Cactus jack
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Cactus jack |
| Original title | The villain |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1979 |
| length | 89 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Hal Needham |
| script | Robert G. Kane |
| production | Mort Engelberg |
| music | Bill Justis |
| camera | Bobby Byrne |
| cut | Walter Hannemann |
| occupation | |
| |
Cactus Jack is an American Western - comedy with Kirk Douglas and Arnold Schwarzenegger made to 1979.
action
Cactus is an unsuccessful crook who doesn't always get what he'd like. Whether he wants to jump on moving trains or rob banks: nothing seems to be working. In the case of the latter, he is caught when instead of a bank safe he blows up half the branch and a grille barred his escape. In prison, he receives an offer from Avery Simpson to regain his freedom if he does a small job for him. A Simpsons business associate, Parody Jones, mortgaged his mine as collateral for a loan to him. To redeem this pledge, he has to repay the loan to Simpson. But he prefers to have the more lucrative mine, which is why he wants to prevent the loan from being repaid with the help of Kaktus Jack.
Meanwhile, the muscular cowboy babe stranger has entered town and is waiting for Parody's daughter, Charming Jones, to bring both her and Jones money home safely. Charming, on the other hand, is more interested in his muscles and constantly flirts with beautiful and is always amazed at how naive and blind he seems to be.
With the help of the book Badmen of the West , Kaktus sets out to pursue the two and to usurp the money that has been transported. But as creative as his ideas are, nothing seems to work, and both Schönchen and Charming and the money stay away from him. He tries to ambush the two of them, glue them down, roll them over with rocks or hunt them with the help of the Indians, who are not even able to ride properly. None of this works, and Kaktus Jack finally throws away his book, saying that he will never try to copy gunslingers like Jesse James , Doc Holliday and Billy the Kid again.
In a final attempt, Cactus Jack uses explosives to blow up the hut after Schönchen and Charming arrive. But even this doesn't work, and he almost blows himself up if his horse Whiskey hadn't kicked him out of his hiding place with one powerful kick beforehand. So brute force is needed, and with his Colt drawn, Kaktus demands not only the money, but also Charming from Jack, to show her how a real man would treat her. Frustrated by Schönchens naivety and coldness, she throws herself around his neck with a kiss.
background
- The film copies some scenes from the road runner cartoons known from the Looney Tunes . The scene in which Cactus Jack paints a tunnel on a mountain, where only his supposed victims can drive through while he runs against the rock, has been copied.
- The maiden in need, who brought little stranger across the street, is later taken to "Dr. Engelberg & Maslansky" injured. This is also the name of the two producers of the film.
- Charmin ' , the song for Charming Jones was written by Bobby Cannan, Doug Starr, Bob Younts, Jimmy Darrell and sung by Mel Tillis.
- Even Handsome Stranger , the song Schönchen stranger, played by Mel Tillis, as it was written by Jimmy Darrell and Joe Smartt.
- In one scene in Terminator 2 - Day of Reckoning , the Terminator, John and Sarah Connor drive to a rest area called "Cactus Jack".
- The chief's horse has a yellow swastika, a so-called swastika , painted under the neck.
criticism
The film received negative to scathing reviews. The Rotten Tomatoes website counted 0 positive out of 7 film reviews and the general public was also rather negative towards the film, because at the same time only 41% of 5,195 users rated this film positively (as of April 23, 2011). The film received no less negative reception from contemporary critics. Janet Maslin wrote in the New York Times that the film was just as stupid as it was never ending ("which is almost as dopey as it is interminable"). Above all, she criticized Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was a greater burden on the film than he could lift himself ("As for Mr. Schwarzenegger, he's more of a weight on the movie than even he might be able to lift."). However, she also praised the stunts of the then 62-year-old Kirk Douglas ("Mr. Douglas does a lot of stunts, some of them reasonably good").
"Completely unoriginal comedy that neither the star cast nor the backdrop of Monument Valley is able to save."
"Record genre parody that buries itself."
"The idea of Arnold Schwarzenegger in a cowboy outfit is so unusual that you have to see or discuss" Kaktus Jack "for that alone. [...] Otherwise, it's a wacky Road Runner implementation, in which he is otherwise highly respected Kirk Douglas fooling around and doing his best to be Wiley E. Coyote . Noticeable for Schwarzenegger fans, but skippable, a must for Douglas fans! "
“ Thomas Danneberg tries in the German dubbing to beat a little bit of pun into the flat western comedy, but he is left alone with that. In any case, filming the principle of a comic went largely wrong. Perhaps consumable for the sake of interest due to the well-known cast, but hardly anything for an entertaining 80 minutes. The clumsy and unhappy Kirk Douglas prefers to monkey himself here, while Arni feels a little uncomfortable in his role. But in his following films he should be less noticeable for his acting qualities. Country music, which is hardly worth listening to, and the antiquated trick technique do the rest. Certainly not a second time. "
publication
After the film had its cinema premiere on July 20, 1979 in the USA , it was released in West Germany on January 17, 1980 in theaters. And since June 11, 2002 the film has been available on DVD .
Web links
- Cactus Jack in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Cactus Jack at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Kaktus Jack in the German dubbing file
Individual evidence
- ↑ Terminator 2: Judgment Day Easter Egg - Rest Stop on eeggs.com (English), accessed on October 10, 2011
- ↑ Cactus Jack on rottentomatoes.com , accessed April 23, 2011
- ↑ Janet Maslin : Screen: Kirk Douglas in 'The Villain': Including a Horse on nytimes.com, July 20, 1979 ( English ), accessed April 20, 2011
- ↑ Cactus Jack. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Cactus Jack on boxofficemojo.com (English), accessed October 10, 2011