Operation Rogue (2014) User Reviews

SLEEP TIGHT

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 6 September 2018]

This is another US vs. the terrorists film. The setting is the south Philippine Islands where our marines have a base to go after terrorists along with G-Tech, a contractor. The bad guys have acquired wooden crates with TNT written on them (no proper UN markings as required by international treaty to transport). Somehow they got a hold of some radioactive cesium 137 which they non-nonchalantly carry around, most likely giving themselves a lethal dose.

They plan to explode these bombs in Manila during a counter terrorism conference. Jenna Wallace (Sofia Pernas), the general's daughter is brought in as a contractor to stop the bad guys and finds herself a career hostage. We also get to see the fundamentalist Muslim terrorists do drugs with party girls.

The film had a simple straight forward plot that would have made Seagal green with envy. Other than the location, this was a me-too anti-terrorist film with formulaic results. Acting and dialogue couldn't carry the film.

Parental Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

An uninteresting good guys triump over the bad guys movie

[megoobee · 3/10 · 4 October 2021]

The story starts off with the usual damsel in distress gets kidnapped and gets rescued by the male military hero character. However, the male hero later gets caught by the bad guys and need rescuing. The previous damsel in distress asserts her "I'm the best person for the job" and is given a military team to go out and rescue him. (Note that she's a civilian but is somehow more capable of leading a rescue mission than trained military folks? Huh?)

Anyhow, her entire team gets killed but she is able to rescue the male hero character. They both almost get killed but her geriatric father just happens to get there at the nick of time to save them. Seriously, what's next, their dog comes to help out next?

Sorry but no. This is the kind of movie where you root for the bad guys. (Thankfully, there wasn't a dog in the movie)

Should never have been made

[iantrader · 2/10 · 8 May 2018]

Hey ho... It's a so-so movie with a by-the-numbers script. Why on earth would you want to watch it?

If that's a question, my answer is - No idea!

It's not bad as in the worst movie ever made, but it has no aspirations to be particularly good and it's definitely not original.

The most bewildering aspect - and this applies to many, many, many movies - is how the heck did the writer/director persuade anyone to put up the money for it?? To be honest, at the end of the day it literally has 110% more cliches than this sentence! And I'm not even joking!

The writer/director/producer can't have seen any 'action' movies in their life, if they think this has any merit.

It's ok, if you like this sort of thing but in the greater movie universe, it should never have been made.

It's nice that they're still making movies like this in 2014-2015

[tarbosh22000 · 6/10 · 6 September 2015]

In the jungles of the Philippines, General Hank Wallace (Treat) and Captain Max Randall (Dacascos) are fighting terrorists. The baddies finally go too far when they kidnap Jenna Wallace (Pernas), the General's daughter and Max's love interest. Wallace tells Max and his team to find her at any cost - but it just may be their lives. Thankfully, Jenna is a "former Marine" (despite the fact that she looks far too young to be a former anything) so she can handle herself well under fire. Presumably this would be the case if Treat Williams was your father. In the immortal words of that movie we haven't seen as of this writing, will our heroes GET THE TERRORISTS? Or will the forces of evil prevail? Find out today...

Did you know that the Philippines have Islamic extremist terrorists too? Well, they do, and that comes as quite a gift for the Roger Corman factory. For them, this is a win-win. They can stay topical as well as film movies there like they did in the old days. Clearly the baddies in this movie are based on a real Philippine terror group called MILF, which stands for Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Again, this is the name of a REAL terror group, and you can look it up if you don't believe it. So, who better to fight these guys than fan favorites Treat Williams and Mark Dacascos? Speaking of the aforementioned old days, the past is clearly an inspiration to the filmmakers here, as the structure of this movie is very much like the Cirio Santiago-directed jungle epics of yore. It's nice that they're still making movies like this in 2014-2015, and we give everyone involved due credit for that. But it's a double-edged sword...

Sure, we appreciate that this movie is after the fashion of so many we've watched on VHS, but the other side of the coin is that it can get very samey, like we've seen all this many times before. Even the casting of our heroes Treat Williams and Mark Dacascos (as well as Philippine mainstay Henry Strzalkowski) serve to reinforce this fact. This is a movie that wishes it came out around 1994, give or take 5 years or so, and we say good on ya, but it does tend to get a bit run of the mill. Director Brian Clyde also did the very, very similar The Hunt for Eagle One (2006), but in that case Dacascos's General was Rutger Hauer, not Treat Williams.

Naturally, the shooting, beat-ups, and blow-ups are all present and accounted for, with what looks like minimal CGI, to the movie's eternal credit. A helicopter and a few huts even explode as well, reinforcing the old (ish) school vibe. But this is a movie that very much fits the standard, and is neither good nor bad. It just is.

Featuring an amusingly abrupt ending that seems like it was recycled from footage from something else, as if they didn't have the time, money or inclination to bother with a denouement, Operation Rogue fits in well with others of its ilk. If you like them, you'll like this. If you don't, you won't. It's as simple as that, which is fitting, as simplicity seems to be the order of the day here.

Perfectly enjoyable if the expectation is low.

[nathan_kugan · 8/10 · 12 January 2015]

First of all,this is clearly a low budget B movie. U should know it the moment u saw Roger Corman's name in the title. Even the film makers knew it and they didn't set out to make a high budget and critically acclaimed action movie. They wanted to make an enjoyable action movie on a very modest budget and i think they succeeded at that. The movie was fast and nice to follow from the start and it works mainly because of the lead actor Mark Dacascos. Mark Dacascos have been around for years now and although he have never achieved a star status or made many acclaimed movie,he still gives his full effort to a movie. In this movie,he seemed so committed to his role and did a great job in the action scenes and his acting was solid enough for the material he is given. At his age,he is still very fast and agile and looked way younger than he really is. The movie does have a lot of flaws and certain scenes felt so rushed but if u get past those and only expect a simple action flick to past your time,this would be a very good viewing.

Entertaining but ... nowhere near realistic!

[wgwickun · 6/10 · 27 July 2023]

After nearly 4 decades as a US Marine, I find that the BG with his long hair highly implausible. And I've served under many Flag Officers, both Marine and Navy, and none of them came remotely close to that which Treat Williams appears as BG Hank Wallace. Is it too much to demand that actors get a realistic haircut!! Will it harm them?? Hollywood should begin looking for ACCURACY instead of the typical BS 'glamor' for which it erroneously believes that Americans are searching. GOD BLESS TRUE AMERICAN WARRIORS OF EVERY BRANCH!! And looking forward to the "Wizards of Tinsel Town" to become enlightened.

Does the job

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 10 September 2021]

So it turns out that Roger Corman is still producing films shot in the Philippines some half a century after he first started. Kudos to him for that. OPERATION ROGUE is a brisk and efficient low budget action flick, starring regular action bloke Mark Dacascos as a soldier who gets involved with a local criminal planning to wreak havoc with a chemical bomb. Treat Williams plays in support. The emphasis is very much on the action throughout here; it's virtually non-stop, jumping from one martial arts bout to an explosion to a shoot-out and more besides. Hardly remarkable, but if you're looking for mindless entertainment it does the job.

Action Packed Diverse Entertainment with Fresh Blood Hollywood Actors

[jpeterloftus · 10/10 · 28 October 2014]

Christopher M. Elassad captures the attention of Hollywood as the new lovable hero tough guy, Sgt. McCray, along side the beautiful and athletic Sofia Pernas, martial arts expert Mark Decascos, the versatility of actor Treat Williams, and the engaging Joe Suba, to deliver action packed sequences with fast paced editing. Shot on location in the Philippines with solid photography and a realistic terrorist plot. Chris Elassad's natural talent as an actor and strong physique are a perfect match for his role in Operation Rogue. A quick glance at Elassad's credits will show his vast experience behind the camera gives him a distinct advantage as a new presence of Screen Actors Guild artists. Bravo!!!