Maximum Force

I'll cut to the chase...."Maximum Force" is a third-rate action picture at best. But I decided to watch it for one reason...I've seen most of Mickey Rooney's movies and he, sadly, is in this one. This isn't a huge surprise, as later in his career, Rooney would appear in pretty much anything...a far cry from a time in 1938-1940 when he was the #1 actor in the world!

In many ways, this PM Entertainment film looks like a Steven Seagal production of the 90s...but with even less quality. It's all action, big on explosions and low on common sense and believability. It's not intended to be an art film, that's for sure!

Three tough but frustrated screw-up cops are recruited by police Captain Fuller (John Saxon) to take down Max Tenabe (Richard Lynch)...the leader of a criminal empire dealing in, well, pretty much anything illegal. This will mean TEAMWORK instead of their usual methods...which are to go in alone and kick butt. Can they manage to stop Tenabe AND can they somehow avoid prison for all the laws they break to do this?

The best thing this movie has going for it is Richard Lynch. He's always scary and very effective in villain roles and he manages to infuse some quality into this movie. As for the rest of the movie, well, it's pretty bad. It's full of mindless action, bad montages and goofball scenes. It' looks as if the filmmakers didn't even try to make it believable.

But despite this, if you do still decide to watch the film, note the a few of the ridiculous scenes. One of the heroes is shot at very close range by what appears to be a .357 handgun. He's just fine....no complaints, no broken sternum...nothing!! Or, handcuffing a guy to a van and then driving all over town...dragging him. He's even driven INTO a phone booth as a cop in a patrol car watches...and does nothing to stop them. Or, the scene where the hero shoots a guy hanging from a helicopter...about 100 yards away...with a handgun!

This may be the best B Grade action movie ever, simply because it takes Flash Gordon, Roeper from Enter The Dragon, Rusty from National Lampoon's European Vacation and Golan/Globus's best bad guy, Richard Lynch!! Throw in the "greatest actor in the world, the WORLD!!!" Mickey Rooney, and get the movie directed by b-movie star Jalal Merhi's brother Joseph Merhi, and you have MAXIMUM FORCE, the well oiled machine of a movie that delivers with 2nd rate action, 3rd rate nudity, and a cameo from former porn star Sonny Landham (as a pimp), who's taken on Carl Weathers, Eddie Murphy, Chuck Norris, Sylvester Stallone, AND Arnold himself. Seriously, this movie is something you're bound to see late night on tv, but that is good since it will help you fall asleep.

Sam "Remember Flash Gordon?" Jones stars as a martial arts expert/cop who is brought in by a mysterious cop (John Saxon) who gets the three toughest cops (Jones, Sherrie Rose and Jason Lively) to take down mobster Richard Lynch who has corrupted the town in his deals with prostitution, drugs and all that jazz. Lots of shootouts occur. You have to love PM and their consistent goal to provide action movies of such stupid magnitude yet ultimately diverting. In Maximum Force we get what could be a blue print in making a low budget guilty pleasure obscurity. With any C.movie you have to have talent across the board to keep it interesting. You have Sam Jones as your token stardom eluding leading man (He was Flash Gordon for goodness sake!) and you also have the washed up old fogies who have seen better days. In this case this category extends to Mickey Rooney, John Saxon and Richard Lynch as all of them act only for the paycheck involved. Then of course you have the never was actors such as Sherrie Rose and Jason Lively who basically never went on to do anything big or ever hit it big. You combine this list of talent and then plug in some high energy action set-pieces and you have Maximum Force, quite possibly the greatest C.movie ever made. Also add in a shot of the admittedly sexy Sherrie Rose in a thong and you have the textbook of how to make a movie that people enjoy at 2 am.

* * Out of 4-(Fair)

"Maximum Force" is a perfect example of where less would have been best. There are several scenes that are simply unbearably long. The endless training session in the warehouse should be skipped entirely as it is beyond boring. A close second on the tedious scale would be the repetitive exploding remote control cars scene, which goes on and on. The acting by Sam Jones , Sherrie Rose, and Jason Lively is not even close to average. The welcome appearance of Richard Lynch, John Saxon, and Mickey Rooney, elevates the acting grade somewhat. If you are a fan of Lynch, I would seek this one out. Even though he plays his usual "slimeball" villain, he is so good at it. Overall the film is extremely uneven, mostly because of the previously mentioned long dead spots. Nevertheless it is watchable as long as you have the remote in hand. MERK

Awesome film is what came to mind whilst watching this Pm entertainment Masterpiece!!!

A group of renegade cops are teamed up by the great John Saxon (A B-movie & Horror Genre Legend R. I. P) as tough Captain named Fuller, this guy has been trying to bring down a crime lord (played greatly by Richard Lynch) & he's been on that case his whole career & it's time to finally end it before he retires & so he gets a team together of tough cops who each have been trying to bring down the same crime lord for their own reasons.

The team are, Sam Jones (Flash Gordon, Silent Assassins) who is a "Punisher" type of renegade cop, he's hard-as-nails & really would make a great "Punisher" or would've back in the day.

Sherrie Rose (King of the Kickboxers 2) is a tough chick, she's super sexy & super deadly & is great here & is a very good underrated actor.

The final member of this vigilante cop team is the excellent Jason Lively (Night of the Creeps) who is a tech-wizard & has some great moments with his remote-controlled cars armed with explosives & he's a funny dude.

I loved this team of cool characters & the Noir style story & the beautiful cinematography that really shines throughout the film, just look at the beauty of the warehouse scenes where our cops are training!!!

"Maximum Force" is an excellent film, the low-budget doesn't matter as you can't judge a film by it's budget because some cheap flicks are way better than some mega budget films such as "Force" this is a super entertaining & perfect late-night Thriller that's got Awesome action scenes & bloody shootouts & a cast of actors who are really enjoying their roles.

Other parts are filled out with the veteran actor Mickey Rooney as a corrupted politician type who clashes with Saxon's Captain Fuller & the crime lords deadly bodyguard played by Jeff Langton.

From the Awesome music, stunning cinematography, great characters, cool action scenes & great performances make MAXIMUM FORCE a great movie.