Future Force

My review was written in November 1989 after watching the movie on AIP video cassette.

This straight-to-video feature offers some offbeat social commentary in its sci-fi approach to the future of law enforcement.

David Carradine toplines as an elite bounty hunter in 1991, working for the Civilian Operated Police Systems (COPS), a result of turning law enforcement over to the private sector. Film gets under way with a bang as Carradine reads a parody of Miranda rights in a suspect & blows him away.

Soon the shoe is on the other foot as COPS' head honcho WIlliam Zipp puts a $100,000 bounty on Carradine's head when our hero sides with Anna Rapagna, a tv news reporter who's got the goods on the out-of-control civilian police.

Pi climaxes in an interesting mixture of cynicism and hope for reform following Carradine's showdown with Zipp's chief henchman (Robert Tessier), as well as Zipp's ironic comeuppance.

With a nod to "Robocop", Carradine wields a high-tech "arm" that fits over his real one (or works via remote control) and operates like a cannon. Otherwise, "Future Force" is low-tech but scores high in imagination.

The taciturn Carradine is appealing as the good-bad guy and already has filmed a sequel. Supporting cast is effective, notably Dawn Wildsmith who essayed a similar tough gal role opposite Carradine in "Warlords".

It's about an arrogant cop played by "David Carridine" whom protects a female reporter who knows too much. For that a ransom death sentence (or a bounty) has been put out on her life. It's the typical shoot 'em up and save the girl type of films.

This is the kind of movie that is best watched with friends who are recovering from hangovers. That is how i was introduced to it, and it definitely helped my condition. This film is completely and totally hilarious. I love it. From the extremely cheesy dialogue to the sleazy porno looking police chief to the magical robot glove, this movie rules. In fact, I'm hungover right now. In fact, I'm going to watch it again right now. Yes.

This is a poorly conceived trainwreck. How this movie is rated R is a big question because there is nothing that would be restricted to anyone over 6 years old. Low budget? Yes, very low. So bad, it's good? No, not at all. Everything about this movie is terrible. If you can't go another day without seeing another Carradine movie, then go ahead. You can't make a low budget "future" movie. Well, not this low. Ticker signs and mini TVs with terrible graphics doesn't cut it. Sometimes he has that mechanical arm and other times not. Long stretches of nothing before any action. We do have afternoon soap operas for this. Everyone's energy level is very low. A 110 year old with diabetes in an assisted living home could destroy everyone in this movie. It's just boring and terrible.

In the future, law enforcement will essentially be out-sourced. These new police, known by the unimaginative acronym COPS, will not only arrest criminals, but also, in many instances, act as judge and juror. But the system can easily be manipulated. When a reporter threatens one of the owners of COPS, he has the reporter's name added to the wanted list with a sizable bounty and a message to kill. One of the COPS named Tucker (David Carradine) sees the system for the flawed mess it has become, decides to help the reporter, and is put on the execute list for his trouble.

If I had to use only two words to describe Future Force, I'd say it's lazy filmmaking. As an example, Future Force is lazy in the sense that, even though the movie is set in the future, very minimal effort was taken to make it look like the future. The only real futuristic aspect is the all-powerful glove used by Tucker. And, the filmmakers were so lazy they used it sparingly. Tucker uses a regular old non- futuristic pistol in 99% of the movie.

Another way Future Force is lazy can be seen in the acting. I can't remember one acting performance that stood out. Every one of them seems to be just going through the motions. The worst offender is Carradine. His performance is a fantastic example of an actor in it for the paycheck. It's easy to see he doesn't care at all about the finished product. Speaking of Carradine, he looks horrible in this movie. I can't remember ever seeing him look this out of shape. He doesn't look well.

You can see Future Force's laziness in the writing. The film is full of filler. There are scenes that add nothing to the plot. In fact, there are scenes where literally nothing happens. There are a few example I could name (people driving cars with no purpose, people doing absolutely nothing while hiding out, etc) but my favorites are a couple of rather lengthy shots of a guy having a drink. That's all he does - he pours a drink, sips it, sets the glass down, and picks it up for another drink. And it happens at least twice in the movie. It's about as lazy a job of writing as I can remember.

Future Force is another of those movies I could write about for days. The laziness extends to set-design, music, costuming, and on and on. But, as I always say, what's the point. It's a bad movie that doesn't deserve any rating higher than 2/10. In some ways it's not as bad as it is sad. Future Force is truly a depressing experience.