Target of Opportunity

In my own opinion viewing the trailer aesthetically it seems more an mid or late 1990's film.

I'm sorry to say this, but the acting in this film is horrible. The dialogue sounds as if they are reading their lines for the first time ever. Perhaps I got the "dress rehearsal" version by mistake. The director over-uses slow motion during special effects perhaps as an attempt to compensate for the poor performance of the actors themselves. The story is pretty well written, and the fight sequences are actually better than I have seen in many action films. The fights seem pretty real. But all of this happens while to two leading actors time and time again miraculously survive incredible amounts of point-blank automatic weapon fire, grenades, morter rounds, and bazookas. The enemy soldiers are definitely some of the worst shots I have ever seen, especially when they have the escaping truck in their sights from about 30 yards, and every bazooka shot is wide by at least 50 feet. Those bazookas need serious site calibration.

I'm with the guy who said that the movie as a whole rated around 7.5, but I feel I have to compensate. I suppose some folks just feel better when they are hyper-critical.

I knew when I picked this movie up at the rental store that I was getting a straight-to-video movie. What I wasn't prepared for was a movie that I found fun and could easily recommend to others. I liked the concept of the movie, but I would have liked to have seen a punched up script with a little more character development. But this was an action movie and the action delivered IMO. The fight sequences were totally realistic and the karate moves didn't make me think they were completely scripted as some movies do. I think Dean Cochran was outstanding (especially given some of the script shortcomings), and I think we'll be seeing a lot more of him. He's got the whole package -- great looks, an easy manner with duologue or comedy and he's an action natural. I'd like to see him in a movie with a big budget. I could easily see him in roles that have gone to Matt Damon, Keanu Reeves or Eric Bana in recent years.

Todd Jensen did very well too and I'd like to see more of him. He seemed very natural in this role. I could see him having a long career as a character actor.

I feel this film rates about a 7.5 but due to some people rating it low for no good reason I am rating it a 10. I know film, particularly those in this genre. One thing that has to be considered is the amount of money that is generally spent on lower budgeted action features compared directly to the amount of production value that they got out of this motion picture. Had Target of Opportunity been shot anywhere in the United States it would have cost them a minimum of 15 million dollars and that's not paying some "stars" to play the lead roles. Danny Lerner is a good producer and in the 3 films that I have seen of his as a director he has gotten significantly better in his craft with each one. Les Weldon is also a talented writer who knows this genre well and made for a compelling storyline. I have seen Todd Jensen over the years in various action-type films and this is certainly his best work. He brought something to the character and avoided the obvious traps that exist for his role. I am also familiar with the other lead in the film. Ironically, I saw him play Hamlet years ago and have wondered what he had moved on to do. Cochran was a wonderful Hamlet playing the role with gusto and zeal. Again Hamlet is a role with many traps and he deftly avoided them in his performance. In Target of Opportunity he brings a very strong character to the screen but one in which he is not afraid to show some vulnerability in. I was quite impressed with his work as I see some others were as well.

Target is a solid bit of film making for this group and I look forward to seeing what they put together in the future.

I picked up this film on a lark at Blockbuster last week, and have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. What was probably intended to be a small, cookie-cutter action flick was carried miles further by its leading men, both of whom manage to inject a great deal of humor into roles that may have otherwise been lost in less capable hands.

I had vaguely heard about Dean Cochran before seeing this film, but upon viewing his work, wonder why I haven't seen more roles filled by him. He boasts classic movie star good looks, the ability to create tension in a scene as well as to make you laugh, and he seems to have a strong grasp of martial arts (he appears to do his own stunts). Can he sing, too?

I had never seen Todd Jensen before, but must say I am impressed with his abilities as well. He has an "everyman" feature to him complimented by this cool throaty rasp in his voice. I'd like to see a series of films with these two working together. They kind of come off as the duo from Lethal Weapon only they fight terrorist bad guys as opposed to regular criminals.

Whoever made this film discovered a couple of hidden gems. Keep up the good work.