Everyone knows about Bruceploitation, that wave of martial art films starring Bruce Lee lookalikes with names like Bruce Li/Le/Lai etc.
But did you know about Bronsploitation? Action movies starring people who look like Charles Bronson. Director Mike Malloy has made a documentary about three Bronson-lookalikes who went into the movies:
- the Korean Bobby Kim https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0453374/
- the Chilean Fenelón Guajardo (I can't find IMDb for him)
- the Hungarian Robert Bronzi https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8459909/
Article:
Trailer:
I didn't know about Bronsploitation before, but given that he was the biggest movie star in the world for a while, it seems only logical that there were producers trying to cash in using lookalikes. In fact, full disclosure :D, I had a distant cousin who looked like Bronson and used to make some extra money in the 70s and 80s doing things like opening supermarkets!
I never would have guessed that Bronsploitation would still be a thing in the 2020s, though!
A more in-depth article on Bronzi:
Bronzi fares better in Once Upon a Time in Deadwood, the best of the Bronzi/Perez collaborations. The production values are still abysmal, with nearly every actor looking like they’re participating in a hastily organized Wild West re-enactment, but the story is more substantial, and Paré brings charisma to his role as the villain. The movie piggybacks on both Bronson Westerns and the HBO series Deadwood, with most of the action set in the Dakota Territory town of Deadwood, where Paré plays a local kingpin named Swearengen.
Obviously, Paré is no Ian McShane, and Perez is no David Milch. The dialogue and acting are mostly stiff and awkward, and Bronzi comes up against the limits of his range when he’s called upon to express pain and anguish. He’s a remarkably inexpressive actor, and it doesn’t help that Perez insists on having someone else dub his lines, to cover for Bronzi’s thick Hungarian accent. In From Hell to the Wild West, that voice comes closest to sounding like Bronson, and in other Perez movies it just sounds like a bored voiceover artist in a recording booth.
Trailer for Once Upon a Time in Deadwood:
And this line :D
Bronzi’s latest film, Escape From Death Block 13, is his first without Perez, and it’s easily the most movie-like movie he’s ever starred in.
Trailer for Escape From Death Block 13:
FULL MOVIES
Exorcist Vengeance (2022)
Horror starring Robert Bronzi and Steven Berkoff
Trailer:
Full movie (uploader claims to be the official channel for Uncork'd Entertainment, so I think it's legit):
The Manchurian Avenger (1984)
Martials arts Western starring Bobby Kim and Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace
Trailer:
Full movie (uploader claims all their movies are licensed and copyright-compliant; they also have the great Dolph Lundgren actioner Joshua Tree. If you haven't seen it, check it out!):