Zone Troopers

When I sat down to watch the 1985 movie "Zone Troopers", I must admit that I was expecting nothing really, because the synopsis sounded really corny, and the movie's cover was very low budget. But I opted to sit down and watch what writers Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo had to offer with this 1985 sci-fi action adventure, as I hadn't already seen it.

Needless to say that I had never even heard about this movie from director Danny Bilson as I stumbled upon it here in 2022. But I have to admit that director Danny Bilson delivered a surprisingly entertaining and enjoyable movie here. I was genuinely entertained by how this movie turned out.

The storyline was actually nicely written and entertaining, and it was enjoyable from beginning to end. Especially so as the story mingled classic World War II action with sci-fi in a good manner. And I will say that the World War II elements were really great, and it was such a pleasure to experience the German soldiers actually speak German, and not just English with a thickly added accent.

The acting performances in the movie were good, with the likes of Tim Thomerson, Timothy Van Patten and Art LaFleur on the cast list.

Visually then "Zone Troopers" was okay. The costume and props department did good jobs in bringing the American and German soldiers to life. And the alien creature design was actually also pretty good. Sure, the special effects were somewhat outdated, but it fit the movie well enough.

I can actually warmly recommend "Zone Troopers", because it is a good movie.

My rating of "Zone Troopers" lands on a six out of ten stars.

When watching certain movies, you just know from the very first minute that you're about to have a great time. Zone Troopers is like that…the film opens with the credits while a golden oldie song is playing (I believe it's called ‘In the Mood'…) and the right light-hearted atmosphere is set immediately. Of course, I can't give too much praising and recommendation, but I certainly enjoyed my viewing. It reminded me about the silly and funny quickies from the 60's. Like Roger Corman used to make ‘em! (Little Shop of Horrors, The Raven). It's a pleasant mixture of comedy, war and Sci-Fi, but comedy definitely gets the overhand. Four surviving members of a platoon in WWII are stuck behind German enemy lines and they discover a crashed space ship. They rescue the funny looking alien from Nazi-experiments and continue their battle along with the invaders. The script is filled with hilarious sequences and one-liners. The absolute highlight is Art LaFleur hitting Hitler himself in the face after nearly being recovered from a beating he took himself!! Furthermore, the make-up and visual effects are really cheesy and silly but that only makes the whole thing even funnier. The aliens (their origin is never revealed, but they're considered to be Martians) look like an inferior breeding of Ewoks and they make adorable yummy-noises. Zone Troopers surely gets my recommendation if you're looking for 90 minutes of pure, brainless fun. It's a nice (and even necessary change) from all those so-called Sci-Fi classics that take themselves way too serious anyway.

Set in World War II somewhere in Italy, Sgt. Stone (Tim Thomerson), Joey Verona (Timothy Van Patten), George "Mittens" Minnesnski (Art LaFleur), and civilian journalist Charlie Dolan (Biff Manard) are the only survivors of their unit after being ambushed in a Nazi attack. Now stuck 10 miles behind enemy lines the group attempts to make their way home, but soon come across artifacts that are extraterrestrial in origin that cause the group to run into the Nazi's elite troops.

Zone Troopers is 1985 sci-fi/war film that along with Trancers was one of the earlier projects for noted writing team Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo who between them are responsible for the 90s The Flash tv series and the cult Disney adventure film The Rocketeer. Made by noted B-movie makers Charles Band Productions, the movie features all the charm you can expect from one of Band's high concept low-budget productions that isn't afraid to be anymore than what it is and for my money that's pretty enjoyable.

Much like how Bilson and De Meo embraced the comic book tone in their works such as the 90s The Flash TV show or The Rocketeer, Zone Troopers feels like the kind of story that wouldn't be too out of place in an anthology comics magazine like Tales to Astonish or the like. The core group consisting of Tim Thomerson, Timothy Van Patten, Art Lafleur, and Biff Manard make for a likable set of characters even if maybe they're not given as much development as they could've been. The movie does feel undeniably like a lower budget film with the Italian countryside in the film mostly consisting of the woods, a meadow, or the occasional building but there's significantly less hardware (tanks, vehicles, etc.) than you typically expect from this kind of movie so it is noticeable. But while Zone Troopers may not have the money of larger budgeted productions, there's a level of joyful innocence to the movie that feels like a mixture of the Humphrey Bogart film Sahara with a mixture of E. T. with the alien elements nicely silly and endearing.

Zone Troopers gives you exactly what you want from a movie like this and that's all you can reasonably ask for it. With committed performances, a playfully silly tone, and a high concept that it embraces to its fullest ability this is the kind of B-movie that makes up for in heart what it lacks in resources.

7 1/2 out of 10

I was scanning some titles at a local video store when I happened upon a bizarre little film called Zone Troopers. A group of American soldiers in WW II stuck behind enemy lines, run across a crashed alien spacecraft. The box art looked promising, but my expectations were low. Surprise! This movie was actually entertaining. Sure there were some gaping plot holes, the script wasn't exactly academy award material, and the alien costume left a little to be desired, but I had no trouble getting into this film. It never got boring, I even became attached to a few of the characters. This won't top anyone's movie list, but it's definitely worth a watch. For Full Moon fans out there you'll be happy to know that Tim Thomerson, the "Dollman" himself, acts as the Sarge in Zone Troopers, easily my favorite character of the bunch.

A group of American soldiers end up deep behind enemy lines in Italy during WWII. They're flabbergasted when they encounter some honest-to-God aliens and alien artifacts in the woods. The aliens are hard to read at first, not seeming to be on either side. Our heroes consist of the growling Sarge (Tim Thomerson) who clearly has as many lives as a cat, the earnest Joey (Timothy Van Patten), who digs pulp sci-fi magazines of the era, a corporal nicknamed "Mittens" (Art La Fleur), and war correspondent Dolan (Biff Manard).

You know you're in for a good time when Hitler himself (Alviero Martin) shows up, basically so he can get decked in the face by Mittens. The actors are all very engaging and entertaining, especially the always amusing Thomerson, and "Class of 1984" villain Van Patten, who believes that the aliens must be from Mars. Granted, the characters sometimes do reckless and stupid things, but in a lark like this, that's not as much of an issue as it might ordinarily be. Co-writer / debuting director Danny Bilson maintains a fairly breezy tone, occasionally getting serious but never too, too serious. He and his co-writer Paul De Meo (their other credits include "Trancers" and "The Wrong Guys") have no pretensions about what kind of movie they're making, which helps. It's just amiable, straightforward, goofy fun.

Visual effects are kept to a minimum, but the sets and props are nicely done, and the creature makeup (by John Carl Buechler and his team) is pretty good. A Charles Band production (his first to be filmed in Italy), it features a solid music score by Bands' brother Richard, and makes good use of the classic tune "In the Mood".

It's hard not to have a smile on ones' face while watching this.

Seven out of 10.