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David Wain and Michael Showalter Parody Every ’70s Action Cliche in THE SECOND SOUND BARRIER

What if we told you that there is one film that will completely change cinema forever? And what if we told you that such a film was created by the comedic minds of David Wain and Michael Showalter? And what if that very film were also produced by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, the minds behind Catfish and two of the six Paranormal Activity movies? And finally, what if that film was inspired by a fragrance line? Sounds too good to be true, right?

Well, it is. Sort of. The video above is the trailer for the non-existent film The Second Sound Barrier, which was written by Michael Showalter and directed by David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer). As far as we can tell, it’s an extremely expensive commercial for the new line of Robert Graham fragrances.

An odd amalgamation of pretty much every cliché from car-action movies of the 1970s is crammed into this three-and-a-half-minute trailer and it’s honestly pretty damn great. Alright, hold on to something, this next sentence is gonna be fun. The “film” stars Jeremy Sisto as Roger Valour as “The Wild Card,” Peter Mensah as Theolonias Courage as “The Powerhouse,” and Vincent Kartheiser as Charles Michael Fortitude as “The Artist.” Each is named for one of the latest Robert Graham scents: Valour, Courage, and Fortitude.

In just under four minutes, the trailer hits all the maxims we’d want in a film like this, with pithy catchphrases punctuating character introductions, gratuitous explosions, and ’70s sex appeal. The three drivers have been “invited to race nature” and break the second sound barrier in order to save the rich and dubious temptress appropriately named “Lady Billionaire” and played by Juliette Lewis.

Will they accomplish their impossible task? Will Ken Marino‘s Lars Van Der Hoot foil their plans? What was the motivation behind creating a trailer like this? Does anyone out there own a Robert Graham fragrance?

These questions and more may never be answered… considering it’s not a real film. But let us know what you think in the comments below!

Image: Second Sound Barrier

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