MAXIMUM POTENTIAL (John Langley, 1986, fitness video)

[Jox]

The promo poster

[Jox]

German VHS with two still photographs on the back I had never seen before

[Jox]

Dolph demonstrating the shoulder exercise as shown in Dr. Lilian Glass' book "Talk to Win" (1987). Glass has been coaching Dolph during his early years in Hollywood, notably on getting rid of his accent.

[Jox]

Rare advert from "Muscle & Fitness"

[Jox]

Australian VHS

[Jox]

Quentin Tarantino:

Your first Hollywood job was as PA on a Dolph Lundgren workout video, Maximum Potential. Was it a good experience? – Robin Brekke

Yeah, it was a ball! It was me and Roger Avary working on it, and John Langley and Malcolm Barbour who created the show Cops, just before they created it. John Langley used to come into Video Archives, so he knew us and thought, “Oh, I’m going to give those guys a shot.” It was really fun, though the cinematographer was really, really mean to me. But I remember going down to Venice Beach and there’s this grassy area where Dolph Lundgren is going to do his exercises, with people behind him following along. And there’s just an acre of dogshit, all over this small area of grass. So me and Roger have to clean it up, alright? We’re scooping up the dogshit and the crew is fucking around, and me and Roger are going, “This is literally a shitty job.” We start talking about how we want to be directors one day and I go, “The day when I’m a director, man, I’m gonna be out there with the PAs, scooping up the dogshit right with them!” Cut to Pulp Fiction. We’re out there shooting something and sure enough, there’s a bunch of grass and some dogshit on it. And they grab a couple of PAs and go, “Clean that shit up.” And I go [sighs], “Okaaaay...” I joined them, I grabbed a shovel and I did a couple of scoops. I had a debt to pay.

https://www.empireonline.com/movies/fea ... questions/

[Jox]

‘Cops’ creator John Langley dies during road race in Mexico
https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/stor ... -in-mexico


From a 2002 interview:

“I wrote a screenplay that sold years later. Then in 1987, I made the Dolph Lundgren: Maximum Potential exercise video. I hired Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary as PAs. Quentin and Roger worked at Video Archives in Manhattan Beach, where I live. They were kids, 18-19 years old. We used to discuss film and BS. I loaned him my script for the [1986] film Behind Enemy Lines. He showed me scripts he’d written.

“As a PA, Quentin was always bashing into nightstands and babbling everybody. He’s quite a talker and loves to get into debates about film. My partner would say, ‘Fire that kid. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing.’

“Roger came to me once and asked, ‘I want to be a director. I don’t want to be a PA. How do I do that?’ I said, ‘Roger, if you want to be a director, direct. If you want to be a writer, write. If you want to be a producer, produce.’ He thought about it and said ok. The next day he came in and said, ‘I quit.’ I said, ‘That’s cool. What are you going to do?’ He said, ‘I’m going to be a writer and a director.'”

https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=140666

[Jox]

This deluxe fanzine from the Found Footage Festival includes a short interview with the gaffer on MAXIMUM POTENTIAL, Roberto A. Quezada, a regular collaborator of Don Coscarelli (PHANTASM, THE BEASTMASTER)
https://store.foundfootagefest.com/prod ... d-magazine



He calls Dolph a "primadonna" and director John Langley a "total di*k".

[Jox]

According to some press archives I found, MAXIMUM POTENTIAL was one of the biggest videos of its kind at the time with a pegged $300,000 budget (and it was shot on 16mm film).

Honolulu_Star_Bulletin_Thu__Sep_17__1987_.jpg (173.09 KiB) Viewed 11398 times

Aquaman star's hidden gem workout video is a must-watch for fitness fans
https://www.t3.com/features/aquaman-sta ... tness-fans

[Jox]

Trivia:
Composer W. Michael Lewis, had previously scored SHOGUN ASSASSIN, the US re-cut of LONE WOLF AND CUB 1 & 2 released by Roger Corman's New World Pictures. Lewis had also done Cannon's ENTER THE NINJA and REVENGE OF THE NINJA.

[Jamesflavell]

Japanese promotional flyer

Max Pot promo.jpg (38.96 KiB) Viewed 10331 times

[Jox]

I think this is the back cover of the Japanese VHS.

[Jamesflavell]

Then there must be more than one pattern, since there is also this one from Japan.

Japanese VHS back cover.jpg (166.1 KiB) Viewed 10185 times

[Jox]

Tarantino on MP (2020)
https://www.empireonline.com/movies/fea ... questions/

Your first Hollywood job was as PA on a Dolph Lundgren workout video, Maximum Potential. Was it a good experience? – Robin Brekke

Yeah, it was a ball! It was me and Roger Avary working on it, and John Langley and Malcolm Barbour who created the show Cops, just before they created it. John Langley used to come into Video Archives, so he knew us and thought, “Oh, I’m going to give those guys a shot.” It was really fun, though the cinematographer was really, really mean to me. But I remember going down to Venice Beach and there’s this grassy area where Dolph Lundgren is going to do his exercises, with people behind him following along. And there’s just an acre of dogshit, all over this small area of grass. So me and Roger have to clean it up, alright? We’re scooping up the dogshit and the crew is fucking around, and me and Roger are going, “This is literally a shitty job.” We start talking about how we want to be directors one day and I go, “The day when I’m a director, man, I’m gonna be out there with the PAs, scooping up the dogshit right with them!” Cut to Pulp Fiction. We’re out there shooting something and sure enough, there’s a bunch of grass and some dogshit on it. And they grab a couple of PAs and go, “Clean that shit up.” And I go [sighs], “Okaaaay...” I joined them, I grabbed a shovel and I did a couple of scoops. I had a debt to pay.

[Jox]

Japanese VHS transfer