Commando leopard

Judging by the overall look of this, it would appear that Antonio Margheriti was given a bigger than usual budget to play with for this follow up to his earlier Codename: Wildgeese.

Although not a direct sequel, the two films share many of the same cast members from the earlier picture including Lewis Collins, Klaus Kinski and Luciano Pigozzi (in different roles)

Well, I've got to say straight away that the ostensible extra budget really shows in the special effects department in this with some absolutely superb explosive sequences involving Margheriti's trademark miniature work, most notably during the opening sequence wherein a dam is detonated and even more spectacularly later on when a passenger aircraft is blown up as it comes in to land....awesome stuff!

Regretfully, I must also say that the action scenes, such as those mentioned are sadly far too infrequent with the 'filling' in between them proving to be somewhat less than engaging in comparison.

The performances are all fine with Kinski especially on typically snide and evil top form. Also of note is the soundtrack by the legendary Ennio Morricone which really lifts the action sequences up yet another notch.

Overall then, whilst this may certainly represent one of, if not the pinnacle of Margheriti's work visually (and possibly budgetary), for me at least, this is most certainly not the directors best effort in the genre. That accolade would, in my humble opinion, go to the classic The Last Hunter for it's sheer entertainment value.

Commando Leopard is cheesy but enthusiastic action trash for the most part. It's not extremely different from any other jungle-set, exploitation war movie from the 1980's. However, it does have 3 notable elements: First, the photography shows occasional flourishes of style that you wouldn't expect in a cheap 80s action b-movie. It's shot in 2.35:1 widescreen and every so often you get an artfully composed shot, a low angle "hero pose" image (which are far more common to big budget post-1990 action movies!), or a visceral over-the-shoulder camera angle on the gun play. The photography is nothing spectacular as a whole, but it does give the film an intermittent visual slickness that sets it apart from the bland coverage common to 1980's B-movie cinematography. Second, legendary actor Klaus Kinski is in the movie. Third, Commando Leopard is quite ambitious with at least 3 large-scale destruction/explosion scenes. There's a sense of enthusiasm to the affair that makes it easy to watch. Overall, it's one of the better examples of low-budget, exploitation film-making in the genre and era.

Kommando Leopard is chapter 2 in the Dawson-Collins jungle war trilogy, and whilst baring no real relation to the others, is essentially the same film with a few plot variations. This instalment finds the intrepid mercenaries being pursued by contract killer Klaus Kinski whilst holed up in a Church hospital run by mysterious priest Manfred Lehmann.

Quality scale miniature sets are used in abundance but generally to good effect, whilst the personnel is also much the same as the predecessor with Lehmann, Kinski and Collins re- joining Thomas Danneberg and veteran Alan Collins (aka Luciano Pigozzi) whilst American ex-pat Mike Monty and British ex-pat John Steiner join the franchise for their first appearances. Kinski does arrogant bad-ar$e better than anyone and this is a masterclass of his less-is-more approach though it's debatable whether his bored exterior is acting or genuine contempt.

As with the others there's a fair amount of pathos on display, mourning those lost and lamenting the sacrifices and collateral damage made in the name of cheque-book war - all of which is unnecessary and pure guff. But if you like it when stuff explodes, catches fire or just enjoy massive machine gun recoil and spent cartridges flying in all directions whilst the hero nonchalantly mows down his incompetent opponents, then Kommando Leopard will be very adequate - though brainless- escapism.

Commando Leopard looks outdated for today's eyes but in the case that you still like to watch such action classics like The Wild Geese, you can add this one to your watch list. Recommended, if you like 80s war action like The Wild Geese, Missing in Action, The Last Hunter and so on.

If you're looking for an movie that guarantees non-stop action, violence and cheesy special effects, than you can't go wrong with something - anything - that Antonio Margheriti directed during the period 1975 – 1985. This man was the most underrated director of the Italian horror/cult industry and I haven't yet seen a single film of his that I didn't enjoy. Margheriti was an extremely talented and visionary filmmaker, but during the aforementioned period he simply answered to the audiences' demands and made numerous of straightforward and adrenalin-rushing exploitation movies for the American pulp video market. Some of them were imitations of popular American box-office hits and others were merely just cheap excuses to show a whole lot of explosions, shootouts and car chases. "Commando Leopard", along with its predecessor "Code Name: Wild Geese", definitely belongs in the in the second category: the plot line is very thin and the whole background to the Guerilla warfare remains rather vague, but there is miniature set blasting and collateral damage aplenty! In a not specifically mentioned Latin American (of course) country, the rebellious guerrilla leader Carrasco, along with friends and a couple of hired mercenaries, are courageously battling against the corrupt dictator Homoza. Their sabotage operations cause a lot of death and destruction amongst the innocent populace, much against the conviction of the noble Father Julio who helps hiding Carrasco's troops, but the resistance is devoted to continue their battle. The rebels come to discover, however, that the problem isn't so much President Homoza, but his cruel and sadistic military adviser; Colonel Silveira. As stated above, "Commando Leopard" is primarily a showcasing parade of nifty and well-crafter miniature set explosions. Margheriti consecutively blows up a dam, a convoy bridge, an airplane, a freight train and an entire oil refinery. All these action naturally cause a lot of damage and casualties. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but don't guerrilla rebels usually battle for the lives and prosperity of the people? Here, the resistance kills them and bring the nation in an even weaker economic position. The dictatorship of President Homoza isn't even properly enlightened or illustrated, but we're ought to assume that Carrasco is a genuine Ché Guevara. Script logic and depth aren't the film's biggest trumps, obviously, but this is all about spectacle and thrills! And acting performances, too. The legendary Klaus Kinski is once again tremendous as the cruel, sadist and downright evil Colonel Silveira. He's the type of guy who blows up an aircraft with 180 children on board just to make a statement!