Operation Delta Force 5: Random Fire (2000) User Reviews

Best just to avoid this movie and move on with your life.

[tarbosh22000 · 3/10 · 24 March 2019]

When Ambassador Clarence Rodman (Scott) - who probably isn't related to basketballer/honorary North Korean Dennis Rodman - is on a speeding train somewhere in Kenya, things start to look bad. Little does he, or anyone else, know that super-evil terrorist mastermind Jafari Bin Kasim (Caprari) is on the loose. So, naturally, the DELTA FORCE is sent in. Let by Captain Kennedy (Thomas) and Sgt. Johnson (Jensen), the boys get involved in endless firefights and bombings in and around Kenya. When certain people are held prisoner by Jafari - who probably isn't related to the bad guy from Aladdin - Kennedy wants answers, but he's not getting any info from the military brass. After a wave of suicide bombings in America, the DELTA FORCE decides to go back to Africa to save their missing compatriots. Will they hit their mark? Or will it just be a bunch of RANDOM FIRE?

OPERATION DELTA FORCE 5: RANDOM FIRE is a cross between a generic and characterless Nu Image modern-day war actioner and a movie that can predict the future. Sure, there are the endless, repetitive shooting/blow up scenes we've all come to expect, but let's keep in mind this has a copyright date of 1999 and was released in 2000 - and it features a terrorist using a plane to crash into something as a weapon of war, there are many sleeper cells and suicide bombings, and there is a Boston bombing. All pre-9/11. So, pretty impressive for a DTV war movie with nothing else to distinguish it.



The audience knows Jafari Bin Kasim is evil because:

• He has a ponytail

• He looks like Al Pacino after a night of binge drinking

• His name is Jafari Bin Kasim

• He pronounces the word "missiles" as "misSYLes"

...among other rather obvious clues. The movie needed more Jafari. And even during the Jafari we did get, most of Jafari's face is obscured by bizarre and unneeded close ups while he's looking through binoculars and singing "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" as the signal to ignite his suicide bombers. While he was onscreen, at least there was some mild tension and/or lack of boredom. But the filmmakers must have thought audiences would be okay without him.

In classic B-movie fashion, all the people we see look like other people. Is that Anthony Michael Hall? No, it's Trae Thomas. Is that the guy from Seinfeld? No, that's...someone else. Is that Todd Jensen? No, that's...Todd Jensen. After seeing many movies with him, we're still not sure what he looks like.



While there are a lot of war clichés, there are also plenty of things action movies used to have back in the good old days: exploding helicopters, guard tower falls, guard tower explosions, repeated footage, borrowed footage, and stuff like that. But it's not enough to make the movie interesting or worthwhile. Some characterization might have helped. Just a thought.

However, our favorite character comes along towards the end of the movie. We don't think he has a name, but we could be wrong. He's a guy shooting a machine gun out of a helicopter. The top half of his face is obscured by his helmet visor. He displays no emotion whatsoever, never says anything, and never changes his body position or his gun position. He's just an unsmiling, seemingly random guy with a gun who can't be bothered to do anything else. It was pretty funny...if you ever see this movie, lord help you, you will recognize him based on our description, we're sure.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Please allow us to quote from the back of the TVA Films (Canada) DVD box. It says, in part, after attempting to describe the plot for a few sentences: "The inquiry is interrupted when news arrives that the three men left behind are now being held prisoner in Angola by terrorist Osama Bin Laden." Wait a minute. Are they allowed to do that? We were led to believe old Osama himself would make an appearance in this movie. So, naturally, like any sane individual, we purchased the DVD at the library store for two dollars. It could just be that the box-writer was confused by the actual baddie's name, Jafari Bin Kasim, but the only similarity is the "Bin"...which is exactly where this godforsaken DVD should rightfully go.

We kid, of course, but no Osamas are to be found. The main selling point is a sham. That's classic exploitation for ya. Well, anyway, best just to avoid this movie and move on with your life.

"I know him better than his five wives put together"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 4/10 · 9 March 2023]

The Delta Force are in action for the fifth and presumably the last time in a film set mainly in Kenya but shot in South Africa. It's not much of an improvement on the previous four films. It concerns a singing terrorist brainwashing people to carry out acts of violence who is eventually offed by the Delta Force (and three cruise missiles). There is a lot of drama in the movie as opposed to action so it drags on rather. The action scenes are confusing and too much use is made of stock footage and repeated shots. The cast fight with the poor dialogue and lose and some of the performances are feeble. It also appeared that some of the actors seemed to be dubbed somewhat badly. The only positives were explosions and more explosions so credit to the pyrotechnicians.

Holy hell!

[ctomvelu-1 · 2/10 · 4 June 2008]

Like watching a snake, OPERATION DELTA FORCE 5: RANDOM FIRE is hard to take one's eyes off of. It is just about the worst movie I have ever seen, and I have seen them all, believe me. Yossi Wein, director of OPERATION DELTA FORCE 2 and OCTOPUS 2, crafts yet another masterpiece of incredibly inept film-making. Uwe Boll, bow before the real master of terrible film-making! You know you're in trouble when a movie's title is longer than the preamble to the Constitution and stars a bunch of muscle builders and what may very well be porn actors who often stand way too close for my comfort -- and was shot in South Africa. That last item guarantees you're in for a nightmarish, almost surrealistic ride. This time out, the Delta Force guys are fighting a Middle Eastern bad guy who is shown in such closeup, you wonder if he may have been humping the camera. He manages to snag some of our heroes and brainwash them to perform various terrorist acts against the western world. It's up to what's left of the force to go in and rescue them and get the bad guy. RANDOM FIRE is a no-budget, non-acted extravaganza that was shot on what appears to be maybe two sets. You would almost think you're watching a spoof of battle films. The leads are played by guys with names like Trae Thomas and Gray Lawson, I kid you not. Don't you just love it? Why such "things" (since they are not movies in the traditional sense) get made is beyond me, other than to fill overnight slots on cheap-o cable stations when all the 900 ads are on, or possibly to serve as a tax write off. For lovers of bad movies only. I gave the movie a "2" instead of a "1" because of good old Trae and Gray.

What the...

[barbados_slim · 1/10 · 29 October 2003]

Are they serious?! This has to be the most mindless, generic "action" film I've ever seen! The action scenes are filmed in slow motion for some reason, the dialogue is corny and laughable, and many parts of the story are completely unbelievable.

0 stars out of 5. Ugh!

Horrible! Even die-hard action fans should stay away!

[stargirlrk · 10 May 2003]

I love action films, and I rented this because the rental-case artwork looked interesting and made the film look exciting. It is basically about Arab terrorist Jafari bin Kasim who brainwashes American combat veterans and sends them on suicide bombing missions. The film opens with a brainwashed man flying an explosives-laden Cessna plane into a moving train carrying a European ambassador, which blows up the train on a bridge over a lake. There are a few more suicide bombings throughout the film (none of them very exciting) so finally, the Delta Force team is called in to track down Kasim and kill him and his thugs. So the movie is basically very boring with terrible acting until the final scene, where the Delta Force invades Kasim's terrorist base in the middle of Kenya and blows it up, killing many terrorists. It is a 90-minute "action" film with only a single 10-minute action scene, which is very poorly filmed in blurry slow-motion and it is very hard to see what's going on. There is a very short gun-battle in the final scene and perhaps a single terrorist is killed and then everything blows up. That is it. How Kasim was able to kidnap and brainwash Americans, I do not know, but even if you are absolutely in love with action films, this was horrible, even if you take into consideration that it was only a made-for-video movie. STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS AND YOU WILL THANK ME. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or comments.

Hopeless muddle of prescient action

[rayxt · 1/10 · 24 November 2002]

The most unexpected plus in this otherwise botched job is seeing the fabulous African railways steam train heading through the veld in the opening scene. After this, however, it's downhill all the way with a basically boring 'deja vu' scenario: megalomanic terrorist uses brainwashed hostages as human suicide bombers. Turn to CNN and it's happening daily for real. Apart from that there's plenty of military hardware mostly wasted in badly filmed action SFX where explosions look more like fireworks.

For the money they could have done much better.

Depressingly bad

[Enchorde · 2/10 · 13 January 2009]

Recap: A team of Delta Force is lured into an ambush trying to protect an American ambassador. The team takes heavy casualties, and flees leaving wounded men behind. Ambassador forgotten, this now become a vendetta between Delta Force Captain Kennedy and the terrorist mastermind Jaffar. Jaffar wants to brainwash the captured soldiers into walking bombs and Kennedy must rescue them at all costs.

Comments: This is impressively and depressingly bad. Its completely stupid, full of boring, never ending and repeating shooting. There is no story, no real dialog and nothing really ever happens, well except people shooting at each other. And if you missed one scene, don't worry, it will repeat itself at least once.

Some action movies ignore rules of reality and might get away with it. This doesn't. I can actually accept movies ignoring the ammunition limit, weapons being able to fire in infinity. But to have a scene where one soldier clearly calls out "Out of ammunition" releases his cartridge and THEN resumes firing can only be the sign of a really incompetent director. And it is incredible that not anyone, writers, actors, none of the people involved, seem to have noticed.

That the movie then continues to completely disregard anything of military tactics or weapon abilities, and that the supposedly elite soldiers of Delta Force seem to be the weakest bunch around (with the exception perhaps being the terrorists shooting at them), was almost to be expected, but it just underlines the poor quality of this entire project.

My recommendation to any and all. Avoid at all costs.

2/10

Awful

[lightswift74 · 1/10 · 17 May 2011]

If these guys are supposed to be America's elite fighting force, God help us. This movie is an embarrassment to the Delta Force and all other military combat units. The tactics they displayed during the firefight in the first 20 minutes of the movie were more characteristic of a bunch of middle schoolers, not battle-hardened warriors with mental fortitude. Along with canned dialogue, unrealistic scenarios, and unintentional humor (like when one soldier walks right across a room with bullets screaming by him, making no attempt to crouch or crawl to make himself a smaller target, then gets shot in the leg), maybe a more apt title would be "Police Academy 8: Mission to Kenya."

Name one film better than this

[mst300012 · 10/10 · 17 May 2003]

As far as epic filmmaking goes, Yossi Wein has hit the nail on the head with this pitch perfect piece of trash movie. It has a certain surreal charm to it. Much like a David Lynch film, Operation Delta Force V: Random Fire leaves many questions open-ended and unanswered.

How come the enemy keeps bombing the same part of the complex in which the Delta Force is stationed...always appearing to have done the same amount of damage? Why is it that five men left the complex safely and yet only four board the helicopter? Why is Jafari bin Kasim's mouth not shown when he talks? If Brad Kennedy survived the missile launch on bin Kasim's hideout, wouldn't he have also taken the same US vessel his fiance was on? If so, why is she surprised when he shows alive as she's sitting down in an outdoor cafe, wearing a sweater, about to drink her lemon-enhanced drink?

All these questions are devices Yossi Wein uses to dangle the audience in his endless mind game. Like a fine wine, this movie gets better and better the more it ages.

10/10 I don't believe in ratings systems, but this film is so good, it deserves one.

Random Fire is the weakest of the operation delta force movies but still fun

[ctmcclain-67729 · 6/10 · 5 September 2021]

Operation Delta Force 5: Random Fire is the weakest of the operation delta Force movies. But it's still fun. It was interesting to see the team this time deal with a villian who uses mind control to turn people into suicide bombers.

The leader of the team seem more in focus this time around. With the rest of them kinda just there, while the previous installments that I've seen felt more like a team movie\ story.

Still it definitely delivers the direct to video popcorn action you would expect from this franchise.

The most fantastic film of all time

[Matthewwood · 10/10 · 12 January 2006]

This is the best film ever the acting is superior the plot lines fantastic and should be on TV everyday so everyone can marvel the film Delta Force. The slow motion action scenes are superb and haven't been tried in any other film which made it different. The only thing i cant understand is why they keep changing the cast in all the films even though they all are great actors and deserve to be in multi-Mulligan action adventure films. I always watch the repeats on channel 5 and would recommend anyone to buy the box-set on DVD and VHS immediately. i cant believe that nobody even film critics find this film rubbish and boring the fact is no-one has ever seen a good action film so they wouldn't know what they are talking about. Then upon actually watching this superb Oscar award winning film i found that it was crap and i was actually talking in my sleep.

Forget the #5 in the title, it's good enough as a stand-alone.

[skylance-3 · 10/10 · 4 November 2000]

Well, I bought this one right away, knowing how I liked the rest in the series. Following the ending of #4 I wondered what would happen here. Well, now you have a new team to work with. So, forget about viewing this one as if it were a sequel. Look at it as if it were a stand-alone film. The budget might not be there like it was for Patriot, MI2, or X-Men, but the cast and crew do well within their constraints. Maybe it's not everyone's choice of titles to own, but I definitely recommend checking it out. You've got government conspiracy, terrorism, emotion, and psychological warfare, not to mention the physical type as well, wrapped up in this film. Just don't pass it up for its title, you'll be missing out if you do.

Intelligent Thriller

[masibindi · 10/10 · 29 May 2001]

Performances were polished; actors knew how to handle weaponry and military protocol; action-packed; suspense, eye-candy like Cedric (Graeme Richards) and the villain; comradery worthy of 'Kelly's Heroes'; Heart-stopper, scenic vistas, science fiction twist, good characterization.

mind bending

[gronk66 · 15 April 2003]

writing as someone who's occasionally liaised with UK and US special forces I can only hope that they have a sense of humour if they ever see this. Certain sections obviously weren't skimped on but surely they could have afforded less flabby and more talented actors and a story that at least tried to inject some tension and humanity.

Top notch!

[simonhagel · 10/10 · 30 October 2005]

Another great movie from Nu Image. Those Germans sure know how to make 'em. This movie contains outstanding acting performances, jaw-dropping visual effects and an amazing storyline. My favorite part is when Skip is about to die and delivers some truly gripping acting. He explains that when he gets his discharge, he's gonna go to med school. Damn, almost made me cry. Another touching moment is when David can't take it anymore and screams "You motherf**kers!!!" and runs outside in slow-motion wildly firing his gun in all directions. As a response, the Arabs fires a mortar straight through a window. Personally, I would have loved to see Nic Cage playing Brad, but Trae still does a fantastic job. I cannot recommend this movie enough, all I can say is WATCH IT!!

Not a final hurrah

[Wizard-8 · 16 November 2011]

Nu Image's "Operation Delta Force" series came to an end with this entry, and judging from the quality of this entry, the end came not a moment too soon. About the only thing positive I can say about this entry is that some of the photography is pretty good. Now for a list of bad things about this movie! The no-name cast is bland, not helped that most of the protagonists are written to be pretty indistinguishable from each other. The action scenes are flat, directed and edited badly with too much use of slow motion. A lot of the movie borrows footage from other Nu Image movies (For instance, I recognized the train scene at the beginning coming from the Dolph Lundgren movie "Sweepers"!) And stock footage supposing to show the city streets of Boston was obviously shot in Los Angeles - you can see PALM TREES in the footage! Even B-movie action junkies will feel ripped off if they spend anything to see this, and will feel just as angry if they see it for free.