (as mentioned before Bru and Spenser's "food tasting trick" in number 2, on a prison guard is indeed a down right classic, and their comic timing is as good as any of the folks from the Ocean 11+ movies. As said before, special attention should also be taken to one of the most exciting and hysterical chase sequences, up and down the Middle East buildings, culminating in a delightful "back and forth" with Bru and Spence, right up there with the "cliff jumping scene" in "Butch Cassidy". Also, Ms. Alt shows a wonderful comic timing. She is a gem! I'm sure there wasn't a very big budget, so I really was astonished at how "big" the movies look. Third one, literally blows the lid of... what with a final scene (not a spoiler, I promise you), where they blow up an entire school! In a world bereaved of shout-em-out entertainment for the whole family, this is a treasure. Really! And it should be a part of any collection where one wants to pop something in the player that's going to make them smile, laugh and be transported to another world for a few hours... it truly is like a ride at Disneyland, without the lines, nor the entrance fees.

Watching this dvd brought back such memories.....I hope that they bring out the season in DVD.....Acting is lame but for us who remember the WWF, to see some of the old guys Brutus the Barber, Hercules..etc it is a fun trip down memory lane....

I used to watch this on TV late at night, and I'm disappointed that this is just the 3 movies and not the whole series. But it will do for now.

Hulk Hogan stars as R.J Hurricane Spencer, an ex navy seal who with his friend Brue Baker, also an ex navy seal, have constructed a steal speed boat with allot of technical gadgets that takes a page heavily out of Knight Rider's K.I.T.T, but in the form of a boat.

In the first movie the plot evolved around R.J marrying someone to help her save her hotel and kick the bad guys butt at the same time and in the free time making lame jokes and checking out the babes along the Floridian beach they live on. The beach scenes and slow motion women in bikinis looks much like something from Baywatch, probably cause they guy who did Baywatch IS the guy who did this.

The second movie there friend Kelly is taken to a foreign land by her new found love, only to discover that he will sacrifice her to save his country by making her marry the local warlord. So R.J and Brue are out for the rescue mission.

The 3rd movie see's RJ and Brue capture a Cuban drug lord and send him to prison, then a month later the Cuban drug-lords right arm man holds RJ's daughter hostage at a school with Kelly and other children in exchange for his boss.

All in all, the acting is not great. It's pretty lame, but it's entertaining. Some scenes seemed to be done either campy or just dumb on purpose but don't take notes on how to act from any of the main cast. Also in the episodes you see some old WWF wrestlers make small appearances such as Brutus The Barber Beefcake, Jimmy Mouth Of The South Hart, The Anvil Jim Neidhart, The Giant Gonzales, Tugboat/Typhoon and probably a few more. And also that guy who played the guy in the original Avengers series. About the best performance in all of them is Carey Hawuki Tagawa or whatever his name is, he played Shang T-Sung in Mortal Kombat, ya know the guy... well, he's about the only decent actor in the whole thing.

But it's fun, ridicules, stupid and funny. Coming on 3 discs isn't necessary, i think all 3 movies would fit onto the one disc. But oh well, just a cheap cash in and the price is reasonable. Would've been nice to have some bonus features, commentary or even subtitles, but i guess they figure there is only about 10 of us in the world who would buy this thing.

What the heck is with that cover? Could they have picked a worse picture to use?

You have no sense of cinematic greatness if you cannot appreciate the first Thunder in Paradise film. Truly a sign of the times, it was part of the hero brotherhood that as a kid really made me believe guys like Hogan, Stallone and Arnold were indeed capable of anything. nowadays you can't watch a regular "guy" do awesome stuff like they did in the 80's. They have to be roman gladiators or scottish revolutionaries. The everyday hero is a thing of the past. While unrealistic, nothing feels better than to truly believe that a modern-day guy can larger than life. Now 2 and 3 were poopoo, but if you don't like the first one, you obviously didn't see it as a kid.

theese where 2 hour movies i liked them just wish it was teh entire TV series that ran but just at good

Its about time The Thunder in Paradise Made For TV Film Collection be released onto dvd. What a great way to launch the TV Series. I just hope they release the TV Series too. Ashley Gorrell rocks.

Rambo meets miami vice who meets WWF a real taste of the 90's....and what a great price for 3 movies that any real hulk fan must own......... thanks amazon!!!!

Its a sappy action/adventure comedy with Hulk Hogan and Chris Lemon. It is set in Florida, and they play ex-Navy Seals with a prototype stealth boat, which they end up using to save the day!! I am a sucker for these B-type old TV shows. This one - like others like it, have a small but faithful fan base. Check it out - I don't think you will be disappointed....

What you should expect here is something unabashedly banal. It's got action, pointlessly extended scenes, jokes that fall sympathetically flat and a character you just love to want to punch.

Chris Lemmon is ingeniously miscast as anyone remotely sympathetic. His character, Bru is absolutely the highlight of this series of films. He's insufferably annoying, has an overconfident swagger without the looks to pull it off and is somehow endearing as a result of this.

The sets which appear to be Disney World, the bad CGI, the poor acting and Hulk Hogan's intrinsically hilarious appearance result in something totally worth watching. I only give it four stars, and not five because the first movie in the set is too close to a legitimately mediocre film to be enjoyable the way its sequels are.

Of course because of my memory of this show being created when I was a child it was not exactly what I expected. I used to love this show and I thought it was extremely cool back then. Perhaps the acting could be a bit better, but for nostalgia's sake it is great. I don't regret the purchase at all.

Enjoy.