Warhead

Though this movie was made nearly 30 years ago, its main theme is still very relevant with the current Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East. With the current threat of nuclear warfare in that region, the scenario in this movie could become a reality though we hope that will not happen. What made this movie especially delightful to me was the background music cues. For those of us who are "Rat Patrol" TV series fans, you will quickly recognize that the music used in this movie were taken from the recorded music cues from "The Rat Patrol", music composed by the outstanding TV composer Dominic Frontiere, even though his name is not credited in the end credits. Overall a good movie with plenty of action.

With the world at odds with itself, our newest danger arrives when some new country acquires the Atomic Bomb. Isreal and the Arabs are enemies making the world less stable than before. In this movie called " Warhead " the United States loses one of it's Neclear weapons in the deserts of Syria. Frantic to retrieve it, or at the very least, locate it, the U.S. sends in a Neclear expert to locate and disarm the weapon. It's bad enough, that our hero Tony Stevens (David Janssen) must find the weapon with the help of the Isreali military, but his plans are compromised when he is captured by the Arabs first. The story, originally written by Patrick Foulk, becomes a high tense drama when audience members are along for what may be an atomic accident triggered by waring nations. The movie has a good plot, but the acting leaves much to be desired. Director John O'Connor allows the action to guide the movie, but the actors seem stiff and cardboard like. Were it not for the excellence of David Jannsen, the whole thing might be relegated to 'B' pictures. As it is, the film becomes a dramatic statement which asks what would happen if two belligerent nation both possess the nuclear deterrent. ***

After becoming a David Janssen fan through "The Swiss Conspiracy," I bought a DVD that contains two of David's other movies, "Moon of the Wolf" (I also review it and "The Swiss Conspiracy" on this page) and the subject of this review, "Prisoner in the Middle." Also known as "Warhead," "Prisoner in the Middle" was filmed in 1973 but not released until four years later. Apparently it received only minimal theatrical distribution and now is in public domain. The movie appears to be low budget but overcomes that with clever writing, excellent pacing and exciting actions scenes, plus another strong performance by Janssen.

"Prisoner in the Middle" stars Janssen as U.S. Air Force Col. Anthony Stevens, who, while vacationing in Jerusalem, is summoned to deactivate an American nuclear missile that has accidentally been dropped via parachute into the Jordanian desert.

Stevens finds the missile but before de-activating it, he is captured by a militant Arab group that calls itself the Palestinian Liberation Army. At first, the group's leader, Malouf (played by David Semadar), expresses interest in using the missile to destroy Israel. But upon seeing a red light flashing on the missile, he allows Stevens to de-activate it.

But before Stevens finishes, a group of Israeli soldiers arrive at the scene and begin firing at the Arabs, who retreat. Stevens takes cover during the shoot out and is captured by the Israelis, who don't treat him much better than the Arabs and won't let him de-activate the missile. Meanwhile, the Arabs make plans to attempt to re-gain the missile.

The movie doesn't contain a lot of character development but doesn't need to. It's more about a theme than about characters. And the theme is just as relevant now as it was then. And the movie still does a good job at portraying the lives of Israeli soldiers. In one particularly powerful scene, they are shown praying in a synagogue and from there immediately prepare for battle.

And the point of view of the Arabs isn't ignored. When Stevens tries to convince Malouf to let Stevens de-activate the missile, Stevens tells Malouf to think about Malouf's family. Malouf replies that because of the Jews, he doesn't have a family.

But while "Prisoner in the Middle" is exciting and compelling, it becomes progressively more depressing throughout, all the way until the end. And I'm surprised that it got a PG rating, especially at a time that the PG-13 rating didn't exist. To me, the movie is a pretty obvious R for its intense violence and the implied rape of a captured female Israeli soldier.

For those who can endure, "Prisoner in the Middle" is a very entertaining action drama and a must see for Janssen fans. I give the movie 8/10, the same rating as "Moon of the Wolf." Getting the two movies on one DVD for just $1 is an outstanding value!

Originally, "Warhead" was a television movie called "Prisoner in the Middle" (1974). It was somehow released in some theaters in 1977 as "Warhead".

When the movie began, I could quickly tell it was a movie made on the cheap. For example, a CIA operative (David Janssen) is about to parachute into the desert...and they cut away and suddenly he's on the ground gathering up his parachute. Moments later, a school bus is attacked in the desert...and they show they about to attack and then it cuts to the bus suddenly lying on its side...having been blasted. But you see no blast....it's as if the warning "Scene missing here" should be emblazoned across the screen!

The plot involves Palestinians, Israeli soldiers and a lone CIA operative (Janssen) all scrambling to retrieve a lost US Air Force nuke accidentally dropped in the Jordanian desert(???). Why the USA would only send one guy is confusing, that's for sure! The nuke ends up changing hands repeatedly.

So is it any good? Not really. The acting is passable but the film itself lacks energy and interesting characters...and a decent budget. Overall, it just really looks cheap...incredibly cheap! And, it is also not especially entertaining...which is odd considering the subject matter.

David Janssen was an excellent actor in "The Fugitive" (TV Series). He also starred in another very good film called "Birds of Prey" (1973). His other films are not that good. This "Warhead" (1977) is one of his worst. Karin Dor was a beautiful and convincing actress. But, she too, is lost in this uninspired production, of unlimited boredom.