Director: Joseph Merhi, Paul G. Volk (Co-Director)
Screenplay: Jacobsen Hart
Starring: William Forsythe, Jo Champa, Richard Norton, John Aprea, George Segal, Juliet Landau
Country: USA
Running Time: 89 min
Year: 1994
Swiss distributor Fokus Media continue to dip into the archives of PM Entertainment. Their latest release is Joseph Merhi’s 1994 action thriller, Direct Hit. I can’t resist these releases, so got hold of a copy and my thoughts follow.
Direct Hit stars William Forsythe as John Hatch, a CIA “cleaner” who has just completed what should have been his last job, which resulted in the death of his rookie partner. However, his superior, James Tronson (George Segal), tries to force him to eliminate one final target before his retirement: Savannah (Jo Champa), an exotic dancer who is allegedly blackmailing Senator Terry Daniels (John Aprea) with intimate photos.
When Hatch discovers that Savannah is innocent and, moreover, has a young daughter, the usually cold-blooded killer has second thoughts. He refuses to kill her and sides with the hunted woman, whilst Tronson sends more of his agents, including the hitman Rogers (Richard Norton), to take them both down.
Direct Hit kicks off with somewhat of a twist. The opening (after a brief, cool job assignment scene) sees a young rookie hitman (played by Peter Slutsker/Marx, I think, though I didn’t catch the character’s name) deliver a lengthy, irreverent monologue to a mirror. We then follow him on the assigned hit, where he works with Hatch. This seems to suggest the young hitman is going to be the protagonist, or at least a co-star, but the guy is promptly killed off during the job. He was never close to Hatch either, so little relevance is given to his death as the film goes on, which is odd.
The action scene surrounding the character’s death is good, though. There are some cool stunts, including a guy hanging on the bonnet of a car for an impressive length of time. There’s also an enjoyably violent shootout and an awesome explosion capping it all off.
The rest of the action was a little hit and miss, though. The pyrotechnics team are on fine form, as, even by PM’s standards, there are a lot of explosions, and these look great, even if they occasionally don’t feel like they should be happening in those particular situations.
I found the car chases to be a let-down here, though. PM are usually the best in the business when it comes to a good car chase, but the cars often looked like they were driving too slowly here. That said, there are a couple of good jumps and explosions in these sequences.
The film was shot during the LA riots, so it was a particularly difficult shoot. One stuntman got seriously injured, too, during a car stunt.
The finale is pretty cool, though, with Richard Norton using some heavy-duty weaponry in a vast derelict location.
It’s one of PM Entertainment’s more serious efforts, after the jokey opening monologue mentioned earlier, which seemed to be from a completely different film. Ken Blakey sees it as a PM take on film noir, and I can see that, with its moody tone.
It’s certainly one of the company’s more stylish films. The lighting is beautifully atmospheric. People like to rail on lower-budget straight-to-video films like these, but PM had crew that could get high-class results on a tight-schedule. This looks every bit as good as most mainstream Hollywood titles being released at the time.
It’s got a respectable cast too. On top of straight-to-video action legend Richard Norton, you’ve got John Aprea, George Segal and William Forsythe, who had all worked with some incredible filmmakers on numerous classics by this point. Admittedly, they hadn’t been the stars but they’re all first rate supporting cast members.
However, I do feel that Forsythe’s approach didn’t do the film any favours. He’s playing the cold-hearted killer with a little too much conviction, making for a protagonist that’s hard to warm to. As the story goes on, his character is able to open up, but he still feels quite unlikeable. Plus, his deep, whispery voice that predates Christian Bale’s similar mumblings in Nolan’s Batman movies is a little overdone.
Jo Champa is pretty good as the lead actress though. She can be a little histrionic, in places, but she’s effective overall. She also has a unique look that sets her apart from some of the PM love-interests.
Overall then, Direct Hit is a solid, nicely shot PM effort, but it could have done with a little more charm and some slightly more exciting set pieces. PM fans will still get a kick out of it though and it is one of their more polished efforts, from an aesthetic point of view.
Film: 
Direct Hit is out now in a 2-Disc Blu-Ray/DVD Collector’s Mediabook Edition, available with two different covers, released by Fokus Media (you can order it on the Fokus Media website or you might be able to find it on various import sites). The transfer is impressive, with natural grain and lovely, rich colours. I’ve used screengrabs throughout this review to give you an idea of how it looks, though these have been compressed.
You get a choice of German or English language audio options (both 2.0 stereo). I opted for English, and I thought it sounded good, for the most part, though I had two tiny, incredibly brief dropouts early on in the film. This might have been an issue with my setup, though I did rewind to see if it happened again, and it did.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
– Interviews with: Richard Norton, Fight Choreographer Art Camacho, Writer Jacobsen Hart, Cinematographer Ken Blakey, Production Co-ordinator Matt Smith, First Assistant Director Gilbert A. Wadsworth
– In Memory of Richard Norton
– Original trailer
– Image Gallery
There are a number of interviews on the disc. Those with Art Camacho, Alexander Wadsworth, Gilbert A. Wadsworth and Ken Blakey are quite short, but they’re heartfelt and enjoyable, nonetheless. Wadsworth has some particularly eye-opening stories to tell. Plus, there’s no crossover, with each contributor adding new details about the production.
Writer Jacobsen Hart provides a longer interview. This looks at numerous films that he worked on for PM, often in several different capacities.
Production Co-Ordinator Matt Smith is given a little more time, too. He has some fun stories to tell and also discusses the job of a Production Co-Ordinator, in general.
There’s a 50-minute biography of Richard Norton on the disc. This already appeared on Fokus’ Cyber Tracker release. However, it’s a wonderful piece so, if you don’t have that earlier disc, you’re in for a treat.
Also included is what is, reportedly, Norton’s final interview. He’s on typical fine, friendly form, which makes it all the more tragic that he died not long afterwards.
You also get a booklet included with the package. This is in German, but you can always use Google Translate or similar if you can’t read the language. It’s nicely illustrated too.
Overall, Fokus have dug deep to get a wide range of interviews to complement the film. If you don’t have the Cyber Tracker disc, the Norton biography is particularly good and adds great value to the release. PM fans should certainly pick it up.
Disc/package: