The Park is Mine (1985)

Today Matt & Todd crack open the VHS clamshell and revisit the ultimate case of First Blood at home:

1985’s The Park is Mine, starring Tommy Lee Jones;

This is Matt & Todd’s new venture into the original Parks & Rec[1]: an HBO‑produced 1985 Vietnam-vet-splotation film that plays like First Blood filtered through The A‑Team instead of Sam Peckinpah.

Directed by Steven Hilliard Stern, The Park is Mine is fast‑paced, earnest, entertaining, and flawed. There’s no question about the talent involved. Tommy Lee Jones brings a grounded intensity, Yaphet Kotto elevates every scene he’s in, and the supporting cast delivers exactly the kind of genre‑movie charm you want from a mid‑80s HBO original.

Starring:

• Tommy Lee Jones
• Helen Shaver
• Eric Peterson — Whit Bissell Winner
• Lawrence Dane
• Peter Dvorsky — Whit Bissell Winner
• Yaphet Kotto

The violence dialed down and the message… well, also dialed down. What it lacks in blood and thematic clarity, it replaces with brief nudity, explosions, and solid performances. The premise is compelling, even if the film doesn’t explore it deeply and seems to rely on your familiarity with other properties to fill in the emotional blanks.

But here’s the thing: nostalgia carries weight. This movie is etched into the halcyon days of early HBO—when NeverEnding Story, Beastmaster, and Commando looped endlessly and everything felt like it clicked. Maybe we do love us some Tommy Lee Jones and Yaphet Kotto as well, there's probably some bias here but it is fair to say this is more of a worthwhile tangent than a hidden gem.

Thanks for coming with us.

Footnotes:

[1] Unsubstantiated internet rumor[2][2] That I made up.

The Park Is Mine is based on a 1981 novel of the same name by Stephen Peters, who also wrote the screen play for 1998's Wild Things.