3:15 - Die Stunde der Cobras

My review was written in March 1986 after watching the film at a Times Square screening room.

"3:15" is a weak entry in the trickle of gang rumble films which made some box office noise back when Walter Hill's "The Warriors" was released. Debuting helmer Larry Gross, formerly a screenwriter for Hill, minimizes the action and comes up with a forgettable pic ill-suited to theatrical release. Filmed two years ago, it has been in regional distribution since January.

Adam Baldwin (title roler in "My Bodyguard") is too old to be the high school student here, a former member of the Cobras gang who is now at odds with the Cobras' leader, Danny De La Paz. Crisis comes when a drug bust, organized by cop Ed Lauter, nabs De La Paz and Baldwin refuses to help his former leader. Branded a traitor by most kids at school, Baldwin is also being pressured by principal Rene Auberjonois to fink on his former crony.

On a half-day of school (morning only), Baldwin sets u a final confrontation with De La Paz' gang at, surprise, 3:15 p.m. Showdown is an anticlimax, with only Baldwin's girlfriend Deborah Foreman and a nerd played by Joseph Brutsmancoming to his aid against five armed toughs. Pledges of support to Baldwin from a black gang and an Oriental one amount to nought.

Pic suffers from the absence of action, with fights mainly consisting of kids running down school hallways and stabbing each other. Low budget and weak production values are inferior to a typical telefilm.

Acting is also weak, with Baldwin generating little sympathy in the lead underdog role (he physically towers over the rest of the cast) and Foreman stuck with an inconsistent part, De La Paz is the most impressive performer, upsetting the script's balance since he wins sympathy by virtue of forceful thesping yet is supposed to be the hissable villain. Screenplay skirts over racist conflicts, though the good guys are all white and the bad guys are mainly Chicanos.

This is a great school outta control flick from the glorious 80's that's right along the lines of SAVAGE STREETS and CLASS OF 1984. it's got all the necessary goods that those type of flicks require to kick ass: plenty of violence, criminal punks, and even some nudity. i'd much rather see a gang movie with the gangsters rockin studs and chains than todays b-rated fake ass rapper bling bling movies. being a punk rocker myself i was stoked to see one of the kids had the Misfits skull on the back of his jacket. one of the girlies has a Motorhead shirt too! Anyway it's got the typical plot (kinda like CLASS OF 1999 minus the killer cyborgs) where gangs and crime rule the streets and the schools and one of the gang members wants out causing a war with his gang. sure it's way cheesy but that's whats so fun about it. Highly recommended along with CLASS OF 1984, SAVAGE STREETS, CLASS OF 1999, and maybe even SUBURBIA(the one from 1983 of course)

I put this one right next to other take place in crime ridden LA 80's Grindhouse flicks such as Tuff Turf, The Principal, Savage Streets, Angel, Hollywood Vice Squad, Avenging Angel, Vice Squad, etc

Sick of fighting the most feared member of The Cobras, Jeff Hannah, leaves the gang for good. However, a year later the leader of The Cobras is due to be released from prison and threatens to kill Hanna and those around him for his disloyalty.

Opening with a fight on the street it begins as a gang film in the vein Savage Streets, The Warriors and Band of the Hand, however, it quickly becomes a typical 80's trend high school gang film reminiscent of Class of 1984, but without much teacher involvement.

Larry Gross' offering oozes 80s grime, with its real locations and Gary Chang's music and score; but Sam Bernard and Michael Jacobs' basic High Noon story is quite plodding to a well deserved climatic showdown. Also while it has a gritty inner-city look, in contrast it sometimes has a visual suburban John Hughes feel. Casting director Valorie Massalas deserves a nod, with the leads played by 20 somethings in truth 80s fashion, something I genuinely love about these films made at the time.

Adam Baldwin's performance stops it falling into forgettable obscurity as he tries to forget his gang past but learns he has to confront it put it behind him. Baldwin is a solid lead in what is a heavy handed violent teen film from Gross with rape, fights, knife slashing and a shooting as strict Rene Auberjonois and nonchalant Ed Lauter as Moran talk Baldwin's Jeff Hannah into cleaning up the school. The cast is chockfull of familiar faces including, Danny De La Paz whose Cinco character pushes the Highnoon-like narrative, Dean Devlin, Deborah Foreman, stunning Wendy Barry, Lori Eastside, Deborah Foreman, Mario Van Peebles and also Gina Gershon pops up.

Overall, it's interesting 80s nostalgia and at times hard hitting, but only held together by Baldwin.

Adam Baldwin of "My Bodyguard" fame is front and centre as Jeff Hanna, a former teen gang member who goes straight, taking his studies more seriously and having some success as a player on the school basketball team. But his old associate Cinco (Danny De La Paz, "Miracle Mile") continues bearing a lethal grudge against him. When the scheming principal (an effectively weaselly Rene Auberjonois, 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine') and a sardonic, cynical cop (an amusing Ed Lauter of "Death Wish 3") orchestrate a massive drug bust, Cinco decides to lay all the blame at Jeffs' feet, and he and all of Jeffs' former buddies are determined to punish him. They intend to have a big fight at the title time of day.

"3:15 the Moment of Truth" has its moments, but in truth it might have had more with a better script and better direction. As it is, it's watchable enough, but mostly what it does is under-utilize a solid cast that's been seen to greater advantage in other things. There's violence aplenty without much gore, and overall this offers some fun for devotees of gang films and stories of crime & violence in schools. At least the pacing is sufficient enough to have this move along without any meandering; the film wraps up in a tidy 86 minutes. The characters don't have a lot of depth, but they're set up adequately; for one thing, you do dislike the antagonists enough that you wait for the inevitable moment of their comeuppance.

Baldwin does a decent job in the lead, while the luminous Deborah Foreman ("April Fool's Day") is once again irresistible as his concerned girlfriend. De La Paz is not a particularly menacing presence physically, but he gives a good performance nonetheless. A steady parade of familiar faces turn up in roles big and small: Scott McGinnis ("Joysticks"), Bradford Bancroft ("Bachelor Party"), Wayne Crawford (who'd co-written the popular 80s romance "Valley Girl" that co-starred Foreman), Lori Eastside ("Get Crazy"), Panchito Gomez ("Borderline"), Mario Van Peebles ("Exterminator 2"), future big time screenwriter / producer Dean Devlin ("Independence Day"), John Doe ("Road House"), Gina Gershon ("Bound"), and future director Rusty Cundieff ("Fear of a Black Hat").

Worth it for a decent finale where Jeff employs a "divide and conquer" strategy to defeat Cinco and pals, and for the very enjoyable soundtrack.

Six out of 10.