Assalto all'isola del diavolo

Hulk Hogan stars as Mike McBride, a leader of a seal team that is set up to take a fall. (Many wince inducing sequences of Hogan afraid of his death card showing up) However among the commando unit are Carl Weathers (From the enjoyable Action Jackson), Martin Kove (From the somewhat enjoyable Steele Justice), Shannon Tweed (From a slew of movies (including this one) where she parades around naked) and a huge slew of nameless and faceless muscle-men (Wasn't there a spot reserved for Olivier Gruner or Sam J. Jones?) who face off against drug lord Billy Drago and his minions (Billy Blanks and Trevor Goddard) when Drago is captured his henchman kidnap the U.S swim team and only a group warriors can break the stranglehold and with delta force inspired heroics. First off, people don't watch the Olympics, so if the swim-team was kidnapped most people wouldn't give a damn (It's like abducting the curling team) secondly what can you say about a movie in which Martin Kove gives the best performance? (Weathers seems too embarrassed) Also the action sequences suffer from being made for the TNT channel, and basically Hogan is too low on acting ability to convince us that he knows any martial arts outside of the field of wrestling. I mean the man is at least a foot taller than Dolph Lundgren and weighs a hundred pounds more, so does it even matter if he fights Billy Blanks or Trevor Goddard? Shadow Warriors 2 which this is known as, I guess because Assault On Devil's Island sounds too scary, comes off as a badly made, unintentionally hilarious and cheap-jack action flick that could only star Hulk Hogan. The sad part is that this is one of the man's better efforts, since his kid friendly opuses are my personal visions of hell. (Mr. Nanny, Secret Agent Club, Santa With Muscles and Suburban Commando. Ugh) In many regards Hogan really should've saved it for the ring.

*1/2 out of 4-(Poor)

Not terrible by any stretch of the imagination, but if like me you have a fancy for bad movies then check this one out... or don't.

Mike McBride (Hulk Hogan) with all his hair leads a Navy Seals team into the deepest, darkest jungles of a back garden to some Hollywood house (I'm pretty sure I seen the exact same palm trees alignment and back wall in the film Falling Down) to apprehend a drug lord.

I'm not going to get bogged down in the plot of this film, as there doesn't really seem to be one. In a nutshell it involves drug lords, corrupt Navy Seals, secret missions, a rescue operation to save the Olympic gymnast team, that seem to be the darlings and mega superstars of America and nobody follows orders.

The Special effects are delivered to a very good quality along with the action, nothing is spared on the explosions side of things, even the explosions that don't make sense. All pretty good for any film let alone a low budget one.

The Beat 'Em Up scenes should have been better, especially starring the likes of Hulk Hogan, Carl Weathers, Billy Blanks and Martin Kove, the former two are just too crocked to pull it off and come across like geriatrics at times.

The acting is hit or miss, Hulk Hogan and Shannon Tweed as Hunter Wiley are both poor, Martin Kove as Andy Powers probably thought the casting was a prank, as his acting was delivered like he couldn't believe he was actually in the movie, but he was very enjoyable to watch. Carl Weathers as Roy Brown and Billy Drago as Carlos Gallindo do a great job for what they had to work with. The rest of the cast seemed to do well, that is except for the Olympic gymnast team, they were just awful.

Overall it is an entertaining watch, I'd nearly bump it up to a 6, but that's hitting good movie territory. If you want brainless action or pure cheese this delivers. If you want depth or a B-Movie gem stay clear.

Cheese to look out for: The dubbing and editing is a big let down in this film but also gives it some entertainment of the cheese-kind, especially when a lot of Hogan's dialogue sounds like it is a narration, in the middle of gunfire his voice will appear as clear as it was delivered in the studio in Hollywood or his shed.

When a team of Navy SEALS capture a major drug dealer, Fraker, his lieutenant takes a plane load of American gymnasts hostage for his return. With the Government happy to return Gallindo in order to save the photogenic hostages, the SEALS decide to take things into their own hands and attack the group and attempt to free the hostages.

This is a TVM and feels like it at every stage. The plot is clichéd - SEALS go against orders to take on military force and damn the politicians and the bureaucrats! The characters back this up - Mike is the hard man scared to let people get too close, Andy is the boss who is tied up by politics, Roy is the SEAL who is weeks away from retirement, Hunter Wiley is the feisty woman, Gallindo is the slimy drug dealer - I could go on. This is film making by numbers. The action scenes are OK but even then our heroes manage to never get hit but to take out the baddies with one shot every time - pure A-Team action.

Hulk Hogan gives one of his worst performances yet - at least in other films he appeared to be making fun of his personae - here he embraces it with a straight face. His gruff role is a joke. Shannon Tweed is good as the feisty female - at least she looks like she's having fun. The rest of the cast has plenty of "famous faces" - in fact most of the fun of the film was trying to work out where I'd seen them before, first there's Carl Weathers (Arnie's companion in Predator), Andy (from The Karate Kid movies and Cagney & Lacey), Creagan (Billy Blanks of Tae-Bo fame) and the one that bugged me right up till the end - drug dealer Gallindo - being played by Billy Drago who Kevin Costner threw off the roof in The Untouchables.

Outside of trying to place the actors there's not much else to enjoy. The story and the characters are clichéd, the action daft (our heroes swim past big groups of sharks without any problem - 10 minutes later a bad guy goes into the same water and is immediately attacked!). Avoid this low rent piece of rubbish.

If you're watching Hogan do semi cheesy poses, spear thrusts and knife throws by the fire at night you're in the right place. Oddly both the first and sequel were called 'Shadow Warriors', but 'Assault On Devils Island' is the more passable title. Low budget kitsch, a cast of b-movie faces allow this to be mild 90 min time waster.

Navy Seals (incl. Hulk Hogan, Carl Weathers) sent to capture drug lord Gallindo (Billy Drago) complete their mission, but are betrayed from within. Saved by undercover DEA agent Wiley (Shannon Tweed), Lt. Col. McBride (Hogan) now gets a chance at sweet revenge when the US gymnastics team is kidnapped in exchange for him on a remote island.

If it feels like a made for TV movie that's because it is. You get fade outs for commercial breaks, but thankfully when released to video Tweed goes topless once. Hogan plays his part very serious. The late Carl Weathers is a treat to watch hip fire a minigun and Drago, Billy Blanks & Trevor Goddard (Mortal Kombat, Deep Rising) supply villains. Even Martin Kove is here as a military superior.

The action on display is low level given the budget, but enough things blow up to be a mild diversion. There's more than one dumb moment to be found in a routine story, but ninety minutes go by fast in 'Assault on Devil's Island' if you like the cast of faces, know what you're in for here.

Shannon Tweed spends much of this movie bikini-clad, and if there is a 40-year-old actress out there with a better body than hers (except maybe for Ursula Andress), I can't remember her right now. She also looks spectacular firing two guns simultaneously, and her fighting moves are quick and graceful - you don't expect a woman who made a name for herself by starring in countless soft-core erotic thrillers to be a convincing fighter, but somehow Tweed is. Of course this is first and foremost a Hulk HOGan film, and of course he HOGs the spotlight: his delivery is totally flat, but I have to admit that his climactic fight with Billy Blanks is pretty good. Carl Weathers and Martin Kove are both past their prime, but hell, they can still have a go at the action genre if they really want to. Production values are better than expected and there are lots of explosions, but Tweed is basically the only reason I'm giving this film a ** rating (could have been higher if she fought more).