That's Action

My review was written in December 1990 after watching the program on AIP video cassette.

"That's Action" purports to do for actioners what MGM's "That's Entertainment" did for musicals, but it's just a cheap plug for the recent B- and C- level made-for-video output of Action International Pictures.

Host Robert culp loks mighty uncomfortable fronting this time-killer, especially given his past association with Walter Hill and championing of the late Sam Peckin;ah, both masters of the genre.

What we have here is the films of AIP exec David A. Prior and others, excerpted tediously under headings liek "high speed chases & crashes", "fight scenes" and "body burns". Cumulative effect is like wandering in and out of screening rooms at Mife or the American Film Market.

There are some bright moments here, notably in the fight scene department reprising an effective Kimberley Casey-helmed Ted V+Prior versus FritZ Matthews punch-up. The alluded chase & crash scenes are mediocre and unintentionally reveal the low budgets AIP works with. Unrated tape includes brief nudity in "Aerobicide" excerpts.

At the end of the tape Culp proclaims: "What a way to make a living", and warns of a sequel "That's Action 2".