[Movie Nights theme]
[VO] He's got a new partner, and she's breaking out and taking no prisoners.
Cynthia Rothrock is the Irresistible Force.
Hello everyone, welcome back to another Viewers Choice.
That's right, if you're on Patreon you help me decide what movie I was gonna do next,
and we're revisiting an Allison Pregler classic.
It's Cynthia Rothrock, baby!
-Gentlemen first.
This time it was between three choice films, all of which would be great candidates for Movie Nights.
Irresistible Force, Night Vision and Manhattan Chase.
You read the title of the video, you know the winner was Irresistible Force,
and man, oh man, am I pumped to talk about this one!
I've probably said it before but I'll say it again:
Cynthia Rothrock deserved greater stardom in the United States and it almost happened more than once.
Case in point, we've got Irresistible Force, a.k.a. the greatest TV series that never was.
That's right, believe it or not, this is an unsold pilot.
In 1993 CBS commissioned and subsequently passed on a series starring Cynthia Rothrock and Stacy Keach
as unlikely police partners as they kick some ass and win our hearts.
Cynthia Rothrock and Stacy Keach. We were robbed. Robbed!
-Jump!
-I can't! I have this thing about heights.
-So do I.
It's Die Hard in a mall, it's just... it's just what it is.
Terrorists be terrorizing and Cynthia Rothrock's got to take them out.
Midway through the movie Stacy Keach joins her to get in some punches himself.
That would be Stacy Keach of the new Mike Hammer.
They don't even give Cynthia Rothrock a credit for something. It's just her name.
They don't even, they don't put anything in quotes for her. Guess that's all we needed to know.
She's a household name by that point. We didn't need to know anything else.
I Iove Stacy Keach in this, he's got some genuinely hilarious lines.
-Yeah, and what do I tell your wife when we bring you out in a body bag? Huh?
-Tell her I don't want any fancy funes.
-Just bury me in the backyard next to the dog.
As they say, he's too old for this shit.
-You're getting too old for this, Harris.
He's the typical grizzled old partner who's minutes away from retirement.
And it's his birthday, that's like a double danger whammy, except you know, he lives.
Spoilers!
Apparently his part was initially written as a much smaller thing.
But Stacy Keach only agreed to do it if they beefed up the role.
So if I really had to pinpoint a lead in this movie, it would actually be him.
He's got something to prove.
-You're still trying to prove that you got what it takes.
And his wife and scarily dubbed children are at the end of their ropes.
-Get up daddy.
I loved his opening scene in this where his wife was just like,
casually taking stitches out of his back from a bullet wound... he don't give a flip.
-Daddy? -What, darling?
-Can I take the bullet to show-and-tell?
-Ask your mother.
-Sure. -Thanks.
Robbed!
He does so much shit in this movie that's just superhuman.
Like he jumps in front of a moving vehicle, smashes through a window,
and then just brushes it off like nothing happened.
Tremendous.
He's a loose cannon. He doesn't play by the rules. Nobody can tell him how to cop.
Look at him just casually shove the mayor's wife aside. He don't care.
Apparently this movie is about other cops being unable to stop him from just walking into danger.
-Stop him!
But also he's super progressive because he specifically wants a female partner.
Normally in a movie like this the old cop would be complaining,
because he doesn't want a skirt for a partner, but no, he specifically requests this,
because he thinks that women are less trigger-happy and would make a better partner,
and he can live to retirement.
I mean, he's still sexist about it but in an endearing way.
-A woman is more the gatherer-gleaner type, if you know what I'm saying.
-How tall are you?
-5 foot 3. When I'm not hunched over gathering.
-Touché.
The department being a little short on women at the moment,
he gets saddled with a partner who didn't exactly pass her field test,
and is not exactly a police officer.
But I mean, come on, how many people in the field do you want fully trained anyway?
Enter Cynthia Rothrock, cop school dropout, first female Navy SEAL,
got a little bit of an attitude.
-Yeah, and I got a big mouth and a bad attitude.
-Great, you've also got attitude.
See, every police captain you've seen in a movie like this agrees with that assessment.
If that character had to never speak in cliches again
or a storm of biblical proportions would rain down on the world,
we'd all be sitting in an ark right now.
-You'll always be a cop.
-You're on suspension pending approval to fire you.
-You think she did such a great job. Well, you're suspended too.
-No badge. No gun. And no chance to ruin my life.
-Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.
Everyone's always underestimating her. Nobody expects a cop to be a woman and also know kung fu.
-Women.
Two cops with attitude, that's what we call an irresistible force meeting an immovable object.
So they've got two problems. Not only have terrorists taken over a mall,
but they've also kidnapped a small Game Boy child.
-You do have a plan B, don't you?
-Another token? Restart and play again?
-So how did you get a new cartridge so soon?
-Ever stopped to think, maybe people would care more about you if you seemed to care about them?
A real life lesson from Irresistible Force.
"Thanks, Cam Clarke. Guess we'll never see you on camera."
Hey, did you know this actor was like 20?
This kid knows his way around the mall and can make some sweet video game references.
Clearly he's a good addition to the film.
Why does the mall have a giant shaft that goes from the security control room to a jewelry store?
But look, that's not important. What matters is that these terrorists got gas,
and if they don't get what they want, they're gonna cut a big one
all over Australia that's posing as the United States.
[Farts]
-They've got nerve agent in there. You let them escape, we're toast.
But they can't just be terrorists. They're also white supremacists.
White supremacists terrorists? Now I know that's Hollywood nonsense.
Hahaha, the world sucks right now. Also fuck you, white supremacists!
So the governor and the mayor and a bunch of politicians are at the mall's grand opening
because they hope this will boost the economy.
Unfortunately, the white supremacists arrive, trap them with the malls high-tech security system
and demand they release their buddies from prison.
Sound familiar?
Once they get what they want, they're gonna release a toxic gas on the city.
While all of this is going on, they've kidnapped the kid, so his dad will plant bombs on the SWAT helicopters.
And it's the governor's birthday, too. Damn, everyone here is a ticking time bomb.
-Happy birthday mister governor!
Okay, maybe they can pretend that they're security undetected,
But how in the world did they sneak a giant cake inside?
And how long were those people staring at her wondering why she was wearing a gas mask?
[Explosion]
"Damn, stick that on the back of the DVD case!"
Rothrock stuck inside the mall while Stacy Keach is outside and has to deal with sassy SWAT man.
-Oh, great. Just what we need, an unbiased expert.
"Ugh, another blind white supremacist hater."
-Well, that's funny. I thought I was in command here.
-So did I, everybody makes mistakes, huh?
He's so good. He's so good.
-Spending this much time on a girl?
See, these terrorists would have had a chance if they weren't so sexist.
We proceed to get an amazing 45 minutes of Cynthia Rothrock kicking terrorist ass in a mall.
Stacy Keach joins her but this is truly where she shines, some fun action pieces and great one-liners.
-Glad I took those cooking classes.
We done got robbed!
I mean, it's a good thing that she can fight because I'm not really convinced she's all that smart.
Yeah, sure, that unplugged phone that's for sale is gonna work.
*gasps* They drop down in harnesses? Now I'm starting to think it's my birthday.
*giggles* I'm living. It's too bad we were robbed!
Oh man, Stacy Keach's bike double is amazing.
Hey speaking of stunt doubles, Cynthia Rothrock is a fantastic martial artist,
while the actor who plays the head terrorists man is most definitely not.
-You really think you could take me? -I know I can.
Who's that? He transformed right before our very eyes.
Maybe uh, maybe should have cast someone who could actually fight if you're gonna have a climax
where we're supposed to think that this guy can kick Cynthia Rothrock's ass.
Kind of sad when your head terrorist is hiding pathetically on a rooftop
with a kid as a meat shield prior to your big fight too.
-I really am a bad loser.
[Gunshots]
-I'm a bad loser too, pal.
"Ugh, rude."
[Gunshots]
I think that Cynthia Rothrock isn't the greatest when it comes to acting,
but I think that she got some solid direction here and put on a good performance.
-You know why I became a cop?
-Because I figured out life isn't fair and that really ticked me off.
She shines alongside Stacy Keach, who was a much more seasoned actor,
and the two of them have great chemistry.
Sure, the thing is riddled with cliches, but I didn't care, I had a great time.
If this had become an actual show I would have adored it.
Hell, I still do, this movie is great. The worst part about it is that it was never picked up.
-How in the world did you flunk assault tactics?
-They said I was a little aggressive.
Apparently CBS passed on this because networks were really sensitive
about violence at the time, and that's really a shame.
So we can only speculate about what this could have been, but I'm glad we got this movie anyway.
It gets a thumbs up from me. So check it out, dudes!
[Movie Nighs - Mysterious version]
-I promise you one thing, you're both dead!
-Yeah? That's an interesting idea. Why don't you sleep on it?