“Very funny. You should be on the Johnny Carson show.”
— Dialog as only the Philippine film industry can dub

Teddy Page in the director’s chair. Philippines War flick mainstay Jim Gaines penning the script that he also stars in. And Gaines brings along pals Mike Monty, Nick Nicholson, and Paul Vance . . . in a Silver Star Film Company Production.

Load the tape. Let’s roll the stock music and jittery n’ wobbly opening titles and get to the explosions.

Well, unlike the last couple of films PWFs we’ve watched this week, at least this one has opening titles and credits all of the actors. But you are probably wondering who in the hell Robert Mason is. Well, Mason is another of those expatiated American actors who appeared in all of our beloved Philippine war and post-apoc flicks throughout the ’80s.

Mason is also an actor that achieved a level of Michael Sopkiw-ness in my VHS spoolin’ heart.

While Sopkiw bailed after four — better made, natch — Italian ditties (2019: After the Fall of New York being the pinnacle, IMO), Mason kept it going in these Philippine patch jobs for 30 starring roles, beginning with Willy Milan in the apoc-epic Mad Warrior. If there’s a made-in-the-Philippines actioner with the word “Commando,” “Vengeance,” “Warrior,” “Blood,” or “Thunder” in the title: Robert Mason was in it. The B&S About Movies elusivie Warriors of the Apocalypse by Bobby A. Suarez (with Roger Moore’s daughter Deborah Barrymore, aka Deborah Moore!): Robert Mason was there. A ripoff of Oliver Stone’s Platoon with Assault Platoon (1990): Robert Mason was there. Need a solid actor to prop up Sam “Flash Gordon” Jones in a Mad Max rip: Robert Mason is there in Driving Force.

So, we are in 1982 Cambodia and already, we’re in a firefight-for-no-reason with a helicopter and a tank, so there’s more money spent on this than most Philippine Rambo rips. We think. It could be stocked-out from another film. But whatever the hell this fight is about, we do know from the conveniently dropped voice over that “Operation Green Hornet” failed and left 600 dead. And one of those two soldiers stranded for enemy capture is “Wild Weasel” and he is lost. Or “Wild Weasel” is a MacGuffin of some sort.

Why an unarmed civilian passenger copter flew into a war zone for an extraction is not a question we should be asking. We should also not be asking why all of expositional dialog is spewed in only wide shots with no close ups: for we know that is to cover the fact that is a patch job from a couple of left over Southeast Asian films from the ’70s doin’ the Viet Cong Two-Step in the Rambo ’80s. At least we think it’s a patch job. With these films you just don’t know: there’s stock footage and there’s shot linking material and none it matches well and none of it makes sense. But there’s all of those cheap-to-make exploding huts and bamboo and palm-thatched roofed guard towers blowing up that we expected. Even thought might be from another film. Like that errant tank. And helicopter.

Oh, my god. Budget! There’s a machine gun-packin’ river patrol boat? A gun battle with a Cambodian Junk. Oh, my god! They blew up the gun boat? And Mason is in the footage? Wow! Actually real footage was shot?! And, what . . . that’s it? So much for waiting for one hour for that excitement. Well, back to the mismatched office footage with white guys in wrinkled military fatigues man-bitchin’ about stuff that probably has to do with greed because in these films us Americans are never about the democracy but the green we don’t want the Russians to have. Fuck the poor Cambodians, aka the Philippine “ahiiiyaaaah” extras, because to quote Gordon Gekko: “Greed is Good.”

So, through the shot-through-cheese cloth cinematography and more babbling about a “common enemy” of the Kampuchean people, we come to learn that “Wild Weasel” — since we never actually seen the jet or the crash — is a new, top secret jet with an advanced rocket system. And U.S. Air Force Pilot Captain Ted Wilson (Robert Mason) was shot down by the KGB (the KGB and CIA are always at it in these films). Or the KGB sabotaged the jet; again, we never seen the jet or the KGB baddies or an airstrip. And now our Captain is behind enemy lines. And amid all of this is Paul Vance’s Colonel organizing a rescue mission. Not so much for God. Or country. Or the men. But for the plane, boss. The plane. We know this because a couple of dopey white guys bicker over “Wild Weasel” and money and drop “Johnny Carson” jokes at the 30-minute mark.

“Hey, this sounds a lot like that Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman-starring plane-shot-down-rescue flick Behind Enemy Lines, only without the Carson jibe,” you ponder.

Nope. This was made 15 years earlier . . . in the Year of our Sly n’ Arnie. Oh, and just so you know the era we are in: keep your eyes open for those ubiquitous Ronald Reagan pictures on the desks and walls. But that may be stock from another film. Or maybe those set designers for Silver Star thought the Reagan pics tricked us into thinking we are in the States and not in Manila that’s masquerading as Cambodia in a film that is also masquerading as a third installment of the “Commander” series. What was Commander I and II, you ask us. Again, this is a Philippine war movie with no plot and no characterization and all so interchangeable and you need not ask why.

Just enjoy the War Without End on You Tube.

About the Author: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook. He also writes for B&S About Movies.

Here I go again, with my Richard Harrison squeezin’ and pleasin’. Deal with it, ye reader. . . .

Silver Star Productions. Teddy Page. Richard Harrison. Sly and Arnie ripping. So, what’s not to like? Well, each and every Southeast Asian Pacific Rim film that starred Richard Harrison also starred Jim Gaines: for by hook or by crook . . . or by stock footage . . . Harrison and Gaines will always co-star in Silver Star productions. They will. And here, Gaines is the bad-guy-who-goes-good Digger. And so . . . that ends the common sense portion of the film.

Well, not really. This one actually has a sensible story, a plot, and (minor) character development, and Harrison isn’t thespin’-expressionless driftwood as the other actors, and the proceedings lack the usual shot-through-cheese-cloth cinematography and stock footage stitching we’ve come to expect with most of the PWFs we’ve reviewed back in August and this week.

But wow. These ’80s Silver Star flicks really screwed up Richard Harrison’s career.

Harrison acted in five flicks for K.Y. Lim’s stock footage-and-everything-else-stocked celluloid factory o’ sausage: Fireback, Hunter’s Crossing, and Blood Debts, which were directed by Teddy Page, and two for Jun Gallardo: Intrusion Cambodia and Rescue Team (both of Jun’s Rambo joints are coming this week; search for ’em, ya lazy surfer). But it gave Harrison a chance to write, which he does here, as Timothy Jorge (Three Men on Fire is another of his films). But I don’t know . . . I can’t see Harrison’s years in film culminating in a screenplay like this. Perhaps he did write it. But, between the dubbing — that he had no control over, as that is not even his voice you’re hearing — and the fact Silver Star Films shot with no locked scripts and were improvising along the way, Harrison’s original intent is, mostly likely, barely on the end product.

Then Godfrey Ho came along and compounded the career problems.

Harrison contracted to make a couple of low-budget ninja films for Ho. Then Ho cut-and-pasted, as is the par for the celluloid in Southeast Asian cinema of the low-budget variety, Harrison “starring” in the films Ninja Terminator, Cobra Vs. Ninja, Golden Ninja Warrior and Diamond Nínja Force. The list goes on and on. Shame on you, Godfrey, more so than Jun and Teddy. Well, not really. We still love you guys.

Okay, so Richard Harrison is U.S. Army weapons expert Jack Kaplan — and he can MacGyver (Oy! That CBS-TV reimage sucks donkey) any liquid into a weapon. He’s captured while field-testing a new “super gun,” the Omega, that turns a man into a one-man-army. Holy Shit! Micheal Sopkiw déjà vu with Blastfighter!

Calm down, my friend. The gun ain’t around for that long.

So, Kaplan’s rescued from a Southeast Asian POW camp. But he returns to the States to find his wife Diane missing. And he comes to discover that Duffy Collins, a local gangster, kidnapped and murdered Diane after she rejected his need to rape her. And Kaplan — with a souped-up junk yard set of wheels, along with his crossbow-shotgun-bazooka armament thingy he patched together — goes after Duffy.

Oh, shit. The music that sounds like it’s clipped from Mad Max!

Calm down, kid. For this is no more Blastfigther than it is Max Max. But we do get a lot of Kaplan daydreamin’ and flashbackin’ to Diane bikini diving into a swimming pool. So there’s that. Yeah, we know: we are also wondering, if we are back in the States: why we are seeing so many citizens of the Philippines in this movie? Well, remember when Tom Selleck made Daughters of Satan (note how much Selleck and Harrison look alike; I think Harrison’s ol’ stache is bigger) in the Philippines — but that was actually set in the Philippines — and there were more white actors than Filipinos in that film? See? It all balances out in the end.

Anyway, Duffy has a hitman man on his payroll known as the “Man with the Golden Hand” gunning for Kaplan. And Digger (Jim Gaines, natch) is the crook who comes to help Kaplan take down Duffy while avoiding the Sheriff (Mike Monty, natch) who’s after Kaplan for murdering one of Duffy’s men. Then things go oh-so-very Tarantino with an assassin squad of ninja killers with the names of Panther, Shadow, and Cat Burglar on Kappy’s trailer — and that’s after Eve (Gwen Hung, who’s all over these movies), our femme fatale, fails at killing Kaplan. So Duffy kills her — just as Kaplan was goin’ in for the hook up.

Now Kaplan is really pissed: So he “Rambos” all of their asses from a makeshift mountain-jungle cave in a climatic battle in the woods of Somewhere, U.S.A. — with a side of Arnie to spare. Oh, and Kaplan goes full-regalia Ninja with a katana. So there’s that. Oh, and we assume they ran out of short ends and couldn’t finish the film . . . so we got this end credits epilogue to wrap up the tale:

Fireback is better than I had hoped — and that’s not my blinded-by-Richard Harrison fandom. That’s not saying it’s good, just not as bad as the usual ’80s PWF Sly n’ Arnie homage. If only they kept the gun in the movie and the car was a bit more Road Warrior and we had some highway mayhem on the screen instead of the usual flailing and frolicking about in the woods.

Finally! We progressed from the-schedule-to-review process and the film uploads are still there to enjoy. You can watch Fireback on You Tube HERE and HERE.

About the Author: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook. He also writes for B&S About Movies.

The most comforting aspect of these Philippine First Blood and Commando inversions is that you can always count on Mike Monty, Nick Nicholson, and Paul Vance to show up as the ubiquitously evil CIA, KGB, or General (from either the Ruskie or Yank side) with one hand over their heart — and the other in the war-profiteering honeypot.

The truth is, for as awful as these Southeast Asian namsploitation’ers can get, they are sociopolitical eye openers. Here, in the U.S., we safely experienced the Vietnam War that raged between November 1, 1955 – April 30, 1975, as “Big Three” network evening news broadcasts; the peoples of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia lived it — in real time. And those horrors spilled into the islands of Indonesia. So, while hokey, these films do you give an understanding of how Indonesians viewed the western outsiders: as plutocrats. For the Americans, and even the Russians, not only screw each other, but themselves — with the “freedom” of the region on the bottom of the political agendas.

However . . . you think us Yanks get it bad in these movies: the Russians get it worse. According to No Dead Heroes, aka War Machine and Commando Massacre, the Russians have complete and total control of Central America, as they make their way up through Mexico and, eventually, into Texas (Chuck Norris’s Invasion, U.S.A ripping). All Russians hate god. All Russian men perpetually rape women. Russians will kill anyone and everyone, the young and the infirm be damned. Do they love their children too, Sting? Eh, maybe. But they do hate all the non-Russian kiddies.

“Ack. What are you doing? Political insights in a review of a Philippine war flick?”

Yeah, you’re right. Back to the mindless drivel.

First off: I am burnt out on my PWF binge this week. You know the “plot” of these films, by now, right? And Sony did a pretty decent job in the art and copywriting departments with the VHS marketing: so read the sleeve for the plot.

No, I can’t be that remiss in my reviewing duties. Besides, that copy could use some simplification.

So, we have an over-the-top Russian General conducting KGB experiments at a Vietnam prison camp. And we send in Richard Sanders and Harry Cotter (Max Thayer and John Dresden) to save the prisoners from the insane experiments. What’s “insane” about them: VC operatives are supplying Americans for the Russians to stick microchips into their brains (Hey, it’s the Apple-DOS ’80s*) to turn them into “robot assassins” via a Russian agent’s wristwatch controller.

Natch, Cotter’s not very good at his black-ops missions and wet work assignments, since he — as do all of our heroes in these Philippine war flicks, for we’d have no “plot” to speak of — is captured. Of course, he’s implanted with a chip.

Flash forward ten years . . .

Cotter — after “a command” to kill his family — is sent out on assassination missions, such as to kill the Pope and, eventually, the President of the United States. Of course, we don’t have the budget for anything to be shot in the U.S. or at the Vatican, so his Holiness conveniently tours the oppressed believers of El Salvador, aka the jungles on the outskirts of Milan. When the plan is discovered, the only man for the job is the only man who “thinks” like Cotter, which is his old friend and fellow soldier, Richard Sanders, from that botched mission from ten yahrens ago.

So, in addition to First Blood, Commando, Missing in Action, and Platoon, we’re in a pinch of Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren’s Universal Soldier, along with a dash of the political thriller The Manchurian Candidate — which you most likely know for the 2004 remake with Denzel Washington, but this one pinches from the John Frankenheimer version made in 1962 with Frank Sinatra.

So, all of the expected spliced-in-clips from other films, awful dubbing, poor editing, distorted music, out-of-place sound effects that sound nothing like the actual weapon portrayed, dialog that cuts off cold before an actor can finish a sentence, ensues. It’s like a mixed-up baffle-job of the Alfonzo Brescia Italian Space Opera variety: only we are not in space and Uncle Al didn’t make it (we love ol’ Al’s Star Wars rips!).

On the upside: this one does bring on the blood. There’s so many bodies dropping, you start to lose count. Which is why we’re here in the first place: the blood and hut explosions. Get the hell out of here with that “plot” and “acting” nonsense.

Now, lets get down to what’s under the VHS sleeve.

Our director, Junn P. Cabreira, aka the Americanized J.C Miller, amassed 42 directing and 10 writing credits in a career that stretched back to 1974. But none of those mostly Filipino/Tagalog-titled films — even in the product-rabid VHS ’80s — received widespread distribution beyond their Indonesian homelands. Sure, there’s a few English-titled films that might have hit the Western drive-in circuits, possibly even home video shelves, with titles such as The Deadly Rookies (1978; starring Willy Milan!), The Tiger and the Lady (1979; starring 380-credits strong Romy Diaz), Cover Girls and Hotel House Detective (both 1981; with 600-credits Indonesian leading man Eddie Garcia), and Dope Godfather (1983, 200-credits Vic Vargas). Then there’s something called Eastwood and Bronson (1989) that, based on the title — and the fact that Indonesia “matinee idols” Richard Gomez and Joey Marquez channel Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson in a rip of an U.S. “buddy cop” film — I want to see it even more (Magsalita tungkol sa demonyo! As of October 2021 — several months after writing this — there’s a non-dubbed copy on You Tube! Mahusay!).

What helps this Rambo-rip entry is that it was made specifically for distribution outside of Indonesia with English-speaking audiences — especially the Rambo-swamped U.S. — in mind. While they were not “stars,” well, they are at B&S About Movies, we have Max Thayer (Planet of Dinosaurs, No Retreat, No Surrender 2) and John Dresden (Big Bad Mama II) as our John Rambo and John Matrix stand-ins. Both actors struggled for a foothold in American TV and films, only managing bit parts, but forged a fruitful co-starring and leading man career in Indonesian cinema with roles in Cirio H. Santiago’s Final Mission (coming this week, search for it), Teddy Page’s Phantom Soldiers (coming this week, look for it; we are writing ahead, here), and the Cameron Mitchell-starring Raw Force (nope, you’re on your own, we can’t watch them all).

But thanks to Sly Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Chuck Norris — and to a lesser extent, Oliver Stone with Platoon — igniting a cottage industry in Indonesia, we will remember Junn P. Cabreira the best — well, the only film, really — for his Rambo Namsplotation entry.

Ugh. Not again. We had freebie ready to go and now it’s gone. Thank goodness for watching early and taking notes in my ol’ spiral notebook. Yeah, there’s a couple other free streams out there, but the links are iffy: just don’t do it. And that’s too bad, as I like this one and I think you will to, as it is one of the better Rambo clones, courtesy of Max Thayer and John Dresden, along with the familiar faces of Mike Monty, Nick Nicholson, and Paul Vance. Eh, give this 7 minute clip a spin to see if you want to go the full (Mike) monty.

*More A.I tomfoolery with these features!

About the Author: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook. He also writes for B&S About Movies.

We come here, not to bury Philippine Namsplotation films, but to praise Richard Norton. That’s right, kids: it’s another B&S About Movies film-geek fandom joint.

Aussie actor Richard Norton got his start in Chuck Norris’s The Octagon (1980) and Forced Vengeance (1982), contributing to multiple episodes of CBS-TV’s Walker, Texas Ranger, starring in Robert Clouse’s Force: Five (1981) and Gymkata (1985), and with Michael Dudikoff in American Ninja (1985). And do we really have to remind you that Richard Norton starred as Slade in the great Cirio H. Santiago’s Philippine post-apoc’er Equalizer 2000 (1987)? Well, now you know: Richard Norton is right up there with Mark Gregory, Michael Sopkiw, and Daniel Greene on the B&S About Movies A-Team.

While we haven’t seen all of Richard’s almost 70-and-climbing credits, we’ve seen most of them. And some are great — like the films we’ve mentioned — while others are not so great. There’s not another actor that’s more hard working, who was stuck in some questionable projects over the years, who started out as a bodyguard to the Rolling Stones and personal trainer to Mick Jagger. We reviewed his most recent effort, if you’re interested: the 2021 Australian crime-thriller, Rage.

See. The fanboy section of the review has ended. That didn’t hurt. Back to the movie . . . and to hell.

Also known as Return of the Kickfighter, the plot concerns, you guessed it: more corrupt American soldiers on a war-profiteering tear, democratic freedom on the Indonesia mainlands, be damned.

So, to the chagrin of their Vietnamese guide (Asian Martial Arts mainstay and Brucesploitation star Bruce Le), a U.S. marine unit raids a Vietnam village — for a gold stash — and they kill the villagers.

Yes. Of course, we “flash forward” ten years. Haven’t you been paying attention at all this week? That “flashback” set up is how all of that old ’70s war footage is clipped into the film, so as to up the production values.

Well, eh, actually . . . this time, it’s 15 years. And someone is murdering the members of the unit — one by one. And the chicken shit leader of that raid, now a high-ranking officer with a cushy government desk job with the Pentagon, needs to clean up the mess. So, with a little lie there and half-truth there, he sends in the only man for the job (again?): Pentagon black-ops agent Major Brad Cooper, aka the man we came to see, Richard Norton. But Cooper gets wise pretty quick and figures his Pentagon boss, Col. Ryan, committed the atrocity all those years ago. So Cooper is sidelined from the mission. But Cooper goes rogue. And his “mission” objective changes.

He meets Quan Niehn, the Vietnamese guide from 15 years ago. Turns out, Quan and his brother nursed an injured Ninja Master hurt in that raid back to health and, in payment, the Master taught the brothers the ways of the Ninja. Then the brothers went “Cain and Able,” with Quan to the good Vietnamese side and his brother to the evil Viet Cong side. And the plot twist is that we think Quan is killing the members of the unit, but it’s really his evil brother — the leader of a secret, Mountain stronghold terrorist boot camp. So, once Quan and Cooper make nice, Coop calls in his old Queen’s Cobras unit to kick the evil brother’s ass. The firefights and explosions and bodies plowed down by more bullets than John Rambo and John Matrix can handle, ensues.

What makes this work is the martial arts, something Sly and Arnie couldn’t bring to the table. The Return of the Kickfigther handle is clearly the more effectively, descriptive title, with Bruce Le (1978’s Return of the Red Tiger and Enter the Game of Death) and Hong Kong action star Dick Wei (1978’s Five Deadly Venoms and 1980’s Claws of the Eagle) mixing it up with Richard Norton — who keeps his Australian accent on-camera (a HUGE difference in quality for this film against most we’ve reviewed this week), which is explained away as being an “All American” since he was trained by the American military.

Ugh. The full movie was uploaded when we made the schedule — now it’s gone. Well, you can at least watch this “Kill Count” montage and eight minute fight scene (embedded above) between Richard Norton and Bruce Le on You Tube. Director Anthony Maharaj, here in his debut, got his start as a screenwriter with the Philippine war flick Final Mission (reviewed this week; look for it) and the post-apoc’er Future Hunters for Cirio H. Santiago. Maharaj and Norton worked on a second Indonesian war flick, Not Another Mistake (1989) — no, we didn’t review that one, this week. You can’t do ’em all.

About the Author: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook. He also writes for B&S About Movies.

Finally. Phew. We are off the Godfrey Ho patch jobs sprockets of fate for an actual film: this one made by true Philippine film stars in actor-writer-directors Rudy Dominguez (80-plus credits) and Ernie Ortega (140-plus credits). Sadly, not many of their films made it to U.S. video shores with English dubs — not even their Rambo rip. Ernie’s biggest role — as far as U.S. audiences are concerned — was in Chuck Norris’s own Rambo rip with Missing in Action (1984).

Remember in First Blood how war veteran John Rambo went searching for his old war buddy stateside? Well, here we have war Sgt. E. Samson (iconic comedic actor Palito with 120-credits) on a personal mission to deliver a letter to the wife of a friend who died in the war. And as with Rambo before him: the town, well, village sheriff (Ernie Ortega) beats the troublesome vet and runs him out of the village. And like Rambo before him . . . well, you better bring the body bags, because the sheriff just tapped back into Samson’s “killer instincts” and there’s hell to be paid. And, yes, there’s a Col. Trautman here — to reel in our crazed pastry chef. Yes, you heard us right: this is a namsploitation parody joint.

As you can see from the cover, Palito ain’t no ripped Sly Stallone, and he’s mostly know for his comedic films in the Philippines. So, when our “Rambo” gets into a Kung-fu fight (and we use the term “Kung-fu” loosely), it’s more like Moe and Larry from The Three Stooges having at it, with slaps and face pokes. Oh, and Samson’s “heroism” was working as a cook — that specialized in pastries — for the American troops. Just seeing the stick-thin Palito running around with a knife that would give Crocodile Dundee pause, and lifting a rocket launcher bigger than his entire body, is, well comic gold, apparently for Philippines audiences, since this made bank. So Palito kept the bit going for two more films: Johnny Rambo Tango and Ram-Bone, and even did a James Bond spoof, James Bone: Agent 001.

Too bad there’s not an English dub or English subtitle to follow along with the Filipino and Tagalog languages, as there’s an actual film here that’s not a patchjob from other films. You can pick at the full film on You Tube.

About the Author: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook. He also writes for B&S About Movies.

Oh, Ho, Ho
Oh, Godfrey
You know-oh-oh-o-o
I never believe it’s not so
That your films aren’t “magic” to me
(da-dun)

Many have not tried. But I not only tried, but succeeded, in watching (and reviewing!) your Sly-cum-Arnie-cum-Sheen-cum-Norris ripoffs in a marathon weekend. From Soldier Terminators to Mission War Flame to Super Platoon to Top Mission*. And now: here we are with Fatal Command. And some of these are second watches from my first exposure back in the VHS rental ’80s.

Why?

Because you’re the David A. Prior of the Philippines . . . and what one of your films doesn’t kill me will make me stronger. At least until the Teddy Page warsploitation flicks start rolling.

Ugh. I wish you’d splice in some Richard Harrison (Rescue Team) or Romano Kristoff (Slash Exterminator) into this patch-hack joint of yours. Well, at least you’ve given us yet another alias to talk about: now you’re Victor Sears behind the lens. And your big “star” this time out is Tao Chang. But since he was in your film Ninja Thunderbolt (1984), I have my doubts that Chang was actually in this film and not just cut-in from Ninja Thunderbolt. Sure, Chein Sun — from my ol’ rental favorite Five Deadly Venoms (1978) is here. But from which of the 40-some films he did previously was he “cast” from into your film? Okay, in your defense, Godfrey: Chang was also in your films Ninja 8: Warrior of Fire, Terminal Angels, Ninja Death Squad, and The Vampire Raiders, so maybe there’s some original footage here to be had.

Uh, there’s not.

For this is another Filmark International Presents boondoggle that is just another puzzling puzzle of an enigma wrapped in riddle stuffed inside a mystery. Yeah, American actress-turned-screenwriter and dialog doctor Sally Nichols (aka Nicholls, also of Mission War Flame fame) is Godfrey Ho’s right-hand girl. She’s on the Brother typewriter and she’s trying and, truth be told, does a pretty amazing job (seriously, no sarcasm intended) bringing some semblance of a “plot” to these bits and pieces of old Pacific Rim films from the ’70s.

So, if you haven’t guessed by now: Southeast Asia is ripped apart by the Russians and the Americans who want to inject their political system into the region. So the KGB sends their agents, led by the rabid killer, Ivan, into Kampuchea to wipe out the American forces backed by the CIA. Of course, greed is good, even when Communism will take over the region. And in this region: Americans turn on Americans. Thus, John Matthews, the CIA agent paired with our good, U.S.-sympathizing Vietnamese agent, Jim, turns on Jim. We think. Or is General Wells — who put John and Jim together — the bad guy?

Okay, well, I see you noticed that nekkid lady on the VHS cover. Well, she’s some type of spy who betrayed General Wells, so she’s kidnapped and dies during the kidnapping. What does this have to do with the plot? Nothing. Well, no. We think she was Jim’s girlfriend. Or wife. Or something. It has to be, because Jim just sneaked into a children’s birthday party to kill the father of the man who failed at kidnapping his lady friend and killed her. Don’t forget: Jim’s the good guy, here. Imagine Rambo firing bullets into a birthday party to get revenge on Charles Napier or Jack Starlett?

And . . . this is the part of the review where, again, we drop the verb “ensues,” to work our way out of the review because nothing else ensues . . . expect a lot of running around a shallow river bed as the machine guns blaze and the grenades toss. And there’s no tanks. And that fleet of helicopters on the VHS cover never comes. But Jim — riddled with bullets and a couple of arrows in the back, dies in a river bed.

The message here? Uh, greed wins? Americans don’t give a damn about democratic freedom in Southeast Asia unless there’s a financial profit to be made? Again, Sally Nichols (aka Nicholls) weaved the dialog and was trying, but when you’re up against the Steenbeck of celluloid fate spun by Godfrey Ho, it’s a craps toss you can’t win, Sally. As with Ho’s Mission War Flame*, it was downright criminal to patch these “movies” together and dress them with Ramboesque artwork to toss onto the home video shelves. Even with my local video store’s 5-5-5 plan — with Ho’s films — you can’t say, “Well, it’s just a dollar.” Even at a dollar rental fee, this one’s a ripoff.

Celluloid masochists can fast forward through Fatal Command at their own peril on You Tube.

* We are writing ahead, here, so use that search box. You’re not that lazy to copy n’ paste, are you?

About the Author: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook. He also writes for B&S About Movies.

So, before we get into this Godfrey Ho joint, let’s clear up the title confusion: Do not confuse this with the ex-The Dukes of Hazzard John Schneider bomb that was Cocaine Wars (1985), which became known as Top Mission in the overseas markets. And don’t confuse this Godfrey Ho joint with another of Ho’s chop shop joints, Top Team Force (1989), which is a film about the Hong Kong mafia that also aka’d the marketplace as Top Mission Exterminator.

So, before we get into this Godfrey Ho joint, let’s clear up the stock footage confusion: Most of the nifty action comes from William Mayo’s third feature film, Diablo Force (1986). Where the rest of the footage comes from . . . well, probably two to three more films that we can’t track down . . . forever lost in the vaults of Tomas Tang’s Filmark International Studios and K.Y Lim’s Silver Star Productions.

Oh, we should mention that Uncle G is deploying the name of Henry Lee for this run through the jungle. Okay, that’s all settled. Let’s load ‘er up!

The leading lad here is Cameroon-born African actor Alphonse Beni, who made his mark in the international VHS marketplace with his vanity set piece, Cameroon Connection (1985; with Bruce Le), and Richard Harrison’s like-minded piece, Three Men on Fire (1986). Beni is one half of a biracial C.I.A duo (the other is the one-and-gone Kurt Eberhard) — both complete with ninja warrior skills — sent into the jungles to rescue a professor, who has developed a laser weapon. He’s been kidnapped by a fellow, rogue C.I.A agent who’s set up his own terrorist organization. Along the way there’s a plane hijacking, a couple of double crosses, bad dubbing, a jailbreak, bad editing, and a showdown inside a music club.

Adding to the Steenbeck reels of confusion: The same year Top Mission was released, Alphonse Beni also starred in Ho’s Fire Operation (1987) and Phillip Gordon (Strike Commando, The Siege of Firebase Gloria, Battle Rats, Kill Zone are a few of his 20-plus credits), who starred in Top Mission, co-stars, once again, with Beni.

Now, we can’t find any jungle Intel that states Fire Operation is an alternate title to Top Mission or if one is a recut-reimage of the other (see Ho’s analog chop socky of Devil’s Dynamite vs. Robo Vampire). But we’ll lay down our pesos on the green felts of a back-room Manila gambling joint that Beni never signed on for a film called Fire Operation and footage from Three Men on Fire and Ninja: Silent Assassin (1987), as well as Top Mission, is how Beni came to “star” in that Godfrey Ho production . . . where ninjas are so skilled, they, apparently, can be air-dropped into chopper blades!

You can figure it all out with the full film of Top Mission and the trailer for Fire Operation on You Tube.

About the Author: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook. He also writes for B&S About Movies.

This Godfrey Ho Philippine Namsploitationer to cash in on all things John Rambo is actually a pre-John Rambo Hong Kong action-joint known as Black Warrior by Tomas Tang. Tang, by way of his Filmark International Studios, is a name you see oft-mentioned on Ho’s end product since a lot of Tang’s stuff, such as Devil’s Dynamite, ended up as a reedited Ho joint, such as Robo Vampire. In fact, you could dedicate an entire WordPress site just on the wealth of Ho-cum-Tang flicks. Adding to the bola ng katituhan is the fact this also slopped through the VHS marketplace as a sequel to Jungle Rats, aka Jungle Rats 2: Black Warrior. And since the covers are the same, well, now you know from whence all of that stock footage for Jungle Rats, came. Where’s Romano “Rom” Kristoff? Well, he’s not, here. . . .

As in Jungle Rats: we have another reconnaissance team assigned to trek through the jungle borders to rescue a group of soldiers and a couple of American Red-Cross civilians — civies acting as double-agents feeding Intel to the military — taken captive and imprisoned by the Vietcong. Yes, as in several of these movies: the soldiers’ jungle guide is . . . a woman . . . and all of the usual stock footage bridges and hut explosions, ensues . . . as no plot or character, develops.

Apparently, one by the name of “Glenn Clegg” wrote this tumpok ng tae, but I’m pagsusugal’in my pesos that an anglicized, expatriated American actress Sally Nicholls (aka Nichols) script-cobbled (Mission War Flame) this one for Godfrey Ho — who is here, depending on the VHS print you see, as “Christ/Chris Hannah” to “direct” this mess. Who are actors Barry Hyman, Kevin Brooks, and Rachel Sheen: your guess is as good as ours.

If you can figure it all out on You Tube and let us know, thanks! But to help you out . . . no, Platoon Warriors is, in fact, a completely different Philippine-made warsploitationer. And the Michael Dudikoff vehicle Platoon Leader — which we didn’t get to this week — is another completely different film. Well, except for the recycled war footage. . . .

About the Author: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook. He also writes for B&S About Movies.

Godfrey Ho. He’s Joe Livingstone. He’s Willie Palmer. He’s Charles Lee. And here, he is Bruce Lambert behind the camera and Eric Coleman behind the typewriter. You’ll also notice the name of Sally Nicholls credited for “dialog” on many of Godfrey’s films. Well, someone had to thread together Ho’s piecemeal efforts into coherency. And she’s a real person, not an alias — an actress whose work dates back to the ’60s with Lon Chaney, Jr. And you’ll notice notable Hong Kong action star Tao Chiang — 187 credits strong since 1968, with his most recent film, Yang Jingyu, out in 2019 — starring here.

Now, we have to note — taking into account that acting in Philippine cinema is like checking into the Eagles Hotel California: once you sign on the dotted line, you never leave the industry. Especially on the line with Silver Star Films, for they will keep recycling that footage into movie after movie after movie.

So, when you begin dissecting Ho and Chiang’s joint resume, going back to The Deadly Silver Ninja (1978), Ninja Thunderbolt (1984), and Fatal Command (1986) — for nineteen films total, prior to the making of Mission War Flame — you begin to wonder how many of these films did Tao Chiang actually “act” in and how many was he “spliced into” for proxy-stardom? And how much of those films — as well as Mission War Flame — did Godfrey Ho actually shoot. Just look at that opening artillery-filled prologue. A Godfrey Ho production employing all of those extras — and artillery cannons? Nope. Not buying it: it’s from another film. But what film: that is the question. Nothing here looks like it was originally shot, sans some linking materials, but even that is questionable. And all of the footage looks like it’s from 1977 — or earlier — than the 1987 release date of the film.

So, that stock Vietnam war film footage has run the villagers from their jungle mountain enclave. Now we are into the Ho-shot footage — we think — with a bunch of Americans in non-military camouflage lined up to spout some dubbed dialog as they prepare for a mission, aka “the war flamers” of the film. One of our soldiers lets us know, “I am not afraid of anything. Not even war itself.”

Forward! March!

Now we have some Asian actors — probably from another film, as well — as they mount up for the U.S. soldiers’ attack, that is, “the footage” from the other film.

Now, with a third batch of mismatched footage, we’re meeting the family of Paul, a young Vietnamese doctor recruited — against his family’s objections — into a U.S. Marine-backed military force that will go up against the Viet Cong — from that previous batch of spliced-in film — that took over a hill and ran off those villagers. In fact, it’s not just Paul. Apparently, you can just be walking down a dirt road with your girlfriend and you’re “recruited” into the fighting force. Here’s your papers. Report for duty. You’re helping us take back that hill.

Oh, and there’s the tanks that finally appear at the end. Trust us. Godfrey Ho didn’t rent any tanks and it’s from another film.

The “human drama” comes from the fact that Paul and the other recruits love the glory of fighting for their country. Paul’s wife calls him a “monster,” you know, just like with the “Return from ‘Nam” movies made in America. And this is where the B&S About Movies editorial board allows us to drop “ensues” into the review. Only, nothing ensues . . . as this has none of the all-out action assault of most of the other “Philippines War Week” entries we’ve covered this week and back in August during our first tribute to Philippines war flicks.

Ah, but Godfrey comes through in the end. Paul and the two other saps that got recruited into the fight, struggle to raise the American flag on the recaptured hill — only to die in a hail of sniper fire. Now, that would be a heartbreaking ending in another film. Here, the “message,” if any, about the cost of war, and honor, and glory, is lost. For this is just plain bad — and criminal — that this patch job of obscure South Asian films from the ’70s was marketed in the backwash of First Blood and Commando. There’s not even martial arts to wow us. Just a whole lot of “uggghs” and “aihyaaaahs” as bodies fall under hails of squibs.

There’s no trailer to share because, for there to be a trailer, there needs to be a “story” to cut into a trailer with a narrative arc to tell you what the film is about in the first place. But we did find a copy of Mission War Flames on You Tube — but more for you to fast forward through than actually watch. But we know you’re a celluloid masochist . . . Aihyaaaaah!

About the Author: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook. He also writes for B&S About Movies.

Leave it to Godfrey Ho to mash-up Sly Stallone and Arnie Schwarzenegger into one film. But not First Blood and Commando: Rambo and The Terminator. Only one problem. Well, there’s more than one problem with this film, but the main one: there’s no “Terminators,” as you know them, in this film. Luckily, Godfrey didn’t put a robot on the cover to frack with us. Sorry to slag ya’, Godfrey, but you are the Pacific Rim exploitation king that out-cheaps the crowned King we hail that is Cirio H. Santiago.

Alas! I know this is hard to believe: but this isn’t the usual Godfrey Ho hack job, where he buys up forgotten or unfinished Hong Kong and Philippine films, cuts them together, dubs new dialog, and releases the end product. If you read our reviews for Devil’s Dynamite and Robo Vampire (yes, it is exactly what you think it is; there is, in fact, a robot . . . just not in this film), then you know what we mean. But for those of you that are not familiar with the cinematic “style” of Mr. Ho: Soldier Terminators is one of his 150 films that he credit-rotates under the names of director and screenwriter Joe Livingstone and screenwriter Willie Palmer, aka Godfrey Ho, but here’s Charles Lee. During Ho’s 25 years of making genre films in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Philippines, his mostly Z-grade movies never lost a dime. And he parlayed that experience into teaching film — I know! — at Hong Kong Polytech.

So, with that being said, Ho actually made a fluid movie. We think. It actually looks legit — for once. It’s still rumored that Soldier Terminators is two films cut into one: but if that’s true, it’s all effectively spliced together. Now, that’s not to say the Stallone-inspired proceedings make a whole lot of sense — and what Ho flick does — but either it being one film, or the rumored two, it is still the most consistent film he’s made in my memory. Again, back to Devil’s Dynamite and Robo Vampire, which are the same film, but, with creative editing and dubbing, became “two” films.

So, from what we gather in the “plot” of Soldier Terminators: The People’s Freedom Army is a union of Southeast Asian soldiers out to rid their lands of communism. Hey, that’s mighty “American” of you. But the PFA want nothing to do with the Americans. We think. So we send our best man: Alexander Samson. Sammy-boy travels to Malaysia and infiltrates the PFA, so as to feed information back to his superiors. We think. Successfully inside, Sammo begins training with the group. They like him. He’s a good fighter and walks the talk. Meanwhile — we think, from that “other film” — we have a crazed commander who doesn’t want the PLA’s activities to succeed; for if they do, then the Americans will gain a foothold in the region. And, we think, the commander has a financial concern in the area with the Commies. Or something.

Now, the actor portraying our lead character of Alexander Sampons, Anthony Alonzo, is listed on the IMDb for this film as “uncredited” and as “archive footage.” Uh, oh. “Archive” means it wasn’t shot for this film. And it’s true: Anthony Alonzo is, in fact, uncredited. In a double fact: No one is credited, sans two actors: Paul John Stanners and Anders Hallerg. Another fact: Actor Vincent Pratchett leaves a comment on the You Tube upload of Soldier Terminators and makes the point that he worked on the film (he does, so says the IMDb; his only film) and he’s not credited in the film itself.

Now, Paul John Stanners turns up (“uncredited” per the IMDb) in . . . uh, oh, Robo Vampire. Shit, Godfrey: Here I am saying this is your “best,” and you’re fucking it up. So how much do you want to bet Stanners’s work, here, in Soldier Terminators, was cut into Robo Vampire? As to whom Anders Hallerg is . . . your guess is as good as ours. Hallerg is not listed on the film’s IMDb page and he doesn’t populate with his own actor’s page. The “star” here, Derrick Bishop — who’s not listed in the film’s opening titles or end credits (in Ho’s defense: there are no “end credits” to the film; all we get is a “The End” title card) — appeared in three more late ’80s films: Magic Emerald (aka Hell Hunters), Instant Rage, and Angel Force. Oh, and something called Advent Commando 5: Sweet Inferno. And Ho made all of them. Did Bishop star in one — Advent Commando 5 or Soldier Terminator — then got spliced in to “starring” in the others?

Hey, it’s a Godfrey Ho film, so your guess is as good as ours — and it’s probably right, just like ours.

Now, for that pesky title prefix of “American Force”: Okay, the alternate titles on this are American Force and American Mission. As for the “American Force 4” prefix: we have no idea what the other three films are in the “series.” Chances are, with Ho, there’s no continuity between the four films. Only the Kobol Lords know what films ended up with the “Advent Commando” prefixes. I gave this perplexing celluloid titling enigma 15 minutes of investigation . . . and came up with a goose egg. It’s — as with all Godfrey Ho films — a mystery. And none of his films should exist, yet they do. And we talk about them. And they all made money. So the joke’s on us. Are YOU teaching school at Hong Kong Polytech?

There’s no trailer to share, but we found two freebie streaming copies. Hey, it’s Godfrey Ho and video junkoids love ’em, so, of course, there’s more than one upload. Soldier Terminators is on You Tube HERE and HERE.

About the Author: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook. He also writes for B&S About Movies.