Starring
Chuck Norris, Richard Lynch, Melissa Prophet, Alexander Zale
Alex Colon, Eddie Jones, Jon DeVries, James O'Sullivan, Billy Drago, Jaime Sánchez, Dehl Berti, Stephen Markle, Shane McCamey, Martin Shakar, James Pax, Nate Esformes, Tony Bolano, Nick Ramus, Bernie McInerney, Lorraine Morin, Marilyn Romero, Anthony Marciona, Michael Carmine, Mario Ernesto Sánchez Update Cast
Review
Our movie opens in the ocean, somewhere near Florida. A boat full of Cuban refugees are headed toward America, ready to start a new life. All of a sudden, a Coast Guard boat pulls by. There is a tense moment as the refugees fear that they will be sent back.
Nah. The Coast Guard welcome them with open arms. Unfortunately, they are not Coast Guard men. They are a band of terrorists led by Mikhail Rostov (Richard Lynch), who have slaughtered the troops and are posing as them to get to the U.S. They cold-bloodedly slaughter everyone aboard and have the lone survivor show them where a stash of coke is hidden.
We then cut to our hero, Matt Hunter (Chuck Norris), riding through the Everglades on an airboat. Hunter is an ex-CIA man who's retired to the beauty of the swamplands, where he makes a living helping his best buddy John Eagle (Dehl Berti) wrestle and sell alligators (and dine on the occasional frog entree, which Hunter is getting sick of). Unknown to either of them, the paths of Hunter and Rostov, his old enemy, will soon cross.
Speaking of Rostov, we see him selling the coke to a weaselly dealer (a small role for Billy Drago) for a very large sum of money. He then slams the arm candy's face on the table while she's snorting, resulting in the straw getting rammed up her nose. He then shoots the dealer several times in the crotch and shoves the arm candy out the window to her demise. He walks out, leaving the coke behind, allowing a greedy resident to try his luck.
What is Rostov planning? He's planning to do what no one else has been able to do in over 200 years: invade the US of A. With a large army and the latest weaponry, this may seem possible. The only problem: Hunter, who Rostov still has nightmares about. Rostov wants him out of the way before they do anything, so the men track him down and destroy his home, killing John Eagle when he tries to intervene. Unfortunately, they foolish do not check for a body.
Hunter, looking for revenge and a way to stop Rostov once and for all, accepts an offer from a CIA man for reinstatement. Meanwhile, ROstov and his thugs are committing atrocities on American soil, including disguising a group of thugs as Miami policeman to shoot and kill several Latinos and create distrust in the police, and destroying several homes in a suburban nieghborhood with a rocket launcher, killing dozens.
His plan? When the USA declares martial law, he and his thugs will move in and slowly take over the US.
They forgot one small thing.
Hell hath no fury like a twin-Uzi toting one man army who's severly pi**ed off.
Verdict
When Rambo: FIrst Blood Part II made a boatload at the box office, it inspired a wave of jingoistic pro-American action films, many of which were made by the Cannon Group (Missing in Action, anyone?). Nearly all of them were mindlesssly entertaining and in no way great art.
This is no exception. Chuck Norris, though no great shakes in the acting department, is a living, breathing badass nonethelsss. Sure, he can't do Hamlet but you'll believe that he can snap your spine in half like a toothpick just to watch you die. When you need a hero who's a twin-Uzi toting, truck driving badass who the villain has nightmares about, Chuck's your man.
Richard Lynch, a go-to man for classy, menacing villains, has a delightful turn as Rostov. He akeks him a villain worth fearing: snarling, unpredictable, and calculating.
Sure, the writing is full of holes and the film could have been edited a bit more to liven up the pace, but we're all here for the action. And the movie doesn't disappoint.
We get a free-for-all shootout in a mall and a car chase right afterward, an airboat armada taking out a shack in the everglades, a final battle in an office building, and more. Jay Chattaway (who had also worked with director Joseph Zito on Missing in Action and Red Scorpion) contributes a rousing score which adds to the excitement, and the movie's theme will be stuck in your head forevermore.
All in all, a great Saturday afternoon viewing.
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The Movie Data
Key Crew
Director: Joseph Zito
Writer: Aaron Norris, James Bruner, Chuck Norris
Producers: Yoram Globus, Menahem Golan
Locations Manager: Randolph LeRoi
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Data
Release Date: 27 Sep 1985
MPAA Rating: R
Studio: Cannon Films
Production: Cannon Films
Genre: Action / Adventure
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The Movie Trailer
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