Future Force

A bevy of curiously pot bellied actors (including an especially out of shape David Carradine) feature in this mildly enjoyable romp from the ever prolific, David A Prior. Well, first things first - it has to be said that this is cheap with a capital 'C' - and by gum, it shows! Nonetheless, as with most of Mr Priors other offerings, the fun factor here makes up for the budgetary shortcomings as we are treated to a plethora of shoot outs, fights and scenes featuring topless, gyrating dancers.....um.....OK. As other reviewers have quite rightly noted, the doubtless highlight in this though involves Carradine's robotic glove which is a pretty nifty bit of kit, for not only can it punch through solid doors and fire laser beams(!) but it is also fully, independently operational via a remote control(!) (a control which bears an uncanny similarity to one of those used to open an electronic garage door in fact.....) Suffice to say that you can not really say to have lived until you have witnessed the bloody thing flying through the air and attacking someone!

Yes indeed, this is simple, daft fun and will go down a joyous treat with friends over and a large amount of alcohol.

My review was written in November 1989 after watching the movie on AIP video cassette.

This straight-to-video feature offers some offbeat social commentary in its sci-fi approach to the future of law enforcement.

David Carradine toplines as an elite bounty hunter in 1991, working for the Civilian Operated Police Systems (COPS), a result of turning law enforcement over to the private sector. Film gets under way with a bang as Carradine reads a parody of Miranda rights in a suspect & blows him away.

Soon the shoe is on the other foot as COPS' head honcho WIlliam Zipp puts a $100,000 bounty on Carradine's head when our hero sides with Anna Rapagna, a tv news reporter who's got the goods on the out-of-control civilian police.

Pi climaxes in an interesting mixture of cynicism and hope for reform following Carradine's showdown with Zipp's chief henchman (Robert Tessier), as well as Zipp's ironic comeuppance.

With a nod to "Robocop", Carradine wields a high-tech "arm" that fits over his real one (or works via remote control) and operates like a cannon. Otherwise, "Future Force" is low-tech but scores high in imagination.

The taciturn Carradine is appealing as the good-bad guy and already has filmed a sequel. Supporting cast is effective, notably Dawn Wildsmith who essayed a similar tough gal role opposite Carradine in "Warlords".

It's about an arrogant cop played by "David Carridine" whom protects a female reporter who knows too much. For that a ransom death sentence (or a bounty) has been put out on her life. It's the typical shoot 'em up and save the girl type of films.

Full disclosure: I watched this with the Rifftrax commentary.

After this watching this movie, I had to really think about the plot because I had no idea. It's only about 80 minutes long and it felt like they were padding for time. There is some silly action scenes that can be good for a laugh, but I don't know how someone saw this and said "yes, we do need another movie in this universe. The people need more."

In the future, law enforcement will essentially be out-sourced. These new police, known by the unimaginative acronym COPS, will not only arrest criminals, but also, in many instances, act as judge and juror. But the system can easily be manipulated. When a reporter threatens one of the owners of COPS, he has the reporter's name added to the wanted list with a sizable bounty and a message to kill. One of the COPS named Tucker (David Carradine) sees the system for the flawed mess it has become, decides to help the reporter, and is put on the execute list for his trouble.

If I had to use only two words to describe Future Force, I'd say it's lazy filmmaking. As an example, Future Force is lazy in the sense that, even though the movie is set in the future, very minimal effort was taken to make it look like the future. The only real futuristic aspect is the all-powerful glove used by Tucker. And, the filmmakers were so lazy they used it sparingly. Tucker uses a regular old non- futuristic pistol in 99% of the movie.

Another way Future Force is lazy can be seen in the acting. I can't remember one acting performance that stood out. Every one of them seems to be just going through the motions. The worst offender is Carradine. His performance is a fantastic example of an actor in it for the paycheck. It's easy to see he doesn't care at all about the finished product. Speaking of Carradine, he looks horrible in this movie. I can't remember ever seeing him look this out of shape. He doesn't look well.

You can see Future Force's laziness in the writing. The film is full of filler. There are scenes that add nothing to the plot. In fact, there are scenes where literally nothing happens. There are a few example I could name (people driving cars with no purpose, people doing absolutely nothing while hiding out, etc) but my favorites are a couple of rather lengthy shots of a guy having a drink. That's all he does - he pours a drink, sips it, sets the glass down, and picks it up for another drink. And it happens at least twice in the movie. It's about as lazy a job of writing as I can remember.

Future Force is another of those movies I could write about for days. The laziness extends to set-design, music, costuming, and on and on. But, as I always say, what's the point. It's a bad movie that doesn't deserve any rating higher than 2/10. In some ways it's not as bad as it is sad. Future Force is truly a depressing experience.