An astounding number of 1980s films came from Cannon Films, a small, near-defunct distributor when it was purchased in 1979 by Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus.
Golan, who was also a director, and Globus quickly became a global powerhouse, churning out both Oscar bait with respected actors and schlocky franchises headlined by the likes of Charles Bronson and Chuck Norris.
The studio peaked with 43 releases in 1986 and released some of its bigger titles through big Hollywood studios, but a series of costly flops put Cannon in the hands of its creditors by 1988. It set a high-and-low formula that was followed by, among others, brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein during their years at Miramax.
Here are some of their best and worst movies:
‘Runaway Train’ (1988)
An unproduced screenplay by Akira Kurosawa was turned into an exciting and popular thriller about escaped prisoners on a train with no brakes.
Jon Voight and Eric Roberts were both Oscar-nominated, and Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky also helmed the less successful “Shy People’’ with Barbara Hershey and “Duet for One’’ starring Julie Andrews for Cannon.
‘Street Smart’ (1987)
Morgan Freeman had been around for years when he snagged a career-changing Oscar nomination for his tour de force as a pimp who becomes involved with a lying magazine reporter — played by Christopher Reeve, whom Golan and Globes signed to a two-picture deal to secure his services for “Superman IV.’’
‘Barfly’ (1987)
Cannon sponsored idiosyncratic directors from around the world, including Robert Altman and John Cassavetes, with often mixed results, but Barbet Schroeder and star Mickey Rourke delivered an unforgettable portrait of an alcoholic in this adaptation of a Charles Bukowski novel.
’52 Pick-Up’ (1986)
Veteran Hollywood director John Frankenheimer’s career was revived by this taut adaptation of an Elmore Leonard crime thriller starring Roy Scheider and Ann-Margret.
‘A Cry in the Dark’ (1988)
Meryl Streep says, “The dingo ate my baby!’’ and received an Oscar nod as Best Actress for playing am Australian woman accused of killing her missing child in Fred Schepisi’s fact-based drama.
‘Breakin’ 2: Electric Bugaloo’ (1984)
Probably the studio’s best-remembered title, a sequel to a forgotten attempt to cash in on the decade’s break-dancing craze. Years later, when Golan and Globus split up following the Cannon collapse, they produced dueling lambada movies.
‘Tough Guys Don’t Dance’ (1987)
The esteemed Norman Mailer, who directed a trio of experimental films in the 1960s, was invited by Cannon to turn his mystery novel into a film starring Ryan O’Neal and Isabella Rossellini.
Mailer’s self-narrated trailer is far more entertaining than this incoherent flop. This was part of a bizarre deal for Mailer to also write and star in . . .
‘King Lear’ (1987)
. . . a gangster-style adaptation of the Bard directed by the idiosyncratic Jean Luc-Godard, who threw out Mailer’s script on the first day of shooting.
Mailer and his daughter, Kate, walked out and were replaced by Burgess Meredith and Molly Ringwald, with a cameo by Woody Allen. Wildly incoherent and barely released theatrically in the US, never on video.
‘Mission in Action (1984)’
This shameless knockoff of the “Rambo’’ movies was actually made after the prequel that was released as “Mission in Action 2,’’ but released first.
The most popular of Chuck Norris’ many films for Cannon, including the delirious “Red Dawn’’ knockoff “Invasion USA.’’
‘Death Wish II’ (1982)
Cannon bought the sequel rights from Dino De Laurentiis, and this revenge movie was so successful they cranked out two more sequels starring Charles Bronson, who starred in a long line of other action films for the studio.
‘Superman IV: The Quest for Peace’ (1987)
Golan and Globus’ other Christopher Reeve project was their big-budget Waterloo, due in part to allowing Reeve to contribute a terrible original story to sweeten the deal.
So awful it was released without advance critics screenings, and it flopped so badly that Cannon was thankfully unable to exercise its rights to make a Spider-Man movie.