The Shmups Forum Dead Pool

[NeoStrayCat]

Clive Revill, passes away at 94 due to dementia. Roles in the past as Alfred from the 1992 Batman TAS for three episodes, Kickback in Transformers (both the 1984 series and 1986 movie), and also the original voice of Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars.

[o.pwuaioc]

Another legend down. RIP Val Kilmer.

[Lord British]

Aw. Famous for a lot of roles, but his first two (Top Secret and Real Genius) were the best. I wish he did more comic roles.

[RGC]

Top Secret's Nick Rivers and The Doors' Jim Morrison, for me. R.I.P.

[vol.2]

Val Kilmer. It's like he just took the L immediately after The Doors. I guess he was alright in Heat, although I can't say it's at them top of my list.

Such a weird career to have gone from one the best to absolute mediocrity in the span of a few years.

In order of my favorites: Willow, Tombstone, True Romance, Real Genius, Top Gun, The Doors, Heat

I can't say anything else I really cared too much for. Thunderheart was okay.

[RGC]

Wow, can't believe I forgot his Doc Holliday. It wasn't an especially powerful film, but Val really shined as the slurring sharpshooter.

[BIL]

His Doc Holliday PWNED, but then, he became the character IRL 3;

[emphatic]

He was good in McGruber as well.

[GaijinPunch]

Fist bumps to all my peeps calling out Top Gun for the work of art that it is. I saw Real Genius first run at the theater as well. Still hilarious.

[Lord British]

RIP Al Barile of SS Decontrol

https://youtu.be/Fpo0nRLEWnI?si=M3G_zyxeCyCq1kJu

[GaijinPunch]

Fist bumps to all my peeps calling out Top Gun for the work of art that it is. I saw Real Genius first run at the theater as well. Still hilarious.

I'm an idiot - I meant Top Secret. Good double feature?

[BIL]

tbh I always assumed Top Gun was the unofficial sequel where Nick/NICEMAN must infiltrate the gay club to blackmail Politburos, only to accidentally join the Navy and help start WW3

[Lord British]

Though I'm a movie snob, I will proudly say that Top Gun is one of the three best movie experiences I've ever had in a theater despite that fact that's it's hilariously cringey at times. The MVP of the movie is the sound mixing. Even from the first minute with the intro credits you can feel it through the speakers. The feeling of the dogfights was like nothing else. Yes, it doesn't hurt that it came out during my peak of playing with G.I. Joes, but over the years when I do see the movie I still get butterflies from the sound.

[Lord British]

Fist bumps to all my peeps calling out Top Gun for the work of art that it is. I saw Real Genius first run at the theater as well. Still hilarious.

I'm an idiot - I meant Top Secret. Good double feature?

[Sumez]

Rewatching Top Secret recently I found a lot of the humor extremely cringeworthy, which I think is unfortunate because it also has some absolute standout jokes that are among the best from the Zuckers. Things like the drawn out ballet where the joke is that everyone has a big erection just feels embarassing to watch. But at the same time, the underwater fight scene is both hilarious and incredibly creative and skillfully pulled off.
Also the forced perspective giant telephone is just one of my favorite Zucker gags of all time.



Even Airplane! also struggles at moments IMO. But I'm happy to report that both Police Squad and Naked Gun hold up extraordinarily well.

[EmperorIng]

I may be lowbrow but the cow sequence in Top Secret had me laughing for 15 minutes straight the first time I saw it.
And of course, this highlight too.

[RGC]

I may be lowbrow but the cow sequence in Top Secret had me laughing for 15 minutes straight the first time I saw it.
And of course, this highlight too.

The cow sequence is masterful. "Why do we always have to be in such a bloody hurry?" (when the calf approaches). It's crude, it's low brow, and I love it!

That's what I love about the Zucker Abraham Zucker holy trinity (Top Secret, Airplane!, Naked Gun): the rapid fire gag assault means you're bound to find something funny every now and then. This allows you to forgive the groan inducing jokes in between.

Spoiler

On top of all the classic sight gags, the films are amazingly quotable too!

"Listen, Betty - don't start up with your White Zone shit again"

[Lord British]

RIP Clem Burke of Blondie

Sidenote:

One of my favorite "covered" songs

https://youtu.be/emy5mA8Ixtc?si=h9ibIGwsu2L7GLp2

[BIL]

https://youtu.be/emy5mA8Ixtc?si=h9ibIGwsu2L7GLp2

Fuuuck that's good.

[vol.2]

Good Bad Flicks released a Val Kilmer appreciation video featuring his top five picks for underrated Kilmer films.

I have not yet seen Spartan, and was unaware that Kilmer starred in a Mamet penned film in the early 2000s. Looking forward to it.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope has died
https://www.reuters.com/world/pope-fran ... 025-04-21/

UPDATE: APRIL 24th, 2025 #1
The Transformers artist David Schelinkofer has passed away
https://news.tfw2005.com/2025/04/23/g1- ... way-537126

UPDATE: APRIL 24th, 2025 #2
Friday the 13th actress Lar Park Lincoln (Tina Shepard) passed away at 63.
https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/lar-pa ... 236377766/

[BIL]

UPDATE: APRIL 24th, 2025 #1
The Transformers artist David Schelinkofer has passed away
https://news.tfw2005.com/2025/04/23/g1- ... way-537126

Ah man, bless him and his family. Never followed TF/Joe past young childhood, but I'll always have a great fondness for everyone involved. Gave tiny little me an early appreciation of disciplined mecha detailing and vivid character design alike.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Movie and Soap Opera actress Priscilla Pointer passed away at 100 years.
https://variety.com/2025/film/news/pris ... 236381607/

[Daytime Waitress]

The Iron Sheik's nephew, Sabu, dead at 60.

I'm nowhere near a fan of the barbed wire stupidity of "hardcore" wrasslin', but his style of acrobatics and putting his body through hell is something I can't help but recognise as iconic.
That he even lived to see 60 seems unbelievable.

[BIL]

Yeah, not at all into that stuff myself. Tables stacked to preposterous heights, ehh ok. Fluorescent tubes and barbed wire, Jesus get a room already. To say nothing of...

Stage 1 / PENETRATION.wav

"An Anus Explosion death match was contested between Mr. Gannosuke and H in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling on October 29, 1998 in Korakuen Hall. The stipulations of the match stated that, in order to win, a wrestler had to place a firecracker into their opponent's rectum and have it explode. Gannosuke won this contest after bounding H with his hands around a corner turnbuckle, facing the audience."

~ "H would issue a challenge to Hayabusa, or Masashi Honda for the next Korakuen Hall show. H would request an Anal Explosion match, where the loser would have to have a firecracker set off in their ass, just like Eiji Ezaki & Masashi Honda had to do after graduating the FMW Dojo." ~

My solution to such tomfoolery (｀w´メ)

Instantly gravitated to him during ECW's short-lived TV show, though. What a killer aesthetic! A kamikaze of the desert. Seemed a thoughtful guy in his interviews, too.

[KennyMan666]

George Wendt, best known for being Norm in Cheers, passed away on Tuesday this week, 76 years old.

[BIL]

Bless. Good run for a big guy who liked his beer.

[vol.2]

I watched a lot of Cheers growing up. A show that did and excellent job of making you feel like you actually know the characters and the world they inhabited. There was something to those cozy feeling shows in the 80s and their production values that hasn't yet been replicated. They have mostly eschewed that vibe in favor of focusing on an insular group of friends and who they have sex with.

[GaijinPunch]

Cheers is still quite hilarious, and the show doesn't work without Norm & Cliff being absolute degenerate alcoholics with no life outside of the bar. RIP.

[Daytime Waitress]

Peter Kwong, "Rain" from from John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China, passes away at 73.

Can't say I followed the dude's whole filmography, but damn if that one role didn't leave an impression - his flowing locks adding a touch of classic elegance to the very grimy, rain-soaked streets!
Was his battle with Wang the first "flying Chinese sword fight" in Western cinema?