User reviews

Bail Out is a silly action/adventure/comedy which isn't very funny, at least not intentionally. The original title "W.B., Blue and the Bean" (which appears after the end credits, while "Bail Out" is the title in the opening credits. Did they forget to change it?) should give some indication of the movie's intentions.

Roger "White Bread" Donaldson (or W.B. for short) (The Hoff) is a part-time tennis instructor and part-time bounty hunter. He has two associates - you guessed it - Mason "Blue" Walcott (Tony Brubaker) and, of course, The Bean (Tom Rosales). When heiress Nettie Ridgeway (Blair) is abducted by drug lords (led by Cummins of Action U.S.A. (1989) fame as Zaldizar) and spirited away to Mexico, it's up to our three heroes to save the day. They have to get her to court on time in order to collect a million dollars. The three buddies want to open their own bail bondsmanship so they can stop working for the haranguing Aram Haronian, their boss. Will they succeed? While it is funny to see the mighty Hasselhoff with his mullet and giant cell phone hamming it up for all the world to see, and an attempt is made at politically-incorrect humor ("these guys drive worse than the Orientals!", "Roasted Colombians, nothing' finer!", etc.) sadly it all seems a bit forced and unfunny. Once they get to Mexico, there is a stereotype Mexican character that is very, very annoying. The movie was already on pretty thin ice by then, and the addition of this character did not help at all.

There are some car chases, shootouts and horseback riding, and the cast is full of familiar faces such as Trejo, Flower, the Hoff, Blair, and a surprising appearance by Gregory Scott Cummins as the drug lord. We were so used to seeing him as the all-American good guy from Action U.S.A. He truly has a lot of versatility. John Vernon is also on hand as Linda Blair's father. What is he truly up to? Nothing really weird or truly noteworthy happens in Bail Out. It's all pretty standard fare, so stupid at times it almost insults the audience's intelligence. We know it's a direct to video movie starring The Hoff, but come on. Give us some credit here. But then again it was directed by Max Kleven, the "mastermind" behind Fugitive Champion (1997). At least Chip Mayer was nowhere in sight. So if you can survive all the groaners for jokes and some middling action, you MAY be entertained by Bail Out if you are in the right mood (i.e., a really goofy mood).

Bail Out was released on VHS in the U.S. on the great Vestron label. We couldn't find any commercially-released version of the film under the "W.B. Blue and the Bean" moniker. If you have a picture of that, please send it in.

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Roger "White Bread" Donaldson (David Hasselhoff) is a bounty hunter whose sleazy boss (Charlie Brill) assigns him a rich girl, Nettie Ridgeway (Linda Blair), who'd witnessed the murder of a boyfriend by your standard issue scummy drug runners. His job will ultimately be to make sure that she is in court to testify against the villains, even if he has to go into Mexico to do it. Fortunately, on his side he has his faithful friends Mason "Blue" Walcott (Tony Brubaker), a former football player, and Casper "Bean" Garcia (Thomas Rosales Jr.).

As written and directed by veteran stuntman Max Kleven (whose previous directorial efforts include "Ruckus" (also with Blair) and "The Night Stalker"), this is adequate action entertainment with respectable set pieces, a reasonable amount of energy and humour, a jaunty and hilarious Chuck Cirino music score, and a ready and willing cast. The Hoff brings all his charisma to the proceedings (he and Blair also did the horror film "Witchery" together), and he, Brubaker, and Rosales are a moderately amusing team. (If you don't see this for anything else, see it for the engaging Brubaker and Rosales, two more very experienced stuntmen and bit players who get rare substantial co-starring roles here.) Blair is cute and appealing as always.

Also among the supporting cast are John Vernon (he'd previously acted with Blair in "Chained Heat" and "Savage Streets" and plays her dad here), Gregory Scott Cummins ("Stone Cold" '91) as the suave villain Zalazar, Wayne Montanio as heavily stereotyped character Felix, Bob Minor as fighter King Clive, Roy Jenson as a guard, George 'Buck' Flower as ...what else?... a bum, and Danny Trejo as a character dubbed 'Mean'. Ravishing Debra Lamb has one memorable scene as a motel clerk.

As for the rest of the movie, it's all watchable enough but also instantly forgettable.

Five out of 10.

Hi, Everyone, Let's see... we have some scenes in a mansion, a few shots of Skid Row, a Go-Go bar, 50 guys on horseback, a helicopter, a big dog and a van crashing through a warehouse door. OK, there's our plot.

Now we need some actors who work cheap. Hassle...who? He's still alive? Yeah. Linda Blair. I owe her a favor. She let me cut in front of her in line once at the Unemployment Office.

In this bankruptcy of a movie production, Linda Blair shows she is tougher than David Hasselhoff. Hasselhoff gets the last laugh, however, because he is prettier than Blair.

Casting is usually done in a way that will make the movie better. Kevin Bacon and Drew Barrymore could have had some fun with this. It would have destroyed their careers, perhaps, but it would have been much better.

A better bail bondsman movie would be "Midnight Run." Charles Grodin did get laughs in that film. Charles Grodin would have done a good job in Bail Out but he could not make this into a great movie.

The background music is good. There is a lot of senseless action. Most of the senseless action was the director handing the daily footage to the editor.

Tom Willett

When I originally saw this flick, I didn't think it was that good of a film. I thought it was pretty cool/cheesy though. Cut to a few days ago when I watched it again and I was blown away. This movie was far better than I remembered it to be. The action scenes are some of the best in direct-to-video cinematic history. It's hard to believe that this went direct-to-video since it is way better than any theatrically released action film that came out at the time. No review of this movie would be complete without saying that John Vernon is the man. Ever since ANIMAL HOUSE, Vernon has appeared in a number of truly excellent underrated movies such as this one. 6/10

Quite possibly one of the worst movies ever made. the fact that it stars david haselhoff and linda blair should already tell you something about this stinker. basically, haselhoff plays a bounty hunter trying to keep blair alive to appear at a drug trial. very minimal acting from all involved, but you do get to see haselhoff in a teal jumpsuit, and playing tennis in a white hairband. only worth watching to laugh at.

They obviously spent a lot of money on this one. There are locations shots, helicopters, explosions, horses, Mariachi sombreros. It's an aimless adventure flick that's supposed to be funny. The people are all caricatures but don't pull it off. I'm not saying it isn't a little fun. It's a TV kind of movie with little real development. A series of episodic rescues. Underlying everything is the fact that people are willing to kill or be killed without really looking into the realities of everything. Linda Blair. What a career. She looks a little frumpy for a leading lady. Hasselhoff is all blue eyes and testosterone. But it is just a bunch of chases, automatic weapons, body parts, some nudity. Just to drag a few people into a movie theater or to watch a video. Like a thousand things I've seen before with almost nothing to recommend it.

After an heiress (Linda Blair) is kidnapped by some Colombians (played by Irish people) and brought to Mexico, three bail bondsmen must rescue her in order to collect their fees. But do not expect it to be easy when you are dealing with drug-running, gun-toting Colombians! Now, some people are quick to dismiss this as a cheesy David Hasselhoff film with poor video quality. Which, of course, it is. At least with the so-called "digitally remastered" version I own that is obvious a VHS transfer. But if you look past the video quality, you will see a really well-written, funny and entertaining film.

Hasselhoff is dashing and funny as White Bread, his mullet flowing in the wind. His two assistants, Blue and Bean, are equally amusing. Their boss is great -- and then Linda Blair! Oh my! Where else will you find this much talent and excitement packed into under two hours? Nowhere! Better than almost any Chuck Norris film you are going to find, and Hasselhoff delivers the goods.

Some plot questions arise... the Colombians (played by Irish actors) hanging out in Mexico... somehow mixed up with Iranians, and then with a billionaire oil man in California. There seems like there should be more to this. The tennis coach who gives lessons for $200 an hour, but is willing to get into gun fights for $800? That makes no sense.

The film is quite humorous, and it is easy to overlook the bizarre plot (and the fact that police never arrive despite car crashes and guns blazing). From the opening scene of the bondsman cursing his neighbors to the extreme stereotype of "the bean"... heck, even having the black man be a former football player seemed like a stereotype. But it is all done so tongue-in-cheek, it comes off as comedy brilliance.

Apparently when David Hasselhoff read the script and saw his on screen partners would be a Hispanic character and a token afro American he thought "my god i can feel the on-screen chemistry already!" - HE WAS WRONG! DEAD WRONG! When you see this film you really just want to say "gee Dave music really is the best career for you!" this film is unbelievably confusing, for starters its never explained why Hasselhoffs character is called Whitebread! AWESOME!!! The film is described as an action comedy which it is in a way, Hasselhoff wandering around trying to save some bint from drug lords whilst waving a pistol around like its a sock is some of the best unintentional comedy ever! The only explanation for Linda Blair agreeing to do this movie is that the priest didn't do a good enough job! as she must have been temporarily possessed by the demons of straight to the 99p bin in asda, ironically i bought this movie for 2p less in tesco, i could have spent it on something far more entertaining like a bath mat! all in all you should see this film if only to see Hasselhoffs awesome guns!

This film had plenty of humor, drama and all kinds of situations that White Bread, (David Hasselhoff) has to face trying to be a bounty hunter along with some very funny assistants which gave a great supporting role as sidekicks with White Bread and also put plenty of comedy in their roles. There is a motel scene where White Bread stops at a motel with Annette Ridgeway, (Linda Blair) a girl who has been kidnapped and she asks White Bread to stop so she can take a shower because she has been in the same clothes for days. However, Annette and White Bread do wind up in bed with a very comic scene where they pretend to be making love with a squeaky bed. There are plenty of bombs exploding and even a UH-1 Helicopter, Vietnam vintage which makes an attempt to kill all the bounty hunters. This film will entertain you and if you are a big David Hasselhoff fan, you will like to see how young he looked in the Year 1989. Enjoy.

Bail out is one of the best movies of all time. David Hasselhoff is the greatest actor ever. This movie displays his unbelievable acting abilities. I have never seen a movie like this. I mean, I was seriously touched while watching this movie.

After Knight Rider and before Baywatch, David Hasselhoff starred in this B-movie actioner about a bumbling trio of bounty hunters assigned by a slimy bail bondsman (Charlie Brill) to locate the kidnapped daughter of a millionaire. Their journey takes them all around Los Angeles and eventually to Mexico. Some car chases and gunfights are present, but this is mostly a showcase for the comedy style of the three lead characters. Directed by famed stunt coordinator Max Kleven.

The Hoff is on fire in this hilarious action comedy. Not only is his acting Olivieresque, but his fashion sense is also second to none. 'Bail Out', funded by sportswear company, Head, is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular films in cinematic history, peaking towards the finale with the Hoff's triumphant celebration after shooting down the evil helicopter with a flare gun. The 'two arms aloft' ecstatic cry leaves many would-be cinema goers wondering how this genial colossus of a film was ever taken straight onto VHS format. And Thank God somebody had the sense to bring Bail Out to the future generations when they decided to forward it onto the more modern DVD format. Also praise be to Tesco for not only displaying Bail Out on it's shop floors, but also for pricing this masterpiece at the CRRRAAAZZZZYYYY price of 97 pence. All Hail 'The Hoff'! Best line- 'Hit the road f**k face!'

It was my friend's birthday and he LOVES cheesy bad cinema - the kind that are sooo incompetent and unintentionally hilarious - so when I saw a DVD copy of Hasselhoff and Linda Blair in a flick called BAIL OUT for 2 bucks - bingo - I bought it and gave it to my pal. Well, we laughed our butts off - this movie starts bad and just keeps getting bad. You see badly executed stunts, awful acting, garish costumes and stunningly corny dialouge "There's a time for shooting and a time for talking" - Hasselhoff was also a producer on this and he makes sure he gets well lit and his hair is always perfect and hair sprayed into place - he plays a bounty hunter called Whitebread who is also a tennis pro - there are clichéd Asian gardeners, clichéd Mexicans, clichéd Arabs, clichéd evil Columbian drug lords - there is even a scene in Mexico where a Mexican character living way out in the middle of nowhere is wearing an actual mariachi costume and they never call attention to it! Like - hey we all dress like this, see? Wow - you have to see this to believe it and most of the time Linda Blair is tied to a chair and gagged so she does lots of special EYE acting. This is one of the greatest bad movies ever made. Hasselhoff rules - you have to pay attention when he almost slips trying to jump onto a truck or his special thrusting of fists in the air as he celebrates shooting down a helicopter (where you can plainly see the wires attached to bring it down). A very special piece of rotten cinema.

Simply stated, this is the quintessential guilty pleasure. I am very biased in favor of this film as I was only 9 when this film was released, I saw it in the video store, and as a huge fan of Knight Rider, I asked for it immediately. I remember, even as a 9-year-old, thinking that I was watching Knight Rider without K.I.T.T. (It should be noted that the VHS box used a photo of the Hoff as Michael Knight from a KR promo pic). So, is this a good film in the sense of a coherent story, strong acting, and character development? No, it's not. As I stated before, it really is Knight Rider without K.I.T.T. However, that also means that it is fun, filled with bad jokes, and senseless action. If you go with a relaxed attitude and do not expect something Oscar worthy, then you'll be ok. Watching this 31 years later, I do cringe at some parts, but I still enjoy it very much. My perfect 10 score is not due to the quality of this film, but because of the memories it brings back of my childhood. I love this film!

Cast:Linda Blair, David Hasselhoff, John Vernon As you watch this film you can see how bad Blair's work has gotten. This action flick stars Hasselhoff as a cop who is hired to protect Blair from bad. If any one wanted to protect Blair from bad they would tell her not to do this film! 0* out of ****

W. B., BLUE AND THE BEAN (aka: BAIL OUT) stars intergalactic megastar David Hasselhoff as tennis enthusiast / bounty hunter Roger W. B." (White Bread) Donaldson. His latest job involves an heiress named Nettie (Linda Blair).

What seems like an easy assignment turns into a dangerous adventure when Nettie is abducted by machinegun-toting thugs. W. B. Assembles his team of operatives (aka: goofballs) who must risk their lives, blow stuff up, and mimic the A-Team in their attempt to rescue Nettie.

If you crave brainless action, explosions, infinite gunfire, extra-long car chases, and unexpected full-frontal nudity, then you have just entered the promised land!

Do not miss this blessed event!...

My review was written in February 1990 after watching the film on Vestron video cassette.

Better known by its awkward original title, "W. B., Blue and the Bean", "Bail Out" is an okay action picture released direct to video.

Three title characters are nicknames for David Hasselhoff (as "White Bread"), Tony Brubaker and Tom Rosales, who play skip tracers hired by Charles Brill to protect heiress Linda Blair. She's out on $1,000,000 bail after being apprehended with a boyfriend who's holding drugs. Warring Colombian and Iranian drug lords lead everyone on a merry chase south of the border until Blair finally realizes Hasselhoff is a good guy and starts to cooperate with him.

Helmer Max Kleven, whose second unit directing credits include topnotch films like "Runaway Train", delivers solid action footage here and maintains a light touch. It's the type of picture that used to be drive-in fodder and is of only minor interest to Blair fans, since she is more damsel in distress than action heroine this time out.