Black eagle - L'arme absolue

Playing a cross between James Bond and Jackie Chan, Sho Kosugi is likable enough, but unlike Jackie when he does a stunt the camera is too far away from him and it's hard to know if he is doubled or not (if you stick around for the end credits, you'll discover that he WAS doubled on at least two occasions), and unlike Bond the action of the movie is limited to one location (Malta) most of the time, plus there isn't too much of it. Jean Claude Van Damme makes an awesome villain, but his two major showdowns with Kosugi are rather disappointing. In the role of a female CIA agent, Doran Clark handles her two opportunities for action capably - she should have gotten more. The funniest thing about this film is that Kosugi shows little chemistry with his on-screen kids, even though they are his kids in real life as well! (**)

It begins with one of the US Air Force's most modern tactical aircraft, an F-111 Aardvark with a new laser guidance system , down into the sea near Malta . Codename Black Eagle , Ken Tami (Sho Kosugi) , is summoned to Malta to thwart KGB plans to steal a sunken laser device and to salvage the system before it falls into enemy hands . To ensure his loyalty, they bring his two young little boys (Kane Kosugi , Shane Kosugi) to a nearby hotel on the island. There are no enemies. There is no glory. This fight is one on one. Two warriors meet...only one will survive!

So-so flick with more than a semblance of an embarrasing story without much sense , including thrills , chills , high body-count , spectacular fights and in which CIA and KGB agents race against time to recover innovative equipment in the Mediterranean . In spite of its violence , and adding some wholly as well as corny moments , in this is mediocre yarn there are some impressive combats and rousing confrontations . This thrilling film is jammed with several messy trappings , such as : barring sundry explosions , murders , fights , gadgets , plot twists , a subplot in which two children are kidnapped and a car chase through La Valleta streets . The main spectacle is to see how to fight the two greatest idols of the martial arts at the time, in the Eighties : Sho Kosugi as the best FBI secret agent , and , Jean Claude Van Damme as his tough opponent, KGB agent Andrei. It is a film that defies easy clasification , it's either a spy thriller without glamour or a martial arts movie with only two real fights . Here the authentic star is Sho Kosugi who shows his fighter skills playing an agent must outrace KGB agent in searching of super weapon lost in Mediterranean . While Jean Claude Van Damme proves his early and elegant martial arts manners as the KGB's balletic kung-fu king. The only difference between this one and countless other short-budget action films is that the main hero, Sho Kosugi, is not the typical macho man , as he's thin , doesn't screw around and even fails , at times, to defeat his implacable enemy : Jean Claude Van Damme.

Directed without flair-play by Eric Karson , an expert on thrillers and action movies . His debut theatrical feature film was in 1980 with "The Octagon" with Chuck Norris . Subsequently, he directed "Hell Camp" and "Angel Town" . Equally , he produced "Nemesis" and "Lionheart" with Van Damme in one of his best vehicles . Action addicts will give this one a passing grade , all others need not apply . If you're a Sho Kosugi and Jean Claude Van Damme fan , you'll appeal this movie , that's why it contains action enough and violence for enthusiastic of the chop-socky or kung-fu genre .

Strange movie this is. It's a typical 80's action movie trying to be a James Bond film (with Van Damme in the Jaws role) with two non-English leads (the heavy accents are all over the place) and it works on no level at all.

The story is plain stupid and could probably be resolved in real life through simple diplomacy or a quick Navy Seals operation. But of course this is one-man operation and boring it is...

Set against the background off Malta only one men can take on a ship full of evil Russians while entertaining his kids on vacation (and I'm not making that up). What surprises me about the man that goes by the codename of Black Eagle is how 1-dimensional his character is considering he has the most screen time and they tried to flesh him out by having his kids around. he stays bland, but then again he has no charisma at all...

Then Van Damme, here having about half the amount of lines Ah-nold had in Terminator he comes off as a baddie we all like. He gets more physics to display, he gets the cool moves, he even is more fleshed out (physical and character-wise) then the good guy. At the end I was just hoping Van Damme would knock his lights out.

Unless you're watching a horror film (allthough this movie is a horror to watch) you're not supposed to root for the bad guy. But I was. I'm thinking they re-shot scenes making van Damme's character more likable after the success of Bloodsport, but it messes the movie up even more....

This movie looked really cool on the DVD-cover. In addition, this is in 1988, the same year that van Damme starred in Bloodsport. Because of this, the movie had a great potential. Unfortunately, potential doesn't mean anything at all. This movie was in fact a VERY bad one. The plot is surprisingly equal to a Bond movie. An American airplane with a new laser guidance system crashes in the Mediterranena sea. The movie takes place on Malta, where both Soviets and Americans want to get their hands on this airplane. The lead in this movie is not van Damme, but instead Sho Kosugi who plays some kind of American agent. It was surprising to see van Damme as some kind of bad guy, and as a Soviet. The action scenes in this movie are very bad. So is the story, and totally this means that the movie sucks.

It's imperative that you approach this film in a mood to be amused by a movie so bad, so clichéd, that it's quite funny. This film is the cinematic equivalent of a quattro formaggio pizza, literally dripping with cheese. Van Damme features very little in the movie and when he does, its in such a banal villain stereotype that one just has to chuckle. His death cry almost sounds like a cry of relief.

And as for the script, it's pure corny laughs throughout...

"The unidentified aircraft has turned out to sea" "Get me the police!"

The police? It's like one of those farcical multiple choice quizzes for imbeciles. An unidentified aircraft is encroaching on your sovereign airspace, do you (A) lock anti-aircraft missiles on the bogey, (B) scramble air force interceptors or (C) call the police. Yeah, police - good call. They've been itching for a chance to use those rocket powered jet skis!

Yes folks, this movie is jammed packed with the best of the worst. Great, grimacing camp fun. Enjoy!