High Risk (1981 film)
Encyclopedia
High Risk is a 1981
American/Mexican/UK adventure/heist film
directed by Stewart Raffill
.
Plot Summary
Four unemployed American’s land in a South American jungle ready to steal $5m from a drug lord’s villa. They are then pursued by bandits and the Columbian army.
Plot
High Risk starts with James Brolin’s character (Stone) driving to collect his three friends Tony, Dan and Rockney [Cleavon Little] against a back drop of early 80’s economic gloom. Stone is picking his friends up on the pretense of a fishing trip where in reality they are going to a Central or Latin American country to rob a drug baron.
After collecting everyone the group first meet with Clint (Played by Ernest Bourgnine) who supplies them with weapons and some target practice. It becomes clear that with the possible exception of Stone the team have no military or weapons training and are not taking the heist seriously.
After the target practice the team are flown to their target zone in the jungle where their target is Serrano, a psychotic drug lord [James Coburn] who lives in a large villa. The group observe the villa from their vantage point and discuss whether or not they would have the ability to use the weapons to kill someone and what they will do with their share of the money once they get back home.
After entering the villa they successfully manage to rob Serrano of approx $5m (approx $18m in today’s money) but not before they had to bring both Serrano and his woman [Ana De Sade] to coerce the safe combination from Serrano. They escape from the villa buying some horses from local peasants in doing so and eventually escape into some near by forests.
Thinking that they have got away with it, the team camp for the night and celebrate unaware that they are being observed by a rebel tracker from some distance.
The next morning they awaken to the sight of Serrano’s men and the military pursuing the team by jeep and horse back so they hurriedly escape again however Tony and Rockney are caught and brought to Serrano.
Stone and Dan are still free but have to continue on foot and barely escape the military pursuers having being shot off a very high rope bridge.
Meanwhile Serrano orders the beating of Rockney to the point where Danny agrees to take Serrano’s men to the money to avoid Rockney being killed (knowing that Stone had picked up his share of the cash) and that this would give them a better chance of escape out in the open.
They are brought to the town’s prison cells where they meet Olivia [Lindsay Wagner] who being held in the next cell on trumped up charges. Danny manages to persuade a passing child with the use of his Spanish and bribery to get the child to use tow truck to pull the bars off the wall in a classic prison break. Their success in escaping comes at the cost of the clothes they are wearing as the child demanded more than the watch that was originally offered. When they escape they are pursued virtually naked through the town eventually shaking off their pursuers in a bordello.
They then having acquired some ladies clothes make their way to a bus station with Olivia who happens to be passing by and shows them the way. They make their way to the rendezvous point.
In the meantime Dan and Stone are tracked and captured by a local rebel leader, General Mariano [Anthony Quinn] who has his own plans for the money. They manage to escape and then turn the tables on the rebels by tracking them until night fall and retrieving the cash, killing a number of the rebels in doing so.
They continue to be pursued by the rebels to the rendezvous point where they meet the rest of the group and wait for the pilots to return and pick them up. The rebels track Dan and Stone to the rendezvous point and Dan is wounded by Marianno’s tracker. In the ensuing fire fight Tony is shot trying to save Stone. The group make their way to the air strip without Tony, as they think that he is dead where Serrano’s well armed mercenaries have also tracked them to. A 3 way fire fight ensues and the team seem well beaten until their plane arrives and the pilots give air cover from their DC-3 scattering Serrano’s men who by this time had subdued the rebels. They land and the whole team board the plane (including Danny who was only wounded) and manage to escape. The celebrate their success on the plane when the engine starts to stall....
1981 in film
-Events:*January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate, a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica to sell it....
American/Mexican/UK adventure/heist film
Heist film
A heist film is a film that has an intricate plot woven around a group of people trying to steal something. Versions with dominant or prominent comic elements are often called caper movies. They could be described as the analogues of caper stories in film history...
directed by Stewart Raffill
Stewart Raffill
Stewart Raffill is an American director and writer of many films.Raffill's The Philadelphia Experiment, won the "Best Film" award of the 1985 Fantafestival. While You Were Waiting, won the Silver Award in the Short Dramatic category of the 2002 Atlantic City Film Festival. In 2009, he directed...
.
Plot Summary
Four unemployed American’s land in a South American jungle ready to steal $5m from a drug lord’s villa. They are then pursued by bandits and the Columbian army.
Plot
High Risk starts with James Brolin’s character (Stone) driving to collect his three friends Tony, Dan and Rockney [Cleavon Little] against a back drop of early 80’s economic gloom. Stone is picking his friends up on the pretense of a fishing trip where in reality they are going to a Central or Latin American country to rob a drug baron.
After collecting everyone the group first meet with Clint (Played by Ernest Bourgnine) who supplies them with weapons and some target practice. It becomes clear that with the possible exception of Stone the team have no military or weapons training and are not taking the heist seriously.
After the target practice the team are flown to their target zone in the jungle where their target is Serrano, a psychotic drug lord [James Coburn] who lives in a large villa. The group observe the villa from their vantage point and discuss whether or not they would have the ability to use the weapons to kill someone and what they will do with their share of the money once they get back home.
After entering the villa they successfully manage to rob Serrano of approx $5m (approx $18m in today’s money) but not before they had to bring both Serrano and his woman [Ana De Sade] to coerce the safe combination from Serrano. They escape from the villa buying some horses from local peasants in doing so and eventually escape into some near by forests.
Thinking that they have got away with it, the team camp for the night and celebrate unaware that they are being observed by a rebel tracker from some distance.
The next morning they awaken to the sight of Serrano’s men and the military pursuing the team by jeep and horse back so they hurriedly escape again however Tony and Rockney are caught and brought to Serrano.
Stone and Dan are still free but have to continue on foot and barely escape the military pursuers having being shot off a very high rope bridge.
Meanwhile Serrano orders the beating of Rockney to the point where Danny agrees to take Serrano’s men to the money to avoid Rockney being killed (knowing that Stone had picked up his share of the cash) and that this would give them a better chance of escape out in the open.
They are brought to the town’s prison cells where they meet Olivia [Lindsay Wagner] who being held in the next cell on trumped up charges. Danny manages to persuade a passing child with the use of his Spanish and bribery to get the child to use tow truck to pull the bars off the wall in a classic prison break. Their success in escaping comes at the cost of the clothes they are wearing as the child demanded more than the watch that was originally offered. When they escape they are pursued virtually naked through the town eventually shaking off their pursuers in a bordello.
They then having acquired some ladies clothes make their way to a bus station with Olivia who happens to be passing by and shows them the way. They make their way to the rendezvous point.
In the meantime Dan and Stone are tracked and captured by a local rebel leader, General Mariano [Anthony Quinn] who has his own plans for the money. They manage to escape and then turn the tables on the rebels by tracking them until night fall and retrieving the cash, killing a number of the rebels in doing so.
They continue to be pursued by the rebels to the rendezvous point where they meet the rest of the group and wait for the pilots to return and pick them up. The rebels track Dan and Stone to the rendezvous point and Dan is wounded by Marianno’s tracker. In the ensuing fire fight Tony is shot trying to save Stone. The group make their way to the air strip without Tony, as they think that he is dead where Serrano’s well armed mercenaries have also tracked them to. A 3 way fire fight ensues and the team seem well beaten until their plane arrives and the pilots give air cover from their DC-3 scattering Serrano’s men who by this time had subdued the rebels. They land and the whole team board the plane (including Danny who was only wounded) and manage to escape. The celebrate their success on the plane when the engine starts to stall....
Cast
- James BrolinJames BrolinJames Brolin is an American actor, producer and director, best known for his roles in soap operas, movies, sitcoms, and television. He is the father of actor Josh Brolin and husband of singer/actress Barbra Streisand.-Early life:...
as Stone - Anthony QuinnAnthony QuinnAntonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
as Mariano - Lindsay WagnerLindsay WagnerLindsay Jean Wagner is an American actress. She is probably best known for her portrayal of Jaime Sommers in the 1970s television series The Bionic Woman , though she has maintained a lengthy career in a variety of other film and television productions since.-Early life:Wagner was born in Los...
as Olivia - James CoburnJames CoburnJames Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
as Serrano - Ernest BorgnineErnest BorgnineErnest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
as Clint - Bruce DavisonBruce DavisonBruce Davison is an American actor and director.-Early life:Davison was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Marian E. , a secretary, and Clair W. Davison, a musician, architect, and draftsman for the Army Engineers. His parents divorced when he was three years old. He was raised by his...
as Dan - Cleavon LittleCleavon LittleCleavon Jake Little was an American film and theatre actor.Little was widely known for his lead role as Sheriff Bart in the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy Blazing Saddles. He also was the irreverent Dr...
as Rockney
Soundtrack
- The Rolling StonesThe Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
- "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" Satisfaction" is a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in 1965. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and produced by Andrew Loog Oldham. Richards's throwaway three-note guitar riff — intended to be replaced by horns — opens and drives the song...
" (Jagger/RichardsJagger/RichardsThe songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, known as Jagger/Richards , is a musical collaboration whose output has produced the majority of the catalogue of The Rolling Stones....
)