American Eagle - Merchants of War II

My review was written in June 1990 after watching the movie on Vidmark video cassette.

This action pic about a world-weary soldier of fortune arrives late as a video title after spotty bookings last year in the Southwest.

Writer-topliner Asher Brauner is a forerunner of Steven Seagal (he was doing Seagal's act a decade before the zen action str came along) who plays a CIA freelance operative coerced into an African mission.

Unconvincing plot twist has Brauner's girlfriend (Kai Baker) captured by baddies as a pawn to getting Brauner to dance to their tune. She just happ[ens to be in Africa visiting her brother, Robert F. Lyons, and just happens to go on a glamor photography shoot.

By the time the three leads whip into action with Aussie villain Vernon Wells, story premise of Brauner's assassination attempt on the president is lost in the shuffle. Good lensing on location in the environs of South Africa is minor pic's drawing card.

Max (I had to look up his name) is an ultra-macho, bacon smoking, vodka injecting, blonde-banging Vietnam vet who has a job of filling Johnny foreigner full of holes and filling them with America on behalf of that guy from the Jackie Chan film Who Am I. However, Max wants out because his missus isn't thinking it's a career with long term prospects. She heads off to the Ivory Coast to stay with her brother for while and of course gets herself kidnapped.

Her brother was Max's old buddy back in Nam so of course he jumps on the vengeance wagon too. The bad guy they are up against is Vernon Wells of Mad Max 2 and legendary pile of crap T-Force (first twenty minutes only). From then on out it's the usual late eighties action film tactics of bar fights, storming the bad guy's compound and being unusually lenient with certain bad guys.

Seriously, Max should have blown away double the guys he kills, but doesn't it. This one lay in my collection unwatched for years so that'll give you an idea of how essential it is. On the plus side it's enjoyable enough.