The Challenge / IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065534/combined)

User Ratings (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065534/usercomments)

I was 9 the last time I saw this movie and I only saw it once. It has been on my list of films to see again since about 2 seconds after I finished it the first time 36 years ago. To make it even more maddening, the above link notes that it is not available anywhere on VHS or DVD. But it is available as a bootleg that was likely sourced from 16mm film w/ sound. It took awhile but I now have a copy of it.

Whenever I watch a movie again that I saw when I was younger, I always wonder if it will be as good as I remembered it to be? After 15 minutes I stopped watching The Challenge. Not because it was bad but because it looks to be great. I am going to wait until Friday night and have a nice bottle of red accompany me to my screening. I am stoked and I just had to share!

Very, very cool! I remember a thread several months back, probably after Darren Mcgavin died. Glad you found it. I saw it as a kid, I think as an ABC movie of the week. :thmbsp:

Very, very cool! I remember a thread several months back, probably after Darren Mcgavin died. Glad you found it. I saw it as a kid, I think as an ABC movie of the week. :thmbsp:

Probably mine.

This film has been the white whale & I, Ahab.

I forgot the title but when I looked at IMDB I remembers the movie. I could have only dated it because I recall watching it at the house we sold in 1972, so I knew it was before then. And so it made an impression on me..

One of the earlier movies I remember seeing McGavin in
is a low budget Sci Fi flick called Mission Mars.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063311/

http://www.darrenmcgavin.net/desktop/Darren120.jpg

http://www.darrenmcgavin.net/desktop/Darren121.jpg

Well, I couldn't wait until tomorrow to see this. My son is off on a Scout ski trip & he wanted to see it so we watched tonight. I'll skip to the chase and avoid flowery prose, this is an excellent film by any measure. Had this story been developed for the bigscreen rather than with the limitations of network primetime, this might have been thought of as akin to "Hell In The Pacific" with Lee Marvin & Toshiro Mifune. I could not help but make that comparison as I watched.

The contemporary and non-flattering references to Viet Nam and Big Military are amazing too. Especially in the light of this being a 1970 telefilm! It is likely why the film was not shown again by the network that paid for it. Anyone who watched the TV Network's Movies of the Week will recall how those films were flogged mercilessly again & again. This one was not and ended up in the Turner vaults which is where this one was recorded. The late 80's artwork for WTBS popped up periodically on this copy which is poor to fair and occasionally good in quality. Also there is a high pitched background squeal that you must ignore. I would love to find a superior print.

I cannot imagine better casting than McGavin in this role nor Mako. McGavin seems genuine as the dissolute, ex-Viet Nam, court marshaled, non-conformist, mercenary. Mako, despite his limited time onscreen balances McGavin perfectly as the (likely North Korean) opponent. The real hoot is Sam Elliot at 26 years of age playing the buttoned down, spit-shined, ideal, order following soldier. The whole cast is right on the money. The only guffaw for me is when McGavin delivers his terms. "One Million Dollars.....", thank you Austin Powers for forever ruining that line.

Lastly, the technology. I can sometimes be a pain to watch films with. Although I've gotten better, I'm known to pop off with "They didn't have 1873 Winchesters during the Civil War." or, "That's a repainted M60 Patton tank, not a Tiger." Anyways, the gear used in this movie surprises me. It would have been very cool in a bigscreen movie but in a telefilm it is over the top. They had to budget for the special equipment and choose not to use what was available. Really, who would have cared if McGavin had a Thompson? But they didn't do that. You don't just go out and buy a siamesed Madsen M/50 SMG or Chicom grenade. You have to build them and a whole lot of other olive drab gizmos McGavin carries with him. And amazingly the story does not revolve around the gadgets. They are just part of McGavin's oddball character. Very cool stuff.

Anyway, if you get a chance to see this, I doubt you will be disappointed. It does not go too deep or too nuanced but it does deliver. Check the plot summary on the IMDB link to see what I'm on about. Maybe someday a restored print will find its way out there. For now, I've got a copy of a film I first saw 36 years ago. It held up and I can check off that box. And now onto "Something Wild In The City".

Darren was always one of my favorite actors. He was so underrated. He and Brian Denehe, should have been there with the best.

Darren was always one of my favorite actors. He was so underrated. He and Brian Denehe, should have been there with the best.

McGavin may have been underrated by critics perhaps, but he is sure loved by fans. I read somewhere that "A Christmas Story" has evolved into the #1 Christmas film slot displacing "It's a Wonderful Life" & Miracle on 34th Street". I think I am going to put the Night Stalker / Night Strangler set in line for my next DVD pruchase.

I think I am going to put the Night Stalker / Night Strangler set in line for my next DVD pruchase.

RIP Carl Kolchak.:tears: you`ll never see another series like Night Stalker:yes: