Opposing Force

This film, i think i've seen it twice, is actually a really entertaining movie. Your really feel the hatred for Commendant Becker, and the suffering of the in-training POW's.

Tom Skerritt is good as always, he must be one of the best low budget actors there is.

Well worth seeing.

A group of soldiers, including one woman, go on a training exercise on an island where they are hunted down and captured by sadistic Anthony Zerbe and his troops. Things get out of control and Zerbe subjects his prisoners to abuse and torture. What starts out as a decent idea for a military action-thriller turns into an exploitation flick that isn't much fun. Tom Skerritt is the only one of the good guys with any kind of personality, though he does little with it. Lisa Eichhorn is dull as dishwater. Richard Roundtree is wasted. Anthony Zerbe's performance is the whole show. If this had been made by Cannon, perhaps it would have been a little more fun. Still, it's watchable throughout. I was never bored. Ending sucks, though.

Strong cast elevates this otherwise minor action-thriller into something halfway decent. An elite army force is sent to a remote island to simulate extreme combat conditions, in order to prepare physically and emotionally for active duty. Once there, they're quickly captured and subjected to inhumane treatment which soon becomes criminal in the extreme. The camp commander's inscrutable methods have long been feared, but not until now is the whole gamut of his atrocities and sadism exposed. When head captive Logan (Skerritt) finally realises the crimes that are being perpetrated against his outfit, he goes berserk and demands and end to the simulation, but of course the psychotic camp commander Becker (played by crazy-eyed Anthony Zerbe, a fine actor better than this material) remains 'in character' (so to speak), and keen to erase any suspicion of wrong-doing.

The curve ball to all this is that one of Skerritt's men, is, well, a woman (Eichhorn). Her place in the team already under heavy scrutiny and unfavourable with the men, she finds herself the easy target for Zerbe to exploit. Zerbe is convincing, if somewhat one-dimensional, while Roundtree as his straight-shooting offsider provides much needed balance. George Cheung is chilling as an ex-Viet Cong assassin used by Zerbe to prowl the jungles in search of human prey. Eichhorn doesn't have the easiest of roles to play, her character subjected to constant indignities, although she still manages to project femininity and vulnerability in spite of her macho GI Jane persona.

"Hell Camp" does begin to deteriorate in the second half, as Zerbe's megalomania becomes all consuming, and the sadistic brand of torture he employs is sure to be objectionable to many audiences, particularly the female cohort. Good cast, but not enough restraint in managing the violence, which ultimately becomes gratuitous and vulgar - the climax and conclusion also less than satisfying. Proceed with caution.

They had the makings of a good movie here. A group of soldiers are taken out to a jungle camp for a rigorous P.O.W. survival course, but instead of a "controlled" experiment, they begin to suspect that the camp's commander has gone "over the edge" and is turning the experiment into a deadly reality. However, the premise is muddled by adding a female soldier to the mix, a choice which seems gimmicky and which throws off-balance the rest of the plot. (Ironically, the female angle is probably what "sold" the idea to the studio.) Some viewers may enjoy the male-bondage scenes but it's sad to read that the actor who plays Ripkin and is memorably shown tied bare-chested to a X-shaped cross committed suicide in 2001. Anthony Zerbe, America's answer to Frank Thring, is unimaginatively cast as the villain. And yes, the movie seriously weakens in the last 10 minutes.

OPPOSING FORCE, better represented by its original title, HELLCAMP, draws its inspiration from THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME/ZARKOFF'S HOUNDS, and in turn clearly served as inspiration for G.I. JANE. Major Tom Skerritt joins a band of young elite soldiers, including a female (Lisa Eichorn), who are sent to a remote island for special training. They are quickly caught by soldiers stationed on the island and subjected to all sorts of realistic POW conditions: minimal food, frequent beatings, mind games, isolation units, forced marches and even waterboarding. No one breaks, least of all Eichorn, which infuriates the base commandant (Anthony Zerbe) who by his own admission has been on the island too long. He cracks under the strain and instead of ending the "exercise," ups the torture quotient, zapping Skerritt with electricity and raping Eichhorn. Zerbe's sergeant, played by Richard Roundtree, stands by and does nothing about any of this. Zerbe then sends Skerritt off into the jungle, pursued by his evil Asian henchman, played by steely-eyed George Cheung. Skerritt quickly turns the tables on the bad guys and pretty soon, it's all-out war between Zerbe's and Skerritt's men. Skerritt is terrific as always, and Eichorn play a proud and determined soldier who shows she can hold her own against the enemy. The film is quite graphic and contains large dollops of nudity and deaths. Full of unexpected twists and turns, HELLCAMP is well worth your time.