Bruno Mattei's most entertaining movie is a laughably bad Vietnam effort (read RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II clone), financed in Italy but shot in the Philippines, where film stock is cheap. The film is a so-bad-it's-good classic, which starts off pretty seriously before degenerating into chaos about halfway through. It's an under-directed, over-acted bad film masterpiece without an ounce of common sense in its head, and this is why I love it so very much. Every plot incident is directly stolen from the Stallone flick; as you watch it you'll be wondering why the heck they didn't sue. The setting is the effectively steamy jungle, the only other locations a crummy building at the end of the film. Helicopter shots are grainy stock footage, then there's a hilarious interlude with a ship which explodes (an obvious miniature).
Taking the lead is wooden beefcake Reb Brown who overacts for all his worth. Brown is appalling, yet his attempts at acting give the film some of its most hilarious moments, like when he goes berserk firing his gun, shouting "ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!". The dubbed dialogue is also particularly funny in this film, whether it be Brown running in the jungle shouting "JAKOOOOOOOODA!" or the cheesy Russian bad guys ("I'm going to kill you, Amerikana!").
As the 'plot' plays out, Brown finds himself tortured on an electric fence (just like Stallone) before escaping and shooting hundreds of inept Vietcong. The bad guys in this flick are numerous but probably the same five actors used over and over again. Cheap huts explode, thousands of rounds are shot through the trees, and Ransom's trick seems to be throwing knives in the chests of his enemies – again, just like Stallone. In the plot 'twist', it turns out his superior, Christopher Connelly is corrupt, so at the end he goes in and explodes a small dummy supposed to represent Connelly! Absolutely hilarious entertainment. Other cast members include Alex Vitale as the exceedingly funny and non-threatening 'muscleman' villain (who gets a grenade shoved in his gob!), old-timer Luciano Pigozzi as a French priest (he gets bumped off after about five minutes screen time) and Filipino film regulars Jim Gaines and Mike Monty (the latter in the Richard Crenna role). For fans of pure schlocky cheesy entertainment, this awful Mattei flick takes some beating!
Taking the lead is wooden beefcake Reb Brown who overacts for all his worth. Brown is appalling, yet his attempts at acting give the film some of its most hilarious moments, like when he goes berserk firing his gun, shouting "ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!". The dubbed dialogue is also particularly funny in this film, whether it be Brown running in the jungle shouting "JAKOOOOOOOODA!" or the cheesy Russian bad guys ("I'm going to kill you, Amerikana!").
As the 'plot' plays out, Brown finds himself tortured on an electric fence (just like Stallone) before escaping and shooting hundreds of inept Vietcong. The bad guys in this flick are numerous but probably the same five actors used over and over again. Cheap huts explode, thousands of rounds are shot through the trees, and Ransom's trick seems to be throwing knives in the chests of his enemies – again, just like Stallone. In the plot 'twist', it turns out his superior, Christopher Connelly is corrupt, so at the end he goes in and explodes a small dummy supposed to represent Connelly! Absolutely hilarious entertainment. Other cast members include Alex Vitale as the exceedingly funny and non-threatening 'muscleman' villain (who gets a grenade shoved in his gob!), old-timer Luciano Pigozzi as a French priest (he gets bumped off after about five minutes screen time) and Filipino film regulars Jim Gaines and Mike Monty (the latter in the Richard Crenna role). For fans of pure schlocky cheesy entertainment, this awful Mattei flick takes some beating!