The crossbow-wielding star tackles some what-ifs that would change everything we know about "The Walking Dead."
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Title: Volunteers (1985)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Tom Hanks | ... | Lawrence Bourne III | |
| John Candy | ... | Tom Tuttle from Tacoma | |
| Rita Wilson | ... | Beth Wexler | |
| Tim Thomerson | ... | John Reynolds | |
| Gedde Watanabe | ... | At Toon | |
| George Plimpton | ... | Lawrence Bourne Jr. | |
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Ernest Harada | ... | Chung Mee |
| Allan Arbus | ... | Albert Bardenaro | |
| Xander Berkeley | ... | Kent Sutcliffe | |
| Ji-Tu Cumbuka | ... | Cicero (as Ji-Tu Cumbaka) | |
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Guillermo Río | ... | Sumo Guard (as Guillermo del Rio) |
|
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Jacqueline Evans | ... | Aunt Eunice |
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Pamela Gual | ... | Tammy the Stewardess |
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Philip Guilmant | ... | Yale President (as Phillip Giulmant) |
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Chick Hearn | ... | Announcer |
Lawrence is a rich kid with a bad accent and a large debt. After his father refuses to help him out, Lawrence escapes his angry debtors by jumping on a Peace Corp flight to Southeast Asia, where is assigned to build a bridge for the local villagers with American-As-Apple-Pie WSU Grad Tom Tuttle and the beautiful and down-to earth Beth Wexler. What they don't realize is that the bridge is coveted by the U.S. Army, a local Communist force, and a powerful drug lord. Together with the help of At Toon, the only English speaking native, they must fight off the three opposing forces and find out what is right for the villagers, as well as themselves. Written by Michael Silva <silvamd@cleo.bc.edu>
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before they started winning oscars, struggling actors such as tom hanks and robin williams used to be... SURPRISE!! funny! volunteers is a great example of a movie that refuses to take its leading actors seriously and is all the better for it. this is not a "star vehicle" but is rather an irreverant tongue-in-cheek romp. it takes its cues from saturday night live, sctv, monty python, and cheesy off-broadway one-act plays. in return, it is spoofed by one particular hollywood blockbuster to follow, austin powers goldmember. mike myers must have been as impressed with the "reading the subtitles" joke, as well as the "asian guy on the toilet/being chased by sumo wrestler" schtick. but rather than beat the jokes to death, volunteers assumes we are smart enough to catch them on the fly. i bought this in a $5.00 dvd bin, and was reminded why i liked the movie so much in the first place. it is never particularly mean to any of its subjects, including the primitive thai villagers, the communist revolutionaries, yalies, jews, liberals, conservatives, or any of the other fringe elements put into play. as a result, volunteers doesn't insult me as an intelligent movie viewer. by the way, i had forgotten how humorously effective was the "lawrence's bar" scene where the local musician plinks out an oddly romantic version of "as time goes by" on an asian sitar.
volunteers is the sort of movie actors must do just for fun. y'know... when they're not too busy trying to win oscars.