Ατσάλι

matt lynch4.0

BLUE COLLAR meets ARMAGEDDON. You heard me.

Yves Bouwen3.0

Men on a mission in support of a woman movie. The woman, Cass Cassidy (Jennifer O'Neill) inherits her father's construction company and faces the - by health and safety measures made - impossible challenge to finish nine top floors of a skyscraper in three weeks. Cass' Father, Big Lew Cassidy (George Kennedy) fell to his dead from the unfinished skyscraper while he as CEO was trying to do a construction worker's job. Earlier in the movie he already took over the wheel from his driver. Every CEO that thinks he can do a blue-collar worker's job is a pretentious prick. Good riddance. His daughter learns the hard way and engages a ramrod. I learned that a ramrod is slang for a hard-on. In this movie it means a construction foreman. Well in this movie it probably means both. The hard-on in this case is Mike played by the six million dollar man himself, Lee Majors. Mike did develop an impediment on a previous assignment. The impediment is vertigo. In this movie it is also means something else. Why take the job? As one of Cass' employees explains:You’re here because this building will give you a chance to get it up again.I understand the comparison with Armageddon. The scene when Mike's newly assembled crew arrives on the construction side is remiscent to a similar scene in Armageddon. I do want to applaud that the movie praises unsung American heros. But these are construction workers doing a construction job. That hardly can be compared with penetrating an astroid with a nuke to save the world. Can Mike get it up again? Here is the catch. Not really. They do not actual finish the building, do they? No. They finish the steel structure, which - despite all flag waving on top of it - is hardly a climax. It reminds me of the time we had the builders in. When I complained that the job wasn't really finished, the boss responded that I could easily do the rest myself. Say what? No I can't! Even if I could that is what I pay you for! You ramrod! (Considering the subtext of this movie I could probably done something myself, but that would not finish our kitchen, would it?)The movie is dedicated to stuntman A. J. Bukanis. He died when doubling for George Kennedy when he falls of the building. The stunt was unnecessary because it was already shot. Bukanis did the stunt again because he tried to set the record for a high fall. High falls were his speciality. (See also the bridge fall in The Car). Watching the scenes on top of the skyscraper, with real people balancing on real girders, really high above ground, makes my head spin with fear of heights.

Joe Lynch3.5

I did NOT expect to be charmed by this “Men on Mission” variant that the VIDEO ARCHIVES podcast dug up. It’s one of those lost films (You can find it on YouTube, we saw at the New Bev) that’s almost feels like a sports film, an ensemble piece about some ragtag alpha males tasked to finish building a skyscraper in X amount of time. It’s a ton of fun but also knows how to “raise” the stakes (sorry). Lee Majors may not be the best actor but man does his eye brow arch SMOLDER. The whole cast is pretty great, from Richard Lynch and Terry Kaiser to Harris Yulin & George Kennedy and all the fantastic faces in between creating an earnest, “Rah Rah” fist pumping B flick that is sure to make you yell “USA! USA!” by the final few minutes. It’s “scrappy” (sorry again) as well as “riveting” (dammit!).In fact, there were more than a few moments towards the end the audience we clapping and cheering, which was rousing and well earned. Would pair nicely with ARMAGEDDON.