(click)
(static sounds)
- [Actor] Sometimes, I lie awake at night
and think about my destiny.
I don't know where it's taking me,
or what tomorrow will bring.
(metallic sound)
- [Narrator] Between 1986 and 1998, Peter O'Brian kicked ass
as a star of eight Indonesian acton movies.
(dramatic music)
- I'll kill you!
- [Narrator] Hurtling on a break neck collision course
with destiny, he abruptly vanished from the world of cinema.
Only to re-emerge 20 years later
in the sleepy town of Tauranga, New Zealand.
Now as fate once again aligns the stars above him,
can Peter O'Brian make his comeback
to the world he walked away from decades ago?
- Argh!
(shooting sound)
(splash)
(click)
(film rewinding)
- [ Peter O'Brian] How could I not be grateful and happy
that I had a chance to do all that?
especially my story about the whole thing.
- [Peter O'Brian] Here we are filming
in Peter O'Brian's house. (crockery being moved)
- Well I guess the sounds from the kitchen are authentic.
Sweetie?
- What?
- Could you please make me a coffee?
Not ever having been to an acting school,
or had any real, no experience at all,
I wanted to travel, I wanted to see the world.
(click)
We were on a world trip,
Indonesia was the second country that we had arrived.
I was about to head off to find food,
and the reception guy, he says to me,
"Where are you going?
Film people have been looking for you.
They actually think that you're Stallone."
When they spotted me,
they really thought I was Stallone
walking through the streets of Jakarta.
I can see them approaching my table.
One asked me, "We've been following you.
We want to introduce you to Raam Punjabi.
(bell chimes)
Would you please come with us?"
He goes through the streets of Jakarta
and we enter into a very wealthy complex.
Raam comes out and then he asks me all about acting.
Have you done any acting?
I said "Oh, yeah I was in a lot of drama at school."
'course I meant, you know, trouble, fighting, being naughty.
He said, "Can you fight?"
Yes, I can fight.
(sounds of fighting)
So they said, "Look, we're doing a Rambo copy.
You're gonna be our Indonesion Rambo".
I ended up spending 22 years of my life in Indonesia.
- "I'm Charlie and I'm going to hunt you down."
- "Anytime, pal.
You can find me around here.
The name is Rambu."
"This is the end of your dirty game, you swine."
"Ahhh!" (machine gun firing)
(explosion)
- Loved the action.
Did all my own stunts.
(crashing)
'Hey, do you think you could ride that bike
through that wall?'
Yeah.
(revving bike)
Yeah, I could've been killed.
Could've died easy, just like
(clicking fingers)
(bikes revving)
- Cynthia Rothrock she said,
"Look, can I kick you for real, in the head?"
Yeah, yeah sure, why not?
Let's do it.
(sound of kicking)
Oh, man I had a headache. (laughs)
I really pushed myself to the limit, physically.
Especially the helicopter stunt.
I believe I was a 1,000 meters in the air
and I was so daring I hung on with one arm.
I mean it is what it is (laughing)
it is a low budget movie.
Even myself, I laugh at it and go,
"Oh, my gosh", you know?
Just certain scenes, like when we were in The Stablizer
and we all get out of those barrels.
- "It's a set up."
(clattering)
- "Don't move!"
- I didn't get a chance to really show my acting skills
in a drama based arena.
- "10 o'clock okay?
Okay!"
(laughing)
"Huh?"
(Laughing)
- "I psyched you out!"
(laughing)
- A lot of it was comedy.
Some of the voice overs I was like 'Oh, man!'.
- "I despise scum like this,
Who intimidate the weak.
Let's get out of this hole."
"Yeah!"
- I walked away from film life.
(static sound)
I decided that being a Christian
and being a movie star wouldn't work.
(click)
I get a call from my brother Paul
He tells me mum's just been hit by a drunken teenager
and doctor's say she'll die.
'You better get back quickly.'
And so I end up in the transit lounge of Sydney.
These really outrageous soccer players go,
'Ah, let's have a drink.'
Thought why not, you know?
And I slept through the calling.
Stumble forward, ask them about the flight.
It left 16 minutes ago.
You blew it.
You should've got on that fight.
And it hit me.
I started crying.
I felt so ashamed.
And then I recalled my sister who'd become a Christian,
and she said, "Pete, call out to Jesus.
He'll save you."
And I started to really pray and pretty much beg God.
I need to be rescued.
Please!
I was crying, with tears, real tears.
And you know, then this lady came out from the checkout,
'I'm going to radio the pilot
and ask him to turn around, come back and pick up this man.'
She comes out and says, "He's coming back."
And I saw my mum.
They'd taken her off the life support machine that morning
and she was gone.
(beeping)
For quite a while I felt in my heart
that I would like to do more acting.
I can do all things through Christ,
who makes me strong.
Philippians 4:13
And I believe, that if it's God's will, it'll happen.
God has something better for me than this.
- "It was through fate we met and now I'm here for just you.
Nothing can ever change that."
- It just fell into my life, movies,
and it was really amazing really, how it all happened.
But now I'm back and I really wanna do some more.
I got one last good fight in me.
My faith in the Lord,
my journey that he's taken me on.
I think has probably made me better.
I was a good action actor but Peter O'Brian today?
I see myself as being a character actor.
Obviously some people have underestimated me.
Look at Stallone when he was about to do Rocky,
and a lot people laughed him off,
and thought he was unable to do it.
But hey, he did a great job.
(dramatic music)
Destiny, eh? The theme for me.
I know there's a role out there that would just so suit me
but God's gotta want it as well.
So I'm leaving it all in his court.
(dramatic music)