This was a one hour pilot for a new series for ABC, produced by Dick Clark Productions, the same company who produced the theatrical movie REMO WILLIAMS: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS. Both TV pilot and theatrical release were based on THE DESTROYER book series by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir.
None of the actors from the movie were utilized in the pilot, with Jeffrey Meeks replacing Fred Ward as Remo (Remo getting 15 years younger in the process, presumably to bring in more women viewers)and Roddy McDowall replacing Joel Grey as Chuin. Even Wilford Brimley was replaced by Stephen Elliot as Harold W. Smith.
The music and main theme are present, but very little else resembles anything near any of the production values of the theatrical movie. The highlight of the pilot is Remo involved in a brawl with members of a motorcycle gang, while wearing a pair of woman's roller skates??? While the main plot does utilize a storyline from the book series involving the Sinanju prophecy of "the master who dies and lives on to become the greatest of all the masters of Sinanju", the writers tossed out other established story points from the books, all for the sake of cheap laughs about "hamburgers and beer..".
Judy Landers, an 'It Girl' from the 80's (who's only claim to fame is being famous, much like Jenny McCarthy or Carmen Electra today)) makes a token appearance as a dumb blonde who Remo tries to have sex with, thus framing jokes about "lesson 36", the Sinanju method by which to drive women wild with sexual desire...
From the pilot, it appears that the series would have been the continuation of Remo's training by Chuin, with dangerous missions undertaken for Harold W. Smith as needed. However, with the exception of minimal voice-over by Chuin at the beginning of the episode, the show spends NO time rehashing the origin story from the movie, which presumably left a large segment of the audience in the dark about the characters and premise, if they had not seen the theatrical release (which from the box office figures, meant the majority of the country).
Overall, a feeble attempt to squeeze money out of a concept which could have been a theatrical blockbuster if executed correctly but instead became a lackluster second rate action film, which this series pilot does nothing to improve upon...
If you are a fan of the book series, this is worth a look just to see how Hollywood will change even the smallest of details to demonstrate "artistic license"... However, for the rest of the viewing public, I recommend you do what you did the first time. Just skip it.
None of the actors from the movie were utilized in the pilot, with Jeffrey Meeks replacing Fred Ward as Remo (Remo getting 15 years younger in the process, presumably to bring in more women viewers)and Roddy McDowall replacing Joel Grey as Chuin. Even Wilford Brimley was replaced by Stephen Elliot as Harold W. Smith.
The music and main theme are present, but very little else resembles anything near any of the production values of the theatrical movie. The highlight of the pilot is Remo involved in a brawl with members of a motorcycle gang, while wearing a pair of woman's roller skates??? While the main plot does utilize a storyline from the book series involving the Sinanju prophecy of "the master who dies and lives on to become the greatest of all the masters of Sinanju", the writers tossed out other established story points from the books, all for the sake of cheap laughs about "hamburgers and beer..".
Judy Landers, an 'It Girl' from the 80's (who's only claim to fame is being famous, much like Jenny McCarthy or Carmen Electra today)) makes a token appearance as a dumb blonde who Remo tries to have sex with, thus framing jokes about "lesson 36", the Sinanju method by which to drive women wild with sexual desire...
From the pilot, it appears that the series would have been the continuation of Remo's training by Chuin, with dangerous missions undertaken for Harold W. Smith as needed. However, with the exception of minimal voice-over by Chuin at the beginning of the episode, the show spends NO time rehashing the origin story from the movie, which presumably left a large segment of the audience in the dark about the characters and premise, if they had not seen the theatrical release (which from the box office figures, meant the majority of the country).
Overall, a feeble attempt to squeeze money out of a concept which could have been a theatrical blockbuster if executed correctly but instead became a lackluster second rate action film, which this series pilot does nothing to improve upon...
If you are a fan of the book series, this is worth a look just to see how Hollywood will change even the smallest of details to demonstrate "artistic license"... However, for the rest of the viewing public, I recommend you do what you did the first time. Just skip it.