DJariya

Cannon Films was around in the 80's and early 1990's and produced alot of really low budget B action movies. Most of their most notable flicks starred Chuck Norris, Michael Dudikoff and an over the hill Charles Bronson. They were a poorly run film studio and it didn't surprise me they went under in the mid 1990's. I do have an appreciation for their film library and own alot of these titles on DVD.

Here are some of my personal favorites:

The Delta Force:

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Death Wish 2:

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Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects:

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10 to Midnight:

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American Ninja 3:

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Avenging Force:

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Invasion USA:

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And who can forget this one:

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tylergfoster

Where is Zen Peckinpah? Paging Zen Peckinpah to this thread immediately.

gmanca

Cannon was almost always the source of cheese but my favorite film, in the strictest definition, is 52 Pick-Up. It seemed to be the least outlandish product that actually had quality as it's number one goal.

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Things like Masters of the Universe, Lifeforce, and Invaders from Mars are good if only for the cheese factor.

Zen Peckinpah

Reporting for duty.

Mondo Kane

Wasn't a big fan, but this was definetly my most favorite:

JohnnyMovie

I didnt know Cobra (1986) is Cannon film? I thought it Warner Bros.

here one with Master of the Universe (w/ Dolph Lundgren in Live-Action movie in 1987)

DJariya

Yup, Cobra is Cannon. Golan and Globus are the Executive Producers. They got lucky that year and had 2 of their movies distributed by Warner Bros. Cobra and Over the Top.

DJariya

Delta Force had IMO one of the best opening sequences for these movies.

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Absolutely love the theme music by Alan Silvestri.

gmanca

It's the theme that takes it to another level; it was used for ABC Sports NASCAR programming.

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Solid Snake

They also did this thing I believe....which..for some reason..I enjoy. Even though...I can tell why it's a piece of shit. Damnit. It's the Red Skull vs. Cap...well for a bit...well...the skull's italian...and..well....Cap is played by that writer's son...I'm sorry wtf were we talking about? I just remember a shit film.

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Matthew Chmiel

Always loved this one as a kid. I even own the OOP MGM DVD.

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Mountain Biker

I agree with all the above and will add...






I will always hold a special place for Cannon films

DJariya

Yeah I remember that movie. It wasn't a Cannon movie. It was produced by 21st Century Entertainment, which Golan took over after he left Cannon. It was another small scale low budget film company.

Ash Ketchum

One of my favorite moviegoing memories from the 1980s was seeing INVASION USA (1985) on 42nd Street in Manhattan. The audience clearly identified with the multicultural army of terrorists and thugs invading Florida and yelped and whooped at all of their antics. The co-feature may have been NINJA III: DOMINATION, which wasn't nearly as good.

I also saw TREASURE OF THE FOUR CROWNS in 3-D at the old Rialto theater, which was right on the corner of 42nd Street and 7th Avenue. The co-feature was John Carpenter's THE THING (1982). Good times.

Larry C.

Man I loved the Cannon films!!!

Geofferson

Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus owned the 80s. I loved the Cannon movies. (well, most of them)

One of their first American movies was The Last American Virgin (a remake of an Israeli movie of theirs).

MrSmearkase

No mention of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace?

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Hokeyboy

Cannon Films were an essential component of my youth. I must have seen every last one of these cheeseball action movies. ANYTHING which had Golan-Globus plastered on it was a MUST SEE for me, even if I knew then the films were crap.

Delta Force, Missing In Action, American Ninja, Hercules (with Lou Ferigno), Treasure of the 4 Crowns, Cobra, Over The Top... my favorite is STILL Invasion USA. I must have seen that 4 times in the theaters over two weekends. I was 13 and a gung-ho action/military story addict (having a steady diet of Gold Eagle books like "Mack Bolan", "Phoenix Force", "Able Team", etc.) so "Invasion USA" was just the most kickass movie ever made.

"Rostov... it's time to die..."

Pure awesomeness. Plus they did exterior shots at Dadeland Mall, where is pretty much where I spent too much time loafing around as a teen.

islandclaws

Hell yes! Too many favorites to mention, but I LOVE me some Cannon films productions. Charles Bronson's output alone makes me love them.

Geofferson

Full Cannon filmography at the link (includes some foreign films and solo efforts pre- and post-Cannon).

http://www.cannonfilms.com/films2.html

Norm de Plume

Mostly lowbrow junk, but 52 Pickup and Runaway Train are exceptions. 10 to Midnight and Bloodsport are also pretty good.

Numanoid

They were synonymous with bad movies, for sure. Whenever my friends and I were flipping channels and happened upon a schlocky, awfully-acted flick, one of us would invariably ask out loud, "Is this a Golan-Globus production"? I remember my friend and I groaning audibly in the theater when the titles for Superman IV came up; we knew we were in for a schlock-fest.

Boba Fett

Invasion USA is my favorite Cannon film as well. I got to see a pretty well preserved 35mm print earlier this year and the audience had a great time with the movie.

The equally absurd Lone Wolf McQuade is a close second and proof that Walker, Texas Ranger was always intended to be a batcrap crazy show.

DJariya

Not many people know this, but Cannon produced the 1st season of Walker Texas Ranger (3 episodes) before they officially went bankrupt. Then CBS bought the rights and took over until the show ended.

Hellbound, which starred one of my favorite Cannon actors Chuck Norris, took place in Chicago and Israel, but was filmed entirely in Israel. It was hilariously bad, but fun in a way to see Chuck Norris vs The Devil. I believe this one went straight to video.

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DJariya

Ugh, that was sooooooo bad. I couldn't believe that Cannon had the money to hire most of the cast from the original Superman. If you listen to the commentary track on this movie, Mark Rosenthal criticizes the creative direction of this movie and how it was made so cheaply. I think this was made for 1/4 the budget of the original movie. Hell, Smallville blows this movie away in the special effects department.