The following disc is currently available from Arrow Video (www.arrowvideo.com – www.facebook.com/ArrowVideo/) as a Special Edition Blu-ray.
By the mid-80s, actions films were one of the biggest genres in the movie marketplace and every motion picture studio seemed to want to cash in on the trend. As those who remember the era know, it meant that there were plenty of big titles featuring superstars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, as well as mid-budgeted efforts from the likes of Cannon Pictures, and even a few from some independent outfits. Jake Speed was a tongue-in-cheek action film from New World Pictures, known for its low-budget output and created by Roger Corman.
While many remember the elaborate poster and VHS box art for Jake Speed, the movie itself hasn’t been easy to find in recent years. Now, Arrow Video are releasing it on Blu-ray as a Special Edition with a 2K image restoration from the original camera negative. The movie finally can be seen in pristine quality, like it appeared when originally released to theaters. And there are even a couple of bonuses that add a lot to the overall experience.
The movie begins in Paris with an elaborate chase and kidnapping. The story then cuts to the US and the family of the victim. Specifically, the girl’s sister, Margaret Wilson (Karen Kopins), who feels incredible guilt at having encouraged her younger sibling to travel and see the world. After government authorities make little progress with the disappearance, Margaret’s grandfather makes a ridiculous suggestion about contacting Remo Williams, Mack Bolan or Jake Speed to get some results. Of course, the idea that these fictional characters might be real is initially scoffed at, until Desmond Floyd (Dennis Christopher) appears and tells Margaret that Jake Speed (Wayne Crawford) has decided to take on her case. The trail leads them to Africa and squares them off against a notorious human trafficker named Sid (John Hurt).
While the generalities bear some resemblance to Romancing the Stone (1984), the reworked concept is fresh and intriguing. The idea that action novels based around a fictional character are real, and that these heroes take on jobs to serve as material for their next novel (and don’t charge their clients, only living off of the royalties from the books) is a clever jumping off point. It leads to plenty of humor when the disbelieving Margaret tries to figure out whether her compatriots are really heroes or just con men. The movie also makes good use of Speed’s pal Desmond, who relays exposition and frequently follows the characters around with a typewriter. This is all so that he can write the story out as it unfolds, at one point even awkwardly insisting Speed and Margaret pose for a potential cover photo shot. And Speed’s motivations are funny too, often looking for trouble in the hopes of adding some thrills and excitement for his readers.
The cast try their hardest to sell the unusual material. John Hurt does his scenery-chewing best as Sid, attempting something outrageous almost every moment he is on screen. In fact, it’s unfortunate that this villain appears so late in the film; the movie could have done with much more of his comic mugging, far earlier in the running time. Crawford (who actually was the co-writer and co-producer) has a huge role and very tough job in making an impression as an action hero come to life. While the movie may have benefitted from a star with more experience and familiarity, Crawford does reasonably well, even successfully landing a few of the screenplay’s one-liners. Kopins is a likable heroine, although there doesn’t seem to be much onscreen chemistry between herself and Speed.
Visually, there are a couple of impressive location shots and action scenes over the course of the running time. This includes an image of a hotel wall that is taken out by an explosion during unrest between warring factions in the country. Throughout the climax, Speed uses what he describes as a HARV (Heavily Armored Raiding Vehicle) to plow through the villain’s compound and motor down hallways (there’s an incredible and dangerous-looking stunt as the HARV crashes through the front doors). And there are numerous explosions and fireworks set off as the movie reaches it finale.
Despite the best of intentions, the movie does suffer from its budgetary limitations. For a rip-roaring adventure film, there isn’t a lot of grand spectacle on display. It doesn’t have the money or time to develop some of the great conceptual ideas of a fictional hero in a real world. In fact, most of what occurs comes off as more interesting than truly exciting. One gets the feeling that had the production received more funding, the filmmakers could have elaborated on these themes and done much more with the action sequences, which would have provided a far bigger punch. This may be one of those instances of a movie that could actually benefit from a big budget remake.
The movie looks sharp and appealing thanks to the image upgrade, which manages to make some of the larger sets, natural vistas and stunts look better than ever before. The Blu-ray also includes a couple of informative bonuses. The first is a new interview with co-writer/producer/director Andrew Lane and the second is a talk with producer William Fay. These are both illuminating discussions that go into the process of creating an independent feature and detailing their process.
Essentially, Lane states that he and his co-writer/producing partner Wayne Crawford had come out of UCLA film school with a plan. He notes how they believed that by raising funding themselves, it would give them more control of the movies they made. The two found great success with their first independent projects, Valley Girl (1983) and Night of the Comet (1985). For their next and (to this point) largest scale production, they went about creating a new spin on the action adventure film mold and ultimately sold it to New World Pictures, who provided them with their biggest budget yet (about $5 million dollars). But while the funding was far more than what they had for their earlier work it was still about 75% less than other genre pictures put out by the big studios. There’s also an amusing aside about using Crawford for the lead and turning down requests from agents (one even suggested a young Bruce Willis to them).
While Lane and Fay appear to have different opinions about how the movie was/should have been marketed, they both seem to agree that its weak box office performance had to do with how New World Pictures decided to release it. They saw the picture as a summer film and set about putting it out at the beginning of the season against competition from big studios. It was released the same week as the smashed hit Top Gun, and sandwiched between that film and the Sylvester Stallone’s high-budget action flick Cobra, as well as Poltergeist II: The Other Side. Against that kind of competition, both producers knew that their movie never stood a chance.
Although the feature didn’t garner much of a following at cinemas, it still has its fans who discovered the movie on video and appreciate the film for its original notion, a memorable (if underused) bad guy and it’s low-budget charms. Arrow Video’s new Blu-ray Special Edition of Jake Speed will certainly please those who do appreciate the feature, and may even win over a few converts with a taste for B-movies.