Jan-Michael Vincent Movies

There's not much doubt this film's a direct descendant of Schwarzenegger's Terminator classic, though it's certainly a distant descendant. Here a fugitive from a far-away planet escapes execution in a hijacked spaceship and crashes on the planet Earth where he's befriended by some young campers and the local constable. However this Terminator take also has a chasing enforcer (the Alienator) who shows up before long, sent to capture the escapee. The earthlings come to the defense of their new friend and fight it out with the indestructible Alienator. ~ All Movie Guide

Monologist Eric Bogosian's one-man theatre piece Talk Radio, co-written by Bogosian and Ted Savinar, is searingly brought to the screen by Oliver Stone. Bogosian plays a provocateur radio talk-show host, whose constant espousal of his inflammatory views and ceaseless hectoring of his callers and listeners reaps equal parts love and hate. As his program rolls on, Bogosian is revealed to be just as screwed up as any of his fans, if not more. And then he pushes one caller just a bit too far. In co-adapting the play for the screen, Oliver Stone interweaves elements of Steven Singular's factual book Talked to Death, the story of a liberal Denver radio personality who was murdered at the behest of a militant right-wing hate group. One word of warning: if you're not a fan of the sort of radio depicted herein, chances are you won't warm up to this film. Talk Radio was the indirect inspiration for the 1990 TV series Night Caller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Richard "Cheech" Marin, of Cheech & Chong fame, directed and starred in Born in East L.A.. Inspired by Marin's music-video parody of Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA", the film casts Cheech as an East Los Angeles repairman. While paying a visit to a sweatshop toy factory, Cheech is caught in the middle when the feds raid the place and cart off all the illegal alien workers. Since he's forgotten to bring his own i.d., Cheech is also shipped off to Mexico-where, having next to no knowledge of the Spanish tongue, he's virtually helpless. Desperate, he takes a job with crooked Tijuana saloon owner Daniel Stern-the first of many "make-do" jobs that he assumes to earn enough money to return home. Along the way, he falls in love with El Salvadorian girl Kamala Lopez, whose English is as fractured as Cheech's Spanish. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The third season of Airwolf continues to spotlight its title "character," a state-of-the-art helicopter with a full arsenal of high-tech weaponry and the capability to fly anywhere at the fastest possible speed without the necessity of refuel. Still in charge of Airwolf are maverick pilot String Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent), his mechanic buddy Dom Santini (Ernest Borgnine), and spunky female pilot Caitlin O'Shaughnessy (Jean Bruce Scott). And, as before, the Airwolf team accepts various dangerous assignments -- ranging from rescue missions to thwarting government takeovers -- from Michael Archangel (Alex Cord), the mysterious, white-suited emissary from the Firm, the top secret organization for whom Airwolf was created. Naturally, the Firm would like Airwolf all to themselves, but the fiercely independent String continues to hold off turning the vehicle over to them until his brother, a MIA from the Vietnam War era, is located and rescued. Keeping a close eye on the Airwolf team's activities is another rep from the Firm, the bold and beautiful Marella (Deborah Pratt) -- formerly a series regular, now a recurring character. Canceled by CBS at the end of season three, Airwolf would return to the airwaves courtesy of cable's USA Network beginning in January of 1987 -- but not without several sweeping cast changes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Airwolf stars Jan-Michael Vincent as Stringfellow Hawke, a reclusive helicopter pilot. Airwolf itself is a super-powered copter that has been stolen by its creator (David Hemmings) and sold to the Libyans. Hawke agrees to retrieve Airwolf on one condition: That the US government effect the release of his brother, who has been missing in Vietnam for fourteen years. Inasmuch as the government fails in their end of the bargain, Hawke keeps Airwolf himself, thereby establishing the premise for the subsequent long-running (1984-1988) TV series. This two-hour Airwolf opener originally aired on January 22, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season two of Airwolf finds the title "character" -- a high-tech helicopter equipped with remarkable sensing devices and a full complement of weaponry -- being used on behalf of the forces of good by maverick pilot String Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent) and String's partner/best buddy Dom Santini (Ernest Borgnine). Though technically Airwolf belongs to the Firm, a top secret government agency, String refuses to turn over the vehicle until the Firm locates his brother, who has been missing since the Vietnam debacle. Dispatching String and Dom on their various missions is the Firm's mysterious, almost ethereal representative, Michael Archangel (Alex Cord). This season, the two heroes are assisted by Caitlin O'Shaughnessy (Jean Bruce Scott), a spunky female copter jockey, and also by their old "friend" from the Firm, the beautiful Marella (Deborah Pratt) -- who, though no longer a regular, continues to pop up on occasion. The three protagonists' adventures bring them in contact with corrupt sheriffs, megalomaniacs armed with stolen nuclear devices, Mexican crime lords, homicidal hijackers, Russian "moles," and modern day slave traders. And every so often, tantalizingly brief clues are provided as to the whereabouts of String's brother St. John Hawke. Airwolf remained off the radar so far as the Top Thirty Nielsen-rated programs were concerned throughout its second season, though it seldom failed to win its Saturday night time slot for CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the third episode of the seven-part, eighteen-hour miniseries The Winds of War, President Roosevelt has dispatched Naval Commander "Pug" Henry (Robert Mitchum) to Germany, there to try to reason with the power-mad Adolf Hitler (Gunter Meisner), whose army has just invaded Poland. Henry also confers with Hitler's ally Benito Mussolini (Enzo Castellari), who proves to be as stubborn as Hitler is obsessed. Also figuring in Henry's foredoomed negotiations is anti-semitic German banker Wolf Stoller (Barry Morse), the proverbial "smiler with the knife", at whose sumptuous dinner party Henry's wife Rhoda (Polly Bergen) almost forsakes her common sense. The Winds of War was adapted by Herman Wouk from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The sixth episode of the seven-part, eighteen-hour miniseries The Winds of War takes place in early 1941. Government attache "Pug" Henry (Robert Mitchum) commands a fleet of destroyers escorted a US convoy that is unoffically heading to England, there to aid in the war effort against Germany. En route, Hardy crosses the path of a Nazi U-boat, forcing him to choose between violating America's neutrality or fighting for his life. Meanwhile, Henry's pregnant daughter-in-law Natalie (Ali Graw) and her Uncle Aaron (John Houseman) encounter more anti-semitism as they try to book passage from Europe to the US. The Winds of War was adapted by Herman Wouk from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the second episode of the seven-part, eighteen-hour miniseries The Winds of War, several of the characters introduced in part one are swept up in the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland. Among these are Byron Henry (Jan-Michael Vincent), Natalie Jastrow (Ali McGraw) and Leslie Slote (David Dukes), who in true Casablanca fashion must realize that the problems of three little people aren't worth a hill of beans in this crazy world--especially after witnessing the Nazi slaughter of a Polish refugee caravan. Back in the US, Byron's father, Naval Commander Victor "Pug" Henry (Robert Mitchum) is the recipient of personal, highly top-secret orders from President Roosevelt (Ralph Bellamy) himself--orders which may well determine the fate of the free world. The Winds of War was adapted by Herman Wouk from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jan-Michael Vincent stars as Kyle Richardson, who works at a dead-end job in a Texas chain-link fence factory. In the tradition of such earlier films as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Richardson enjoys himself only on weekends when he whoops it up with his buddies at the local saloon. His carousing exacts a toll on his relationship with Jodie Lynn Palmer (Kim Basinger, in her film debut). Finally, Jodie delivers an ultimatum: either settle down and get married, or she'll skeedaddle to California, there to try her luck as a country-western singer. Real-life C&W star Tanya Tucker co-stars as Jodie's best friend and role model. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although it is far from a perfectly contrived drama, Defiance has its moments of high emotions and rising fear. Tommy (Jan Michael Vincent) takes up temporary housing in a New York neighborhood plagued by a violent gang, the Souls. Tommy is waiting for his next assignment as a seaman and though he tries to avoid the gang and his neighbors, it does not work. Soon he is single-handedly battling the Souls and not only changing their attitudes, but the attitudes of his previously intimidated neighbors as well. They quickly back him up as the one person who can make the neighborhood safe again. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Following the blockbuster success of Smokey and the Bandit, Burt Reynolds, Sally Field and director Hal Needham reunited to make the very similar Hooper, an action-laced comedy about a Hollywood stunt man who enters a dangerous rivalry with a younger stunt man. Hooper (Reynolds) and the younger stunt man (Jan-Michael Vincent) compete in a series of increasingly complex stunts in order to earn the title of "the greatest stunt man alive." Hooper is lightweight, mindless fun that doesn't have much story, but it is a stronger film than Smokey and the Bandit, largely because the characters are somewhat stronger. Everyone involved looks like they're having fun; the good-humor translates on screen. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Aliens from Spaceship Earth is a "four-waller" documentary from the Chariot of the Gods? school of speculative filmmaking. Are there, or have their ever been, extraterrestrials in our midst? This program speculates that there are, and that such aliens have taken distinctly human form - that of Indian yogis and gurus, including Guru Maharaj Ji, Sri Sathya, Yoga Bhahan and Father Yod. The "aliens" in question, in other words, are spiritual guides on a long, introspective trek into the self, prompted and encouraged by the counterculture and drug-fueled experimentation of the late '60s. Folk-rock singer Donovan provides the soundtrack.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide