ega52 Reviews

Malone (1987)

Nothing Like The Book---Thank Goodness

[19 November 2006]

I strongly recommend that ANYONE disliking this movie---and that counts just about everyone---should run immediately to the library and check out the William Wingate novel "Shotgun" for the surprise of their lives. The surprise being that "Shotgun" is one of the best suspense and action thrillers I have come across. It's been a few years but I can't recall a single element of the book that was carried over into the movie including the name of the title character. Mr. Wingate I hope got a good payoff and spent it well and thanked his lucky stars that this half-assed by-the-numbers piece of Hollywood action schlock has nothing to do with his excellent yarn. It more puts one in mind of Shane and The Man With No Name in its tale of a lone stranger wandering through a small town, attracting the interest of a depressed teenage girl named Lou, and ultimately challenging the vicious criminal organization which holds the entire town in a grip of fear. The character development is much more than one might expect of such a tried-and-true genre and the violence that erupts makes the reader want to stand up and cheer. Souce material---HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Movie---THEY SHOULD'VE PAID ME TO SIT THROUGH IT.

Equinox (1970)

A Stop Motion Delight

[5 August 2006]

THERE BE SPOILERS HERE When I was a kid in Xenia, Ohio, the local movie theater sent fliers to the elementary schools advertising their weekend matinées, and I vividly recall the incredible poster art from "The Valley of Gwangi" and "Equinox Occult Barrier Between Good & Evil" which sent me running to the cinema. I've waited years for "Equinox" to finally hit the video shelves and the time is here! Barebones but highly effective as I recall. Spare plot begins and ends in a mental hospital and a haunted lone survivor telling of a camping trip and the murders of his friends by demons and giant monsters (Sam Raimi and quite a few others have seen this flick). The effects? Incredible to any followers of Ray Harryhausen and his craft. Preying on the campers are a tusked and colorful 30-foot ape, a lumbering blue-skinned giant, a tentacled mollusk, and a bat-winged demon. Some really great model work for such a low-budgeter, the monster gorilla is particularly beautiful. Also featured some of my first exposure to woody-inducing sexuality (along with 1972's "Gargoyles"). The climax is one of the most chilling and vividly remembered experiences I've had in the cinema. I hope the DVD extras are worth the wait! I'd especially love knowing what ever happened to that ape model!

Billy Jack (1971)

Iconic Classic

[11 August 2004]

SPOILER ALERT Viet Nam combat veteran Billy Jack acts as tribal policeman on the Indian reservation where he studies ancient customs and watches over the progressive school for wayward youngsters set up by teacher Jean Roberts. The Freedom School is feared and hated by the old-fashioned denizens of the neighboring town and their leading citizen, rancher Stuart Posner, engages in an escalating conflict to remove the troublemakers. This leads Billy to use his Green Beret martial arts skills in defense of the bullied students and the Indians who are the victims of racial prejudice. Posner's troubled son, Bernard, ultimately commits rape and murder and Billy Jack kills him in revenge before boarding himself up in a church against the authorities arriving to arrest him. But his love for the teacher Jean and her school causes him to give himself up instead of seeking a warrior's death. Jeez this movie attracts a lot of flack! But don't listen to the naysayers. It is a classic in every sense of the word. Billy Jack was one of the original screen anti-heroes, as well as an iconic action figure many times duplicated. Chuck Norris' character in his first starring feature, "Breaker! Breaker!" was a direct inspiration, and no doubt there would be no Rambo films without the trailblazing of this contemporary western. It was one of the first movies to introduce martial arts to American audiences, even before the appearance of Bruce Lee. Filmed on a shoestring budget with veteran actors sprucing up the mostly undiscovered cast, Tom Laughlin's writing-directing-acting pinnacle presents characters who seem like real people in real situations. As in any production yes, there are flaws, but there is no better example of seat-of-your-pants filmmaking than this. It's a movie where everything seemed to come together, and the result is greatness, and greatness with staying power. There are few of us of a certain generation who have not seen "Billy Jack" and few of us who didn't love it. Need I say it? HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. And get one of the newer transfers. I still have the first pre-recorded tape released in the early 80's by Warner Brothers, who hated the film's popularity even as they raked in money on it, and released it with flaws intact that could have easily been edited out (like boom mikes visible in camera shots). The movie deserves better and lately that's exactly what it's been getting, along with some long-delayed respect.

The Born Losers (1967)

Classic Hero

[3 August 2004]

Loner Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin), just returned from Viet Nam, pits himself against a vicious motorcycle gang who are terrorizing a California town, protecting a rape victim and standing alone when even the police are reluctant to act.

This is one of the best of its kind. Made on a shoestring budget the tight storyline allows for few frills but plenty of classic hero and villain tension. In-your-face violence for its time, only a little martial-arts action (compared to the later BJ films) but all the ingredients are on hand for a character who is destined to become an American screen icon.

The nattering nabobs can kavetch about bad acting until their faces turn blue---Billy Jack is what he is, and Laughlin plays him to perfection. Particular credit goes to veteran actor Jeremy Slate as the complicated, arrogant gang leader, and again to Laughlin, for writing the part. Laughlin's villains have an element of sympathy. They may be monsters, but they have reasons for the way they behave and this makes them more human.

Look for an early walk-on by Laughlin's wife and later screen partner Delores Taylor (also his executive producer and co-writer)and their son and daughter (she would have a substantial role in following BJ flicks).

Also on hand is one of our favorite heavies, Robert Tessier as CueBall, sporting thick dark hair before he adopted his well-known shaved-head look. Tessier, a military vet and stunt man, was also the stunt adviser for the film.

Classic hero defending his girl against despicable bad guys makes for ONE TERRIFIC MOVIE. If you like this one check out BILLY JACK and DEFIANCE (Jan-Michael Vincent).

The Black Scorpion (1957)

Low-Budget Nightmares

[14 March 2004]

SPOILER ALERT A volcanic eruption and earthquake in Mexico ravages the countryside and opens a fizzure into a subterranean world. When citizens turn up missing it's discovered that huge scorpions the size of tanker trucks are coming out of the hole and preying on the locals. An American and a Mexican scientist team up with a lady rancher to investigate and try to stop the killings, taking a perilous trip down into the bowels of the earth, where they witness battles to the death between oversized spiders, clawed worms, and scorpions. They seal the fizzure opening, but then find that several of the giant scorpions have escaped and are making their way towards Mexico City, devouring anything they come across. They attack a commuter train and peel the cars apart like bananas to eat the humans inside, but this is where the largest of them, a black 100-footer, turns on its smaller brethren and kills them all. The lone black scorpion goes on to the city where it engages in a violent battle with the Mexican Army's tanks and helicopters in the city's Colisseum before being electrocuted. As a big fan of Willis O'brien and Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion animation work, I was impressed with this low-budget monster flick as a youngster and remain so to this day. I found it on VHS a couple of years ago and was pleased to see it released on DVD recently (along with Harryhausen's "Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" and "Valley of Gwangi"). The budget for this movie is bare-bones and the acting and story dull, but the effects are incredible! O'Brien pulled out all the stops here and I've seen nothing in the genre more effective. The scenes in the cavern where the monster insects prey on each other and the human interlopers would raise the hair on anyone, and the attack on the train is absolutely nightmarish. The final battle between the black scorpion and the mechanized army is a tour de force, though the miniscule budget is glimpsed here and in a couple of other shots in the use of looped reels, repeated for padding. But if you're a fan of this stuff BUY IT. You won't be disappointed. Trivia Detail: I read in a review of the DVD release recently that O'Brien made use here of the spider models filmed in the "lost" cavern floor sequence in "King Kong" which was then edited out for being too scary.

Chiefs (1983)

Riveting Generational TV Thriller

[27 February 2004]

SPOILER ALERT!!! Three generations of police chiefs struggle with changing times, racial issues, and a vicious serial killer in the southern town of Delano, spanning 40 years. The growing community's first official chief, a failed farmer played by Wayne Rogers, is hired by town patriarch Charlton Heston (narrating the tale and chewing the scenery a bit) in the 1920s much to the chagrin of veteran redneck county sheriff Paul Sorvino, who along with Heston's character has a role in each of the pivotal lawmen's lives. Sorvino predicts that Rogers is not tough enough for the job, and sure enough the first Chief is killed in a tragic shooting just as he is about to reveal the identity of the local oddball who is secretly a sexual murderer of hitchiking boys. The Chief's grown son (Stephen Collins) finds recognition as a WWII hero and returns to take a place in the town's political leadership, while sneering tough guy Sonny Butts (a terrific Brad Davis) comes home as well, joins the police force, and quickly makes a name for himself as the racist terror of Delano. After murdering an innocent black man (Danny Glover) Butts finds himself under investigation for that crime, attempted rape, and other offenses and sees a way out when he discovers the old chief's serial killer evidence. But before he can reveal what he knows and save his job and his skin, the killer takes him by surprise and he joins the lengthy list of missing victims, along with his fancy police motorcycle. 20 years later Stephen Collins is now a Senator who pulls strings to have Delano get its first black police chief (ass-kicking Billy Dee Williams),a war veteran who whips his good ole boy lawmen into shape. Amid skirmishes with unenlightened local yokels, bigoted cops from neighboring communities, and the Klan, the Senator is unaware that he and the black cop share a tragic-sweet childhood bond as he runs interference for the Chief's attempts to bring the aging serial murderer to justice. Great television miniseries as these things go. Very effective building of suspense, full of characters you love and hate. Acting heavyweights above as well as Keith Carradine, Tess Harper, Victoria Tennant, and John Goodman. Look for the little boy from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" as the son played later by Collins. Certainly no "Roots" but a must-have on my video shelf along with "Lonesome Dove", "Rich Man Poor Man" and "The Stand."

The Challenge (1982)

East/West Butt Kicker

[18 December 2003]

SPOILER ALERT Fantastic intelligent action flick from a master of the genre, John Frankenheimer (check out THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE or RONIN). Bottom-of-the-barrel boxer Scott Glenn is recruited to escort a valuable Samurai sword and is thrown into a blood feud between two brothers who both lay claim to the blade, which is one of a set of twin weapons called the Equals. One brother is a rich gangster/businessman, the other a venerable sword master (Mifune at his best)who seeks to uphold the family honor symbolized by the heirloom swords. After a couple of bloody ambushes Glenn says "sayonara" to save his own skin, but returns due in part to his attraction to Mifune's luscious daughter, and from his own desire to conquer his limitations and become the warrior that Mifune sees within him. Ultimately he is the old man's last hope and after extensive training and a bit of "vision quest" consciousness-raising confronts the martial-arts expert mobster on his own turf. The resulting office sword battle is bloody and no-holds-barred and Glenn finds not only his own honor but the respect and affection of the aging warrior who believed in him. I've followed different movie martial-arts styles since way back when and this was the first time I recall seeing the impressive handhold and body-throws of the Aikido style championed by Steven Seagal (small wonder since it was he who created many of the fight scenes for this one, prior to becoming an action star himself). I knew a few martial arts people when this film was released, and they were all impressed especially by the training and culture-clash sequences and by the relationship between the students and their master played by Mifune. One teacher I knew even borrowed my tape of the film to show to his class---this was back around 1983. This one's been shown on the tube under a number of lame-assed alternate titles but it's still a great flick. The sex scene between Glenn and the girl ain't bad either! Don't let anyone kid you, this is an action film and a half, with not only hand-to-hand martial arts but dazzling swordfights and gun battles in mind of YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. If you like this one, check out THE YAKUZA, THE OCTAGON, and HIGHLANDER if you like a bit of fantasy with your bladework.

Starship Troopers (1997)

Kick-Bug Movie

[10 November 2003]

SPOILER ALERT BMOC Johnny Rico and his friends go their separate ways after joining different branches of the military and fight in the war against the alien bugs from the planet Klendathu attacking Earth. The human military forces packs formidable weaponry against hordes of truck-sized Arachnids armed with their own slicing-and-dicing implements, and monstrous beetles who spew soldier-cooking lava out one end and eject starship-destroying loads of nuclear waste from the other. The battle scenes are exciting and bloody and both sides inflict terrible casualties on their enemies, with Rico's love life and gung-ho companions making up the subplots. I was attracted to this movie for the awesome special effects and battle scenes, and for the director, Paul Verhoeven, whose past films promised great action and in-your-face violence. This one delivers on all counts. Like the director's "Robocop" this one has a lot of backstory going on behind the plot. This society of the future is quite finely crafted. The fascist almost neo-Nazi government promotes citizenship by filling the ranks of the military, using the war against the bugs as the rallying cry. The film hints that the military establishment wants the war and keeps it escalating. Michael Ironside is a progressive teacher of young adults who urges free thought, as well as a scarred war veteran happily taking up a robotic arm and a rifle to join in the conflict. With so many good-looking people in the cast---Van Dien and Denise Richards in particular could be built by Mattel---I would say that in this future world genetic manipulation has become the norm. The combat scenes deliver and then some. Bodies both human and insectoid are hacked, blasted, and burned. When an Arachnid goes to work on a platoon of soldiers (or on a sacrificed cow), blood and limbs literally fly in all directions. Also in true Verhoeven fashion we get to see a bit of enticing T&A, and the males in the cast are not let off the hook. The performances are all first-rate for the material, Ironside and Clancy Brown as a fierce drill instructor in particular. These characters are not relaxed: they all live hard, play hard, and fight like Comanches, to coin a phrase from another movie. Maybe we could see a sequel employing the gigantic robot-armor war machines from Heinlein's novel. I'd love a continuation of this over-the-top sci-fi action flick, but only with Verhoeven in charge---I'd hate to see what a less talented craftsman would do with this set-up.

Willard (2003)

Disappointing Rat-Tale

[23 October 2003]

SPOILER ALERT It's been many years since I saw the original "Willard" but I do recall it was effective at inspiring sympathy, pity, outrage, and fear. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for this Crispin Glover remake. There are many points in the story of unhappy oddball Willard Stiles whereby a good horror film could have been realized, but it all seems to fall a little flat. This is mainly in the writing department, since all the actors involved do a pretty good job, especially Glover (in a role he was born for). I was also disappointed, expecting scenes of rat-committed mayhem. One reviewer I read called this a "gory" film (a plus for me) but I saw little. And some things just didn't work, like the rat called Ben, an oversized specimen who doesn't look like a rat at all, but rather some kind of short-furred long-tailed marsupial from Australia. Also R. Lee Ermey's boss is a looney-tunes ogre and I find it unlikely an entire office of sane people would work for such a miscreant in this day and age. Glover has a desperate-creepy edge as Willard, but you never have quite the same sympathy for him as you did for Davison in the original. The scene at his mother's funeral goes from sad to revolting in a hurry when we see a snivelling Willard with a loop of snot dangling from his nose, and it was hard for me to get that image out of my head the rest of the film. In the same scene we get Willard howling at the top of his lungs at the bank's repo man, followed by a sedate handshake. All this craziness was no doubt meant to be conveyed as part of this unfortunate fellow's sad life, but it comes off more as bad writing. There are some good points. The struggle of the doomed cat ("Scully"---no doubt a nod to director-writer Morgan's years with "The X Files") as it seeks to escape from the army of rats in Willard's cavernous home, with the serenade of Michael Jackson's "Ben" on the soundtrack, was amusing. As was Willard's use of his rat soldiers to vandalize his boss's new car, and the comeuppance of an annoying little dog which almost got him caught. All in all a disappointing but not totally useless remake of a good horror film. Not to be missed is the video of the aforementioned "Ben" as sung by Glover in a weird 1920's style cabaret stage-show setting which is included on the New Line video and, I'm sure, the DVD. Glover is a famously strange and talented actor, and his sense of humor about the movie and his own persona is captured in all their glory in this video.

Gargoyles (1972 TV Movie)

One Of The Best

[23 October 2003]

SPOILER ALERT I've always had fond memories of this TV-film, and my memories are vivid, cause at a young age I had dreams of being a writer and this is one of the handful of favorite monster movies that I novelized for my own enjoyment. It's a bare-bones plot right out of the best of the 1950's monster-on-the-loose drive-in attractions, about a scientist and his daughter (Wilde, Salt) who stumble onto a mystery in the desert when they go to check out a hermit's claims that he has the skeleton of a monster in his possession. From there you have supernatural-action setups involving monster attacks and a range of interesting secondary characters, from the local small-town cops to a band of sport-bikers led by a young Scott Glenn.

For $1.98 television network special effects circa 1972, they don't come any better. The Gargoyles themselves are stuntmen and women in rubber suits and scary masks, with scales, hair, horns and feathers glued on. But they are effective, as is the slow-motion photography in the monster sequences and the super-human strength bits exhibited by the creatures. Bernie Casey as the bat-winged gargoyle king is demonic and impressive. Someone said the creature in "Jeepers Creepers" is a direct descendant---and they're right. Most of all I remember the unflinching sexuality in this movie, and how they got away with it on network TV in 1972 amazes me to this day. Jennifer Salt is a walking wet dream with that brown skin and that halter top, and the movie made no bones about it (or about the prurient interest shown by the Gargoyle King). My 12-and-13-year-old pals and I could talk about nothing else in the school yard the next day, and most of our comments were definitely not for a television viewing audience!

Poltergeist (1982)

Keep A Spare Pair Of Shorts Handy

[16 October 2003]

SPOILER ALERT! Technically breathtaking, scary as hell. But shamelessly manipulative, more in the vein of Spielberg's work than Hooper's. The sob-inducing hunt-for-Carol Anne stuff made me choke back tears too, but left a bad taste in my mouth later. The musical score is likewise and even cloying, especially that overplayed lullaby theme which is done to death on XM-radio every Halloween till I'm ready to gag. However, I'm not saying this isn't a great film, it most definitely is. The special effects crew earned their keep on this one. You've got everything from a sluglike piece of meat sliming its way across a kitchen counter to a parade of luminous ghosts, cadavers erupting from the ground and "The Beast," the monstrous hell-spawned visage causing all the otherworldly goings-on. A must-have addition to your Halloween collection.

White Line Fever (1975)

Great Action Flick

[16 October 2003]

SPOILER ALERT! Great action flick with well-written characters, often compared to "Billy Jack" and "Walking Tall." Fistfights and tough guys galore, Kay Lenz looking adorable, what more could you ask for? Climactic scene of Jan-Michael Vincent's "Blue Mule" diesel tractor truck barreling through a guard shack and becoming airborne is one of the most memorable bits of 70's action cinema. Highly recommended by me.

Walking Tall (1973)

Bigger Than Life

[16 October 2003]

SPOILER ALERT! One terrific action flick, one of the top 4 of the early 70s, along with "Billy Jack" "Dirty Harry" and "Death Wish." The action scenes are among the best and most explicitly violent ever filmed, especially the bar fights. The ambush, the moments following it with horrified cops and ambulance people arriving at the bloody scene, and the events at the hospital afterwards are emotionally harrowing and almost operatic. Look for highly underrated character actor Ken Tobey in one of his most memorable performances as a vicious redneck. Don't bother with the butchered version likely to be caught on late-night television---this one needs to be seen in all its R-rated politically-incorrect glory. I have an excellent video transfer distributed by Rhino Video.

Exterminator 2 (1984)

Embarrassing

[9 October 2003]

SPOILER ALERT! I dearly love the first film and was excited to see this one, especially when I heard that gore-guru Tom Savini was supplying messed-up corpses for the production. And I hate trashing a piece of work that someone actually spent time and money to fashion---but this thing is awful, even worse than "Death Wish 3" which at least had Bronson in it.

Ginty's character is a cardboard cutout, resembling the troubled loner from the first film in appearance only, and it seems to me that his garbage-man buddy is as much the hero of this disaster as he. Van Peebles as X is like something from a comic book---take out the R-rated language and he would fit right in on the old "Batman" TV show along with Liberace and Aunt Harriet. And the finale with the souped-up garbage truck was obviously inspired---using the term loosely---by the ending of every episode of "The A Team." If you disliked this abortion as much as I, stick to the original and leave this thing to collect dust on the store shelf.

The Exterminator (1980)

Great Revenge Flick

[9 October 2003]

SPOILER ALERT! This movie is not a ripoff of "Death Wish"---in fact I consider DW's shoddy sequels---I'm not including Part 2 now---to be bad copies of "The Exterminator." Ginty's character is no Charles Bronson---he's more in the mold of Travis Bickle from "Taxi Driver" but without the introspection. Ginty seems almost unnerved by violence in the first encounter with the gang. When he decides to respond, it's with massive firepower ("M-16!!!" my Army buddies and I howled way back when)and merciless vengeance. But he's not a tough guy. Troubled, yes---continuing the image of the haunted veteran begun by "Billy Jack" and carried on in the Rambo films---he's obviously demonstrating a case of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome in his lonely life and his dealings with others, and in his reaction to criminal acts. He is set into motion by the savage attack on his friend (his only friend) but he continues on his mission at first to aid his friend's family, and then in defense of others he encounters. And make no mistake, "The Exterminator" is indeed an ACTION FILM. The martial arts, the gun battles, the car/motorcycle chase mark it as such. Also setting it apart from DW are the hero's inventive ways of meting out justice. M-16---flamethrower---.44 Magnum packed with mercury-loaded rounds. Let's not forget the meat grinder. Very good action flick. If you like it check out "Rolling Thunder" and "Defiance."

The Master Gunfighter (1975)

Samurai In Early California

[9 October 2003]

SPOILER ALERT! This movie does have its problems it's true, but credit should be given to Laughlin's idea of transporting a Samurai-trained gunfighter into Zorro territory. As in his Billy Jack films racial and moral injustice play a major role and, unfortunately, the United States is the off-camera villain. The wealthy spanish Dons of early California are being taxed to death by the American government and one of the most prominent of the Spaniards, Don Paulo (O'Neal), revisits a plot that has already worked once: enlist a village of Indians to wreck gold-carrying American ships on the coast and plunder their riches, then murder the Indians so no one will know. But the Don has a small problem in the guise of his sister's husband, Finley McCloud (Laughlin) who was brought up in Japan as the son of the American Ambassador and has shared his skill with the Samurai sword with his brother Paulo. Finley is also a master of a one-of-a-kind 12-chambered revolver (nowhere in the movie is it called a LeMat)and having left the family when the first murders are committed he returns to intervene when he learns they're going to happen again. Martial arts in the American West are an interesting combination (check out "Red Sun", "Kung Fu", or the newer "Shanghai Noon" films)and Laughlin's haunted gunfighter-swordsman had great potential which I'm afraid to say usually failed to materialize onscreen. Much of the problem was a screenplay that continually put the hero in situations that made him look foolish: he stares down an adversary after his oversize sombrero has been chopped in two, eliciting laughs, or he hangs helpless from a tree while discussing the conspiracy with the villains. Also Laughlin's character talks too much, especially about himself---"My life as a wandering gunfighter---", ughh,gag. Turning the hero into a clown is a mistake not unique to this movie though; catch Schwarzenegger's embarrassing crying fit while dressed in pajamas and a KKK-hat in the otherwise excellent "Conan the Barbarian", or Will Smith's humiliating dancing-girl disguise in "The Wild, Wild, West"---that movie was excrement, they should've paid me to sit through it. Also bad was Burgess Meredith's mind-numbing narration, which starts the movie on a sour note. The California coast and photography were excellent however, and the costumes, fantastic. The climaxing duel between Finley and Paulo, decked out in their Spanish noblemen finery, is memorable as image, but another misstep in execution. It's obvious that the final confrontation between the two Samurai-pistoleros is meant to pay tribute to Sergio Leone's spaghetti-Westerns, but the pacing is too drawn out and effect is lost in the translation. What an idea though. Even the title---mastery of the pistol is not only a skill, but a discipline. An idea familiar to all fans of martial arts films. So despite the negatives, "The Master Gunfighter" has to be included in the collection of any red-blooded follower of Tom Laughlin---which I definitely am.

Ode to Billy Joe (1976)

Wonderful Movie

[8 October 2003]

SPOILER ALERT! I probably have not seen this film since the 70s but I loved it. I had an absolute crush on Glynnis O'Connor. I seem to remember the sweat on her upper lip in one scene and of course the moonlight swim bit sticks in my memory ("Look at you, Bobbie Lee! Look at you in the moonlight!") Contrary to the opinions of others, Billy Joe was not gay. He was a bit confused like most his age, but he definitely liked girls. His hormones were erupting and a predator took advantage of him. The mores of the time and place dictated that he could not live with himself after such an event, even with Bobbie Lee's love. If you liked this one definitely check out "Summer of '42"---"Baby Blue Marine"--- and "One On One."

The Soldier (1982)

Unjustly Vilified

[3 October 2003]

WARNING Spoiler Alert: "The Soldier" elicited some pretty disparaging remarks in previous comments but I don't agree. It's not the graphic slam-bang actioner of James Glickenhaus' "The Exterminator" but I recall it never being dull. It has a more intricate plot which requires a bit of attention. It's more a thinking-man's action piece like "The Package" or "The Peacemaker." I remember it being a slick movie with bright photography, as opposed to "The Exterminator"'s grimy urban look. I recall arguing with my Army buddies at the time about the world one day coming to a zero-tolerance policy concerning terrorists even to the extent of sacrificing hostages. I believe Glickenhaus was a man ahead of his time, like Tom Clancy, in the conclusions he drew about terrorists and world events. I also love the fact that both Glickenhaus' movies, this and "Exterminator" end with the heroes standing at the feet of The Statue Of Liberty. It makes an effective last shot for a double=package of a consistent director's work.