Mjeteconer Just perfect...

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Leofwine_draca A lively adventure film from Italian director Antonio Margheriti, retaining much of the same cast and crew from his earlier THE LAST HUNTER and being almost exactly the same in design. Once again we have war veteran David Warbeck - here plying his trade as an illegal arms smuggler - crash-landed in the Cambodian jungle and teaming up with various refugees to fight the ever-vicious Vietcong. Sure, there may be a sense of déjà vu surrounding this movie, but I'm a sucker for cheap and cheesy action flicks and I'd pay money to see any movie which has David Warbeck stripped to the waist and going gung-ho against various villains in the jungle.After his plane is shot and he crash lands in a lake, Warbeck makes his way through the jungle before he is captured and imprisoned by a group of refugees. He is escorted to a small village which turns out to be occupied by the enemy and a firefight ensues in which all but two of the refugees are wiped out. Warbeck saves their lives and in turn is set free. However, more reinforcements soon arrive and the trio are forced to escape. Meanwhile, a rescue team out searching for Warbeck is itself shot down in the jungle, and the group quickly meet up. From then on its action on top of action as the gang struggle to help a number of refugees escape to the border whilst being attacked on all sides by the bad guys.Okay, so the plot is not particularly taxing or complicated, but that's why I like it. This easy viewing experience is fun to watch and has lots of shooting for fans to enjoy. There's a fair number of explosions in there too, thanks to some effective miniatures which Margheriti is fond of. The cast is also a good one of Italian veterans. Supporting Warbeck as the trigger-happy hero are Annie Belle as the love interest Kia, old hand Luciano Pigozzi as Lennie, an old friend of Warbeck's, and the excellent Tony King who overacts like nobody before him. As "Midnight", King puts in a fairly understated turn...at least to begin with.Warbeck himself seems settled in his action man role and brings a laconic charm to the screen. He doesn't really seem to be taking things all that seriously although his acting is fine, and he more than acquits himself in the action when needs be. Highlights include a fire fight in a jungle village, a baddie attacking with a flame-thrower, the blowing-up of a huge bridge, and the mass-firepower finale on the boat. Margheriti also inserts his trademark scene of horror, here when the heroes discover a hut crammed with the corpses of dead refugees left to rot.The budget is very low as usual, but Margheriti usually discovers a way to cut around the action while still making you think that you've seen it (take for example the various plane crashes). There are some rough edges, like the occasional continuity error, but generally the film is well-made and exciting. I would recommend this movie as a good starting point for fans looking to branch out into cheesy '80s Italian action and a must for fans of direction Margheriti, of which I am one obviously. A shallow yet rewarding movie for undemanding genre fans who know what to expect.

Comeuppance Reviews "Tiger" Joe (Warbeck) is a pilot in Southeast Asia. He's a devil-may-care daredevil (who's also a handsome devil with a devilish smile). At the small airport he works out of, Midnight (King) and Lenny (Pigozzi) are his co-workers and friends. Whether because of personal convictions or because of money, Joe uses his plane to deliver weapons to rebels fighting an oppressive regime in Cambodia. When he's shot down in the jungle and his enemies capture him, it seems Tiger Joe has gone on his last flight. But he teams up with a "ferocious female freedom fighter" (to quote the title of an unrelated movie) named Kia (Belle) and her native companion named Datu (Abadeza). The three of them face many trials, tribulations and travails in the jungle as they fight the baddies and try to find freedom. Meanwhile, Joe's buddies Lenny and Midnight engage on a trek of their own to try and find the missing Tiger Joe. Will they find him? Will Tiger Joe make it out of his cage? Find out today! Here we have a jungle actioner with all the typical trappings such as multiple shots of waterfalls, machine guns mowing down Asian baddies with those conical hats, and maybe an exploding hut or two. But because it was directed by Antonio Margheriti, it has a certain touch that saves it from being bland. In addition, there's some funny dialogue, such as the very first exchange of the movie when the advice is shouted, "You need to eat more carrots!" There's even some classic political incorrectness of the day, such as how the Black Guy is named "Midnight" and other racial references in that vein. There's also plenty of funny NON-dialogue, such as the noises the baddies make when they get shot: their flailing "AAaaahhhh!" will put a smile on your face, even after the 1000th time. Really, it will - it gets funnier every time you hear it.The solid Italian B-movie cast of King, Pigozzi, Belle and Warbeck help things out. Warbeck especially puts in a witty and charming performance. While shirtless for 90 percent of the movie, you root for him anyway. Plus he looks like a young Jack Nicholson. Warbeck should have had much more mainstream American success than he did. But Italian exploitation fans will always love him and that's all that matters. On the negative side of Tiger Joe, there's no one big villain to fight against and that's always a problem. Who is good and who is bad isn't always made clear. It's a bit on the long side as well for such a threadbare plot - it should have been 5 to 10 minutes shorter. And since this movie was made hot on the heels of Margheriti's The Last Hunter (1980) - which is a superior movie (check out the DVD from Dark Sky) - try not to compare the two too harshly. Margheriti was seriously blowing up the jungle at this time, besides Tiger Joe and The Last Hunter, he also did Tornado (1983) and Codename: Wildgeese (1984), among others in this timeframe. God bless Margheriti. He's a great man.On the technical side, the VHS was released by the great Lightning label back in the 80's. This release is relatively easy to find today. The DVD, released as part of the Mercs box set, is in Widescreen, or something like Widescreen, so it's probably preferable to see it that way. Thankfully, there are no technical glitches on this part of the Mercs set. Whichever way you see it, despite its flaws, don't be afraid to say hello to Tiger Joe.

dbborroughs The title character is a pilot, who along with his buddies runs guns to rebels in a South Asian country. When his plane is shot up by government forces he's taken prisoner by a different group of rebels than he he has been dealing with. Winning the trust of the group he begins to make the trek to home only to find himself joined by his friends who end up stranded when their rescue attempt goes wrong.Very good action film is definitely a little gem of a film. With a good collection of characters who are more than stick figures to be moved about between action scenes this is a film where you actually care about what happens. I was pleasantly surprised that I never felt the need to reach over and hit the fast forward button. The action scenes are plentiful and keep the tension up and seem to have been done with care (A bridge attack in the later part of the film had me unsure if it was done real or with a model for most of the sequence). This is a solid little film that worth not only a bucket of popcorn and a soda but also a repeated viewing or two.

HaemovoreRex The always excellent value for money David Warbeck headlines in this action yarn as an ex special forces leader in Nam who is now making a living flying in arms for a rebel cause somewhere in south east Asia. On one such run however, our hero finds himself getting directly hands on involved as it were when his plane is brought down by the enemy forces. A fair number of fairly well staged action sequences inevitably follow as Warbeck subsequently tries to make his way back to safety aided by the rebels he was supplying and in addition, with a little help from some buddies who stage an unsuccessful mission to retrieve him.This was director Antonio Margheriti's second film in a war trilogy (the first being the excellent The Last Hunter and the sequel to this effort was Tornado a.k.a. Tornado Strike Force) Whilst the film reviewed here certainly has it's moments, it sadly pales in comparison to the first in the series. Nonetheless, the enjoyable performances of the leads in this (who also headlined in the earlier film) raise the standard immeasurably, especially as displayed in some of their highly amusing verbal exchanges amongst themselves. The ever so sadly missed Warbeck especially is on great form here. In fact it has to be said that with his incredibly charismatic personality, Warbeck could always be relied upon to raise any film in which he found himself.It's such a great pity that he never made it big outside of the Italian movie industry. How tempting it is to imagine how Warbeck would have been in the role of James Bond for instance.