Does anyone read the book series based around the life and times of Remo Williams? I have all of the books up to around #125; they have been in print since the early 70's with the first installment having been initially written in the mid 60's and published in 1969, IIRC.

A great series chock full of satire and parody of the current events of the times, and a world apart from Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins. In fact, Chiun the Magnificent derides that piece of fiction as less than worthless.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Does anyone read the book series based around the life and times of Remo Williams? I have all of the books up to around #125; they have been in print since the early 70's with the first installment having been initially written in the mid 60's and published in 1969, IIRC.

A great series chock full of satire and parody of the current events of the times, and a world apart from Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins. In fact, Chiun the Magnificent derides that piece of fiction as less than worthless.

Sinanju, the sun source of all martial arts. Having been interested in Martial Arts since Black Belt Theater on Saturday afternoons, followed by Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Caine in "Kung Fu", I have read most of the The Destroyer series. Along with the Ninja series, the Aikido Detective series, etc.

Saw the movie....does that count?

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Originally posted by dewhorse:
Saw the movie....does that count?

It is a good intro, but believe it or not, falls short of the book series. There are a LOT of historical references that the authors intertwine with the history of the Masters of Sinanju, the greatest assassins to have ever walked the earth. The deaths of Hitler, Amelia Earhart, Alexander the Great, Bruce Lee, just to name a very few. The perfect assassination bears no resemblance to an assassination, but appears as an accident, suicide, or natural death.

The series is very entertaining and touches constantly, if obliquely, on unlocked human ability theories. The "woman lifts car off trapped child" kind. The books imply that humans can operate at 100% of their potential with the right genes and training in mastering the art of Sinanju. Which not every pale piece of pigs ear can come close to doing; so sayeth Chiun, Master of Sinanju.

I read them from the first publishing as well. Enjoyed them a lot. Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir were politically incorrect even in the 70's.

I understand that Warren Murphy was the screenwriter for the Clint Eastwood movie "The Eiger Sanction", one of my favorites.

I read a number of Reno Williams books and ended up greatly disappointed all around by the movie and that the adventure that began but never continued to really allow exploration of the character. Fred Ward did a decent job in a pre-Tremors role, but the biggest publicity the movie got was the controversial decision to cast Joel Gray as an Asian master rather than an actor of actual Asian descent.

Personally, I enjoyed the Nick Carter - Killmaster books, too, but they were pure pulp. They originated in the 60s as Condé Nast’s answer to Remo. Written by a group of ghostwriting authors who rarely coordinated among themselves after the first few books, it was pretty funny to read the frequently contradictory details and backstories.

I've seen the movie a few times, but I've only read one story, The Day Remo Died, I think it was called. It was described as a reboot-but-not-really. It's been a while since I've read it, so I can't really remember what I read. I keep meaning to read that series, though.

As a kid, I was more into the Executioner series by Don Pendelton, IIRC.

I would love to see a Destroyer tv series created. Special effects/CGI are advanced enough now to make Remo's exploits and abilities look plausible and impossible at the same time. Remo's ability to dodge bullets (which is actually to not be where the bullets are when they get to where he was when the trigger was pulled) is one of the many extraordinary abilities Master's of Sinanju are capable of.

And yes, Murphy and Sapir were ahead of their time in recognizing social issues of the time being exactly what they were and immersing them in satire mingled with facts.

I DEVOURED the books in the 70's. Had no idea they were still in print. I'll have to check that out.

The movie was a huge disappointment to me.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
I DEVOURED the books in the 70's. Had no idea they were still in print. I'll have to check that out.

The movie was a huge disappointment to me.

I got as far as the late 120’s before I lost interest; I found that later authors paled in comparison to Murphy and Sapir.

I liked the movie a lot but less so after working my way through the book series. The movie just scratches the surface of the real story.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
I would love to see a Destroyer tv series created. Special effects/CGI are advanced enough now to make Remo's exploits and abilities look plausible and impossible at the same time. Remo's ability to dodge bullets (which is actually to not be where the bullets are when they get to where he was when the trigger was pulled) is one of the many extraordinary abilities Master's of Sinanju are capable of.

FWIW, there was an attempt at a series based on the movie. As far as I know, they only made a pilot.




Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQGeLXmN4ps

^^^^
I think modern CGI could make Remo and do some seemingly amazing things; if they did the series to mirror the books, I think this time it could take off.

What? No mention about all the movies and stories having to do with Ip Man? Many of the films are foreign language but some are quite good.

Ip Man is the Grandmaster who trained Bruce Lee.

The White Crane method of Bruce Lee approaches Sinanju...the way a candle approaches the sun!
So spaketh Chiun, Little Master.

I loved the Destroyer series and have all the books up to #147. The movie was not terrible. I think the casting of Joel Gray was to have someone who looked old but could stay flexible for sequels, alas.

I agree now they could do a great job with CGI BUT they would never stay true. Look at Jason Bourne or casting Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher. Now if you had never read a Jack Reacher book you would not criticize Cruise but as a huge Reacher fan well . . . The first Mitch Rapp movie was not bad but again the character did not match the book at all even though he did a good job. I remember when they let Mickey Spillane play Mike Hammer. As a huge Mickey Spillane fan I liked it a lot more than it deserved.

My dad had a box full. I have a number of them somewhere around here. I'll have to dig them out.