46 Fun Facts About Road House

Who plays the bouncer Dalton in the 1989 film?

Patrick Swayze plays Dalton and performed many of his own stunts; the film came two years after his breakout in Dirty Dancing.

What is the name of the bar Dalton is hired to clean up?

The Double Deuce is the rough-and-tumble Jasper bar Dalton is hired to tame; its house band plays behind chicken wire to dodge thrown bottles.

In which state is the town of Jasper, where Dalton's new bar sits?

Jasper is in Missouri, though the film was shot in California, mostly around Newhall, Valencia and Canyon Country.

Where is Dalton working when the film opens?

The film opens at a club in New York City, where Dalton is working the door when a small-town bar owner arrives to recruit him.

Who owns the bar in Jasper and hires Dalton?

Frank Tilghman owns the bar; he tells Dalton to clean the place up and gives him full authority over the staff.

Who plays the crime lord Brad Wesley?

Ben Gazzara, who originated Brick in Broadway's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, plays Brad Wesley and earned a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actor.

Where does Dalton live while in Jasper?

Dalton rents a loft in a barn owned by a farmer named Emmett, across the lake from the mansion he later learns belongs to Brad Wesley.

Who plays Dr. Elizabeth "Doc" Clay?

Kelly Lynch plays Dr. Elizabeth Clay, the Jasper doctor who stitches up Dalton's knife wound and becomes his love interest.

Which actress was originally cast as Doc before being replaced?

Annette Bening was originally cast as Doc and was replaced early in production; the producers felt she lacked chemistry with the lead.

Who plays Dalton's mentor, the ageing bouncer Wade Garrett?

Sam Elliott plays Wade Garrett, Dalton's grizzled mentor, who comes to Jasper to back him up against Wesley's crew.

How does Wesley decide which of Dalton's friends to kill?

Wesley settles it with a coin toss between Elizabeth and Wade Garrett, then sends his men after the one the coin picks.

What is written on the note pinned to the knife in Wade Garrett's body?

The note pinned to the knife reads "It was Tails", Wesley's taunt that Wade Garrett, not Elizabeth, was the friend chosen to die.

How does Dalton kill Wesley's henchman Jimmy Reno?

Dalton rips out Jimmy's throat with his bare hand, the same move that haunts him from his past, and Elizabeth is horrified when she sees it.

Who plays Jimmy Reno, the henchman Dalton fights to the death?

Marshall Teague plays Jimmy Reno, Wesley's most dangerous henchman, whom Dalton fights on the lakeshore after Jimmy firebombs the farmhouse.

Which Canadian blues guitarist leads the house band in the 1989 film?

Jeff Healey, the Toronto-born blues-rocker, leads the house band as Cody, playing his guitar flat across his lap.

How did the guitarist who leads the house band lose his sight?

The guitarist lost his sight to retinoblastoma, a rare eye cancer, as a baby; his eyes were surgically removed at age one and he took up guitar at three.

Who composed the film's score?

Kamen also scored Die Hard and Lethal Weapon for producer Joel Silver.

Which monster truck appears in the film, built specifically for it?

Bigfoot #7 was built for the film and, on Wesley's orders, is driven through the showroom of the local car dealership, crushing the cars inside.

Who directed the 1989 film?

Rowdy Herrington directed, with Joel Silver producing; the film opened on May 19, 1989.

How many Golden Raspberry nominations did Road House receive?

It won none, but Razzie founder John Wilson later listed it among the 100 most enjoyably bad movies ever made.

How much did Road House gross worldwide on its 1989 release?

Road House grossed about $61 million worldwide, roughly half of it from its North American theatrical run.

What was the film's budget?

The budget was about $15 million; United Artists released the film in May 1989 to harsh reviews.

How many stars did Roger Ebert give Road House?

Ebert gave it two and a half stars, writing that it sat "right on the edge between the good-bad movie and the merely bad".

What was Dalton's first name, glimpsed on a hospital chart and confirmed in the sequel?

A hospital chart in the film reads James Dalton, and Road House 2 confirms James as his first name; the 2024 remake renames him Elwood Dalton.

Who is the protagonist of the 2006 direct-to-video sequel Road House 2?

Shane Tanner, Dalton's son and a DEA agent played by Johnathon Schaech, defends his uncle's Louisiana bar; Dalton is said to have been murdered before the story.

Which cult show's Crow T. Robot was obsessed with Road House and wrote a carol about its star?

On Mystery Science Theater 3000, Crow penned a Christmas carol in honour of the film's lead actor during the 1991 riff of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

Which police force used a Road House scene in retraining on staying nice under pressure?

The NYPD used Dalton's "be nice" speech while retraining about 22,000 officers after the 2014 death of Eric Garner.

In which Family Guy episode does Peter buy a Road House DVD and start roundhouse-kicking everything?

In "Brian's Got a Brand New Bag" (2009) Peter kicks everything in sight after watching Road House; the episode was dedicated to the film's lead actor, who had died that September of pancreatic cancer.

Which martial artist from The Last Dragon starred in the 2003 off-Broadway musical spoof of Road House?

Taimak, the star of The Last Dragon, led the 2003 spoof, whose sprawling title promises him "wearing a blonde mullet wig".

Which MMA star was announced to lead a Road House remake in 2015 that was quietly cancelled?

Ronda Rousey was announced as the lead of a Road House remake in 2015, with Nick Cassavetes set to write and direct; the project quietly died.

Who plays Dalton in the 2024 remake?

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Elwood Dalton, a former UFC middleweight haunted by having killed an opponent in the cage.

Where is the 2024 remake set?

The remake is set in Glass Key, a fictional town in the Florida Keys, where Dalton is hired to protect a roadhouse from a developer's thugs.

Which UFC champion plays the enforcer Knox in the 2024 film?

Conor McGregor plays Knox in his acting debut; a mid-credits scene reveals Knox survived and strolls out of the hospital in his gown.

Who directed the 2024 remake?

Doug Liman directed; he wrote a Deadline op-ed blasting Amazon for skipping a wide theatrical release, then attended the SXSW premiere anyway.

What choice did Amazon give the filmmakers of the 2024 remake?

They took the bigger budget and the film went to Prime Video on March 21, 2024.

On which streaming service was the 2024 Road House released?

Road House went straight to Prime Video on March 21, 2024, two weeks after its premiere at the SXSW festival.

Which rapper appears in the 2024 film under his real name, Austin?

Post Malone, credited as Austin Post, plays Carter, one of the underground fighters Dalton scares off at the start.

In the 2024 film, what happens to gang leader Dell after Dalton throws him off the houseboat?

Dalton tries and fails to save him.

Where was a scene for the 2024 film shot in front of a live crowd in March 2023?

The scene was shot at the UFC 285 ceremonial weigh-ins in Las Vegas, where the lead actor squared off with former fighter Jay Hieron as Dana White and Jon Anik looked on.

In which city was the star of the 1989 film born?

Houston is the lead actor's birthplace (1952); his mother Patsy ran a dance studio there and worked as a choreographer, and he later trained at the Joffrey Ballet school.

For which film did the actor who plays Wade Garrett receive his first Academy Award nomination?

In A Star Is Born he played Bobby, the older brother and manager of Bradley Cooper's Jackson Maine, earning a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

Which band performs on screen during the 1989 film's opening credits?

The Cruzados, the Los Angeles roots-rock band fronted by Tito Larriva, play the club band during the opening; their songs were left off the soundtrack album.

Which two filmmakers recorded an audio commentary for the 2006 Deluxe Edition DVD of Road House?

Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier, the Clerks director and producer, recorded a fan commentary for the 2006 Deluxe Edition; the film's director recorded a separate track.

In which country did filming of the 2024 Road House begin in August 2022?

Filming began in the Dominican Republic in August 2022, the same month the project was greenlit, with its beaches standing in for the film's island setting.

Who composed the score for the 2024 Road House?

Christophe Beck, known for Frozen and the Ant-Man films, composed the score for the 2024 Road House.

Who sued the studios in February 2024 hoping to block the remake's release?

R. Lance Hill, the original film's screenwriter (credited as David Lee Henry), alleged copyright infringement and the use of AI-cloned actor voices during the 2023 strike.