Joe Lando Movies

The wildly prolific cult exploitation director and Roger Corman vet Jim Wynorski (Big Bad Mama 2, Not of This Earth) returns to the thematic territory of his 1986 Chopping Mall with the direct-to-video sci-fi actioner Shockwave (2005). The premise concerns a series of top-grade, covert "Shock Wave" robots. Originally designed as Mars Rovers, these machines - shielded with thick armor and laden with state-of-the-art lasers, weapons and tracking systems - ultimately proved themselves so ubiquitous that the armed forces opted to use them in routine military operations, to root out terrorists when attempting to suppress hostile lands. As the story opens, however, a plane transporting the machines crash lands on an abandoned Pacific island. The robots then go on a rampage, and a group of hotshot Navy SEALS is assigned to bring them down, via cutting edge particle cannons. The men are hindered by one small detail: as time rolls on, the intelligence of the robots builds rapidly, enabling the machines to dismantle all of the guns. As the power of the aggressors builds, the soldiers must find an innovative way to stop the madness, before the robots gain enough force and power to wipe out the entire human race. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A summit meeting between the American president and the Chinese premier, held in secret on the luxury liner Queen Elizabeth 2 somewhere on the high seas, is rudely interrupted when the ship is hijacked by Taiwanese extremists. Fully prepared to nuke the vessel and spark a world war to get the point across, the terrorists cannot be stopped by traditional peacekeeping methods. It is up to a pair of long-estranged brothers, ATF agent Vince Kellogg (Joe Lando) and Secret Service operative Thomas Kellogg (Rob Estes), to secretly parachute onto the deck of the QE2 and save the world from annihilation -- with a little help from the ship's plucky (and drop-dead gorgeous) security head, Brittany Cooper (Rachel Blakely). Also appearing are Marie Matiko as Maggie Chang, a terrorist posing as a martial arts movie star, and Christopher Lawford, son of actor and former J.F.K. intimate Peter Lawford, ironically cast as the American vice president. Originally filmed as Attack on the Queen (the title of the novel on which it was based), Counterstrike first aired March 2, 2003, on the TBS superstation. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Although the small town of Rutland, VT, lives contentedly in the shadow of the huge, newly constructed Rankin Dam, there are those who realize that the dam was built "below code" and with inferior materials for the purpose of saving a few bucks. City Counsel President Natalie Powell (Michele Greene) soon has reason to regret the short-cuts taken with the project when the town is threatened by a raging flood. Even worse: Natalie's architect husband David (Joe Lando) and son Garth (Matthew Eward) are trapped inside the dam. Made for television, Killer Flood: The Day the Dam Broke debuted over the PAX network April 25, 2003, the same day that the filmed was screened at a benefit premiere in the real-life Rutland, VT. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The family friendly Adventures of Cinderella's Daughter offers a sequel to the famous fairy tale. Cinderella has become a mother of a teenage princess of her own named Cindy. Cindy wants to break out of the gilded cage she feels she is in as a princess. Their relationship gets smoothed over with the help of Cinderella's reliable fairy godmother (Shirley Jones). The two learn lessons about the importance of family. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

The lives of a down-and-out but loving and optimistic Florida couple change dramatically when their desperately impoverished relatives abduct the 11-year-old son of a wealthy businessman and bring the child to their house. When Lucas and Roberta find that Roberta's sister Carrie and her husband Carl have kidnapped little John Wesley Danforth from a little-league game, their first instinct is to call the cops and send the boy back home. But Carl is in dire financial straits and desperately needs the ransom money. He pulls out a loaded gun and forces Lucas and Roberta to become accessories to the crime. Meanwhile, the boy's upstanding father August Danforth hires a private detective. Against the advice of the investigator, he then agrees to pay the $100,000 that Carl demands. When it is time to pick up the loot, Carl remains at home with Roberta and the boy and forces Lucas to accompany Carrie to get the money. While they are gone, Roberta engineers an escape for herself and John Wesley.

As soon as Lucas returns with the money, the three speed off in a truck. Lucas and Roberta want to take John Wesley straight to the police, but he refuses to go. Shortly thereafter, they learn the shocking reason why: it seems that his fine, well-respected father is a child batterer. All John Wesley wants is to be reunited with his estranged mother in Louisiana. When faced with the child's obvious suffering, the good-hearted couple feel they have no choice but to obey his wishes. This puts all three of them plus the mother in grave danger for not only has the vengeful August called in the FBI, but the dangerously enraged Carl and Roberta are rapidly closing in on them. In order to survive, the four fugitives make one final effort to make it to the safety of Mexico. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this suspense drama, journalist Jennifer Kingsley (Alberta Watson) believes that artist Raymond Crawford (Joe Lando) has been railroaded when he's put behind bars for the murder of a model. While Jennifer is convinced of Raymond's innocence and wants her former boyfriend Henry Dexter (Peter Coyote), a detective with the police, to help her prove it, Henry is not as convinced, and Jennifer is forced to do her own research on Raymond. The result is a series of articles that lead to Raymond's release. However, her actions soon have deadly consequences. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This made-for-TV movie, inspired by the 1989 film Alien Nation (as well as the subsequent TV series adapted from it), follows the adventures of an unlikely pair of police detectives -- earthling Matt Sikes (Gary Graham) and assimilated alien "newcomer" George Francisco (Eric Pierpoint). When Sikes and Francisco are assigned to investigate the death of a "newcomer," Sikes is given a glimpse of the ugly side of the aliens' caste system, as Francisco turns up his nose at chasing the killer of an "Eeno" -- an alien trained to do the most menial labor aboard the cruisers used to transport alien slaves. Alien Nation: The Enemy Within also features Terri Treas, Michele Scarabelli, and Joe Lando. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Set in Utah (but filmed in Texas), the made-for-TV Shadows of Desire will probably seem fresh and original to anyone who hasn't seen the old Katharine Hepburn-Robert Taylor-Robert Mitchum theatrical feature Undercurrent--or, for that matter, to anyone unfamiliar with the Biblical story of Cain and Abel. Central to the plotline is Rowena Ecklund (Nicollette Sheridan), a woman torn between her sincere love for the kindly, sensitive Jude Snow (Adrian Pasder) and her insatiable lust for Jude's arrogant, dangerous older brother Sonny (Joe Lando) (guess which brother has the longest hair and the sweatiest shirt?) The passions engendered by this triangle are matched only by the all-stops-out histrionics of Piper Laurie as Jude and Sonny's domineering mother Ellis. Originally telecast September 20, 1994, on CBS, Shadows of Desire has since been rerun on cable television and on Canadian TV under the title The Devil's Bed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The two-hour debut episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman stars Jane Seymour as Michaela "Mike" Quinn, one of the few women doctors practicing in the year 1868. Following the death of her father and medical partner, Dr. Mike leaves her hometown of Boston to set up a practice in the wild-and-wooly town of Colorado Springs, CO. Though most of the townsfolk resist the notion of a "medicine woman," Mike finds a close friend in boarding-house owner Charlotte Cooper (Diane Ladd) -- and, after Charlotte's death from a snake bite, our heroine "inherits" the woman's three children: Matthew (Chad Allen), Colleen (Erika Flores), and Brian (Shawn Toovey). Other characters introduced during the remaining season-one episodes include taciturn mountain man Byron Sully (Joe Lando), who feels more at home with the local Cheyenne Indians than with his fellow whites, and who somewhat grudgingly allows Dr. Mike to live in his house (when he's not around, of course); curmudgeonly general-store owner Loren Bray (Guy Boyd in the pilot, Alan Young in the series), whose hatred for Sully temporarily carries over to an intense dislike for Mike; Cloud Dancing (Larry Sellers), a mystical Cheyenne medicine man whom Dr. Mike tries to protect from the vicious attacks of local Cavalry leader General Custer (the same!); Grace (Jonelle Allen), who in the course of the season opens her own café; Ingrid (first played by Ashley Jones, then from episode three on by Jennifer Youngs), an immigrant girl with whom Matthew falls in love; Horace Bing (Frank Collison), the town's telegraph operator; and Myra (Helene Udy), the reformed saloon gal to whom Horace proposes by season's end. Several critical events occur during the series' inaugural season, including a flu epidemic which convinces the townsfolk that Dr. Mike knows what she's doing; a case of mercury poisoning, which in a roundabout fashion draws Mike closer to the secretive Sully; and an uncomfortable "reunion" between Mike's foster children and their ne'er-do-well father. The principal characters undergo a variety of additional crises, among them Sully's recuperation after suffering a beating at the hands of goons hired by the local railroad, Brian's delicate brain operation, and Colleen's bout with frostbite. On a more positive note, the influence of Dr. Mike and her friends occasionally spurs the townsfolk to perform acts of unprecedented goodwill, notably the construction of Colorado Springs' first schoolhouse. ~ Rovi

Dr. Mike (Jane Seymour) and Sully (Joe Lando) come to the rescue of Zack (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a mentally challenged youth who has suffered ill treatment at the hands of his guardian. The rest of the community shuns Zack, not only because he is "simple-minded," but because he is apparently the son of a prostitute. Only Brian (Shawn Toovey) is willing to befriend Zack -- thereby tapping the boy's hitherto unrecognized artistic abilities. This poignant episode ends with a startling revelation regarding Zack's parentage. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

While hiking with Sully (Joe Lando), Brian (Shawn Toovey) impulsively jumps out of a tree and sustains what at first seems to be a minor head injury. Already angry at Sully for allowing this to happen, Dr. Mike (Jane Seymour) is beside herself with rage and grief when Brian lapses into a coma. With only minimal aid, Mike must perform delicate brain surgery on her adoptive son -- a tense situation that exacerbates the already-raging argument amongst the townsfolk over who will build the community's new schoolhouse. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Matthew (Chad Allen) wants to marry Swedish immigrant girl Ingrid (Jennifer Youngs), but Dr. Mike (Jane Seymour) thinks that he is much too young. To prove his adoptive mother wrong, Matthew talks Sully (Joe Lando) into letting him participate in a grueling four-day Cheyenne ritual. Sully agrees, causing a rift between himself and Dr. Mike. But all this intrigue may mean nothing: It is highly possible that asthmatic Ingrid is not healthy enough to get married. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi