Summary

• Sam Elliott's role in Road House as Wade Garrett is one of his most iconic.
• The 1988 cop thriller Shakedown gave Elliott a larger leading role compared to Road House, showcasing his action star potential alongside co-star Peter Weller.
• Road House completed Elliott's 1980s unofficial action trilogy, alongside 1987's Fatal Beauty and Shakedown.

Road House was the end of a run of 1980s action movies for Sam Elliott, and one that followed a bizarrely specific detail. In addition to just being an incredible actor, Elliott is famed for his deep, soothing voice and trademark mustache. Most of Sam Elliott's famous roles have been in Westerns, but he's the kind of performer who has appeared in everything from moving dramas (Mask), wacky comedies (The Big Lebowski) to comic book movies (Ghost Rider). He's also got several iconic characters to his name, with Road House's Wade Garrett being high up on that list.

Garrett is the laconic mentor of Patrick Swayze's Dalton, the ultimate bouncer (AKA "Cooler") in the business. Garrett is very much a supporting character in Road House, but Elliott is so cool and charismatic he's still one of the most memorable parts of the film. Perhaps sensing it would be near impossible to cast an actor who could top Elliott, Road House 2024's cast of characters dropped Wade entirely.

Road House & Shakedown Both Find Sam Elliott Teaming With Protagonists Called Dalton

Road House and Shakedown followed a peculiar naming convention for Sam Elliott

What's odd to note about Road House is that it wasn't the first time Elliott teamed up with a character called Dalton. A year before Road House Elliott starred in Shakedown, where his Detective Marks works with Peter Weller's public defender Dalton to investigate the shooting of a cop. Shakedown is a hard-edged riff on Lethal Weapon's buddy cop formula, with Marks being a renegade in the vein of Dirty Harry (including wielding an oversized handgun), while Weller's Dalton is more of a mellow dork who has to stand up in the face of police corruption.

Shakedown is also known as Blue Jean Cop in some territories.

Shakedown was helmed by The Exterminator's James Glickenhaus, and features some incredible footage of New York before the city's big clean-up during the 1990s. The film is a perfectly enjoyable, late-night action flick that is given a lot of heft by the fact Elliott and Peter Weller play the leads. Since it was Weller's follow-up to RoboCop, there was likely some hope it would perform better, but Shakedown's $10 million box-office haul (via Box Office Mojo) on an estimated $6 million budget was a disappointment.

As for which 1980s action flick where Sam Elliott teams with a character named Dalton is best, Road House comes out on top every time. Just about every scene in that film has some memorable quote or moment, and while Shakedown has a couple of great action sequences (including a fight scene on a roller coaster) and gags, there's a reason it isn't cited nearly as much as Road House.

Shakedown Gave Sam Elliott A Bigger Role That Road House

Shakedown is a true co-leading role for Elliott

Sam Elliott sadly didn't get many big screen leading man roles like this, which makes Shakedown all the more unique.

Fans of Road House might adore Wade Garrett, but it's easy to forget that he doesn't have much screentime either. Elliott's Wade enters the story late and is killed before Road House's ending showdown, so there's a reason the actor earns his "And" credit. Shakedown gives Elliott a much larger role than Road House, with the film being an even split between his character and Weller's. The former is very much Swayze's movie, with Dalton's journey being the focus.

In Shakedown, Elliott's Marks and Weller's Dalton are both driving the plot, with Elliott's character trying to be a good cop while working beside officers he knows are corrupt. Needless to say, Marks gets most of the action too, with Elliott getting to shoot guns, ride motorbikes and even hang onto the landing gear of a plane as it takes off. Elliott sadly didn't get many big screen leading man roles like this, which only makes Shakedown all the more unique.

Road House Completed Sam Elliott's 1980s Unofficial Action Trilogy

Fatal Beauty and Shakedown pushed Sam Elliott as an action star

There was an interesting attempt to make Elliott into an action star during the late 1980s, with Road House being the best thing to come out of that experiment. The first was 1987's Fatal Beauty, a bizarre merging of action thriller and comedy fronted by Whoopi Goldberg as a detective chasing down the suppliers of the titular drug. Elliott plays a bodyguard who teams with Goldberg's character, with the two trading barbs between various shootouts before falling in love.

Both Fatal Beauty and Shakedown failed to make a splash financially, but Road House was a genuine success that grew into a cult favorite over time. Sam Elliott's unofficially action trilogy is mixed in terms of quality, but they're all fun time capsules that he brings a lot of charm to. Moving into the 1990s, the actor had a mix of supporting roles (including Tombstone) while fronting lower-budget fare like The Final Cut. His guest appearance in The Big Lebowski reinvented his career, however, and he has rarely been out of work since.

Shakedown is currently available to rent or purchase on iTunes, Amazon Video, YouTube and Vudu; Fatal Beauty can be streamed on Freevee.

Source: Box Office Mojo