Heated Vengeance

Yes, it was crap like this that made the eighties, what they were. Our man Hatch, an ex Vietnam colonel, is the objective of a long awaited and personal vengeance of one of his fellow comrades, court marshaled for raping a 14 year old girl. Split up from his Asian girlfriend, and colleague, during a raid and bombing attack, by Charlie and company, he's returned to the Phillipines many years later to tack her down, where his search takes an unexpected detour, thanks to good ol' personal vengeance. Here was a film, to be honest, I did find a frustrating, "couldn't wait to end" watch. It's bad, amateur, yes, but does have some colorful performances. While Hatch, an actor I really like (Ghettoblaster, Party Line) is the man of a the hour, it's his new found buddy, the intriguing and aging man of the world/salesman, Charlie, and the looney, rambling, innocent, and lovable Michael J Pollard, one of the baddies' gang, who provide the brighter moments, to such a predictable and dull (did I forget to say bad) action pic, with hardly any blood shed, yet one cosy nice sex scene between Hatch and lover, which could be the only reason for this movie warranting an R rating, except for the 14 year old implied and nastily detailed raping. Yes the embittered ex con/marine/rapist, now making money making and selling drugs with his team, in the same hut, he was court marshaled in (told you this film bad), made a great and engaging spectacle, of himself (an ugly version of Peter Coyote) fueled with so much vengeance, he really became annoying and pathetic, and me, I do like vengeance in movies, one of hardly any things I liked in this, where the song too, at the start wasn't bad, if sappy. Watch for one really one bad acting performance, by an pi..ed off Asian major, stuttering and acting in a robotic sense. Check out too, the son of the Hatch's girl, is he gay? Of what the good things I've offered in my review, consider them, before watching this, but merely if not a Hatch fan, you should bypass it, in what is a very bad, unappealing, plodding movie, with moments of utter belief.

I am at a loss to try to answer the question as to why some people apparently thought this direct to video loser was worthy enough to be re-released on DVD more than twenty years later. Though it promises a lot of jungle action, there isn't much. In fact, in the first hour of the movie, there are only a couple of minutes or so of what could be considered action. There is a little more action in the last thirty minutes, but it's extremely lame, directed without any passion. In short, what we have here is a truly boring movie. I will admit it's not without merit. The movie looks very nice, filming on picturesque locations in south-east Asia that give the movie an authentic feel. And Dennis Patrick makes his character charming, though he isn't given that much to do. Apart from those two things, the movie has absolutely nothing to entertain B movie fans, unless you think that the sight of Michael J. Pollard without his shirt sounds enticing.

This is a really bad film, and I mean that in the best possible sense. Everything about this film is so totally inept that it is frequently hilarious. Vietnam-vet Hoffman returns to the country to meet up with his lover, but is kidnapped by the crazy Sergeant Bingo, who has a bit of a grudge because Hoffman tried to send him to jail for rape of a Vietnamese girl. He manages to escape, and Bingo then sends his men out after him, into the jungle.

You know you're in trouble when a the cover of a film brags, "Filmed on the same location as Apocalypse Now!" The film can be boring, but there are some hilarious scenes that makes it well worth a watch. I liked the first shot of the movie, which consists of a man firing a machinegun straight into the ground from a helicopter, obviously not more that a few feet above ground. And the bad guy screams and cries and whines like a big sissy, and screams so much that it is, in some scenes, completely impossible to understand what he's saying.

See it with an open mind, and a lot of beer, and you might be able to enjoy it's goofy delights.

By no means is this film a great piece of work. The story is not unique, and the characters don't have any real depth to them. It is a nice vehicle for Richard Hatch, considering you don't see him in much. It makes you realize just how good of an actor he is. Without Richard, this film would not be worth viewing. The film is watchable, and there is plenty of action and skin to satisfy a diehard action fan. The most interesting part of the film is to watch for continuity problems. This is worth watching when you are bored and have nothing better to do.