I guess Fred Williamson's paycheck for appearing in the "Black Cobra" films got a lot bigger every time, because his performance and enthusiasm vastly improves with each installment! Robert Malone no longer resembles to the character that was introduced in the first film. He used to be silent, gruff and indifferent, but now he makes little jokes and smiles the entire time. Perhaps it also has something to do with the fact that the quality of the films slightly improves every time as well. Part three has a lousy and inexistent plot, but there's quite a lot of straightforward and undemanding action footage. Robert Malone is called back to Manila – choice of location is purely coincidental, apparently, because none of the people of his previous adventure in The Philippines reappear – to help locate a stolen shipment of American weapons. Another special agent already tried to infiltrate in the bad guys' military camp but failed. The guy kicked a lot of butt and had some very inventive methods to conquer electric fences, but ultimately died when he jumped down a waterfall. This is why local Interpol agent Greg Duncan calls in the help of his father's reliable Vietnam buddy Malone. The film is totally senseless and there are still quite a number of dull sequences, but the delightfully cheesy B-movie action footage truly compensates for everything. The army of ugly Philippine bad guys is inexhaustible (the body count must be hundreds!) and there are plenty of cool firearm toys like machine guns (the type Rambo uses as well) and crossbows. This is the second entry in the series that is set in Manila, but this one makes much better use of the jungle filming locations. Solid and surefooted directing by Edoardo Margheriti, who actually is the son of the legendary Italian filmmaker (and personal idol of mine) Antonio Margheriti!
16 Reviews
More of the same
gridoon202417 July 2008
There isn't really much to be discussed about the third installment of "The Black Cobra" series: if you enjoyed the previous two, you'll like this one too, if you didn't, try to avoid it. It offers pretty much what you'd expect: a nonexistent budget (not even any vehicular mayhem in this one), strictly mediocre action scenes, loads of pretty useless bad guys, a crawling, draggy pace, and Fred Williamson getting by more on his trademark coolness rather than on any acting effort. He gets two sidekicks this time - one male (Forry Smith), one female (Debra Ward) - but don't expect the lady to get involved in the action nearly as much as the guys. The film is just about watchable when you are in an extremely undemanding mood. (**)
Better than the first two but thats not really high praise
dbborroughs5 October 2009
Warning: Spoilers
The third film in the series find Malone going back to the Philippines to find out what exactly happened to an American who was killed when he was looking into a gun running gang. The action is silly, but serviceable, but to be completely honest at this point Williamson is clearly not acting. He's walking through the proceedings with an attitude of not really caring. He knows he's better than the material and his manner shows it. The early shoot out in the grocery store is a perfect example, where he appears to be behaving in the sequence as if in another, better movie. It's a shame because with a little bit of care this might have been an actually good movie. As it is its an okay one, though to take that attitude you have to give the film a wide leeway.
Black Cobra 3!
videomaniac15 December 2004
Believe it or not: Fred "The Hammer" Williamson has made three Black Cobra movies. Three of 'em! Somebody else must like watching these thing if there's three of 'em (at least that's what I tell myself). Each Black Cobra flick is a little better than the one before it. These things deliver fun B movie entertainment, if you like that sort of thing, and I've had a blast watching these. There's just nothing like "The Hammer" kicking butt in Italy and the Philippines to make the world seem a like a whole lot better place on a rainy afternoon. Right from the start I knew that Black Cobra 3 was going to be fun stuff since the first scene with "The Hammer" is a real hoot. Pop some corn and take this flick for what it is: fun escapism.
Smoothed out compared to the first two, but still quite rough
mstomaso15 December 2007
Black Cobra III finds Karl Malone (Fred Williamson) called to the Phillipines to help the son of a friend of his father who is also an Interpol Agent. Although the word 'Interpol' itself should be enough to explain what exactly this movie is about, I'll explain the plot a bit further. Interpol is a fictitious multinational intelligence agency which sometimes works with but also supersedes the CIA, FBI, etc. In this case, a shipment of missiles has been stolen and a trio consisting of two huge guys (Williamson and Forry Smith) and a tough young female CIA agent (Debra Ward) have two weeks to find the weapons and make the problem go away. The plot is also decorated with a few predictable twists and turns very typical of the B thriller genre.
Well shot, adequately directed by journeyman Dan Edwards, and decently scripted, Black Cobra III is probably the best of the Black Cobra Trilogy. However, the acting was just as poor as the previous efforts. Debra Ward was probably the best actor in this film and she never bothered to appear in another. Even the fight choreography is poorly acted - surprising given Williamson's background. Thankfully, the film does not take itself too seriously.
For Williamson and B thriller fans only. Others beware.
Well shot, adequately directed by journeyman Dan Edwards, and decently scripted, Black Cobra III is probably the best of the Black Cobra Trilogy. However, the acting was just as poor as the previous efforts. Debra Ward was probably the best actor in this film and she never bothered to appear in another. Even the fight choreography is poorly acted - surprising given Williamson's background. Thankfully, the film does not take itself too seriously.
For Williamson and B thriller fans only. Others beware.
Another uneven Black Cobra film with some fun elements and some misses too
kevin_robbins27 May 2023
The Black Cobra 3 (1990) is a movie that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows Detective Malone investigating a gun trade gone wrong that left a friend dead. Malone tracks the events to a gang in the Philippines and will need help from inner pole if he has any hope of solving the case and bringing those responsible to Justice.
This movie is directed by Edoardo Margheriti (The Untidiness of the Heart) and stars Fred Williamson (From Dusk till Dawn), Forry Smith (Beverly Hills Cop III), Maria Isabel Lopez (Lorna) and Debra Ward.
This is another uneven Black Cobra film with some fun elements and some misses too. The cinematography and quality of the film is average to poor. However, the fight scenes, shootouts and explosions are a lot of fun. The grocery store opening was great and a perfect way to get the movie started. Unfortunately the dialogue and one liners were a bit cheesy. There is also some random nudity splashed in here and there.
Overall, this is a fairly average addition to the action genre that's worth watching once for fans of blaxploitation films. I would score this a 5/10 and recommend seeing it once.
This movie is directed by Edoardo Margheriti (The Untidiness of the Heart) and stars Fred Williamson (From Dusk till Dawn), Forry Smith (Beverly Hills Cop III), Maria Isabel Lopez (Lorna) and Debra Ward.
This is another uneven Black Cobra film with some fun elements and some misses too. The cinematography and quality of the film is average to poor. However, the fight scenes, shootouts and explosions are a lot of fun. The grocery store opening was great and a perfect way to get the movie started. Unfortunately the dialogue and one liners were a bit cheesy. There is also some random nudity splashed in here and there.
Overall, this is a fairly average addition to the action genre that's worth watching once for fans of blaxploitation films. I would score this a 5/10 and recommend seeing it once.
Please don't bleed on the Charmin
nogodnomasters21 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
In a fictional world, the CIA has been supplying arms to rebel groups fighting for democracy against dictators. The arms have been stolen by bad rebels. Charlie (Ned Hourani) has found out who has them, but dies in his Rambo-esque type of escape. Duncan (Forry Smith) is tasked with finding the stolen arms and selects Robert Malone (Fred Williamson) to help him.
Typical stuff. Many fights before the final one. The bad guys can't shoot straight as their shots hit the dirt. The good guys shots also hit the dirt, but the bad guys die when they do. No swearing. Brief nude shower scene.
Typical stuff. Many fights before the final one. The bad guys can't shoot straight as their shots hit the dirt. The good guys shots also hit the dirt, but the bad guys die when they do. No swearing. Brief nude shower scene.
Malone visits manila....again
HaemovoreRex5 October 2007
Well to be fair, any film that features Fred Williamson is always worth at least a watch purely on account of the presence of the great man himself. Sadly, even having said this, our effortlessly super cool hero has often ended up in some rather mundane efforts....as is the case in fact with the film in question here.
Certainly the film isn't exactly bad by any stretch of the imagination, it's just not exactly memorable in any way, shape or form either. Sure there's a number of mildly entertaining (if rather lacklustre) action sequences and our man even gets to let fly with some humorous one liners but there's simply not enough substance in this to make it worth a second viewing and in addition, the film is unforgivably about as clichéd and predictable as could be humanly imaginable.
Having said this, I must make special mention of the very best scene though, a scene in fact that was previously played out similarly in the previous two entries in the series and that is the hilarious banter between Williamson and his irate police chief - absolutely first class!
This was followed by one final sequel although note well - Williamson only appears courtesy of stock footage in it!!!
Certainly the film isn't exactly bad by any stretch of the imagination, it's just not exactly memorable in any way, shape or form either. Sure there's a number of mildly entertaining (if rather lacklustre) action sequences and our man even gets to let fly with some humorous one liners but there's simply not enough substance in this to make it worth a second viewing and in addition, the film is unforgivably about as clichéd and predictable as could be humanly imaginable.
Having said this, I must make special mention of the very best scene though, a scene in fact that was previously played out similarly in the previous two entries in the series and that is the hilarious banter between Williamson and his irate police chief - absolutely first class!
This was followed by one final sequel although note well - Williamson only appears courtesy of stock footage in it!!!
Fred returns to lesser effect
Red-Barracuda26 October 2021
If the first film in this series was influenced by Cobra and the second was a riff on Lethal Weapon, this third instalment is channelling Commando. In this one, Fred is sent back to the Philippines for budgetary reasons and has to deal with some bad guys in the jungle. Cue lots of explosions and machine gun fire. This one is probably a slight drop in quality from the first two but amazingly, its still not that bad.
Commando pt.2
weaselco14 August 2005
Compared to the first two this is a masterpiece. The first was bad all around. The second started good and went to crap. This one starts kind of slow but the climax is a hoot. Its pretty much like Commando with a 30 minute finale at the enemy base. Very entertaining and The Hammer has plenty of charm. The scene between him and the chief is so cliché its hilarious. The acting is average, but the dialog is full of one liners. I never get sick of seeing the old knife throw camera trick. Definitely worth the 6 bucks I had to pay. BTW if you see the second and third you will notice they use the same bedroom in each, which is flipping hilarious.
Great Low budget flick
Rautus29 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Cobra Nero 3 (Black Cobra 3) is a low budget Italian action movie that's great fun to watch, I never really knew about this movie until I went to my local DVD store and found it for 5 pounds. The cover looked cool and I enjoy low budget Italian movies so I decided to buy it, an interesting thing is that this is the third part in a franchise so the Black Cobra movies must of been popular. I found out on the internet that there are four Black Cobra movies, the fourth movie is called Detective Malone.
The film sees Detective Malone going to the Phillipines after he meets the son of a friend of his working on a case to find stolen weapons, Malone and the two CIA agents go around searching for the weapons fighting anyone getting into there way.
Black Cobra 3 is a great low budget action flick that should be seen. Check this out. 10/10
The film sees Detective Malone going to the Phillipines after he meets the son of a friend of his working on a case to find stolen weapons, Malone and the two CIA agents go around searching for the weapons fighting anyone getting into there way.
Black Cobra 3 is a great low budget action flick that should be seen. Check this out. 10/10
The movie provides good entertainment value.
tarbosh2200018 February 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Black Cobra is back! Cobra! This time around, Robert Malone (Fred), who is one cool customer, travels from his native Chicago to the Philippines (where else?) to investigate the death of a former Vietnam buddy, Charlie Hopkins (Hourani), who was working as some sort of commando trying to infiltrate a weapons-smuggling ring. But it's not just simple handguns, it's actually missiles that once belonged to the U.S. government! Capt. Phillips (Monty) is demanding answers. So Malone teams up with Interpol agent Greg Duncan (Smith) and fellow operative Tracy Rogers (Ward) and the three of them travel all over the Philippines searching for the truth. Naturally, fights and shootouts follow. But due to the unending stream of baddies with machine guns, will Malone's Manila connection get severed? Find out today! While it may, at first, seem surprising just how many Black Cobra movies there are, it becomes less surprising when you think about the cooler-than-cool Fred Williamson. He has charm and screen presence, so why wouldn't Italian producers - or any producers - want to work with him? Black Cobra 3 delivers the Fred you want, as does the first Black Cobra movie. Starting with the very, very silly opening sequence with Ned Hourani, the movie provides good entertainment value. Granted, it does slow down at a certain point and enters Jungle Slog territory, but then it picks back up at the climax with Fred and his compatriots mowing down wave after wave of Filipino soldiers. You gotta love a good mow-down.
As if we needed to be reminded even further at this point in the series about its roots as a Cobra (1986) knockoff, our introduction to Fred comes in the form of yet another supermarket showdown. To avoid constant danger of being killed, Fred should probably switch to Peapod. But it's really no sweat for Fred, he deals with the situation with style and aplomb. When he travels to the Philippines to meet up with his contact, the Interpol agent/skintight pink polo shirt collector Duncan, you think he's finally found the ultimate partner. Duncan is a wealth of information; if you've ever finally wanted to know the difference between stone washed and acid washed jeans, Duncan's expertise can put the matter to rest for you. The female member of this three-person army is armed with a "modem" which seems like some kind of cross between a word processor and a pager. We always love seeing 80's/early 90's technology, and this thing is a doozy.
The movie also features one of the best BYC (Black Yelling Chief) scenes we've seen in a long time. When Fred is dressed-down by his Captain in Chicago, watch out. Another thing we like is on hand, the disco scene, this time featuring a song highly reminiscent of "Boogie Nights" by Heatwave. Speaking of music, there's plenty of sax on the soundtrack, and there are two gems for songs: "The Power of Love" (not to be confused with the Huey Lewis and the News song of the same name) and a song we think might be called "Save Tonight For Me", but alas there are no song credits on the film. Also worth noting are the red grenades, the time-honored waterfalls seen in just about every production of this type, and the fact that it was all directed by Antonio Margheriti's son, Edoardo.
Released on VHS in the U.S. by South Gate, Black Cobra 3: The Manila Connection is everything you'd expect from an Italian-produced Fred movie from 1990: (despite a couple of slow moments) - FUN.
For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com
As if we needed to be reminded even further at this point in the series about its roots as a Cobra (1986) knockoff, our introduction to Fred comes in the form of yet another supermarket showdown. To avoid constant danger of being killed, Fred should probably switch to Peapod. But it's really no sweat for Fred, he deals with the situation with style and aplomb. When he travels to the Philippines to meet up with his contact, the Interpol agent/skintight pink polo shirt collector Duncan, you think he's finally found the ultimate partner. Duncan is a wealth of information; if you've ever finally wanted to know the difference between stone washed and acid washed jeans, Duncan's expertise can put the matter to rest for you. The female member of this three-person army is armed with a "modem" which seems like some kind of cross between a word processor and a pager. We always love seeing 80's/early 90's technology, and this thing is a doozy.
The movie also features one of the best BYC (Black Yelling Chief) scenes we've seen in a long time. When Fred is dressed-down by his Captain in Chicago, watch out. Another thing we like is on hand, the disco scene, this time featuring a song highly reminiscent of "Boogie Nights" by Heatwave. Speaking of music, there's plenty of sax on the soundtrack, and there are two gems for songs: "The Power of Love" (not to be confused with the Huey Lewis and the News song of the same name) and a song we think might be called "Save Tonight For Me", but alas there are no song credits on the film. Also worth noting are the red grenades, the time-honored waterfalls seen in just about every production of this type, and the fact that it was all directed by Antonio Margheriti's son, Edoardo.
Released on VHS in the U.S. by South Gate, Black Cobra 3: The Manila Connection is everything you'd expect from an Italian-produced Fred movie from 1990: (despite a couple of slow moments) - FUN.
For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com
Third time's the charm in this Commando rip-off
Leofwine_draca21 November 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Most film series see a reduction in quality as the films progress; so I have to say, I wasn't expecting much from this, the third entry in the Fred Williamson movie cycle and the last one that actually featured him acting – his appearance in the fourth was thanks to stock footage! However, the BLACK COBRA films are odd in that they actually get better as they progress. The first film followed Stallone's COBRA too slavishly and to its detriment, while the second offered more different action and was better for it. The main inspiration for this film seems to be Schwarzenegger's COMMANDO, and indeed the half-hour climax, an assault on an army base and then a house, has many of the same shots, scenery and shoot-outs as in that film.
Things begin in a hilarious fashion as we're introduced to a stock soldier hero, who has the oddest way of getting through an electric fence I've ever seen. Following that there's some decent action, including slow-mo shoot-outs with soldiers and other good stuff, and then we're back to the detective basics as Williamson is once again called in to tackle a missing person case. Williamson's introduction in this film is hilarious; he's in a supermarket held up by thugs (so predictable) and takes them down without bothering to remove the cigar from his mouth! After an excellently-timed comic scene between Williamson and his shouty superior, we're back in the Philippines again for some rather predictable investigations and fights with street thugs. It's all very familiar, and the entertainment comes from Williamson alone in these bits. As the hard-ass cop, Williamson whups ass over and over again and is impossible to dislike. Finally things turn into COMMANDO, accompanied by a rubbish synthesiser score and scenes of bad guys being shot over and over again.
A ton of Filipino film regulars fit out the rest of the cast, including the ubiquitous Mike Monty and also David Light and Ned Hourani, who have between them scored up quite a few cheesy-ass flicks. The director is Edoardo Margheriti, son of Antonio, one of my favourite Italian directors who worked from the '60s right through to the '90s. Edoardo doesn't have much of the skill of his dad, and this was one of his few directorial efforts; he seemed to do better when working as an assistant rather than the leading light. Still, BLACK COBRA 3 is an action film that's hard to dislike despite all the clichés, and having just watched the execrable THE MARINE, I'd sure as hell pick this over that any day of the week.
Things begin in a hilarious fashion as we're introduced to a stock soldier hero, who has the oddest way of getting through an electric fence I've ever seen. Following that there's some decent action, including slow-mo shoot-outs with soldiers and other good stuff, and then we're back to the detective basics as Williamson is once again called in to tackle a missing person case. Williamson's introduction in this film is hilarious; he's in a supermarket held up by thugs (so predictable) and takes them down without bothering to remove the cigar from his mouth! After an excellently-timed comic scene between Williamson and his shouty superior, we're back in the Philippines again for some rather predictable investigations and fights with street thugs. It's all very familiar, and the entertainment comes from Williamson alone in these bits. As the hard-ass cop, Williamson whups ass over and over again and is impossible to dislike. Finally things turn into COMMANDO, accompanied by a rubbish synthesiser score and scenes of bad guys being shot over and over again.
A ton of Filipino film regulars fit out the rest of the cast, including the ubiquitous Mike Monty and also David Light and Ned Hourani, who have between them scored up quite a few cheesy-ass flicks. The director is Edoardo Margheriti, son of Antonio, one of my favourite Italian directors who worked from the '60s right through to the '90s. Edoardo doesn't have much of the skill of his dad, and this was one of his few directorial efforts; he seemed to do better when working as an assistant rather than the leading light. Still, BLACK COBRA 3 is an action film that's hard to dislike despite all the clichés, and having just watched the execrable THE MARINE, I'd sure as hell pick this over that any day of the week.
Malone's second strike to Manilla
georgeszaslavsky4 February 2014
After the Death of one of his Vietnam pals during a CIA undercover mission, Malone is sent back to Philippines to destroy a basement loaded with nuclear firearms which has been sold by a British Millionnaire. The film is more based on missing in action or Rambo action than in a pure police/crime film. It is clearly more related to war or covert operations movie than something else. The film has an easily guessable plot but the action is fast paced and never misses a beat. It is an interesting movie to watch and completely different from the two previous films.The filming for a low budget TV movie isn't bad and the way the trio invades the secret base where the weapons are hidden is very interesting. Watch it if you are interested in the series.
Forgettable actioner for Fred
lor_21 June 2023
My review was written in December 1990 after watching the film on a South Gate Entertainment video cassette.
Fred Williamson is back in another forgettable Italo actioner for home video shelves.
Weapons stolen from a base in Manila are the core of an international blackmail scheme. Agent Forry Smith is sent in to get back the arms, and Smith recruits Williamson, dad's old pal.
It's not surprising the script goes uncredited for this uneventful film, in which it takes intrepid heroes forever to find the booty. Eventual jungle mission leads to a left-leaning Brit.
Helmer Don Edwards (pseudonym for Edoardo Margheriti) never really places the Teflon heroes in danger. All-American newcomer Smith's thesping talents are not tested here.
Fred Williamson is back in another forgettable Italo actioner for home video shelves.
Weapons stolen from a base in Manila are the core of an international blackmail scheme. Agent Forry Smith is sent in to get back the arms, and Smith recruits Williamson, dad's old pal.
It's not surprising the script goes uncredited for this uneventful film, in which it takes intrepid heroes forever to find the booty. Eventual jungle mission leads to a left-leaning Brit.
Helmer Don Edwards (pseudonym for Edoardo Margheriti) never really places the Teflon heroes in danger. All-American newcomer Smith's thesping talents are not tested here.
Does anyone care about this series at this point?
Wizard-85 February 2010
The third time is not the charm for this series, though it wasn't the charm with either part one or part two. In this entry, the production values take a couple of steps back, though they are not as dire as those in the first film. (But there are at least some colorful jungle locations in the beginning and end.) There is an unintentionally hilarious song ("The Power Of Love" - not the Huey Lewis version) played twice. There is also some nudity, which none of the first two movies had. But despite things like that, the movie still ends up being pretty dull. Williamson, like the first two movies, seems to be on autopilot, and the action (mostly punch-ups) gets tired pretty quick. The climatic action scene (which takes a long time to build up to) is the best action scene of any in the series, but that does not mean it's good. It's too little, too late.
Well, I've seen all three (official) entries of this series. Now hopefully I can now get to movies that might be GOOD.
Well, I've seen all three (official) entries of this series. Now hopefully I can now get to movies that might be GOOD.
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