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61-409: Albert Pyun (May 19, 1953 – November 26, 2022) was an American film director who made low-budget B-movies and direct-to-video action films. The Independent Film Channel said that Pyun "has carved out a unique niche as a director of low-budget, high-concept genre films starring actors past their prime", adding that "others believe this a charitable description for Pyun, who has also been derided as

122-616: A "sterling financial record" and that neither he nor John Laing had ever defaulted on a loan. In 2006, Laing defaulted on the loan, and Guam lost its guarantee. Laing blamed Pyun for the failure of the film. An out of court settlement was reached between John Laing and the Guam Economic Development Authority in May 2012 but up until October 2012 Laing has not honored the terms of that settlement. In late 2012, GEDA Administrator Karl Pangelinan reported Laing had made

183-528: A $ 75,000 payment on the balance of the settlement amount and the balance outstanding was $ 75,000. GEDA officials confirmed the final payment was made in February 2013 bringing the matter to a close. Pyun was not involved in any of the legal litigation between GEDA and Laing. In September 2008, Pyun began production on Tales of an Ancient Empire . Shooting began on October 12, 2008. The film premiered at Louisville, Kentucky 's Fright Night Film Fest . The film

244-694: A 13-inch-tall Dirty Harry -type cop from another planet; Raven Hawk with Rachel McLish and William Atherton ; Spitfire with Henriksen, Sarah Douglas , Tim Thomerson and Kristie Phillips ; Hong Kong '97 with Robert Patrick and Ming-Na Wen ; Adrenalin: Fear the Rush with Christopher Lambert and Natasha Henstridge; Post Mortem with Charlie Sheen ; Crazy Six with Rob Lowe , Mario Van Peebles and Burt Reynolds ; Omega Doom with Rutger Hauer and Shannon Whirry ; and Arcade with Megan Ward , Seth Green , Peter Billingsly and John Delancie . Pyun also made his only episodic TV work to date for

305-583: A commercial film editor at KGMB in Honolulu and edited commercials for agencies such as Bozell Jacobs and Leo Burnett. After several years as an editor, Pyun moved to Los Angeles to become a feature film director. Pyun's first film The Sword and the Sorcerer remains his highest grossing, eventually earning $ 36,714,025 in the United States. Opening on April 30, 1982, it grossed $ 4,100,886 which ranked

366-434: A direct-to-video movie may get a limited theatrical screening in order to build excitement for the actual release of the video such as was done for 2010's Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths , and Planet Hulk , 2016's Batman: The Killing Joke or 2013's Sharknado . In some cases, other direct-to-video films can also be theatrically released in other countries. As DVDs gradually replaced VHS videocassettes ,

427-620: A geeky clumsy shy type of girl which I liked better. The changes made her more likable and I was able to draw on a couple of periods in my life when I went through awkward phases." The filming locations for the film include Los Angeles, California , Redondo beach , South Africa , and Namibia . Pyun was asked by Cannon to film in South Africa due to positive relations between the Israeli Globus and Golan, as well as their desire to use "blocked funds" that could not be taken out from

488-463: A handsome rogue who (briefly) assists her flight and falls for Wanda. She is ultimately captured by the evil General Rykov, who wants to kill both Wanda and her incarcerated father. Before the Atlantean leader can decide what to do with Wanda and her father, Gus shows up and helps the duo escape while fighting off General Rykov and her soldiers. Wanda and her father board a ship that takes them back to

549-481: A high-profile star) can generate well in excess of $ 50 million revenue worldwide. A production studio may decide not to generally release a TV show or film for several possible reasons: a low budget, a lack of support from a TV network, negative reviews, its controversial nature, that it may appeal to a small niche market , or a simple lack of general public interest. Studios, limited in the annual number of films to which they grant cinematic releases, may choose to pull

610-610: A number of production houses in Honolulu before receiving an invitation by the Japanese actor, Toshiro Mifune , to travel to Japan for an internship. Initially Pyun was to intern on the Akira Kurosawa film, Dersu Uzala , which was to star Mifune. but the actor decided not to do the film and instead Pyun found himself working on a Mifune TV series under the tutelage of Kurosawa's Director of Photography, Takao Saito ( Red Beard ). Pyun returned to Hawaii and began working as

671-661: A photo of her without doing a screen test. Ireland then took acting lessons . The film later appeared on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Pyun's Cyborg opened as the fourth-highest-grossing film in America on April 7, 1989. It eventually grossed $ 10,166,459 in the United States. In 2011, twenty-two years after making Cyborg , Pyun released his director's cut. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer re-release on Blu-ray followed in October 2012. In 1989, Pyun made Deceit and Captain America . A director's cut of Captain America

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732-467: A stigma of lower technical or artistic quality than theatrical releases. Some films released direct-to-video are films which have been completed but were never released in movie theaters. This delay often occurs when a studio doubts a film's commercial prospects to justify a full cinema release or because its release window has closed. In film industry slang, such films are referred to as having been "vaulted". Like B-movies shown in drive-in theaters in

793-460: A successful live action film straight to DVD, due to a lack of budget in comparison to the original. During the Golden Age of Porn in the 1970s, many pornographic films were released in theatres, some of which became some of the highest-grossing films in their release years, and in the pornography industry altogether. Toward the 1980s, porn began to shift to video release, because video allowed

854-469: A third of the average cost of a Hollywood release. According to Variety , American Pie Presents: Band Camp sold more than one million copies in a week. Some direct-to-DVD releases recently have tended to feature actors who were formerly bankable stars. In 2005, salaries for some of these direct-to-DVD actors in the multimillion-dollar range from $ 2 to $ 4 million ( Jean-Claude Van Damme ) and $ 4.5 to $ 10 million ( Steven Seagal ), in some cases exceeding

915-555: A trend in China; these films are called "Online Big Movies" ("OBM"; 网络大电影 in Chinese, or simply 网大). The word "Big" in the name was meant to be sardonic , as most of these films are often made on a very low budget and featuring mostly unknown cast members and sometimes nonprofessional actors. However, increasingly, the budget for these films have been slowly climbing up, due to the success of these films on digital distribution platforms;

976-604: Is a nerdy social misfit with large glasses and an unusually squeaky voice who lives in Los Angeles and works at a diner. After being dumped by her boyfriend for "not having a sense of adventure", Wanda is informed by a letter that her father, an archaeologist , fell into a bottomless pit and died. She flies to Zamboanga North Africa ("Deepest Africa" says the envelope's return address) and while going through her father's belongings, she finds his notes about Atlantis, apparently an alien ship that crashed millennia ago and sank into

1037-516: Is currently available in a Blu-ray edition by Vinegar Syndrome that includes an interview with director Albert Pyun (“Making a Fairytale”), an interview with actor Thom Mathews (“Putting the puzzle together”), and an audio interview with actress Linda Kerridge. Alien from L.A. was followed by a direct-to-video sequel called Journey to the Center of the Earth (also directed by Albert Pyun ), which

1098-615: The NBC / Columbia Tri-Star show The Fifth Corner with Alex McArthur , Kim Delaney and James Coburn . Pyun directed and produced Ticker for Artisan Entertainment in May 2000, which featured Steven Seagal , Tom Sizemore , Dennis Hopper , Jaime Pressly , Nas and Ice-T plus Chilli of the R&;B group TLC . In 2002, it was among five films honored for sales by the Video Software Dealers Association in

1159-529: The Tribeca Film Festival in April, where it was reviewed positively, but only received modest distribution offers. At the time, it was not very common for consumers to make digital movie purchases. As part of a push by the service towards original content, the subscription video on demand service Netflix began to acquire feature films for distribution on its service in the 2010s, including

1220-475: The 2013 documentary The Square , and its first feature film in 2015 — Beasts of No Nation . Netflix pursued a simultaneous release strategy for its films, partnering with a distributor for a limited theatrical release (in order to maintain eligibility for awards requiring theatrical release, such as the Academy Awards ) simultaneous with their availability to subscribers. As this practice violates

1281-579: The 2014 film The Interview was released simultaneously on digital and at selected cinemas, after major chains dropped the film due to terrorist threats by a hacking group believed to have ties to North Korea (whose regime is satirized in the film). The group had also leaked confidential data from the internal servers of the film's distributor, Sony Pictures . The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in worldwide closures of cinemas due to economic restrictions and guidance against public gatherings, which prompted direct-to-digital releases for several major films;

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1342-450: The 5th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival in 1987. "Radioactive Dreams" recently screened at Exhumed Films ' 2013 eX Fest. Pyun's career took a more mainstream turn with the thriller Dangerously Close and the romantic adventure film Down Twisted , starring Carey Lowell , Charles Rocket and Courteney Cox . In the late 1980s, Pyun made Alien from L.A. , featuring supermodel Kathy Ireland whom he cast after seeing

1403-714: The Chinese film Lost in Russia was acquired by ByteDance for 630 million yuan (almost 100 million in US dollars) and streamed on its platforms (including TikTok ) for free in lieu of a theatrical release, as part of a larger relationship with the company and the film's distributor Huanxi Media. A number of U.S. films were shifted directly to video-on-demand rentals in lieu of a theatrical release, while some have been sold directly to subscription services, including Disney+ , Max , Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video . OV ("original video") are movies made for direct-to-video release in

1464-431: The Japanese market. OVA (" original video animation ") is distinguished from OVM ("original video movies") or V-Cinema, which usually refer to non-animated works. Different production studios may use other labels like "V drama". The OVA market developed in the mid-1980s. The lax restrictions and censorship in comparison to broadcast television appealed to filmmakers, allowing them to include more controversial content, as

1525-656: The Newcomer Award. In late 2013, Pyun announced he had multiple sclerosis . In March 2014, his health had improved enough for him to film The Interrogation of Cheryl Cooper . By 2017, he also had dementia . However, he sought funding for projects as late as 2018. In November 2022, Pyun's wife and producer Cynthia Curnan posted on her Facebook page that Pyun's health was in rapid decline and that he had been placed in hospice care. Curnan stated that Pyun wanted to hear from his supporters and asked if people would write him messages that she could read to him. Her request

1586-645: The Sorcerer , Cyborg , Captain America , and Nemesis . Pyun was born on May 19, 1953. Pyun was a " military brat " and lived on bases around the world until his father settled in Hawaii. He went to school in Kailua , a small town located on the windward side of Oahu . Pyun's first 8mm and 16mm movies were made in Kailua and he credits living in foreign countries and growing up in Hawaii as strong influences on his filmmaking style. While in high school, Pyun worked at

1647-400: The United States was Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation in 1992. The practice of creating and releasing regular fiction specifically for video did not really take off until 1994, with Disney 's The Return of Jafar and Universal 's The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure , neither of which was intended to hit theaters at any point in its production. Several of

1708-408: The actors' theatrical rates. With the increasing prominence of digital distribution platforms in the 2000s and 2010s, direct-to-digital releases began to emerge alongside, or in lieu of home video. In November 2007, Ed Burns ' Purple Violets became the first film to "premiere" exclusively for sale on iTunes Store , being exclusive to the platform for a month exclusively. It had premiered at

1769-766: The age of 69. Direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film , television series , short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere . This distribution strategy was prevalent before streaming platforms came to dominate the TV and movie distribution markets. Because inferior sequels or prequels of larger-budget films may be released direct-to-video, review references to direct-to-video releases are often pejorative . Direct-to-video release has also become profitable for independent filmmakers and smaller companies. Some direct-to-video genre films (with

1830-479: The animated sequels, like MGM 's The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue from 1998, have sparked criticism due to the deliberate neglect of the original source material by creative content limits as these franchises will abruptly discontinue. Several other film series will be continuous if they become more successful, like Scooby-Doo for instance (their video debut Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island became one of

1891-472: The best-selling DTV films of all time ). By 1994, an average of six new direct-to-video films appeared each week. Erotic thrillers and R-rated action films were the two most successful genres. Family films became more important than such genres later in the 1990s, as retailers stocked more copies of blockbuster films instead of more titles. According to the Los Angeles Times : Often,

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1952-540: The budget for these films can now range from less than 1 million yuan to upwards of 10 or 20 million yuan. Although these "Online Big Movies" rarely feature well-known actors, in recent years, many "Online Big Movies" have hired veteran actors from Hong Kong action cinema and Taiwanese cinema to join its cast. These movies are also to be differentiated from films that are made for theatrical release but were later acquired by digital streaming services, in that these "Online Big Movies" are produced by internet companies with

2013-523: The category of 'Direct-to-Video/Limited Release by an Independent Studio'. In 2004, Pyun went to the U.S. territory of Guam and, along with film producer John Laing, convinced the Guam government to put up an $ 800,000 loan guarantee to finance their film Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon . In his effort to convince Guam officials to approve the loan guarantee, Pyun told them that he and his producer (Laing) had

2074-517: The center of the Earth. Wanda comes across a chamber beneath her father's apartment and accidentally sets off a chain of events that ultimately cause her to fall into a deep hole. An unharmed Wanda wakes up deep within the Earth to find Gus, a miner whom she protects from being slain by two people. Gus agrees to help Wanda find her father, whom she believes is alive and trapped underground. Wanda soon discovers that both she and her father are believed to be spies planning an invasion of Atlantis. People from

2135-563: The completed film from the theaters, or never exhibit it in theaters at all. Studios then generate revenue through video sales and rentals. Direct-to-video films are marketed mostly through colorful box covers, instead of advertising, and are not covered by publications like Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide . The first direct-to-video release to go into production was E. Nick: A Legend in His Own Mind in 1984 produced by CineTel Films . Direct-to-video releases have historically carried

2196-612: The country per South African government mandates. The various gold mines and gold dumps located around South Africa served as shooting locations for the underground setpieces as residue left over from the mining operations created an unusual looking landscape. The film was mostly shot in Johannesburg , at producer Avi Lerner's studio, plus additional shooting in Durban, South Africa and Swakopmund, Namibia . Locations ranged from South Africa's deep digging mines and gold fields both on

2257-498: The downfall of live-action family films at the box office is their strength on video. Their appeal is to families with young children, who may go to only a couple of movies per year but who will watch many videos multiple times. The teens and young adults who drive blockbuster box office statistics stay away from family movies. Some horror films that are unsuccessful in theaters, like Witchcraft , begin successful direct-to-video series. Studios may also release sequels or spin-offs to

2318-534: The explosion in quantity and variety of such movies established and cemented genres like J-horror and yakuza films . The success of OVAs and V-Cinema has resulted in less stigma regarding direct-to-video releases in Japan than in western markets. While there are still OVA and V-Cinema releases, the market is considerably smaller than it was in the 1980s and 1990s. In the mid-to-late 2010s, low-budget B-movies that are made exclusively for digital streaming became

2379-551: The film second that week in America. Richard Lynch received the Best Supporting Actor Saturn Award for his performance as Cromwell. During the production of the film, stuntman Jack Tyree was killed while doing a high fall stunt at Griffith Park in Los Angeles. While performing a 78-foot fall in heavy costume and makeup, Tyree struck his airbag off center, resulting in a fatal impact. With

2440-492: The film were "Once Upon a Time", performed by Steve LeGassick, and "State of Heart", performed by Donna DeLory . Alien from L.A. was released on February 26, 1988. Alien from L.A. was released on VHS by Media Home Entertainment in June 1995. It was later released on DVD by MGM on June 7, 2005, paired with Morons from Outer Space ; the only special feature for the release was the film's trailer. It has been released and

2501-422: The film. Pyun accepted the job saying he would finish the film for free if they allowed him to film Alien from L.A. for under $ 1 million which was a repurposed version of Pyun's own take on Journey to the Center of the Earth , which they agreed. Kathy Ireland was chosen by director Albert Pyun after seeing a photo of her, and without doing a screen test . Ireland had little acting experience and said "No one

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2562-461: The films did not need to rely on sponsored advertisements for financial support. The result was animated films with greater sexual, violent, or political content. The market continued to expand during the Japanese asset price bubble and began to decline with the collapse of the bubble in the late 1980s and early 1990s. With the rise of VHS home video and the decline of the Japanese economy in

2623-502: The last minute due to the success of another film with a similar subject matter or an ultimate studio decision. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is an example of this. However, despite the movie's critically acclaimed success, its box-office performance was very poor, which has been attributed to the last minute nature of its theatrical release. The film had much better commercial success in its subsequent home video releases. Other times,

2684-567: The late 1980s, film studios struggled to recoup investments on big-budget films. Inspired by the success of OVAs, Toei released its first V-Cinema, Crime Hunter , in March 1989. Following Toei's success, other studios began to release a slew of direct-to-video movies. Relaxed censorship in V-Cinema gave way to the premier and rise of expressive auteur directors such as Takashi Miike , Hideo Nakata , Shinji Aoyama , and Kiyoshi Kurosawa . As

2745-495: The mid-20th century, direct-to-video films employ both former stars and young actors who may become stars later. Direct-to-video releases can be done for films which cannot be shown theatrically due to controversial content, or because the cost involved in a theatrical release is beyond the releasing company. Animated sequels and feature-length episodes of animated series are also often released in this fashion. The first feature length animated film to be released direct-to-video in

2806-580: The new Ed Wood ." Though his films frequently blended kickboxing and hybrid martial arts with science fiction and dystopic or post-apocalyptic themes, which often include cyborgs , Pyun stated in a 2012 interview that "I have really no interest in cyborgs. And I've never really had any interest in post-apocalyptic stories or settings. It just seemed that those situations presented a way for me to make movies with very little money, and to explore ideas that I really wanted to explore — even if they were [controversial]." Pyun's films include The Sword and

2867-400: The original Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne. Ireland says that changes were made to her character between the time when she was cast and when filming began. "And when I got on the set I found out that they had changed my whole character around which surprised me but I liked her better. When I read for the part she had been a flirty Madonna type. They had changed her to

2928-523: The outskirts of Johannesburg. There was one additional day of shooting at a safari complex near Pretoria . Most of the Namibia shoot took place in and around the old German colonial town of Swakopmund, with additional scenes also shot along Namibia's famed Skeleton Coast . The film was also shot in Los Angeles, California. The sets of the film are inspired by " future noir " from films such as 1979's Alien and 1982's Blade Runner . Two songs used in

2989-476: The producers to work on extremely low budgets and dispense with some film production elements, like scripts, and the increased privacy and convenience of the format change were preferred by the target market. During the late 1990s and onward, pornographers began releasing content on the Internet. Occasionally, a studio that makes a movie that was prepared as a direct-to-video film will release it theatrically at

3050-462: The release of these titles were outside of usual distribution, studios and directors worked quickly to capitalize on niche markets or upcoming and current trends to increase financial returns. This period of history in Japanese cinema has been described by film journalist Tom Mes as "a far more diverse and vibrant film scene [than previous eras]". By 1995, the V-cinema industry was in decline, but

3111-411: The sole intent of digital release. In additional to the digital distribution of these films in China, many of the "Online Big Movies" have also been released on digital platforms outside of China, such as on YouTube . Several YouTube channels, such as Q1Q2 Movie Channel Official and YOUKU MOVIE are popular channels that distributes these "Online Big Movies". Alien from L.A. Wanda Saknussemm

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3172-527: The success of The Sword and the Sorcerer , Pyun was attached to several science fiction projects in 1984 including Total Recall , to be produced by Dino De Laurentiis at Universal Pictures , with a screenplay based on the Philip K. Dick story written by Ronald Shusett ( Alien ). At the time, William Hurt was attached to star. His second film, Radioactive Dreams , was awarded the Golden Raven at

3233-409: The surface world are referred to as "aliens" by Atlanteans, who appear virtually identical to surface dwellers, and when Wanda is overheard talking about Malibu Beach by a low-life informant, she soon becomes a hunted woman and must dodge efforts at capture, both from the mysterious "Government House" and from thugs in the pay of the crime lord Mambino. Wanda's efforts at escape are aided by Charmin',

3294-501: The surface, and the film ends with Wanda on the beach, wearing a bikini and a sarong. She refuses the advances of her ex-boyfriend, and is soon reunited with Charmin', who inexplicably appears on a motorcycle. During the troubled production of the Rusty Lemorande directed Journey to the Center of the Earth , producers Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan dissatisfied with Lemorande's rough cut approached Albert Pyun to finish

3355-409: The term "direct-to-DVD" replaced "direct-to-video" in some instances. However, the word "video" does not necessarily refer to videocassettes. Many publications continue to use the term "direct-to-video" for DVDs or Blu-rays . Both disc-based release types may also be referred to as "direct-to-disc". A new term sometimes used is "DVD premiere" (DVDP). Such films can cost as little as $ 20 million, about

3416-462: The traditional release windows mandated by the cinema industry, major chains have typically declined to screen the films. Since 2018, Netflix has partially backpedaled from this strategy, giving its films a one-month theatrical run before their premiere on the Netflix service. Unique circumstances have also resulted in direct-to-digital releases, sometimes alongside a limited theatrical release;

3477-527: Was amplified by the Facebook page for film director Sam Peckinpah and on film review websites such as JoBlo and ComicBook.com . Curnan reported to fans a week later that Pyun was "enjoying messages from supporters" and that they helped to "alleviate guilt Pyun has been feeling because he was unable to complete two films before he had to stop working." Pyun died in Las Vegas on November 26, 2022, at

3538-900: Was eventually released by Lions Gate Films in January 2012 and stars Kevin Sorbo , Michael Paré , Melissa Ordway and Ralf Moeller . Pyun's film Road to Hell won the Best Picture award at the Yellow Fever Independent Film Festival in Belfast in 2011. Later in 2012, it opened the PollyGrind Film Festival in Las Vegas where it won Best Fantasy Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Song, Best Use of Songs, Best Use of Music, Best Visual Effects, Best Screenplay, and

3599-402: Was more surprised than I was", stating that she took acting lessons afterwards. The film was Ireland's debut in a major motion picture. According to director Albert Pyun , Ireland was cast for her tall stature, as he wanted to illustrate a physical difference between people from the surface and people who were closer to the Earth's center. The character's surname of "Saknussemm" is taken from

3660-567: Was released in May 2011. In the early 1990s, Pyun made Nemesis with Olivier Gruner and Thomas Jane ; Brainsmasher... A Love Story followed in 1993 with Teri Hatcher and Andrew Dice Clay ; and Mean Guns with Christopher Lambert and Ice-T in 1997. In June 1991, Pyun's film Kickboxer 2 , written by David Goyer ( Ghost Rider , Blade , The Dark Knight ), opened in theaters to mixed reviews. Other 1990s films include Knights with Kris Kristofferson , Kathy Long and Lance Henriksen ; Dollman starring Tim Thomerson as

3721-663: Was released in the United States in 1989. The film had Kathy Ireland reprising her role as Wanda Saknussemm. Joe Bob Briggs called it a "pretty decent film", awarding it two stars. Rebecca Harris of the Abilene Reporter-News gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4. Film reviewer David Picking said the film was "a cheapo adventure movie without a single redeeming quality" Reviewing the DVD release, Rob Thomas of The Capital Times , said "Completely awful – you can't believe they're serious." Daniel M. Kimmel of

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