Programmed to Kill

OK, you have seen Universal Soldier with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. A real macho film.

This film came out five years earlier, and feature a female in the lead role - Golden Globe winner Sandahl Bergman (Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja).

It's a mostly forgettable movie, but it is interesting in the fact that it is really timely right now. Bergman plays a Middle Eastern terrorist who is captured and turn against her friends after some nifty programming like the Universal Soldiers. But, as you may suspect, something goes wrong and she goes after those that cyborg-ed her.

I really only tuned into it because the initial action took place in Crete, and I couldn't resist that. Heck, I might have been there playing in a softball tournament when they were filming.

Still-timely plot involving a female Middle Eastern terrorist who is caught and re-programmed to go after her former comrades ... all well and good, until the programming goes awry. Straightforward, simple plotting, the action is never allowed to lapse, AND ... this will never happen again ... NO political grandstanding on who is right and wrong in the Middle East situation. Suitably unpretentious production and very workmanlike acting all around, and Sandahl Bergman turns in a rather unnerving performance as Samira, the death machine; the only other actress this good in such a role at the time was Claire Wren in "Steel and Lace," another movie which will appeal to those who like this one. This movie cries out for a remake, maybe with Michelle Rodriguez, though it won't happen; a DVD release of this one would be better.

Some five years ago, around the time of his untimely and unfortunate death, my movie buddy and I watched quite a lot of trashy Robert Ginty B-movies such as "Warrior of the Lost World", "White Fire" and – of course – "The Exterminator". We watched them as a tribute to Ginty, but obviously also because they always guarantee low-brained and ultra-violent entertainment. It's too bad that we couldn't get our filthy little hands on "Programmed to Kill" back then, because this also would have made a great installment for a Robert Ginty theme night. Although, in all fairness, it isn't Robert Ginty who steals the show here, but cult wench Sandahl Bergman. Also known as "The Retaliator", the plot is highly derivative of "The Terminator" (and arguably also of "Robocop", but it looks as if this film got released slightly earlier the same year) but correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think anyone is looking for originality or groundbreaking new story lines in an '80s actioner like this! Although a rather blatant rip- off, the script is nonetheless engaging and fast-paced, with plenty of gratuitous violence and cheesy dialogs. Bergman stars as Samira, a terrorist from the Middle East most wanted by the CIA because she herself is dangerous and because she's engaged to the brain of the terrorist organization. Together with her posse, Samira kills a bunch of tourists in Lebanon and takes two young American children hostage, but the CIA recruits mercenary Eric Mathews to set things right. The heavily wounded Samira is brought back to the States, but there she's secretly transformed into a cyborg and programmed to serve as a weapon against her former friends. This all goes well at first, but Samira's new circuits quickly go haywire and she turns against her masters. Once again, the reluctant Eric Mathews is brought in to save the day. "The Retaliator" – I actually prefer that title – is definitely a lot of fun while it lasts and features a couple of reasonably impressive and well-staged action sequences/stunts. In my personal favorite scene, Samira calls a CIA boss and kills him through shouting in the horn until his ears bleed. The climax is also quite exciting with a massive amount of explosions, machinery action and POV executions through cyborg-vision! Admittedly the film also won't make an everlasting impression and suffers from a few dull and pointless sub plots, like Mathews' troubled family situation. By the way, Ginty's teenage son Jason is played by Paul Walker – who also sadly passed away already – in one of his very first roles.

A female terrorist (Sandahl Bergman) is captured during a raid in Greece and used as a guinea pig by the CIA in a secret experiment to turn her into a cyborg killing machine. Naturally, she goes haywire on her first mission and then sets out to kill anyone involved in the project, including the special agent (Robert Ginty) who captured her but soon turned on "the company." Watching this, I soon realized my whole life was a lie: I always felt Lady Terminator (1989), Eve of Destruction (1990) and Steel and Lace (1991) were the first in the "killer female cyborg" but this Allan Holzman & Robert Short film had them scooped. It works best when there is bloody action going on and whoever decided to cast Bergman as a mostly non-speaking, emotionless robot was a genius. James Booth has a rather thankless role as a bad guy in a suit and look for a young Paul Walker as Ginty's son.

"The Retaliator" / "Programmed To Kill" would probably have been better if it had focused more on Sandahl Bergman's nearly unstoppable robot / killing machine and less on Robert Ginty's CIA agent / mercenary. In the pantheon of 1980's action stars, Ginty ranks pretty low. He just doesn't have much charisma. His family troubles in this movie are dull, and his reckless character is not very likable (at one point, he even blows up a jeep full of American security guards just doing their job - trying to protect the government facility that he had just infiltrated!). Bergman is a good pick for the part of a female killing machine, but the script barely even gives her any speaking lines, and the budget doesn't allow for much in the way of special effects and extra powers. Some fine stunts, but too many of the action scenes are filmed in near-darkness. Pretty forgettable, all in all. *1/2 out of 4.