"KEEP BUSTIN'."

3:15

tn_315aka 3:15 THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

When you’re a grown adult you normally don’t fear somebody who you perceive as a kid. No matter how hateful the bastard is you have something over him – probly size and strength, intelligence, if not you at least have the authority of being an adult. You’re supposed to be in charge here. You enforce the rules if it comes to that. They fear you. I think maybe that’s what all these ’80s juvenile delinquent movies were about was the fear of losing that authority. As kids looked weirder and acted scarier the grownups were terrified of the world turning upside down so they couldn’t say anything to these fuckers. Oh my god, they have war paint and chains, they’re gonna eat me alive.

So it’s fitting that in 3:15 I have a hard time telling the kids apart from the adults. The students are all played by actors in their mid-twenties, maybe older. So you only know it’s a teacher if he’s wearing a tie. The school only seems to have a couple teachers, but a whole lot of gangs. I guess I can see why they’re physically overwhelmed and don’t seem to make any effort to patrol the halls or anything. It’s a hopeless situation so they gave up a long time ago.

mp_315This one’s definitely trying to be like THE WARRIORS but in a school building instead of the city of New York. Adam Baldwin (Tate in COHEN AND TATE) plays Jeff, a member of a gang called The Cobras. He’s introduced making out with some girl who he pushes aside and abandons when the other Cobras come up and shake his hand. That image says what you need to know about his loyalty. Not until years later would anyone figure out that this philosophy could be articulated as “bros before hos.”

But he disagrees with a stabbing the Cobras do so he walks away and strips off his colors, leaving the gang life behind. A year later he refuses to hold a bag of dope for his former Cobra brother Cinco (Danny De La Paz), so he gets falsely fingered as a narc. Then there’s a bunch of threatening, fighting and passing messages until it’s decided they’re gonna go to war at 3:15 pm. Right after school, normally, but it’s a half day. So the movie could’ve been called 1:15 but they decided to do alot of pre-fight preparation I guess.

The whole school is locked up with no security or police patrols in sight, so hundreds of kids wait outside while Jeff sneaks around inside trying to take on all the Cobras. Where the WARRIORS stuff really comes in is the other gangs – there’s an all-Asian gang who practice martial arts, and a gang of black militants (with fatigues, boots and berets) led by Mario Van Peebles. But these gangs do nothing and Van Peebles only talks in one scene.

Baldwin is pretty good, better than in COHEN AND TATE, that’s for sure. He’s kind of like a hardboiled anti-hero, a tough guy who would rather be peaceful but knows he has no other choice and takes it all head on. His girlfriend gets tiresome, not through any fault of the actress but just because you don’t need more than one scene of the girl being mad at him for being in danger. But what if you die? Then what am I gonna do? Boo hoo, everybody look at me.

Ed Lauter puts in a brief appearance as a cop who talks to the principale (Rene Auberjonois) in his office. It’s basically the same thing he does in DEATH WISH 3.

The director is Larry Gross, who didn’t direct any other theatrical movies, but did write 48 HOURS and Clint’s TRUE CRIME. The writers are Sam Bernard (RAD, PAYBACK [the other one]) and Michael Jacobs (HALLOWEEN 5: NOT AS BAD AS PART 6 I GUESS).

Well, this one doesn’t really come together, but at least it’s quick (86 minute) and it feels like they’re trying, despite the low budget crappiness. I noticed a boom mic blatantly swinging across a shot during a fight scene, but I don’t think that means they don’t care, it just means they were up against a wall to finish this thing. And they did seem to finish it, so congratulations to everybody involved.

vhs

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 19th, 2009 at 1:32 am and is filed under Action, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

27 Responses to “3:15”

  1. I find it interesting that Adam Baldwin has had a longer career than Alec Baldwin and is only 4 years younger yet people still assume he’s a part of that family.

  2. Thanks, Vern. I’ve been asking around for VHS-only favorites for use in my new tape-to-DVD converter doowhackey, but my fellow commenters let me down. Any other recommendations?

  3. It may not be on VHS but in keeping with the back to school theme, how about some love for Three O’Clock High, with a classic early Richard Tyson performance. It may be a mostly-camera-angle-crazy show, but it has its moments!

  4. Three O’clock High made me want to make movies when I was a kid. It was like the Evil Dead 2 of high school movies.

  5. Is Porno Dracula on DVD? The Andy WArhol produced, Udo Keir starring Porno Dracula? Shit man, I don’t know.

  6. It’s just called Blood For Dracula, and yes, it’s on DVD. It’s not really a porno, though.

  7. Majestyk – well I definitely gotta say ROLLING THUNDER, still #1 on my list of movies that need to be on DVD. In other ‘Rolling’ titles there is the ridiculous ROLLING VENGEANCE, about the monster truck running over stuff. There’s Jeff Wincott in MISSION OF JUSTICE, Dolph in I COME IN PEACE, THE WOMAN CHASER, GREEN SLIME. And, uh, THE AFRICAN QUEEN.

    I know I can come up with more than this, let me ruminate.

    p.s. HITMAN HART: WRESTLING WITH SHADOWS finally came out dvd a month or two ago

  8. The way the poster looked in the little bubble next to the title made it look like Baldwin was in a sniper scope. Then I saw that it was just the folds in the poster. That’s all I got.

  9. I have Rolling Thunder and I Come In Peace on bootleg, and I got the Greek import of Mission of Justice. Thanks for reminding me about Rolling Vengeance. I always meant to check that one out. I never heard of Green Slime or Woman Chaser, but based on their titles alone they clearly demand more research.

  10. Green SLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!!!! I really want to see THAT movie! And hear the full length version of the theme song. Check out the trailer (with optional commentary by John Landis) on the wonderful “Trailers From Hell” website!
    http://www.trailersfromhell.com/trailers/375

  11. I don’t know if it’s available in DVD but , in the “gang movies” category ,I like The Wanderers , a more serious movie than The Warriors , with less action but with a more realistic feel. Of course the best gang movie of ALL time is 1990: Bronx Warriors by Castellari . Enjoy the awesomeness of the trailer ( and look for the Furies rip-offs and the skating-spaceballs gang!) :

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtflAuKvnbA

    And , by the way , The Green Slime and ROLLING VENGEANCE are next on my “to find at all costs” list. Especially ROLLING VENGEANCE , I like revenge movies with custom vehicles of destruction . I even liked the Exterminator 2 , with the custom garbage truck of revenge!

  12. The Wanderers is at least availabale as Region 2 DVD. I saw it over here several times in stores.

  13. Majestyk – I just discovered a bunch of Vern’s preferred DTVNDTD movies on Demand with comcast – got to see Pray For Death
    again (the not very good Ninja movie but lives up to the 80’s trend of saying the title in the movie) and Rolling Vengeance. What really frosts my weenie is that they have Sleepaway Camp II and III but not the frakking first one! I mean what the hell! That’s like having an all Sasha Mitchell channel.

  14. ROLLING VENGEANCE is actually pretty terrible, but I still remember the concept fondly at least. THE WOMAN CHASER is not that old of a movie but must’ve been one of the last to be on VHS and not DVD. It’s a Charles Willeford adaptation done by the director who later moved to Seattle and made that movie about the plight of the horsefucked. It’s pretty damn good though and stars Patrick Warburton, who I don’t think I’ve seen in any other leading roles. Oh, and the title doesn’t describe the movie or book very well, I think it was pushed on Willeford by the publisher to make it sound lurid.

  15. Okay Majestyk, I looked through my reviews and found some more that I believe are only on VHS. Some of them will be hard to find though.

    80 BLOCKS FROM TIFFANY’S – awesome documentary about The Warriors type gangs. Extremely rare though.
    AVENGING FORCE – good Michael Dudikoff vs. white supremacists Cannon movie
    BACK IN ACTION – Roddy Piper and Billy Blanks
    CLEOPATRA JONES AND THE CASINO OF GOLD – actually this might be on DVD in region 2
    COHEN AND TATE – we discussed this recently
    DARK AGE – excellent Australian giant crocodile movie
    DAY OF THE WOLVES – kind of shitty but kind of cool caper movie where the thieves all have bushy beards
    DEATH CHEATERS – Stunt Rock but without the rock
    EXECUTIONER PART 2 and/or EXTERMINATOR 2 – I forget which one is which
    GOODBYE 20TH CENTURY – weird movie from Macedonia or somewhere
    HIGHWAY TO HELL – recently reviewed
    HIT! – seriously guys, this is an amazing Billy Dee Williams movie. It even has Richard Pryor in it. Some day it’s gonna get released by Criterion or somebody and I will take full credit for it. I discovered this one. It’s mine.
    LAST NIGHT AT THE ALAMO – not sure if they plan to put this out since they did The Whole Shootin’ Match already. But it’s real fuckin good.
    THE OUTFIT – I don’t think I’ve officially reviewed this, but it’s John Flynn’s movie of my favorite Parker book. I don’t think it’s been on DVD anywhere in the world, so it’s up to you, Majestyk.
    STREETWISE – Oscar nominated documentary about homeless teens in early ’80s Seattle
    THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN – I don’t think this is on DVD is it?

    If you can find them I would say HIT!, THE OUTFIT and DARK AGE would be the highest priorities.

  16. Speaking of Parker and extremely rare movies ,Mise à sac ( Pillaged in English , Una notte per 5 Rapine = One Night for 5 Robberies in Italian ) is pretty damn near impossible to find . It’s based on The Score, goddammit , and if anybody is able to find this on ANY format ( beta max , floppy disks , audio tapes or ancient murals ) I’m willing to cut one of my legs to see it.

  17. Wow, thanks, Vern. It is much appreciated. Let’s see Roger Ebert put in that kind of effort for his readers.

  18. Oh man, it sucks that the VHS of Goodbye 20th Century is going for almost a hundred bucks, because that cover is one of the all-time greats. Check it out: http://www.amazon.com/Goodbye-20th-Century-Sofija-Kunovska/dp/B00004TYC0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=video&qid=1253456377&sr=1-1

  19. Kermit – somebody in France told me he saw a remastered print in a theater there, and he said it was outstanding. This is the same guy who recorded The Split off of French AMC for me. I’ve been hoping the rerelease meant it would at least come out as a region 2 dvd, but I haven’t heard of one yet. (also who knows if it would have English subtitles or not.)

    Majestyk – Damn, I didn’t know it had become that rare. The cover is obviously why I watched it, and it’s not as crazy as it implies, but it is pretty weird. I remember it starts out as kind of a weird El Topo-esque apocalyptic thing but then skips back to New Year’s Eve 1999 and something about a suicidal drunk in a Santa Claus costume, I think. There’s no killer Santa though as far as I remember.

  20. Good news on that Mise à sac region 2 remastered DVD release.
    That movie is almost like “Le Fin Absolue du Monde” , or John Carpenter’s “Gorgo Versus Godzilla” . You know a movie is pretty fucking rare when “someone in France saw a print in a theater once”! There’s even an Italian dub , and we LOVE crime movies , but it’s never on TV. We have a TV show called “Fuori Orario” specialized in cult and obscure movies ( by Italian critic Enrico Ghezzi) , and he was the first to show Tetsuo I,Tetsuo II: Body Hammer , Tokyo Fist and other Japanese movies on TV. And he LOVES French cinema too. But I’ve never seen it programmed in Fouri Orario . I hope for a DVD release , even in French without subtitles , I know the story even if it’s not a word for word translation.

  21. Mr. Majestyk : I’ve seen Ninja III The Domination! Finally ! A guy was selling a DVD over here ( but I think it’s not the Uncut Edition ) and it arrived yesterday ! Awesome movie , especially the possessed arcade machine ( possessed by a NINJA , of course )! Plus Kosugi as an Exorcist/Shinobi is priceless!

  22. Did you notice that the possessed arcade game was called Bouncer? I wonder if Wade Garrett was an unlockable character…

  23. Yeah , Road House is perfect material for an arcade. Can you imagine an old school 2D Beat ’em up like Double Dragon , but called Double Deuce , with Wade and Dalton as playable characters ? If you Die , They’re going to Fuck You in Prison !

  24. When you select Dalton as your character he says ” No one ever , wins a fight” and when you select Wade he says ” I’ll get all the sleep I need when I’m dead “. We all know the introduction of the last level boss.
    Man , I know I will think about this shit for the next week , now.

  25. I come in peace is available on R2 DVD as Dark Angel.

    Not sure if it is region locked, but hey its Dolph and crazee CD shooting aliens in a completely dated 80’s action fest.

    Certainly took me back to seeing it in the cinema, back in the day

  26. I’d love to see Double Dragon style games based off of: Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Krull, Night of the Creeps, Margarita Duras’s The Truck (kidding…wait, maybe I’m not), Fright Night part 2 (one of the level bosses would have to Evil Ed) and Zardoz (I picture a bonus round where you “fight” the apathetics)

  27. I finally got around to watching this, and I thought it was awesome. I thought Baldwin made a great stoic badass, like the scene where his girlfriend wants him to sneak out the window so her parents won’t catch him but he just walks out like, “Yeah, we were fucking. So?” My only gripe is that he didn’t throw Cinqo through the front door of the school so all the kids could see who had the juice now.

    3:15 was one of the VHS tapes I burned onto DVD with my new doowhackey. I also scored Malone, Back In Action, and Avenging Force on your recommendation, Vern, as well as a few curiosities like The Final Alliance (which has the same plot as Malone only it stars David Hasselhoff and a puma), SnakeEater III (which also has the same plot as Malone only it stars Lorenzo Lamas as a guy who kills Bam Bam Bigelow using urine and electricity), Wild Thing (kid raised by bag lady grows up to be ghetto Tarzan), and some HK splatterfuck kung fu flick called Mr. Digital that promises baby brain surgery and sex-crazed warrior women.

    God, I miss the Golden Age of VHS. You could basically do whatever you wanted as long as it had two (2) tits in it.

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