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Very disappointed :(

Too much of everything

Simply A Masterpiece

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

I have a sneaking suspicion that this movie was intended to star Chuck Norris and for whatever reason he said no. It's too bad because he would have been a better choice. Dudikoff tries, but he has zero charisma and his fighting skill is lacking. Despite that, this movie is pretty solid, but oh HEY, HARD TARGET is essentially the exact same plot and location! (Rich dudes hunting men in New Orleans) The sad thing is, Dudikoff is no Van Damme...

One of action star Dudikoff's "big" '80s opening movies, this is an averagely-plotted but fun offering which has the emphasis on action all the way through. The first thing you notice is the budget – particularly small here – but as the film offers the same excitement as many others with ten times the dollars, this makes you appreciate it more. Admittedly, things start off on the wrong foot, with some lame character building and a trawl through a Mardi Gras carnival in New Orleans which makes you feel like you're there, but offers particularly poor suspense and action. Once this has passed, however, and after all the government bull and the male bonding, things start to get good. We witness a nice shoot-out/fight at some kind of dockyards, complete with cheesy car chases and lots of deaths. This is nothing, however, compared to the ranch set-piece halfway through the movie, a nihilistic, powerful catalogue of death and atrocity and some great stunt work. Trapped in the burning building, Dudikoff watches just about everyone get blown up, shot or burned, which makes for some great surprising scenes.The latter parts of the movie see Dudikoff travelling through a Cajun community (in scenes recalling SOUTHERN COMFORT) before we get back onto the trail of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, seen briefly at the beginning, in which four psychotic members of a secret society hunt our hero through the woods. The action is brief but brutal, employing realism over showy martial arts tricks, and very violent in places. Things conclude with a nice epilogue, where Dudikoff travels to the mansion of the last surviving baddie and fights him with various weapons from the guy's armoury – love that garroting device thing, really nasty! Dudikoff credibly carries off his everyday action hero persona, noticeably picking up in the action sequences later on in the movie. Nothing remarkable from him, but he's no worse than the dozen others from the decade. The supporting cast is pretty decent too; the familiar James Booth turns up yet again as an officious superior, whilst permanently jinxed Steve James (THE EXECUTIONER) kicks major ass as Dudikoff's pal, marked for death from the start, like in most of his movies. Bill Wallace pops up as a baddie dressed as a ninja (others are a cowboy and a wrestler) whilst John P. Ryan is just a weirdo and overacts for all his worth throughout the entire movie – not bad! Typical action hijinks throughout, but you can do (and I often see) a lot worse.

Rugged former secret service agent Matt Hunter (a solid and credible performance by Michael Dudikoff) does his best to protect his black Senatorial candidate best buddy Larry Richards (an excellent and charismatic portrayal by Steve James) from a group of racist right-wing fanatics called Pentangle who are led by evil millionaire Elliott Glastenbury (ably played with lip-smacking wicked relish by John P. Ryan).Director Sam Firstenberg, working from a compact script by James Booth (who also acquits himself well as the shifty Admiral Brown), keeps the gripping and inspired premise moving along at a brisk pace, maintains a surprisingly gritty and serious tone throughout (the filmmakers earn additional praise for placing kids in real jeopardy as well as for not being afraid to kill off certain characters one expects to usually live in these kinds of pictures), evokes a flavorsome New Orleans atmosphere, and stages the action set pieces with considerable skill and brio, with a definite corker of a last third pitting Matt against various heavies in the Louisiana swamps. This film further benefits from a neat array of nasty bad guys: William Wallace as cocky young Wade Delaney, Karl Johnson as the brutish Commander Jeb Wallace, Marc Alaimo as the slippery Charlie Lavall, and Loren Farmer as slimy worm Andrew Parker. The winning and utterly convincing chemistry between James and Dudikoff gives this movie some genuine heart and soul. Gideon Porath's glossy cinematography provides an impressive slick look. George S. Clinton's spirited score hits the stirring spot. Superior action fare.

For Cannon films - and Michael Dudikoff - this is definitely above average. There's Steve James (who leaves the movie much too early, sadly. He didn't like being in this film, by the way, and you'll see why), good action scenes (brutal fights!), and scummy and hateful bad guys who get what's coming to them. What more could you ask for?