Les insoumis

There were batches of such craps during the eighties, more or less DEATH WISH descendants but without any shade, predictable at the most. The scene in the grocery store, with the hoodlums killing the war vet in the wheel chair, this scene is brutal, gritty, for me the most worth seeing sequence. However, it remains an agreeable time waster if you have really nothing else to do. I regret to have wasted my time with this forgettable flick; I also regret the late seventies vigilante movies such as the William Lustig or Lewis Teague's programmers. Only for die hard fans for this kind of junk, also old timers and certainly not the new generations.

After their wheelchair bound brother in arms Joe is killed by a gang in Atlanta, Vietnam vets Bill (Christopher Stone), Ray (Gerrit Graham), Garrett (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs) and Woody (Andy Wood) come to the city to teach the citizens how to stand up for themselves. Their main adversary is Roy Boy (Paul Koslo), who is working on a big heroin deal and tries to keep the local kids on his payroll. Our four Vietnam vigilantes also have to contend with Lt. Hawkins (Jim Antonio), who wants things done by the book. This is a serviceable entry in the citizen vigilante sub-genre. The problem is that there are so many classics in that field that this could never really compare. Director Charles Sellier had just come off of SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT so it is surprising this isn't sleazier. The main characters are lazily outlined (we barely know each of their specialties a la THE A-TEAM) and we get a really amusing training montage for the citizens that lasts about a minute. There is also a really bungled mystery regarding a fifth member called "Holdout Harry." Still, I was never bored and the film did provide a few laughs (especially the random school bus hostage taking during the finale).

Pretty awful but watchable and entertaining. It's the same old story (if you've lived through the 80s). Vietnam vets fight together as buddies against injustice back in the States. A-Team meets Death Wish, my favorite!

Time goes on, the soldiers go home, and years later a friend is in trouble. No, wait -- in fact, the friend is dead and it is his dad that's in trouble. Our first hero, Joey, is killed by an exceedingly horrifying (super pointy) meat tenderizer as he tries to defend his father's small store from the local "protection" gang despite being wheelchair bound from the war. Desperate for help, the father talks to Sarge, the leader of Joey's old unit from Vietnam, when Sarge shows up for the funeral.

Well, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and the old gang saddles up for the city. You can pretty much imagine most of the rest of the movie.

The one thing that drove me crazy is that Sarge keeps haranguing his men about planning, and about how they're really good at what they do when they plan ahead. But Joey wouldn't have been put in a wheelchair by a gunshot in Vietnam in the first place if the unit hadn't been messing around! Then when things are going really well in the city as they battle the gangs, they do it again. For no reason at all, they completely bypass their plan and try to nail the gang without everyone being present. Phh!!!! I raise my hands in disgust. Foolishness!

There is also a suspicious moment when all present members of the unit make sure to try out the heroin they snatch from the gang to make sure it's real. EVERY single one of them. Hmm....

What are you going to do? Keep watching, I guess. The movie isn't too horrible to watch, but it IS a tease. There are all these climactic moments when nothing actually winds up happening. The most dramatic things that happen are those at the beginning of the movie -- the explosives in Vietnam, Joey's death battle, and the gang brutally kicking an innocent teddy bear aside (poor Teddy!).

I guess my main beef with this movie is that I feel let down by it. Even the confusing subplots with "mystery helpers" and their bizarrely cross-purpose motives wasn't enough to save it at the end. But someday maybe it'll all come right and they'll make a sequel. Ha ha ha ha!!!

A quartet of men who were buddies during their time in 'Nam reunite in the 80s to avenge a fallen comrade, and clean up the streets of Atlanta. Currently, gangs are running amok, and it's up to our team of heroes to eradicate this criminal scum. The main baddie is a swaggering yet aged punk named Roy Boy Jagger (Paul Koslo, "The Omega Man"), while our title Annihilators are played by the likes of Christopher Stone ("The Howling"), Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs ('Welcome Back, Kotter'), Gerrit Graham ("Used Cars"), and Andy Wood ("Rambo: First Blood Part II").

This oddball cast (also including Dennis Redfield ("Dead & Buried") and Jim Antonio ("Outbreak")) ensures this slight but amusing urban action flick some sort of cult status. It fits quite comfortably into that "vigilantes vs. gangs" genre that was popular in the 80s. ("Death Wish 3" and William Lustigs' "Vigilante" being other notable examples.) It is pretty cheesy, amateurish, and laughable at times, but it still manages to push some buttons, complete with some effectively brutal violence and shots of ladies' breasts.

The actors are fun to watch, with the ever-amusing Graham in fine form as a guy who kisses the accounting profession goodbye in order to kick some gang members' posteriors. Stone is the cool-headed leader of the group, while Wood is established as a weak link given that he's descended into alcoholism. But this viewer would suggest that you watch this one basically for the late, great character actor Koslo, who sports an awesome hairdo, and threatens citizens while stalking the streets with flamethrower in hand. Roy Boy Jagger is simply a priceless character name.

You've likely seen all this before, but there's still fun to be had here provided that you don't take "The Annihilators" seriously at all.

Six out of 10.

What can I say about the Annhilators. From the fine film editing (overlooked at the Oscars in my opinion) to the first rate in your face acting. The Annhilators is high caliber pure 80's cheesefest. This is one of the few movies that I've seen in which every single scene has an unintentionally funny scene. I could go on quoting and quoting, but it's really up to you and your friends to rip this puppy apart. 10 years after first viewing you still won't forget this movie.