Freedom Strike

Even though I own the DVD and am a Michael Dudikoff junkie, I don't think I'd call this one of his bests. The story is average (U.S. forces fight against terrorists), the execution lackluster, with some limp direction (and editing) here and there. The quieter moments between Dudikoff and beautiful co-star Felicity Waterman are nice, showing a slightly-romantic side of Dudikoff that is rarely seen. I think he would do well in a romantic comedy. Tone Loc is okay, and the guy who plays the terrorist leader hams it up well enough. The action scenes are typical for these kind of low-budget movies (gunfire from ordinary machine guns seem to cause explosions upon impact, lots of bad guys die, some characters do stupid things like hesitate too long before firing, etc. etc.), the direction looks like it was phoned in, and it seemed like the writers changed plots twenty minutes into the film. Not among Dudikoff's best, but it would beat an infommercial late at night.

But I did work on it.

First off, Michael Dudikoff, heck of a nice guy. Not $40k/day nice but great to the crew. I was amazed at how cheeseball this production was. The USS Lane Victory (a WWII frieghter) was substituted for an aircraft carrier. And the carrier island scenes were shot in a parking lot next to a wall that was painted grey. For the flight scenes, they got the front end of a real Tomcat to stick the actors in. It wasn't gutted or anything so it weighed a few tons and we wound up placing it on a trash bins (that it crushed) so we didn't get the warehouse we were shooting in, in the shot. The F-14 wasn't secured at all and each actor was risking death being in the thing. Kudos to them. Then there was the nuke plant. A power generator in Sun Valley, just down the street from Babylon 5 actually.

I did try to watch it once but failed. But, I thought you all might be interested in what doesn't go into these straight to video wonders.

I am a big MD fan. But, I call it like I see it. This film limped along. The plot was preposterous. Gaining access to heads of state in this movie is easier than gaining access to the the local grocery store. Come on! Tone Loc has the emotion of a wooden plank. Loosen up! The editing is choppy. The actors, and I use the term loosely, sound as if they are reading their lines on valium.

This movie could have been better. Dudikoff has potential, but he chooses scripts that just scream,"Stinker".

If you want to watch a good Dudikoff movie, may I suggest Crash Dive or Avenging Force. If you have never seen one of his films, this is not the one to introduce you to his work. You will walk away with a bad taste in your mouth and think all of his projects are this bad.

This movie was so bad , that during the filming there was a change of director. Director Allan A. Goldstein left the project and was replaced by Jerry P. Jacobs. Goldstein's credits for directing, writing and co-producing the movie remained on the official cover and poster artwork.

This movie is also so low budget that they used a whole lot of unused aerial shots from the filming of "Top gun". I strongly suggest that you should watch that movie instead of this crap. It's nicely shot , acted , directed and has a good soundtrack.

This movie ? It's a completely forgettable garbage. Only for desperate Michael Dudikoff fans. I give it 1/10.

A cheesy but mildly amusing action thriller for straight to video star Michael Dudikoff. This one has a rogue Syrian leading a band of terrorists into action and our special forces hero going up against them. A few shoot-outs and sub DIE HARD scenarios go on here and there, alongside some bomb defusion and a welcome James Karen, of RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. Hardly great, but as a timewaster it'll do.