![]() Moore’s Kane is remade in the mold of Blofield, complete with his own, unnamed version of SPECTRE and utilizing a smaller version of Emilio Largo’s Disco Volante as his home base. Played by Pat Morita in Do or Die, Kane is now portrayed by R. This is especially true for the film’s villain, Kane. Sidaris replaces Bond’s solitary nature and misogyny with female agents who work as a unit and, most importantly, without the help of men.Įach film in Sidaris’ body of work shows the Bond influence but these elements are most readily seen in Hard Hunted. That Donna and Nicole - and previously Donna and Taryn - function jointly as the James Bond figure in the films is perhaps the most defining feature of Sidaris’ oeuvre since it encompasses both the gender subversion and the structure of the films. Donna and Nicole share this role equally in Hard Hunted as Nicole, typically the imperiled of the two, comes to Donna’s rescue when the latter is incapacitated. In Donna Hamilton, Sidaris has created a hybrid of Bond and the typical Bond girl, a preternaturally gifted hero and beautiful ingénue combined. Sidaris’ entire series of twelve films is both parody and homage to the James Bond films, a facet of his work that Sidaris acknowledged in a 2000 magazine interview. The fact that Hard Hunted steers away from the gender issue makes another recurrent motif in Sidaris’ films all the more prominent. Apart from a few moments of comic relief - notably an inept assassin duo named “Wiley” and “Coyote” - Hard Hunted maintains its dark tone even through the open-ended finale. Profanity, conspicuous by its absence in Sidaris’ previous films, is used by both the heroes and villains throughout Hard Hunted. The film marks the first time a villain has returned, and therefore Donna and Nicole take things personally, displaying the anger and drive one typically expects in the genre in place of their earlier professionalism. Donna and Nicole have progressed as characters by the time of the film’s events any innocence or compassion, however small they may have been prior, are now replaced with weariness and, on occasion, fury. The overall mood of Hard Hunted is considerably darker than Sidaris’ earlier works. Hard Hunted is still a female-centric action film but only coincidentally so the subversion of the male-dominated genre is external to the narrative. ![]() Donna and Nicole are still depicted as superior to other characters, but the degree to which this is overtly referenced in the story is minimized a male could have replaced either without making any significant changes. Sidaris eliminates the battle-of-the-sexes mentality of his previous films and completely excises gender from the film’s narrative. The film’s tight plotting and endless action are a departure from his typical relaxed pace and frequent sub-plots. In Hard Hunted we see Sidaris’ narrative abilities at their peak, breaking from his own formula to deliver a more straightforward - and well-executed - genre film. Donna, now fully aware of who she is, joins them for a deadly standoff with Kane’s agent Raven and his high-tech personal helicopter. Bruce and Nicole arrive to rescue Donna only to be greeted by a small army of Pico’s men, and a lengthy and bloody firefight ensues. Meanwhile, an amnesic Donna is held captive by the smuggler Pico, who surmises that both Donna and the statue will fetch a high price on the black market. Donna’s escape sets off a race between the federal agents and Kane’s men for the island. Donna manages to escape from the death trap Kane has prepared for her but becomes stranded on a remote Pacific island in the process. They soon learn how truly important it is as Kane’s forces launch an all-out assault on the duo as soon as they land, kidnapping Donna in the process. Mika’s death sends the agents back to Hawaii still under the impression that the Buddha is simply a valuable artifact. Double-agent Mika steals the device - which is hidden in a jade Buddha - and delivers it to Donna and Nicole but dies before she can explain the object’s purpose. Kane is not taking a break from his weapons dealing, however, having obtained a nuclear trigger that he intends to sell to the highest bidder. Hard Hunted finds agents Donna and Nicole enjoying a vacation after defeating Kane’s assassins in Do or Die. While these elements may sound like a template for any clichéd action film from the eighties or nineties, Sidaris used them to create films that were postmodern, subversive, and thoroughly entertaining. American action auteur Andy Sidaris created a cycle of twelve films he jokingly referred to as “Triple B movies.” The Bs are bullets, bombs, and babes, respectively.
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