How To Grow Your Geek: Parenting and More!

Sometimes you just need the silly.

Hey guys!
Yep even on a trip to Wisconsin Dells, I still manage to do reviews for you all.

I thought I would stick with the adventure thing and this time do a dvd review of a old old pulp fiction hero. Back in the day there was Buck Rodgers, Flash Gordon, Sargent rock and one more…Doc Savage.

I had heard of him a long time now, never read any of the books; but sounded a lot like Indiana Jones to me. So when I came across this in dad’s dvds I was like cool! Dad said I may not like it, but I……well lets just see.

Doc Savage. Man of Bronze  – A dvd review by Darcy Low

From the dvd case: “Clark Savage Jr. aka Doc Savage was at his Fortress of Solitude when his empathic abilities sense something is wrong. So he returns to New York and is informed by his confidants, The Fabulous Five that his father, a missionary died somewhere in South America of a tropical disease. He is also told that his father sent him something before he died, and his associates locked it in his safe. He was about to open it when someone takes a shot at him but misses. Doc chases him down and he falls to his death. He appears to be some kind of native, quite possibly from South America. Someone blows up the safe destroying the papers his father sent him, and Doc’s empathic ability goes off again, telling him that his father was murdered. Doc decides to go to the country where his father died to see if he can find out what happened. But after their plane takes off someone tries to shoot it down but Doc had the foresight to send a drone. When he gets there someone tries to kill him, in a peculiar manner.”

Peculiar indeed!

When the movie first starts out, we see snow everywhere; like we are way up north. Over a crest of snow we see the american flag waving waving, moving like a shark fin while the sounds a of a snow mobile can be heard. Then over the rise we see a golden snow mobile make its way down to a igloo. Once the rider gets there, he shuts off the engine and gets off; removing his hood we see…Doc Savage!
Announcer comes over and even lets us know, hehe. (The voice is from the same guy that did all those voice overs in Bullwinkle cartoons.) When he says, “This is Doc Savage. The man of bronze.” the camera zooms in and there is a twinkle in his eye. It is then you know, okay this is going to be silly. And wow was it ever.

Doc is a blond haired, body builder type of guy. We are told he is a scholar, a scientist, skilled in all forms of martial arts, builds inventions and does all he can to benefit all of mankind. He is a hero the world over, and everyone knows when trouble comes, just call on Doc to save the day. He has a group of guys that help him too, they are called the fabulous five; think of the fantastic four plus one.

Ham is a Harvard educated lawyer, one of the sharpest legal minds the university ever turned out. He holds the military rank of Brigadier General. He is known for his love of fancy clothes, and is often ranked as one of the best dressed men in New York City. He always carries a black sword cane, the blade of which is coated with a knock-out chemical.

Here are the guys, thanks go to dad for this. Having read the books he remembered a lot.

Ham loves to fight with his friend “Monk” Mayfair, another of Doc Savage’s associates. This began during World War I, when a practical joke of Ham’s landed Monk in a military jail. Ham had taught Monk some insulting French words, telling him they were compliments. Monk used them while speaking to a French general and got locked in the guard house. Shortly after that, Ham was framed for stealing a truckload of hams, which is how he got his insulting nickname. Ham was able to beat the rap, but the fact that he never was able to prove that Monk was behind this has always been a source of irritation for the lawyer.

Monk is a peerless industrial chemist and, as are all of Savage’s associates, a good man in a fight. His physical characteristics are undeniably simian, hence his nickname. Monk loves a good brawl, beautiful women, and needling his companion, the lawyer ‘Ham’ Brooks. It was Monk, in fact, who framed Brooks for stealing hams during World War I, and the insulting nickname stuck. In spite of their constant bickering, Monk and Ham are great friends and have risked their lives for each other on several occasions.

Monk purchased an ugly pig in Arabia during the novel The Phantom City. He named it Habeas Corpus in order to further infuriate his lawyer friend. The pig accompanies Monk on most of his adventures. (I think that’s the only reason keeps the pig to be honest. hehe)

Littlejohn first met Doc in a prisoner of war camp during World War I. He was the only one of Savage’s five associates who did not have a military rank. Littlejohn is an expert in geology and archaeology. He is described as being tall and extremely thin, with black hair and a large nose. He is referred to as “Professor”, though we are never told which (if any) university he is associated with.  Littlejohn loved to use big words, almost to the point of being incomprehensible (he never did this around Savage, knowing he would be instantly understood by his genius leader). His favorite expression was “I’ll be superamalgamated!”

Littlejohn did not appear in many adventures, as his work would take him all over the globe.

A little Wiki trivia on him. ” In Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, Philip Jose Farmer speculates on Littlejohn being a professor at Miskatonic University, and further claims H.P. Lovecraft’s novel At the Mountains of Madness is Littlejohn’s report of the M.U. expedition to Antarctica.”

Colonel John “Renny” Renwick. Renny was a civil engineer who first met Doc Savage during World War I. A physically massive man, Renny was almost as big as Doc himself, which would make him over six and a half feet tall. Renny had enormous fists, and his favorite hobby was punching through thick wooden doors. He always looked miserable when he was happiest. His favorite expression was “Holy Cow”!

Major Thomas J. “Long Tom” Roberts. (more on the actor playing him in a second.) Long Tom was an electrical engineer whose inventions helped Doc in his fight against crime. He and Doc met during World War I. According to information in the novel The Dust of Death, Long Tom was a pilot during at least some of his service. In one memorable adventure, Roberts helped defend a city with an ancient cannon known as a ‘Long Tom,’ hence his nickname. He is played in the movie by actor Paul Gleason. Geeks will know him from a lot of his films. Mainly as the teacher stuck with the kids in The Breakfast Club. He did a lot of things in his life, from soap operas to a part in the battle of Endor. Very sadly he died in 2006 of lung cancer. They said it was from working with his father as a teenager.

As you can see they were all in the war together, and are very close friends.

When the move starts out, the guys tell Doc his father recently died in a jungle of some unknown tropical disease, and that his father left him some important documents they put in the wall safe. No one read them out of respect. When he goes to the safe, a Indian; who has climbed up a skyscraper across the street takes a shot at him with a elephant gun. The guys and doc rush across the street and doc has a fight with on the top of the building. The guy even shoots doc, but to no effect. (Which i didn’t get. What is he Superman? this happens again later with no explanation how guns don’t kill doc.) The Indian decides to run away, totally forgetting where they are and falls off. (Okay, keep in mind, they are like 20 stories or more up.) When he lands, there is just a little blood on his mouth when they turn him over.
On his body is a a marking of a green snake, no one has ever seen or heard of a tribe with this kind of a marking. Doc tells the group he is going to the jungle where his father died, saying he feels he was killed and didn’t die of a disease at all. The team will not let dock go it alone, so they all head out.

Once they get there, they meet the mysterious Captain Seas; who claims to be just a man looking of money making opportunities. But the guys are not that easily fooled, there is much more to him than it seems.

Doc is attacked by floating green snakes that fly thought the air like green smoke, the slightest touch kills a person. Could this be what really killed Doc’s father? And if so who is controlling them and how?

Okay this has to be one of the silliest movie I ever watched, and I watch a lot of Godzilla movies. Acting? all over the top. Plot: pretty thin. And special effects are pretty bad.

But know what? this was fun to watch hehe. It’s one of those so bad it’s good movies. The whole thing had me rolling.

The fight at the first on top of the skyscraper had Doc faces the Indian who armed with the elephant rifle alone. Doc is unarmed and stand less than three feet away. One of Doc’s team down on the ground sees the indian raise the rifle to take aim and yells up, “Watch out doc!” Right as the rifle goes off, Doc steps aside, dodging the bullet. ( would have run too. hehe.)
Doc also manages to either rip or completely lose his shirt though out the whole movie. The man went though some shirts.
EVERYTHING they have to drive, fly or use in someway has the Doc Savage log on it in big bold letters.
And the final fight scene has to be seen to be believed. Both Doc and the evil mastermind fight in different styles. From Sumo wrestling, (yeah, not kidding.) To Karate and Gung Fu, they both stop at each new style and it is flashed on the screen the name of each one. OMG i was laughing so hard. For having know all of them, the villain is one of the worst fighters you will EVER see.

Sounds like I hated this huh? No like i say I laughed though the whole thing. so if you’re looking for something silly, to laugh at for a hour and a half; well here you go. Dad tells me the books were a lot better. Wow lets hope so hehe.

I can safely recommend this anyone, it is family friendly. Nothing in here kids can’t see. I am pretty sure it is G rated. The characters are pretty funny, and the over acting is a riot,

This one is available anywhere, and has a anniversary edition now. Not a good movie by any means, but it sure is fun.

Darcy