Director: Mark Hartley (2015)
This lively documentary is a joyous journey through the trashy works of two manipulative and mould-breaking mavericks of movie-making.
Oft-maligned and not much missed by cinema audiences anywhere, Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus became a bye-word for B movie mediocrity.
With juvenile zeal they delighted in producing popcorn fodder with adult content, churning out low budget, soft-porn horror flicks typified by terrible dialogue, cheap special effects and exploitative subject matter.
Despite seemingly blinkered to the slapdash and slipshod nature of their films, they craved artistic recognition.
High-school comedy Lemon Popsicle (1978) was their first big hit and paved their way to Hollywood in 1980 where they bought the struggling Cannon Films studio.
Consummate deal-makers, they invented the concept of selling distribution rights to fund the film they were selling – before the film was made. It’s now a common practice but innovative at the time.
They would make a poster, sell the idea on the global film circuit and then go away to make the movie while inventing the film’s story on the hoof.
They were never short of ideas: Ninja 3: The Domination (1984) was a conceived as a mash-up of Flash Dance (1983) and The Exorcist (1973) – with added ninjas.
The Ninja trilogy (1981-84) were mammoth hits and hugely profitable due to their low cost base.
Whereas Sahara (1983) starring Brooke Shields was intended as a combination of The Blue Lagoon (1980), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and The Great Race (1965).
It was significantly more expensive to produce, failed to find an audience and produced large losses.
Their production methods ensured a fast turn-around from idea to screen. This allowed them to take news stories such as the nascent hip-hop street dance scene and the 1985 TWA hijacking into Breakdance (1984) and The Delta Force (1986).
Their ambition to be major players lead to a deal with the mighty MGM, but the venerable studio were constantly disappointed with the quality of the the product Cannon provided for distribution.
Quality for Cannon was always optional – except where their bare-breasted leading ladies were concerned, as anyone who has seen Bolero (1984) and Lifeforce (1985) can attest.
Their restless and unfocused ambition resulted in a massive expansion and rapid collapse – but not before they’d developed the careers of Chuck Norris, Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren.
The latter is merrily self-effacing about his roles in their movies, as are most of the interviewees; Richard Chamberlain, Bo Derek and Elliott Gould included.
There are kind words from the likes of Franco Zeffirelli who directed for Cannon but no-one has a good word for Sharon Stone.
Despite paying Sylvester Stallone double digit millions for the arm-wrestling flop Over The Top (1987), he doesn’t feel compelled to contribute.
There’s lots of nudity but no scandal; only one person is accused of being on drugs and alcohol – which seems a low figure for Hollywood.
Plus there’s a frustrating lack of financial figures and no analysis of how Cannon’s collapse affected the industry.
Electric Boogaloo includes many clips from films not least Death Wish 2 (1982) (plus sequels 3,4 & 5) Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987) and Masters of The Universe (1987).
It’s very funny and far more entertaining than watching many of the films in their entirety.
★