Directorial Opportunities Missed Often Throughout A Silly Film That Fails At Being Adequate Entertainment.
This low-budget action adventure category affair lacks clarity and narrative control, and is not helped at all by overly zealous cutting that eliminates those pages of the screenplay that would be useful to a viewer attempting to piece together unfocused plot elements for what, in any event, is a cartoonish production. A narcotics detective attached to an unnamed large metropolitan police department, Nick Harris (Stan Morse), has receipted for grievous personal losses, of his wife, a shooting victim during an apparent carjacking, and of his detective partner, the latter slain by a gang of obviously organized thugs, all wearing full-length black dusters and wielding fully automatic machine guns. As if this were not enough, his Department's Internal Affairs unit is intending to implicate him in his partner's death by alleging dereliction of duty. The black coat gang is composed of Russian immigrants, engaged in the illegal trade of automatic weapons, headed by a former KGB Colonel, Ivan Romanov (Christopher Mitchum). Detective Harris, who has glumly been going about his now partnerless duties, is tasked with bringing the mob of Slavic triggermen to heel, assisted by a newly assigned sidekick, John Burke (Jeff Blanchard), who has requested his transfer from Homicide Division to his Narcotics post, holding a presumption that more exciting fare would be his with the change. Burke demonstrates a more lively demeanour than does Harris, for which a viewer will be grateful, but the two face a sizable problem in corraling the Russian mobsters, as their Department is clearly offering nothing in the way of assistance. Romanov's viciousness is not made completely clear through the storyline due to overzealous cutting that serves to highlight the film's shortcomings of continuity but, notwithstanding this drawback, one can hold little uncertainty as to the fate of Harris and Burke, as hundreds of armour piercing rounds fired at close range in their direction are plainly able to wriggle harmlessly around them. This work will provide only a tedious viewing experience for most, a flabby attempt at creating an action tale with humorous asides, while having the lowest of budgets. Morse and Blanchard used it as a means to accomplish a change of occupation by joining an improvisational comedy company. Even avid devotees of lower level "B" films will be sorely tested by watching this one unfold through to its ending. However, in all fairness, one must acknowledge that the somewhat inexperienced players of this extraordinarily tatty work go about their business with earnestness, only to be undone by a weak script and direction. The film was completed quickly, in less than two weeks, shot in Dallas and Tia Juana, Mexico and, while not shown in United States theatres, it has been very popular in Europe and in Asia.
