The Bad Pack

Usually, these low budget affairs seek to cash in on a cinematic heavyweights popularity, here we have what could be considered the opposite. You could be forgiven for thinking that part of the production process of making 2010's The Expendables was watching 1997's The Bad Pack, given the similarities. Set in a small Texas border town, under attack by a local militia group, Mexican immigrants hire a band of mercenaries to protect them. Robert Davi and Roddy Piper provide the star names in what I found to be a very enjoyable low budget independent action movie, one which deserved more backing and perhaps even a franchise.

Might as well watch an episode of the A Team or Knight Rider, it looks so late 90s cheese action made for tv movie though it probably wasn't, think TBS on a Sunday afternoon type B movie. Roddy Piper did a fun job, Davi was his usual self, the Austrian guy I can't put a finger on, maybe he was in Beer Fest with the Super Trooper guys circa 2000s. It was a silly frivolous cheaply made quickie with chessy bad guys, a few familiar faces and the usual poor Immigrant folks who need help lol. Watch it for a laugh, I paid a $1 for it at a charity shop, worth about 50 cents of that but you can't beat cheese, it's no Tango and Cash, or Expendables or 7 Samurai but it is old school silly fun for 80s kids. Late night or Sun afternoon if nothing else is on. But 12 reviews says it all lol.

Two brothers set out to hire mercenaries to defend their small border town from militants.

Brent Huff's offering is an action throwback that predates The Expendables and channels the dynamics of The A-Team, with a dash of Three Amigos in terms of its plot and border setting.

Interestingly, Huff and Douglas L. Walton's script portrays the surge of militia activity in the United States during the 80's and 1990s, mercenaries for hire, as well as issues surrounding both legal and illegal migration, which, though shifted, remain topical and just as contentious today.

Elevated by its familiar cast ensemble, Robert Davi (Die Hard, License to Kill) leads the crew, joined by Roddy Piper (They Live), Ralf Moeller (Gladiator), Marshall Teague (Road House), and Patrick Dollaghan (Rapid Fire). Shawn Huff leaves an impression. Each brings charisma, making their mismatched team entertaining enough.

Sven-Ole Thorsen (Conan the Barbarian, Red Heat, The Running Man and the late professional wrestler Robert Swenson also appear. Veron Wells cameos.

While the budget shows, Huff compensates with some stunt work and explosive action (mostly in the third act) and 90's DTV charm.

A watchable talky action outing with familiar faces for fans of mercenary and vigilante B-flicks.

Albeit not a horrible film, it wasn't a good film either. A plethora of stereotypes (The cool leader, the insane guy, the ice-cold assassin chick, the happy-go-lucky guy, the introspective muscleman, the computer geek) are paraded out and put through a typical A-Team adventure involving some really badly acted white supremist survivalists who are terrorizing a Tex-Mex boarder town. This is the type of screenplay one knocks out during a slow television night.

I stumbled upon this on a Home Screen and noticed how many actors I recognized from different movies. It's like the original 90s Expendables of b list actors. Ralph Moeller, Sven O Arnies buddies he always cameos. Lamar from Revenge of The Nerds. Roddy Piper! Jeep Swanson. The crazy Australian guy from Road Warrior and Weird Science. It's crazy how many people were this. If you watch it for just fun it's enjoyable and has heart. The heroes have honor. If you watch some scenes you can see some funny mishaps. Lamar dude is drinking a Corona but he slams it too hard and it starts to bubble up so he has to sip it or ruin the scene. The blonde is about to snipe a guy and Roddy happens to look right at the barrel as she shoots w no eye protection. You know that was not planned. I didn't expect to enjoy it when the first long training mo rage was playing out but as soon as all the good guys were on screen I was I to it. The 50 cal firing off w just a fire out of the barrel looked so fake but it's a fun movie if you don't take it seriously.