Before They Were Stars (2-for-1 Special): William H. Macy and Chazz Palminteri in “The Last Dragon”

The Back Row’s theme this past week has been nostalgia and I suppose The Last Dragon could be considered a perfect piece of eighties nostalgia, even though I personally didn’t see the film until a couple years ago. This is an ultra-cheesy and bizarre martial arts flick from 1985 that was produced by Motown Records, and was even spotlighted on Vince Nitro’s Private Reserve at one point. Even though the stars of this movie are martial artist Taimark and R&B singer Vanity, some legitimate actors actually make unexpected appearances in some of their earliest film roles. At the 3:23 mark of the preceding clip, you can see William H. Macy in a small bit part wearing an hilariously garish eighties jacket, though I suppose this role was still a step up from doing fabric softener commercials (on a side note, this clip also features one of Robin’s “That Guys”, Mike Starr, in an early role). If that wasn’t enough, in the following clip, you get to see Chazz Palminteri pop up at the 1:06 mark in one of his very first roles as a mafia thug limo driver sporting an awesome pornstache!