Doc Savage: The Man of BronzeMagnum and I had been browsing through REHupa, the ultimate Robert E. Howard and pulp fiction resource database when we stumbled upon an awesome cover depicting a manly, blonde man manning some manly heavy artillery. That man was Doc Savage, a pulp action hero, his stories written by the no less manly Lester Dent.
Unfortunately, I had not been alive when the original Doc Savage’s stories where published, and due to the fact I live in Croatia I hadn’t had the chance to enjoy their reprints. Nevertheless, just reading about Doc and convinced me Lester Dent (the series' main writer) was probably a genius and Doc a badass. Luckily, in 1975 a film about Doc was made, a perfect entry for our “Man Fest 2010” month of March.
For those who don’t know, a little background information from Wikipedia:
Doc Savage's real name was Clark Savage, Jr.. He was a physician, surgeon, scientist, adventurer, inventor, explorer, researcher, and, as revealed in The Polar Treasure, a musician. A team of scientists assembled by his father deliberately trained his mind and body to near-superhuman abilities almost from birth, giving him great strength and endurance, a photographic memory, a mastery of the martial arts, and vast knowledge of the sciences. Doc is also a master of disguise and an excellent imitator of voices.
The film is based on the same-titled story. After Doc’s (Ron Ely) father mysteriously dies in Republic of Hidalgo in Central America, Doc and his Fabulous Five go to investigate. The FF are Docs best friends and most trusted assistants, each a world renowned individual in his own field of work. They are Long Tom, Renny, Monk, Johnny and Ham. Together, they shall bring an end to injustice wherever they go.
“Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze” was, back in the day, a box-office flop highly criticized for its deliberate campiness. Now, in this self-indulgent era of high and mighty classy art cinema, where no film is taken seriously unless it is a “serious” drama about the hardship of life, the situation is no better. This was the reason why a sequel including a crazy German and a giant man-eating octopus never got made. From what I understood, the novels themselves were campy and cheesy, Doc being basically a super-man. The film stayed true to the source, and yet ended up panned by audiences and critics alike. Well, for fuck’s sake people, what do you want?!
“Doc Savage” is hardly a film without flaws, but far from the abomination status it holds. It plays out like and Indiana Jones knock off, but with an even more cheerful note. Unfortunately, where Indiana Jones excels, “Doc Savage” pretty much fails – and that’s the action. All of the action choreographies tend to be very, very simple revolving around slapstick comedy that’s not actually really funny which bring the film down considerably. But what truly saves it, is exactly the huuuuuge amount of cheese and tongue-in-cheekness, most in service of building Doc’s uber manliness.
Doc Savage rips up his suit by flexing his bicep. Doc Savage dodges bullets from close range. Doc Savage meditates naked in the snow of the Arctic Circle sporting only a loincloth. Doc Savage’s eyes glitter. Do I need to go on? The man is so goddamn manly he’d punch God in the face and get away with it. Not to mention the last fight against Captain Seas has six phases consisting of six different martial disciplines: sumo, kung fu, tai chichuan, karate, bojutsu and fisticuffs. And don’t forget to check out the awesome Doc Savage march theme (written by John Phillip SoU/</gispan style="color: white;"/>/giSA</span>)! (this is only the first part of the theme, but you'll have to watch the film to hear it all - and it's worth it!)
I’ve read that Sam Raimi announced he had plans on making a Doc Savage remake. Knowing Sam Raimi, it will kick ass, if it ever materializes (and sadly knowing our pussified society and its desire for pussified films – it never will).
On an end note, “Doc Savage” is not a good film. It’s pretty badly scripted and floppily executed. However, it does NOT take itself seriously and that’s its saving grace. That, and DOC FUCKING SAVAGE!
Rating: 8/10
RATED PURE GENIUS
- review by Ventilation Shaft
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