There’s a strong streak of fetishism for 80s cheesing running through a lot of movie geeks, and it’s resulted in some well-liked throwback films from filmmakers like Ti West and Jason Eisner. You can never outdo the real thing though, which is what seems to be making the resurrection of the 1987 film Miami Connection so special.
The story of the film –which I am myself only beginning to dive into– involves a Taekwando instructor and motivational speaker named Y.K. Kim who set out to direct and star in a martial arts movie. In it he would showcase his own moves against a backdrop of 80s rock, ninja combat, extreme violence, cocaine trafficking and load automobiles.
The result was the apparently triumphant Miami Connection, but it only played in a few theaters and has become an extremely obscure cult movie ever since. A series of odd circumstances put the film in the hands of the people at Alamo Drafthouse, who screened the film in a few trash-flick series to a wild response. Now the distributor has a new release for the film planned, following a debut at Fantastic Fest next week.
Take a look at this trailer, cut by aforementioned 80s fetishist Jason Eisener. It will tell you much of what you need to know.
While the trailer makes this film seem much more competent, the enthusiasm for the film has a The Room vibe to it. I get the feeling it’s much more genuinely entertaining than Tommy Wiseau’s irony-cult spawning opus. I certainly hope so, as the irony bit doesn’t inspire me too much. Genuine 80s madness is always worth my time though, so look out for a review on CHUD next week.
via EW