Given his muscular frame and intense look, the always excellent Brian Thompson is usually found typecast in movies as the bad guy (Cobra and Mortal Kombat:Annihilation to name but two instances) so it came as a very pleasant and refreshing change to see him given the chance to play the hero role in this film.
In it he plays Frank Ryan, a highly trained mercenary who is hired by a shady organisation (headed by George Kennedy) to rescue an imprisoned rebel leader from a (fictitious) country called Cypra, somewhere in the middle east.
Sounds straight forward? Well that's what Ryan thinks at first to, fully expecting to go in with his guns a blazing to get the job done. However, the mission stipulates a more subtle approach and some undercover work involving of all things, a modelling agency! Much to his chagrin, Ryan is given the new identity of a gay fashion designer, whilst his beautiful female 'models' are in fact, recruited mostly from maximum security jails for their special (and very deadly) skills which Ryan hones to even deadlier perfection through a rigorous and brutal training regime.
With his new soldiers now ready for action, Ryan takes them to Cypra, where they are greeted by the host, the head of the government's security services and acting leader (Oliver Reed sporting his mighty moustache!) for an exclusive fashion shoot.
Of course, much action ensues with our hero's eventually locating their intended target to free him....but is this the real mission objective? Throw in a bit of double crossing, and at least not all of our band of liberators making it back home safely....
So on to the quality of the film itself now; Well the good news is that Thompson certainly makes the most of his role as the chauvinistic, tough as nails hard man with a secret soft heart. The ladies to look lovely whilst simultaneously handling the action scenes well and it's always fun to watch the late, great Oliver Reed in action.
The bad news is that very sadly, there just isn't nearly enough of the aforementioned action to enthral most action fans.
Still, what there is, is admittedly handled with some not inconsiderable flair by directors Nico Mastorakis and Peter Rader including some nice BIG explosions during the climax and some great helicopter stunt work. I also really enjoyed the very end of this, wherein one of the films protagonists gets their just desserts in a very fitting way.
Overall then, certainly not a bad film by any means, but it's also certainly not the all out action trailer that Brian Thompson deserves to headline. Come on Hollywood, give this actor some more roles!
As a final note: Watch out for the hilarious scene where Oliver Reed's character grabs Thompson by the gonads to check if he's genuinely homosexual. Thompson, looking somewhat shocked, has to quickly act his part by kissing him!
In it he plays Frank Ryan, a highly trained mercenary who is hired by a shady organisation (headed by George Kennedy) to rescue an imprisoned rebel leader from a (fictitious) country called Cypra, somewhere in the middle east.
Sounds straight forward? Well that's what Ryan thinks at first to, fully expecting to go in with his guns a blazing to get the job done. However, the mission stipulates a more subtle approach and some undercover work involving of all things, a modelling agency! Much to his chagrin, Ryan is given the new identity of a gay fashion designer, whilst his beautiful female 'models' are in fact, recruited mostly from maximum security jails for their special (and very deadly) skills which Ryan hones to even deadlier perfection through a rigorous and brutal training regime.
With his new soldiers now ready for action, Ryan takes them to Cypra, where they are greeted by the host, the head of the government's security services and acting leader (Oliver Reed sporting his mighty moustache!) for an exclusive fashion shoot.
Of course, much action ensues with our hero's eventually locating their intended target to free him....but is this the real mission objective? Throw in a bit of double crossing, and at least not all of our band of liberators making it back home safely....
So on to the quality of the film itself now; Well the good news is that Thompson certainly makes the most of his role as the chauvinistic, tough as nails hard man with a secret soft heart. The ladies to look lovely whilst simultaneously handling the action scenes well and it's always fun to watch the late, great Oliver Reed in action.
The bad news is that very sadly, there just isn't nearly enough of the aforementioned action to enthral most action fans.
Still, what there is, is admittedly handled with some not inconsiderable flair by directors Nico Mastorakis and Peter Rader including some nice BIG explosions during the climax and some great helicopter stunt work. I also really enjoyed the very end of this, wherein one of the films protagonists gets their just desserts in a very fitting way.
Overall then, certainly not a bad film by any means, but it's also certainly not the all out action trailer that Brian Thompson deserves to headline. Come on Hollywood, give this actor some more roles!
As a final note: Watch out for the hilarious scene where Oliver Reed's character grabs Thompson by the gonads to check if he's genuinely homosexual. Thompson, looking somewhat shocked, has to quickly act his part by kissing him!