Huh ... this film has an interesting premise, and while it never really gels to create any kind of a lasting impression beyond the sight of Richard Lynch being blown into a billion pieces by a movie prop explosion it's still kind of cool: The cast and crew of a low-budget action film find themselves pitted against an actual commando force hell bent on taking control of a small town. After a moronic, laugh inducing opening section with a blond haired beefy chested Rambo clone single handedly wiping out an entire enemy army -- which it turns out is part of the movie the crew is filming -- the movie settles down into a behind the scenes intrigue drama with the cast/crew of the film going about their trade, trying to have sex with the leading lady, drinking beer, arguing about details of their film, and generally wasting time after the film's lead actor walks off the set.
Next thing you know, crazy Richard Lynch and a somewhat bizarrely costumed regiment of North Vietnamese looking commandos parachutes into the public part outside Mobile, Alabama used for the film location, and find the movie crew and their film prop guns, tanks and plastic explosives standing between them & the town they are plotting to overrun. Not sure what to make of it, the commandos engage the film crew in a series of predictable and rather unimaginatively staged guerrilla warfare battles with the pyrotechnics crew rigging ingenious explosions with their packets of Semtex, the cast shooting back with their rifle blanks, and the lead actress turned female Rambo turning out to be quite the cool little head under fire.
I switched on the spoiler disgronifier to try and not ruin the interesting conclusion of the film where Richard Lynch is blown up in a manner mimicking the opening "film within a film" segment's conclusion, because as it turns out the whole "movie within a movie" premise is -- SURPRISE!! -- a movie within a movie itself: The final revelation is the camera panning back to reveal a 2nd film crew and cast "wrapping" after completing the final scene within their own film. Huh! So what we have here really is perhaps the most pretentious stupid lame-brained action film of the late 80s/early 90s, with atrocious acting (aside from Mr. Lynch, who's professionalism somewhat redeems the movie's indulgences), wooden direction, unconvincing special effects, boring stock music, and idiotic plotting ... all of which are actually kind of the point. It's an ambitious attempt at manipulation posing as just another dumb action movie, which is an examination of dumb action movies themselves. Is it well made? Not really, but then again most of these things are just as pointless & uninspiring, and by having the film within a film within a film premise the director and script writer seem to be giving themselves a pass for making a movie that wasn't supposed to be very good in the first place.
And if you can stick with it you'll be rewarded to some of the most amusing closing credits ever tacked onto a film: Donuts by Krispy Kreme, Pizza by Giulio's Pizzas, Construction Equipment by Home Depot, and individual credits for the suppliers of the commando weapons & SWAT team accouterments used in the film within the film. Gotta give propz where it is due, and I will admit that those pizzas consumed on screen looked pretty darn convincing.
5/10
Next thing you know, crazy Richard Lynch and a somewhat bizarrely costumed regiment of North Vietnamese looking commandos parachutes into the public part outside Mobile, Alabama used for the film location, and find the movie crew and their film prop guns, tanks and plastic explosives standing between them & the town they are plotting to overrun. Not sure what to make of it, the commandos engage the film crew in a series of predictable and rather unimaginatively staged guerrilla warfare battles with the pyrotechnics crew rigging ingenious explosions with their packets of Semtex, the cast shooting back with their rifle blanks, and the lead actress turned female Rambo turning out to be quite the cool little head under fire.
I switched on the spoiler disgronifier to try and not ruin the interesting conclusion of the film where Richard Lynch is blown up in a manner mimicking the opening "film within a film" segment's conclusion, because as it turns out the whole "movie within a movie" premise is -- SURPRISE!! -- a movie within a movie itself: The final revelation is the camera panning back to reveal a 2nd film crew and cast "wrapping" after completing the final scene within their own film. Huh! So what we have here really is perhaps the most pretentious stupid lame-brained action film of the late 80s/early 90s, with atrocious acting (aside from Mr. Lynch, who's professionalism somewhat redeems the movie's indulgences), wooden direction, unconvincing special effects, boring stock music, and idiotic plotting ... all of which are actually kind of the point. It's an ambitious attempt at manipulation posing as just another dumb action movie, which is an examination of dumb action movies themselves. Is it well made? Not really, but then again most of these things are just as pointless & uninspiring, and by having the film within a film within a film premise the director and script writer seem to be giving themselves a pass for making a movie that wasn't supposed to be very good in the first place.
And if you can stick with it you'll be rewarded to some of the most amusing closing credits ever tacked onto a film: Donuts by Krispy Kreme, Pizza by Giulio's Pizzas, Construction Equipment by Home Depot, and individual credits for the suppliers of the commando weapons & SWAT team accouterments used in the film within the film. Gotta give propz where it is due, and I will admit that those pizzas consumed on screen looked pretty darn convincing.
5/10