T.N.T.

Olivier Gruner (Finally I can go back to reviewing other movies, since this wraps up my turkey binge)stars as a gym instructor who's past jumps out of the bushes and bites him in the ass. (Or as Randy Travis puts it) It seems that Gruner is part of a unit called TNT (this is one of the film's better ideas) and after the senseless murder of a woman and child, Olivier gets sad and runs away from the unit. Eric Roberts and Sam "Flash Gordon" Jones are the guys who want to take him on. Helmed by Robert Radler, TNT fails miserably as a generic stupid actioner, the movie is mercilessly boring for it's first half only to be undeniably hilarious it's second half. The climax is alone worth it for fans of camp because Gruner and Jones duke it out in what amounts to the world's most ridiculous climax. Acting-wise, Randy Travis probably gives the best performance, giving an adequate tough guy role, despite not having enough screen time. Eric Roberts and Sam J. Jones on the other hand seem totally embarrassed, as they should be. Gruner is as usual dependably bad, with awkward acting so reprehensible it makes you cringe. Indeed watching Olivier Gruner interact with Rebecca Staab (Who plays Olivier's girlfriend) is truly as bad as it gets. The fight sequences would be okay, if not for the god-awful directing and basically it becomes quite obvious that this was a quick shoot. Indeed Radler rebounded with the far more enjoyable Substitute 4:Failure Is Not An Option, although that one is no great shakes, at least it doesn't have Olivier Gruner trying to talk all lovey-dovey with his co-star. Then again though, nobody gets hit by a truck in Substitute 4...

* out of 4-(Bad)

Olivier Gruner stars as Alex, a member of the Tactical Neutralization Team, who doesn't seem to have his heart in death-defying espionage anymore. So after one last mission which goes fubar, he decides it's time to hang up his black camos and call it a day. Oh if only it were so easy. But then we wouldn't have a movie I guess. Anyways His commander doesn't like Alex's decision one iota (well it doesn't help that his blabbing too) and thus sends one of his former colleges to off him. Starring Randy Travis as the local ineffectual police sheriff.

The opening scenes with Gruner in his team are OK in a bad action B-movie sorta way, but once the film moves onto Alex's new life, the film which was only tenaciously entertains falls apart exponentially. However it still has a strange hypnotizing effect on the hapless viewer that I couldn't really put my finger on, much less explain,

My Grade: D+

Where I Saw It: The Movie Channel Xtra

Pretty bad, but almost worth the price of admission to see Oliver Gruner act playful and frisky. Also notable for casting Randy Travis as the sheriff of a small Colorado town -- Officer Barbrady wants his uniform back, Randy!

See my external review for more details.

ok I know most of the movies I comment on are B-Grade ones, but this one tops them all, what a shocker of a film this is, I mean its so bad its was funny. don't go anywere near this film, it sux.

0/10

Olivier Gruner doesn't disappoint too much. He's shown better moves elsewhere, and no one expects great acting from him, but he still delivers an adequate performance. The real problem is with the one-dimensional performance of Eric Roberts. I wonder how many hours he was even on the set! It is disappointing to see a performer in a movie taking it even less seriously than do the viewers. Perhaps I am giving him too much credit: Maybe he is really a C-Movie denizen of this appallingly low quality. Randy Travis comes reasonably close to making his poorly written character believable, but the movie wouldn't have been particularly different without him (and his accent isn't exactly typical for Colorado sheriffs, either).

It's just disappointing when the worst performance in an unambitious action movie comes from a supposedly competent big name, and the best from a martial artist for whom English is a second (or third, for all I know) language.