name	Crank: High Voltage
director	Neveldine/Taylor
producer	Tom Rosenberg Gary Lucchesi Skip Williamson Richard Wright
writer	Neveldine/Taylor
starring	Jason StathamAmy SmartClifton Collins, Jr.Efren RamirezBai LingDavid CarradineDwight Yoakam
music	Mike Patton
cinematography	Brandon Trost
editing	Fernando Villena
Studio	Lakeshore EntertainmentLionsgate @radical.media
distributor	LionsgateLakeshore Entertainment
released
runtime	96 minutes
country
language	English
gross	$34,560,577 }}

''Crank: High Voltage'', sometimes promoted as ''Crank 2: High Voltage'' on some regions and on DVD, is a 2009 American action-thriller comedy film and sequel to the 2006 action film, ''Crank''. The story of the film resumes shortly after the first film left off, retaining its "real-time" presentation and adding more special effects. ''Crank: High Voltage'' was written and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, who both wrote and directed the previous film. The film was released in the United Kingdom on April 15, 2009, two days prior to its North American release date.

Plot

The film begins immediately after the last film ends, where Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) lands in the middle of an intersection after falling out of a helicopter. He is scooped off the street via snow shovel by a group of Chinese medics and removed from the scene. Chelios wakes up in a makeshift hospital and sees doctors removing his heart while Johnny Vang (Art Hsu) watches. The doctors place Chelios's heart in a white cooler with a padlock, and place a clear plastic artificial heart in his chest. He wakes up three months later and escapes. He notices a yellow battery pack is attached to him and sets out to find his heart. After a gunfight and interrogation of a thug, he learns the location of Johnny Vang: the Cypress Social Club.

Chelios calls Doc Miles (Dwight Yoakam), who tells him that he has been fitted with an AbioCor artificial heart. Miles informs Chelios that once the external battery pack runs out, the internal battery will kick in and he will have 60 minutes before it stops working. While driving Chelios crashes his car which destroys his external battery pack. After getting directions from a driver, Chelios has the driver use his jumper cables on him. At the club, Chelios loses Vang but picks up a hooker named Ria (Bai Ling) who sends him to a strip club where Vang is hiding out. In the club, Chelios finds Eve (Amy Smart), now a stripper. A group of Mexican mobsters, led by Chico, show up looking for Chelios. After a gunfight, Chelios learns that a mobster named "El Hurón" ("The Ferret") wants to kill him, but he doesn't find out why.

Outside of the strip club, Chelios commandeers a police cruiser with Eve and another stripper. The stripper tells Chelios that he should look at the Hollywood Racetrack for Johnny Vang. Along the way Chelios meets Venus (Efren Ramirez), who reveals himself to be Kaylo's brother. Wanting his help, he tells Venus that El Huron was involved in his brothers death, but escaped. At the horse track Chelios begins losing energy again. Another call from Doc Miles informs him that friction will cause static electricity to power the internal battery. Eve shows up and they have sex on the racetrack before Chelios spots Vang and leaves Eve behind. Vang escapes, and Chelios is about to be subdued by security when Don Kim picks Chelios up in his limo. He informs Chelios that there is a leader in the Triads named Poon Dong (David Carradine), who was in need of a heart transplant and chose Chelios's to replace his. Chelios kills Don Kim and his henchmen upon learning that Don Kim wishes to return him to Poon Dong for a reward. Meanwhile, Venus calls in Orlando (Reno Wilson) to assist in tracking down El Huron.

While searching for Vang, Chelios boards an ambulance and steals a battery pack for his artificial heart. Chelios exits the ambulance upon seeing Johnny Vang on the street outside and a shootout ensues while before Chelios subdues Vang. Chelios discovers that Vang's red cooler doesn't contain his heart and then learns via cellphone from Doc Miles that his heart has already been transplanted into Poon Dong. Johnny Vang is shot and killed by Chico as Chelios interrogates him, after which Chelios is knocked unconscious. Doc Miles uses his secretary to locate Poon Dong to retrieve Chelios's heart.

Chelios is taken to an island where El Huron awaits. It is revealed that El Huron is, in fact, the brother of Ricky and Alex Verona, both of whom Chelios killed in the first film. He reveals Ricky Verona's head is being kept alive long enough to watch El Huron kill Chelios. El Huron is about to kill Chelios when Orlando, Venus and Ria show up, each with their own group of gunfighters. As a gunfight ensues, Verona is killed by Chelios. As Chelios starts to slow down, he climbs a nearby telephone pole and grabs a pair of live wires to recharge. He is flung off the pole and set on fire by the massive current. While on fire, he kills El Huron. Chelios walks towards the camera, giving the middle finger to the audience in the final moment of the film.

As the credits roll by Doc Miles replaces Chelios's heart, though Chelios has suffered what appears to be fatal burns over his entire body. At first, it looks like a failure but after everyone leaves, Chelios's eyes open wide and his heart monitor indicates normal activity.

Cast

Jason Statham as Chev Chelios

Amy Smart as Eve Lydon

Efren Ramirez as Venus

Dwight Yoakam as Doc Miles

Reno Wilson as Orlando

Clifton Collins, Jr. as El Huron

Bai Ling as Ria

Art Hsu as Johnny Vang

David Carradine as Poon Dong

Geri Halliwell as Karen Chelios

Former child actor Corey Haim has a supporting role in the film. Also appearing in the film are porn stars Ron Jeremy, Ed Powers, Jenna Haze, Nick Manning, Lexington Steele, Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington, ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' star Glenn Howerton (both of whom had appearances in the first film), Tool/A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan, former Nine Inch Nails member Danny Lohner, UFC fighter Keith Jardine, actress Lauren Holly and the founder of Troma, Lloyd Kaufman. John de Lancie, of ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', ''Star Trek: Deep Space 9'' and ''Star Trek: Voyager'' fame as Q, also appears at the start of the film as the newscaster.

Production

Mike Patton, of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle fame, produced the score for ''Crank: High Voltage''.

Lions Gate Entertainment handled North American distribution of the film, while Lakeshore Entertainment and Sony Pictures handled international distribution.

Filming started in April 2008. In order to help keep costs low, the filmmakers took advantage of low-cost prosumer HDV cameras such as the Canon XH-A1, as well as a consumer model, the Canon HF10.

''Crank: High Voltage'' received an R rating by the MPAA based on an interview with Amy Smart. She was photographed brandishing taped nipples and disclosed that her character Eve has become a pole dancer.

Soundtrack

Linkin Park's song, "Given Up", was featured in the trailer for the film. The majority of the soundtrack was done by Mike Patton. The soundtrack received an "Incredible" 9.5/10 from IGN.

Original songs not scored by Mike Patton that appear in the film are as follows:

"Keep On Loving You" by REO Speedwagon

"The Stroke" by Billy Squier

"Heard It In A Love Song" by Marshall Tucker Band

Reception

Critical response

''Crank: High Voltage'' has received mixed to positive reviews. The film has a "fresh" rating of 62% on the film review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus being "''Crank: High Voltage'' delivers on its promises: a fast-paced, exciting thrill ride that doesn't take itself too seriously." However the "Cream of the Crop" top reviewer aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes only gives Crank: High Voltage a 36% score. Elsewhere, Metacritic cited a score of 41 out of 100, based on 15 reviews. ''Crank 2'' failed to score in the box office in its first week, ending at #6 with $6,510,000 in 2223 theaters, although its predecessor only opened with $10 million.

Box office

''Crank: High Voltage'' opened with $2.7 million on its opening day. It earned $6,963,565 on its first weekend at #6 at the box office. Overall the film made $13,684,249 at the domestic box office and $20,763,119 as of November 20, 2009 in foreign box offices totaling up to $34,447,368 worldwide.

Awards and recognition

The poster artwork received an IMP Award for best funny poster tagline of 2009: "He was dead ... but he got better".

Home media

''Crank: High Voltage'' was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 8, 2009 in the United States. At the DVD sales chart, ''Crank'' opened at #2, selling 305,000 units which translates to $5,345,078 in revenue. As per the latest figures, 827,000 units have been sold, acquiring revenue of over $15 million. This does not include Blu-ray sales or DVD rentals. In Germany the uncut DVD and Blu-Ray was indexed on March 31, 2010.

Sequel

In an interview, when asked about a third ''Crank'' film, actress Amy Smart said "It's been talked about," but no actual statement from the writers has been made. Also in an interview with Amy Smart after the release of ''High Voltage'', she mentioned that ''Crank 3'' might be made in 3-D but, if so, wouldn't be released until 2012.

References

External links

DVD Review, ''DVD Talk''

Category:2009 films Category:American films Category:English-language films Category:2000s action films Category:American action thriller films Category:Films directed by Neveldine/Taylor Category:Films set in Los Angeles, California Category:Films shot in Los Angeles, California Category:Lakeshore Entertainment films Category:Lions Gate Entertainment films Category:Sequel films Category:Triad films Category:Heroic bloodshed films

de:Crank 2: High Voltage es:Crank: High Voltage fr:Hyper Tension 2 hy:Ադրենալին 2՝ Գերլարում it:Crank: High Voltage nl:Crank: High Voltage ja:アドレナリン:ハイ・ボルテージ pt:Crank 2: High Voltage ru:Адреналин 2: Высокое напряжение fi:Crank 2: High Voltage sv:Crank: High Voltage tr:Tetikçi 2 uk:Адреналін 2: Висока напруга

name	Billy Squier
background	solo_singer
birth name	William Haislip Squier
born	May 12, 1950Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States
instrument	Vocals, guitar, keyboards
genre	Rock, hard rock
occupation	Musician, Songwriter
years active	1968–1993, 1998, 2001, 2006, 2008, 2009
label	Capitol
associated acts	The Bluesbreakers, The Sidewinders, Piper, Magic Terry and the Universe, Kevin Osborn.
website	http://www.billysquier.com }}

William Haislip "Billy" Squier (born May 12, 1950) is an American rock musician. Squier had a string of arena rock hits in the 1980s. He is best known for the song "The Stroke" on his 1981 album release ''Don't Say No''. Other hits include "In the Dark", "Rock Me Tonite", "Lonely Is the Night", "My Kinda Lover", "Everybody Wants You", "All Night Long" and "Emotions in Motion".

Biography

Early life

Squier was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He is a 1968 graduate of Wellesley High School. While growing up, he began playing piano and guitar, but did not become serious with music until discovering Eric Clapton. When Squier was nine, his grandfather taught him how to play the piano. He took lessons from his grandfather for two years. After he stopped taking piano lessons, he became interested in guitar and bought one from a neighbor for $95. Squier took guitar lessons for a couple of months until he decided to teach himself.

Early career

Billy Squier's first public performance was at a Boston nightclub in Kenmore Square called the Psychedelic Supermarket in 1968 which is where he saw Eric Clapton and the band Cream perform. Squier originally performed with the band Magic Terry & The Universe, which also included Klaus Flouride, who went on to play with the Dead Kennedys. In the early 1970s, he joined The Sidewinders, and played with members including Mike Reed, Alex Phillips, Henry Stern, and Bryan Chase. Squier left the group to form the band Piper, which released two albums in the mid '70s, ''Piper'' and ''Can't Wait'', but broke off soon after. Bruce Kulick of KISS fame played with him during this period also. Upon reviewing the debut ''Piper'', ''Circus'' Magazine touted it as the greatest debut album ever produced by an American rock band. Piper was managed by the same management company as KISS, and opened for KISS during their 1977 tour, including the second and third nights of a three-night, sold-out run at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Squier signed with Capitol Records to release his solo debut in 1980. ''Tale of the Tape'' was a minor hit, partly because Squier played a mixture of pop and rock, which earned him a large crossover audience. The song "You Should Be High Love" received a fair amount of play on album rock stations, but no single cracked the pop charts. Years later, the song "The Big Beat" was sampled in rap songs.

Squier asked Brian May of Queen to produce his second album ''Don't Say No''. May declined due to scheduling conflicts, but he recommended instead Reinhold Mack who had produced one of Queen's albums, ''The Game''. Squier agreed, and Mack went on to produce ''Don't Say No''. The album became a smash, with the lead single "The Stroke" becoming a hit all around the world, hitting the Top 20 in the US and topping the singles chart in Australia. "In The Dark" and "My Kinda Lover" were successful follow-up singles. Squier became a monster act on the new MTV cable channel as well as on Album Rock radio, with most tracks on the ''Don't Say No'' album receiving airplay. ''Don't Say No'' reached the Top 5 and lasted well over two years on ''Billboard'''s album chart, eventually selling over 4 million copies in the US alone.

1980s Peak

Billy Squier's third album for Capitol, ''Emotions in Motion'', was released in 1982 and became nearly as successful as ''Don't Say No''. The album also climbed into ''Billboard'''s Top 5 and sold just under 3 million copies in the US alone. The cover art was by Andy Warhol. The title track of the album, on which Squier shared vocals with Queen's frontman Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor, was a hit, but the album's biggest hit was "Everybody Wants You" which held the #1 spot on the ''Billboard'' Album Rock Tracks for 6 weeks and reached #32 on the Hot 100. That same year, he recorded a song, "Fast Times (The Best Years of Our Lives)" for the film ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High''. In the early 1980s Squier did several headlining arena tours—most notably with Foreigner and Def Leppard -- as opening act, with a backup band that included former Savage frontman Kevin Osborn on guitar.

Two years passed before Squier's next album ''Signs of Life''. It was his third consecutive Platinum album. The album's first single release, "Rock Me Tonite" was Squier's biggest Pop hit. It reached #15 on Billboard's Hot 100, as well as #1 on the Album Rock Tracks chart in late 1984. However, the video for the track (directed by Kenny Ortega), which shows Squier dancing around a bedroom in a pink tank top, was named by Video GaGa as one of "The worst videos of all time". On the VH1 show ''Ultimate Albums'' (Def Leppard's "Pyromania" episode), Squier blamed the end of his career as a chart-topping rocker on the release of the "Rock Me Tonite" video.

Squier's career took a major downturn afterward and he began playing smaller venues. His next two albums ''Enough is Enough'' (1986) and ''Hear & Now'' (1989) sold in the neighborhood of 300,000 copies each. ''Enough is Enough'' featured another collaboration with Freddie Mercury in the songs "Love Is The Hero" and "Lady With A Tenor Sax".

Later years

Squier continued to record throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He released ''Hear & Now'' in 1989, which featured the singles "Don't Say You Love Me" (which peaked at #4 on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock chart) and "Tied Up".

In 1991, Squier released ''Creatures of Habit'', which yielded only one single, "She Goes Down," which also peaked at #4 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The title of the track refers to oral sex, and the music video is a very rare item, mainly because it features nude females and sexual metaphors throughout.

Squier released his final album with Capitol Records in 1993, ''Tell the Truth'', which featured different sets of musicians performing the various tracks. Squier called it his finest album since ''Don't Say No'', yet Capitol did little to promote it, and Squier walked away from the music business to pursue other endeavors.

On February 17, 1998, during the second run of the play ''Mercury: The Afterlife and Times of a Rock God'' - a monodrama about the life of Freddie Mercury - Squier debuted a song that he wrote in memory of his friend titled "I Have Watched You Fly". He introduced the song by saying, "I knew Freddie as a friend. I'm honored to share the stage with him in the afterlife."

In 1998, Squier released his last studio album to date on an independent label, a solo acoustic blues effort entitled ''Happy Blue''. He embarked on a mini-tour to showcase songs from the album, which included a stripped-down acoustic version of his classic rock mega-hit, "The Stroke."

As time passed, his albums went out of print, save ''Don't Say No'' and some greatest hits compilations; however, many of these are now being reprinted.

Shout! Factory will release ''Don't Say No: 30th Anniversary Edition'' on July 27, 2010, marking the first time that this album as been remastered in over 20 years. It was released in collaboration with Squier, who provided two live bonus cuts from his personal collection.

Other activity

Squier played a special acoustic show at B.B. King's in New York City on November 30, 2005. Highlights of the show were acoustic versions of "Everybody Wants You", "Nobody Knows", "Learn How to Live", "The Stroke", "Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You", and most of the 1998 ''Happy Blue'' CD. VH1 Classic and New York hard rock radio icon Eddie Trunk introduced Squier that night as "one of the great singer/songwriters in the history of rock."

Squier now lives in New York's Upper West Side. Sampling of "The Big Beat" continues. The late Jam Master Jay's reference to the song as a classic beat in the early days of hip hop has paid great dividends for Squier. The three piece hip hop group performed a track live at The Funhouse entitled "Here We Go", using the song's backbeat. Jay Z's "99 Problems," a massive hit in 2003, is based on that beat, as well as British grime/hip-hop MC Dizzee Rascal's "Fix Up, Look Sharp" and Kanye West's "Addiction".

In 2004 "Everybody Wants You" was remixed with the group Fischerspooner's song "Emerge" and included on the "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" soundtrack.

In 2006, Squier joined Richard Marx, Edgar Winter, Rod Argent, and Sheila E touring with Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band. A documentary of the tour including a full-length concert performance is now available on DVD.

In 2008, Squier joined Colin Hay, Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, Hamish Stuart and Gregg Bissonette touring with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.

In 2009, Squier launched a nation-wide summer/fall tour with a band that included drummer Nir Z, guitarist Marc Copely, long-time bassist Mark Clarke and keyboard player Alan St. Jon.

Personal life

In 2002, he married Nicole, a professional German soccer player. They divide their time between a home on Long Island and an apartment in the famous San Remo on Central Park West in Manhattan. Billy Squier is an active volunteer for the Central Park Conservancy, doing the hands-on "dirty work" by maintaining of the park, as well as promoting the Conservancy in articles and interviews. He also supports the Group for the East End and its native planting programs on eastern Long Island. Squier is a supporter of the Republican Party and supported John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.

Discography

Studio albums

''Tale of the Tape'' (1980) #169 US

''Don't Say No'' (1981) #5 US

''Emotions in Motion'' (1982) #5 US

''Signs of Life'' (1984) #11 US

''Enough Is Enough'' (1986) #61 US

''Hear & Now'' (1989) #64 US

''Creatures of Habit'' (1991) #117 US

''Tell the Truth'' (1993)

''Happy Blue'' (1998)

Compilation albums

''A Rock and Roll Christmas'' (Various Artists Compilation) (1994)

''16 Strokes: The Best of Billy Squier'' (1995)

''Reach For The Sky: The Anthology'' (1996)

''Classic Masters (2002)

''Absolute Hits'' (2005)

Live albums

''King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Billy Squier'' (1996)

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions			Album
		! width="35"	! width="35"	! width="35"
	align="left"	17	3	7
align="left"	35	7	22
	—	28	—
	45	31	—
		32	1	26
	68	20	13
	—	15	—
	—	46	—
1983		75	44	—
		15	1	31
	75	10	—
	71	29	—
		80	17	—
	—	30	—
		58	4	—
	—	20	—
	—	38	—
		—	4	—
	—	37	—
1993		—	15	—

Notes

References

External links

Official website

Billy Squier at VH1.com

Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:American rock guitarists Category:American rock singer-songwriters Category:Musicians from Massachusetts Category:People from Norfolk County, Massachusetts

de:Billy Squier es:Billy Squier it:Billy Squier pl:Billy Squier ru:Сквайер, Билли sv:Billy Squier