MVD Entertainment Group Bestows Rewind Collection Status On The Blu-ray Release Of Director John Stewart's Action U.S.A. On May 11

There is a new entry in MVD Entertainment Group’s popular “Rewind Collection” series coming to Blu-ray on May 11, director John Stewart’s 1989 homage to all-things stunts … and that would be his Action U.S.A. thriller. 

John Stewart is a veteran stuntman and stunt coordinator, or should we say “stunt choreographer!!”   His films range from horror to action to comedy, using his talents to make “things happen” in such films as Munchies, Zombie High, Phantasm II, Creepozoids and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

In 1989, he teamed up with screenwriter David Reskin (Skinheads, Click: The Calendar Girl Killer, Dark Future, etc.) to construct a film whose story line would be built around a series of spectacular stunts … a showcase of Stewart’s skills.   The pair accomplished exactly what they set out to do. 

There is a reason why this is the perfect addition to MVD’s “Rewind Collection,” because like writer/director H.B. Halicki’s 1974 “gimmick” film, Gone in 60 Seconds (a super-indie-hit), Stewart’s Action U.S.A. has aged well with time, becoming something of a cult showcase in “this is how it is done” sub-genre of action films.

The film opens with bad boy Billy Ray (Rod Shaft) and his girlfriend, Carman (Barri Murphy — Armed for Action, Time Tracers) tooling around town (filmed in and around Waco, Texas) in his slicker-than-slick Corvette.  The pair end up at his place for a little in-the-sack action, but this is interrupted by a pair of thugs who want what Billy Ray has, and it is not Carman, but a stash of diamonds that he has stolen from his boss, Frankie Navarro (played by none other than Cameron Mitchell).

This is an excuse for Stewart to set up a 15 to 20-minute stunt-action series of events, which, sadly Billy Ray does not survive.   The lovely Carman does and ends up in the hands of FBI agents Osborn (Gregory Scott Cummins — as Detective Moore in the popular Bosch series, plus such films as Cliffhanger, Last of the Dogmen, Switchback, etc.) and McKinnon (William Hubbard Knight), who want to use her to build their case against Navarro and his operation.

It is, however, Navarro who goes on the offensive as he dispatches the assassin known as Drago (Ross Hagen — The Mini-Skirt Mob, Speedway, The Devil's 8, The Organization, etc.) to tie up loose ends.   This is, of course, just an excuse for Stewart and Reskin to set up a series of stunt chases and action sequences that constantly put Osborn, McKinnon and their “witness,” Carman, in harm’s way!!

Bonus features include commentary with director John Stewart, actor Gregory Scott Cummins, cinematographer Thomas Callaway … the commentary is hosted by fellow filmmaker Steve Latshaw (Vampire Trailer Park, Jack-O, Death Mask, etc.).  Plus, there is a video session with Stewart and the featurette titled “Action U.S.A. Behind the Scenes.”