Strike Commando
Encyclopedia
Strike Commando is a 1987
action film
, starring Reb Brown, Christopher Connelly and Alex Vitale. The film, directed by Bruno Mattei
, was shot on the Philippines
due to low budget
. The sequel, Strike Commando 2, was released in 1988
. The movie is often called a rip off of Rambo: First Blood Part II
, Predator
and Commando
.
ese base, who are planning to lay explosives. Colonel Radek and Ransom's majors watch from a neraby vintage point. All prove to be successful, until one of the commandoes are caught and killed by a sentry, rising the alarm. The commandoes have no choice but to retreat, but Colonel Radek who is in charged of the mission demands the expolsives me set off as the commandoes are still retreating. One of the explosives kill one of Ransom's soldiers as he retreats, Ransom is blown into a river.
Ransom drifts unconscious in the river until he is found by a village boy, who treat and nurse him back to health. He speaks with Le Due (Pigozzi) a retired French
soilder who says the village used to be a church until the Viet Cong kept attacking, Ransom also learns that there is a Russia
n presence in Vietnam. Ransom agrees to take the Vietnamese village people to safety in a unknown location. As they come across a decomposed died soidler who has a radio, Ransom calls his home base and tells his commander that hes alive and where he could be picked up. However, he also says that the Strike team demands justice and that he will strike vengeance. Radek sends a helicopter
to retrieve Ransom at a specific spot. Ransom and the village people make camp, as Ransom talks to the village boy who saved him about the wonders of America
and Disneyland.
The next day, the group run into a resistense while trying to cross a river, who are shot down by a neareby patrol boat. Ransom decides to go into the river and take down the boat. However, the group are flanked by a some group of VC's who are traken down by Le Due with a gernade. Ransom dumps a huge amount of gernades into the boat and kills everyone in the patrol boat.Later, the village people still make there retreat out of the jungle, while Le Due stops to catch his breath he is catched and chocked to death by a Russian soilder. Ransom finds the corpse of Le Due and finds a Russian
patch symbol torn from the soidlers uniform. The soilders of the Russian are in serach of the village people as Ransom kills them off one by one. Ransom finds however there are too many and that he must retreat to the abstraction point. HOwever, Radek commands the helicopter to retreat to base, but Ransoms major is able to talk the soilder into picking him up anyway. However, Ransoms major is able to calm Ransom, so much so that Ransom volunteers to go back to take pictures of the base so there's proof of Russian presnce in Vietnam.
Ransom goes back to vietname but finds the village people have been slaughtered, Ransom finds the village boy that helped him in the begininng as he is dying. But tells Ransom to tell him more things about the amazing Disneyland, just as he dies. Ransom finds the name of the Russian soilder to be named, Jakoda and seeks revenge. Ransom mugs a VC and tells him where to find Jakoda. Ransom enraged fires at the village with his stolen M60 machine gun
. Jakoda finds Ransom reloading the weapon, but he is able to talk Ransom into surrendering by holdin a civilian hostage. Ransom's superiors find out that there are Russians in there and that now they will torture Ransom. As they tortue Ransom by doing yard work, electricfying him, and blowing on his back with a blow torch. After spending months in a cell with a corpse, Ransom breaks and agrees to make a demoralizing radio broadcast. He is able to get the best of the Russian soilders and kills them. Ransom takes Jakoda's grilfriend Olga (Kamteeg) hostage, he is able to kill some of the soidlers using Olga as bait. He then radios Radek to bring another chopper to pick him up, he then kills more of the soilders. When Ransom and Olga reach the abstraction point, Olga says that they will not pick up Ransom but attempt to kill him. The helicopter flys by but kills Olga and almost kills Ransom. Ransom is able to gundown one of the gunsman and the helicopter retreats. Ransom then comes across an army boat and dives into go kill some more soilders. He is sneaked by a VC who strangles him but Ransom is able to stab him he thens jumps and dives while the ship expoldes.
Ransom comes back on shore and kills a Russian soilder, but Jakoa boots him in the head and challeneges Ransom in a fight. Ransom and Jakoda are burtally beaten by each other, until Ransom gets the best of Jakoda and propels him into a waterfall, possibly killing him. Ransom yells in triumph.
Ransom is able to find his way back to base and is enraged and looking for Radek. He fires at Radek's office. But Ransom's major says that Radek has gone A.W.O.L
. However, one of the generels finds out where Radek is hiding.
Ransom finds out that Radek has actually become a importer/exporter in Manila
. Ransom arrives at the building where Radek is at, and goes to the front desk lady. He then lays a 2-minute gernade on the ash tray on the desk. The lady then alerts all the people to there guns. Ransom roams the halls of the building using his M60 and mows down all the men. He then loads a gernade on his gun and fires at Radek, blowing him up.
Ransom then leaves the building, but he finds that Jakoda is back and that hes got a pair of metal teeth from there last fight. Jakoda tackles Ransom, but Ransom puts a gernade in Jakoda's mouth, Ransom runs and Jakoda explodes. Leaving only his metal teeth behind also the echoe of Jadova screaming, " amerikanskiĭ!!.
However, the film has gone on to have a cult following
and cemented the 1980s action film with its strange dialogue, bad fight scenes, and cheesy sound and special effects.
The film is widely regarded as Reb Brown's best film.
1987 in film
-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records....
action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
, starring Reb Brown, Christopher Connelly and Alex Vitale. The film, directed by Bruno Mattei
Bruno Mattei
Bruno Mattei was an Italian film director, screenwriter and editor who gained a cult following for a wide variety of exploitation films that covered many genres, ranging from women in prison to zombie films...
, was shot on the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
due to low budget
Low budget film
A low-budget film is a motion picture shot with little or no funding from a major film studio or private investor. Many Independent films are made on low budgets but films made on the mainstream circuit with unexperienced or unknown filmmakers can also have low budgets. Many young or first time...
. The sequel, Strike Commando 2, was released in 1988
1988 in film
-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:* Act of Piracy* Action Jackson, starring Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone* The Adventures of Baron Munchausen* Akira* Alice...
. The movie is often called a rip off of Rambo: First Blood Part II
Rambo: First Blood Part II
Rambo: First Blood Part II is a 1985 action film. A sequel to 1982's First Blood, it is the second installment in the Rambo series starring Sylvester Stallone, who reprises his role as Vietnam veteran John Rambo...
, Predator
Predator (film)
Predator is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by John McTiernan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and Kevin Peter Hall. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox....
and Commando
Commando (film)
Commando is a 1985 American action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vernon Wells, Rae Dawn Chong, Alyssa Milano, Bill Duke, Dan Hedaya and James Olson. It was directed by Mark L...
.
Plot
Sgt. Michael Ransom (Brown) and his team of "Strike Commandos" are sneaking into a VietnamVietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
ese base, who are planning to lay explosives. Colonel Radek and Ransom's majors watch from a neraby vintage point. All prove to be successful, until one of the commandoes are caught and killed by a sentry, rising the alarm. The commandoes have no choice but to retreat, but Colonel Radek who is in charged of the mission demands the expolsives me set off as the commandoes are still retreating. One of the explosives kill one of Ransom's soldiers as he retreats, Ransom is blown into a river.
Ransom drifts unconscious in the river until he is found by a village boy, who treat and nurse him back to health. He speaks with Le Due (Pigozzi) a retired French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
soilder who says the village used to be a church until the Viet Cong kept attacking, Ransom also learns that there is a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n presence in Vietnam. Ransom agrees to take the Vietnamese village people to safety in a unknown location. As they come across a decomposed died soidler who has a radio, Ransom calls his home base and tells his commander that hes alive and where he could be picked up. However, he also says that the Strike team demands justice and that he will strike vengeance. Radek sends a helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
to retrieve Ransom at a specific spot. Ransom and the village people make camp, as Ransom talks to the village boy who saved him about the wonders of America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Disneyland.
The next day, the group run into a resistense while trying to cross a river, who are shot down by a neareby patrol boat. Ransom decides to go into the river and take down the boat. However, the group are flanked by a some group of VC's who are traken down by Le Due with a gernade. Ransom dumps a huge amount of gernades into the boat and kills everyone in the patrol boat.Later, the village people still make there retreat out of the jungle, while Le Due stops to catch his breath he is catched and chocked to death by a Russian soilder. Ransom finds the corpse of Le Due and finds a Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
patch symbol torn from the soidlers uniform. The soilders of the Russian are in serach of the village people as Ransom kills them off one by one. Ransom finds however there are too many and that he must retreat to the abstraction point. HOwever, Radek commands the helicopter to retreat to base, but Ransoms major is able to talk the soilder into picking him up anyway. However, Ransoms major is able to calm Ransom, so much so that Ransom volunteers to go back to take pictures of the base so there's proof of Russian presnce in Vietnam.
Ransom goes back to vietname but finds the village people have been slaughtered, Ransom finds the village boy that helped him in the begininng as he is dying. But tells Ransom to tell him more things about the amazing Disneyland, just as he dies. Ransom finds the name of the Russian soilder to be named, Jakoda and seeks revenge. Ransom mugs a VC and tells him where to find Jakoda. Ransom enraged fires at the village with his stolen M60 machine gun
M60 machine gun
The M60 is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links...
. Jakoda finds Ransom reloading the weapon, but he is able to talk Ransom into surrendering by holdin a civilian hostage. Ransom's superiors find out that there are Russians in there and that now they will torture Ransom. As they tortue Ransom by doing yard work, electricfying him, and blowing on his back with a blow torch. After spending months in a cell with a corpse, Ransom breaks and agrees to make a demoralizing radio broadcast. He is able to get the best of the Russian soilders and kills them. Ransom takes Jakoda's grilfriend Olga (Kamteeg) hostage, he is able to kill some of the soidlers using Olga as bait. He then radios Radek to bring another chopper to pick him up, he then kills more of the soilders. When Ransom and Olga reach the abstraction point, Olga says that they will not pick up Ransom but attempt to kill him. The helicopter flys by but kills Olga and almost kills Ransom. Ransom is able to gundown one of the gunsman and the helicopter retreats. Ransom then comes across an army boat and dives into go kill some more soilders. He is sneaked by a VC who strangles him but Ransom is able to stab him he thens jumps and dives while the ship expoldes.
Ransom comes back on shore and kills a Russian soilder, but Jakoa boots him in the head and challeneges Ransom in a fight. Ransom and Jakoda are burtally beaten by each other, until Ransom gets the best of Jakoda and propels him into a waterfall, possibly killing him. Ransom yells in triumph.
Ransom is able to find his way back to base and is enraged and looking for Radek. He fires at Radek's office. But Ransom's major says that Radek has gone A.W.O.L
A.W.O.L
-Sample Credits:Bedtime Story*"Tell Me A Bedtime Story" by Quincy JonesThe Come Up*"Holdin' On" by Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs*"Creepin on ah Come Up" by Bone Thugs-n-HarmonyA.W.O.L.*"Wildflower" by The New BirthMagic Hour...
. However, one of the generels finds out where Radek is hiding.
Ransom finds out that Radek has actually become a importer/exporter in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
. Ransom arrives at the building where Radek is at, and goes to the front desk lady. He then lays a 2-minute gernade on the ash tray on the desk. The lady then alerts all the people to there guns. Ransom roams the halls of the building using his M60 and mows down all the men. He then loads a gernade on his gun and fires at Radek, blowing him up.
Ransom then leaves the building, but he finds that Jakoda is back and that hes got a pair of metal teeth from there last fight. Jakoda tackles Ransom, but Ransom puts a gernade in Jakoda's mouth, Ransom runs and Jakoda explodes. Leaving only his metal teeth behind also the echoe of Jadova screaming, " amerikanskiĭ!!.
Cast
- Reb BrownReb BrownReb Brown is an American actor.Known as superhero Captain America in the TV pilot/movies, he's also known for the 1983 cult classic, Yor, the Hunter from the Future, as well as the scifi film, Space Mutiny, and for the collaborations with director Bruno Mattei in films Strike Commando and Robowar ...
as Michael Ransom - Christopher Connelly as colonel Radek
- Alex Vitale as Jakoda
- Luciano PigozziLuciano PigozziLuciano Pigozzi is an Italian film actor. He appeared in 105 films between 1954 and 1989. He was often credited under the pseudonym Alan Collins and occasionally Alan Collin....
(as Alan Collins) as Le Due, Luciano also played "Pact" in the 1983 cult classicCult ClassicCult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
Yor, the Hunter from the FutureYor, the Hunter from the FutureYor, The Hunter From The Future is a film released in 1983. It was directed by the famous Italian B-movie director Antonio Margheriti Yor, The Hunter From The Future is a film released in 1983. It was directed by the famous Italian B-movie director Antonio Margheriti Yor, The Hunter From The Future...
, which also starred Reb BrownReb BrownReb Brown is an American actor.Known as superhero Captain America in the TV pilot/movies, he's also known for the 1983 cult classic, Yor, the Hunter from the Future, as well as the scifi film, Space Mutiny, and for the collaborations with director Bruno Mattei in films Strike Commando and Robowar ...
as Yor. - Louise Kamsteeg (as Loes Kamma) as Olga
- James GainesJames GainesJames Gaines, birth name James Larry M. Gaines Jr., is an African-American-Filipino character actor, writer and director with dual nationality, born on May 18, 1955, in Maui, Hawaii. He was sometimes also credited as Jaimes Gaines, Jim Gaines, and James Gainers...
as Radek's soldier - Edison Navarro as Lao
- Karen Lopez as Cho-Li
Allegations with other films
- The film's plot is modeled after Rambo: First Blood Part IIRambo: First Blood Part IIRambo: First Blood Part II is a 1985 action film. A sequel to 1982's First Blood, it is the second installment in the Rambo series starring Sylvester Stallone, who reprises his role as Vietnam veteran John Rambo...
; the characters as well are based on many them, such as Colonel Radek and Ransom's Major. - The scene where Ransom is woken up by the village people is a scene ripped from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
- The character Jakoda has some similarities with some of actor Dolph LundgrenDolph LundgrenDolph Lundgren is a Swedish actor, director, and martial artist. He belongs to a generation of film actors who epitomise the movie action hero stereotype including Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme.A graduate in chemical...
's characters. - The martial artsMartial artsMartial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
fight sequences are similar and even share some of the same scenes from Chuck NorrisChuck NorrisCarlos Ray "Chuck" Norris is an American martial artist and actor. After serving in the United States Air Force, he began his rise to fame as a martial artist and has since founded his own school, Chun Kuk Do...
's film series Misssing in ActionMissing in Action (film)Missing in Action is a 1984 action B-movie directed by Joseph Zito and starring Chuck Norris. It is set in the context of the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue. Colonel Braddock, who escaped a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp 10 years earlier, returns to Vietnam to find American soldiers listed as missing...
.
Critical reception
The film filled with overwhelmingly negative reception from critics.However, the film has gone on to have a cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
and cemented the 1980s action film with its strange dialogue, bad fight scenes, and cheesy sound and special effects.
The film is widely regarded as Reb Brown's best film.
External links
- Strike Commando Review at thatgutwiththeglasses.com