Text © Richard Gary / FFanzeen, 2018
Images from the Internet
Black Eagle
Directed by Eric Carson
Imperial Entertainment / Moonstone Entertainment / MVD Rewind Collection
104 minutes / 1988/2018
When this film was released in 1988,
Jean-Claude Van Damme was not the star of it, even if he presumed he was; he
was just 28 and not yet well known. The headliner was Japanese martial arts
action film star Shô Kosugi, who had been a big draw for a decade, helping
create the then-popular Ninja genre.
Let me say upfront that there are two
different versions of this film, both available on the disc, which are the 93-minute
theatrical cut, and the “Extended” 104-minute version. I went for the latter
(sorry, but I’m not watching both right now to compare the 11 minute difference…
perhaps some other time).
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| Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sho Kosugi |
The plot is pretty bare-boned, but
that was quite common in the action genre in the mass market days of the late
1980s. The basic plot thread is that a US classified plane called an F-111
Aardvark (a real, medium-range interdictor and tactical strike aircraft) has
gone down into the Mediterranean near the Republic of Malta, and both the
Americans and Russians are trying to find it first. On the US (i.e., “good
guys”) there’s Ken Tani (Kosugi), and for the Rooskies, there’s Andrei (Van
Damme, or JCVD, as he’s oft called in his publicity).
There’s a lot of saywhat moments (now known as WTF,
but I’ll keep with the period) in stuff that’s glossed over in the film. For
example, in researching Tani, the Russians are able to find him on their
computers while at sea, long before Wi-Fi. This is Jules Verne type
precognition. The server they use is quite antique even then (it has
reel-to-reel memory). But, as Tani tells his young sons, in relating the
family’s Black Eagle legend “You have to make it make sense to yourself.” I’m
okay with that.
One consistency is that the two leads
are kinda hard to understand (especially Kosugi when he shouts), between the
Japanese and the Russian-cum-Belgian
accents. The best accent is by the head of the Soviet team, Vladimir Kilmenko, who
is actually Russian (Vladimir Skomarowsky). Then again, JCVD doesn’t even speak
until 20 minutes in, and then it’s just sparingly, I am grateful to say.
The whole point of this type of film
is (duh) the action, so oft times the
plot revolves around the daring-dos, rather than the other way around. For
example, there is the obligatory car chase around the narrow streets of the
blazing white and grey Malta. As the cars go speeding by, people on the street
don’t even turn around (unless they’re doing an action into the camera in
close-up). That leads me to some questions, such as: was most of the action
sped up with folly-added car screeches added later, is it that no one there
gives a damn, or is this kind of thing so common that it isn’t worth noting?
People are walking down the street with shopping bags talking as cars
supposedly go barrelling by. It’s quite amusing.
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| JCVD, Vladimir Skomarowsky, Dorota Puzio |
There are lots “action star” activities,
such as hang gliding, wall scaling, running after (and away from) people, zip
lines, and many fisticuffs. Most skirmishes are quick, but that’s because the
real meat of the matter is Kosugi vs. JCVD. An interesting note is that this is
late in the career of Kosugi, but early enough in JCVD’s that it doesn’t necessarily mean JCVD is going to win
(hey, he’s playing a Russian, do the math). It’s similar to when uber-religious
right-wingnut Chuck Norris went against Bruce Lee in Way of the Dragon (aka Return
of the Dragon, 1972). However, it’s worth noting how it happens in a way that saves Belgian face.
As I said, the whole point is the
final confrontation, but there are actually three meetings between Kosugi and JCVD,
each one more intense, though all manage to throw in the “split” that would
become JCVD’s trademark (much as Steven Seagal’s breaking arms). Both actors
are good at it, there is no doubt about that, but they definitely have a
different style, which kind of works for the action, i.e., Kosugi is loose (Asian
style) and JCVD is stiff (like today’s Western MMA athletes). I do find it also
culturally interesting that at the time Kosugi was the bigger star, but being
Asian, even though he is the lead actor, his picture is smaller on the cover
than JCVD.
As far as acting goes? Well JCVD
comes across as stoically intense (most of his dialog consists of him saying
different variations of “Go get them/him!”), neither are really great actors
(though excel in stunts). The best actor of the bunch by far is Bruce French, a
spy who became a Catholic priest, and who is the de facto sidekick to Kosugi. Being of the clergy, he doesn’t get “the
girl,” but both of the leads do just that. For Tani, it’s blonde and big haired
American spy Patricia Parker (Doran Clark); for Andrei, it’s the surprisingly
sympathetic Natasha (Dorota Puzio).
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| Doran Clark |
Keeping in mind the time period that
this was released, it is interesting to see that there is quite a bit of gender
politics on various levels. The most obvious is the high testosterone level
that was present in nearly all these film. The two female leads (and I only
counted three recurring speaking roles in the whole film) are kind of
subservient to the males. Parker is basically a high-level CIA agent who mostly
babysits and shows off her limbs and hair, and Natasha is totally ignored by
Andrei (though he shows affection near the end, beyond the sex). At one point,
some ugly dude body shames the very attractive Parker with “Too skinny.”
It’s also worth noting that the two
youngsters playing Kosugi’s sons are, well, Kosugi’s real kids, Kane and Shane
Kosugi (yes, their real names rhyme). The just-teen Kane gets to show off some
nice moves himself (note that he is now a dashing martial arts actor in his own
right).
The image of the film is quite clear,
something the VHS copies I’m sure lack. This helps make the travelogue-ness of
the beautiful Malta scenery stand out quite nice. The music tends to be a mild
variation of synth-based, but not as gawd-awful as so much of the 1980’s…
nearly everything.
This package has both a version in
Blu-ray and DVD, which have the same extras. Beyond the chapter and sound
variations, there are a series of short documentaries from 2017. First is the
21:23 “Shô Kosugi: Martial Arts Legend.” It’s a talking head monolog by Shô talking
about how he grew up, got involved in martial arts, and became an actor. Nearly
half of it is an interview with his now-adult younger son, Shane, who describes
his own career and growing up with a famous dad. Did I mention that there is a
very strong self-promotion bit for Shô’s book on Eastern Philosophy which
borders on infomercial?
After that is a 35:43-minute “The
Making of Black Eagle,” which is filmed
30 years after the fact. It opens up with the director, Eric Karson, which is
mostly interviews with a whole group of people (one-by-one) including Eric, Shô,
Shane, the screenwriter Michael Gonzales, and the two female leads, Patricia
and Dorota. It’s interesting, discussing the likes of the relationships with
all the actors (including the “pissing contest” between Shô and JCVD) and working
with Shô’s accent. It’s keeps the viewers’ attention, though it’s a bit long. One
person missing is JCVD. However, he is the focus of the next 19:20-minute “Takes
of Jean-Clause Van Damme.” He is known for being both charming and (allegedly) a
bit of a dick to other actors and especially women (he’s bi-polar), so I was
curious to see this one. It’s also mostly interviews, but of course, JCVD isn’t
in it. You get to hear all different aspects of his personality, and how the
character of Andrei was essentially created for him, even though it’s so early
in his career.
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| Bruce Friench |
As for the 27:21 “The Script and the
Screenwriters,” mostly dealing with Gonzales and some of Karson, and well, to
be honest, I’ve burned out on how many documentaries I’m willing to watch on
this film, considering there are no ghosts, no monsters, no chainsaws, no
masked murderers, and absolutely no separated body parts. I quickly scanned
through it. The last extra is the 11:16 “Deleted Scenes.” Most of these are
already incorporated into the longer version of the film, so it’s nice to know
what was added. Oh, I almost forgot that it comes with a film poster folded
into the clamshell.
Will the good guys win? Will the bad
guys get the transponder back to Odessa? Okay, what do you think? Point is, as
I said, it’s the action that more important than the story proper. In that way,
this film is a success beyond the acting and writing. And it kept a smile on my
face throughout.
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