Comando Leopardo

Commando Leopard looks outdated for today's eyes but in the case that you still like to watch such action classics like The Wild Geese, you can add this one to your watch list. Recommended, if you like 80s war action like The Wild Geese, Missing in Action, The Last Hunter and so on.

This is the second part of a war actioner trilogy which seems to enjoy some kind of cult status – the others being CODENAME: WILD GEESE (1984) and THE COMMANDER (1988) – and featuring the same star (Lewis Collins), producer (Jess Franco regular Erwin C. Dietrich) and director (Margheriti, who dabbled in every "Euro-Cult" subgenre there is, though he was at his best perhaps handling atmospheric Gothic chillers). Actually, it provides little more than standard heroics – albeit done on a fairly elaborate scale, with a couple of notably spectacular action sequences (including the blowing up of a dam, a stationary airplane and a moving train); allegedly, it was the most expensive Swiss-budgeted production up to that time.

Collins plays Carasco, a quasi-mythical leader of a band of revolutionary mercenaries – which include feisty Cristina Donadio, cynical John Steiner and world-weary Luciano Pigozzi (who is curiously uncredited) – up against the dictatorial regime of an unidentified Latin American state and, more specifically, Klaus Kinski's bloodthirsty militia. Another major character is that of the heroic priest (Manfred Lehmann) of a war-torn village who stands up to Kinski and, consequently, earns the respect and help of the mercenaries; the religious/political elements of the plot may be intended to give the whole a more serious tone than the typically mindless Euro-Cult fare – but we've still seen this "saintly martyr vs, cruel oppressors" scenario countless times in earlier and better Hollywood movies, so that this segment is actually more predictable than anything else.

The German 2-Disc set of the film which I happened upon at a local DVD rental outlet also contains a 50-minute "Making Of" Documentary but, unfortunately, I didn't have time to watch more than a few samples from it...

A cruel tyrant named Homoza( Somoza ?) imposes his rules and tyranny in a South American country.The corruption, brutality and exploitation are usual practice but some people begin organize the resistance. A little group of guerrilla fight against the government. As a commando led by Carrasco (Lewis Collins), a tough, two-fisted rebel helped by a foreigner mercenary (John Steiner) and a veteran rebellious (Alan Collins or Luciano Pigozzi , the Italian Peter Lorre, customary in B series), among others . The adventure starts when the veteran band of mercenaries land deep inside the jungle to destroy a giant dam. Later on, they help out the jungle's inhabitants against the nasty Silveira(Klaus Kinski). Meanwhile they find a Catholic priest(Manfred Lhemamn) ruling a mission in middle of jungle and another (Mike Monty) as back-up.

This exciting film packs large-scale blow-up, routine plot, and lots of noisy action for the most part. Some cheesy scenes but contains a better scenario on the bridge blowing up , the burning installations and a spectacular Boeing plane explosion . This fast-paced movie blends adventures, thrills, and mindless agitation . Screenplay by usual Tito Carpi but some moving action scenes cannot a silly script save. Stirring final full of explosions, shootouts and including helicopters with fire-thrower ; furthermore some plot twists and turns. Cinematography is quite well, capturing the atmosphere of everywhere, in addition some moving images shot with camera above the shoulder. Embarrassment musical score composed by synthesizer isn't composed by Ennio Morricone. The picture is produced in average budget by Erwin C. Dietrich, ordinary producer and director of soft-core genre and Jess Frank's habitual financier. The motion picture is regularly directed by Antonio Margheriti or Anthony M. Dawson.These jungle-setting exploitation films from the 80s will like to action lovers and euro-trash enthusiasts.

The film belongs a trilogy directed by Anthony M Dawson(Margheriti) formed by ¨Wild Geese¨(1984)¨, ¨Commando Leopard(1985)¨ and ¨Der Commander(1988)¨ repeating similar actors, as Collins, Kinski,Manfred Lehmann , technicians and screenwriter, Tito Carpi.

If you're looking for an movie that guarantees non-stop action, violence and cheesy special effects, than you can't go wrong with something - anything - that Antonio Margheriti directed during the period 1975 – 1985. This man was the most underrated director of the Italian horror/cult industry and I haven't yet seen a single film of his that I didn't enjoy. Margheriti was an extremely talented and visionary filmmaker, but during the aforementioned period he simply answered to the audiences' demands and made numerous of straightforward and adrenalin-rushing exploitation movies for the American pulp video market. Some of them were imitations of popular American box-office hits and others were merely just cheap excuses to show a whole lot of explosions, shootouts and car chases. "Commando Leopard", along with its predecessor "Code Name: Wild Geese", definitely belongs in the in the second category: the plot line is very thin and the whole background to the Guerilla warfare remains rather vague, but there is miniature set blasting and collateral damage aplenty! In a not specifically mentioned Latin American (of course) country, the rebellious guerrilla leader Carrasco, along with friends and a couple of hired mercenaries, are courageously battling against the corrupt dictator Homoza. Their sabotage operations cause a lot of death and destruction amongst the innocent populace, much against the conviction of the noble Father Julio who helps hiding Carrasco's troops, but the resistance is devoted to continue their battle. The rebels come to discover, however, that the problem isn't so much President Homoza, but his cruel and sadistic military adviser; Colonel Silveira. As stated above, "Commando Leopard" is primarily a showcasing parade of nifty and well-crafter miniature set explosions. Margheriti consecutively blows up a dam, a convoy bridge, an airplane, a freight train and an entire oil refinery. All these action naturally cause a lot of damage and casualties. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but don't guerrilla rebels usually battle for the lives and prosperity of the people? Here, the resistance kills them and bring the nation in an even weaker economic position. The dictatorship of President Homoza isn't even properly enlightened or illustrated, but we're ought to assume that Carrasco is a genuine Ché Guevara. Script logic and depth aren't the film's biggest trumps, obviously, but this is all about spectacle and thrills! And acting performances, too. The legendary Klaus Kinski is once again tremendous as the cruel, sadist and downright evil Colonel Silveira. He's the type of guy who blows up an aircraft with 180 children on board just to make a statement!

As a kid I saw CODENAME: WILDGEESE and was none-too-impressed. Since then, I've developed more of a taste for these Italian films and found that Antonio Margheriti is possibly the best of the bunch when it comes to action scenes. Bruno Mattei is a close contender (and no I am not joking) but Margheriti takes the cake for best explosion-filmer in Italian cinema.

The airplane explosion at the airport about halfway through is reason enough to track down this movie. It looks completely awesome! Equally cool is a massive oil refinery/train explosion later in the film, not recycled footage from THE LAST HUNTER either! Also notable are a couple helicopter explosions and a huge dam getting busted.

The plot is negligible and the acting and photography pretty routine, but the great cast and action sequences make up for that. Klaus Kinski is underused as usual, but appears to be having a lot of fun firing blanks from his M-16 and mowing down dozens of extras. The (Morricone?) musical score is pretty light and well-used for the most part, working well with the action scenes. However, Margheriti undermines the ending of the film with a completely awful song "In The War" which plays over the ending credits. This is pretty similar to the endings of a lot of his films from the time period, though it doesn't end with a freeze-frame oddly enough.

If you're a serious action buff, you shouldn't go without this movie!