I watched this one, and about 10 minutes in I figured folks here might get a kick out of it. Steve Guttenberg stars as a Hollywood action actor on something of a career slide when volcanic eruptions around Los Angeles put him in the position of having to save his family for real. Fans of the Police Academy series of movies will recognize several other faces in the movie, as Guttenberg was able to recruit Michael "Motormouth Jones" Winslow into the production as well, and according to interviews the reunion vibe grew from there. Beyond that stuff, there were a couple other things that got my attention. They are (very minor) spoilers, so highlight below if you want to see them, don't highlight if you don't want spoilers. Spoilers begin after... this.
1. Instead of a convoluted way where the hero ends up armed, in this case Guttenberg's character returns home as soon as he sees what he is up against and arms himself with his own shotgun, kept in a closet. This is also a key scene as his wife thought he was nuts up to this point and then realizes how serious things are.
2. While there are some "Tacticool" weapons in the movie, Guttenberg's weapon is a wood stocked pump action shotgun like any hunter or trap shooter might have in their closet. It may have been the perfect weapon for the character, who is portrayed as an off-screen everyman who just happens to make his career in the movies. It also contains a more accurate portrayal of every day stage crew folks in the business than many "movie about the movies" type productions. These are blue collar folks who make mid budget movies for a living.
3. In the course of the movie, the front end of the shotgun's barrel eventually becomes damaged. Does our hero throw it away? No, we see him chopping off the damaged part of the barrel later, and the shotgun works fine once again.
4. Ordered to evacuate, and without her long gun, Guttenberg's wife (Nia Peeples) eventually breaks out a Beretta pistol to save herself. As it is a Nickel or Stainless civilian piece we know it was not military. We can assume she concealed it and never gave it up when asked to give up her weapons - Thus saving her life.
5. Despite being around serious weapon arsenals late in the movie, Guttenberg's character hangs on to his shotgun. He knows the gun, and it works for him.
6. Along with the cast members, there are a few other Police Academy references, including one to the Blue Oyster (They burned down the Blue Oyster Bar, I loved that place) etc.
7. The only touch of sadness was realizing that the late Bubba Smith and the late David Graf would have loved this one, though I am sure they were smiling someplace watching it.
(End of spoilers.)
A goofy, no-way-this-is-real fun movie, with some gory stuff, but played more for outlandishness than gore for gore's sake. Fire spitting giant spiders invading LA. SyFy will probably repeat it a few times, as they have done with their other TV movies.
1. Instead of a convoluted way where the hero ends up armed, in this case Guttenberg's character returns home as soon as he sees what he is up against and arms himself with his own shotgun, kept in a closet. This is also a key scene as his wife thought he was nuts up to this point and then realizes how serious things are.
2. While there are some "Tacticool" weapons in the movie, Guttenberg's weapon is a wood stocked pump action shotgun like any hunter or trap shooter might have in their closet. It may have been the perfect weapon for the character, who is portrayed as an off-screen everyman who just happens to make his career in the movies. It also contains a more accurate portrayal of every day stage crew folks in the business than many "movie about the movies" type productions. These are blue collar folks who make mid budget movies for a living.
3. In the course of the movie, the front end of the shotgun's barrel eventually becomes damaged. Does our hero throw it away? No, we see him chopping off the damaged part of the barrel later, and the shotgun works fine once again.
4. Ordered to evacuate, and without her long gun, Guttenberg's wife (Nia Peeples) eventually breaks out a Beretta pistol to save herself. As it is a Nickel or Stainless civilian piece we know it was not military. We can assume she concealed it and never gave it up when asked to give up her weapons - Thus saving her life.
5. Despite being around serious weapon arsenals late in the movie, Guttenberg's character hangs on to his shotgun. He knows the gun, and it works for him.
6. Along with the cast members, there are a few other Police Academy references, including one to the Blue Oyster (They burned down the Blue Oyster Bar, I loved that place) etc.
7. The only touch of sadness was realizing that the late Bubba Smith and the late David Graf would have loved this one, though I am sure they were smiling someplace watching it.
(End of spoilers.)
A goofy, no-way-this-is-real fun movie, with some gory stuff, but played more for outlandishness than gore for gore's sake. Fire spitting giant spiders invading LA. SyFy will probably repeat it a few times, as they have done with their other TV movies.
