McBain is a 1991 action film

Action film

Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...

 written and directed by James Glickenhaus

James Glickenhaus

James Glickenhaus is an American investment professional at Glickenhaus & Co., the finance firm started by his father, Seth Glickenhaus. He was formerly a movie director before entering the finance world....

. It is about an ex-soldier who reunites his old army buddies in order to get revenge on a Colombian

Colombian people

Colombian people are from a multiethnic Spanish speaking nation in South America called Colombia. Colombians are predominantly Roman Catholic and are a mixture of Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians.-Demography:...

 dictator

Dictator

A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...

 who killed his old friend, a freedom fighter. McBain starred Christopher Walken

Christopher Walken

Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...

, María Conchita Alonso

Maria Conchita Alonso

María Conchita Alonso , better known as María Conchita, is a Venezuelan Grammy Award-nominated singer and actress.- Early life :...

 and Michael Ironside

Michael Ironside

Michael Ironside is a Canadian-born actor. He has also worked as a voice actor, producer, film director, and screenwriter in movie and television series in various Canadian and American productions. He is best known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, though he has also portrayed...

. Luis Guzmán

Luis Guzmán

Luis Guzmán is an actor from Puerto Rico. He is known for his character work. For much of his career, he has played roles largely as sidekicks, thugs, or policemen....

 also appears as a drug dealer named "Papo".

While the film was not very successful, taking in less than $500,000 at the United States box office

Box office

A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....

, it found a devoted cult following.

The Simpsons connection

"McBain" was originally the name of a supporting character on The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

, an Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....

 analogue

Analogue (literature)

The term analogue is used in literary history in two related senses:* a work which resembles another in terms of one or more motifs, characters, scenes, phrases or events....

 who starred in a fictional series of action films of the same name. His appearance on The Simpsons predates the release of this film, and apart from the name, the film has little relation to the character.

However, for some time after the release of the McBain film, the movie's producers refused to give 20th Century Fox

20th Century Fox

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...

 and Matt Groening

Matt Groening

Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....

's production team clearance to use the "McBain" name. In order to continue using the character, the character was given a new name, Rainier Wolfcastle, intended as the name of the actor who portrayed McBain (the McBain name has continued to be used to refer to the in-universe series of films and their character).

Home video releases

The movie was released on videocassette in the USA in 1992 by MCA/Universal Home Video, and in Canada that same year by C/FP Video. Years later, Goodtimes released a budget tape of the movie. Synapse Films

Synapse Films

Synapse Films is a DVD/Blu-ray label owned and operated by Don May, Jr. and his business partners Jerry Chandler and Charles Fiedler. The company specializes in cult horror, science fiction, and exploitation films....

 will release Mcbain on Blu-ray from a newly restored 2K transfer.

Quotes

• "They killed Santos, man! They shouldn't have done that, Carl!" "I know."
• "I've been expecting you."
• "You guys are fucking with the wrong President!"
• "Let's go sit...(long pause)...out on the deck."

External links

• McBain's House of War - Fan community page devoted to the movie