Swill is perhaps an over complimentary adjective to describe this. Carradine provides a name, a daughter, a few extra pounds and some funding as associate producer, little else. The thing that made me give it the second star was the fact that it was filmed entirely on location in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Las Lunas, New Mexico. This means little to nothing to anyone who's not from either of those locations (Me!). And it shouldn't, but who the hell shoots a movie there? Someone with little to lose but your attention span. Fear not, you will be disappointed, inaccurate Vietnam references aside, as previous reviews may have mentioned, this is flat out bland. And this coming from a guy who likes crap.
5 Reviews
It is not that the heroes are so good; but rather, the villains are so inept.
Aaron137521 February 2023
A movie that takes its time getting started and never really gets anywhere due to the most inept villains in a film that is not a comedy. Seriously, when they are not throwing each other off a balcony, they are shooting each other, getting fish and letting the hero have another chance at them when they had the hero in a position to take out. The two heroes did not have to be good in this one, just slightly less incompetent than the villains!
The story starts out with a dude shaving and breaking up a robbery before meeting his old friend played by David Carradine. They go to this demonstration by a rich guy of a new weapon which promptly gets destroyed as the guy says he is out of the weapons business. Well, soon, an FBI agent and dude with bad temper and great hair move in to kidnap this inventor and his daughter, but they manage to mess up a lot so Carradine and his buddy Slade can literally take their time and enjoy the sights, steal a car even for no reason before stopping the doomed kidnapping mission.
About the only real star here is Carradine, though the character Slade was in a lot of B movies himself. They are okay, and the bad guy with the nice hair was alright as the short tempered main bad guy. The movie just takes too long to get going and like I said, you never get a sense that Slade and Carradine are going to lose as the villains stumble and bumble and shoot each other...
So, it had its moments, certainly was a fun watch, but not a good one. Carradine was in some good films during his time, but he was also in a lot of bad films! Granted, most of the bad ones are still entertaining in their own way. Make the villains more competent and add some better action and this one could have been good because Hans Gruber this villains are not!
The story starts out with a dude shaving and breaking up a robbery before meeting his old friend played by David Carradine. They go to this demonstration by a rich guy of a new weapon which promptly gets destroyed as the guy says he is out of the weapons business. Well, soon, an FBI agent and dude with bad temper and great hair move in to kidnap this inventor and his daughter, but they manage to mess up a lot so Carradine and his buddy Slade can literally take their time and enjoy the sights, steal a car even for no reason before stopping the doomed kidnapping mission.
About the only real star here is Carradine, though the character Slade was in a lot of B movies himself. They are okay, and the bad guy with the nice hair was alright as the short tempered main bad guy. The movie just takes too long to get going and like I said, you never get a sense that Slade and Carradine are going to lose as the villains stumble and bumble and shoot each other...
So, it had its moments, certainly was a fun watch, but not a good one. Carradine was in some good films during his time, but he was also in a lot of bad films! Granted, most of the bad ones are still entertaining in their own way. Make the villains more competent and add some better action and this one could have been good because Hans Gruber this villains are not!
A boring waste of time and brain cells.
The Bronson Fan10 July 2004
All I can say is avoid this movie at all costs. I was unfortunate enough to catch this crap at 2:00 am when they run bad movies and boy is this one. Its complete garbage and a bore from start to finish. The whole film concerns some scientist who's made up a rather stupid weapon that is powerful and now some thugs want to kidnap him and his daughter to give up the secrets of the weapon. Carradine and his blonde meat head side kick now have to go a rescue him. This movie is about as bad and boring as you can get. There is nothing worthy of redemption in this film and the few action scenes are worthless and poorly done. I'm sure if Carradine took a punch from that black guy he'd either be dead or have no teeth. Why in the world or how a movie like this gets made is beyond me. If I could give it a zero I would, but heres a 1 out of ten. Stay as far away as possible!
MUCH SLAUGHTER, LITTLE SENSE.
rsoonsa8 November 2003
This wretchedly made film concerns a scientist in the field of weapons technology research who has accepted responsibility for developing an "independent thinking" aviatory robotic laser weapon and who, upon the device's test implementation, is torn, for the sake of humanity, with misgivings concerning his vocation. Burdened by disillusion with his government employers, also with his awareness of widespread knavery within the related defense industry, he believes that worse is yet to come if he continues with his researching and therefore, after the initial illustration of the weapon's efficacy, in a scene mindful of a Flash Gordon serial he obliterates his weapon by remote control. He becomes targeted by a dishonourable FBI agent and a group of recreant, non-sequital intelligence agents who are plotting to kidnap him and his daughter so that the scientist will reveal his core knowledge and, to prevent this, he hires two former Special Forces veterans, played by David Carradine and Frank Zagarino, as protection. A reckless attempt is made, through abduction, to obtain the coveted artificial intelligence technology, but the principals of each side are scenario stricken by incredibly moronic scenes and stupid dialogue, aggravated by limited direction, lacklustre acting and superfluous violence combining to produce a general lack of those production values indispensable for an interesting film, even one with bantamweight objectives as in this instance.
Striker is back!
tarbosh2200012 November 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Much like KFC's popcorn chicken, John "Striker" Slade (Zags) is back! Did you ever know it/he went away? This time around, the Strikester teams up with a buddy of his, Ron Morrell (Carradine), a Vietnam vet, and tries to rescue a kidnapped scientist, Dr. Markson (Bryant). It seems Markson has invented a flying laser contraption, and in what can only be explained as a fit of doubt, blows up his nifty invention. After doing this, he was kidnapped by a team of baddies led by the sinister Elias (Clark). The only people on earth that can rescue the scientist are naturally Striker and Morrell, and Jackie Markson (English) is helping them out. Will Markson be rescued? Will the world be safe from flying attack lasers once again? Find out today! Project Eliminator is definitive proof that long blonde hair and Ray-Bans conquer all. Naturally we're referring to Frank Zagarino, and, judging by the VHS box cover, he's clearly the ultimate cool dude/meathead, or meatdude, if you will. One of the many lessons you can learn watching this movie is that a shirtless, mulleted hulk with tight ripped jeans, in and of itself, solves problems in life. Never mind the fact that Striker (whose nickname is Striker, don't'cha know) is ex-Army, ex-Marines, ex-Delta Force and ex-Special Forces (we kid you not), always hits his target, and is, according to Morrell, "Bulletproof". He's definitely a man you'd want on your side, and Zagarino and Carradine make a winning team. This movie definitely ranks among Zagarino's finest work, and from the moment you see him on a motorcycle with his long flowing locks in the wind - and especially when he's wearing a motorcycle helmet, so it looks like just a morass of blonde hair spilling out of a blank head - you know that if you don't shut off your brain, this movie will shut it for you.
It seems haters of this movie out there do not have the word "Fun" in their vocabulary. That's just what this is - fun - and it was never meant to compare to the works of Ingmar Bergman. Though Zagarino is certainly blonde enough to be Swedish - wouldn't it have been something to see him in a Bergman movie? One can only lament the fact that it never happened. Carradine certainly gives Zags a run for his money the whole way through: we've never seen him so animated. He has energy, he actually smiles numerous times, and he even sings and plays the piano at one point! This is the Carradine we want to see, as opposed to his uncaring, listless performances in Future Force (1989) and Future Zone (1990). It's pretty clear he was having fun here, as his bolo tie and cowboy hat may indicate, and he's listed, along with Gail Carradine, as an associate producer, so he gave himself some freedom and it's infectious. Calista Carradine is on board as well as Vanna.
As for the baddies, Brett Baxter Clark of Delta Force Commando (1988) fame stars as Elias, looking like a cross between James Brolin, Bob Vila and the guy on the Just For Men box. What with his well-kept, classy beard and all. Interestingly enough, Clark played Shark in Shootfighter II (1996), and his sidekick in Project Eliminator is none other than David "Shark" Fralick, who is credited as just David Shark, playing...wait for it...SHARK! Seeing as how Fralick is also a muscular, long-haired, blonde meathead, when he and Zagarino fight it's like a Mortal Kombat Mirror Match. It's very hard to tell who's who. Early in the movie, some baddies attempt to rob a store using rubber President masks. Obviously 1991 was a huge year for said masks, as Point Break also was released.
Director Dyal directed Trained To Kill (1990) the year before this and was obviously preparing for the brain cell-depleting fights and shootouts, pew pew laser shots, inane dialogue and unbridled Zagarinoness on full display here. Containing some rewindable moments, Project Eliminator is brainless fun at its best.
For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppanereviews.com
It seems haters of this movie out there do not have the word "Fun" in their vocabulary. That's just what this is - fun - and it was never meant to compare to the works of Ingmar Bergman. Though Zagarino is certainly blonde enough to be Swedish - wouldn't it have been something to see him in a Bergman movie? One can only lament the fact that it never happened. Carradine certainly gives Zags a run for his money the whole way through: we've never seen him so animated. He has energy, he actually smiles numerous times, and he even sings and plays the piano at one point! This is the Carradine we want to see, as opposed to his uncaring, listless performances in Future Force (1989) and Future Zone (1990). It's pretty clear he was having fun here, as his bolo tie and cowboy hat may indicate, and he's listed, along with Gail Carradine, as an associate producer, so he gave himself some freedom and it's infectious. Calista Carradine is on board as well as Vanna.
As for the baddies, Brett Baxter Clark of Delta Force Commando (1988) fame stars as Elias, looking like a cross between James Brolin, Bob Vila and the guy on the Just For Men box. What with his well-kept, classy beard and all. Interestingly enough, Clark played Shark in Shootfighter II (1996), and his sidekick in Project Eliminator is none other than David "Shark" Fralick, who is credited as just David Shark, playing...wait for it...SHARK! Seeing as how Fralick is also a muscular, long-haired, blonde meathead, when he and Zagarino fight it's like a Mortal Kombat Mirror Match. It's very hard to tell who's who. Early in the movie, some baddies attempt to rob a store using rubber President masks. Obviously 1991 was a huge year for said masks, as Point Break also was released.
Director Dyal directed Trained To Kill (1990) the year before this and was obviously preparing for the brain cell-depleting fights and shootouts, pew pew laser shots, inane dialogue and unbridled Zagarinoness on full display here. Containing some rewindable moments, Project Eliminator is brainless fun at its best.
For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppanereviews.com
See also
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