Christopher Walken must drive his agents nuts with his ability to say yes to appearing in all sorts of movies. He won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1978 for The Deer Hunter. Walken could have stuck with prestigious projects. Instead he’d appear in major Hollywood studio movies, gritty New York dramas and pure exploitation flicks. Not to mention comedies such as all the times he hosted Saturday Night Live. He has an amazingly diverse filmography for a major star. There’s a feeling that if you send Christopher Walken a script and proof that you have a working film cameral; he might say yes. How else do you explain Walken as McBain? The movie was written and directed by James Glickenhaus. He had previously directed The Exterminator with Robert Ginty and a flamethrower before not breaking Jackie Chan in America with The Protector. A year before McBain, he produced Frankenhooker. There wasn’t going to be a “For Your Consideration” ad in Variety for award season. Somehow when presented with Glickenhaus’ script and the prospect of shooting in the Philippines, Walken said, “See you in the jungle!”
As the US Army withdraws from Vietnam, a group of Army Rangers on helicopter home, delay their evacuation when they detect a Vietcong prison camp. Trapped in a cage and fighting for his life against the camp commanders is Bobby McBain (Walken). When it looks like he’s a dead man, the calvary shows up. Among the Rangers are Frank Bruce (Scanners‘ Michael Ironside), Eastland (The Exterminator‘s Steve James) and Roberto Santos (Thank God It’s Friday‘s Chick Vennera). McBain is grateful to be freed and owes them big time. Santos rips $100 bill in half and says if anyone comes with the other half of the bill, you can pay them back. McBain probably figured the favor would be something simple like babysit, fix a car or put somebody up in the guest room for a week. When the other half of the C-Note arrives years later, it’s a major thing. Turns out Santos led a coup against the president of Columbia (King of New York‘s Victor Argo). Things didn’t end well for Santos. His sister (The Running Man‘s Maria Conchita Alonso) makes the journey to Manhattan to collect the favor from McBain. The ex-POW reunites the Army Rangers with the mission of stopping the Narco-republic and take out the President in their name of Santos. Can this group of aging vets take down a country ruled by an evil despot and Pablo Escobar? They do a test run against a New York City drug dealer (Wednesday‘s Luis Guzman) and an American mob boss which also helps them get funding for their Columbian mission. Are they really up for leading a revolution? Are you going to bet against McBain?
The movie truly is a thick, juicy piece of grindhouse joy. Right off the bat you get Christopher Walken back in a Vietcong cage except this isn’t The Deer Hunter. Walken isn’t making fun of his previous character. He’s as serious here as in his Oscar winning performance although without the Russian Roulette element. This isn’t a spoof. Walken is dedicated to this tale of attacking drug empires. The same is true for Michael Ironside, Steve James and the other Ranger actors. They mean business when they lock and load. The fight scenes in Columbia (really the Philippines) blow up like a good Vietnam-era movie. There’s one stunt where a person shoves a hand grenade in a tank’s barrel and the screen explodes. The 1080p transfer makes you feel the burn.
Walken is so dominate when McBain reunites with his saviors. He’s so in control in the finale as he and the Rangers attack the Presidential compound. Glickenhaus gives him an entertaining action film. Strolling around with his assault rifle, Walken is as much of a badass action hero as Sly, Arnold or Bruce. If you’re a fan of Walken, this is a must view since we rarely see the actor as an outright action figure. Showing how he bounces between all types of movies; after wrapping McBain, Walken flew off play a villain in Batman Returns.
The Video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer brings out the beauty of the jungle. The audio is DTS-HD MA 2.0 Original English Stereo Soundtrack. There’s also a new DTS-HD MA 5.1 stereo surround mix to have the explosions all over your living room. The movie is subtitled.
Audio Commentary from director James Glickenhaus and Film Historian Chris Poggiali. Has Glickenhaus talk about going to the Philippines to play both Vietnam and Columbia. He said there was a lot of Vietnam era military equipment to rent. He decided Columbia was a bit too risky for a film shoot. But says a Columbian drug lord loved the film. He gets into what they did for the helicopter, airplane and missile stunts. He points out where he got his McBain from (it’s Italian in origin). They also used locations from Apocalypse Now.
Original Trailer (1:25) promises us friendship, loyalty, honor and revenge from McBain. The movie was released on August 23rd.
Synapse Films present McBain. Directed by James Glickenhaus. Screenplay by James Glickenhaus. Starring Christopher Walken, Michael Ironside, Steve James, María Conchita Alonso, Victor Argo, Thomas G. Waites, Chick Vennera, Jay Patterson, Forrest Compton and Luis Guzmán. Running Time: 103 minutes. Rating: Rated R. Release Date: July 11, 2023.
