Sloane

(B-movie Messiah): Good people of this incredibly petrified world, you don't need to fear any longer. Sloane's here! (Astounded crowd): Who the hell is Sloane? (B-movie Messiah): You people don't know who Sloane is? THE Sloane? (Astounded crowd): No … (B-movie Messiah): Sloane!!! He's the guy Chuck Norris has nightmares about! The dude Steven Seagal hides for! The bloke Arnold Schwarzenegger bows down to! The action hero prototype for whom Sylvester Stallone retires back to his jungle! (Astounded Crowd): Never heard about him…

"Sloane" is a 100% obscure, undiscovered and unloved early 80's action movie and that's what it will remain always and forever. This is the type of movie that probably will never get a DVD release and only the deranged people with a passion for lousy, low-budgeted exploitation will take the effort of seeking stuff like this out on VHS. Around that time there were numerous movies like "Sloane", all of them clearly intending to cash in on the success of such films like "Rambo". What you needed was a handsome beefcake protagonist, an inexhaustible army of hideous bad guys, a handful of sexy female love interests and a couple of testosterone-packed action stunts. Everything else is of minor importance, like a plausible plot and half decent production values. This movie is great entertainment, as long as you are very tolerant towards stupidity and if you can gather some friends, beer and pizza.

"Sloane" is a massively clichéd action movie. The titular character himself is also a tremendous stereotype. Sloane – here on the movie page fully credited as Philip Sloane even though I don't recall anyone at any point addressing to him by his first name – is a suave and virile blond God who used to be a cop in Manila, but now resides in California where he lives on a yacht and practices martial arts. He's called back to the Philippines because his ex-girlfriend got kidnapped and her husband brutally murdered. As soon as he lands in Manila, Sloane pretty much instantly turns into a pig. He hangs around bars, sleeps with local jailbait prostitutes, insults the girl he's supposed to work together with and starts random fights. Sloane also bites off the heads of snakes whilst he's in the middle of high speed car chases and he has the worst action hero one-liners I've ever heard. The plot is unimportant throughout three quarters of the film, and then all of a sudden there's a lot of confusing drivel about religious cults, secret hideouts in caves, cannibalistic midgets (!) and betrayal. Cheap and very amateurish action flick with unimpressive staged action sequences and too many dumb twists to name. There's a good reason why lead guy Robert Resnick didn't grow out to become a major action hero, as he's a terribly lame actor. He has the squeaky voice of an adolescent boy and he doesn't even look that buffed. The cover image is totally fake, by the way, as Sloane never appears shirtless. "Sloane" is really fun to watch if you want to mock the typical characteristics of early 80's B-cinema, but make no mistake, it's incredibly bad film making.

I would have to say that Sloane is probably the best movie I have ever seen. I saw this movie at blockbuster and I knew right away from the elaborate cover that this was the movie for my wife, 2 young children and I. We sat next to the fire with a clear view of the television in suspense for Sloane's crack the whip action. Between Sloane's one liners and non-stop action our family was glued to the television...literally. Let me just say we never returned it and our family uses so many lines from the movie that we say we have a secret language called "Sloanian" everyone loves it and wish they could speak. Once this movie catches on it is sure to be a cult phenomenon to the likes of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Please, do it for yourself, do whatever you can to buy or at least watch this spectacle of a movie.

My review was written in June 1986 after watching the film on Vestron video cassette.

"Sloane" is an example of hwo a film is doomed to failure if it doesn't begin with a workable script. Dull actioner was filmed in 1984 in the Philippines and Los Angeles, but was released directly to video cassette domestically this year.

Handsome Robert Resnik portrays Sloane (his name is repeated constantly by the supporting cast in a reminder), a former L. A. cop sent to Manila (where he lived for many years) to find kidnapped Janice Thursby (Ann Milhench). He's been hired by Janice's dad, whose son-in-law Richard Thursby (George Mahlberg) was murdered during the kidnapping.

In Maila, Sloane reluctantly teams up with Richard's sister Cynthia (Debra Blee) to try and find Janice. They're aided by Sloane's Filipino pal Pete (Raul Aragon), whose pretty sister Naili (Carissa Carlos) quickly becomes Sloane's bedmate. Uneventfu search is padded by okay car chases and violent shootouts. Entire plot, concerning some money supposedly stolen by Richard from an international religious cult, is sloughed off in a quick speech by Peter near the end of the picture.

Cast becomes increasingly bored with the pointless exercise and any audience is likely to join in the sentiment. For a good guy, Resnik's character of Sloane is distastefully ruthless and clashes horribly with the actor's niceguy personality. When he's called upon to laugh maniacally while mowing down bad guys in the final reel, Resnik really has egg on his face. Co-star Blee (who starred in Crown's "The Beach Girls") is styled as a tomboy but delivers one requisite topless scene for her fans. Supporting csst is weak, with several thesps doubling (as usual in a low-budtgeter) as soundman, location coordinator, etc.

Directors Dan Rosenthal and Richard Belding bring us one of the better 1980's Filipino Z movies. Sloane is played enthusiastically by (Robert Resnick) who keeps the pace going with some snappy one liners while he and his counterpart Cynthia Thursby (Debra Blee ) are out to rescue Cynthis's sister Janice Thursby (Ann Milhench). Sloane cracks wise throughout while Cynthia is the serious hot tempered girl. Think of the TV show Moonlighting which may have influenced this all action winner. Now Sloane was hired by the sister's father and excepts a blank check from dad and is determined to rescue Janice as they were once an item when Sloane lived in Manila. Sloan is your average Karate Superhero who likes to drink and will take a much deserved trips to the brothel from time to time. The movie moves right along with a couple of twists and turns and the requisite high body count. One of the fun moments involve the cannibal pygmy's who apparently haven't dined in quite some time. This movie is like a good 1980's "B' movie with a lot of explosions and pretty ladies. The down side is that the sub plot's get a little convoluted, and actor (Resnick) is definitely not great at Karate, but great stunt men work covers for him. Sloane's high pitched voice reminiscent of a 15 year old is also a little distracting. The sound track is not the best with too many elevator saxophone solos, however, with a handsome leading man and a gorgeous leading lady (Debra Blee) and a decent script it more then offsets these shortcomings. Sloan is no piker when it comes to bedding the ladies either just ask the sisters and the brothel girl. There is one great scene for the guy's involving actress (Ann Milhench) Janice who flutters her six foot frame and her fabulous legs down a flight of stairs while sporting a sexy white satin kimono. It's definitely worth a rewind and Sloane is definitely worth watching.

In the Philippines, a gang kills Richie Thursby and kidnaps his wife Janice. Her father hires ex-cop Philip Sloane (Robert Resnick) to go to Manila to rescue her. Richie's sister Cynthia hounds him but he doesn't want her help. Two men come to rape Cynthia and Sloane comes to the rescue. They go off in search of Janice with the help of an old friend Pete Saimi. Richie had stolen money from a gangster who is now holding Janice.

First of all, this is badly shot. The acting is bad, the directing is horrendous, the dialog is weak and the actors are bland. Chuck Norris is a Shakespearian Oscar winning actor compared to Robert Resnick. The karate chopping fights are kind of fun with some passable stunts. There are B-movie car chases and a big explosion. The local shoots are exotic. However the movie is a boring mess. The movie has a long boring scene in the brothel and really creepy with a young girl he knew from before. "You've grown... and so have I." It's pedo-tastic.

This is a run-of-the-mill bad B-movie for over an hour and then it goes over the edge. They find out that the gangster is the Chinese leader of a religious cult. Sloane turns into Rambo but poorly done. In the cave, they're attacked by cannibalistic pygmies. It's about there that the 1/10 is truly earned.