In 1957, the bomb dropped. Lost Vegas became the last free state. Elvis was crowned King. But his only heir has died. Now Vegas needs a new King. Every guitar picking, sword swinging badass is making their way to Vegas to claim the throne.
In 2000, a time when video rental stores reigned supreme, a very young Oliver was frequently dropped off in front of the Blockbuster adjacent to our local grocer with a list of movies to give TJ, the store manager, who would round them up. Oliver knew this only took 3 minutes and had an hour to browse. He started bringing his own pen. He took the whole hour to browse while mom shopped. In the last 3 minutes when TJ read over the list, there would be the latest critically acclaimed movie and a family film written in pristine cursive, then a third movie completely off the beaten path (one that just happened to have most badass new cover Oliver could find) began appearing in chicken scratched at the end of the post-it note. TJ always eyed the list, looked at Oliver's sly grin, nodded and filled the order. I am eternally grateful to my partner in crime and wish I had a way to thank her as an adult.
One weekend that movie was Six String Samurai. Lance Mungia's surreal rockabilly vision of the apocalypse. It melted my friggin face off. The opening shows Jeffery Falcon's "Buddy" saving a child from post-modern Neanderthals with a katana and a guitar then walking off with his holy umbrella cool as a cucumber. He fights his way through various Death Valley action set pieces to an unbelievable soundtrack mostly by The Red Elvises. He faces bowlers, rockers, young blades, underground dwellers, Russians, and Death himself.
Jeffrey Falcon, a career white guy in Hong Kong action movies of the late 80's and 90's, also co-produced the movie, choreographed the fights, and performed his own stunts as Buddy. So in a roundabout way this was my first exposure to Hong Kong style action, though presented through a low budget film set against a western landscape. Shortly after, I became obsessed with Jackie Chan and all martial arts films and rock n roll albums I could get my grubby little hands on. I still owe late fees on the DVD.
I tried putting the very same DVD in my bluray player awhile back and in modern TVs the picture quality was so low it didn't even fill the screen. I have been praying for an upgrade for years, and Vinegar Syndrome finally answered with a gorgeous 4K bluray complete with original artwork, a book of essays, and a feature length making of documentary. This is the kind of respect I have been hoping Mungia's cult classic would get since the advent of HD TVs.
The 4K transfer from the original negative shows the film in an absolutely stunning new way. I could not believe how good the grungy little action musical I remembered looks now. If the movie got a second theatrical run I have a feeling it would absolutely kill in a packed house. But the real treat as a filmmaker is the never before seen story of the making of this wild movie.
A bunch of early 20's recent college graduates saving up a 20 grand each, got the greatest deal ever given to anyone ever by a friend at Panavision for a 35mm camera setup and film, filmed in Death Valley till they ran out of money, used a short in Sundance as leverage to lie their way into a million dollar deal to finish the film, and pulled off an epic of this scale. After the movies 6 month theatrical run Mungia failed to pitch a series of big blockbuster ideas and turned to documentaries. Jeffery Falcon is nowhere to be found. Most of the cast and crew's career in film petered out by the mid 2000's. It warms my heart to see them revisiting the project 24 years later through a series of long conversations. These stories will never happen again in todays digital culture where "there is no excuse" not to grab your phone and make a movie. They are worth the price of the bluray on their own.
If you can't swing the $45 for the disc, it has revitalized the films presence on streaming. I highly recommend you check it out. If you're a fan of rock and roll, the apocalypse, action, or just plain old fashioned hand made indie movies, this is one you don't want to miss a second time.
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