Spectrum Computing

Promotional photograph of Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry



Impossible Mission II cover

Rorthron wrote: ↑Sat Mar 31, 2018 8:34 pm There are a few cover images I have been struggling to place.

Psycho Soldier



This looks like another Lisa Lyon copy to me.

Still of Lisa Lyon



Details:

In Psycho Soldier, Athena's leg pose might come from another Lisa Lyon picture.

Psycho Soldier Cover



Photograph of Lisa Lyon and Arnold Schwarzeneggar



Details:

Looks more like Arnold's legs from the same pic!

Rorthron wrote: ↑Sat Mar 31, 2018 8:34 pm There are a few cover images I have been struggling to place. Can anyone else help?

Shao Lin's Road



The figures in the green and white shirts look as though they are based on Bruce Lee. My best guess is that they come from The Way of the Dragon, but I can't find a matching image.

Here's the image:

Still from The Way of the Dragon

Narc cover



Commando (1985) movie poster



Details:

Rorthron wrote: ↑Mon Jan 28, 2019 9:55 pm

Rorthron wrote: ↑Sat Mar 31, 2018 8:34 pm There are a few cover images I have been struggling to place. Can anyone else help?

Shao Lin's Road



The figures in the green and white shirts look as though they are based on Bruce Lee. My best guess is that they come from The Way of the Dragon, but I can't find a matching image.

Here's the image:

Still from The Way of the Dragon

Well spotted!

Frank Frazetta, The Norseman



Castlevania cover (for Nintendo)



Castlevania: Spectral Interlude loading screen

Made in Spain 5 Estrellas



Still of Carrie Fisher in Return of the Jedi



Out of Bounds movie poster



Details:





Taken fom here:

http://hg101.proboards.com/thread/9643/ ... es?page=47

Boris Vallejo, The Eternal Champion



Stormbringer cover



From the same thread as the last post.

Frank Frazetta, Lord of the Rings sketch (1975)



Willow Pattern cover



Another from the same thread.

Rorthron wrote: ↑Sun Jan 14, 2018 2:17 pmAlien movie still



Gryzor cover

The Gryzor alien actually comes from the Japanese flyer.

Japanese Contra/Gryzor flyer

Rorthron wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2018 12:48 pm Still of Harrison Ford as Han Solo in Star Wars (1977)



Chase HQ cover



I am not sure about the source of the second face. I first thought it might be Philip Michael Thomas (Tubbs in Miami Vice), but I think it is actually Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian in Star Wars).

Photograph of Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back (1980)



Still of Philip Michael Thomas as Tubbs in Miami Vice (1984-1989)

This sctually came via the arcade flyer:

Chase HQ arcade flyer

It seems that the Chase HQ figure is Billy Dee Williams. This is the source:

Finally... one of the missing Amazon Women!

Raquel Welch in The Magic Christian (1969)



Legend of the Amazon Women inlay



Details:

Cover of The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu 11, by Marvel



Renegade cover



Here is it flipped to show it more clearly:



(This, like most of the others recently, comes from the HG101 thread mentioned earlier.)

Rorthron wrote: ↑Wed Jan 30, 2019 6:32 pm It seems that the Chase HQ figure is Billy Dee Williams. This is the source:

I don't see it (the match I mean).

Kweepa wrote: ↑Wed Jan 30, 2019 11:31 pm

Rorthron wrote: ↑Wed Jan 30, 2019 6:32 pm It seems that the Chase HQ figure is Billy Dee Williams. This is the source:

I don't see it (the match I mean).

These images are from the arcade flyer, not Bob Wakelin's cover, but Wakelin followed it pretty closely (or possibly vice versa).




The artist has trimmed Williams' hair and given his moustache to Harrison Ford.




In the case of the hands, the artist has somewhat weirdly moved the knuckles, so as to reposition the top two fingers, but has retained the same overall hand shape, making the third finger from the top freakishly long. He has obviously added a second hand, as well.

The flyer artist also made the hands way too big! Wakelin fixed that.

Kweepa wrote: ↑Wed Jan 30, 2019 11:31 pm

Rorthron wrote: ↑Wed Jan 30, 2019 6:32 pm It seems that the Chase HQ figure is Billy Dee Williams. This is the source:

I don't see it (the match I mean).

Nor me, looks a real stretch to be honest. That pose was pretty much standard for movie and TV characters in the 70's, just off the top of my head have a look at the 'Magnum Heat' version video cover of 'Hickey and Boggs' for a similar hand\gun pose. And they've even got the yellow car on two wheels being blown up from behind on that cover as well! Not saying that this is the actual template for the arcade Chase HQ ad- definitely not the faces - but you might put it in the "inspired by" column.

Bizzley wrote: ↑Thu Jan 31, 2019 12:45 pm

Kweepa wrote: ↑Wed Jan 30, 2019 11:31 pm I don't see it (the match I mean).

Nor me, looks a real stretch to be honest.

It's hard to see at first, as the hair changes really alter the overall impression, and the different lighting makes a difference, too. But if you closely match the details (eg the eyes, nose, etc), it's almost an exact copy.

I'll try to do an overlay of the two images.

Actor Robert Hook, original pic then rotated and aspect ratio changed to make it similar to arcade flyer.

Bizzley wrote: ↑Thu Jan 31, 2019 1:38 pm Actor Robert Hook, original pic then rotated and aspect ratio changed to make it similar to arcade flyer.

I think you're getting onto dangerous territory here....

The Robert Hook image doesn't match. There is a vague general resemblance, but the specific features don't match up: eyes, mouth, nose, hairlines, etc are all different.

There are a few examples in this thread that are a bit of a stretch and then some. But this is not even close, totally different facial structure. Robert Hook looks a bit more like the cop in question but I'm pretty sure he's not the model either.

I'm not saying for definite that it is a match, nor am I saying the pic I posted was used in any way as a template, I could have used Raymond St. Jacques for example from 'Come Back Charleston Blue' instead and given more time to go through my blaxploitation films likely many others. It's just to point out that it's a possibility and not a certainty. The yellow car on two wheels flying over another car could just as well have come from the Midas VHS cover of Franco Nero's 'The Marseilles Contract' - it's all subjective in the end.

It's obvious the artists involved in all these Game Arts did some tweaking to whatever they used as source material to avoid accusations of outright plagiarism, be it removing a moustache and changing the fingers or flipping lips and amending a hairstyle. Unfortunately a lot of this went on with video covers, one company being "inspired" by another, so unless it's a pretty definite looky-likey then it's a toss of the coin thing as to which source material was actually used. Swarthy guy with sunglasses and a big gun looking mean, 'Cobra' or 'Enforcer 2'? Bare chested dude with a bandana, knife and a big machine gun rescuing prisoners from the jungle, 'Rambo' or 'Slash'?

OK, so here is the Billy Dee Williams image and the Chase HQ image. The image I originally posted was slightly stretched. I've used what I think is a correctly proportioned version this time. I've also used a PC this time so have been able to align them more accurately:



It looks like a pretty good resemblance to me.

I set both images to 50% transparency and overlaid them. They lined up almost exactly, though you have to look pretty carefully, as it's a little hard to separate the two images when they're static. It's much easier if you are moving them around. The top half lines up exactly, as does the bottom half, but the two halves are slightly out of synch.



For comparison I did overlays with the Robert Hook and Bill Cosby images. They lined up much less well, though again it's not that easy to see without moving the images round and trying to fit them together.



The hairlines are different, the eyes don't line up, the nose tips are in different places, the ears are very different. Some small differences are to be expected, but these are huge.



These two didn't line up at all.

I was sceptical about the Billy Dee Williams image at first, but I think it stands up to scrutiny. I feel pretty confident it is the source (or very close to it - maybe an image a few frames either way).

I appreciate the overlays might all look like blurry messes, but if you have a go yourself to align transparent versions, you can see more clearly.