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Simply A Masterpiece

It is a performances centric movie

Great Film overall

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I'm a serious Antonio Margheriti fan and really enjoy his films from this era in particular. Let me be clear, if you're not a fan of Italian exploitation/genre films, then the low budget and SFX might turn you off. That said, Margheriti was a superior director and consistently produced entertaining films on minuscule budgets. His work with miniatures was often remarkable although I fear younger people now might ridicule it. Personally, I remain greatly impressed by the craftsmanship that went into those low-budget effects.But I digress...as to this particular film, it is unfortunately not quite as entertaining as most of his others from this era. The film stars Margheriti regulars David Warbeck, Luciano Pigozzi , and Rene Abadeza. All three are great (as usual). And like many other Margheriti films of this era it was filmed in the Philippines, which provides a suitable exotic, jungle location. Unfortunately this film lacks some essential elements--the most glaring of which is the lack of an antagonist/villain. Instead, Warbeck & Co. are reduced to traipsing through the jungle merely dodging nameless soldiers. There's no Lee Van Cleef or Klaus Kinski running some scheme with drug lords. There's no Ernest Borgnine pulling the strings from the Capitol. It is literally just Warbeck and his buddies trying to avoid soldiers. This is unique in Margheriti's films and is impossible to excuse as the plot is literally the thinnest of any of his movies. Also dragging the production down is the fact that nearly 100% of the movie is filmed in the jungle. Without an antagonist, there are no scenes back in the city with the bad guys plotting, no scenes at drug manufacturing silos, and nothing visually interesting (for the most part). They literally traipse through the jungle and stop mostly in empty buildings. Although there are a couple of decent explosions, they are kept at a bare minimum and Margheriti fans will be disappointed in the conspicuous lack of flame-thrower action.All that said, I cannot rate a Margheriti film lower than 5 out of 10 because despite this film having virtually no budget, he and the actors make the most it. It does have some (outlandish) casual racism that still perplexes me. If you are a fan of Margheriti in particular or Italian exploitation in general then check out this movie...if not, stay away.

A lively adventure film from Italian director Antonio Margheriti, retaining much of the same cast and crew from his earlier THE LAST HUNTER and being almost exactly the same in design. Once again we have war veteran David Warbeck - here plying his trade as an illegal arms smuggler - crash-landed in the Cambodian jungle and teaming up with various refugees to fight the ever-vicious Vietcong. Sure, there may be a sense of déjà vu surrounding this movie, but I'm a sucker for cheap and cheesy action flicks and I'd pay money to see any movie which has David Warbeck stripped to the waist and going gung-ho against various villains in the jungle.After his plane is shot and he crash lands in a lake, Warbeck makes his way through the jungle before he is captured and imprisoned by a group of refugees. He is escorted to a small village which turns out to be occupied by the enemy and a firefight ensues in which all but two of the refugees are wiped out. Warbeck saves their lives and in turn is set free. However, more reinforcements soon arrive and the trio are forced to escape. Meanwhile, a rescue team out searching for Warbeck is itself shot down in the jungle, and the group quickly meet up. From then on its action on top of action as the gang struggle to help a number of refugees escape to the border whilst being attacked on all sides by the bad guys.Okay, so the plot is not particularly taxing or complicated, but that's why I like it. This easy viewing experience is fun to watch and has lots of shooting for fans to enjoy. There's a fair number of explosions in there too, thanks to some effective miniatures which Margheriti is fond of. The cast is also a good one of Italian veterans. Supporting Warbeck as the trigger-happy hero are Annie Belle as the love interest Kia, old hand Luciano Pigozzi as Lennie, an old friend of Warbeck's, and the excellent Tony King who overacts like nobody before him. As "Midnight", King puts in a fairly understated turn...at least to begin with.Warbeck himself seems settled in his action man role and brings a laconic charm to the screen. He doesn't really seem to be taking things all that seriously although his acting is fine, and he more than acquits himself in the action when needs be. Highlights include a fire fight in a jungle village, a baddie attacking with a flame-thrower, the blowing-up of a huge bridge, and the mass-firepower finale on the boat. Margheriti also inserts his trademark scene of horror, here when the heroes discover a hut crammed with the corpses of dead refugees left to rot.The budget is very low as usual, but Margheriti usually discovers a way to cut around the action while still making you think that you've seen it (take for example the various plane crashes). There are some rough edges, like the occasional continuity error, but generally the film is well-made and exciting. I would recommend this movie as a good starting point for fans looking to branch out into cheesy '80s Italian action and a must for fans of direction Margheriti, of which I am one obviously. A shallow yet rewarding movie for undemanding genre fans who know what to expect.

Antonio Margheriti's second entry in his Vietnam Trilogy is surprisingly the weakest of the three films (the first being "The Last Hunter" and the third being "Tornado"). However, despite some lackluster and uninspired direction, several quick action sequences and great cast chemistry hold this flick together over the course of 90 minutes.Sometime during the mid-1970s, three Vietnam vets, Tiger Joe (David Warbeck, "A Fistful of Dynamite"), Midnight (Tony King, "The Last Hunter") and Lenny (Luciano Pigozzi, "Tornado") run weapons to Cambodian refugees who are fighting against the Khmer Rouge forces. When Joe is shot down behind enemy lines, he meets a beautiful guerrilla fighter (Annie Belle) and the two basically run around blowing up enemy bases while Lenny and Midnight search for their missing buddy.That's about all there is to this quickie actioner. It's obvious that this was shot right on the heels of the classic "The Last Hunter", in order to make use of leftover money and sets, and fill out the contracts of several of the actors – the cast and crew of both films are virtually identical. The production values are awfully low, and it shows. The film is almost completely void of Margheriti's signature slow-motion photography, and there are only a few big explosions. Margheriti and crew obviously produced this film in haste, and it shows. There's no variety of camera angles: no cool zoom-ins, no low angle photography, nothing to manipulate light and dark sets. Even the miniature work is below par: we do get to see one bridge and a toy train comes crashing down, but that's about it.Most of the story revolves around a ragtag bunch of guerrillas and Cambodian peasants wandering the Cambodian jungle (actually the Philippines) and constantly running into enemy patrols, which they dispatch with machine-guns and knives rather quickly and without much effort. This is yet another film where a handful of un-trained civilians with AK-47s can suddenly mow down tons of trained enemy soldiers, who don't seem to understand how to take cover or aim their weapons. A good deal of the action footage – particularly that of helicopters and the burned-out village – is lifted directly from "The Last Hunter".This only thing holding this plot less, mindless piece together is the great chemistry of the leads. Everyone involved in this film seems to be having a good time, even if they're not delivering incredibly thoughtful dialogue with gusto. David Warbeck, another British actor who failed to make it in Hollywood like Sean Connery and Roger Moore did for the James Bond series, went to Italy where he made a ton of decent action pictures (often for Margheriti). Here, he's enjoying himself as a witty Brit who simply gets to take an M-16 and grenades and kill half of the Khmer Rouge without effort. Tony King over-states every one of his scenes as Midnight (well, when he does he not overact?) but is great fun. Pigozzi seems right at home as Lenny, the type of part he was born to play, and despite his age and build, gets to be involved in some very physically demanding sequences. His final scenes are a bit corny and forced, but great fun for that exact reason.This is a very entertaining and attention-holding film, but Margheriti doesn't offer us anything new to think about and doesn't seem to be experimenting with either the script or technical side of the production. If not for the presence of a great cast, this flick would have been a total waste of time. As it exists now, you'll probably watch it once, enjoy it but forget it almost immediately. Check out Margheriti's "The Last Hunter" instead; the series should have been left where it was.

This is about as typical as you can get for an Antonio Margheriti movie from the early 80's. It's an action movie which takes place somewhere in Indo-China (I'm assuming Vietnam) with David Warbeck, Tony King, and Luciano Pigozzi marching around the jungle mowing down waves of black pajama-wearing enemy soldiers. Lots of miniatures exploding in slow motion, really loud gunshot and punch sound effects, footage recycled from earlier Margheriti films, Rene Abadeza, and lack of any real plot establish this among Margheriti's other films from the period such as THE LAST HUNTER, JUNGLE RAIDERS, and CODE NAME: WILDGEESE.Besides all the typicality, this film actually is pretty good when it tries to be, especially the nearer it gets to the end. There's some bang-up action sequences, such as a huge toy train explosion (a la BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI) and a great scene where Warbeck and King use gunboat to mow down an entire army on a beach. However, at times this film really, really drags as it's never exactly entirely clear just what's going on.Margheriti and co. were unfortunately struck by tragedy while making this film when a plane carrying several crew members crashed in the Philippines, which resulted in the death of Riccardo Pallotini, one of Italy's greatest cinematographers of the time. Hence, it's probably understandable why the film doesn't have the "heart" that a lot of Margheriti's previous films had, but it's hard to enjoy a film with so much "baggage". Anyway, if you loved TORNADO and THE LAST HUNTER, then definitely give this a try, as it's more of the same. Expect nothing less and nothing more.