1986 – Ultimax Force (F. Puzon Film Enterprises Inc)
[sometimes listed as “Ultimate Force”; released in Germany as “Ruckus 2: Unternehmen ‘Condor’”]
Director “Wilfred”/Willy Milan Writer “Joe Avalon”/Jose Mari Avellana Producer "Pierre"/Pio C. Lee Executive Producer Conrad C. “Boy” Puzon Cinematography Joe Tutanes Music Willie Cruz Editor Mark Tarnate Supervising Film Editor Amang Sanchez Casting Director Noel Mallonga, [uncredited] Eric Hahn Production Design Ronnie Cross Art Director Benjie Kamaya Special Effects Edilberto Naelgas Sound Supervisor Rolly Ruta Sound Effects Editors Jun Cabrales, Rudy Cabrales 1st Assistant Director Rick Tarmann 2nd Assistant Director Febe Matthew 1st Unit Cameraman Rambo Bautista 2nd Unit Cameraman Roy Sangco Script Continuity Joyce Almazan Production Manager Tiny Romero, Glenn Parian In-Charge of Production John Leoncio Stunt Coordinator Roland Falcis Wardrobe Alex Argente, Rosemarie Bell Makeup Francis Perez Props/Setting Danny Javier, Waldo Masconie Transportation Manager Arthur Amarante Location Manager Albert Amarante
Cast Arnold Nicholas (Chris Burton), Jeremy Ladd (Dick Foster), Patrick Scott, Vincent Giffin, Eric “Hahns”/Hahn (Lloyd Mitchum), Rey Vhen (Colonel Minh), Vivian Cheung, Henry Strzalkowski, Ronnie Patterson (Dr Death), Kermith Simpson (Captain David Morgan), Audrey Miller (Audrey), Sauro Cotoco VC Officers Arthur Tien, James Yu, Yan Tuyen, Alfred Wong DEA Agents Tony Williams, Joe Collins, Andy Roberts, Steve Rogers Master Joe Gruta Monks Koji Sakada, Akiko Kawasi, Tony Kawasi, Andy Matsuka VC Soldiers W Stuntmen, Shadow Stuntmen [uncredited] Brad Collins, Debbie Henson
Tagline (taken from the UK DVD): Missing in action and presumed dead, Captain Dave Morgan turns up alive in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp. He has been able to send word out – but help better came quickly before the sadistic Colonel Minh, who runs the hellish internment stockade, succeeds in breaking Morgan’s body and spirit. Getting into Vietnam through the backdoor is easy enough, with the help of gunrunning soldiers of fortune but trying to ferret out the phantom POW camps, rescuing half dead prisoners and getting them out of ‘Nam is a pipe dream. No one has ever escaped from Colonel Minh’s hell hole and lived to tell the tale. That’s the kind of challenge Chris Burton and his boys look forward to. The Ultimate Maximum. Armed with their Ninja skills, forged on them by their Sensei Hiroshi; thirty-sixth direct descendant of the Iga-Ninja, Chris Burton, Dick Foster, Bill Norton and Mike Dobson form what mercenaries dub ‘The Ultimax Force” – what Colonel Minh will call the ‘Curse Of The Foreign Devils’. Fate has destined this final confrontation between Burton and Minh and there is no stopping now, the one-on-one that began years ago in the jungles of ‘Nam is now about to resume. Try as he might to prevent it by moving camp and sending out his elite blocking forces against the rescue party, Minh realises that his time is running out and that the unfinished duel between him and Burton will have to be brought to an end – death to the loser…
Aaaahhh… the 1980s! The sheer unbelievable Ninja craze! More cheap but cheerful Namsploitation flicks you can shake a severed foot at! Insane post-nuke mayhem! Yeah, those were the days… Enter Wilfred (aka Willie) Milan. In 1986 the auteur behind such cinematic Filipino gems (well, not really) as MAD WARRIOR (1985) and W IS WAR (either 1983 or 1986 – depending on which source you believe) – two lesser known entries into the crazy post-nuke cycle initiated by George Miller’s MAD MAX 2 – THE ROAD WARRIOR (1981) – tried his hands on a movie that mixes two of those very promising subgenres in order to make some quick cash. It’s Ninjas in Vietnam this time, and although this sounds too good to be true, ULTIMAX FORCE falls a bit short of my expectations. Perhaps you remember Cirio H. Santiago’s hugely entertaining action nonsense NAM ANGELS (aka HELL’S ANGELS IN VIETNAM, 1989), that has got quite a similar concept, but is ultimately more satisfying. In Santiago’s case a few ultra-tough members of the rocker gang Hell’s Angels go to Vietnam to rescue a bunch of prisoners, and this film works so well because no one (neither the makers nor the cast members) takes this ludicrous concept too seriously. By way of contrast ULTIMAX FORCE seems to be deadly serious in all respects. It tells the story of four Ninjas who search for one of their friends who is held prisoner in Vietnam by a sadistic camp commander. Will our tough-as-nails heroes manage to free their friend before he rots in one of those dirty hell-holes? Much to my surprise they fail, thanks to the evil Colonel Minh who prefers shooting his prisoners before the rescue team arrives, but that’s about the only original point in this cliché-ridden, lowbrow action flick. The characters are so extremely one-dimensional (particularly Arnold Nicholas as stone-faced leader Chris Burton and Rey Vhen as mean, arrogant Colonel Minh) that they make John Rambo look like the most complex character on earth.
Produced by Pierre C. Lee and written by Joe Avalon, ULTIMAX FORCE is at least good if dumb fun, provided that you lower your expectations immensely. PLATOON (1986) it ain’t – it has much more in common with the MISSING IN ACTION trilogy (1984 - 1988), only cheaper, sillier, and less spectacular. So our Ninjas (who have really cool names like Chris Burton, Dick Foster, Bill Norton and Mike Dobson) stroll through the jungles, talk stupid things and bump off Vietcongs by the dozens. Not in that order, necessarily. Mostly they rely on their machine guns to wipe out their enemies, but sometimes they also use grenades, chains and – of course – their swords. There are a few shootouts (often spiced up with the sight of unfortunate men being riddled with bullets), punch-ups, fights and explosions, but it’s neither spectacular nor the least bit memorable. Sure, it’s entertaining, in a naïve, trashy way, but it’s far from being great. At least ULTIMAX FORCE is a real Ninja movie, in contrast to all those chaotic Joseph Lai/Godfrey Ho/Tomas Tang patchwork flicks. The British DVD has got a very poor picture quality, and – to add insult to injury – it is supposed to be cut too! ULTIMAX FORCE was also released on tape in Germany on the Mike Hunter label under the title RUCKUS 2 – UNTERNEHMEN: “CONDOR”. For whatever reason they wanted to make us believe that it is a sequel to the action flick RUCKUS (1981) that stars Exorcist-babe Linda Blair. ULTIMAX FORCE is good, undemanding fun, shot on a low budget, with no redeeming values whatsoever. In other words: eighty minutes of stupid entertainment, no more, no less.
The scrolling text at the start of the movie gives a background story very much like Cobra Mission. POWs are still being held in Vietnam and being killed & tortured all the time. So a crack team of ninja commandos (sic) are sent off to bring one of their friends back who's still being held captive. After gathering the information and equipment they need they are flown out and set on their quest to free the captives.
The film starts up with some very cheap titles and music with is kind of cool really(in my opinion) quite like Bad Taste's score. Then we get treated to a quite well choreographed ninja fight sequence with kitanas. Although not making to much sense it does serve as a nice intro to the film. Then we have the rest of the film of them going through jungle shooting up the enemy jumpin about and throwing grenades. There's action, treachery, more action, more treachery which all leads up to a literally explosive conclusion.
This is a quite fun film, although not brilliantly done it manages to fill itself out with plenty of varied action and you don't get bored watching it. Plus unlike quite a few films the ending is not a total let down but actually is very cool.
I've never seen this available on video anywhere except for the one copy I have so I'm guessing that it's quite obscure, one to add to my list of totally obscure (English language) films. See this if you can and if you don't expect to much from it, you'll have a good time. 8/10
[Philippines release date 4th January 1984, also known as "Mad Warriors" and released on UK VHS as “Clash Of The Warlords” – onscreen title “Clash Of Warlords”]
Director Willie Milan Title Design Ed Rohr Soundman Fred Manoza Assistant Camera Boy Anao Clapper Danny Caburnay Boomman Max Stabillo Electrician Nardo Taytayon Crew Mario Caburnay, Bobby Ramon Estabillo Wardrobe Waldo Masconi Liason Officer Manolo Maglaya Fight Instructors Jay Grama, Linda Castro Assistant Editors Bonifacio Brien, Ever Ramos, Nelen Rampar Stills Willy Anao Makeup Mely Sioson Schedule Master Lito “Extra” Manuel Effectsman Edilberto Naelgas Setman Emeng Eslaban Utilitymen Johnny & Totto Prosthetic Makeup Cecile Baun
Cast Anthony Alonzo, Jennifer Kirkham, Johnny Monteiro, Willie Williams, Gabby Farro (Maria), Robert “Marios”/Marius (Malsam), Tom Romano, Rey De Gusman, Ching Zabala, Waldo Masconi, Ading Montalban, Fred Esplana, Jay Grama, Mel Arca, Alex Bolado, Linda Castro, "W Stuntmen", Paul Vance, Edward Bronett, Andy Peterson, Robert Benson, Tony Rocha, David Light, Hardy Oppoua, Rommel Valdez, Max Laurel, Sonny Erang, Rusty Santos, Boy Ibanez, Teresa Hunt, Joan Durst, Avi Seetaky, Robert Miller, Jimmy Santos, Romy Nario
CLASH OF THE WARLORDS (1985) - In this sequel to director Willie Milan's W (aka: W IS WAR - 1983), warrior Rex (Willy Williams) is forced to fight his best friend gladiator style in an arena by evil warlord Malsam (Robert Marios), who is holding Rex's young son prisoner and will only free him if Rex kills his friend. When Rex kills his friend and Malsam renegs on his deal, he and his son escape with the help of a friendly female. Malsam orders his men to recapture Rex and his son (He says, "Find them and don't come back until you find them!" What!?!), but the trigger-happy henchmen kill Rex's son and the helpful female when warrior Maria (Gabby Parro) comes out of nowhere to help Rex fight the bad guys. As Rex and Maria walk through the post-nuked terrain, they are captured by a group of people and led to the town of Opulus, where Maria is reunited with her long-lost father Zeus, a scientist who is working on a cure for radiation poisoning. We also find out that Malsam is afflicted with a strange disease where he begins to mutate every time he looks at the moon (When he sees the moon one night, he tells his men, "Take it away and I'll cover it in blood!" Double what!?! Some of his men turn to each other and say, "He has a devil inside him!" and "He's not just crazy. He's a lunatic!"). Malsam will not rest until Rex is dead, so he hires a band of beefy warriors to capture Rex and bring him back, which they do (without very much trouble at all). Rex must fight a series of battles in the arena, each one more dangerous than the last. Just when things begin looking grim for Rex, Maria shows up with a "Liquidation Squad", an army of rocket launcher and machine gun-carrying men who help Rex defeat Malsam's men. The rest of the film is just a series of gunfights and explosions until Rex confronts Malsam for a lightsaber duel (!), where Rex quickly defeats Malsam (he explodes into a million little pieces when Rex cuts him in half with the lightsaber!) and Maria and Rex share a passionate kiss before Rex jumps on his horse and heads off on another adventure, which audiences never got to see (because it was never filmed). Maybe he died of radiation poisoning.
This is strictly lower-tier Filipino action cinema that's pretty rough going for the viewer. I guess it would help to view the first film (which I didn't at the time of this review), but I really doubt if it would make a big difference. The Greek subtitled version I viewed edits out most of the gory footage and the English dubbing is so bad, it's almost surreal. Most of the impalements, axe fights (which seems to be the weapon of choice here) and gun battles end abruptly and those edits get quite annoying after a short period of time. We don't watch these films for the storylines, you know, so editing out all the gore kind of defeats the whole purpose of watching it in the first place. I'm sure director Willie Milan (ULTIMAX FORCE - 1986) didn't mean for this film to be as awful as this edition makes it out to be, but the atrocious dubbing (the word "arena" is pronounced "areener" and the dubbing crew can't seem to make up their minds if Gabby Parro's character name is "Maria" or "Reya") and lack of bloody violence in this version makes it a tough sitting for the viewing audience, even if it's only 73 minutes long. The only interesting (and weird) points this film has to offer are Malsam's aversion to the moon (which is quickly dropped) and counting how many times you spot people standing around in a circle (which is a lot!). Also starring Tom Romano, Rey De Gusman, Teresa Hunt, Joan Durst, Ching Zabala, Waldo Masconi and the "W Stuntmen". Also known as MAD WARRIOR. A Video Memory Release. Not Rated.
After seeing the DVD cover on eBay, I had to buy a copy. 23rd Century, well-known purveyors of the most basic region 0 DVD's, have released a poor-quality extras free DVD that you can pick up on eBay for a few pounds if you're lucky. I was....
At times like this I realise how reliant on the internet I am for information. Trying to research this movie I have fallen flat on my face. It was tough to find information on Death Run (external review), but this is in another league. Apart from one or two message board requests here and there, nobody seems to know where this is from or when it was made.I looked and looked and finally found a tiny bit of information from the British Film Institute website. Additionally I have been sent scans that confirm the film has also been titled Mad Warrior (scans at the bottom of the page).
Lets firstly clear up, or at least try to clear up, some of the big questions:
Where? The very end credits thank the HoyopHoyopanCave, which is in the Philippines. This makes lots of sense as loads of PA's hail from that country. Camp John Hay is also thanked. This was an American Air Force 'rest and recreation' base until the Americans handed it back to the Philippeans in 1991. It's now a holiday resort.
Who? Well that’s a tough question. All the names sound very English and none show up when searched on IMDB or Google. All pseudonyms, I'm sure. Finally I found a picture from my collection of saved PA scans that I have built up over the past couple of months. I found a selection of foreign PA boxes a while back on a random message board, and one, Mad Warrior, has the same art work as Clash of the Warlords. It appears they are the same film. Searching for Mad Warrior threw up a link at the BFI with some genuine names. The director and actors have all done other film work, though nothing much worth mentioning apart from Robert Marius. I don't know who he plays here but he's also in Warriors of the Apocalypse (1985).
When? The credits and the box are no help but again the BFI comes to the rescue. 1985, it claims.
Why? You’re on the wrong website if you're asking this question (although some may say films are produced to make money).
And that's the total sum of everything I know about the making of this film, but I did watch it, and I have lots to tell...
The beginning of the film gives a good forewarning of the quality of things to come, the music started and I was immediately impressed. A lively synth and electric guitar combo. Unfortunately what we see isn't so impressive. A black explosion cloud is seen moving up for a second and then it freezes. After a few seconds, the Clash of the Warlords title card flashes up for a couple of seconds over the explosion. Then we're treated to three minutes of the freeze frame explosion and nothing more. Honestly, it’s a freeze frame picture and music for three minutes! Obviously there were originally some credits here that were too foreign for us to handle. If it wasn't for the music, I would have been annoyed. I actually found it rather amusing, unlike the beginning of Exterminators of the Year 3000 where the opening titles were intact but missing the music.
The music is pretty good throughout, but I fear it has been stolen from somewhere else because throughout the film it cuts out during scene changes and sometimes randomly. It's really obvious and spoils the mood constantly.
We open to a gladiatorial arena setting. Don't expect a grand arena though, this is just a circle surrounded by logs. People are standing around watching a fight in the arena. The combatants have short axe type weapons and everybody is dressed in black. I will find it easier to call this group the Warlords. The Warlords are commanded by a fruit cake called Malsam who wears a metal mask over half of his face to cover up radiation scars.
Mustachioed Rex wins the fight. The crowd all chant "Kill him!" and Malsam gives the thumbs-down sign. Rex hesitates but eventually kills the loser. "I'm not at all satisfied,” claims Malsam, "what I want you to do is kill your best friend." If you think Malsam's insane now, just wait till later! Rex's best friend is brought into the arena. His young son is watching him and he knows that he must fight to save his son and get his freedom. Rex easily kills his friend. Everyone laughs at him but blond beauty Reya consoles him, "Bravo, your great". Nice.
It turns out that Malsam lied and Rex is not freed. That night Rex is sitting in his tent with his young kid, who is asleep. Malsam’s woman Tanya goes to see Rex. She like Rex and promises to help him escape “If…” and then she starts to unfasten her top. After what seems an age of unfastening she finally takes her top off, and at that very second the camera cuts to behind her, so you don't see anything even though your sure you were about to. If that poor kid wakes up he's going to develop some psychological problems from this.
We cut to the next day and see Rex, Tanya and the kid running through your mandatory mine setting. Keep an eye on Tanya as she has a hilarious run. I wonder why Rex needed Tanya’s help to get away? Malsam is obviously pissed – his best fighter and best woman have escaped. “Find them, and don’t come back until you’ve found them! They can’t hide forever, this island's too small”. Island? Hmm.
So off heads a group of Warlords on horseback, fronted by the crappest post-apocalyptic vehicle ever. It’s a tricycle with armor. After a minute or two of chase footage, the Warlords catch up to Rex and Co. In a horribly staged scene, the child and Tanya don't turn to face the attackers. This is to allow a planned special effect to work. They are both shot in the back with some kind of poisoned dart or something. Rex is about to be captured when Reya arrives up on the hillside. She has a machine gun and shoots, scaring off the Warlords. Rex is obviously pretty distraught and walks off with his dead son in his arms, Reya fallowing. Nobody seems to care about poor Tanya who is just left where she died. It turns out Reya misses her father, who disappeared somewhere. Yeah, he just disapeared. That's all the explanation I got, so that's all you're getting.
Meanwhile, in a tent laboratory filled with bubbling chemicals, the lead scientist has found a cure for wounds caused by atomic radiation. Is that even slightly possible? At first I thought this lab was at the Warlords' base, but soon enough we realise that it actually belongs to the other big group on the island.
Rex and Reya end up walking through a forest and are soon captured by this other group. They don’t have a name, but I was calling them "the browns" because they all wear brown, as appose to the Warlords in black. It turns out that the top scientist guy is Reya’s long-lost father so they are welcomed into the group. It turns out Reya has a damaged arm. Dad can soon fix that. “It’s just a minor infection caused by radiation”.
Time now for a blurry slow motion flashback. Rex’s wife is dead in a shallow stream. His kid is there and they are surrounded by Warlords. No wonder he hates them.
The browns' camp is a pretty place in the woods. Theses are obviously the good guys. Just like at the Warlords base there are always people moving around. The director has overcompensated for his lack of cast by getting people to march around at all times. In the Warlords' camp there are ALWAYS groups of people running around in the background, and most likely changing direction as soon as they are off-screen and running back, pretending to be other people. This technique is severely overused. We can tell are only 40 or so actors. Why would there be so much hustle and bustle? Still, it's fun to see people running around for no reason and with no actual military precision or timing.
Anyway, they all seem to be preparing for war. The Browns are play-fighting and the Warlords are sharpening axes and training on throwing deadly Frisbees. We even see that the Warlords actually have two armored bikes, although we only ever see one moving. The Browns then move up a step and start training with rocket launchers.
Around this point the tape screws up for a second or two. That’s right; I’m watching a DVD version, but the original tape the DVD was made from screws up. Poor quality control! Talking of quality, some of the footage looks OK, and other parts look poor. It’s like it was filmed on two totally different cameras (which is probably not far from the truth). Just when you think the training montage is over, there's one final treat. The Professor shows up and takes out his lightsaber. That’s right, his lightsaber. It seems this guy really is a genius. He switches it on and has a swing. Oddly, it hits something invisible and there's a little explosion but the scene cuts away milliseconds after the hit. Bizarre and crap looking, but enjoyably unexpected.
Now remember earlier when I said that Malsam would get madder? Well it appears he doesn’t like the moon (unlike the woman in Empire of Ash who loved it). He comes out of his tent and shouts for his right hand man, “Azim, the moon is getting full!” He rants, “Take it away from me, get it away!” and he continues to moan, “Not possible Malsam” claims Azim. Malsam goes one step further, “I’ll cover it in blood, I need fresh blood!”.
Malsam continues to rant crazily. Not far away, his men are talking about how crazy he is. They all think he's a lunatic, so why do they all follow his orders? It’s just as weird as the Hog in Deadly Reactor. Soon enough the film goes from weird to weirder. Malsam is chained up, without his mask (revealing radiation scarring and a fake eye make-up) and is surrounded by a circle of his men with flares. He howls and moans. “He’s not just crazy, he’s a lunatic!” claims one of his men. Absolute madness.
The next day we have a lot more training. The Browns sure love to fight with each other. Rex tells Reya that that she's too young for him (he has a mustache for goodness sake) and that he has a mission. Strangely the Warlords capture a few Browns and Malsam and his men sneak up on the Browns base. Malsam has a look at the Browns who are all too busy training to notice anybody sneaking up. For some reason, Malsam decides to go back to his base. He wants to kill Rex in the arena. Later that night Malsam has some sicko sex with some random woman outdoors while all his men are lined up in front facing away.
The next day Rex decides to leave the camp and kisses Reya before he goes. Over at the Warlords' camp, we find out that they need to fight because all their land is ruined from the radiation and they can’t grow food. Can’t they all just make friends? In a superb little scene, Malsam and Azim are walking between two ranks of men with spears. The troops move their spears out of the way as Malsam and Azim walk towards the camera.
Unfortunately the troops don’t seem to have practiced the technique very much and there are spears removed early and some not removed at all. One guy simply forgets altogether and another decides to wiggle his back and forwards a couple of times. Classic. Malsam is still angry that Rex escaped. Some guy turns up at their base with a selection of tough gladiators for hire. Malsam wants them for his arena for when he manages to capture Rex.
It turns out that Rex went into hiding in the mountains. A group of Warlords turn up, they have a bit of a chase and Rex is captured. Back at the Browns' camp, the commander is debating whether to attack the Warlords or not. “Thousands of our warriors could lose their lives.” he claims. What? Thousands? Ridiculous. He also mentions something about a “liquidation squad”. I don’t know what that was about but it sounded good. Reya continues to persuade the commander that it's is the right thing to do.
Rex, and another guy who was also captured, are taken to the arena and meet face-to-face with Malsam.“You're crazy, Malsam!” claims Rex. “You mean you never knew? Ha ha ha ha!” is his reply. At least he accepts his madness.
Time now for some explanations. It turns out Rex’s father killed Malsam’s father, and Malsam killed Rex’s father. Got that? Now he wants to kill Rex. To start, Rex and the other guy fight four of the hired gladiators in the ring. Not a bad fight but it includes some pointless slow-motion camera work.
Soon the gladiators are all finished and the new guy and Rex are forced to fight to get a chance to fight Malsam. Rex obviously wins. He's about to kill the guy but he throws his axe at Malsam, who immediately shoots it down with a laser. Quite good. Meanwhile, the Browns are preparing for their attack. They fire off a load of rockets, blowing up Malsam’s silver bubble tents. Also quite good! Malsam runs down some secret entrance into some caves hidden under one of the tents. Cut to a ton of shooting, fighting and general chaos where the Browns have the clear upper hand as the Warlords don't seem to be able to shoot straight. Reya and Rex team up and head into the caves with a troop of the Browns. Even in the caves there are plenty of troops pointlessly marching about in any old direction.
After a whole load of fighting Rex and Reya finally make it to the heart of the caves where Malsam has his throne-room type place. It's filled with ground fog from noisy flares. Malsam’s last wild card? A red lightsaber! Oh yes, it's time for a lightsaber duel. These things sound and look crap but it’s a superb moment.
Eventually Rex wins and Malsam explodes when the blade hits him (strange - is he made of explosives?). Rex and Reya kiss and they all head back home, but it seems like Rex doesn’t want to stay with the Browns. It isn’t explained at all but he heads off on a horse in your quintessential PA ending. If they really are on a small island, I wonder where he's off to? Why do PA heroes always leave to be on their own? Just to give us one extra thing to laugh at, the very final scene sees Rex talking to some of the Browns on his horse, except all the dialogue is cut out. His mouth is moving but there's just music playing! And that’s the end, followed by a few credits and thanks.
Final Thoughts: This movie is pretty bad. The production values are shocking and the editing is poor. Despite this, I still had a lot of fun. There was a lot to laugh about and it was fun, which is more than can be said about a lot of bigger-budget PA’s. If you have seen a lot of post-apocalyptic films before, and enjoy the rubishness, then this is highly recommended, just don’t blame me if you think it's awful.
1983 – W(Triple A/Cinex Films Inc./F. Puzon Films Enterprises Inc)
[Philippines release date 1st July 1983; released on US VHS as “W Is War” on Spanish VHS as“W Significa Guerra”, French VHS as “Vendicator W”, Canadian VHS as “W: La Vengeance Des Sauvages”, West German VHS as “Firestorm - Die Letzte Schlacht”, and Finnish VHS as “Kersantti W - Kykyajan Mad Max”]
Director/Writer Willie Milan Musical Director Ernani Cuenco Cinematography Apolinario Cuenco Supervising Editor Joe Mendoza Production Designer Arthur Amarante Art Director David Harrison Makeup Artist Gloria Vidallon Special Effects Robert Naelgas Wardrobe Designer Waldo Masconi English Adaption Noel Mallonga Effects Editor Jun Cabralles Assistant Editor Cesar Baltazar Sound Supervision Rolly Ruta Sound Processing Magna Tech Omni Titles Boy Quilatan Graphics Vic E. Velasco
Cast Anthony Alonzo (W2, aka Wally Lucas), Paul Vance (Praxis), Joonee Gamboa (Chief Najir A. Medina), Alicia Alonzo (Alice), Ada “Huber”/Hubert (Pratingst), Ann Marrie (W2's wife), Bing Davao (V1), Richard Jones (Pentagon), “John Montero”/Johnny Monteiro (Nesfero)
Outlandish Filipino actioner. A gang of bald-headed, chopper-riding drug peddlers (even the female members are bald!) roll into town and get into a fight with police sergeant W2 (Anthony Alonzo). He ends up shooting one of the gang members and his boss, Major Medina (Joonee Gamboa), suspends W2 from the force. The gang members steal their comrade's dead body from the morgue and bring him back to their leader, Nesfero (Johnny Montero), who declares war on W2 because the dead gang member happened to be his brother. The gang attack W2 and some police buddies (they all have single letter names followed by a number) at a restaurant using machine guns, but W2 and his buddies escape. Things really go south for W2 on his honeymoon, where Nesfero and his men castrate W2 and rape his wife (Ann Marrie). When W2 wakes up in the hospital, discovers that his package is a little light and realizes that he will no longer be able to satisfy his wife, he vows revenge (Later on, he watches his naked wife masturbate in the shower and totally loses it. He screams to his wife, "I'm useless! I'm a eunich!"). Nesfero is expecting a huge shipment of opium and the Syndicate is worried that he is fixating too much on W2, so Nesfero kidnaps W2 and tortures him (he's strung-up and hung horizontally by ropes between four posts). He is rescued by female gang member Pratings (Ada Hubert), who tells W2 that Nosfero raped her and that he's the Devil ("He's gone mad!"). Major Medina assigns Lieutenant V1 (Bing Davao) to find the missing W2. So what's the first thing V1 does? Why he goes swimming in flesh-colored Speedos with W2's horny wife and then makes love to her! W2 returns home and catches them in the act (She says haltingly, "I really don't know what came...over us!") and throws his wife out of the house. Pratings tells W2 about Nesfero's upcoming opium shipment, so W2, Pratings and some buddies intercept and steal the shipment, which puts Nesfero in hot water with Syndicate boss Praxis (Paul Vance). What Nesfero does next is truly brain-busting. He and his men take an entire Catholic nursery school hostage and threaten to kill all the children unless the opium shipment is returned and W2 is delivered to them! Police reporter Alice (Alicia Alonzo, Anthony's real-life sister) gets involved in the case when she finds out her daughter is one of the hostage children, but her stupidity gets her daughter killed. W2 comes out of hiding (after he creates an armor-plated car, body armor and a hand-held rocket launcher) and faces Nosfero and his gang in the explosive finale.
This crazy Philippines-lensed action flick, directed and scripted by Willie Milan (ULTIMAX FORCE - 1986), is one wild ride. The plot makes absolutely no sense and looks like it was edited with a chainsaw (some violence and nudity seems to have been cut out in this version, especially noticable in the shower masturbation scene), but this film is so perverse and out-there (A castrated man as an action hero? Who would have thought?), you'll wonder what alternate universe this film was made on. Filled with hilarious dialogue (When one of the cops asks Major Medina where they should look for the missing W2, he snaps back, "Search in Hell if you must!" or W2's rant to Major Medina when he won't lift his suspension: "I put my ass on the line while you sit back and polish your medals!" That line of dialogue is repeated at least three time while Major Medina has a crisis of conscience in his office!), and mindless violence, including explosions, multiple gunfights, child killing and W2's assault on Nesfero's beach compound in the finale, where both he and Pratings don handmade steel helmets, which make them both look like the Rocketeer! Hey, this isn't rocket science, but W (also known as W IS WAR) is a mindless, fun action romp the Filipinos excelled at making. Director Willie Milan made a sort-of sequel in 1985 called CLASH OF THE WARLORDS. Besides a couple of the same actors appearing in similar roles, it really has nothing much in common with this film (For one, the sequel is a post-nuke film and this one isn't). Also starring Richard Jones as Nosfero's henchman Pentagon, who thinks he can outfight a machine gun. He can't. Not to be confused with the 1974 thriller starring Twiggy, which shares the same single-lettered name.
[Philippines release date 19th September 1985, original title “Junior Buang: Mad Killer Ng Visayas”]
Director Willy Milan [as Wifredo Milan] Screenplay Ricardo Tariman Producer Tarhata M. Directo Executive Producer Antonio V. Hernandez Cinematography Apolinario Cuenco Music Willy Yusi Editor Pat Ramos Sound Bing de Santos Art Direction P. Villapana Assistant Director Rico Tariman Production Managers Boy Banawa, Rudy Basco Assistant Editors Nelson Ramos, Randy Brien, Ricardo Crisostomo Sound Effects Danny Sanchez Layout Artist Manansala Titles Mon Chok Fight Instructors Jay Grama, Fred Esplana Stillman Rudy Ramos Makeup Artist Gloria Vidallion Effectsman Robert “Guy” Naelgas Schedule Master Rudy Basco Setting/Propsmen Waldo Masconi, Danny Beyer? Utility Men Truman & Omeng
Cast Anthony Alonzo (Junior Buang), Leni Santos, Myra Manibog, Rex Lapid, Raoul Aragonn, Perla Bautista, Alicia Alonzo, Renato del Prado, Joonee Gamboa, Fred Moro, Tom Olivar, Rene Jose, Jay Grama, Den Montero, Grego Gavino, Dahlia Delgado, Ellen Bendanillo, Sharon Mateu, Robert Talby, Avel Morado, Bong Varona, Jun Santos, Fred Esplana, Mel Arca, Rico Tariman, Romy Blanco, Joel de Nero, Danny Javier, Bobby Henson, Roger Cruz, Waldo Mascon, Rey de Guzman, Andy Calma, Fred Belleca, Mardy Fuentes, Danny Zurbano, Ching Zabala, Jay Pineda, Bobby Hernadez, Moret Palmos, George Tormida, Joel Martinez, W Stuntmen, Dove Stuntmen, Vultures Stuntmen, Tanay Movie Stuntmen
Introducing 8 new stuntmen: Jett Velasco (SOS Daredevils), Waldo Reyes (Thunder Stuntmen), Jun Borja (Vultures Stuntmen), Ronald Asinas (Professional Stuntmen), Manny Samson (Shadow Stuntmen), Jing Castaneda (Dragon Stuntmen), Ver Rodriguez & Carlos David (W Stuntmen)
Director “Wilfredo”/Willy Milan Story/Screenplay Pete Pascua Producer Sunny Lim Executive Producer Naty A. Almanza Music Robert Andres Cinematography Jani Sioson Music Robert Andres Production Designer Danny Javier [listed as “Daniel Martin” on the VHS cover] Production Manager Tony Viray Editor Stephen Soul Routine Instructors Ver Quirante, Mardy Fuentes Special Effects Gorgonro Tible Schedule Master Jojo de Leon Production Assistant Allan Almanza Makeup Artist Liway Zuniga Setmen Arsanio Salvo, Omeng Olgasan Stills Rudy Ramos Assistant Editors Boy Manang, Robert Andres Props Man Boy Donato, Edmond Guiwan Shooting Unit 2 Bukand Liwalway Production Executive Baby Alordogan Production Secretary Rosendo Drapo Credits Leay Ocampo Supervisor Dennis Estrella Catering Supervisor Remedros Alavae Drivers June Ocampo, Lito de Vera, Leopoldo Manaul Utility Boyet Zamora
Cast Dante Varona, Eddie Garcia, Ronnie Ricketts, Philip Gamboa, Aurora Sevilla, Kristel Romero, John Regala, Fred Gamboa [listed as “Fred Moro” on the Dutch VHS cover], Tom Oliva, Lucita Sorano, Dexter Doria, Manny Doria, Eric Robles, Edgar Duval, Rico Tarman, Lt San Juan, Dave Moreno, Princess Punzalan [listed on the VHS cover as “Princes Pascua”]
Fred Adelman’s review from the Critcon Online website:
Here's a strange one: A Filipino morality tale about Muslim vs. Christian beliefs disguised as a war actioner. A group of Muslim rebels, led by the hot-headed Kiram Sali, attack Christian Philippine Army outposts every chance they get, which angers not only Army General Alfredo Basco (Eddie Garcia; THE WOMAN HUNT - 1972), but also Kiram's peace-loving teacher brother, Omar (Dante Varona), who doesn't believe killing is the answer, even if he doesn't agree with the Christian way of life. The Manila Tribune sends earnest, but wet behind the ears, female reported Mitch Vasquez (Aurora Sevilla) to the troubled region to get the real story and she ends up witnessing more than her young Christian mind can handle. General Basco sends his best man, Captain Reyes, to talk to Omar about amnesty for his brother and the rebels, but when Omar talks to Kiram about the offer, he turns it down. General Basco then personally goes to Omar's village to try and talk some sense into him and Kiram, but it turns out to be a deadly trap orchestrated by the village's evil mayor, who wants the Muslims and Christians to continue fighting for his own personal monetary gain. General Basco is slain and, of course, Kiram and the rebels are blamed, which leads to an all-out holy war between the Muslims and the Christians, resulting in the deaths of many innocent women and children. Omar gives up his peaceful ways when the Army kills Kiram and some of his own schoolchildren. Omar becomes the leader of the rebel forces and unites all the different rebel clans into one fighting force. The first thing Omar does is kill the mayor for his treachery (and we find out that Omar is actually the bastard son of General Basco!) and then he leads his fighting force on attacks against the Army. General Basco's real son, Raoul, becomes a Muslim-hating killing machine who leads his Army unit on many Muslim village raids (even members of his own unit believe Raoul is taking things too far, letting his hatred blind his humanity). The two half-brothers will eventually have to face each other in final combat. Who will be the winner? Are there any true winners when it comes to senseless war?
Those expecting a typical balls-out Filipino war actioner are going to be severely disappointed, because KRIS COMMANDO, directed by Wifredo "Willie" Milan (W - 1983; CLASH OF THE WARLORDS - 1985) and written by Pete Pascua, is more interested in theological warfare than battlefield warfare. Sure, there are plenty of gunfights and bloody deaths (including small children being murdered), but the viewer is also bombarded with plenty of Muslim and Christian ideology, some of it pretty heavy-handed, especially Mitch's plea to her soon-to-be Muslim-hating Mother-In-Law (General Basco's wife) on why she wishes Muslims and Christians can put their differences aside and live in a violence-free Philippines. Not all the symbolism is bad, though. There's an excellent sequence where General Basco is being killed in the enemy trap, intercut with scenes of Mitch, Raoul and the rest of the Basco clan celebrating Mom's birthday in Manila. The Muslim village that General Basco dies in is populated by sick and hungry women and children, while a healthy Momma Basco and her clan feast on cake. It's a potent sequences marked with excellent editing that magnifies the differences in the two religions, but doesn't play favorites, as both sides suffer equally. Most of the bloody war action is saved for the final third of the film, where Omar goes into Rambo mode (shirtless, but with a bandana tied around his upper arm rather than his forehead) and Raoul flips out and starts killing Muslims indiscriminately. There are plenty of bloody bullet squibs and even a decapitation, but how action films view this film depends on their tolerance level for religion in the storyline. It tries to play fair with both sides, but Muslims have the slight edge here, thanks to Christian Raoul wigging-out in the finale. I guess this film also makes a good parable about War in Iraq and the difference that religion plays there, but that's purely a coincidence. Or is it? Also starring Ronnie Ricketts, Kristel Romero, John Regala, Philip Gamboa, Tom Olivia, Lucita Sorano, Fred Gamboa, Dexter Doria, Eric Robles and Princess Punzalan. Never legitimately available on U.S. home video, the print I viewed was sourced from a Dutch-subtitled VHS tape on the Miami Home Entertainment label.
Review from the “Return Of The Ninjas” website:
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