Plot: What’s it about?
Jake Speed (Wayne Crawford) is a man of legend within the pages of his paperbacks, where an author pens epic adventures and travels for him. He can handle all terrain, no matter how dangerous and no matter how tough they might be, he can topple all bad guys who stand in his path. In other words, when you’re in real trouble and need some serious help, Jake Speed is the kind of man you want to have around. This is the reason that when his granddaughter kidnapped, Grandpa (Leon Ames) does his best to ensure Speed can arrive to lend a hand. But there is no real Jake Speed…or is there? It seems as though Speed is a real person as well, as he contacts the kidnapped girl’s sister and informs her that he plans to stage a rescue mission. Of course, she can’t believe what she hears and as such, decides to join Speed on this dangerous trek, just to see if he is for real or an impostor. As the adventure unfolds, she discovers that Speed is for real, but he is not as dashing as his paperback counterpart, in fact, he is sometimes more of a hindrance than help. But this mission is an important one, so the two push onward and hope to come through, but can they manage to rescue the young woman before it is too late?
Oh man, what a cheese laden and poorly made film Jake Speed is, I can hardly believe it was ever even made. The storyline is interesting, but unfolds in very bad form within the film, the acting is downright terrible, and there is little to praise about Jake Speed, as it pretty much sucks the eggs in all respects. But when a movie is this bad, it sometimes offers some laughs and fun, which is the case with Jake Speed. I used to watch this with friends sometimes and we’d have a terrific time, but then again, we never took the picture seriously for even a second. Some hilarious bits of dialogue spark the audience at times, while the laughable plot devices and adventure elements also supply plenty of good times. If you’re looking for a serious adventure blockbuster, then pitch this one and stick with Indiana Jones, as this is a satire with some serious flaws. I do think Jake Speed has an audience however, even it is a bunch of folks who love bad movies, such as myself. If you’re interested, then by all means give this disc a rental, but don’t expect more than I’ve discussed here, in terms of entertainment value.
In the realm of adventure heroes and such, I think Jake Speed is the most unusual one, as he is a middle aged and realistic character. This offbeat, fictional hero is played by Wayne Crawford, who I assume was given the role since he served as a producer here as well. And while some might scoff at that kind of thing, I think it is hilarious and in truth, Crawford’s lack of skill makes this a much more amusing effort in the end. I wouldn’t call him the worst performer I’ve ever seen, but his work here is very bad and it’s easy to understand why he never took off. But when he’s given such awful material like this, Crawford is twice as hilarious and in this case, that’s enough for me to pass his performance, thanks to the unintentional humor. Other films with Crawford include Hunt For The Devil, Valley Girl, Barracuda, White Ghost, Rebel Storm, Trial By Terror, and Stickfighter. The cast also includes Karen Kopins (Once Bitten, Troop Beverly Hills), Leon Ames (Meet Me In St. Louis, Peggy Sue Got Married), Dennis Christopher (Breaking Away, Chariots of Fire), and John Hurt (Lost Souls, Dead Man).
Video: How does it look?
Jake Speed is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The image here is rather grainy and on the soft side, but still looks much better than I had expected. Some scenes look crisper and sharper than others of course, but on the whole the film looks good and never degrades much. The colors look a little faded, but not too bad and flesh tones seem normal enough, no real complaints there. The grain messes up the contrast levels at times, but not enough to ruin the image, though enough to lessen it a little. So this is not a great transfer, but it is more than decent and the best home video edition of Jake Speed I’ve seen.
Audio: How does it sound?
On this release, you’ll find an “ultra stereo” track and while it covers the basics, it does little else. This track has more range than a simple mono track of course, but don’t expect a full surround sound experience here. The music and sound effects have a nice texture, but just don’t fill the room like I’d prefer, but given the nature of the track, I won’t complain much. Yes, I do wish this was a richer overall track, but on the “ultra stereo” scale, I think this one is more than up to snuff. I had no problems with the dialogue either, as vocals seemed clean and crisp enough at all times. This disc offers no subtitle options however, which is a let down.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes the film’s theatrical trailer.
