American Soldier - Kommando Gold

Could a movie be any more lame? Possibly anything with a duck. But this movie would make a rotting corpse look fresh.

Plot is weak, acting is could be bettered if most of the cast was replaced with a classroom of ADD afflicted 9 year olds, the cinematography looks as if it was made of a collection of 1960's era Polaroids.

Fortunately, Bill Bremiver had a short acting career. Unfortunately the guns that were used to mow him and some of his fellow "actors" (it's SOOOO hard to say that without retching) were not loaded with something other than blanks.

Frankly, anything with Madonna and Sean Penn is better than this.

This movie was originally conceived and written by Thai producers. An American producer kicked in some financing to upgrade the cast. The script did not change, so the bones of the film are pretty ridiculous but the military effects are quite good, as is the cinematography. Of particular note is the crisper editing done for the American version and the score, which musically distinguishes between three ethnically diverse elements, Thai soldiers, ethnic Hmong and American mercenaries. A fine Hollywood gloss was put on a foreign exploitation film.

My review was written in August 1992 after watching the film on AIP video cassette.

Excellent production values highlight this Far Eastern actoner, a hit on its own turf in Thailand that boasts American talent in the leading roles.

Obvious in-joke has Jan-Michael Vincent portraying ex-Green Beret Oliver Moss, sent back to Vietnam to find a group of savage MIAs (led by Sam Jones) in possession of $54,000,000 in stolen gold. Beautiful Sherrie Rose is the unlikely commando Vincent recruits for the mission.

It's fun watching the hapless Jones and his men try to open a NASA capsule containing the gold (and might blow up if tampered with). Other subplots become farfetched, especially as pretty Michi McGee leads her native tribe of Freedom Fighters against a mysterious platoon of Japanese warriors who are on the Laotian border for no good reason except to serve as all-purpose villains.

Jones' acting is over the top, but pic plays well otherwise, with good dubbing of the non-English speaking supporting cast. Quality explosions and action scenes reflect what must have been a big budget by Thai film industry standards.