Goma-2

I can't say why, but this is probably (together with the ator films) the worst film I've ever seen. Twice I've fallen asleep while watching it. It's dark and blurry and the story is pathetic. But then again, Lee van Cleef is in it, and he's fun. I don't have so much to say about it, so I stop here.

"Goma-2", or "Killing Machine" to make it sound a little more international, is an early 80s action/exploitation movie from Spain that is almost completely forgotten, but unjustly so! If you don't set your expectations too high, this actually is a very entertaining and exhilarating macho-flick with a solid B-movie cast, plenty of fires and explosions, nasty bare-knuckle fighting sequences, feisty music, and utmost evil bad guys you'll love to hate.

Former cult icon and hunk from Mexico Jorge Rivero stars as Txema; ex-member and plastic explosives' specialist of a feared terrorist organization, but nowadays peacefully settled down as an international truck driver and happily married with Eliza. When transporting fresh apples from Spain to Germany, he bumps into an angry French mob that wants to destroy his cargo. I can't really figure out who they are, though. I assume they are the local fruit and vegetables mafia, and want to protect the French economy? Either way, the bosses of this "mafia" are pure evil, especially the head patron played by the one and only Lee Van Cleef. The legendary actor played a lot of unsympathetic roles in his career, but Julot from "Goma-2" earns a spot in the most hateful top three!

Julot's minions set fire to the truck with Txema's pregnant wife still inside, and he watches her burning to death. This is - and I'm sorry to say so - a good thing for the movie, though, as the woman who plays Eliza is a terrible actress. When Julot also humiliates Txema in court and treats him and his brother-in-law to another serious beating, it's time for our angry trucker to polish up his old terrorist skills!

"Goma-2" may not be refined or artful Spanish cinema, but it surely entertains massively. There's never one dull moment, and there's even suspense and a little bit of genuine drama. My sole regret is that Txema wasn't an expert in knives or torturing techniques during his time at the terrorist organization. Explosions are cool, but the bad guys' deaths nearly aren't painful enough compared to the agony they caused.

A profesional hit-man has started a new life as a track driver in Spain. In a travel to France, carrying oranges, escorted by his lovely wife, he will run into a lot of problems, because of the local mafia that is trying to control the market of fruits. He will try to stay away from trouble, but his beloved wife, by mistake, will find a horrible death, trapped inside the truck, when They will put fire in it. After this, he is simply forced to return back to his old ways, find through his old contacts all the guns and information that he needs and then kill each and everyone of the bad guys. Simple film, with ordinary plot and flat characters, for entertainment without any expectations. For those who like this kind, not so bad for rent and see in the video.

What can I say? First of all no stars for this turkey. I saw Killing Machine on one of those old '80s videocassette deals hosted by Sybil Danning. She is actually the best thing about the program, because the movie stinks big time! It is billed on the video box to star Lee Van Cleef, Richard Jaeckel, Willie Aames, and Margaux Hemingway. They are more like guest stars, because the real star is some Spanish bum that I've never seen before and never want to see again. Its supposed to be about a truck driver that is attacked by French unionists: they kill his wife, and he goes after them. It is never fully explained why the unionists are angry at the truck drivers other than the fact that they carry fruit that is evil (I guess...like I said...It is never explained). Lee Van Cleef plays a lawyer (!) that covers things up for the union. There's an interesting scene that is supposed to be in a courtroom, but it looks like the scene was shot in a cheap conference room in some warehouse. Cleef was very old here, so the idea of him being some kind of tough guy is demolished by his aged appearance. Hemingway looks astonishingly bad, and her acting reflects her awful appearance. Richard Jaeckel (mispelled?) makes the worst performance by William Shatner look good, and Willie Aames is annoying as always. Aames had passed over his teenage good looks, so there isn't even anything good to look at. I heard later that he bottomed out on drugs and converted to Christianity (no small favor for movies...stay out, Willie!) PLEASE SKIP THIS TRASH! UPDATE 08/04/05: I originally voted this the worst film I saw in 2005, but then I saw High Tension and changed my mind.

A masterpiece of Spanish cinema, Goma 2 is a beautiful revenge story in which an ex-ETA member who has no problem calling themselves "the Spanish" and who is marked by ETA, decides to take revenge on the mafia farmers after the death of his wife (Ana Obregón, who provides a formidable performance) in an attack in Roussillon (Very in the ETA style) and the inaction of the Spanish authorities who supposedly control the protagonist as part of his amnesty pave the way for explosive revenge in on the other side of the Pyrenees.

Without forgetting Lee Van Cleef as villain in command and lawyer for the bad guys, making this piece of art one of the best samples of Spanish cinema.

Apart from special mention is the fact that the ETA members have a file with their members in Spanish, only in Spanish.