Kommando Leopard

Italian B movies don't get better than this. Great cast, fantastic action sequences, great score and top notch direction from old hand Antonio Margheriti. If there was a trio of movies that should be released on DVD it is CODENAME WILDGEESE, this and THE COMMANDER. Maybe Anchor Bay will do the right thing and get it out on disc.

Commando Leopard is cheesy but enthusiastic action trash for the most part. It's not extremely different from any other jungle-set, exploitation war movie from the 1980's. However, it does have 3 notable elements: First, the photography shows occasional flourishes of style that you wouldn't expect in a cheap 80s action b-movie. It's shot in 2.35:1 widescreen and every so often you get an artfully composed shot, a low angle "hero pose" image (which are far more common to big budget post-1990 action movies!), or a visceral over-the-shoulder camera angle on the gun play. The photography is nothing spectacular as a whole, but it does give the film an intermittent visual slickness that sets it apart from the bland coverage common to 1980's B-movie cinematography. Second, legendary actor Klaus Kinski is in the movie. Third, Commando Leopard is quite ambitious with at least 3 large-scale destruction/explosion scenes. There's a sense of enthusiasm to the affair that makes it easy to watch. Overall, it's one of the better examples of low-budget, exploitation film-making in the genre and era.

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!

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!

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.