Kino Lorber has gifted us with Burt Reynolds’ Malone

Orion Pictures

Ex-cop! Ex-CIA! Ex-plosive! Screen legend Burt Reynolds is back as Richard Malone, an ex-CIA agent looking to leave his past behind him and start a new life in the Pacific Northwest. But his dreams of living the quiet life soon goes up in smoke when he stumbles onto a military conspiracy led by a local millionaire and rightwing zealot, played to sinister perfection by Cliff Robertson. Add Lauren Hutton as Malone’s ex-partner and lover … her next CIA assignment is to snuff Malone. Harley Cokliss wonderfully directs the fast-paced adventure yarn filled with suspense and thrills. The stellar cast includes Cynthia Gibb, Kenneth McMillan, Tracey Walter and Scott Wilson.

REVIEW

Kino Lorber has been releasing a number of Burt Reynolds films recently, and we are all better for it. Just this year alone, they’ve packaged and released The Longest Yard in 4K, plus Blu-rays for White Lightning, Gator, Hustle, Heat, and the quite underrated Malone. That 1987 film flopped at the box office ($3 million earned on a budget of $10 million), has mediocre reviews (35% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes), and has been revived on Blu-ray by Kino without the audience reappraisal it so clearly deserves. I seem to be one of the few willing to go to bat for it.

The film begins with Burt as Malone, a CIA sniper (Malone is one of his many names, that’s just the name on one of his many licenses) who has grown tired and weary of taking out bad guys. He resigns from his job and resigns himself to a life on the road, alone and away from his old life. When his car breaks down in rural Oregon, he just can’t help himself but take down the bad guys infiltrating this peaceful small town.

Burt himself has made it clear where this movie will go when he said, ‘Let’s be honest. The film is Shane.’ That film, of course, is the 1953 story of a former gunslinger who cozies up to a homesteading family, ultimately coming out of retirement to take down the encroaching cattle baron who wants their land. Burt was right, it is the same movie. In Malone, his former sniper-slinger cozies up to the family that’s working on his car and ultimately has to protect them from the white nationalist who’s trying to use the entire town’s worth of land for his racist haven.

That man, Charles Delaney (played by Cliff Robertson — those only familiar with him as Tobey Maguire’s Uncle Ben are in for a wild ride), has a plan that involves a lot more than taking over the local land: his followers intimidate police, influence elections, and even assassinate politicians in the name of their cause — all over the country. His plan is serious, his militia is unforgiving, and he won’t let a drifter like Burt stop him. When Burt discovers the extent of their criminal operations, he decides to take matters into his own hands and stand up against them.

He also doesn’t take kindly to their intimidation. The mechanic’s teenage daughter, Jo (Cynthia Gibb), is the victim of their harassment and latches onto the safety that Burt can provide (she spots a gun when snooping through his room). When one of the goons harasses her in front of Burt, he knees the redneck in the nads. It’s so bad that he can supposedly never have children. No one, Burt included, thinks this is such a terrible thing for society.

In retaliation, they attack Burt while he’s getting a haircut. The hair on top of his head is very clearly real and very definitely not a toupee, so he needs haircuts. Luckily, he’s almost always packing with a pistol that Looney Tunes-style blows a giant hole through guys, so he’s safe. But it’s officially war with the bad guys.

They attempt on more than one occasion to take him out but are never successful because he’s practically unstoppable. The rednecks also aren’t the only guys who want him dead, the C.I.A (they don’t explain why, maybe he knows too much?) send fellow-operative Lauren Hutton to poison him. She’s unable to complete her mission, however, because they’re both so incredibly attractive, that they can’t help but spend their time kissing and doing other stuff. They rekindle an old romance (reuniting Lauren and Burt from movies like Gator and Paternity) and Burt detours for some afternoon delight before taking out the bad guys in the film’s fiery climax.

Orion Pictures

As you can see, the movie is silly. However, when you buy this Blu-ray (and you should) for an ’80s Burt action flick, you should know that going in. But what’s wrong with rooting for the white supremacists to get kicked in the nether regions and for Burt to hook up with Lauren Hutton and for guns to blow guys up like bazookas? I don’t know about you, but that’s all I need in a movie.

VIDEO

Picture looks nice – British Columbia as Oregon plays well, blood is oozing, fire is burning, and Burt is most definitely not wearing a toupee. There are a bit of scratches and debris, but nothing too distracting. Presented in 1.85:1.

AUDIO

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA is serviceable. English subtitles are also available.

SPECIAL FEATURES

The disc has a couple trailers for other Burt flicks (buy them on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber!), but the new addition for this release is a commentary from film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson — I listened to it and didn’t learn much that I hadn’t already read online.