Never Say Die
Never Say Die
| 24 May 1994 (USA)
Never Say Die Trailers

The peaceful existence of boat repairman Blake (Frank Zagarino) is destroyed when the Reverend James (Billy Drago) shows up with his disciples. Back in the days when Blake had been a member of an elite commando force, James had been his friend. But things have changed. Worried that Reverend James has fostered a cult and is planning on a mass suicide, the government sends spies to investigate. The government is also concerned because a prominent general's daughter is among the cultists. When the spies are killed, Blake is forced to reveal his true identity and join the fray to stop James and save the general's daughter.

Reviews
Diagonaldi Very well executed
YouHeart I gave it a 7.5 out of 10
Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation
Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
hwg1957-102-265704 A motor boat mechanic Blake gets involved with a girl who is escaping from a cult leader Reverend James. Coincidentally the mechanic has a history with the cult leader. There follows what is mainly a chase movie with the FBI and the police and the military after Reverend James who has poisoned his followers. There are a couple of plot twists you can see miles away and several lapses of continuity. Blake seems to appear and disappear at will.As the mechanic Frank Zagarino goes through the motions. Todd Jensen as the FBI guy fares better and Robin Smith as Angel looks suitably fearsome. They are all upstaged of course by Billy Drago as Reverend James who raises the watchability when he is onscreen. No one can play unhinged villainy with a sense of humour like Mr Drago can. Also Craig Freimond plays a character called 'Weak Male Disciple' and he does it very well.A lot of running about but not to much effect. Apart from Billy Drago of course.
Scott LeBrun It does have a very routine script, but at least it's reasonably amusing and refrains from being boring. Decent action scenes keep it watchable, as well as some entertaining villains. The acting ranges from effective (Billy Drago once again proves himself to be one of the greatest cinematic villains ever) to basically competent to hilariously bad. Jenny McShane supplies some eye candy as the leading lady, and Frank Zagarino is a passable, fairly likable hero.Zagarino plays Blake, a former Special Forces operative now making a living as a boat repairman. He's obliged to do battle with your standard creepy cult leader (Billy Drago), who turns out to be a character from Blakes' past. The "story" amounts to a series of pursuits and confrontations as Blake and bumbling law enforcement types force Reverend James (Drago) from his compound and keep him on the run.Plot twists are predictable and, as could be expected, the story serves the action, which isn't the worst that this viewer has ever seen. However, if it weren't for Drago, this wouldn't be as acceptable as it is. Some people might consider it a bad sign when the villain is more magnetic a character than the hero, but I for one don't mind. Robin Smith is the perfect picture of an action movie henchman, and proves to be just about impossible to kill. Director Yossi Wein keeps the movie moving along adequately, and here it's not treated as a given that the hero will hook up with his leading lady.Still, only die hard B movie fanatics will likely find anything of value here.Five out of 10.
craigman I have to admit, I only say about 20 minutes of this straight-to-video "movie", and it was on a Spanish speaking station, so I couldn't understand any of the dialog, but from what I saw, I liked for some strange reason. I guess it was the bizarre imagery of the freaky cult ceremony and the pumped up poor man's Van Damn! that made me watch. It was so bad in funny way, with the evil cult leader making funny faces and the clueless military leader stumbling into the cult and getting killed. The hairstyles were hilarious mullets for the men and frizzy-crimped for the women. This movie had an 80's feel even though it was released in 1995! I would love to see it in its entirety and laugh my butt off!
adcdid This movie is the kind of movie I would really enjoy if I were 8-9 years old. Since I'm not, this dumb movie about a Death Cult, it's evil, psychopathic leader(Billy Drago, an yes, he does use his favorite acting move, head slightly moved to one side - improves the image of his presumably high degree of mental illness) and retired US marine(not really sure about exact military position), Frank Zagarino who fights them is beyond any bad comment I can give. Also the story includes an US congressman, killed by Drago, mass suicide of cult members(any similarities with Jonestown is purely fictional) and loads of other rubbish either pulled out of more successful(but not really much better) Holywood blockbusters or invented by fascinatingly inventive screenwriters, who have really put their worst in this flick. Couldn't say it's the worst film I have ever seen, cause there are so many, but anyway, stay away.