High Risk

All you gotta know is that the DC-3 in the film is flown by "Addios Airline" and has a big marijuana leaf painted on the tail. What a cool film

Borgnine's best line "It's not how many bullets you fire - It's what you hit with them that counts"

Headlining this all-star, action-adventure are four modern-day Robin Hoods, out to steal from the rich and give to themselves. They parachute into a steamy South American jungle; locate the secluded compound of a notorious Colombian cocaine dealer; get past a veritable army of his sentries; cooly break into his safe and remove five million beautiful dollars; make it through a rain forest hotly pursued by armed guards with attack dogs; survive an encounter with a crazy band of greedy revolutionaries; zigzag through a hail of bullets at a wild airstrip rendezvous to escape in a plane with most of the money intact...without getting themselves killed.

Talk about an independently produced film! This one's a wonderful example of how hard the indies work, and what good movies they make.

How they ever convinced a cast like this to go sweat it out in a jungle, I can't imagine. James Brolin shines, but so do they all.

And I still can't believe they got somebody to handle a snake that BIG just for a 5-second shot, which you better believe they captured in one perfect take, 'cause that snake was headed for home the instant they released it!

This is a fine, light hearted action film, fast paced, well written and plotted and with a lot of depth. Each actor obviously got way into his role, especially Anthony Quinn. And those whacko airplane pilots! The old C-47 STILL RULES!!!

This film has Peckinpah character actors throughout, sometimes in cameo roles. There are Peckinpah shots and Peckinpah edits throughout. There are Peckinpah themes throughout. When it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and quacks like a duck - I'm not saying he's the genius directing the whole film; but if he had nothing to do with it, I'll eat my shotgun. And I'm certainly not saying this is a great, or even a good Sam Peckinpah film. But it is a Sam Peckinpah film. So why the silence? Especially on the part of Coburn (Pat Garrett) and Borgnine (Wild Bunch)? Well, at the time Peckinpah's name was the kiss of death in Hollywood, especially to himself. And since it's not a very good film, why add more badness to a bad legend? But this is a Sam Peckinpah film, shot after Cross of Iron and before his brief resurrection working with Don Siegal, and it has some interesting stuff in it. Peckinph fans pay note.

You have to admit that HIGH RISK has a once in a lifetime cast. What other movie gathers together Ernest Borgnine, James Brolin, James Coburn, Anthony Quinn, Lindsay Wagner, Bruce Davison, and Cleavon Little? (Though Borgnine only briefly appears, and Coburn more or less has an extended cameo.) It's fun to see all these actors together, and there is additional merit to be found. The movie shoots on some picturesque Mexican locations, and there is some excitement in the action sequences. The script, however, is kind of a muddle - it's never really explained how the protagonists got the information about the drug lord, his compound, and his safe. That wasn't a real problem for me, but there is still a problem with the movie, and that is with the protagonists. For some reason, I found it hard to sympathize with these fellows - they came across as greedy and not that desperate for money. Also, they make some really stupid decisions along the way, stupid acts that even an amateur in real life wouldn't make. Recommended only when you can't find a better movie.