Programmé pour tuer

A female terrorist (Sandahl Bergman) is captured during a raid in Greece and used as a guinea pig by the CIA in a secret experiment to turn her into a cyborg killing machine. Naturally, she goes haywire on her first mission and then sets out to kill anyone involved in the project, including the special agent (Robert Ginty) who captured her but soon turned on "the company." Watching this, I soon realized my whole life was a lie: I always felt Lady Terminator (1989), Eve of Destruction (1990) and Steel and Lace (1991) were the first in the "killer female cyborg" but this Allan Holzman & Robert Short film had them scooped. It works best when there is bloody action going on and whoever decided to cast Bergman as a mostly non-speaking, emotionless robot was a genius. James Booth has a rather thankless role as a bad guy in a suit and look for a young Paul Walker as Ginty's son.

Still-timely plot involving a female Middle Eastern terrorist who is caught and re-programmed to go after her former comrades ... all well and good, until the programming goes awry. Straightforward, simple plotting, the action is never allowed to lapse, AND ... this will never happen again ... NO political grandstanding on who is right and wrong in the Middle East situation. Suitably unpretentious production and very workmanlike acting all around, and Sandahl Bergman turns in a rather unnerving performance as Samira, the death machine; the only other actress this good in such a role at the time was Claire Wren in "Steel and Lace," another movie which will appeal to those who like this one. This movie cries out for a remake, maybe with Michelle Rodriguez, though it won't happen; a DVD release of this one would be better.

I believe this to have something for everyone. 1) The female lead 'kicks ass'! So advocates of females in action-dominant roles is well portrayed. Though this is common today this movie was made in the 1980's! 2)This is a great 'Sci-fi'/Action story! Complete with plots & counter plots! It's cerebral- not just 'T & A'. Think of it as the 'Original Universal Soldier' before Van Damnn. 3) Though it involves U.S. intelligence and foreign terrorist, it takes a passive position of the 'right & wrong' of the parties involved. So, government cynics (e.g. X-File types, etc.) will love the U.S. being a 'dark' good guy and does get their ass kicked along with the foreign guys! <LOL> 4) This movie really deserves to be re-done using modern methods and upgrade the story line to include current events. It's a great idea! 5) Lastly, did I mention the actress portraying our cyborg is a 'piece of a--' ... Well you get the idea! <VBEG>

Baltimore, Md

"The Retaliator" / "Programmed To Kill" would probably have been better if it had focused more on Sandahl Bergman's nearly unstoppable robot / killing machine and less on Robert Ginty's CIA agent / mercenary. In the pantheon of 1980's action stars, Ginty ranks pretty low. He just doesn't have much charisma. His family troubles in this movie are dull, and his reckless character is not very likable (at one point, he even blows up a jeep full of American security guards just doing their job - trying to protect the government facility that he had just infiltrated!). Bergman is a good pick for the part of a female killing machine, but the script barely even gives her any speaking lines, and the budget doesn't allow for much in the way of special effects and extra powers. Some fine stunts, but too many of the action scenes are filmed in near-darkness. Pretty forgettable, all in all. *1/2 out of 4.

Just a note for convenience that this movie is alternately titled, "The Retaliator" on several online databases...just apparently not IMDB. Nor did it show up under searches on "retaliator" on IMDB as of the date of this "review".