Richard Kiel Movies

(Burt Reynolds) as J.J. McClure takes off across the country again in this rickety sequel to Cannonball Run. A sheik has offered $1,000,000 to the first driver to reach a destination in Connecticut from Redondo Beach, California, inspiring J.J. and others to go for the gold. With cameos from more name performers than any dozen films together, (Frank Sinatra and the rat pack, Telly Savalas, Susan Anton, Shirley MacLaine, Jackie Chan, Sid Caesar, Marilu Henner, Catherine Bach, etc., etc., etc.), the movie becomes a pastiche and is executed as though no rehearsals were required, or ever happened. A disparate group of people racing to get a lot of money was first successfully exploited in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, a much better film, and with just as many cameos, in fact. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In a true "Monty Python" moment, John (Randolph Mantooth) and Chet (Tim Donnelly) are pressed into service as bicycle repairmen. Of course, they also participate in Squad 51's emergency runs, which on this occasion includes the rescue of a man trapped in his own house by a supposedly dormant oil well, the removal of an incriminating ring from an errant husband, and the "taming" of a blazing fire. Eric Shea guest stars as a combative 14-year-old hypochondriac who dreams of becoming a doctor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Force 10 From Navarone was a sequel to the 1961 blockbuster The Guns of Navarone and tells the tale of ten widely divergent WW II troubleshooters who attempt to blow up a crucial bridge in Yugoslavia. As in the first Navarone film, one of the guerillas is a traitor: group leader Mallory (Robert Shaw) knows the identity of the turncoat, but can't prove it until it's almost too late. The beautiful female resistance leader is played by Barbara Bach, while Harrison Ford, fresh from his Star Wars success, is the romantic lead. Others in the cast include Edward Fox, Franco Nero and Alan Badel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gilligan (Bob Denver) is unable to convince the Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.) that he has seen a ghost. Before long, however, everyone believes Gilligan's story, as the ghost goes on a full-scale haunting rampage. Fighting fire with the fire, Gilligan and company cook up a scheme to scare the spectre away for good. Richard Kiel, the towering actor best known as "Jaws" in the James Bond films, appears (or is it disappears?) as the troublesome ghost. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adam Sandler's second popular starring vehicle after Billy Madison is a goofy lowbrow paean to golf, hockey, and the comic hysterics of its childlike star. In Happy Gilmore, Sandler plays the title character, a raw, determined, but ultimately untalented hockey player who keeps trying out for the pros. When Happy discovers his grandmother (Frances Bay) will lose her home if she doesn't fork over 270,000 dollars to the IRS, he tries to figure out how he can possibly scrounge up the cash. An idea strikes during a game of one-upmanship with a couple furniture movers stripping his grandmother's home: On his first-ever swing, he drives a golf ball farther than the movers have ever seen. Before long, he has transplanted the foul-mouthed, aggressive persona of the hockey rink to the links, winning an amateur tourney that earns him a spot on the pro tour. Throttling everyone from a helpless caddy to game show host Bob Barker during the course of his 90-day quest to amass prize money, Happy also wins the sport a legion of new fans with his in-your-face style. Guiding him on his quest is a whimsical retired pro who lost his hand to an alligator (Carl Weathers) and an attractive public relations woman charmed by Happy's antics (Julie Bowen). Opposing him, however, is sneering hotshot Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald), who will do anything to win his championship jacket and see Happy fail. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

During the peak of the slasher-movie boom of the early '80s, there were numerous attempts at Airplane!-style horror parodies, all of which fell considerably short of their comic targets and vanished into cable-TV obscurity. Hysterical, an abortive vehicle for the questionable comic talents of the Hudson Brothers, is perhaps the weakest of the lot. Bill Hudson plays Fred Lansing, a writer vacationing at a rustic lighthouse in the deceptively idyllic Oregon fishing town of Hellview, where he is tormented by the apparition of Venecia (Julie Newmar), a local woman who killed herself one hundred years ago. The lovelorn Venecia wishes to use Fred's body as the vessel for the spirit of her dead husband, Captain Howdy (Richard Kiel, once again typecast as a great big guy), and isn't particularly interested in Fred's opinion on the matter. When Howdy apparently grumbles to life, several townspeople are subsequently murdered in ghastly ways, leading a pair of bumbling detectives (Mark Hudson and Brett Hudson) to investigate the horrific history of the Hellview lighthouse and generally make nuisances of themselves. Filled with insipid puns, tired sight gags, silly musical numbers, and unfunny cameo appearances from the likes of Bud Cort and Charlie Callas, this inept spoof has perhaps three genuine laughs scattered throughout its ninety-minute runtime, amounting to only one decent joke per half-hour of wasted film. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

The steely-mouthed Jaws, a character previously featured in the James Bond films The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, receives a thinly-veiled reincarnation in this picture, rechristened Golob and again played by the inimitable Richard Kiel. With the help of several companions, including a robotic dog, Golob struggles to foil the world domination plans of a megalomaniacal scientist named Graal (Ivan Rassimov). ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

After appearing in cameos in the first two Aces Go Places movies, it was only a matter of time before cult filmmaker Tsui Hark took a turn in the director's chair himself, and the result is a spectacularly silly send-up of the spy genre and one of the series' best installments. King Kong (Sam Hui) is kidnapped in Paris by a British agent called James (Jean Marchent) who wants to recover one of the stolen crown jewels, the Star of Fortune. For some reason, the jewel is hidden at the headquarters of the Hong Kong police, meaning that King Kong will have to steal the jewel without the knowledge of his best friend, bald detective Albert Au (Karl Maka). Albert and his wife, the fiery Superintendent Ho (Sylvia Chang), have a new baby in their house, but their tempestuous relationship produces as many fireworks as ever, with Albert ready to walk out and King Kong using the situation to his advantage by setting Albert up on a date so he can pull off the heist. Eventually, of course, King Kong realizes what the duplicitous James is up to and joins his friend in bringing the bad guys to justice. Peter Graves and Richard Kiel show up to add to the fun, and there are numerous jabs at various genre clichés to go alongside the series' usual blend of action, slapstick, and interpersonal conflict. Purists should note that the dubbed English version on Thorn-EMI is missing approximately 12 minutes and loses a great deal in the translation. The next installment, 1986's Aces Go Places IV, would be helmed by Ringo Lam. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

In space, no one can hear you make fun of bad science fiction movies from the 1950s and 60s! But that never stopped Mike Nelson (Michael J. Nelson) and his robot crewmates Tom Servo (Kevin Murphy) and Crow (Trace Beaulieu) as they cheerfully deconstructed some of the lesser examples of the American cinema each week on the TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000. On this episode, Mike and his pals are treated to a screening of Eegah!, starring Richard Kiel as a caveman who somehow comes back to life and makes life miserable for some fun-loving teenagers. The DVD release features both the MST3K installment featuring Eegah! and the uncut and uncommented-upon original version of the movie. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A mysterious and possibly otherworldly stranger comes to the rescue of a frontier town in this Western, which was strongly influenced by the George Stevens classic, Shane. The peace of a small mining community is shattered when Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart), the ruthless proprietor of a powerful strip-mining company, arrives in town with his son Josh (Christopher Penn) and a posse of hired guns to drive out the townspeople and take control of the territory. Megan (Sydney Penny), a young girl whose pet was killed in the melee, prays to God for someone to defend the village from the marauders; soon, the Preacher (Clint Eastwood) arrives on a pale horse, and joins forces with Hull Barrett (Michael Moriarty), the unofficial leader of the miners and one of the few who attempts to defend himself, to take a stand against LaHood and his men. As the Preacher and Barrett try to organize the miners to fight the invaders, both Megan and her mother Sarah (Carrie Snodgrass) find they're drawn to the Preacher, who keeps to himself and seems to have more than his share of secrets. Pale Rider was also directed by leading man Clint Eastwood; it was his first Western as both director and star since the acclaimed The Outlaw Josey Wales. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

While taking a train trip from L.A. to Chicago, mild-mannered George Caldwell (Gene Wilder) makes the acquaintance of Hilly Burns (Jill Clayburgh). As they indulge in a brief bit of spooning, Hilly tells George that her boss is on the verge of exposing a group of vicious art forgers. Later that evening, George sees the body of Hilly's boss being thrown off of the train. Detective Sweet (Ned Beatty) agrees to investigate, but he too is bumped off. The instigator of these outrages is master forger Roger Devereau (Patrick McGoohan), who, with his crony Mr. Whiney (Ray Walston) is planning a particularly diabolical crime. Worse still, they take Hilly prisoner so she can't tip off the cops. When George is also targeted for elimination, he manages in slapstick fashion to elude the killers. Falling off the train, he ends up being arrested on some trumped-up charge or other by a local sheriff. He makes his escape in the company of petty thief Grover Muldoon (Richard Pryor) -- and that's only the beginning. A box-office smash, Silver Streak paved the way for the equally successful 1980 Wilder-Pryor vehicle Stir Crazy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Trying to recreate the screwball comedy success of his collaborations with Peter Bogdanovitch, actor Ryan O'Neal headlined this sporadically funny mixture of light farce and social satire. O'Neal stars as Bobby, an intellectual English professor who leaves his job when his father Jack (Jack Warden) appeals to him for help. A garment manufacturer, Jack is in serious debt to humongous loan shark Eddie (Richard Kiel), and he desperately needs his business to provide the capital to pay Eddie back. Completely by accident, Bobby invents the solution to his dad's problem: see-through denim blue jeans with strategically placed holes in the rear that expose one's backside. The fickle public goes mad over the "sexy" new style, and the money starts flowing in, but Bobby exacerbates his father's problems greatly when he falls for and begins dating the amorous Lira (Mariangela Melato), whose husband is none other than Eddie. So Fine was the feature directorial debut of popular Blazing Saddles (1974) writer Andrew Bergman, who would wait eight years before getting behind the camera again with the much more successful The Freshman (1990). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide