Alien - Zona di guerra

When watching certain movies, you just know from the very first minute that you're about to have a great time. Zone Troopers is like that…the film opens with the credits while a golden oldie song is playing (I believe it's called ‘In the Mood'…) and the right light-hearted atmosphere is set immediately. Of course, I can't give too much praising and recommendation, but I certainly enjoyed my viewing. It reminded me about the silly and funny quickies from the 60's. Like Roger Corman used to make ‘em! (Little Shop of Horrors, The Raven). It's a pleasant mixture of comedy, war and Sci-Fi, but comedy definitely gets the overhand. Four surviving members of a platoon in WWII are stuck behind German enemy lines and they discover a crashed space ship. They rescue the funny looking alien from Nazi-experiments and continue their battle along with the invaders. The script is filled with hilarious sequences and one-liners. The absolute highlight is Art LaFleur hitting Hitler himself in the face after nearly being recovered from a beating he took himself!! Furthermore, the make-up and visual effects are really cheesy and silly but that only makes the whole thing even funnier. The aliens (their origin is never revealed, but they're considered to be Martians) look like an inferior breeding of Ewoks and they make adorable yummy-noises. Zone Troopers surely gets my recommendation if you're looking for 90 minutes of pure, brainless fun. It's a nice (and even necessary change) from all those so-called Sci-Fi classics that take themselves way too serious anyway.

When I sat down to watch the 1985 movie "Zone Troopers", I must admit that I was expecting nothing really, because the synopsis sounded really corny, and the movie's cover was very low budget. But I opted to sit down and watch what writers Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo had to offer with this 1985 sci-fi action adventure, as I hadn't already seen it.

Needless to say that I had never even heard about this movie from director Danny Bilson as I stumbled upon it here in 2022. But I have to admit that director Danny Bilson delivered a surprisingly entertaining and enjoyable movie here. I was genuinely entertained by how this movie turned out.

The storyline was actually nicely written and entertaining, and it was enjoyable from beginning to end. Especially so as the story mingled classic World War II action with sci-fi in a good manner. And I will say that the World War II elements were really great, and it was such a pleasure to experience the German soldiers actually speak German, and not just English with a thickly added accent.

The acting performances in the movie were good, with the likes of Tim Thomerson, Timothy Van Patten and Art LaFleur on the cast list.

Visually then "Zone Troopers" was okay. The costume and props department did good jobs in bringing the American and German soldiers to life. And the alien creature design was actually also pretty good. Sure, the special effects were somewhat outdated, but it fit the movie well enough.

I can actually warmly recommend "Zone Troopers", because it is a good movie.

My rating of "Zone Troopers" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Why are some people reviewing Zone Troppers as if the makers had intended to make a serious sci-fi film? This movie was intended as a satire of both alien invasion flicks and cliched World War II movies. While not all the jokes worked, I found the movie throughly enjoyable, and so did several friends who watched it with me at a later date. Band's Empire Pictures did indeed make some real clunkers. But this is no clunker. This movie reunites most of the cast of the earlier Charles Band production "Trancers." That movie was also a satire, though Band's direction was so flat it was hard to tell. Danny Bilson, who directed Zone Troopers, seems to understand the spirit of fun much better. Some of the movie's best bits have been mentioned by other posters, but I would add the beginning sequence when the young Lieutenant rashly runs over the hill thinking reinforcements have arrived, and is machine gunned by the Germans. "Damn green kid," Thomerson (as the tough as nails NCO) mutters, in perfect deadpan echo of hundreds of B war movies of the late forties and early fifties. And did anyone catch the "Buy War Bonds" tag at the end of the credits? How about the fact that the first shot morphs from the cover of a comic book Mittens (Art Lefleur) is reading? That should have served as a hint of the filmmakers' intentions. This movie is a hoot, and was intended that way. I have never seen Bilson's follow up, the Wrong Guys--equally low rated by most posters. But based on Zone Troopers, I sensed he might have the talent to go a long way. However, it appears he was only able to find a career in TV.

Set in World War II somewhere in Italy, Sgt. Stone (Tim Thomerson), Joey Verona (Timothy Van Patten), George "Mittens" Minnesnski (Art LaFleur), and civilian journalist Charlie Dolan (Biff Manard) are the only survivors of their unit after being ambushed in a Nazi attack. Now stuck 10 miles behind enemy lines the group attempts to make their way home, but soon come across artifacts that are extraterrestrial in origin that cause the group to run into the Nazi's elite troops.

Zone Troopers is 1985 sci-fi/war film that along with Trancers was one of the earlier projects for noted writing team Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo who between them are responsible for the 90s The Flash tv series and the cult Disney adventure film The Rocketeer. Made by noted B-movie makers Charles Band Productions, the movie features all the charm you can expect from one of Band's high concept low-budget productions that isn't afraid to be anymore than what it is and for my money that's pretty enjoyable.

Much like how Bilson and De Meo embraced the comic book tone in their works such as the 90s The Flash TV show or The Rocketeer, Zone Troopers feels like the kind of story that wouldn't be too out of place in an anthology comics magazine like Tales to Astonish or the like. The core group consisting of Tim Thomerson, Timothy Van Patten, Art Lafleur, and Biff Manard make for a likable set of characters even if maybe they're not given as much development as they could've been. The movie does feel undeniably like a lower budget film with the Italian countryside in the film mostly consisting of the woods, a meadow, or the occasional building but there's significantly less hardware (tanks, vehicles, etc.) than you typically expect from this kind of movie so it is noticeable. But while Zone Troopers may not have the money of larger budgeted productions, there's a level of joyful innocence to the movie that feels like a mixture of the Humphrey Bogart film Sahara with a mixture of E. T. with the alien elements nicely silly and endearing.

Zone Troopers gives you exactly what you want from a movie like this and that's all you can reasonably ask for it. With committed performances, a playfully silly tone, and a high concept that it embraces to its fullest ability this is the kind of B-movie that makes up for in heart what it lacks in resources.

Or why didn't someone with a larger film budget? Because this whole movie is a lot of fun. I just wish the special effects had been a little better. I'm sure that crashed spaceship mockup did cost them a pretty penny though.

The cheesiness of the low budget, reflected in the alien costumes and minimal military paraphenelia is about the only bad thing I found in this genre effort. Badmouthing this film is like kicking a friendly puppy. The writing was great, the acting was much better than it had any right to be, and even the directing was absolutely appropriate.

Yes, it is not realistic in the slightest. Yes, it is a version of World War 2 based not on the actual war, but based on other cheap movies about the War. And then it throws crash-landed aliens into the mix. But that just makes it so much more fun.

There's a standard low budget WW2 movie setup: ragtag group of GIs is caught behind German lines and has to fight their way out. Luckily, this is in Italy so the Germans are a little ways out on the end of their supply lines as well. We get all the standard war movie clichés: the gruff Sarge who can't die (Tim Thomerson), the comic relief kid from Brooklyn with his pulp magazines, the green Lieutenant just out of training school, the grizzled Corporal who's been through hell and high water with The Sarge (the Tom Sizemore role, here Art LaFleur) and the hard-bitten, cynical reporter/photographer who tags along.

Into this "haven't we seen this before a FEW times" setup comes strange goings-on in the form of a crash landed alien spaceship. And that, kids, is where things get interesting and fun. Things just get more ridiculous from there, with a blown-up spaceship, magical alien gizmos that make Rita Hayworth appear, and even a cameo appearance from Der Furher himself, just so one of the heroes can punch him right in the face. That's entertainment.

Do check out Zone Troopers, but make sure your tongue is planted firmly in cheek, as they say.