Collision Course (1987): Inside Jay Leno and Pat Morita's Forgotten Buddy Cop Action-Comedy - The 80s Movie Podcast

This week on The 80s Movie Podcast, host Edward Havens takes a deep dive into the chaotic history of Collision Course, the bizarre buddy-cop action-comedy starring late-night giant Jay Leno and The Karate Kid legend Pat Morita. Filmed at the height of the 1980s mismatched-partner craze, this forgotten cinematic curiosity paired a fast-talking Detroit detective with an investigator from Tokyo, resulting in a fascinating cultural time capsule that struggled to find its footing. The episode tracks the film’s incredibly troubled production journey, which was helmed by director Lewis Teague. Havens unpacks the financial turmoil behind the scenes, specifically detailing how the sudden bankruptcy and collapse of Dino De Laurentiis’s Entertainment Group (DEG) trapped the completed film in legal limbo, shelving its release for years. Finally, we analyze the movie’s stellar supporting cast, including Chris Sarandon and Ernie Hudson, and explore how it eventually bypassed theaters entirely for a quiet home video release in 1992. We close the retrospective by evaluating why this heavily delayed project ultimately became a footnote in the careers of its main stars and where it ranks among the era’s saturated buddy-cop landscape. The episode tracks the film’s incredibly troubled production journey, which began in late 1987 under original director Tom Mankiewicz before he was abruptly replaced mid-shoot by veteran action director Robert Shaye. Havens unpacks the financial turmoil behind the scenes, specifically detailing how the bankruptcy and sudden collapse of Dino De Laurentiis’s Entertainment Group (DEG) trapped the completed film in legal limbo, shelving its release for years. Finally, we analyze the movie’s stellar supporting cast, including Chris Sarandon and Ernie Hudson, and explore why it eventually was given a quiet home video release in 1992. We close the retrospective by evaluating why this heavily delayed project ultimately became a footnote in the careers of its main stars and where it ranks among the era’s saturated buddy-cop landscape.