Main Cast: Reed Birney, Sheree J. Wilson, Louise Lasser, Paul L. Smith, Brion James
Release Year: 1985
Country: US
Run Time: 83 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
In a slapstick spoof of hitmen and crime stories, the head of a security systems company (Hamid Dana) is bumped off by two gonzo exterminators (Brion James and Paul L. Smith) who have gone from stomping out pesky varmints to stomping out human targets, and one of them does so with gusto. Now the exterminators go after the partner who hired them and his blatantly obnoxious wife (Louise Lasser) and in the meantime frame a poor security guard (Reed Birney) for the murder of the company boss. The tale is told in flashbacks, as the security guard has been tried and convicted and is shown at the beginning, about to be executed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Review
Crimewave was meant to be the "the ultimate picture of entertainment" according to director Sam Raimi. Unfortunately, due to major studio fiddling with the entire production (including replacing fan-favorite Bruce Campbell in the lead.), Raimi and company virtually shun the film now -- which is too bad, because Crimewave is still one outrageously fun ride. The audience gets treated to wild camera tricks, crazy characters, Three Stooges-esque sight gags, and a surreal Coen Brothers-esque chase through the longest set of doors ever put to screen (which is fitting since they helped write the script!). So while Bruce and the boys might not be too happy with the final result, fans can still love Crimewave for it's remaining zaniness and hope that one day, they can revisit it to truely deliver on Raimi's original promise. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Bruce Campbell - Renaldo"The Heel"; Edward R. Pressman - Ernest Trend; Hamid Dana - Donald Odegard; Richard Bright - Officer Brenner; Julius Harris - Hardened Convict; Emil Sitka - Colonel Rodgers; Patrick Stack - 2nd Guard; Robert Symonds - 1st guard; Neil Laurie; Barbara Claman; John Hardy - Mr. Yarman; Sean Farley - Jack
Credit
Gary Papierski - Art Director, Barbara Claman - Casting, Bruce Campbell - Co-producer, Sam Raimi - Director, Kathie Weaver - Editor, Michael Kelly - Editor, Joseph Lo Duca - Composer (Music Score), Arlon Ober - Composer (Music Score), Robert Primes - Cinematographer, Claudia Sills - Cinematographer, Edward R. Pressman - Producer, Robert Tapert - Producer, Cary Glieberman - Producer, Irvin Shapiro - Producer, Ethan Coen - Screenwriter, Joel Coen - Screenwriter, Sam Raimi - Screenwriter
Ever had that sudden urge to take matters into your own hands? Felt like the police weren't doing enough to keep your neighborhood safe? Well, if you have, don't fret, Eidos has the answer. Grab your Saturn controller and boot up CrimeWave.
CrimeWave places you in a city that is overrun with crime. The city is in such bad shape that the mayor is offering cash rewards for the capture of criminals. Loaded with heavy firepower and a ton of ammunition, you drive your car through eight levels as you attempt to give crime a run for its money. All of the action is viewed form a 3/4 perspective giving the game a 3D look.
~ Joshua Romero, All Game Guide
Roots & Influences
CrimeWave is farily original as players take control of a bounty hunter that was actually hired by the local goverment. It is somewhat similar to the game Technocop in which players are a detective that drives a sports car and has few laws to abide by.
~ Jonathan Sutyak, All Game Guide
Review: Overall
Developer Eidos really has an eye for quality games. Anyone familiar with such hits as Tomb Raider will know what Eidos is capable of. However, in their latest venture, Eidos shows that they are more than capable of slipping up.
Graphically, CrimeWave isn't too shabby. The 3/4 perspective is effective, especially for the kind of game that it is. Backgrounds include various areas of the city complete with pedestrians and traffic. However, the camera has a tendency to give players motion sickness due to its constant need to rotate. Rotation of the screen can also make the action hard to follow but you should get used to it after a while.
Controls are loose as the game tends to lean towards being a bit slippery. It's not too bad, but you'll find yourself sometimes losing control of your vehicle and having to gain lost ground. The main complaint found with the gameplay is that there is a lack of depth. All the levels are based around hunting down the target and blowing them up. Sure, that's fun for the first couple of levels, but after a while it gets very repetitive. Some added variety would have been greatly appreciated.
In the sound department CrimeWave does a respectable job. Explosions, gunshots, squealing tires, and nearly every sound used has a purpose and gives the game some much needed atmosphere.
In the end, CrimeWave falls into the 'lacks depth' category of been-there-done-that and fails to give players what they want most, originality. Given some more development time, Eidos might have turned CrimeWave into a game that would have raised the standards, not fall short of them.
~ Joshua Romero, All Game Guide
Review: Enjoyment
If you like auto-combat, then you'll really dig this title.
~ Joshua Romero, All Game Guide
Review: Graphics
Pretty nice visuals. Special effects and the like are done well.
~ Joshua Romero, All Game Guide
Review: Sound
Sound is impressive. Every sound is used effectively and draws players in.
~ Joshua Romero, All Game Guide
Review: Replay Value
There really is none. You are presented with levels that all have the same goal, blow everything up. Very repetitive.
~ Joshua Romero, All Game Guide
Review: Documentation
The booklet gives gamers everything they need to know.
New York rapper Shamus started Crimewave in 1996, and six years later, in 2002, he actualized his dream, releasing the debut Crimewave album on his label of the same name. In addition to Shamus, Crimewave also includes Karachi-Raw, Fluid, Skar, and Maximillan. The group's debut album, Scripture Won: The Definition Of..., showcased the various members, giving them all a chance to shine. Each of the members come with a rather hardcore style, rapping about life as a rapper in New York: the hustle, the envy, the battles, the glory, and so on. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
The Three Stooges inspired script was written by Raimi along with Joel and Ethan Coen (whom the director formerly met during post production of The Evil Dead) and contains a prison named Hudsucker. The brothers would go on to make the film The Hudsucker Proxy with Raimi and Campbell. The name also appears in their 1987 film Raising Arizona. Elements of Crimewave were also re-used by frequent Raimi collaborator Josh Becker for the movie Lunatics: A Love Story, as well as by Raimi himself in Spider-Man and its sequels. Much of the film's comedy derives from the combination of surprises with traditional, explicitly familiar gags.
The film's story concerns Victor Ajax (Reed Birney), a young technician in the employ of Trend-Odegard Security. Mr. Trend, co-owner of the company (Edward R. Pressman), has learned of a plan by his partner to sell the company to Renaldo "The Heel" (Bruce Campbell) and responds by hiring two exterminators who promise to "kill all sizes" (Brion James and Paul Smith) in order to eliminate Odegard and his plan. When Vic, who has been installing security cameras in Trend's apartment building, seems about to go back to the store, Trend distracts him with a lecture about "the grand design" and sends Vic on a quest to find his dream girl. The dream girl spontaneously materializes in the form of Nancy (Sheree J. Wilson), who responds minimally to Vic but is enamored of Renaldo. Victor and several residents of the building including Mrs. Trend (Louise Lasser, top-billed) run afoul of the killers and a seemingly random series of slapstick murders ensues, which is ultimately pinned on Victor. The movie is framed by Vic's journey to the electric chair for the crimes as Nancy, accompanied by several nuns, races to the scene in order to clear him.
Raimi's trademarks are here including his 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 (which has virtually a starring role) and younger brother Ted Raimi. Noted Hollywood producer Edward R. Pressman also plays a pivotal role.
Production
The production of Crimewave was a fiasco. The film was financed by Embassy Pictures; Raimi, Campbell, and co-producer Rob Tapert had made The Evil Dead independently, with financing coming from hands-off investors, such as grocery store owners and dentists, who had no creative interest in the film. Bruce Campbell wrote in his autobiography If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor:
“
At the time, we had no idea how good of an experience Evil Dead was. Sure, we burned off four years of our lives and didn't pocket a cent, but we had total creative control. Jumping into the big time meant dealing with the excruciatingly specific and alternately vague demands of a studio — unlike Michigan dentists, Hollywood executives took an interest in everything.
From even before production began, the filmmakers had clashes with the studio. For example, the role of Victor Ajax in Crimewave had always been intended for Campbell; however, executives at the studio decided he wasn't right for the part, casting Reed Birney in his stead. Raimi instead gave Campbell the minor part of Renaldo "the Heel" (although he revised the script to give Renaldo a more substantial role).
Embassy also insisted on using name actors to sell the film. Including the actors' salaries, Raimi, Tapert and Campbell budgeted the film at $2.5 million (the amount greenlit by the studio), but they had not taken union fees and regulations into account, meaning that their budgeting and scheduling were unrealistic; in addition, they were talked into spending three times the allotted money for one shooting location.[2] the shoot quickly both went over budget and over schedule. At that point the studio stepped in, with executives demanding cuts in the script, budget restrictions, layoffs, and their own supervision of the project. The studio also insisted on reviewing every batch of dailies, taking cast and crew members (including Campbell) to task for acting as extras in several scenes (a Raimi trademark known as "Shemping").
In postproduction, Embassy's self-imposed role in making Crimewave was even greater. Although Raimi, Tapert, and Campbell insisted that they had made the film as partners, the studio refused, because of the already ballooning costs, to pay for Campbell to stay in Los Angeles during postproduction (although they later compromised). They replaced Raimi's music composer, Joseph Lo Duca, with one of their own choosing, then did the same with the editor - curtailing Raimi's influence over the film's final cut.
Even without Embassy's interference, however, the production was plagued with difficulties. Campbell writes in If Chins Could Kill of having lead actress Louise Lasser, probably under the influence of cocaine, fire her makeup artist and insist on doing her own (very poorly); while Brion James trashed his hotel room in an attempt to exorcise a ghost from his light fixtures.[3]
At one point, shooting was to take place at a bridge overlooking the Detroit River, which was frozen at the time. The script, however, called for clear and running water, meaning that the crew had to brave dangerously low temperatures and conditions to clear the ice; finally they blew up the ice with dynamite. At another time, the crew spent a week filming on a Detroit street after dark, directly under a nursing home, with huge wind machines blowing for long hours. One evening a glass bottle with a note in it crashed to the ground from an upper floor. Inside was a note that read, "The noise is keeping me awake all night long and I am getting sick. I am dying because of you."[4]
John Cameron, second assistant director on the film, would later remark, "I see Crimewave as a real turning point in a certain way, because if you survived that experience, nothing in the business could ever be as hard again."
