Total Force

This movie wasn't the best I've seen, but it certainly was not the worst (Armstrong was MUCH worse). The basic plot was interesting and somewhat plausible. Corrupt (not mad) scientist Dr. Edmund Wellington (Lynch) has created a device that will cause people to become highly aggressive and kill others. A perfect plan when you're talking about soldiers during wartime. This device makes them the ultimate killing machine. And the added bonus? The soldiers will self destruct afterwards.

But something goes wrong with the self destruction part and the military, whom Wellington has been courting to buy his weapon, get cold feet. Then they decide to pull funding and scrub the project which causes Wellington to retaliate. Add to this mix Frank Stallone and his crew who are trying to stop the project from finishing and you've got the basic plot of ANY `direct-to-video' flick.

The camera work IS jerky and causes one to wonder what is really happening as you can't keep track of the action. That directorial move was a bad one. The acting wasn't bad, even Stallone was `okay', but the overall plot was a pretty thin one. The director, I think, was counting on the action sequences to make up for the lack of plot but as I said earlier, the camera movements made those action sequences difficult to watch.

It should be noted however that some comic relief was offered with the role of Senator Williams, played by Lynch's younger brother Barry. The senator was basically a horny `good old boy' who was after everything in a skirt. His scenes with his brother were pretty amusing too. Best line? Wellington to Williams when Williams says that he needs to `go over the figures' (in the proposal) again. He is actually wolfishly eyeing one of the babes in the movie when he says this and Wellington replies, `Oh, talk to her. She's got a firm GRASP on the situation!' One wonders how many jokes the brothers got out of that one at the next family gathering. :)

An unbelievably bad, amateur quality action/adventure film shot at the docks and warehouses of Long Beach, CA. Be sure to take some dramamine before watching this one, because the jerky camera style of filming is taken to new extremes. Standard terrorist / mad scientist / corrupt government officials (including the President) plot. Watch for the incredibly inappropriate use of NASA and Desert Storm stock footage. This film approaches Ed Wood in ineptness. Richard Lynch - your career is over.

YUK YUK YUK!!!! how did this film ever get released, its the worst film ive ever seen, (well next to Gladiator) the filming looked like someone had just filmed it with a normal every day handiecam, it was that bad. If you see this movie on the shelf of any video shop then ask the manager of that store if hes lost his mind by buying this movie.

Its not even good enough to rate.

This rating of seven stars is completely out of line with the rest of the reviews, but I'll explain why: This film is not a triple A title, and it should not be viewed as such. It is, however, a very blunt and daring bottom end B-movie, featuring the most 'iconic' 90's elements - international terrorists, cyber warfare, government conspiracy, plenty of 'action girls' (featuring nudity), poorly choreographed fighting scenes, - you probably get the picture. It's all spiced up by very 'original' camera techniques - sudden zooms, tilting to the left and to the right, rapid angle changes, mixing in military stock footage to spice up the 'tension', and some funky visual tricks. All in all this is a rather fun movie with decent pacing, but only for those seeking these kinds of b-action flicks.

When I was flipping around the channels, I came across this gem. No joke, I seriously thought it was a parody. But no, the truth is much sadder, it was a real movie.

I sat there, in awe, until the end of the movie.

The whole thing looks like a home video! It's hilariously bad! It's one of those movies with the SUPER cheesy lines, extremely horrible fight scenes, stone age special effects... and yet, I was having a good time watching it! It's one of those movies which are laughably bad, kind of like Manos: The Hands of Fate. You know it's horrible, yet you can't stop staring and simply laughing!