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Top 7 Steven Seagal Flicks

Richard Knapp

Back in the early ’90s, if you asked any moviegoer who they considered one of the biggest action stars of the day, names like Schwarzenegger or Stallone would easily come to mind, but chances were also pretty good that some folks would answer with Steven Seagal. Fast forward to 2009 and Seagal is the star of a reality show in which he plays, well, himself. Debuting this Wednesday, December 2nd is the new A&E series Steven Seagal: Lawman, and if the previews are to be believed, we’re going to see how Seagal has been kicking ass and taking names for the Jefferson Parish Police Department in New Orleans for the nearly twenty years.

But so we don’t forget what he’s done in the past, here’s a list of the best that Seagal had to offer in his heyday. Not to be mistaken with today’s smarter, more kinetic breed of action films, these picks are plodding and clumsy in comparison. Movies like this simply could not be made today. Better yet, they could not be made today and be successful (as witnessed by Seagal’s continued attempts, averaging two to three films a year for the last five years), but put that aside for now. Don’t expect Oscar material, but instead seven hopelessly-underdeveloped yet gleefully-violent action flicks that rightfully earned their place in action movie history.

Above the Law

In 1988′s Above the Law, Seagal’s Nico Toscani is a Chicago cop on the trail of a particularly scummy group of drug dealers when he discovers that an old nemesis from his Vietnam days is behind it all, including secret government plots to stifle his investigation and various attempts to bury him and his family. When Nico is suspended from duty for digging too deep, he takes matters into his own hands and tracks down the bad guys, dishing out his own brand of justice and leaving bodies in his wake.

Directed by Andrew Davis, Seagal’s action-packed debut showed audiences that you don’t have to carry a big gun and a bad attitude to take down the bad guys. More than anything else, Above the Law was a new shot in the arm for action movies and propelled Seagal into the limelight. It wasn’t necessarily a huge hit at the box office, but all the same, it made its mark as a solid action film with an intriguing new face and a bit more depth than expected.

Marked for Death

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When Jamaican gangs cause grief in his hometown of Chicago, freshly-retired DEA agent John Hatcher finds himself in the middle of it all and when he interferes with some gang-related activities, he ends up putting his family in danger. After the Jamaicans track him down and pull an old-fashioned drive-by, Hatcher takes it upon himself to get to the bottom of it all, uncovering an international drug ring led by the highly-irritable Screwface. With local high school football coach and longtime friend Max (Keith David) in tow, Hatcher takes his arm-breaking tactics to the streets and all the way to Jamaica.

Marked for Death is a super-simplistic take on the growing drug problem in America and even though it plays up stereotypes and xenophobia for most of the film, the visit to Kingston in the third act does its best to dispel all that and put things in perspective. Add to that some choice reggae cuts on the soundtrack and an appearance by Jimmy Cliff and it’s all irie, as they say.

Out for Justice

Without a doubt one of the most graphically violent of Seagal’s early films, Out for Justice starts busting heads before the opening credits begin rolling and rarely lets up. Seagal plays boy-from-the-hood-done-good NYPD detective Gino Felino on a quest for revenge after his best friend is gunned down in broad daylight by mobster wannabe Richie Madano, played (for better or worse) by an especially ratty-looking William Forsythe. In his search for Richie, Gino comes across all manner of lowlifes, scumbags and wiseguys, making short work of them with his bone-cracking techniques and doesn’t stop until he finds Madano and exacts the aforementioned “justice” on him.

Out for Justice is also notable as the first time Seagal attempts to play a character other than every other character he’s played–mostly by putting on a Brooklyn accent heavy enough to make your head spin. Seagal’s Gino is a man who knows the mob, knows the street and knows the code of honor that they both live by, and it’s refreshing to hear Seagal actually take some glee in the dialogue and wear a performance on his sleeve, even as the act wears thin in the film’s quieter moments.

Under Siege

After being decommissioned, the USS Missouri is overrun by a group of gunmen posing as caterers and musicians led by the ship’s executive officer Commander Krill (Gary Busey) and charming-til-you-get-to-know-him William Strannix (Tommy Lee Jones). CPO Casey Ryback is a low-ranking cook who–thanks to being a former Navy SEAL, of course–finds himself being the one man who can come through and save the day. Not only does he know his way around the ship, but he knows what the bad guys’ plan is and knows just how to stop them. And save the day he does.

At the time, Under Siege was largely referred to as “Die Hard on a Boat” for it’s somewhat copycat premise, but the two things that save it are Andrew Davis’ solid direction and the delightfully over the top performances by its baddies Jones and Busey. You know whenever Tommy Lee Jones can out-crazy Gary Busey there’s bound to be some sort of magic going down–and the G.I. Joe-inspired character names can’t hurt either. All told, Under Siege was a big hit at the box office and even nominated for two Oscars for sound work, making for Seagal’s most successful film to date.

Executive Decision

If you could divide Seagal’s film career into two “eras”, the turning point would without a doubt be Executive Decision. This would be the first time that Seagal’s character isn’t the invincible, street-smart tough guy. Nor is he the pony-tailed Zen master that just wants to protect his family. Nor is he cop who knows the score and is out to put the bad guys down for good. In fact, this would be the first time that Seagal wouldn’t even be the star of the show.

If you were a fan of Seagal’s early flicks, this probably wouldn’t be considered a favorite, but its importance in his film career is undeniable. In the grand scheme of things, it was yet another sign of things to come; that the action movie landscape was shifting once again.

Despite the rehashed terrorists-on-a-plane plot (or in this post-9/11 world, perhaps because of it), Executive Decision is the one of the few Seagal films that feels “real” due to the ultimately inconsequential role of Seagal’s Lt. Col. Travis. His character’s fate was far from what audiences were expecting and when the movie turns to everyman David Grant (Kurt Russell) in the clutch, it’s almost as if the movie gods were telling us that Seagal and his kind of action hero were on the way out.

Exit Wounds

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Seagal’s Orin Boyd manages to save the Vice President from terrorists but blows up enough of the city to get himself transferred to another precinct in the hard streets of Detroit. Once there, he attends anger management classes, finds a buddy who provides some comic relief, has a run-in with a rapper-turned-actor and some shady goings-on, gets busted down to traffic cop, discovers that the cops are the real bad guys and teams with his new partner to take down the corrupt cops and vindicate the rapper-turned-actor’s incarcerated brother in the process. If that doesn’t sound like every cop movie trope ever known to man, that’s because I forgot the scene where Boyd appears to get shot dead, only to reveal that he was wearing a bulletproof vest. And yet, there’s plenty of fun to be had watching it all play out.

One of his last films to see wide theatrical release, it would seem that Seagal used Exit Wounds as both an opportunity to amp up the action thanks to the handiwork of Andrzej Bartkowiak (Romeo Must Die, Doom) as well as to poke a little fun at his tough guy persona and capitalize on a crossover audience. Exit Wounds might have be the beginning of a hipper, flashier Seagal era, but instead, it marked a turn for the worse. With the cast pulling from all corners of the spectrum, including DMX, Isaiah Washington, Tom Arnold, Jill Hennessy, Anthony Anderson, Bill Duke, Bruce McGill and Eva Mendes, the movie works best when you forget all those names and their assorted careers. Simply enjoying it for the fast-paced action, grin-inducing stuntwork and some self-deprecating humor, Exit Wounds is still palatable, if only to serve as a final glimpse of Seagal’s best work before his films were relegated to direct-to-video releases.

The Onion Movie

One of said direct-to-video releases was 2008′s The Onion Movie, in which Seagal stars as a parody of himself. At first it’s just a hilarious commercial for the upcoming action flick called Cock Puncher. As The Onion Movie works its way through various news bits and comedy vignettes, things start to fall apart at Onion News due to corporate interference from Global Tetrahedron, and in classic Seagal movie fashion, the real Cock Puncher’s ball-breaking talents are called upon to save the day. There’s cock, there’s punching, and the two come together with a magic only Seagal can bring.

And just in case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the A&E promo for Steven Seagal: Lawman. Now that you’re armed with the best of Steven Seagal on film, you can have a better appreciation for how he’ll be busting down scumbags on TV. Enjoy!

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8 Glorifications Of Bad Fictional Artists

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1. Funny People (2009)
Judd Apatow’s sprawling mess of a movie is the most fascinating cinematic mixed bag since A.I. brought us ultraviolent murder carnivals and cutesy CG characters voiced by Robin Williams within an hour of each other. There’s a lot to love and hate, but what’s not really debatable is how painfully unfunny the standup is, whether it’s coming from the allegedly brilliant but compromised celebrity played by Adam Sandler or the allegedly promising young star played by Seth Rogen. Sandler and Rogen are very funny people, and they’re performing a script written by a guy who’s had a hand in almost every funny thing that’s happened in movies for the past decade. So why is James Taylor funnier onstage here than either one of them? Seeing otherwise hilarious people spouting the unfunniest material of their careers when we’re supposed to believe they’re geniuses would be Funny People’s fatal flaw if it didn’t already have so many other problems (an insane running time, dozens of distracting cameos, the presence of Paul Reiser). - Scott Howard

2. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006-2007)
At least comedians like Funny People, which could not be said of Aaron Sorkin’s notorious return to the tube after being backdoor fired from The West Wing following a string of PR disasters, including an arrest at the Burbank airport when his crack pipe set off the metal detector. Even fellow NBC employees Tina Fey and Conan O’Brien publicly mocked its pompous portrayal of comedy writers as the last bulwark of intellectualism against the slack-jawed neanderthals in flyover country. Comedy as the lone voice of sanity for the politically isolated isn’t all that odd of an idea for those of us who found solace in the arms of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report in the Dubya era, but those shows crank out brilliance every night. Studio 60‘s supposed wunderkind Matthew Perry prefers Gilbert & Sullivan parodies, and his signature piece is a sketch called “Crazy Christians” that is so explosive it threatens to sink the entire network. What’s it about? CHRISTIANS who are CRAZY! The much stronger dramatic material involving network execs Steven Weber and Amanda Peet proves that Sorkin should quit trying in vain to make us laugh. - SH

3. Coyote Ugly (2000)
One song is all it takes for Piper Perabo’s plucky heroine in this 2000 snore to ascend from part-time bar-dancer to hit songwriter with a record deal, and while not as torturous as the song Roger struggles to write to save his soul in RENT, it’s just as forgettable. But “Can’t Fight The Moonlight” isn’t just bad: It’s the bad that can now be heard in every pharmacy line and dentist’s office in the world because of the song’s post-movie chart climb. If only LeAnn Rimes’ latest tabloid exploits would force Clear Channel to push for a ban on this syrupy pap. - Ellen Wernecke

4. Sex and the City (1998-2004)
Carrie Bradshaw is the worst columnist that ever existed ever. She’s worse than a hack — she literally can’t form a coherent essay. Her column reads like the most vapid, self-absorbed blog ever written, except that we’re supposed to believe that not only does she write for the New York Observer and Vogue, but that she actually gets a book deal. Her columns are filled with never-answered questions. “Why is it that we always seem to want what we can’t have?” Carrie might muse, typing furiously on her MacBook as if this was a Huge Revelation For Everyone. One can only attribute her column’s success to the idea that there was a large and devoted gathering of New Yorkers who read it solely to mock her. Or else, like the show itself, we’re supposed to think it’s good simply because it’s marginally relatable. See, her life is like ours! She asks the questions we ask! God, is this amazing or what? I do take some joy, though, that with the rise of good blogs and the death of the newspaper, Carrie’s job would be the first to be axed. - Zoe Holmes

5. Reality Bites (1994)
This instantly dated ’90s dramedy is forgiven for making Ben Stiller the bad guy and Ethan Hawke the hero, because in 10 years no one will understand why we were all rooting for Michael Cera. But Stiller’s supposed crime hasn’t just lost its odious reek because the commercialized Aughties make selling out okay: It’s because the Winona Ryder character’s documentary, from what viewers see of it in the making, is bound for the Self-Righteous section of the video store. The shabby rebellion captured through her lens wouldn’t even make the cut for MTV’s True Life. Turning it into a wacky ad may have been the best thing that ever happened to her. - EW

6. The Phantom of the Opera (1986)
The masked man at the center of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s perennial hit musical is described by the mysterious ballet mistress Madame Giry as “a genius, an inventor, an architect, a magician, a composer.” During the course of the show, he reveals a number of other skills: vocal coach, fashion designer, interior decorator, murderer. Given this impressive resume (and the fact that he’s been sulking around in an opera house for the vast majority of his life), you’d think he’d have something dynamite in store for his debut opera. Alas, after he appears amidst a blinding pyrotechnics display to demand the performance of his magnum opus Don Juan Triumphant, our excitement quickly subsides when it’s revealed to be an atonal mess designed solely to torture the audience. Webber would probably defend Don Juan as a dark peak into the mind of a madman, but it’s hard to believe the guy who belted “Music of the Night” an hour earlier couldn’t come up with something better than this. - SH

7. Hamlet 2 (2008)
Steve Coogan’s attempted stateside breakthrough about an “inspirational’ high school drama teacher is supposed to be a comedy, but the film’s penultimate musical number was the least funny seven minutes shown in film that year. Coogan’s hapless Dana Marschz beams with pride as his students perform the opener to their musical-within-a-movie, the piquantly titled “Raped In The Face,” and the onscreen audience registers shock — while the offscreen audience checks its watch and wonders whether it will ever laugh again in this life. It’s almost enough to ruin the sheer brilliance of those same high schoolers shimmying to “Rock Me Sexy Jesus” just a few minutes later. - EW

8. Prêt-à-Porter (1994)
Released on the heels of his victorious comeback films The Player and Short Cuts, Robert Altman’s Prêt-à-Porter (released in the U.S. as Ready To Wear since Americans presumably don’t like to speak French) was highly anticipated before its release but is now largely considered a trifle, one of Altman’s loose experiements that never really gels. There’s a bit of fun in the people-watching; it’s unlikely you’ll ever see Björk, David Copperfield and Cher in the same place again. The much-discussed finale, however, is ridiculous. In it, a designer sends out an entire runway of nude models. The fashion press heralds it as a brave and brilliant celebration of the human form. Altman is commenting on the vacuousness and groupthink of the fashion world, but in lazily retelling the Emperor’s New Clothes for the ten-thousandth time, he’s not making any grand new statements either. - SH

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7 Songs That Wouldn’t Exist Without Michael Jackson

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Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 are among the most sampled artists ever, giving us hip hop classics like Jay-Z’s “H.O.V.A. (Izzo)”, Kanye West’s “Good Life”, and Naughty By Nature’s “O.P.P.” But quite a few songs take their cues from Jackson’s hits without even sampling him.

1) No Doubt: “Hella Good” (2001), inspired by “Billie Jean” (1982)
“Billie Jean” is a masterpiece of minimalism. It begins with a beat, one of the simplest and most memorable ever recorded, leading into an unforgettable eight note bassline that anchors the rest of the song. No Doubt’s hella fun “Hella Good” begins with the exact same beat, leading into a bassline that anchors the rest of the song. The band fully acknowledges “Billie Jean” as “Hella Good’s” inspiration, even dedicating the song to the Gloved One the night he died.

2) Nine Inch Nails: “Capital G” (2007), inspired by “The Way You Make Me Feel” (1987)
“Capital G” and “The Way You Make Me Feel” couldn’t be about more different things: one’s about George Bush sucking and one’s about sweet, sweet lovin’. But they sound so similar that I checked the liner notes at first to make sure Trent Reznor didn’t sample MJ. Both songs are among the best singles from both artists.

3) TV On The Radio: “Golden Age” (2008), inspired by “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” (1982)
Granted, this one’s a bit of a stretch. Still, it’s easy to hear inspiration from Thriller’s electrifying first track in the centerpiece of TVOTR’s amazing Dear Science. The driving beat at the core of both songs, along with the rhythm of Michael’s and Kyp Malone’s vocal delivery, is pretty damn similar. Plus, both use African music as their secret weapon around the midpoint with “Sumthin’s” famous “Mama-se, mama-sa, ma-ma-coo-sa” chorus and “Golden Age’s” use of Antibalas’ afrobeat horns.

4) Billy Joel: “River Of Dreams” (1993), inspired by “Will You Be There?” (1991)
Billy Joel was out of ideas by 1993, as evidenced by the fact that he hasn’t recorded a single song since then. It’s easy to see what happened here: Free Willy is in theatres, Billy takes his 8-year old daughter, they shed some tears of joy as the recently emancipated orca of the title floats off into the sunset, and what’s this? Wow, great Michael Jackson song! The rest is history; the first single from his final album has the same shuffling tempo, same faux-gospel aura, even the same freakin’ melody.

5-7) En Vogue: “Free Your Mind” (1991), Whitney Houston: “Queen of the Night” (1992), Janet Jackson: “Black Cat” (1989), inspired by “Dirty Diana” (1987)
The rock/R&B hybrid really started with 1982′s “Beat It”, but it was a brilliant guitar-driven pop song with one of Eddie Van Halen’s best solos, while “Dirty Diana” was, well… dirty, an honest-to-God rock star turn that felt appropriately sleazy. In its wake, nearly every R&B singer tried on rock drag, including Michael’s sister Janet with Rhythm Nation’s “Black Cat”. Results varied: Whitney was embarrassing on the lifeless “Queen of the Night” from The Bodyguard soundtrack, but En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind” became one of their biggest hits, and the postmodern fashion show video directed by Mark Romanek is genuinely awesome (though not on YouTube).

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Ten Unstoppable Dads

Thinking of Father’s Day coming up, I wondered just how many dads have gone the extra mile in entertainment, risking life and limb to find and/or save their children. After doing a little research, I managed to find quite a few, and it’s a surprisingly distinct sub-genre that crosses the spectrum. Without further ado, here are ten dads that you do NOT want to mess with.

Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) – Taken

Taken

In Taken, ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills’ daughter Kim is quickly abducted during a trip to Paris. Not only does he overhear the entire abduction over the phone, but he puts his skills to work and manages to track down the people responsible, discovering that his daughter is being primed for sale in a sex trafficking ring. Knowing that he has less than 96 hours before he’ll lose her forever, he employs a relentless efficiency and do-whatever-it-takes attitude to find her amongst the lowlifes and secret society of human slave trade. All told, the hows and whys aren’t that important. In the end, it’s all about Neeson’s fantastic performance as a father who can and will do anything to find his daughter.

Wilson (Terrence Stamp) – The Limey

Wilson - The Limey

In a performance brimming with rage, The Limey’s Wilson has less fortunate results looking for his daughter after his release from prison. Going on the assumption that she was a victim of foul play in a car accident, he doesn’t hold any hope of finding her alive, but instead wants to find the man responsible and exact his own justice. Searching the shady underbelly of Los Angeles, Wilson connects the dots in the most ruthless way possible until he finds the man who last saw her alive, high-rolling music mogul Terry Valentine, and learns the truth about what happened to his daughter.

John McClane (Bruce Willis) – Live Free or Die Hard

John McClane - Live Free or Die Hard

We all know John McClane is a bona fide bad-ass who does what it takes to take care of terrorists, but aside from his wife Holly (Gennero, I presume?), his children have been mostly non-existent. That is until in Live Free or Die Hard when cyber-criminal extraordinaire Thomas Gabriel crosses the line and takes McClane’s daughter Lucy hostage. After that, he goes all out to save her, including infiltrating the bad guys’ mobile headquarters and taking on an F22 fighter jet and still save the country in the process. How’s that for a modern-day Roy Rogers?

Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau) – Lost

Michael Dawson - Lost

Perhaps one of Lost’s most polarizing characters, Michael Dawson took on the burden of being the only character that had a child, Walt, that was also an important character in the show himself. In the first season, Michael struggled to get re-acquainted with his son and it became apparent that Walt was not only in need of a father but also seemed to hold a key to the one of the many mysteries of the island. It wouldn’t be until after Walt’s abduction by the Others that Michael’s arc takes a hard left turn into some dark territory, turning him into an obsessive, almost diabolical character as he does whatever it takes to get his son back. Bonds are broken, tables are turned and bodies are left in his wake until Michael’s fatherly compulsion manages to turn the entire show on its head at the end of the second season.

Frank Sullivan (Dennis Quaid) – Frequency

Frank Sullivan - Frequency

Thanks to an old HAM radio and some seriously groovy atmospheric disturbance in Frequency, Detective John Sullivan finds himself talking to his late father Frank thirty years in the past. After Frank cheats death on his son’s advice, weary and down on his luck John takes the opportunity to get to know his pop that he never really knew but soon discovers that something has changed. With Frank escaping death as it originally happened, the future has changed for everyone, including John, his friends and most of all, his mother, who is consequently murdered by a serial killer. With the help of John who knows the case as ancient history, Frank tracks down the man that kills his wife in order to save himself, his wife and his son.

Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) – War of the Worlds

Ray Ferrier - War of the Worlds

Save for the aliens that come down to Earth to eradicate humans from the planet, Ray Ferrier might have had a rather uneventful weekend with his estranged son and daughter in War of the Worlds. But when those damned tripods erupt from under the ground and start vaporizing people left and right, Ray scoops up his daughter Rachel and teenage son Robbie and heads out of town narrowly escaping encounters with a crashed airliner, panicked mobs and a breathtaking tripod attack on an overcrowded ferry. When Robbie finally gives in to the urge to stand and fight with military forces, Ray holds on to Rachel as long as he can until she’s “harvested” by one of the tripods, when he devises a plan to save her from certain death.

Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) – Blood Diamond

Solomon Vandy - Blood Diamond

While Blood Diamond is largely about smuggler-trying-to-go-straight Danny Archer, the subplot of Solomon Vandy, a fisherman who’s family is torn apart during a raid on his village, is just as compelling. When Solomon is forced into slavery for a local warlord to pan for diamonds, he finds a most extraordinary giant pink diamond and subsequently hides it during his escape to freedom. Danny catches wind of Solomon’s hidden find and strikes a deal with him to help save his son if he will take him to its secret location. During their journey, Solomon learns that his son has been recruited into the rebel forces and now lives as a child soldier. This causes Danny to alter his plan and go straight for the heart of the rebels where Solomon confronts his brainwashed son and makes a passionate plea to steer him back on track no matter the cost.

David Drayton (Thomas Jane) – The Mist

David Drayton - The Mist

In The Mist, David Drayton is an artist who ventures out one morning with his son Billy to fetch supplies after a particularly rough storm the night before. While at the local supermarket, what appears to be a heavy fog settles over the small New England town and citizens begin to panic when word spreads of something dangerous in the mist. As David, Billy and the shoppers begin to seal themselves into the store, paranoia and hysteria sets in driving the group into factions and causing people to turn on one another. David’s first concern is the safety of his son, but he’s also hopes to find a way to get everyone to safety. Rising to the occassion, David sparks a moral debate that ultimately forces himself, his son Billy and a small group of others out into the mist to find help from the outside world with unspeakable results.

Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) – Jaws 2

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After his classic showdown with a great white shark in Jaws, Chief Martin Brody still wonders if the ocean has more in store for him when more folks start disappearing in the waters surrounding Amity Island. While Jaws showed us how caring and dedicated Brody is to his family, it’s the final reel of Jaws 2 that shows us just how far Brody is willing to go as a dad. When his two sons sneak away with friends for a boating excursion and find themselves stranded at sea after a run-in with another great white shark, Brody risks his life to get them to safety and take out the vicious tooth-laden killing machine for good.

Marlin (Albert Brooks) – Finding Nemo

Marlin - Finding Nemo

Speaking of dastardly marine life, there’s not a man alive that could stand the test of will that clown fish Marlin undergoes to find his son in Finding Nemo. Would any of these fine gentlemen mentioned above swim to the bottom of the ocean, wage a battle of wits with a trio of sharks, navigate a school of deadly jellyfish, find their way out of the belly of a humpback whale and put up with a amnesiatic sidekick to find their son? I think not!

Are there any other great dads you can think of in film or TV that truly risk everything to protect their young ones? Let’s hear what you think in the comments!

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Five Dom DeLuise gems

Dom Deluise - Director I don’t know about you, but growing up as a kid in the early ’80s, comedies had a special quality to them that just isn’t around anymore, and for me, Dom DeLuise was one of those actors that just seemed to show up in all the fun movies that stuck in my mind. To this day, I can’t think of them without cracking a smile and wanting to watch them all over again.

To hear he died this past Tuesday at the age of 75 was indeed sad news, but in true DeLuise style, I thought it’d be fun to take a look at the good times he brought us.

Here are five films starring DeLuise (and more often than not, Burt Reynolds) that hold a special place in my heart:

Hot Stuff

Probably one the simplest and sweetest films of DeLuise’s career, Hot Stuff works around a fairly basic premise—a group of cops looking to get over on the bad guys set up their own fencing sting operation in hopes of catching thieves on videotape as they bring in their stolen goods. Add in the unknowing people off the street who think the cops’ storefront is nothing more than a pawn shop, some interference from the mob, DeLuise on the highest of highs and I’d say you’ve got comedy gold.

With a cast of familiar faces of the ’70s like Jerry Reed, Susan Pleshette, Ossie Davis and Luis Avalos, performances are spot-on for delivering both laughs and tender moments. DeLuise (also serving as director) pulls the most weight and adds his own special mix of comedy and heart to the flick.

The bad news is that you’ll be out of luck finding a copy of Hot Stuff anywhere on DVD. Your best bet is probably to catch it on cable sometime or dig out that old VCR (if you even still have one) for a copy on VHS.

Smokey and the Bandit II

Doc - Smokey and the Bandit II Sure, the first Smokey and the Bandit was one of the highest grossing films of 1977 and a sequel was surely to be expected, but 1980′s Smokey and the Bandit II was something else entirely. There was the requisite black Trans-Am, an 18-wheeler, the Bandit, Snowman, Frog and Sheriff Buford T. Justice, but this go ’round saw two unexpected additions to the mix in the form of an pregnant elephant named Charlotte (a classy nod to the GOP) and DeLuise’s stranded gynecologist Frederico Carlucci.

For the uninitiated, Smokey and the Bandit II takes everything from the first film and amplifies it a hundred-fold, including more car chases, more stunts, more laughs and and in a way, more heart, thanks to that darn elephant and DeLuise’s doctor who just wants to take care of her. Whether your watching him get down to some Don Williams or take the Bandit to task for risking the life of said pachyderm, the addition of DeLuise to the cast seemed to only encourage more on-screen pairings with Burt Reynolds.

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

First things first, I don’t traditionally take to musicals. One of the reasons I’ll forever remember The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is because of the cast, including Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton and of course, Dom DeLuise, in a role based on real-life Houston investigative reporter Marvin Zindler.

The other reason? Well, let’s just say that in 1982, a film titled The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas got no appreciation in my household, so there was a certain taboo associated with it based on the title alone. When I finally did get to see it years later, I was somewhat impressed that a musical with this raucous bunch actually worked for the most part.

The Cannonball Run/Cannonball Run II

Cannonball Run

Based from the law-breaking cross-country race organized by veteran automotive journalist Brock Yates, The Cannonball Run and Cannonball Run II takes the idea and lets it all loose. The results are two crash-and-dash slapstick comedies with some of the biggest ensemble casts ever captured on film. In front of it all are Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise masquerading as an EMS crew and in the sequel, as a military emissary and his private driver.

With Reynolds’ J.J. McClure doing his best to stay on course and keep a cool head with the ladies, it’s DeLuise’s Victor Prinzim that balances the equation by bumbling his way through life and adding just enough awkward-but-sensitive energy to keep things light. That and did I mention he’s also a superhero? Be careful when you wish for Captain Chaos, because Him ain’t no joke.

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All in all, Dom DeLuise was an incredibly prolific performer, including many other film roles and years of work on stage and television, voice acting roles in animated features, and even a successful career as a cookbook author. One thing that permeated all of Dom DeLuise’s work was his good-hearted nature and ability to make audiences laugh, and even though these five flicks are undoubtedly stuck in a specific era of cinema history, DeLuise’s mark on them is everlasting, I’d say.