Red Eagle

Strange movie this is. It's a typical 80's action movie trying to be a James Bond film (with Van Damme in the Jaws role) with two non-English leads (the heavy accents are all over the place) and it works on no level at all.

The story is plain stupid and could probably be resolved in real life through simple diplomacy or a quick Navy Seals operation. But of course this is one-man operation and boring it is...

Set against the background off Malta only one men can take on a ship full of evil Russians while entertaining his kids on vacation (and I'm not making that up). What surprises me about the man that goes by the codename of Black Eagle is how 1-dimensional his character is considering he has the most screen time and they tried to flesh him out by having his kids around. he stays bland, but then again he has no charisma at all...

Then Van Damme, here having about half the amount of lines Ah-nold had in Terminator he comes off as a baddie we all like. He gets more physics to display, he gets the cool moves, he even is more fleshed out (physical and character-wise) then the good guy. At the end I was just hoping Van Damme would knock his lights out.

Unless you're watching a horror film (allthough this movie is a horror to watch) you're not supposed to root for the bad guy. But I was. I'm thinking they re-shot scenes making van Damme's character more likable after the success of Bloodsport, but it messes the movie up even more....

It begins with one of the US Air Force's most modern tactical aircraft, an F-111 Aardvark with a new laser guidance system , down into the sea near Malta . Codename Black Eagle , Ken Tami (Sho Kosugi) , is summoned to Malta to thwart KGB plans to steal a sunken laser device and to salvage the system before it falls into enemy hands . To ensure his loyalty, they bring his two young little boys (Kane Kosugi , Shane Kosugi) to a nearby hotel on the island. There are no enemies. There is no glory. This fight is one on one. Two warriors meet...only one will survive!

So-so flick with more than a semblance of an embarrasing story without much sense , including thrills , chills , high body-count , spectacular fights and in which CIA and KGB agents race against time to recover innovative equipment in the Mediterranean . In spite of its violence , and adding some wholly as well as corny moments , in this is mediocre yarn there are some impressive combats and rousing confrontations . This thrilling film is jammed with several messy trappings , such as : barring sundry explosions , murders , fights , gadgets , plot twists , a subplot in which two children are kidnapped and a car chase through La Valleta streets . The main spectacle is to see how to fight the two greatest idols of the martial arts at the time, in the Eighties : Sho Kosugi as the best FBI secret agent , and , Jean Claude Van Damme as his tough opponent, KGB agent Andrei. It is a film that defies easy clasification , it's either a spy thriller without glamour or a martial arts movie with only two real fights . Here the authentic star is Sho Kosugi who shows his fighter skills playing an agent must outrace KGB agent in searching of super weapon lost in Mediterranean . While Jean Claude Van Damme proves his early and elegant martial arts manners as the KGB's balletic kung-fu king. The only difference between this one and countless other short-budget action films is that the main hero, Sho Kosugi, is not the typical macho man , as he's thin , doesn't screw around and even fails , at times, to defeat his implacable enemy : Jean Claude Van Damme.

Directed without flair-play by Eric Karson , an expert on thrillers and action movies . His debut theatrical feature film was in 1980 with "The Octagon" with Chuck Norris . Subsequently, he directed "Hell Camp" and "Angel Town" . Equally , he produced "Nemesis" and "Lionheart" with Van Damme in one of his best vehicles . Action addicts will give this one a passing grade , all others need not apply . If you're a Sho Kosugi and Jean Claude Van Damme fan , you'll appeal this movie , that's why it contains action enough and violence for enthusiastic of the chop-socky or kung-fu genre .

Granted, this is not a great movie by any measure. Its plot, acting and direction are enjoyable but not really memorable.

And I'm no expert in martial arts movies, so I can't review Sho Kosugi and Jean-Claude Van Damme fighting performances in this flick.

But I nevertheless find it to be an entertaining and refreshing movie because:

a) It is slow-paced compared to movies churned out by Hollywood nowadays. I can't stand shaky cam photography nor "frantic" editing. I find 1980s pop-corn flicks quite relaxing.

B) It is full of nice sights of Malta, a location you very rarely see in motion pictures. Its fortifications, distinctive architecture, sunny beaches, beautiful landscapes... It's quite refreshing to enjoy the beauties of an oft-overlooked location in movie-making. Malta is the real star of this picture.

C) Doran Clark. She's a beautiful woman and quite convincing as the CIA agent "babysitting" the two kids. Why we haven't seen her in more movies is beyond me.

Terry Plumeri's gripping score deserves a mention as well.

All in all, this flick is a guilty pleasure, but for good reasons.

Black Eagle was released a few months after Van Damme became a star with Bloodsport. The film could have made Van Damme a wash up but luckily he didn't. The martial arts chorography in the film is very sloppy and the fight scene between Sho Khogusi and Van Damme is weak. Skip this one.

This movie looked really cool on the DVD-cover. In addition, this is in 1988, the same year that van Damme starred in Bloodsport. Because of this, the movie had a great potential. Unfortunately, potential doesn't mean anything at all. This movie was in fact a VERY bad one. The plot is surprisingly equal to a Bond movie. An American airplane with a new laser guidance system crashes in the Mediterranena sea. The movie takes place on Malta, where both Soviets and Americans want to get their hands on this airplane. The lead in this movie is not van Damme, but instead Sho Kosugi who plays some kind of American agent. It was surprising to see van Damme as some kind of bad guy, and as a Soviet. The action scenes in this movie are very bad. So is the story, and totally this means that the movie sucks.