Suburban Commando
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| Suburban Commando | |
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| Directed by | Burt Kennedy |
| Produced by | Howard Gottfried, Hulk Hogan |
| Written by | Frank A. Cappello |
| Starring | Hulk Hogan Christopher Lloyd Shelly Duvall Larry Miller William Ball Mark Calaway Nick Eldredge |
| Music by | David Michael Frank |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema (US) |
| Release date(s) | October 4, 1991 |
| Running time | 88 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Suburban Commando is a 1991 science fiction film starring Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea) and directed by Burt Kennedy. The film was originally titled "Urban Commando", and was intended for Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger. When these two opted to make Twins (1988), the script was bought by New Line Cinema as the follow-up to another Hulk Hogan film, No Holds Barred (1989).
[edit] Plot
Hulk Hogan plays Shep Ramsey, an interstellar hero. Engaging the forces of General Suitor (William Ball) in battle to rescue President Hashina, the ruler of an alien planet, Ramsey penetrates Suitor's flagship but is unable to rescue Hashina, who is killed by Suitor, who turns into a berserk reptilian alien when wounded. Ramsey just has time to escape, attaching limpet mines as he does so, and vacates the ship before it explodes.
Ramsey is contacted by his superior officer, who suggests that Ramsey is too "stressed out" and that he should take a vacation. Annoyed, Ramsey inadvertently smashes his control systems, and he is forced to crashland on the planet Earth and wait for his spaceship to repair itself. He begins his vacation with little knowledge of Earth's customs, and his temper and sense of justice often bear rather inconvenient results to the people around him, especially a mime artist whom he frequently runs into.
Charlie Wilcox (Christopher Lloyd) is a weak-spirited designer for the fawning and hypocritic boss of his company, Adrian Beltz (Larry Miller), who cannot pluck up the willpower to enforce his own wishes. His wife Jenny (Shelley Duvall) tries to encourage him constantly, without success. In order to help their financial situation (which is quite low due to the fact that Charlie had never asked for a raise), she rents out Charlie's hobby shed as a vacation hovel, which Ramsey occupies for his sojourn.
Ramsey's appearance and behaviour do little to invite Charlie's confidence, however. He begins to spy on his guest and soon discovers his advanced equipment, but as he fools around with it, the signal from the energy sources is traced by Suitor's surviving forces, who send a pair of intergalactic bounty hunters after Ramsey. To add to the problems, Ramsey requires several rare crystals to power up his ship again, and these crystals happen to be in Beltz's office. Charlie assist him in getting into the building during a reception party, but then the bounty hunters corner them. After a furious fight, though, Ramsey and Charlie emerge victorious, and Ramsey proceeds to repair his ship.
But then Suitor himself appears on Earth. He had narrowly managed to escape the destruction of his ship, and seeking revenge, he takes Charlie's family hostage, forcing him to lead him to Ramsey. Suitor begins torturing Ramsey, building up pleasure before making the kill. Charlie selflessly interferes and manages to injure the despot, but Suitor then turns into his monstrous form. Physically outmatched, Ramsey is forced to set his ship to self-destruct to destroy Suitor for good; he and Charlie just manage to escape the explosion.
After these events, Ramsey departs Earth using the bounty hunters' ship and try for a more quiet family life. Charlie, on the other hand, has gained more backbone from his experiences; he appears in Beltz's office the following morning, hurls his complaints into his boss' face (in front of witnesses, no less), and finally quits the job. And with his new self-confidence, he begins even to outstrip his every-day competitors who had previously been on the 'winning side'.
