![]() ![]() Police booked him for DUI, possession of a controlled substance, maintaining a vehicle for the purposes of drug distribution, and possession of a stolen firearm. When authorities were finally able to search his vehicle, they found heroin, a stolen shotgun, and a suspended license. Later, he was charged with drug possession and grand theft auto in Phoenix while joy-riding with another man's wife, and still later, in February 2019, having been stopped by park rangers for a possible DUI, he led state troopers on a dangerous chase around rural Washington in an RV. Then, when sharing a ride home from a Washington casino with three new "friends," he was robbed and beaten within an inch of his life. First, he was involved in a hit-and-run accident in Seattle. That loss came during the sixth season of the show, and Jake, who had often struggled with drugs and was even suspected of doing them on the clock, began to fall apart shortly thereafter. “Ashanti” is currently available as a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack.Jake Harris (pictured left, with his brother, Josh) lost his father, Phil, the immensely popular captain of the Cornelia Marie, in January 2010. Severin always seems to track down the best possible materials, and this is a great example of what they can do when they’re given something spotless to work with. ![]() She remains flat-out stunning even today, and she seems to have a very clear recall about the film and the way it represents a sort of last gasp of Old Hollywood. And while there aren’t many extras, there’s a good interview with Beverly Johnson about her work in the film and her career overall as a supermodel in the ’70s. There is a Blu-ray and a DVD inside the case, and overall, it is technically impressive. It’s an even better sound mix, with a really strong stereo mix that sounded great on my set-up. It’s a very clean transfer overall, with fairly restrained grain structure in the image. It’s a solid cast, and they all do solid work, even if the film does trade on some fairly dusty stereotypes. The supporting cast also features Rex Harrison and William Holden, although only briefly, as well as an international cast led by Kabir Bedi as Malik, the tracker who becomes Caine’s most important ally. Looking at “Ashanti,” it’s a safe bet Fleischer was a big fan of “Lawrence Of Arabia.” Not only does he seem to lift specific compositions from that film, he even casts Omar Sharif in a key role near the end of the movie. And I’m sorry, but the Neil Diamond version of “The Jazz Singer” pretty much trumps anything good he ever touched. For every good film on his filmography, there are at least two fairly rotten films. Yes, he directed the great “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea,” but he also directed the horrifying “Conan The Destroyer.” Sure, he directed “Fantastic Voyage,” but he’s also behind “Doctor Dolittle” and “Mandingo” and “Amityville 3D,” for god’s sake. That may not be fair, but I can only judge the end results. ![]() I’m amazed, actually, at how well-crafted the film is, because Richard Fleischer normally strikes me as a guy who barely held his productions together. That grounding is important, because it’s not long after that scene that “Ashanti” brings in some crazy voodoo elements and the movie starts a quick slide into total lunacy. Caine plays it for everything it’s worth, and as he does throughout the movie, Caine elevates the material because of the way he commits to it. ![]() The movie wants to get the moral compass right, and they build to a moment when Michael Caine is forced to abandon a bunch of children in the desert, knowing they will be picked up again by slavers, if he wants to continue on the quest to find his wife. Instead, it’s all about the chase and the various allies that Caine is forced to call on in his quest to find his wife. I was worried at the start of the film that it was going to be rapey and disturbing, but the film avoids that sort of thing entirely. She’s taken by the slaver Suleiman (Peter Ustinov), and for the rest of the film, Caine does his best to catch up with Ustinov before she can be sold into a life of bondage. David Liderby (Michael Caine) is horrified by her disappearance. Finally having seen it, though, it’s far less exploitative than I expected it to be, and instead, it’s pretty much a straightforward adventure film using human trafficking as the backdrop. The film has a certain reputation, and I’ve never seen it before, in part because of that reputation. I can understand why they probably wanted to put out “Ashanti” as one of their latest releases. You looking for the absolute best master ever of a particular European softcore title from the ’70s? If anyone’s put it on home video, it’s probably Severin. Severin Films normally handles things that fall closer to the sleazy end of the scale, and that’s not a judgment of their overall identity, just an observation. ![]()
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