After exploding onto the scene in the early 1980s, Mickey Rourke’s intoxicating blend of smoldering intensity, rugged good looks, and naturalistic acting style had everybody convinced he was well on his way to becoming an all-time great. However, a couple of flops can have a funny way of derailing a career, with Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man proving to be one of the straws that broke the camel’s back.
The 1991 action thriller certainly has an intriguing premise, with Rourke’s character named after the motorcycle company partnering up with Don Johnson’s cigarette-branded accomplice to mount a daring robbery of a corrupt bank in order to safeguard the future of their friend’s bar. After they uncover a shipment of illegal drugs, though, they end up caught in the crosshairs of nefarious forces.
As well as being cold-shouldered by critics, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man was a box office disaster, cobbling together a diabolical $7.4 million domestically, less than a third of its production budge. Deciding that enough was enough, Rourke instead fled Hollywood altogether and opted to get punched in the face for a living.
The very same year the movie sank without a trace, the actor announced his intentions to return to the world of boxing, where he secured six wins and two draws from eight fights. Not a bad return, but little did he know it would only take 32 years for Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man to return to prominence, with FlixPatrol outing it as one of the most unexpected hits on Prime Video this week.