Strike Commando 2 (1988)

1988 – Strike Commando 2 (Flora Films)

[original Italian title: “Trappola Diabolica”, released in France as "Mission Suicide"]

Director “Vincent Dawn”/Bruno Mattei, [uncredited] Claudio Fragasso Story Claudio Fragasso, Rossella Drudi Screenplay Claudio Fragasso Producer Franco Gaudenzi Editor Bruno Mattei Cinematography Riccardo Grassetti Music Stefano Mainetti Art Director “Bart”/Mimmo Scavia Sound Engineer Davide Piccini Dialogue Editor John Gayford Sound Effects Editors Tullio Arcangeli, Roberto Sterbini, Gjika Sotir Titles/Opticals Stefano Mafera Mixage Bruno Moreal Production Manager Giovanni Paolucci Stunt Coordinator Ottaviano Dell’Acqua Production Supervisor Rick Hasserot Accountant Mary Hope Makeup Franco di Girolamo Camera Operator John Irghins Continuity Liliane Hann Dialogue Coach Susan Adler Assistant Cameramen Ruben Hundit, Raul Mattews Makeup Assistant Angelica Raf Sound David Meel, Tom Morgan Boom Operators Clay McPaul, David Meel First Assistant Editor Rita Tryunph Second Assistant Editor Nicol Lud Key Grips Charles Kascioff, Alvit Hessar Gaffer Bert Hessar Computer Programmer [uncredited] Stefano Mainetti Master of Arms [uncredited] Massimo Vanni

PHILIPPINES CREW: Philippine Coordinator Benny Tornate Assistant Production Coordinator Ernie Barredo Location Manager Roland Taino Assistant Location Manager Edgard Taino Camera Assistant Ed Sequerada Art Director Vic Dabao Set Decorators Leonard Mediarito, Rene’ Mediarito Wardrobe Julie de Guzman Tailor Eddy de Guzman Stills Billy Carter Special Effects Rodolfo Torrente Assistant Stunt Coordinator Dante Abadessa Transport Manager Francisco Taino Key Grip Fred Marquez Gaffer Maio Ponce

Cast Brent Huff (Michael Ransom), Mary Stavin (Rosanna Boom), Richard Harris (Vic Jenkins), Mel Davidson (Kramet), Vic Diaz (Huan To), “Richard Raymond”/Ottaviano Dell'Acqua (Jimmy), “Alex McBride”/Massimo Vanni (Kelly Sellers), [uncredited] David Brass, Anthony East (Ruby), Jim Gaines (Frank, Jenkins' bodyguard), Paul Holme (Peter Roeg), Jim Moss (US Soldier), Michael Welborn (CIA Agent)

Review from the Trash On-Line blog:

During the late 80s the Italian production company Flora Film launched quite a few action and horror films that were shot in the Philippines and were directed by the legendary trash maestro Bruno Mattei. The most famous of these films was ZOMBI 3 which Mattei took over after Lucio Fulci left production. Mattei naturally took over ZOMBI 3 as he was already in the Philippines, shooting the sequel to STRIKE COMMANDO for Franco Gaudenzi's Flora Film.

The Filipinos and the Italians shot countless commando action films in the Philippines during the late 80s and STRIKE COMMANDO is probably the most entertaining of them all. I'd go as far as to call it the mother of all Filipino-lensed commando movies. Who could possibly forget the shameless imitation of RAMBO FIRST BLOOD PART 2, the endless yelling by Reb Brown or the countless explosions or Alex Vitale's demise?

One can wonder how a film like STRIKE COMMANDO went as far as to spawn a sequel and to be honest I often wonder myself. I am not aware if it was released theatrically or not but know it did well in the worldwide video market.

The character of Michael Ransom returns in STRIKE COMMANDO 2 (TRAPOLLA DIABOLICA in Italy) but this time he is played by Brent Huff instead of Reb Brown. That is probably the most obvious and most important flaw here. Brown was severely criticized for his performance in the original but at least he wasn't annoying. Huff is probably the most annoying lead Mattei ever worked with and Reb Brown is Marlon Brando compared to him. The female lead here is Mary Stavin, another annoying actress who joined Huff and Mattei once again in the superior BORN TO FIGHT. Many wonder how an oscar-nominated actor like Richard Harris ended up in such a cheap and trashy film like this one. I don't think he is proud of this film but Mattei must be as Harris delivers the finest performance you are going to see in any Mattei film.

This time Ransom returns to Vietnam to rescue his commander (Richard Harris of A MAN CALLED HORSE) who is being held captive at a camp of drug producers. Aided by a local tough girl (Mary Stavin), Ransom is sent to get Jenkins back.

What makes STRIKE COMMANDO 2 hard to watch is Mattei's failed attempt at comedy (he has admitted himself that comedy is a genre he can't touch) which is underlined by atrocious music that is supposed to make this funny. The interaction between Huff and Stavin is also supposed to be funny but the result is just mind-numbing due to their constant yelling and inability to act.

The action is not bad and there are even ninjas here, believe it or not! Ninjas were fashionable at the time so Mattei probably thought he should spice his movie up with ninjas, no matter if their presence made sense or not. As you can expect there are quite a few explosions and Huff gets to fire a machine gun while yelling at the top of his voice, just like Reb Brown did in the original.

STRIKE COMMANDO is one of those "so bad its good" films but its sequel is sadly so bad its almost unwatchable. Actually I managed to seat through the whole film during my second attempt. Overall I had a pleasant time watching it although I am still trying to forget this is connected to one of Bruno's greatest masterpieces. Proceed with caution!

Paul Cooke's review from the Euro Action Movies blog:

‘‘You can’t kill me, you owe me your life’’

Somehow the production team managed to attain the signature to contract of superstar Richard Harris for this sequel to the highly infectious ‘Strike Commando’, who perhaps was looking to saddle up for a successful movie ride somewhat long in the wake of the ‘A Man Called Horse’ movie series. Maybe he had even been led to believe that he was to be appearing in the European version of ‘Rambo: First Blood Part 2’ or perhaps he just needed to pay off a bar tab. Whatever the reason director Mattei must have readdressed his usual thought process for film making as the tone of the final product swings from plain daft, even by his illustrious standards, to semi serious whenever Richard Harris is in frame.

The film starts with Reb Brown replacement star Brent Huff reliving a nightmare in Vietnam, with his superior officer Richard Harris pulling him out of a tight spot as explosions and gunfire sound out all around them. Setting the parameters for the style of the movie, along with the macho male bonding between the two lead stars, immediately borrows heavily from the familiar opening sequence of ‘Apocalypse Now’, but you just know that when this script is from Claudio Fragasso there really is nothing quite like the smell of a bad screenplay!

Soon the film kicks into familiar territory as Richard Harris’ character Vic Jenkins disappears after the war, to then be discovered by Huff’s soldier persona Michael Ransom to be still alive. He tracks him down, only to then see him abducted by a Russian backed militia heavily involved with drug production in the jungles of Burma. The CIA want their distinguished retired ranking officer back and are willing to pay the ransom in diamonds, as demanded by the captors, and of course Brent Huff steps up to be the man to go in after him. Chance to repay a debt of honour for Jenkins saving his life, as well as him being his friend.

With Richard Harris away from the respectful thespian duties Bruno Mattei gets to deliver what he is best at. The Action picks up and the fun kicks in with Brent Huff dominating the silly proceedings we are more gleefully accustomed to from this combination of ‘B’ movie schooling.

When bar owner Mary Stavin is introduced as Rosanna Boom she gets to do her best interpretation of Karen Allen’s boisterous character Marion Ravenwood, straight out of ‘Raiders Of The Lost Ark’. It doesn’t take long before both she and Huff are fighting a group of Ninjas along with the requisite Russian bad guy, all played out in a deliriously preposterous fashion. Brent Huff teams up with the annoyingly loud Stavin, who is outdone only by the truly awful musical composition playing throughout on the background track like a very amateur vaudeville presentation. Together armed with the diamonds they discover not only the whereabouts of Richard Harris but also the revealing truth behind the whole scenario. The drug production encampment gets breached in true ‘Rambo’ style.

Apart from maybe his career at the time the only other thing that the miscast Richard Harris gets to kill is a big bug, leaving the charismatically daft Huff to be held entirely responsible for the loss of a rain forest with his wooden acting alone.

The overall style of filming is to Mattei’s credit as the background scenery is beautifully captured and star Brent Huff is very well suited to his role. He energetically seems to get to perform all of his own stunts, as well as act without the need for a script.

3.5 Exploding Huts

Review from the Cold Fusion Video website:

The first time was for his country! And for his crew of blown up strike commandos! And for that little kid named Lao that he promised he would take to Disneyland where the popcorn grows on trees! This time though...it's personal!

Strike Commando returns with his most vengeance-filled mission ever as he beats the Philippine jungles (standing in for the Nam) looking for his mentor, the man who saved his life back when they were both fighting the Man's dirty little war!

Major Vic Jenkins has been reported killed, but Strike Commando is told by an old buddy that Vic is really alive and that his death had been faked and he is being held prisoner by the CIA or the KGB or the PTA or someone. Both Strike Commando and my reactions were immediate! Strike Commando immediately went down to the local CIA office to bust some heads while I wondered just who the hell Major Vic Jenkins was.

If you're watching Strike Commando 2, it's only because you've seen Strike Commando, so it stands to reason that you are familiar with everyone in the Strike Commando universe. There's Strike Commando himself (Rebbo), there's the evil traitor for the KGB (Colonel Radek), there's the big Russian (Jakoda) and there's Rebbo's almost-foster-child, Lao. Of course, everyone but Rebbo ended up dead by the time Strike Commando had played out, but I think I speak for all fans when I say that we wouldn't be adverse to bringing any (and preferably all) of these folks back for some old "not even death can prevent me from getting my revenge on you, Rebbo!" shenanigans.

The director and writer one-two punch that was Bruno Mattei and Claudio Fragasso have a little something extra up their sleeve with this entry though. Not content to let Rebbo rest on his laurels, they invent a whole new slew of traitorous dogs and evil Russians for him to contend with. And there's also something different about Rebbo this go around. Let me see if I can put my finger on it. Oh, Rebbo isn't Rebbo anymore! That's it!

For those of us who were raised on Rebbo, the blonde, affably violent Reb Brown will always be our Strike Commando. For this mission though, Rebbo gets made over into a dark haired, surly brute played by Brent Huff. While it's a bit like watching Timothy Dalton taking over for Roger Moore, Huffbo had already proven his metal in running around a low budget jungle when he and Tawny Kitaen humiliated themselves for our enjoyment in The Perils of Gwendoline. Though Huffbo doesn't have any scenes where he makes anguished speeches about Disneyland and the genie that lives there that will grant any wish (I wish that Rebbo would return for a Strike Commando 3!), he does manage to belt out Rebbo's catchphrase, "die you bastards!" thus throwing a bone to the hardcore Strike Commando fan.

Bruno and Claudio knew that asking Huffbo to carry this picture by himself just wouldn't be fair to him so they spent every single penny they had, borrowed money from friends, raided their kids' piggybanks, held bake sales, collected scrap metal, sold their plasma and signed up two-time Oscar nominated Richard Harris for the part of Major Vic! I haven't done the research, so correct me if I'm wrong, but this is probably the only time an Oscar-nominated actor and Bruno Mattei have ever crossed paths outside of the dry cleaners!

Yes, years before he ran Harry Potter's school, Albus Dumbledore was running a heroin operation deep in the steamy jungle! Despite Richard looking thoroughly confused as to just what he's doing in this (I heard he only did it because he loved Strike Commando so much, but that might just be a rumor I made up), inexplicably, this role was not one of the two the Academy would nominate him for!

Normally, any other Italian director would put it on auto-pilot once he secured the services of an actor that normal moviegoers had actually heard of. Not Bruno Mattei! He says, sure, I got one of the grand old men of the cinema even while he still had some good roles ahead of him, but I want to make Strike Commando 2 so much more than the sum of its Oscar-nominated and The Perils of Gwendoline-veteran parts! What if the evil Russian guy in the white ice cream suit employed a bunch of ninjas! And what if Huffbo had to make his escape in a hooker bus that he commandeered! Well, shoot, you'd have me forgetting just who the heck Rebbo ever was!

All of these antics are precipitated because of Huffbo's misguided attempt to bust Major Vic out of a CIA safehouse. The next thing we know, we're getting one of those hostage videotapes where Major Vic is saying that his captors need $10 million in diamonds or they'll hand him over to the KGB, who will extract all the secrets he knows. Since Huffbo is the only guy in the room that owes Major Vic his life, he finds himself in the jungle with $10 million worth of diamonds in his fannypack and a mission to bring Major Vic back dead or alive!

The first stop on any search and rescue mission in the jungle is the local watering hole where a fellow can pick up a drink or six and an annoying female companion whom he can bicker with constantly while they get into and out of jams of varying degree. Huffbo meets up with Rosanna, the proprietress of the Moulin Rouge while she's engaged in a drinking game with one of the natives. First one to belch loses!

Once that's mercifully over, the white Russian and the ninjas roll in and fight Huffbo and his new gal pal. When she "remembered" to tell Huffbo that she had ten sticks of dynamite under the bar, I was practically rubbing my hands together in giddy anticipation of what was just around the corner. Is there anything more satisfying in cinema than watching cheap, thatched roof dwellings in the wilderness blow up over and over and over?

Once they get Rosie's bar blown up, she and Huffbo head off to rescue Major Vic. After this is accomplished, Major Vic gives a half-hearted speech about how the war for Huffbo was still going on inside Huffbo and you're just thinking, "hurry up and turn traitor so we can get the torture scenes and subsequent bust out and revenge killings under way." And once they are under way, the movie kicks into gear with Rosie going undercover as a hooker (glad to see that cop show cliche worked into a jungle action movie with ninjas), Rosie and Huffbo's escape and their return once Huffbo finds out that Rosie left the diamonds with the trick she killed.

But what of the Strike Commando 2 you didn't see? What about all the craziness that went on after hours on the set? Actually, you did see that. It was called Zombie 4: After Death. In an effort to recoup the costs for Strike Commando 2 (thanks Richard!), while Bruno shot it during the day, Claudio used all the gear to shoot his zombie movie during the night! Even Huffbo got in on the two-for-one action when he convinced his then-fiancee Candice Daly to star in Zombie 4: After Death, so that she wouldn't miss him while he was gone making Strike Commando 2! While that sounds like a good idea in theory, in practice it must have left a little to be desired since Ms. Daly's biography shows that she married someone else that year and was later found dead at the end of 2004. The one aspect of the intersection of these two projects that remains unanswered is the one that everyone has always wondered about: Did Richard Harris ever run into Zombie 4: After Death star and gay porn star, Jeff Stryker?

Review from the Internet Movie Database:

I bet most of you reading this are baffled by the fact tht they made a sequel to that wretched film, Strike Commando. Well while I agree that Strike Commando was one of the worst action movies ever, it also has to be one of the most unintentionally hilarious films ever. Reb Brown's over-the-top performance and plenty of plot holes, terrible music, and stolen scenes from Rambo: First Blood Part 2 made for quite an enjoyable and memorable experience. Hence, the film was successful enough at least for producer Franco Gaudenzi to finance a series of similar rip-off action films like Double Target, Cop Game, Robowar, and eventually a full-fledged sequel.

Brent Huff stars this time around as Michael Ransom, who in a very Apocalypse Now -fashion wakes up one morning and peers through his window blinds in his shabby apartment. Of course some army bigwigs drop by to charge him with a special mission to rescue his old war buddy Richard Harris (The Cassandra Crossing). Now this is the strangest aspect about this film; how the heck did Richard Harris end up in a Bruno Mattei film? In a recent interview, Harris claimed to be retired at the time when this film was produced, but there he is plain as day! Anyway, Huff saves Harris from the CIA only for Harris to be kidnapped by a KGB agent Mel Davidson (who actually seems more like the Gestapo guy from Raiders of the Lost Ark than anything else) and his army of ninjas. Here, the plot gets downright silly as Huff tries to buy back Harris with some diamonds while he hooks up with local tough-girl Mary Stavin (The Opponent) in what must be the worst female performance I have seen! Anyway, Harris ends up working for the bad guys in the end, so that leaves Huff and Stavin to go on the war path and kill as many communists as possible while retrieving the diamonds.

Lots of well-done slow motion explosions highlight this completely typical late-80's Mattei action film with its fair share of amusing moments. Although the film does simultaneously rip off Raiders of the Lost Ark, Rambo: First Blood Part 2, Predator, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, AND Romancing the Stone, the funniest aspect has to be how Mattei cranked up the camera speed for all the fight scenes to make them look faster. The results are downright hilarious and fake-looking, with Huff and the ninjas zipping around like the keystone cops. The final battle between Huff and Davidson is particularly hilarious in this way since it looks like they recorded this scene in fast forward! Of course with every Mattei film there's a good share of ripped-off scenes, like the woman drinking-contest scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark, and one part where a big thug jumps out with a sword only for Huff to shoot him like nothing.

This film was made almost simultaneously with about seven other Bruno Mattei films, somewhere after Zombi 3 and Double Target, but before Robowar and Cop Game, judging by which stock footage appears in which film. Most of the explosions in this movie went on to be reused in Robowar and Cop Game (especially Cop Game, which was about 40% stock footage anyhow). Even though this film tries so hard to come off as serious, one can't help but laugh at the many inept moments which litter the film. Huff and Harris are good actors, but both kinda sleepwalk through their roles. The supporting cast is fairly good as well, with Massimo Vanni (1990: The Bronx Warriors, Fearless) as a CIA agent and Ottaviano Dell'Acqua (Rats: Nights of Terror, Cut and Run) as one of the bad guys. I enjoyed the movie mostly because of the good musical score by Stefano Mainetti but also in part because Bruno blows stuff up real good. The ending is unddeniably exciting once the exploding happens and doesn't let up until the cheese-fest finale.

A rare treat if you can find it, though it's not nearly as hilariously bad as its predecessor. This film does contain one of the most memorable quotes from a Mattei/Fragasso film...

KGB agent - "I hate women!" Girl - "So you're into guys then?" KGB agent - "I also hate fags!"

Cop Game (1988)

1988 - Cop Game (Flora Film)

[original Italian title “Giochi Di Poliziotto”]

Director “Bob Hunter”/Bruno Mattei, [uncredited] Claudio Fragasso Story/Screenplay Rossella Drudi, [uncredited] Claudio Fragasso Producer Franco Gaudenzi Music Al Festa Cinematography Luigi Ciccarese, Riccardo Grassetti Editor Bruno Mattei Casting Joe Collins Art Direction Vic Dabao, “Bart”/Mimmo Scavia Set Decoration Jun Carlos, Don Reganit Makeup Artist Franco Di Girolamo Production Supervisor Rick Hasserot Production Manager Giovanni Paolucci Dubbing Editor Nick Alexander Sound Tom Morgan Special Effects Rodolfo Torrente Camera Operator “Al Hessar”/Aldo Chessari Gaffer “Bart Hessar”/Umberto Chessari, Mario Ponce Key Grips Alvit Hessar, Fred Maequez Stills Billy Ruello Location Manager Arnel Abaneilla Continuity “Liliane Hann”/Liliana Ginanneschi Transportation Manager Nelson Palma Accountant Mary Hope Production Secretary Angel Vallo Camera Assistants Ruben Hundit, Raul Mattews First Assistant Editors Rita Triunph, Terry Neg Second Assistant Editors Nicol Lud, Cynthya Mattews Philippines Co-ordinator Benny Ternate Assistant Production Co-ordinator Ernie Barredo Camera Assistants Orly Bombay, Arturo Barredo Set Decorators Don Reganit, Jun Carlos Wardrobe Julie de Guzman Tailor Lito Mozol Assistant Stunt Co-ordinator Dante Abadessa Titles/Opticals Stefano Mafera

Cast Brent Huff (Morgan), Max Laurel (Hawk), Romano Puppo (Captain 'Skipper' Kirk), Candice Daly (Annie), Werner Pochath (Kasler), Robert Marius (Major Shooman), “Alan Collins”/Luciano Pigozzi (Chief of Investigations), “Clyde Anderson”/Claudio Fragasso (Corporal), Don Wilson (Sergeant Ludge), “Alex McBride”/Massimo Vanni (Head of the Killers), “Richard Raymond”/Ottaviano Dell'Acqua (Soldier), [uncredited] Jim Gaines (Ludge's Henchman), Brett Halsey (The General)

Haemovore Rex's review from the Internet Movie Database:

A short while back, I reviewed a film on IMDb called Delta Force Commando. The film proved to fail in just about every conceivable way possible with poorly conceived and executed action scenes, some atrociously lazy acting and universally bland characterisations. In short, the film represented exactly how NOT to make an action B-movie.

Well if that pile of poop represented one end of the scale, then the film reviewed here must surely represent the opposite end of the spectrum. In short this one shows exactly how a B-movie should be filmed!

The always great value for money Brent Huff stars in this and by gum, does he put in one hell of an intense performance! If there was an Oscar for on screen vituperation then judging on this performance, Huff would certainly be in with a big chance of scooping it! In fact, such scenes provide much of the enjoyment to be derived from this. In particular one scene has Huff letting off a particularly creative tirade of contumelious diction after which his partner dryly retorts, 'You took the words right out of my mouth.'

Aside from the script and performances, the action scenes are also great fun. This being a Bruno Mattei film, as you can probably expect, there's a fair bit of recycled footage from other films in here. Most notable, I picked out some of the explosive segments from Mattei's own Double Target and the infamous model car chase from Antonio Margheriti's Ark Of The Sun God. Far from a criticism however, the blatant obviousness that the film was made on the cheap actually makes it even more endearing especially when it is compared to some of the hugely budgeted, but ultimately utter crap offerings that Hollywood so often churns out these days!

For Mattei fans and B-Movie lovers alike, this is well worth a watch!

Aylmer's review from his website:

Bruno Mattei, probably the Ed Wood of the Italian cinematic scene, once again demonstrates that he has no talent whatsoever. Here we have a film which fails in so many aspects at once that one cannot help but love every antagonizing minute of it.

Huff and Laurel (two no-name, Z-movie action stars) are a couple of cops who patrol the streets of Manilla, shooting baddies and roughing up a few lowlifes here and there. Somehow, they get caught up in a web of political conspiracies and the like and end up in Vietnam, blowing the crap out of the 'Cong. The two track down Major Shooman (played by Robert Marius of Alien from the Deep), an eccentric leader of a breakaway military force (a scene which completely rips off Apocalypse Now). Anyway, after "accomplishing" their "top-secret" mission, the two go back to Saigon, or Manilla, or wherever, and Laurel is offed by hitmen (led by Massimo Vanni of 1990 The Bronx Warriors and Street Law). Suddenly, Huff is the target of an elite terrorist organization in league with Russian spies who have somehow infiltrated the government. ...What?

From start to finish (well some idiot taped over the first 5 minutes of the movie with "Guiding Light", so I can't say for sure with the start), the film revels in the complete incompetence of its makers. Bruno Mattei, famous for his other turkeys Night of the Zombies and Rats: Nights of Terror, never fails to prove that he has the mind of a delinquent 4-year-old and the artistic talent of a retarded hamster. Equally incompetent Claudio Fragasso once again provides the confusing script, and even has a cameo as one of the baddies. Aside from the two leading men, the casting is unusually good for this type of D-movie. Romano Puppo (Day of the Cobra, After the Fall of New York) and Werner Pochath (Brothers in Blood, Thunder Warrior III) have substantial roles as a couple of military officers, Puppo by the name of "Captain Kirk". (In one scene, Huff actually alludes Kirk's name to "Star Trek"!) Of some mention, this is one of the first films to star Don 'The Dragon' Wilson, who later became a huge martial arts movie superstar, as one of the baddies. In one of the funnier lines in the film, Laurel explains to him, "when my friend here gets angry, he makes Bruce Lee look like a pussy." (!)

Lots of action and explosions, but horrible camerawork ruins it all. Mattei places the camera all at the side of the action, always medium shots, always flat. Sometimes the camera is placed so far away from the action that one would be hard pressed to tell what's going on, and sometimes they don't even bother to aim at the action at all! There's some nice slow motion (some neat explosions, shootings, a bunch of killers pumping a car full of lead, etc.) and erratic stock footage, but nothing noteworthy or denoting any sense of "style" these Italian films often rely upon. The only really "exciting" action scene completely rips off an Antonio Margheriti film Ark of the Sun God by blatantly re-using the cheesy hot-wheels car chase ...I swear to god, the exact same footage and everything! There's even a few frames where you can see David Warbeck driving the car! Add to this the poorly integrated vietnam footage, the thousands of historical inaccuracies (yeah, the Vietcong had lots of M-16's...), and a jumpy plot which goes is several directions at once, and you've got a typically hilarious piece of Italian late-80's action trash. The acting, editing, cinematography, and direction were all just as empty-headed as Al (director of Fatal Frames) Festa's goofy soundtrack. Huff screams through his lines as though he is trying to compete with the obnoxiously loud guitar music. This is undoubtedly the most incompetently produced film I've seen yet (besides a few unmentionably bad titles I won't mention here), but remains hilariously incompetent enough to never cease to entertain. It's a rip-roaring riot of a good time and a perfect feature for parties or bad movie festivals. Hilariously, amazingly.... awful!

Bruno Mattei, I salute you!

Review from the Digital Conquest DVD website:

Wow, this is one for the books, really. Huff and Laurel play investigators on a case involving military officials that are being murdered by an elite group of commando assassins. Eventually they find themselves mixed up in a massive conspiracy as well as getting caught in the middle of out and out war on the front lines of Vietnam! There was some talk about drugs and terrorism also, but mostly things just get blown up! Have you ever found yourself in emotional turmoil over what kind of movie to watch? Torn between your desire for fierce action and laugh out loud comedy? Well then, Cop Game is here to solve that problem for you! Lots of recycled footage and a pretty impressive body count are on display. Mix that in with Vietnamese go-go dancers aiming their silly choreography right at the camera and some of the most hilarious dialogue ever recorded on film and you’ve got a good time waiting to happen! And man, that theme song! Huff delivers nearly all of his lines in a way that makes you wonder if someone on the set insulted his mother right before every scene! You just won’t believe this one… Get some friends together and enjoy this uncut widescreen print presented to you in English language with Japanese subtitles.

Robowar (1988)

1988 – Robowar (Flora Film)

[original Italian title “Robowar - Robot Da Guerra”; also released on German DVD as “Robo Man” and on Spanish VHS as "Robo Savas Belasi"]

Director Bruno Mattei Story Rossella Drudi, Claudio Fragasso Screenplay Rossella Drudi Producer Franco Gaudenzi Music Al Festa Cinematography Richard Grassetti Editor Daniele Alabiso Casting Joe Collins Art Direction Vic Dabao, “Bart”/Mimmo Scavia Set Decoration Jun Carlos, Don Reganit Makeup Artist Franco Di Girolamo Production Supervisor Rick Hasserot Production Manager Giovanni Paolucci Assistant Production Manager Luciano Pigozzi Post-Production Dialogue Editor Eugine Luotto Sound Tom Morgan Special Effects Francesco Paolocci, Gaetano Paolocci, Rodolfo Torrente Stunt Co-ordinator Massimo Vanni Assistant Stunt Co-ordinator Dante Abadessa Location Manager Arnel Abaneilla Camera Assistants Arturo Barredo, Orly Bombay, “Raul Mattews”/Raul Filippo Mattei, “Ruben Hundit”/Mauro Di Croce Key Grips “Alvit Hessar”/Victorio Cessari, Fred Maequez Camera Operator “Al Hessar”/Aldo Chessari Gaffer “Bart Hessar”/Umberto Chessari Wardrobe Julie De Guzman Continuity “Liliane Hann”/Liliana Ginanneschi Tailor Lito Mozol Transportation Manager Nelson Palma Gaffer Mario Ponce Stills Billy Ruello

Cast Reb Brown (Major Murphy Black), Catherine Hickland (Virgin), Mel Davidson (Mascher), Max Laurel (Quang), John P. Dulaney (Arthur 'Papa Doc' Bray), Jim Gaines (Sonny Peel), “Alex McBride”/Massimo Vanni (Larry Guarino), Romano Puppo (Corporal Corey), “Clyde Anderson”/Claudio Fragasso (The Hunter) [“Alan Collins”/Luciano Pigozzi ended up on the cutting room floor]

Fred Adelman's review from the Critical Condition website:

ROBOWAR (1988) - You gotta love those Italians. When they see a bandwagon, they are the first to jump on it. This is director Bruno Mattei's (using his "Vincent Dawn" pseudonym) take on PREDATOR with a little bit of TERMINATOR and ROBOCOP thrown in. When the experimental Omega-1 prototype cyborg goes on the fritz and starts killing soldiers in the Philippine jungle on its' first mission, the powers-that-be hire the BAM (Bad Asses Motherfuckers) military group, led by Major Murphy Black (Reb Brown of STRIKE COMMANDO - 1987), to stop the menace. The only thing is, they forgot to tell Major Black and his group what they are hunting and give him a bullshit story about stopping rebels in the territory. The team go into the jungle and find corpses gutted, hanging from trees (sound familiar?). They run into guerilla rebels and have many firefights and in one of those fights rescue missionary worker Virgin (Catherine Hickland). Mascher (Mel Davidson), the only one in the group that knows the real reason why they are there, finally tells Black and his group the truth after they are being picked-off one-by-one by Omega-1. Pretty soon it's down to only Black and Virgin as they try to fight off Omega-1 before they are killed. Black surprisingly finds out (via a cassette tape left to him by Mascher in case of his death), that Omega-1 is partially human (the head and brain only) and was once Black's best friend, whom he thought was killed in the last war they fought in together. Black uses this to his advantage and blows up Omega-1 with a bomb at the top of a waterfalls.

Filled with extreme bits of gore and plenty of bullet hits, explosions and other carnage, ROBOWAR is never boring, even though you will sit there slack-jawed finding all the similarities of the films mentioned above. Reb Brown makes a poor-man's Schwarzenegger, but the rest of the cast, including Alex McBride, Max Laurel, John P. Dulaney, Jim Gaines and Romano Puppo handle themselves nicely, even making some bad AIDS and racial jokes, before being dispatched. Mattei also made the films SHOCKING DARK (1989 and released in Italy as TERMINATOR 2!), a scene-for-scene rip-off of Jim Cameron's ALIENS and CRUEL JAWS (1994), which you can guess is a rip-off of. As far as unofficial remakes go, Mattei delivers the goods, even if you feel a little delirious after watching them. None of these films have a legitimate release in the US (for legal reasons), but can be picked-up at various on-line distributors, including Midnight Video. Also known as ROBOMAN. Not Rated.

Review from the Cold Fusion Video website:

It was 1988. Only a year had passed since Strike Commando had invaded our cinemas and our hearts. Strike Commando fever was everywhere, from guys dying their hair Reb Brown Blonde to an attendance spike at Disneyland following the Strike Commando's heartfelt endorsement of it to a dying native boy. Almost as easily as he had defeated the Big Russian twice on the big screen, Rebbo had become an silver screen icon along side the likes of Trash from Bronx Warriors and Bronx Warriors 2, the adult dwarf who played the child of a woman in Burial Ground and kept trying suckle her, and Dean Jones. Eventually, the inevitable question came up for the team behind Strike Commando - what next?

How do you follow up what is arguably the perfect mix of cheap jungle action, nonsensical dialogue, and Big Russian mayhem? The obvious answer is to make Strike Commando 2 and director Bruno Mattei, never one to turn down an obvious paycheck, went ahead and did so that year. Rebbo, having accomplished all could in the Strike Commando universe, chose to hand off the coveted Strike Commando title to Brent Huff and while Huffbo-mania never reached the heights that his predecessor's did, Strike Commando 2 was (and still) remains the second best Strike Commando movie ever!

If the public thought that this meant the end of the Holy Trinity of Reb, Bruno and idea man Claudio Fragasso, they need not have worried. Just because Bruno shot Strike Commando 2 didn't mean there wasn't time to work on four other films in 1988. And one of those would see his final, most explosive teaming with Reb and Claudio of all! Sparing all expense both in terms of budget, actual execution, and most of all, idea-wise, they concocted a steaming jungle stew of guys shooting stuff, blowing up stuff, and getting the stuff kicked out of them by technology run amok!

Have you ever sat through Predator and thought to yourself how much you'd like to see the same movie, but without the cool space monster, the big name actors, the special effects, and technical expertise of John McTiernan? Did you ever watch Robocop and say to your buddies, "you know what would make this movie really rad? If Robocop looked a dude in a motorcycle helmet, shoulder pads, and black fetish outfit and was lurching around a jungle reducing no name Italian actors to pulpy goo." And once Strike Commando was over, did you stifle a sob whispering, "please God, just one more adventure with Rebbo in the jungle! One more Rebbo mission! I would give everything I am and everything I have just to see his stupefied expression in between scenes of him grunting while opening up on some native with his assault weapon one more time!" Well, I'm sorry for all the atheists out there, but Robowar is proof positive that there is a Big Man Upstairs and he's listening to the pleas of His followers who love low budget foreign rip-offs of successful Hollywood movies! Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition, Rebbo!

Always looking for ways to improve his movies, or at least make sure they come in on time, Bruno takes the essential elements that made Strike Commando such solid entertainment and jacks them up to eleven! Thus, we have Rebbo in the jungle with his dirty half-dozen or so shooting up the foliage almost from the beginning. Gone are the jungle death matches against Big Russians. Gone are the idiotic, but ultimately endearing speeches about popcorn trees and genies who grant your every wish at Disneyland. Scaled way back is that trademark Rebbo wit that had him laughing in the face of metal teeth. In their place is a harder, grittier Rebbo who is as prone to dropping the f-bomb as he is to dropping some jungle rebel who happens by. While movies like Predator have characters announcing that they ain't got time to bleed, Rebbo doesn't even have time to say it, let alone do it!

Rebbo is the leader of a military team called BAM. These guys are so hardcore that I can't even repeat what BAM stands for! Okay, I'll give you a hint. "Mutha" is somewhere in there. Just before the mission begins, I can only assume that Rebbo is deep undercover on his boat with his teammates since he's strutting around in a powder blue half shirt and matching slacks (with white belt!). I'm guessing he was probably trying to avoid the paparazzi.

Honestly, I can't recall precisely what their mission was. I know that Omega One, the military's newest, perfect, ultimate weapon had a brain fart and starting shooting down our helicopters in the jungle and that it needed to be stopped, but Rebbo and the rest of BAM were in the dark on that. They had an "advisor" attached to their team named Mascher and he turned out to be the creator of Omega One. (Why isn't he called Robowar? Omega One sounds like some type of fish oil supplement.)

Mascher spends most the movie keeping what he knows from Rebbo so Rebbo and BAM have to periodically threaten to shoot and/or slit his throat to get him to parcel out the information. Eventually he reveals a secret about Robowar that threatens to tear Rebbo's very soul apart! Well, at least it induces battlefield flashbacks, but in Rebbo's world that's pretty much the same thing.

Robowar isn't the only problem Rebbo comes up against. If you grew up in the jungle like I did, you know that it's full of deadly intrigue! Every step could be your last! One BAM member gets harassed by a wimpy looking snake. Another steps into a bear trap, no doubt set for those jungle bears we hear so much about. Don't believe me? Check out The Jungle Book - it had a bear in it! Then you have the guerrillas who are roaming around shooting people. This is how Rebbo hooks up with Virgin. Virgin? That's what the credits said. Normally, I'd be prone to making a snide comment about how proud Catherine Hickland must be of this role, but she seems to normally work in soap operas, so the role of Virgin in a Bruno Mattei movie may actually count as a "big break." Plus she used to be married to David Hasselhoff, so she's probably suffered enough.

Virgin though proves to be more than just a blonde bimbo (besides that part is already filled, right Rebbo?) as she is the last survivor of a group of people from the United Nations who were setting up hospitals in the jungle. There's some jabber about a cholera epidemic and moaning about guerrillas destroying hospitals and killing children, but where Rebbo and I really started paying attention was when she said she was a chemist and could make napalm! That's a handy skill to have for a gal named Virgin being ruthlessly pursued in the jungle by an unstoppable killing machine!

Once Rebbo gets the rest of BAM killed off by Robowar, it's just him and Virgin trying to stay one step ahead of the unreasoning deathbot! They take refuge in one of Virgin's hospitals (this must be one that the guerrillas didn't completely destroy - see they aren't that bad!) where Virgin makes napalm from the stuff lying around. Let's see. Dirty bedpan, used hypo, two Vicodin, a rubber glove, and PRESTO! Instant napalm! A gal named Virgin might not have much future as a girlfriend, Rebbo, but you might consider putting her on BAM if you ever re-form it.

Rebbo goes off to lure Robowar to the hospital and the moment we've waited well over an hour for is finally here: Robowar vs. Rebbo! After whupping Big Russian ass twice, you knew the only next logical opponent could be the half human, half cyborg murder machine whose death toll in the movie is unsurpassed! Except by Rebbo's of course. Rebbo was pretty much shooting at anything that moved all movie long. He and BAM must have been carrying a small arms depot in their backpacks as many rounds as they unloaded on the guerrillas, flimsy huts, jeeps, and trees.

Robowar pretty much has his way with Rebbo before Virgin rolls in to deliver some of that hospital acid that's always lying around examining rooms to Robowar's head. Robowar may be an unstoppable killing machine, but a bottle of acid to his head short circuits him and renders him malfunctioning long enough that Rebbo and Virgin can escape the hospital and blow it up. "Thank goodness that's over," says Rebbo! "I mean, if that acid affected him that much, Robowar must be Roboscrap after having his ass blown up in a hospital!" Rebbo must not have seen Halloween II and Halloween IV or he would have known that getting your ass blown up in a hospital is no more than a scraped knee to unstoppable rampaging freaks!

The film ends the only way a confrontation between the worst of modern technology and the best of modern man could - atop a jungle waterfall! But what's this? No punches thrown? No headbutts launched? No curse-filled vows to destroy one another's way of life? No, the battle this time isn't between two people, but between Robowar's high tech upgrade and the last remnants of his humanity. He asks Rebbo to do what Rebbo couldn't when Robowar was Rebbo's best friend mortally wounded on the battlefield before he was turned into this cybernetic monstrosity. He asks Rebbo to kill him! After waiting an appropriately respectful amount of time (5-6 seconds), Rebbo says, "will do!," punches the self destruct button on the remote control, and jumps off the waterfall followed by fiery chunks of Robowar.

If you have any doubts about what you're in for, one of the BAM guys also played the traitorous cyborg Ratchet in 2019: After The Fall Of New York as well as Trash's father in Bronx Warriors 2. Easily another winner from Rebbo and friends. The moment in the film where Rebbo throws a knife at a guy impaling him on a wall, turns to the camera, winks and says, "don't move" encapsulates everything great about the Rebbo-Mattei-Fragasso axis of exploitation. I just don't understand why they didn't call it Rebbowar.

Review from the Horror Theatre Video website:

Bruno Mattei gathered a bunch of B-movie actors, threw them into the jungle, and then ripped off the basic plotline from "Predator", ripped off whole lines of dialogue from "Predator", ripped off the irrelevant action sequences from "Predator", he even ripped off the "who-played-whom"-type closing credits from "Predator"! The only difference is that the monster here is a robot instead of an alien. A very weird experience - check out the "monster's" kiddie voice!

A group of ultra-tough commandos with at least one ‘aka’ each, led by Major Murphy Black go into the unfriendly Philippines jungle in order to investigate a strange military plane crash. Accompanying them is a shadowy character called Mascher, who knows more than he says. There, after disposing of more than a 100 guerrillas that happen to be in the area, they encounter the horror of ROBOWAR…

Without giving away any of the plot, the robot proves very difficult to take down, and most of the mission's commandos don't live to tell about it. It may be "taking" plotlines form other action films, but it doesn't mean it isn't skillful and exciting. Lots of actions, a little flesh, and some blood and gore make this a good bet.

Review from the Trash Online website:

SYNOPSIS: ‘Target missing…On Target…Amplify Signal…Drug Research…Elevation Coordinates…Read My Shorts…Doctor Frequency…Speeding Ticket…RECEIVE…RECEIVE’.

These are (I think) some of the immortal lines that writer Claudio Fragasso (also known as Claude Fragass in some films) wrote for one of the most important characters ever created in an Italian exploitation film. Omega-1, or as the end title screen caption identifies him as: ROBOWAR. BAM (Bad-Add Motherfuckers) a group of ultra-tough commandos with at least one ‘aka’ each, led by Major Marphy Black (I don’t make spelling mistakes, this is the name given in the end titles) go into the unfriendly Philippines jungle in order to investigate a strange military plane crash. Accompanying them is a shadowy character called Mascher, who knows more than he says. There, after disposing of more than a 100 guerrillas that happen to be in the area, they encounter the horror of ROBOWAR…

PLOT: Fragasso apparently knows how to write both hard-boiled (all the exchanges between the BAM and Mascher) and more technical dialog (the airplane pilot refers repeatedly to a ‘breakdown in memory bank’). Where he truly excels though is in his own character : The Omega-1 is the ultimate killing machine, wearing an impressive motorcycle helmet and a black armor and can pop-up anywhere at any time, without getting noticed1. This increases the tension to almost unbearable levels, as you can never be sure who will be his next victim. The ultimate touch is the aforementioned monologue, somewhere between a robot and a surrealist manifesto. Each viewing reveals additional layers of lines and I would strongly advise viewers to see if they can decipher additional lines uttered by the Omega-1. 1: note that the BAM team also has this ability : At some point they encounter a group of guerillas chasing and killing some people. They stand by the side of the road, facing the massacre, have a little discussion on whether they should intervene and after only one woman has survived the guerillas suddenly realize that by now the BAM team is standing next to them ).

END CREDITS: As is the case with the whole film the end credits are unique. Each character is shown with his name and the character’s name appearing on-screen, much like Norman Warren’s INSEMINOID. It should be noted that Massimo Vanni and Jim Gaines have their character names mixed-up. I cannot confirm this, but given that one actor is black and the other white this could be a clever anti-racist message from whoever designed those credits. This conclusion is reinforced by the fact that Catherine Hickland’s character is billed as ‘Virgin’ although she is clearly called Virginia during the film.