Roadhouse is losely based on experiences of Larry Hartsell, a "cooler" who sorted out some bars and clubs. He was a former Sheriff and soldier in Vietnam. He would later go on to be Mr T's bodyguard (where it was less protecting Mr T from attackers, and more protecting them from Him). Larry was one of Bruce Lee's top students, and would later further develop his schooling with Dan Inosanto, who still teaches today. Sadly Larry passed away in 2007. I had the great pleasure and honour to have trained under him for many years. He was one of the best close range fighters, with devastating punches and street effective wrestling. But he was also an inspiringly humble and gentle man, with a heart as big as his fists.
From what I understand it’s more than “ loosely based” on Sifu hartsell ! He worked the toughest bars imaginable ie the Alaskan. Oil / mining towns didn’t he ? Now there’s proof JKD is “ combat effective “ ! He pioneered the concept of wresting and takedowns in JKD - I wonder if that was from his ‘ real time ‘ experiences. . He was a big unit , right ? 😆. RIP sifu hartsell
'Road House' is one of those movies that is inexplicably enjoyable, mainly because of the performances, especially Swayze and Gazzara, Dalton's dialogue, and the fight scenes. It's a movie I remember with much nostalgia. I saw it at a local theater (that is long gone now) with a group of friends and we had a blast. Also, my high school girlfriend and I considered the Jeff Healey song, 'Angel Eyes,' which is featured in the movie, to be one of "our songs." Sheesh. How cheesy. You mentioned Dalton's smoking habit. Patrick Swayze, despite obviously taking care of himself in every other way and being very athletic, was a heavy smoker in real life. I think it's safe to assume this contributed to his contracting cancer at a fairly young age.
Dalton having a philosophy degree is no accident. Conversations between him, the Doc and Wade are peppered with exchanges about the idea of a warrior's code, when to lay down your sword and the ethical paradox of violence. On another level Dalton is an American take on a Ronin hired to defend a village, only to discover the Local Daimyo is his true enemy. This movie is so 80's it bleeds mullets. I love it.
Road House is probably the best bad movie I've ever seen. It's so easy to watch it from beginning to end, it has guns, fights, hot naked chicks, cheesy one-liners, Jackie Treehorn treating objects like women, another Lebowski character Sam Elliot pre-stache, explosions, errors in logic. This film is awesome... it was like a "swan song" for the 80s in general (since it came out in 89). I was born in 82, and I fucking love this film. RIP Patrick Swyaze (It's shocking to believe that in real life Ben Gazarra aka Brad Wesley actually outlived Patrick and they both died of pancreatic cancer.)
... When he realizes this is where he was meant to be he decides to take a stand and give up the wandering life . Swayze just dominated every scene he was in, you simply can't take your eyes off of him and you wait in anticipation to see how and what he does next . Great film and another great retrospective Olly .
I saw this movie as it was meant to be seen; in a theater full of jarheads in Okinawa in 1989. All of us howling "ooh rahs" at every money shot, impact, and muzzle flash.
I bounced for a bar about the size as the Double Deuce in a small Oklahoma town in 1985. It was close to a Native-American reservation so the majority of the patrons were from the Otoe-Missouria tribe and they did some SERIOUS drinking. I really didn't care for the job but it paid well and I was young, well built and it seemed to be a good fit at the time. Wouldn't be able to do it today though, not just because I'm too old, but because I can't tolerate drunks anymore... especially ones that berate you just for being "white", and that was back in '85 before the current sjw movement took hold. The hatred and bigotry is 50 times worse now.
Mikel Hawk I once got one guy who said “you’re throwing me out for being black ain’t you” - I replied “no, it’s because you’re behaving like a c**t” - I miss that kinda banter
Thanks Stew, I'm glad I started off your day with a smile!. That praise is greatly appreciated, I'm pleased you want to watch the film after my review! Thanks a lot sir.
It was Peter Griffin's constant mention of "Road House" that made me finally search out that film! Thanks for mentioning his notation, as well as putting in the comments of my favorite critics Siskel & Ebert.
+Farseer Flore THATS who that guy was! He looked familiar, but it didn't click in my head that that was TERRY FUNK of all people, just someone who looked like him.
OMG, if you want to fall in love watch this...Awsome Patrick Swayze to the "T"...Glad I have it recorded and can watch it over and over and over and over again...
I watched this movie on HBO a couple years ago and saw THE LIVING WRESTLING LEGEND TERRY FUXKING FUNK AS A BAD GUY. How I missed that when I saw it as a kid I dont know. But this is a great "popcorn" movie and Terry Funk makes it AWESOME
Hi Daniel, thanks for your comments buddy, glad you're enjoying the videos. I just watched the trailer to Pulse. It looked awesome!. Great effects. I will definitely consider it mate.
A couple of facts about the late Jeff Healey,who plays the blind guitarist: Jeff was really blind,he lost his eyesight as a child,because of a very rare form of eye cancer.He had grown 2 tumors behind his eyes,in order to operate them out,the doctors had to remove his eyeballs and he was wearing glass eyes since that. Despite this,Jeff not only learned to live with his disabillity,but he taught hinself how to play guitar,piano and trumpet. He had a very successful music career,produced not only banging blues-rock albums,but was also an acclaimed jazz musician and monster guitarist,great songwriter and vocalist too. There's a live video of him,jamming with Stevie Ray Vaughn,where he totally steals the show from Stevie,busting out guitar licks like it's nobody's business.At one point,Stevie is looking at Jeff and is like:''Holy shit,that blind dude can play!'',do yourselfs a favour and check it out,it's an amazing performance by both of these guitar legends. Sadly,the cancer returned in 2008 and this time the doctors couldn't help him,the cancer spread all over his legs and lungs, he passed away at only 41 years old. RIP
Animal products and processed food make cancers grow. I recommend a plant-based whole-food diet to minimise cancer risk & cancer growth. For more information, I recommend the documentary Forks Over Knives.
Top 5 Guilty Pleasure I adore every bit of cheese this has and has the bonus of having one of the baddest wrestler legends of all time in Terry Fun, loved the small Sam Elliot cameo.
Thats really cool you made an effort to watch Leviathan before my review!. I usually spend a week preparing a video so I suppose it gives people enough time to watch the film before my video. :) I will discuss the endings more in future which Ive done in the past but I will concentrate on it more.
You have to love a movie with a line like: "No, being called a cocksucker isn't personal; it's two nouns joined together to elicit a prescribed response!"
I have just watched this film for the first time and all I'm saying is that throwing knife kill was straight out of Call Of Duty! Absolutely incredible scene in a truly Fantastic movie!
Reveiew hits nearly all the key points of this pinnacle-of-its-kind B movie, except the one key thing that makes it required watching for actual bouncers: The "be nice" speech that talks about how it actually is for the real pros (having been one I can tell you any idiot can fight. discipline is much harder), especially its quotable openning line when the hotheaded bully being fired asks why: "You don't have the temperament for the trade" This line is what makes it for bouncers what Spinal Tap is for musicians. Its a small niche but this movie owns it.
PS speaking of Spinal Tap, I once turned down a job as performer getting out of a big egg-shaped pod .. which I found out later did not open when it was s'posed to. swear to beelzebub I'm not making this up.
The guy who played the evil "best bad guy", Jimmy, Marshall Teague, has given some amazing interviews on YT and elsewhere about Road House and his warm friendship with Patrick Swayze that lasted many years after the movie. It would bring you to tears listening to his warm, affectionate words about Swayze. They really hurt each other badly making that epic fight scene; both of them ended up with broken bones. And Teague's mother was so outraged at the evil role her son played that she told him after seeing the film that his character deserved such a horrible death. I think he also expressed regret at some of the language he used in the film; he professes to be a Christian nowadays.
1 of the most underrated movies of all time! Patrick Swayze is also such a underrated actor its sad he died earlier then he should of! RIP Patrick Swayze
Thanks for the feedback buddy, yeah i did want to reveal some stuff about the ending and major events in the film but Ive been getting so many comments from people saying Ive ruined the film for them. I don't want to upset people but its tough when people think this is just a review and forget it is a retrospective as well. Thanks for the support.
I have met the guy who plays Jimmy (the guy who Swayze has the big fight with toward the end of the film at the edge of the lake) a couple of times at sci-fi conventions as he also played the Narn, Ta'Lon in Babylon 5. He was a Navy SEAL and one of the nicest, most polite and humble guys I have ever met, and has a great memory for faces, lol.
I'm really grateful that I'm able to just watch movies and enjoy them for what they are. I'm actually quite critical of movies when they are badly written or technically weak but the Siskel & Ebert objections are just pure snobbery. The thumbs going up or down should just be based on whether the cinema goers would have a damn good time or not and I can bet you that almost everyone who saw this movie in the cinema did so and came out feeling happy.
Wanna know a funny true story? Bruce Joel Ruben. While casting for Ghost1990 was considering Swayse for the lead. Bruce went to the theater to watch 'Roadhouse" after the movie he was quoted as saying"Patrick Swayse will NEVER be in my film". Yet somehow Patrick still won the lead role. Lol
I watched the livin hell out of this growing up. In my household, it was...THE...guilty pleasure film. Well.....this and Commando. Great review. Peace.
As long as people know the retrospective has spoilers then it should be fine. When I saw you were reviewing Leviathan (a movie I hadn't seen), I took the time to check it out before watching your video. This seems perfectly reasonable. A large part of what I enjoy about your videos is hearing your opinion about the endings. Thanks for making these.
Solid review, Oliver. I finally saw this film after many years of seeing it half played on TV with the Deluex Edition and the wait was worth it. It was great to see this film finally and you mentioned the fight scenes were choreographed very well. One of the actors in the film is legendary wrestler Terry Funk and when I saw him, I was "Oh boy....business has picked up." Man, I remember having a bit of a crush on Kelly Lynch and who wouldn't ?
So just a little tidbit to add to the retrospective here. There exists a musical of Roadhouse and most recently Taimak (lead actor for The Last Dragon) plays the part of Dalton.
"Polar bear fell on me!" Is this film Citizen Kane? No! But what it is, is just damn fun! Still disappointed that they didn't include Healey's version of White Room on the soundtrack though.
I loved the video Olly! Great job yet again. I think it's great to have a well balanced entertainment diet, watching nothing but "Oscar winning" movies is really boring, my favorite movies would never make it into those snooty shows. I love how much ground you covered in the review, and to read that you are doing the Goonies soon has made me really happy. Any chance for videos on "Monster Squad" and "Iron Eagle"?
This film is FULL of kickass little cameos. One of the stunt men who come in to start shit with the knife-boot guy was Alan Graf (Captain Turner from Deadwood who is a famous football stunt coordinator and worked on most classic football movies), John Doe (former bass player) plays the bartender who was skimming, Keith David plays the new black bartender replacement, SAM ELLIOT AND BEN GAZARRA aka Lebowski cameos, Benny The Jet Urquidez can be seen as one of Wesley's henchmen, Red plays Red (Elvis' homeboy in real life), Jeff Healy is awesome in his only ever acting role and can play a MEAN guitar (even though the guitar/music tracks are clearly dubbed LOL, but it's really him playing, he's an amazing guitarist). It's sad that Dalton, Brad Wesley, and Cody are all dead in real life. At least they left behind this gem.
I love the way Swayze's mullet bounces around as he pounds people in the face! LOL Also, I am so glad you included the Family Guy reference. When I saw your upcoming preview for this movie, that was honestly the first thing that came to mind. And I hoped you would include it. Great job dude!
Two of the bad guys are pro wrestling legend Terry Funk and Anthony Delongis who did a lot of fight/sword choreography for the Highlander tv series(he's the one with the knife in his boot that drives the monster truck).
AWESOME that Benny "the Jet" did the fight choreography!! ONE OF the only fighters I've seen that looks BELIEVABLE giving Jackie Chan a run for his $money$ (on screen) with their level of showmanship in martial arts!
One of the first movies that gave me a stirring in my loins. Road House along with Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction...I think I was about 7yrs old when I first saw this.
Great movie, when you factor in the time frame. Currently it certainly would be good in my opinion. I wish more films got back to the basics in a film and stopped being so consumed with explosions and special effects.
Fantastic Retrospective Ollie!! Yeah it's a polished turd but it's a turd I've grown to love over the years!! Funny yet informative as always buddy. The highest praise I can give your retrospectives is that I ALWAYS want to watch the movie straight after your uploads!! Thanks for starting my day with a smile buddy, hope the job application goes well.
I grew up and always used to see my dad watching this film over the years but I never got around to it, I'm now 19 and finally watched it and man it kicks ass, wtf was I doing all my life, this film is badass! If you dislike it, get a life!
haha a tosser!. No mate Swayze is a legend!. My new intro video graphic will be attached with tomorrows upcoming preview and yes Goonies will be coming!.
The part about not needing anaesthetics is accurate. Mental training can achieve this. We learn this in Buddhism, for example. Dukka meditation teaches us how we can feel pain but not be bothered by it.
