Six Movies You Must See of Robert Z'Dar

I had planned to write about my favorite six comedies, but I was extremely saddened to learn that Robert Z'Dar passed away this past Monday. When I say he was one of my favorite actors, I don't mean just for cult films. I mean he was legit one of my all time favorite actors. Many days I would bug my wife about watching one of his films, and because she loves me (and is a fan of his as well) she'd oblige. She's a keeper, that's for sure.

So I decided to take a quick look at six movies with Robert Z'Dar that you should take a look at.

Blood Money/Killer's Edge

I reviewed this one here, but a quick synopsis for you all...Wings Hauser is after bad guy Robert Z'Dar, but he doesn't really want to because Z'Dar saved his life in 'Nam! There's action, a guy who looks like a cartoon Tony Curtis, Z'Dar blowing shit up with a rocket launcher, and so much more. So take your drunken Wings and watch the fun. Oh and Karen Black is locked in a room for the whole film. Bonus.

Samurai Cop

Most of you reading this already know about Samurai Cop. It's a Lethal Weapon ripoff with a sometimes wigged Matt Hanon and his partner Frank taking on a Japanese gang led by a gloriously mulleted leader. His right hand man of course is our beloved Z'Dar. Robert looks good with a beard here. I wish he'd kept it for other roles.

Final Sanction

In this AIP "classic" Z'Dar plays the biggest and baddest Russian taking on America's best Ted Prior to see who has the better country. I guess ticket sales weren't good (or they were all watching Rocky take on Drago) because they fight in an abandoned army building. It's one of the few times that Z'Dar turns out to be a good guy. A good Russian in the 80's? Don't be Reedickulus!

  The Night Stalker

No, not the Kolchak series (or TV movies), but the 1987 film starring Charles Napier in one of the very few leading roles for him. This is also one of Z'Dar's first movies, and I bet the reason why he got the Maniac Cop role. I don't know why filmmakers try to make him Japanese though, it's not like he looks remotely asian.

This movie only had one clip on Youtube (and that one was only of Napier) so I ripped this scene myself to share to with you. You're welcome.

Maniac Cop Series

I'd be dumb not to mention his best loved series of films. Sadly, I'd have to admit to only seeing the first one. But I really liked it. I mean, Z'Dar, Bruce Campbell, Tom Atkins...what's not to love. The other two seem to be a bit goofier (and I'm not much of a Robert Davi fan) but any film that has a dead cop ressurection is worth looking into.

The Galactic Video Review Adventure Magazine

OK,OK, so it's not really a movie per say.  If you want another movie, see Hell Comes to Frogtown 2, where he takes over the Sam Hell role made famous by Roddy Piper. I wanted to talk about this 40 something minute video because it shows exactly why I loved this guy. Here is a lame video talking about video games and accessories, but Robert Z'Dar does everything in his power to have a good time with it. He's mugging, acting goofy, laughing uproariously at absolutely nothing...in short, he's playing an insane space captain. And I love it.

As a treat, here's the entire video from youtube. RIP Robert Z'Dar...and thank you for all those hours of entertainment. God bless you, man.

The Killer's Edge (1991)

The Killer's Edge (1991)

Director: Joseph Merhi

Stars: Wings Hauser, Robert Z'Dar, Karen Black

I have something to confess...I love Robert Z'Dar. Ever since I first saw him in Soultaker (the MST3K version) I have been fascinated by this man. From everything I've read, he's an extremely nice man, which makes him even cooler to me. Sure he's not in the shape he used to be, but in all honesty, he's not a bad actor at all and should be doing character roles now. I'd cast him.

Wings Hauser on the other hand. I'm just not getting it. When was it decided to go with this guy as a leading man, even in direct to video productions? Not all that handsome, he comes off as a poor man's Gary Busey. Admittedly, this is the first Wings Hauser movie I've seen, but my recent VHS haul assures me that it won't be the last.

Jack Saxon (Hauser) is one of those Dirty Harry type cops dumbed down to action movie fans...which means that he kills everyone in sight. You'd think he'd get some prison time for that, but I guess it employs ambulance drivers and morgue attendants so he only gets yelled at and occasionally suspended. 

Saxon finds out that his old Vietnam buddy Miller (Z'Dar) is not a nice person, and have been counterfeiting millions of dollars. Oh and also challenging Saxon for the title of "killing the most people in a small area" title. Will Saxon take down his old pal who saved his life in 'Nam? Will Miller share the fake money with Saxon and they go off to Cabo together? And will Saxon's partner ever have the balls to fire a gun at someone? My money's on Cabo.

Six Things I've Learned From The Killer's Edge

1. One of the henchmen is named Tony, and I swear to God this man looks like Tony Curtis only with weird painted in eyebrows. Robert Blake in Lost Highway would have been creeped out by this guy.

2. Never let a fat naked guy in a massage parlor tell you to put down your gun. he will try to shoot you. You do not want to be known as the guy who got shot by the fat naked guy in the massage parlor. Fat naked guys will be coming out of the woodworks to get a piece of you.

3. In one scene, Saxon shows up at his fiance's place of work drunk as hell. What does she do? She teaches kids how to ice skate! I'm not sending my kid to be taught by some bimbo who let's Wings Hauser's drunken face slobber all over her! I did enjoy the comical bassoon music when El Drunko tried to get on the ice.

4. Here's a recipe for awesomeness...take one Robert Z'dar, add one (or two if you'd like) rocket launchers, throw in a pinch of maniacal laughter, mix it up and you got one hell of a villain. Fake Tony Curtis sold separately.

5. Karen Black plays someone from the FBI. I'm not sure what her rank is because she's never allowed to leave the one room she's in the whole movie. I wonder if that was the director's idea. Either he only had her for a day or two or he didn't want to run the insurance risk of letting Karen Black roam the city free. Millions of lives could have been lost.

6. I have to admit, as awful as this was, I enjoyed the hell out of it. It's fun to see Hauser "Busey" his way through a movie as a handsome action lead.  He may not be an Expendable, but for me, he sure is a Dependable.

For added fun, go read Wings' IMDb page. I'm sure whoever wrote his bio has NO connection to him whatsoever.