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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Navarre Corporation
Salesrank: 61784
Released: September 9, 2008 |
| Our Price: $3.73 |
| Used Price: $3.72 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
The Kidnapping of the President
An insane South American quasi-revolutionary terrorist and his admiring girl compatriot abduct the U.S. President (Hal Holbrook) during a trip to Toronto. While the Commander In Chief is held captive in an armored truck wired with explosives, a persistent Secret Service Agent (William Shatner) goes to great lengths to rescue the President before midnight when the truck is set to detonate.
Deathrow Gameshow
Live Or Die host Chuck Toeden brings Deathrow inmates onto his show where they are forced to play humiliating games in exchange for an unlikely chance at a stay of execution. Despite being the highest rated show on television, Chuck has garnered a number of enemies (from family members of losing contestants to uppity civil rights groups). Enter Gloria Sternvirgin, leader of WAAMAF (Women Against Anything Men Are For), who believes Chuck s game show is a reprehensible waste of time that has no business being on the air. After a televised face-off between the two, they are ambushed by the Spumoni mafia (a notorious mobster who died during a rigged game call Dance Of The Seven Boners ). Chuck is left with the question of whether to renounce his highly successful game show or continue dodging attempts on his life from the mob and a growing coterie of enemies.
Kidnapping of the President / Deathrow Gameshow - (Double Feature) Reviews:
Mama Mia! 
2009-07-19 - I didn't even bother to watch the Shatner movie, I got this solely for the purpose of seeing low budget guru Mark Pirro's flick DEATHROW GAMESHOW. While it's a much more polished effort (believe it or not) than his previous efforts, it's not nearly as much fun as either A POLISH VAMPIRE IN BURBANK or CURSE OF THE QUEERWOLF. Those little 8mm flix (transferred to 16mm) were great in their own, exuberant, undeniably childish way. GAMESHOW, while a great premise, suffers from its own ill advised version of maturity. It needed a heavier dose of adolescent goofiness to really make it work.
The story? Chuck Toedan (John McCafferty)hosts the titular show on KSIK tv and it's just what its sounds like; criminals sitting on deathrow sign waivers and compete for prizes, the possibility of parole, or just a memorable televised death--with the latter being the most likely. The show is very Springer-like in that it is both hated and loved passionately. Our heroine Gloria Sternvirgin (Robyn Blythe) hates it. And while expressing her disgust with Chuck and his show in person one day she accidentally becomes involved when hitmen try to take Chuck out--and I don't mean for pizza. It seems that in addition to the millions of other people who loathe him, Chuck made some very dangerous enemies when he unknowingly submitted Mafia Boss Don Spumoni (Mark Lasky) to an especially embarrasing death on his show. And they want revenge. Chuck's an old hand at dealing with this sort of stuff however and he tosses Gloria in his car and they escape with little effort. Now really ticked off, the Mafia calls in their most effective hitman, Luigi Pappalardo (Beano, no kidding, Beano) who is such an horrific slob that he'll offend every Italian in the audience. And Luigi brings his Mama with him. Mama (also Mark Lasky) wants to see the game show Let's Make a Big Deal that tapes next door to Chuck's show. Various degrees of hilarity ensue.
As I said earlier Pirro is working with a MUCH larger budget here and it shows. There could be as many as 5 digits in the budget, maybe even one more. There are some funny gags to be found here as well, such as the prisoner who is going to be guillotined if he can't identify an old black and white horror movie in which a sexy blonde is attacked by a mummy but escapes. The mummy then lurches into the camera swearing his head off. The title of the movie? THE CURSES OF THE MUMMY, what else. If you give this flick a try stay through the credits because there's some cute stuff. Its not that bad an effort. And you've got to give writer/director Pirro props for anticipating reality tv in 1987.
Kidnapping of the President Decent Movie
2008-08-23 - I saw Kidnapping of the President years ago on television, and I was very impressed by a fast paced, well thought out thriller; in fact, the memory of the movie has stuck with me for over thirty years. Now granted, I was about 15, so maybe I'm not remember it correctly. On the other hand, I remember thinking at the time that William Shatners Secret Service character was one of the few roles Shatner had outside of Star Trek that was very impressive. And Hal Holbrook as the President of the United States was very believable. The story seemed at the time to be engrossing, with a very impressive cat-and-mouse game between Shatner and the terrorist. I even remember reading reviews of the film at the time praising Holbrook, Shatner, and the realistic story-line.
I haven't seen the second feature (honestly, from the description, it sounds like theh Crypt Keeper should doing an opening dialogue), but for the low price, I'll take a chance, if for nothing else, to get a hold of The Kidnapping of the President.
