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Reviews
The Treasure of Pancho Villa (1955)
Very Good macho 50's western
Rory Calhoun leads the way as American Mercenary Tom Bryan, who is persuaded by fellow American Ruth Harris (Shelly Winters) to join Jaun Castro (Gilbert Roland - a David Niven wannabee) and his rebels in 1915 Mexico right in the middle of the revouloution. Together, they rob a Mexican train and steal its cargo of gold which they then trek across the desert to find Pancho Villa himself and deliver the gold to him, so it can fund him to buy more weapons and ammunition.
Of course there is plenty of double crosses and gunfights along the way, pushing the body-count up to around 80, but there were a few things i enjoyed quiet allot. One is the Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid esquire outnumbered showdown, but the thing which I was not suspecting was when Tom Bryan mows down several Mexicans at the start of this film with a machine gun! A frickin machine gun. I was definitely not expecting that from a 50s Western. Check it out.
Chain of Command (1994)
Boringly slow Dudikoff flick
The 80s was over, as the Reagen inspired shoot em ups where all but extincted. However Cannon film company continued to crank out these actioners with there leading main man Michael Dudikoff.
However this little feature i nor Dudikoff's or cannon's finest hour. Just for starters, i would like to tell you a little about the plot, but i'am prevented as its a mess. All what i could get out of it, was the fact that ex American special forces officer Merril Ross (Dudikoff) is forced to save some hostages taken by a band of mercenaries led by Rawlings (Todd Curtis on a bad hair day) in the fictional country of Qumir. However then the plot thickens and becomes more complex as suddenly the head of a oil company over there Benjamin Brewster ( R. Lee Ermey) decides to try and steal the countries money or something like that. Throw into the mix love interest Maya Robenowitz (Karen Tishman) and you have one boring film.
The complicated plot just seems to slow the film down and there is very little action in it. Only two short piecies of Merril firing two Ak's at once which is quiet refreshing, so i'd say only about 40 people die during the course of this film.
Behind Enemy Lines (1986)
Good action film worth a look
David carradine leads the way in this all action epic, which is basically the Great Escape, but set in Veatnam, but with a corrupt Vietnamese prison camp general, as played by Mako and a traitorous double crossing American soldier Sparks as played by Charles R Floyd. The basic story revolves around Carradine getting captured by the Veatcong and meeting up with the corrupt Vietnamese general who steals the Gold from his captors like watches and gold necklace's. Anyway he is desperate to get back to his "home" in America.
Anyway, there is not enough action scenes particularly in the middle of the film, even though it does pick up towards the end with a large battle scene where Carradine saves a American firebase under attack from hordes of Vietnamese soldiers, single handily added to that, a rushed climax which involves Carradine running around a small village while killing several soldiers. This film is good for b action movie fans and little else, but still contains some good harmless fun.
The Exterminator (1980)
Boring Death Wish rip -off
This film is not an action film, for instance when i bought this i was expecting a good vigilante actioner in the mold of Death Wish, however what i got was geeky hero - John Eastland as played by Robert Ginty and little else. Even the front cover makes you think that its going to be full of action as it shows 'the Exterminator' posing with a flamethrower and a motorcycle helmet, well the catch is, he only uses the flame thrower to torter some gang member and he is never seen wearing a motorcycle helmet.
The story for what its worth is a typical cliché ridden affair about the time honerd action of revenge. Basicually Eastland's friend Michael Jefferson who saved his life during the Vietnam war is brutally murded by a New York gang known as the 'Ghetto Gauls' so Eastland decides to take revenge. Only he doesn't.
This movie is tediously slow at times and Eastlund only kills like 7 people and a dog. It is also very sick and tasteless as a mafia Don gets churned up by a meat mincer so it often strays more into the Horror genre. This is definitely one to miss.
Red Dawn (1984)
Good propaganda action flick
This film is definitely not the most realistic film ever maid, Rssians invade America, and the only people who can stop them are teenage outcasts, who call themselves the wolverines. However this movie was not planned to win Oscars, but present a rousing cold war film showing that no matter who you are, you can still help your country from evil Russian stereotypes.
Heading the motley crew is a young Patrick Swayze as Jed Eckert, he is joined by 7 other teenagers including an early appearance by Charlie Sheen as Matt Eckert as they get into a variety of situations with the enemy, from ambushing them to raiding a camp where the teenagers dads are being held hostage, however the final assault on the Russian held town does seem a little rushed with few extras. This though boosts the films kill count to around 60 + and i'm sure will become a cult classic in years to come.
Strike Commando (1987)
this film insults the country of our fathers
To think that a entire army failed and one geeky man could destroy my home country seems insulting to hear and impossible. After all who is this Reb Brown guy and i am sure that Amercanski is not really Russian for American added to that some of the most awkward one liners in the history of world cinema. The boy is also a stereotypical Vietnamese peasant. I would like to see more Vietamese cinema like (literal translation) Du Xing's lama. The only people who would enjoy this insulting mess is patriotic American idiot who believe America won in the Vietnamese war (i myself am Vietnamese and didn't support the war)
Watch out for the paddy field scene, my dad was one of the extras.