How Road House Redefined ’80s Kung Fu

Patrick Swayze’s Road House (1989) is a cult classic because the movie has a few factors that make it unlike any other ’80s martial arts film.

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Road House is a very unique ’80s martial arts film. Hitting theaters in May of 1989, Road House didn’t make much of an impact at the box office, but it later found much greater success on video as well as in its showings on cable. Over three decades after its release, Road House has grown into both a cult movie, and the epitome of a Saturday afternoon basic cable action flick.

Putting a new spin on Patrick Swayze’s pretty-boy image into more of a cool tough guy, Road House was tailor-made to become popular among action fans. Indeed, with its premise of a formidable bouncer recruited to lend a hand to a local nightclub in opposing a local crime boss, it can even be read a stealthy remake of Bruce Lee’s The Way of the Dragon. However, what Road House hasn’t gotten as much recognition for is how different it is among martial arts films of the 1980s.

Perhaps that comes down to the Swayze film not becoming the trend-setter that other ’80s movies in the genre were, and to be sure, there really is only one Road House. Plenty of martial arts classics sprung out of the ’80s, and while Road House is one of them, it stands out from the rest in quite a few different ways. Here’s how Road House is in a class all its own among its contemporary martial arts films.

Road House Has Seeds Of Martial Arts Lore

The most typical elements common to martial arts films that Road House features is the undertones of lore and legends woven into the plot. For example, The Karate Kid included the mysticism of Mr. Miyagi’s “Wax on, Wax off” training methods and the fantastic “No can defend” kick that he passes on to Daniel, while Best of the Best had the plot device of Tommy Lee having to face his brother’s killer in a full-contact tournament. These are fantastic elements that are rooted in the classic kung fu titles. Road House has similar ideas but works them into its story in a unique manner.

Dalton’s arrival at the Double Deuce is greeted by its employees with the kind of hushed whispers that one would expect for a mysterious gunslinger — drawing inspiration from American Westerns. The legend of Dalton once ripping an opponent’s throat out, in particular, is treated as an almost mythological tale, and one that’s gruesomely paid off later in the movie when Dalton performs the move on an opponent. Additionally, Brad Wesley’s right-hand man Jimmy enters the movie as a poised and formidable assassin, the film presenting Jimmy as the one man capable of holding his own against Dalton. Furthermore, Dalton’s friend and mentor Wade Garrett is similarly framed as another living legend in the bouncer game, with the casting of Sam Elliot going a long way in showing Wade as standing on Dalton’s level. Road House lays out the lore of its story in its own uniquely American way; even though there’s never an actual dojo, Road House incorporates themes of legacy in its martial arts community.

Road House Is Predicated On Bar Fights

Road House’s big point of divergence from other ’80s martial arts films is in the style of its action scenes. Movies like The Karate Kid, Best of the Best, and Bloodsport were big on tournament settings and the intense training leading up to them. While their fight scenes were very hard and impactful, the general energy doesn’t match that of Road House. The Swayze film is largely built on not just bar fights, but the idea of them. As such, the action scenes in Road House don’t so much build up as they break out in bursts of fists flying and bottles smashing. Obviously, Road House hardly has a patent on bar fights in action movies, with Best of the Best itself delivering an all-time great that same year, but bar fights are the very DNA of Road House in a way that’s unique to the genre.

When it comes to the movie’s fight scenes outside of the Double Deuce, Road House is just as rowdy and turns up the violence to 11 with guns being brought into play and Dalton’s aforementioned throat rip. Unlike other ’80s martial arts movies, Road House sees Dalton less as a hero and more as a necessary evil in both getting the Double Deuce under control and bringing down Wesley. Both thematically and literally, Road House views the violence of a bar fight not as a macho battle of egos but as a fire to be put out. Dalton himself even seems to agree when he tells Kelly Lynch’s Doc Clay, “Nobody ever wins a fight.”

Road House Is Essentially A Western

The legend of Dalton might sound like something one would ascribe to the world’s deadliest martial artist, but it could just as easily have been pulled out of a Clint Eastwood movie. Everything about Road House has “Western” written all over it, from the arrival of a man with one name as its protagonist, the bar fights throughout the movie, Dalton opposing one ruthless outlaw lording over the entire town, the movie’s country and western title and soundtrack, and the very presence of Sam Elliot. Road House is as much of a neo-Western as it gets — a genre that doesn’t get paired with martial arts all that often.

Outside of the ’70s TV series Kung Fu, martial arts in a Western setting was, and still is, something of a novel concept. The 1983 Chuck Norris movie Lone Wolf McQuade also utilized this concept of genre-hybridity, but it’s also way lighter on actual fights than Road House. Bringing martial arts into a Western has been seen somewhat more frequently in the 21st century in movies like Shanghai Noon and the TV series Warrior, but in 1989, Road House was really unusual because it was a martial arts-driven, bar fight packed neo-Western. Looking back on ’80s martial arts films, this is really how Road House stands out from all the rest.

Long before the internet was around, Road House became a cult favorite through video rentals (remember those days?) and the simple act of channel surfing on weekends. While it’s grown more and more appreciated for its punishing action scenes, relishing of ’80s cheese, and Patrick Swayze’s iconic performance as Dalton, it’s also the odd man out among ’80s martial arts movies, and in a good way. For viewers looking for a fun, ’80s, neo-Western martial arts romp with undertones of warrior lore and built upon bar fights on both a straightforward and philosophical level, Road House alone has you covered.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/road-house-kung-fu-80s-movies-patrick-swayze/