Alex Carson
Road House receives negative reviews and little money from audiences during its initial release. The 1989 Patrick Swayze vehicle Road House becomes a cult classic for a variety of reasons. These reasons, such as the film’s intense action and campy attitude, seem obvious, other reasons are more obscure. Join Facts Verse as we take a look at the huge details you missed in Road House.
Road House isn’t successful during its initial release. It regards as a cult classic and is perhaps the most popular film in Patrick Swayze’s career. The film came soon after the success of Dirty Dancing. And its drastically different tone put off holdover audiences from that film. As compared to Dirty Dancing, Road House was much closer to a Chuck Norris vehicle. The film had a campy atmosphere, although it was debatable whether the atmosphere was intentional or not.
In addition to Patrick Swayze, Road House also featured a memorable performance from Western film legend Sam Elliott. Patrick played the character of Dalton, and Sam played the character of Wade Garrett. In the film, Wade serves as a mentor to Dalton, which helps him take down the bad guys. The film sees Dalton as a famous bouncer with eliminates the scum from a dingy bar, the Double Deuce. Dalton is effective at the job, and he catches the ire of the local criminal underworld that runs the city. However, they prove no match for the town’s new bouncer!
There are numerous reasons that Road House stands the test of time despite its initially poor reception. Some little details pass even the most astute observer by. There are many aspects of the film that continue to go unappreciated. The movie remains a good deal more interesting than critics at the time give it credit for. Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting facts that not even the film’s biggest fans might know!
Dalton’s 3 Rules Used in Actual Police Training
Road House fans are able to recite the three rules that Patrick Swayze’s character of Dalton. His team of bouncers makes sure that the situation always stays under control. Those three rules are to expect the unexpected. Take it outside the bar when things get out of control, and to be nice when the situation allows it!
The exercise that the New York Police Department did that incorporated Road House’s three rules. It is a tongue in cheek, it’s still notable that the event even occurs at all. The three rules snuck into a training seminar during a training exercise, and it adds much-needed levity for the officers.
A Real Kickboxer Trained Patrick Swayze
Road House stands the test of time so well despite its campy atmosphere. The fact that its fight scenes feature some serious action. There’s a big part of why the action from Road House remains so intense. A legitimate kickboxing expert hires to train the film’s actors, including Patrick Swayze. That kickboxer is Benny Urquidez. That kickboxer is Benny Urquidez. He goes on to work on the 1994 film Street Fighter. It adapts from the popular video game of the same name.
He experiences trainers on hand isn’t exactly anything new for an action film. It is notable that Benny claims that Patrick is a natural at kickboxing that recommends the Hollywood star. It changes careers and starts trying out competitive kickboxing instead. Patrick is no stranger to intense physical performance. His background in dancing is a part of what allowed him to get his breakout role in Dirty Dancing.
The Actors, Including Patrick, Performed Their Own Stunts
Patrick put his kickboxing training for the film to good use. He ends up performing all of his own stunts in the picture. The rest of the cast performed their own stunts. Most of the actors playing in roles require a good deal of stunt work hires for their experiences as stuntmen. The film’s respect for its stuntmen is one of the reasons that get a massive cult decades after its release.
Patrick Swayze performing his own fight scenes grant Road House a level of grit. The realism that stood out to the audience – at least in the film’s action scenes. The film’s dramatic scenes, however, were anything but realistic and caught the ire of pretty much everyone who saw them back in the day. Despite this, modern audiences have learned to embrace the film’s cheese factor while appreciating its intense action.
During Patrick’s young adult years; he sustained an injury while playing college football that haunted him for the remainder of his life. Patrick fought through the sustained effects of this injury while filming his stunts in Road House. In addition to choreographing Road House, Benny Urquidez had also choreographed several early Jackie Chan features.
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Annette Bening Originally Meant to Play Doc
Road House fans will know that Kelly Lynch played the role of Doc in the film. But this not initially supposed to be the case. The original actress that had hired to play the character Annette Bening. As legend has it, Annette fired from the film early on due to the insistence of would-be costar Patrick Swayze, who simply felt that he couldn’t muster any chemistry with the actress.
After Annette Bening was booted from the film, actress Kelly Lynch then brought on to take her place. It remains doubtful whether or not Patrick and Kelly had any legitimate chemistry in the film or whether the chemistry between Patrick and Annette would’ve been better or worse. However, Road House fans have certainly come to appreciate all that Kelly Lynch brought to the role of Doc.
Things ended up turning out fine for Annette, as she was later given a star-making role in the film The Grifters. Performing in Road House would’ve arguably only dampened Annette’s career prospects, so it remains doubtful that the actress has any ill will towards Patrick for the incident that occurred so many decades ago. However, she may have some ill will about the fact that she was denied an Academy Award win for her performance in The Grifters when she lost to Whoopi Goldberg for her performance alongside Patrick Swayze in the 1990 feature Ghost.
Kelly Lynch Researched Her Role
Although Kelly Lynch not originally meant to play the character of Doc, she still ended up making the character her own. The actress supposedly underwent weeks of medical training before filming her role in the film. Some of this training involved extensive work with stitches, which made Kelly incredibly angry when her character in the film used a staple gun instead of traditional stitching tools.
While Kelly Lynch put a lot of work into Road House, her husband has some qualms about her performance in the film. Kelly married writer Mitch Glazer in 1992. Mitch is friends with Bill Murray, and has shared that anytime Bill catches Road House on television, he will call Mitch up and remind him of the bizarre sex scene featured in the movie between Patrick Swayze and Mitch’s wife.
Patrick Swayze Sang on the Film’s Soundtrack
Patrick didn’t just act in the film Road House, but he also sang several songs on it’s soundtrack. He had done the same previously with Dirty Dancing, but it made much less sense given Road House’s tone. Road House’s soundtrack also featured the Jeff Healey Band, and the actual band could even seen performing in the Double Deuce.
The Film Features a Former Bodyguard of Elvis’
Road House is also notable for giving one of Elvis’ former bodyguards the biggest entertainment role of his career. That man was Robert Gene West, better known as Red West. Red West had served as Elvis’ loyal bodyguard for a period of time before quitting his position due to his distaste for his employer’s increasing drug abuse. It was Elvis that helped Red get his start in the entertainment industry. Red had initially started working in the entertainment industry as a stuntman, but received a small legitimate dramatic role in Road House as the owner of the trashed auto parts store.
The Characters Are Named After Cowboys
While Road House features Western legend Sam Elliott, that’s not the only thing that ties the film to Western classics of the past. The film pays some massive respects to the Wild West in the naming of it’s characters; with many of them being named after notable figures from Wild West history. Sam Elliott’s character of Wade Garrett named after Pat Garrett; who was the sheriff that killed Billy the Kid. The character of Doc can seen as having been named in tribute to Doc Holiday. And the Double Deuce’s owner, Tilghman, named after a famed Oklahoman lawman by the name of Bill Tilghman. Finally, Road House’s main antagonist, Brad Wesley, named after a notorious Wild West bandit by the name of John Wesley Hardin.
Road House Didn’t End in 1989
Although Road House not the biggest box office success, it’s subsequent cult status allowed it to be revived in a variety of ways. For one thing, the film given a direct-to-video sequel in 2006, though the film seemed to have fairly little to do with the original. Patrick Swayze didn’t return. And the film instead focused on a different actor playing a character that supposed to be the son of Patrick’s Dalton.
Although the direct-to-video sequel to Road House not a very big hit with fans, the original film later adapted into an off-Broadway musical that was! As well, talks of a 2016 reboot starring wrestler Ronda Rousey kicked around, although nothing seems to have ever come of it.
Although Road House wasn’t the biggest success during it’s initial release, it has arguably gone on to outlive many of Patrick’s more successful features. Comment down below to share if there’s any trivia we missed or if you were shocked to learn any of the aforementioned details about the film. As always, like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
