“Where’s Edwige and Manta!” I screamed, trying to break free of the ties that bound me. The Goose Lord smirked and motioned one of his goons to drag me to my feet. 

“That purple-clad loser is being dealt with,” the Goose Lord said, pointing his finger at me. “As for your pet marsupial, I’ll take you to her.”

Hands pushed me from behind and I marched forward following this villain that had it in for me and my friends. We walked for a little bit until my mouth dropped in terror of what I saw before me. Situated in the distance was a gigantic railgun. The Goose Lord’s goons were checking it over. The Goose Lord led me to the front of this mass driver. Tied in between the conducting rails was Edwige struggling to get free.

— To be continued.

Tonight’s movie is 1980’s Night of the Juggler from director Robert Butler. This is not an 80s movie. I don’t care about the release date. This is a pure 70s motion picture with a James Brolin that’s looking more nuts than he did in The Amityville Horror. I’d never heard of this movie before. Apparently, it hasn’t had a home video release since the days of 80s VHS. We have the good folks at Kino Lorber to thank for giving this masterpiece some new life.

Our movie begins with the sick freak this movie is named for. The Juggler gets served some breakfast at a seedy diner. He makes a face out of his sunny side up eggs and sausage links before pouring ketchup over everything and leaving the table.

I’ve never had a desire to  make a face out of my breakfast, but to each his own.

The juggler’s plan is to kidnap the daughter of rich man and hold her for ransom, otherwise he’ll turn her into chunks of meat. Trouble is he kidnaps the wrong daughter by mistake, a daughter belonging to Sean Boyd (James Brolin), former cop turned truck driver. And good old Sean sees the kidnapping happen and we’re off to the races.

Yes, this movie is one big chase scene and Sean is relentless in his pursuit of the Juggler.

He gets in a cab driven by Mandy Patinkin of all people, but it’s not too long before they crash, but enough time for Sean to catch up to the juggler, bashing in his car windows while trying to grab his daughter, but the Juggler manages to speed away. Sean then hijacks an automobile belonging to a street preacher, but crashes that car and passes out. It’s not long before Sean is in police custody, but he explains to the chief that his daughter has been kidnapped. For what it’s worth, the chief of police believes him and has assigned a team to investigate while Sean is processed for grand theft auto. 

Another problem for Sean is Sergeant Barnes (Dan Hedaya), a corrupt cop Sean exposed while he was on the force. Barnes wants revenge and once Sean escapes custody to pursue the Juggler, Barnes has the perfect excuse to shoot him dead as an escaped fugitive. Our two way chase has turned into a three way chase. I love this movie.

There’s even a scene with Sean facing off against gang members and I was half expecting the Warriors to show up. 70s movies are the best!

Jeff Shuster (episode 47, episode 102, episode 124, episode 131, episode 284, episode 441, episode 442, episode 443, episode 444, episode 450, episode 477, episode 491, episode 492, episode 493, episode 495, episode 496, episode 545, episode 546, episode 547, episode 548, episode 549, episode 575, episode 596, episode 597, episode 598, episode 599, episode 642, episode 643, episode 644, episode 645, episode 670, episode 686, episode 687,  688, and 689) is an MFA graduate from the University of Central Florida.