Post by BurgerAlertBoy on Mar 2, 2005 23:33:33 GMT -5
We've all been wondering what became of our man Don. Well, read this:
Anchor Bay Announces New Bonus Interview, Features on Greatest American Hero Season 2 DVD Set
TROY, MI -- On April 1, 2005, Anchor Bay Entertainment and Stephen J. Cannell Productions will release SEASON TWO of hit 1980s television series "The Greatest American Hero." In addition to previously announced bonus material that includes video interviews with show creator and producer Stephen J. Cannell and music composer Mike Post, the six-disc set will also include an interview and special bonus material featuring long-lost cast member Don Cervantes.
Cervantes, who enjoyed critical acclaim as "Nemo" and "Mugger #2" in such programs as "Hill Street Blues" and "Act Of Violence" played the role of "Paco Rodriguez" in "The Greatest American Hero" and it was there the actor would achieve cult status for demonstrating his now-legendary skill in a rare but deadly martial art.
In the episode "The Hand-Painted Thai" (included in the SEASON TWO set) Cervantes and fellow cast member Michael Pare were to participate in an exciting action sequence in which their characters rescue fellow classmates from a deranged FBI agent (Kurt Grayson) who had hijacked their bus at gunpoint.
"Dennis [Madalone, stunt coordinator] wanted to have this lame fight scene, but then Mike said, 'Don, show em the thing you do with that shoe,'" recalls Cervantes. The young actor had been studying "shoe-fu," a martial art that combines a variety of Eastern fighting styles, but which incorporates a special weapon: a "fighting shoe" that resembles a loafer, but whose heel can be wielded to deadly effect. At the time of filming, Cervantes had just advanced to the highest rank of shoe-fu, earning his black laces, and his skill at hand-to-shoe combat was so impressive, the scene was rewritten to showcase the martial art for the first time in television history.
"The Greatest American Hero" SEASON TWO set features not only this action-packed scene as it originally aired, but also five minutes of deleted scenes from the "shoe-fu" sequence, including:
--A multiple-camera shot intended to show Cervantes' "fighting shoe" in slow-motion mid-flight, creating an experimental visual effect that director Bruce Kessler dubbed "shoe time" (anticipating by nearly 20 years the revolutionary "bullet time" effects of films like "The Matrix").
--An extended fight sequence that concludes with Cervantes driving his opponent from the bus and uttering the line, "Just a like a Fed. Brings a gun to a shoe fight."
After this ground-breaking episode aired, Cervantes (pronounced "Shoe-VAN-tez") disappeared from Hollywood. In 1986 he was reported to be a bodyguard to former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos, but as the reclusive Cervantes explains in an exclusive documentary, it was a falling-out with producers over a rejected "Greatest American Hero" script (featured in the DVD-ROM extras of the SEASON TWO set) which led the actor to leave America. He spent the next 20 years as a mainstay of the Hong Kong film industry, appearing in such films as "The Big Shoe", "Laces Of Death" and "Enter the Foot."
The rare interview and the bonus documentary "Finding Don Cervantes" included in the SEASON TWO set were filmed at Cervantes' current home in Holland ("The wooden shoes they got here are good and hard, y'know? Plus, I dunno, I've always had this thing about windmills.")
Combining the battle between good and evil with good natured comedy, "The Greatest American Hero" tells the story of Ralph, a normal schoolteacher who finds himself in the possession of an alien suit that gives him superpowers. With the help of girlfriend Pam and gung-ho FBI agent Bill Maxwell--the only people who know his secret--Ralph travels the country fighting crime and defending the innocent. SEASON TWO contains 22 episodes, and was the only full season of the program to be aired.
Created by successful television producer Stephen J. Cannell (THE A-TEAM, 21 JUMP STREET), THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO is a long-time cult favorite among avid fans of television comedy.
Special Features
· Region (unknown)
· Box Set
· Full Frame - 1.33
· Additional Release Material:
o Video Interviews - 1. Mike Post
o 2. Stephen J. Cannell
o 3. Don Cervantes
· Deleted Scenes (with commentary) from extended "shoe-fu" sequence in "The Hand-Painted Thai"
· Bonus Feature: "Shoe Time" Camera Effects Explained
· Bonus Documentary: "Finding Don Cervantes"
· Text/Photo Galleries:
o Photo Gallery
· DVD-ROM:
o Screenplay For "Two Hundred Miles And Hour Fastball"
o Unproduced Screenplay "Here's Looking At Shoe, Kid"
TEXTTEXTTEXTTEXT
Anchor Bay Announces New Bonus Interview, Features on Greatest American Hero Season 2 DVD Set
TROY, MI -- On April 1, 2005, Anchor Bay Entertainment and Stephen J. Cannell Productions will release SEASON TWO of hit 1980s television series "The Greatest American Hero." In addition to previously announced bonus material that includes video interviews with show creator and producer Stephen J. Cannell and music composer Mike Post, the six-disc set will also include an interview and special bonus material featuring long-lost cast member Don Cervantes.
Cervantes, who enjoyed critical acclaim as "Nemo" and "Mugger #2" in such programs as "Hill Street Blues" and "Act Of Violence" played the role of "Paco Rodriguez" in "The Greatest American Hero" and it was there the actor would achieve cult status for demonstrating his now-legendary skill in a rare but deadly martial art.
In the episode "The Hand-Painted Thai" (included in the SEASON TWO set) Cervantes and fellow cast member Michael Pare were to participate in an exciting action sequence in which their characters rescue fellow classmates from a deranged FBI agent (Kurt Grayson) who had hijacked their bus at gunpoint.
"Dennis [Madalone, stunt coordinator] wanted to have this lame fight scene, but then Mike said, 'Don, show em the thing you do with that shoe,'" recalls Cervantes. The young actor had been studying "shoe-fu," a martial art that combines a variety of Eastern fighting styles, but which incorporates a special weapon: a "fighting shoe" that resembles a loafer, but whose heel can be wielded to deadly effect. At the time of filming, Cervantes had just advanced to the highest rank of shoe-fu, earning his black laces, and his skill at hand-to-shoe combat was so impressive, the scene was rewritten to showcase the martial art for the first time in television history.
"The Greatest American Hero" SEASON TWO set features not only this action-packed scene as it originally aired, but also five minutes of deleted scenes from the "shoe-fu" sequence, including:
--A multiple-camera shot intended to show Cervantes' "fighting shoe" in slow-motion mid-flight, creating an experimental visual effect that director Bruce Kessler dubbed "shoe time" (anticipating by nearly 20 years the revolutionary "bullet time" effects of films like "The Matrix").
--An extended fight sequence that concludes with Cervantes driving his opponent from the bus and uttering the line, "Just a like a Fed. Brings a gun to a shoe fight."
After this ground-breaking episode aired, Cervantes (pronounced "Shoe-VAN-tez") disappeared from Hollywood. In 1986 he was reported to be a bodyguard to former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos, but as the reclusive Cervantes explains in an exclusive documentary, it was a falling-out with producers over a rejected "Greatest American Hero" script (featured in the DVD-ROM extras of the SEASON TWO set) which led the actor to leave America. He spent the next 20 years as a mainstay of the Hong Kong film industry, appearing in such films as "The Big Shoe", "Laces Of Death" and "Enter the Foot."
The rare interview and the bonus documentary "Finding Don Cervantes" included in the SEASON TWO set were filmed at Cervantes' current home in Holland ("The wooden shoes they got here are good and hard, y'know? Plus, I dunno, I've always had this thing about windmills.")
Combining the battle between good and evil with good natured comedy, "The Greatest American Hero" tells the story of Ralph, a normal schoolteacher who finds himself in the possession of an alien suit that gives him superpowers. With the help of girlfriend Pam and gung-ho FBI agent Bill Maxwell--the only people who know his secret--Ralph travels the country fighting crime and defending the innocent. SEASON TWO contains 22 episodes, and was the only full season of the program to be aired.
Created by successful television producer Stephen J. Cannell (THE A-TEAM, 21 JUMP STREET), THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO is a long-time cult favorite among avid fans of television comedy.
Special Features
· Region (unknown)
· Box Set
· Full Frame - 1.33
· Additional Release Material:
o Video Interviews - 1. Mike Post
o 2. Stephen J. Cannell
o 3. Don Cervantes
· Deleted Scenes (with commentary) from extended "shoe-fu" sequence in "The Hand-Painted Thai"
· Bonus Feature: "Shoe Time" Camera Effects Explained
· Bonus Documentary: "Finding Don Cervantes"
· Text/Photo Galleries:
o Photo Gallery
· DVD-ROM:
o Screenplay For "Two Hundred Miles And Hour Fastball"
o Unproduced Screenplay "Here's Looking At Shoe, Kid"
TEXTTEXTTEXTTEXT
)
"FOUR?!"
