[.ca] Real Men

More features and Widescreen please.:
Most folks missed this strange little comedy back in the 80's and it's distribution was scarce at best. After viewing it with college buddies back in the 90's I had to buy my copy at a used video store...for a buck. Ritter and Belushi are great together. Slapstick humor mixed with plain old off the wall comedic story telling makes this one of my favorite 'left of center' comedies. Neighborhood bullies, Russian spies, clown agents, pens from outer space, transexual family members, S & M mistresses, and a glass of water...add it up and you get 'Real Men'. The DVD looks weak though. No widescreen? Just the trailer? Ok granted, a making of documentary might not be needed for this one, but at least give us a double layer disc so we can choose wide or full. I doubt there will be a special edition of this coming from MGM anytime soon, but It would be nice. I guess I should thank them for putting it out at all. However considering the cult following of this movie and our feelings on the matter, MGM should "try to be more sensative".

Make way for "Real Men.":
The story opens with Stone Wall holding a glass of water and walking in the woods. He is shot and the whole world is in danger because of it. Bob Wilson (John Ritter) is a dead ringer for the only person that can save the world by negotiating with aliens. Who will recruit and train him? Yep Nick ParanDello (James Belushi.) Will they be able to take on the CIA, KGB, and a bunch of other clowns? And if so will the mission be accomplished? And if he lives, what effect will this experience have on Bob Wilson's personality? I am not about to tell all the details, as that is the movie, however Dyanne Thorne plays "Dad." Now where have we seen her before?

Happy Pies!:
This is a great movie. I would recommend buying it if you want your obscure, but memoreable eighties DVD collection to be complete.

Awesome movie, too bad it's not widescreen:
This is perhaps my favorite John Ritter movie, other than Noises Off (which is coming out on DVD in December 2003). Unfortunately, the DVD was only released in "standard format", not widescreen. I'm not sure why this is, but I'm happy to have the movie in digital format anyway.

A Cut Above Other 80s Comedies:
Ya gotta love MGM for releasing those "forgotten" films that we all grew up with like Mannequin for example. Real Men is one of those films that you probably caught yourself watching on HBO more than once back in the day. In fact, you probably don't even remember the name of the film, but remember John Ritter and Jim Belushi and the aliens and the glass of water, and of course the S & M girl. I've always loved this movie. It's one of the few I can still laugh at after all these years, and that's because it was exceptionally well written. Very witty and very funny, with two fantastic performances from it's leads. Why didn't writer/director Dennis Feldman ever go on to do anything else? Sure he was writer of the rotten sci-fi horror flick Virus with Jamie Lee Curtis, but I'm not sure he wants people to know that. If you missed this the first time around, I'd suggest renting it.