S.O.S. - Angriff auf das Traumschiff

I found this movie in a thrift store, where it had been renamed "Attack on the Queen" for the Dutch DVD release.

It's a pretty suspenseful direct-to-TV thriller that scores undeservedly low here on IMDB. Sure, the story isn't very realistic, plot and character choices are predictable and obviously there wasn't a lot of budget. But still, I've seen much worse movies with higher scores!

The acting is excellent, the action scenes are neat and if you as a viewer can put aside the absurd premise - the president of the USA and China who want to negotiate world peace at sea on a cruise ship but are hijacked by the entourage of an actress from Taiwan - then you have a thrilling, realistic 90-minute action thriller.

For fans who couldn't get enough of Under Siege.

Well, it's not the deepest or most thought-provoking movie ever made, but one very big reason to see it, is to watch Rachel Blakely (Australian actress probably best known to U.S. fans, for her, in my opinion, terrific portrayal of adventuress Marguerite Krux, in "The Lost World") totally rock, in her role! She has got the action-heroine part down cold, and she even looks fabulous while she's kicking the bad guys' butts, in an evening dress and heels!! I hope this role gives her a higher profile, and more visibility... and will lead to further roles in movies and TV, that will be seen more widely in the U.S. She deserves it!! This actress made "Counterstrike" worth viewing, for me.

The movie is weak and contrived but this lady shines! Not only is Rachel Blakely gorgeous to look at as Brittany Cooper but she's quite a wonderful actress and sometimes, this critic feels, overlooked. Hope to see her again in better material and, hopefully, with someone like Will Snow, her co-star in THE LOST WORLD television show.

It's also interesting to see a great many unknown and known Australian actors in the cast which may be familiar if you ever watched HERCULES, XENA. BEASTMASTER or even THE LOST WORLD and TALES OF THE SOUTH SEAS. I think spotting the talent in COUNTERSTRIKE was even more fun than the actual movie!

okay... aside from the movie's actual acting and filming, I've got problem with its story. I am sure the writers are aware of the issue of Taiwan gaining its independence. However this is the first time I have seen Taiwanese pro-independence advocates portrayed as *terrorists*. For decades Taiwan has been peacefully trying to gain international recognition, by applying for United Nation membership, or even World Health Organization observer status. The last thing I would expect to hear from Taiwan was a story like this. Hrmm... did the story writer also hinted that United States was founded by terrorists? Let's just call them *revolutionists*.

This was billed as "Counter Strike" and it more than likely will be called that as the title on the IMDB is similar to a Sinatra film of quite a few years ago called "Assalt of a Queen".

Anyway this is quite a good action film, there are some nifty Kung Fu bits in it, the story line is also good not to convaluted, and the fact that 99% of the actors are little known makes it better, if you see a "star" running round you loose a bit because you know who it is...#

Steven Segal did it better in "Under Seige"...but l thought it was an ok film and recommend it...

Marks out of 10.....7

Zorro