The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films (2014) User Reviews

Unbiased Review

[refinedsugar · 6/10 · 29 August 2023]

If you saw 'Electric Boogaloo' then you already know the two men in question declined to participate in that documentary because they were doing their own. 'The Go-Go Boys' is exactly that. You lose a lot of the people being interviewed, but you do gain a more personal touch hearing from Menahem Golan & Yoram Globus constantly.

Clips get shown and naturally there's some overlap between the two docs. Duplication in footage & the same topics discussed. 'Go-Go' stands out by speaking with actors who worked for Cannon Films that 'Boogaloo' didn't. Jean Claude Van Damme, Jon Voight, Billy Drago and you get to hear much more from Michael Dudikoff. Plus personal stories from the men themselves and their families.

It also provides new insight into the collapse. In an eye opening bit, an interviewer tries to get Menahem to talk about Superman and their failures. He wants nothing to do with it stating they get "erased" and "never existed". A clip of him on an Israeli talkshow while the company is in the midst of going down cements his denial.

'Boogaloo' gave the broad stokes why Cannon failed, but 'Go-Go' spells it out. A fine doc that chooses to focus more on the men than the movies they made. It goes on to explore what the two men did post Cannon as well. I prefer 'Boogaloo' slightly more, but you can't go wrong with either if the topic interests you.

Heartfelt, if authorized version of Cannon Films' Golan & Globus

[gortx · 28 July 2020]

GO-GO BOYS: THE INSIDE STORY OF CANNON FILMS (2014). This authorized Documentary on Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus was, in typical Cannon Films fashion, rushed into production to be completed before a competing film was released - the decidedly UN-authorized ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: THE WILD UNTOLD STORY OF CANNON FILMS. It not only beat that film into release it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival. The French debut was fitting since Cannes was the place where the legend of Golan and Globus was made back in the 80s. Director Hilla Medalia spends the first portion of the movie showing how the two cousins established a beachhead in their native Israel in the 60s producing movies which were commercial and critical successes. Remarkably, the duo also got four of their films nominated for Best Foreign Language Film including one Directed by Golan himself (OPERATION THUNDERBOLT) - something that has gotten little notice over the years. Their first English language movie, TRUNK TO CAIRO (with George Sanders!), didn't fare so well. Israel proved to be too small a pond for the Go-Go Boys to fish in, so they set off for Hollywood in 1980. Their first pictures didn't make much of a splash, but they soon got some notice for hiring the likes of Charles Bronson and Chuck Norris to lead their budget action pictures. But, it was one of their cheapest and most hastily produced low low budget pictures which boosted their finances, BREAKIN', which grossed almost $100M in adjusted dollars. Golan was always the creative partner, while Globus was the money guy. As is said in various ways during the Doc - Golan spent money as quickly as Globus could raise it. At Cannes they would make deals for films that were not only uncompleted, but often unwritten and even without a title. Golan famously signed Jean Luc Godard to a 'contract' on cloth napkin. What's noteworthy here is that what we think of as "Cannon Films" really lasted only five years. By the end of the 80s their lavish spending (including buying movie theater chains and EMI studios) put them on the verge of bankruptcy. Golan was essentially forced out of his own company and founded the short-lived and only modestly successful 21st Century Corporation (Full Disclosure: I worked on two of their films*). Globus hooked up with Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti to not only save Cannon, but, also to purchase MGM studios. That partnership ended in scandal, and 21st Century didn't even last until the end of the 20th. Both Cousins (who were at that time no longer on speaking terms) ended up retreating to Israel. GO-GO BOYS takes a much more personal approach to telling the story of Cannon films than the chatty gossipy ELECTRIC BOOGALOO. The latter Doc is more entertaining and it gets into more of the downside of the partnership. Still, GO-GO BOYS has its merits. Some of the interviewees like studio exec Tom Pollock and Director Boaz Davidson give insight into the business end and actors Michael Dudikoff and a, very colorful and enthusiastic, Jean-Claude Van Damme give us some behind the scenes details. The cooperation of the two principles (which they denied to the competing film) gives the viewer a more personal look at the men and their careers. Director Medalia does push them on their failures and gets a few morsels from Globus, but Golan was intransigent to the end (he passed away less than three months after the Premiere). He refused to talk about the colossal bomb with SUPERMAN IV and only discussed the slightly less embarrassment of OVER THE TOP in terms of bragging about Sylvester Stallone's paycheck. It's a heartfelt Documentary, if not a fully frank one.

* I worked with Menahem on two films. Both shot in Moscow in the fall and winter of 1991-2. Menahem Directed the second picture himself (HIT THE DUTCHMAN). He was still full of energy and still quite the salesman.

THE HISTORY OF CANNON

[kirbylee70-599-526179 · 8/10 · 23 November 2021]

If you were going to the movies in the 80s then no doubt you were aware of Cannon Films. Founded by Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, they made their mark on Hollywood by making some of the biggest films of the time without the help of major Hollywood studios. They were outsiders who came in and pulled some of the top talent at the time into their films and made millions in the process. With over 300 films to the company's credit you would think they'd still be busy. But that's not the case.

Filmmaker Hilla Medalia takes a look at the duo from their beginnings to the eventual collapse of their studio. Using a combination of archival footage, film clips and current interviews with both men she gets to the heart of the company and what happened, never giving ground to easy questions and searching for answers. In doing so we get a better grasp of the two men and what they actually achieved.

Menahem, the elder of the two, was already making movies in Israel when the decided to join forces. This led to a series of successful films in Israel that were eventually released in the US as well. Deciding to take the risk of being major film producers the pair moved to the US, bought out the struggling Cannon Pictures company and made history. Working out of a small office they negotiated some of the biggest deals of the time.

Their string of hits included most of the early films of Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme. They brought Sylvester Stallone in on a few films. The same with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Menahem was the one overseeing the productions being made and Yoram was the money man, able to find the resources to get these films made.

But they had different ideas of where they wanted to go. Menahem headed more towards making numerous money making films without worry about if there was money to make them or not. Yoram wanted to make more prestigious films in an effort to rise about the exploitative films they had been making. These included films like FOOL FOR LOVE by Sam Shepherd and RUNAWAY TRAIN by Andrey Konchalovsky.

A few bad films and some bad investments led to disaster for the cousins to the point of them not talking to one another. It also led to the downfall of the company they had created. That might seem like you're being told the entire story but it is just the bare bones. It is the meat surrounding those bones that makes this documentary both entertaining and informative.

If you grew up loving those films and seeing the Cannon Film banner at the beginning of a film then you'll want to check this one out. For me I enjoyed it from start to finish be it the interviews, the film clips, the trailers clips and more that are on hand. And once it's over my guess is, like me, you'll be looking to see if some of the movies discussed are in your collection to be pulled out and watched again. Alongside the titan of the business Golan and Globus deserve more recognition. Perhaps this film will lead to that happening.

Enjoyable and illuminating documentary

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 2 August 2021]

Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus were two brash and gutsy guys who got their start making movies in Israel prior to taking America by storm with the production company Cannon Films in the 1980's. After enjoying a good deal of success throughout the early to mid-1980's, the duo crashed and burned by the end of that era because of a few bad business deals and putting an emphasis on quantity over quality as far as making movies was concerned.

Director Hilla Medalia paints a fairly rosy, but still refreshingly honest portrait of the irrepressible pair, with Globus the shrewd moneyman and Golan the audacious idea guy. The opening section on all the pictures these two made in Israel is especially interesting and informative. It's also a hoot to see how modest the Cannon production offices were in the early 1980's and the footage of the duo plying their deal making craft at the Cannes Film Festival is absolute gold.

Jean-Claude Van Damme shares a priceless story about his wild audition for Golan while director Joel Silberg has some choice stuff to say about the making of the huge hit "Breakin'." Lawyer and film executive Tom Pollock shares some important details about the duo's downfall. Alas, Eli Roth comes across like some annoyingly gushy fanboy dweeb. While Globus and Golan are reluctant to discuss at length their failures in the film industry, they both deserve credit for being brutally honest about how both could have been much better husbands and fathers. A really solid doc.