Stryker's War

Stryker's War is a very good and well made independant feature from the makers of The Evil Dead series. It deals with soliders who have trouble adjusting to civilian live and only find meaning when they go into combat espcially with the murderous cult lead by a Manison type person. The battle scene in Vietnam during the first few moments of the film and the battle in the woods during the climax really parallel each other as if the soldiers will do nothing but battle for the rest of their lives. The acting is so-so but what the actors do, espcially the four soliders is something that plagued many people after returning from a tour in Vietnam. One film that this movie compares to in a small scale is Rolling Thunder(1977). Some of the set pieces in Stryker's War(1985) are terrific for a low budget action flick.

This cheesy, low-budget piece of revenge action from the Evil Dead gang might be technically sub-par, clumsily written, and poorly acted, but thanks to a genuine sense of fun, plenty of mindless violence, and a memorably OTT turn from Sam Raimi as a Charles Manson style cult leader with bad hair and even worse teeth, it actually proves to be very entertaining stuff.

The predictable story sees cigar chompin' Sgt. Stryker (Robert Rickman) and his tough Vietnam veteran buddies going to war one more time against a gang of bloodthirsty hippies who have attacked the sarge's girlfriend and killed her grandfather. What this plot lacks in originality, it sure makes up for in violent, gung-ho, exploitative action, as Stryker and company proceed to blast seven shades of crap out of anyone who looks like they might have dodged the draft or worn flowers in their hair.

Of course, Stryker's War will be of most interest to horror fans keen to see what the creators of The Evil Dead got up to next: not only does the film star its director Raimi (who proves he cannot act, and yet somehow steals the show anyway) and his brother Ted (as a Mad Max style villain wrapped in chains), but it was also co-written by the chin-tastic Bruce Campbell, produced by Scott Spiegel, and features a rousing score by Joseph LoDuca.

This is not simply an independent movie, it's an amateur movie! It got put together by a bunch of friends, with a passion for movie making but without a sufficient budget. It makes the movie quite awkwardly looking in parts but it doesn't prevent it from becoming a fun and still quite good one.

It is a pretty odd movie, that is hard to take seriously really but then again, not all movies are supposed to be taken serious. Sometimes movies can just offer you simple pleasure and the creators of this movie must besides had some pretty good fun with it as well, which can be seen back on the screen.

If it wasn't for Sam Raimi's involvement, this movie would had probably been lost into obscurity already. Raimi and director Josh Becker were friends at the time and most of the movie got shot in Bruce Campbell's backyard. All pretty awesome facts that don't help to make the movie any better but it is something that makes this movie a curiosity piece for a whole bunch of people out there.

And yes, the movie is actually worth watching. It's stupid, it's simple, it's cheap but it is fun as well! At first this movie didn't seemed like it would be a good one at all. For the longest time the story was going absolutely nowhere and was simply dragging on, no doubt to extend its running time. The real 'story' and fun kicks in during its second half, when the movie turns into a good old fashioned exploitation flick.

No doubt that the '70's exploitation genre formed the biggest inspiration for this movie. The second half of the movie is nothing but violence and gore. No nudity though, though the movie also easily could had gone that way. It's that kind of movie! The violence and gore isn't all that convincing and very over the top really but this all adds to the overall fun level of the movie.

There is no way that you could call this a great movie but it's one you can have a great time with while watching and having a couple of laughs at it while still being entertained by it all. It's not laughable bad, it's enjoyable bad! And the film-makers luckily had no problem with this and didn't took themselves very seriously to begin with.

6/10

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I remember seeing the trailer for this film in the theater when I was fourteen or fifteen and laughing my head off. Unfortunately, I didn't come across the film again for several years until my best friend in high school ran across a copy in a small video store. Boy what a find! I was completely sober and on the floor laughing for ninety minutes! Terrible acting, horrific sound effects (laser-like sounds in the Vietnam scenes), miss-placed blocking by the actors (one guy jerks BEFORE he's shot)and total lack of coherency or logic make this a must see! I mean, Vietnam vets take revenge on Manson-like killer in the middle of a forest? What's not to love? Bye the way, if you like this, check out a film called "Hard Rock Zombies."

I'm a huge fan of the Raimi films, of course, but the reason I loved this film is more sublime. I did some acting work with Brian (the star of Stryker's War) a while back and for me it was like watching a pal on the big screen. It was at a cast party and we all sat back, groaned and howled with laughter. What an awesome stinker of a film, it was marvelous! He shared stories of working with Raimi, Campbell and others we have all come to know and love. I'm from Michigan myself, and we are all very proud of this crew. What a great legacy for Michigan! Go see this movie, you just might regret and love it.