8 Even More Forgotten Films From The 80’s You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

4. Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins

Remo Williams, the Adventure Begins

Now here is one that some diehard fans of comic books and pulp fiction (not the movie) may have heard of, but the rest of the movie going public have most definitely not. Based on the Destroyer paperback novels created by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir it starred Bill Ward as Remo Williams, a former NYC cop turned lethal assassin for a secret government organisation CURE Trained by a Korean martial arts expert Chiun in Sinanju, he learns various techniques that aid him in his attempt to uncover a corrupt weapons manufacturer, including dodging bullets and running on water. Also featuring Wilford Brimley and Captain Kathryn Janeway herself, a very young Kate Mulgrew as an Army investigator, as the title suggests this was meant to be precursor to a series of television shows, to which a pilot was filmed. But when it under performed at the box office all plans for a continuation was cancelled and the pilot never went to air. Which I feel might have been a missed opportunity to create something truly memorable, as this film is a lot better than some that came out in the same period to more financial success and I think a television series would have been great. The camaraderie between Bill Ward and Joel Grey comes off as quite genuine and results in some hilarious banter between the two. But alas, like the other movies that I have mentioned, it all but vanished and might as well never have been made. Now here in Australia it was released under the title of Remo: Unarmed and Dangerous, and upon revisiting the American version that can be found on youtube I found that our release had significantly more footage included that explains his abilities with a lot more clarity, like a training montage that features our protagonist honing his skills on rice paper and learning his ability to "float."
Nevertheless it is still worth a look if you are fans of 80's action films in the vein of Stallone or Eastwood.
 
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Passions in life: Movies, Music and Wrestling....My childhood was spent growing up in the "Outback" of Australia (I'm a little bit country) and my adulthood resided within the city limits (I'm a little bit rock and roll), so you could say that I am the best (or worst) of both worlds. A 6 foot 7 ex wannabe pro wrestler (whose career was cut short due to a busted back, NOT caused by wrestling) & muso who has a precocious cat & a habit of doing the wrong thing but for the right reasons. The story of my life???? All demos, no albums ;)