The Cannon Group Movies Invade Prime Video
Fifteen movies from the classic Cannon Group label are now streaming on Prime Video
Amazon's Prime Video, like so many other streamers, just got a huge cache of new movies for subscribers to watch online. Two years ago Amazon made a big acqsuition when it purchased MGM, picking up their library of titles and unique properties. As movie fans may know well, MGM's library has been heavily divided over the years, with its various sales and acquisitions putting its films in various places. Every MGM movie produces prior to 1986 for example is actually owned by Warner Bros., while Amazon has every post-1986 movie along with the other libraries that MGM had acquired over the years. With their latest batch of new movies however, one specific piece of MGM's library has invaded Prime Video in a big way, movies from The Cannon Group.
Movie fans of a certain generation may know Cannon well, but to the uninitiated they were a powerhouse of feature films in the 1980s. The kinds of movies produced by Cannon at the time ranged from Chuck Norris and Charles Bronson-starring action movies to holiday-themed slashers and even dramas from foreign countries (their 1986 movie The Assault would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film). They're sadly also notable for their flops, including movies like Masters of the Universe and Superman IV: Quest for Peace.
Their main business model was a classic one that's still used by some independent producers today, sell the foreign distribution rights to other territories before you've even shot the movie so you're already operating in profit margins before you go to theaters or video stores; and it mostly worked. Cannon became a signature label for movie fans of the time in part because they were always putting new titles on the shelves at video stores. Now that same thing is happening on Prime Video, making these movies available for a new generation.
Here's the list of Cannon Group movies that arrived on Prime Video on September 1st. They include:
A Man Called Sarge
"The French Foreign Legion will never be the same after the uproarious World War II exploits of Sgt. Duke Roscoe and his band of military misfits. It's a hilarious "war movie" that will leave you shell-shocked with laughter."
American Ninja
"Michael Dudikoff stars as Joe Armstrong, a one-man fighting machine. Serving in the army to avoid prison, Joe finds himself battling the deadly Black Star Order, as well as corrupt military leaders in order to bring down an illegal arms sale."
American Ninja 2: The Confrontation
"On a remote Caribbean island, Army Ranger Joe Armstrong saves an old friend from the clutches of "The Lion," an evil super-criminal who has kidnapped a local scientist and mass-produced an army of mutant Ninja warriors."
American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt
"A martial arts champion is trapped by a terrorist known as The Cobra to be used as a guinea pig for his deadly experimental virus. They must defeat The Cobra and his genetically-engineered clones to prevent them from using the virus for warfare."
American Ninja 4: The Annihilation
"Joe Armstrong is lured out of retirement to help Sean and his team rescue captured Delta Force commandoes from a sadistic maniac who plans to explode a nuclear device in New York City."
Dancers
"This contemporary drama about a company of dancers explores their offstage romantic entanglements which, ironically, mirror the production of GISELLE they are performing. This is a delicately woven story of love and betrayal."
Detective School Dropouts
"Two of the most inept detectives that ever bungled a case find themselves way over their heads in this wacky action adventure that leads them from Los Angeles to Rome and Venice."
Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype
"This is a hilarious twist on the old "Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde" theme. He became Dr. Hype--good-looking on the outside and very bad on the inside. Which man will the lady love?"
Starring: Oliver Reed
Grace Quigley
"An elderly woman and a neurotic hit man pair up to provide painless deaths for seniors who have had enough of life's slings and arrows."
Masters Of The Universe
"The fantastic exploits of He-Man and his arch rival, the evil Skeletor, are brought to the big screen for the first time in this live-action adventure. He-Man must free a beautiful sorceress who has been captured by Skeletor, and the incredible war between these ultimate forces of good and evil has the time and space of all the universe as its battleground."
The Naked Cage
"A woman is falsely sent to prison for a bank robbery she did not commit. While there, she becomes friends with her personality opposite cellmate and learns the harsh reality of life behind bars."
Powaqqatsi
"The nature of civilization is presented in this imagery-rich, music-filled exploration that dazzles the mind's eye."
Red Riding Hood
"A young girl lives with her mother and grandmother in a magical forest ruled by her evil uncle and his mystical wolf who has the power to change into a human being."
Runaway Train
"Jon Voight and Eric Roberts turn in Oscar®-nominated performances as a pair of escaped convicts who hop a freight train, but when the engineer dies of a heart attack, they find themselves trapped, alone and speeding toward certain disaster."
Sword Of The Valiant
"In the magical times of faraway Camelot, the handsome and noble Sir Gawain must resolve the mysterious riddle of the Green Knight or forfeit his life."
These new movies on Prime Video join a slew of other Cannon Group movies that are streaming on the service including the Sylvester Stallone-starring Over the Top, The Barbarians, Messenger of Death, 10 to Midnight, some of the Delta Force sequels, and even Superman IV: Quest for Peace.
