Wednesday, December 31, 2008

THE DO-OR-DIE STUNT ROLES OF DANTE VARONA


Dante Varona's First Movie/ 1968

In 1981, action star Dante Varona made a daring and spectacular stunt act when he jumped at the San Juanico Bridge for a scene in “Hari ng Stunt.” It’s a make-or-break for this struggling actor whose movie career was in limbo for quite sometime and can’t seem to have a headstart. That breathtaking leap changed his fortune overnight. The movie was dubbed as “The most death defying action thriller of the year!” He became an instant sensation and propelled him to superstardom.

Hari ng Stunt (1981)- Stars Dante Varona, Vivian Velez, Rod Navarro, Romy Diaz, Rodolfo 'Boy' Garcia, Joe Garcia, Robert Talabis, Dave Brodett/ Directed by Carlo J. Caparas


Varona entered the movie world in 1968 in Magnificent Siete Bandidas. He starred in many action movies early in his career and even doing some lead roles i.e. Master Stuntman in 1970 and Leon Dimasupil in 1973. His career started to skid and slow down in the mid 70s, until the offer to do Hari ng Stunt came.



Left- Magnificent 7 Bandidas (1968)- Stars Divina Valencia, Anna Gonzales, Stella Suarez, Maria Victoria, Bessie Barredo, gina Laforteza and Bella Flores/ Introducing Dante Varona/ Directed by Artemio Marquez

Right- Kill: The Magnificent Agents(1969)- Stars Fred Galang, Dante Varona, Marco Antonio and Rod Navarro/ with Marissa Delgado/ Directed by Luis San Juan


Kuwatro (1969)- Stars Fred Galang, Arnold Mendoza, Dante Varona and Chito Ledesma/ with Alicia Alonzo, Liza Belmonte, Eva Marie and Van de Leon/ / Directed by Cesar (Jun) Gallardo



Born To Be Wild (1969)- Stars Chito Ledesma, Dante Varona and Arnold Mendoza/ with Rosanna Marquez, Jessica, Eva Marie, Van De Leon, Anita Linda, Nello Nayo/ Directed by Jun Gallardo



Ang Matitinik (1970)- Stars Roberto Gonzales, Bernard Belleza, Paquito Diaz, Dante Varona, Lito Garcia/ with Jessica, Van de Leon, Victor Bravo, Eva Marie, Bobby Santiago and Rodolfo 'Boy' Garcia / Directed by Pablo Santiago


Left- The Bold and the Beauties (1970)- Stars Dante Varona, Mila Montanez, Marilou Ver, Alicja Basili, Gina Stuart and Rosanna Ortiz/ Directed by Jose Miranda Cruz

Right- Master Stuntman (1970)- Stars Dante Varona, Juvy Cachola, Alicja Basili, Gina Stuart , Renato del Prado, Rocco Montalban, Bruno Punzalan/ Directed by Jose Miranda Cruz



Igorota Squad (1970)- Stars Dante Varona, Rosanna Ortiz, Marissa Delgado, Lilian Ramos, Tessie Conception, Linda Magalona and Maya Fuentes/ Directed Nilo Saez



Left- Silang Tatlo (1970)- Stars Dante Varona, Angelito Marquez and Portia Ilagan/ Featuring Raquel Monteza/Directed by Jose (Pepe) Wenceslao

Right- Usapang Lalake (1970)- Stars Dante Varona, Rodolfo 'Boy' Garcia and Fred Cortez, Jr./ with Merle Fernandez, Lilian Ramos and Jessica



Sa Kamay ng Tatlong Takas (1971)- Stars Roberto Gonzales, Dante Varona,Romy Diaz and Yvonne/ Directed by Flor Bien



Leon Dimasupil (1973)- Stars Dante Varona, Divina Valencia, Merle Fernandez and Juvy Cachola/ Directed by Hector C. Molina



Pugante: Numero 3-11 (1973)- Stars Roberto Gonzales, Dante Varona and Jeanne Young/ with Johnny Monteiro, Larry Silva/ Directed by Jose Miranda Cruz





Ermitano (1981)- Stars Dante Varona, Charo Santos, Roland Dantes, Vivian Velez, Romy Diaz, Dave Brodett and Bob Soler / Directed by Carlo J. Caparas



Ang Taong Bundok (1981)- Stars Dante Varona, Jean Saburit, Charlie Davao, Boy Fernandez, Romy Diaz, Mario Escudero/ Directed by Ed Palmos



Bertong Barako (1981)- Stars Dante Varona/ Directed by Willie Milan



Landong Kabal (1981)- Stars Dante Varona, Josephine Manuel, Eddie Garcia, George Estregan, Philip Gamboa, Rommel Valdez, Rocco Montalban andRuel Vernal/ Directed by J.B. Concepcion
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8 comments:

  1. totoybatoDecember 31, 2008 at 7:49 AM

    ...hindi ba't kasama si G.Dante Varona sa FPJ's "Pagbabalik ng Lawin"?...ang huling pagkaka-alam ko, Director of Security siya sa isang Headquarters ng isang Brand Name Outfitter sa may Alameda St.sa Los Angeles. May gagawa daw ng digifilm tungkol sa buhay niya ala-JCVD at The Wrestler-di ko lang alam kung under Bathala Films.

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  2. UnknownDecember 31, 2008 at 10:45 AM

    Excellent work, Simon! Usapang Lalake (1970) is actually a Celso Ad. Castillo film, in case you couldn't work out his signature.

    I forgot to mention: I asked Cirio Santiago's sister Digna if Cirio had ever worked for Luis Nepomuceno. She replied with a flat-out, definitive "NO". At the time of Nepomuceno Productions' dream run (late 60s-early 70s), Cirio was far too busy with Premiere, and with establishing overseas contacts such as Roger Corman.

    I think we can lay that rumour finally to rest!

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  3. TheCoolCanadianDecember 31, 2008 at 12:01 PM

    That made a lot of sense, Andrew.
    Maybe the guy who spread the rumor got confused by the fact that CIRIO actually directed for Nepomuceno's Production of THE PACIFIC CONNECTION starring Roland Dantes, Nancy Kwan, Guy Maddison, Gilbert Roland, and... of course, a Fipino movie for international release would not be complete without that inimitable villain, our very own... VIC DIAZ. Ha-ha-ha!

    This was released on VHS in the mid-80's.

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  4. Video 48December 31, 2008 at 12:28 PM

    Totoybato--- Yes, Dante Varona appeared briefly in "Pagbabalik ng Lawin" as a tribal warrior.

    Andrew,JM, as usual, thank you for the clarification.You'll notice that under IMDB site on Cirio Santiago, Cirio was credited as having directed some of the movies of Nepomuceno Productions, i.e. Igorota, using the name of Luis Nepomuceno. To someone who entered those erroneous data nd informaton is not doing his homework.

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  5. James DRJanuary 1, 2009 at 12:58 AM

    Happy New Year, Simon and to all ka-bloggers!

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  6. totoybatoJanuary 1, 2009 at 7:57 AM

    Hindi ko alam kung paano ko pasasalamatan si G. Simon Santos. Sa linaw ng kanyang mga movie ads, kitang kita mo kung sino ang sumulat, gumanap, direktor.

    ...para walang alinlangan tulad nito...
    http://pinoydvd.com/board/index.php?topic=39199.60

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  7. neto/malikotOctober 26, 2009 at 9:13 AM

    kung tawagin siyay bathala,hari ng stunt and some movies niya sa 80's meron ako

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  8. UnknownJune 28, 2013 at 8:47 AM

    He is a daredevil athlete gymnast martial artist stuntman and veteran actor in several films of the 1970's and the 1980's movies in 2981 action movie :Hari ng Stunt(Stunt King) released in 1981-82 film inspired from a heroic feats of stardom and remains a celebrity he is now living in the Bay Area(San Francisco .thanks for the information about your comments in your opinion .From:Wayne

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