Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins – Blu-Ray Review

In 2016 Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins was released on Blu-ray, but has been out of print for quite some time.  While I missed the boat on that release, I am happy that the folks at Kino Lorber are giving the 1985 action-comedy a new release.  The film was based on The Destroyer book series that featured the Remo Williams character and was supposed to spawn a new movie franchise. Unfortunately, Remo Williams was a critical and box office disappointment. Still, if remade today with the right people involved, I actually believe the source material could make for an entertaining streaming series.

Officer Sam Makin (Fred Ward) is a tough Marine veteran-turned-New York City cop who has been unwittingly recruited by a secret government organization that trains assassins. The first step was faking Sam’s death and giving him a new face.  He also gets a new name, Remo Williams. While Sam isn’t all too thrilled about his new situation, he realizes there is very little to do, other than just go with it, as well as his new name.

In-order-to be an expert assassin, Remo must go through intense training, which also includes cutting out those wonderful cheeseburgers he loves so much.  Remo also now has a Korean martial arts master in Chiun (Joel Grey). The casting of the Caucasian actor to play an Asian character was controversial at the time and that decision to do so has aged even worse over the years. The make-up used however was so convincing that it was nominated for an Academy Award.

Remo does get some of Chiun’s basic teachings down before he is called in to go on his first mission to take down a corrupt weapons manufacturer, that is selling the US military defective weapons and trying to cover it up.  We do get some cool set pieces, the most notable being the infamous Statue of Liberty fight.

While I like Fred Ward, I never felt he was quite right for the role. Especially with all the injected humor. Still, I have always enjoyed Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins. Sure, I hoped for more from the director of multiple 007 classics, but it’s still quite entertaining.

Special Features:

• Audio Commentary by Producer Larry Spiegel and Co-Producer Judy Goldstein
• Created, the Destroyer: Writing Remo Williams – Featurette
• Unarmed and Dangerous: Producing Remo Williams – Featurette
• Secrets of Sinanju: Training Remo Williams – Featurette
• Balance of Power: Designing Remo Williams – Featurette
• Assassin’s Tune: Composing Remo Williams – Featurette
• Radio Spot
• Theatrical Trailer
• Optional English Subtitles

By: Marc Ferman