Last to Surrender (1999)

Tagline:

First to Fight… Last to Surrender!

Movie Review:

This movie makes a decidedly strong first impression! Right out of the gate it's clear that being politically-correct is not a top priority, it's just over five minutes when the first gun fight takes place and when you hit the nine minute mark you've got car chase action raging across your screen!

The set-up is tried and true; Nick Ford (Roddy Piper) is a cop on the job with his partner trying to bring down some bad guys when things go wrong and the partner gets killed. Ford chases after the bad guy alongside of a particularly skilled waiter who just won’t quit! The killer gets away, Ford and the waiter get into it a little bit, and then you get confirmation of what you surely already knew… That relentless waiter is an undercover Chinese cop named Wu Yin (Han Soo Ong).

From here the Red Heat influence begins to show itself in a big way. Ford is told by his superiors that he has no choice but to partner up with Wu Yin in order to capture the villainous murderer who got away because, as it’s explained, they are now the only two people to know what he looks like. The ‘he’ in question being the infamous drug kingpin known only as ‘The Tiger’. Wu Yin has been working this case for his own government for some time while Ford now has a personal stake with wanting to claim vengeance for his fallen friend and all. So, partners it is! From here the hunt is on and the action, though filtered with comedic banter between the two leads, is frequent and exciting.

The uneasy alliance is tested early and often but, somehow, our heroes still manage to stay on the right path. Sure, they might fight (a LOT) and go their own ways every now and then, but they always end up back together. Of course, the realization that they need each other slowly begins to creep in. Much to the chagrin of Ford! Things flip a little bit when the dynamic duo heads off to Burma together where Wu Yin is more familiar with how things are done and, obviously, blends in a little more convincingly. One thing leads to another and it appears that Ford and Wu Yin are only a plane ride away from finding what they are looking for. Too bad the plane has been sabotaged and crashes into the jungle! Pilot dead, guide dead, our well-travelled pillars of justice are not about to give up! After all, the movie IS called LAST TO SURRENDER!

And so it goes… Things might not take many surprising turns from this point on but, no matter, it’s still a blast to watch! Piper is more than comfortable with this type of character and knows how to get the most out of it. It’s a pleasure to watch his Nick Ford switch from that charmingly foul-mouthed and pure-hearted cop to a crusty and frustrated jungle dweller forced to eat snake to survive! And let’s not forget Han Soo Ong! He can be seen in such films as Bloodsport 2, Tiger Claws II, and others. That strong physical presence he has along with a pleasant personality that is constantly tested by his counterpart's aggressive smack-talking make him perfectly suited for the good guy straight man role here.

There’s fluidity to the attractive cinematography, an excellent soundtrack by Norman Oresntein, a healthy amount of fully-packed squibs, lots of exploding huts, and would you believe they even manage to squeeze in a love interest? Yep, she’s played by Angela Tong. Piper fans should not hesitate to grab this one. A solid example of Le Cinema De Boom!

Reviewed by Xtro the Mutilator

Notes:

Directed by David Mitchell
Starring - Roddy Piper - Han Soo Ong
1997 (year of production) – R – 94 MINUTES

Platinum Disc Corporation DVD
Extras: Text Synopsis – Trailer – Uncut Trailer – Cast Bios – Photo Gallery –
(Fascinating) Production Notes

• Movie is set in Seattle and Burma but was filmed in Canada and Indonesia.
• This was Han Soo Ong's first good guy leading man role and it was also his last released film to date.
• Director David Mitchell has been working steadily in the industry since the early 80’s.
• Composer Norman Orenstein has worked on over 80 projects.
• During filming there was a real plane crash that left a couple of crew members injured and one dead.

Trailer:

The Bad Pack (1997)

Tagline:

Things always heat up when old friends get together!

Movie Review:

What we have here is a movie that takes its influences from places as varied as Seven Samurai, The Wild Bunch, and The Expendables (either one). What? You're still reading? Not dropping this in a digital basket already? Okay, we'll continue.

Close to the Mexican border lies a small town called Los Robles. The people who populate this out of the way place fall into the category of simple folk. They work, they farm, the go to church, they live their lives. They aren't all legal but are generally left alone as long as they work and keep to themselves. Close-by is a camp of militant white supremacists that call themselves the Sons of Texas. Needless to say, they cause a lot of trouble for the peaceful people of the nearby town. And trouble here would be defined as stopping by about once a month to plunder, pillage, and kill.

The poor people of Los Robles have had all they can stands. They can't stands no more! So, they get all the money together that they can, fourteen grand, and send a couple of representatives off to Los Angeles to hire a guy they read about in the back of a magazine. It doesn't go well. After a visual illustration of the DT's, the secretary informs the travellers that she's heard about a man named McQue (Robert Davi) who, it's told, is pretty damn tough. They go to a diner where he is said to hang out but they don't know who they're looking for. Figuring it out becomes easy once a group of robbers enters and starts to harass the quiet guy in the corner. Short version; some are shot, some are beaten down with a cane, and all are left on the ground. Yep, they've found their man.

It takes a serious amount of pleading and no small expression of heartfelt desperation to convince McQue to help, but they do. Like he says, it's not going to be easy to find people to risk their lives for fourteen thousand dollars. But, there's those stories about the millions stashed away at the baddies compound... That went a long way in convincing our beleaguered bike mechanic that stepping up was the right thing to do. There's three weeks until the next raid, give or take, and McQue tells the pair he'll meet them at their home in twelve days as he needs time to assemble a team.

The next section of the film is all about the introduction and assemblage of the characters that will be taking on the mission. And, man oh man, what a group it is! These are some of the most pleasing scenes in the movie as we meet all of McQue's old friends... Dash Simms (Roddy Piper) will be the driver. Kurt Mayer (Ralf Moeller) is definitely going to be the muscle. His skills as a spy and anti-terrorist specialist will no doubt come in quite handy. Now it's off to the mental hospital to grab the prerequisite crazy man, Hoffman (Patrick Dollaghan). Guess who handles the explosives? Yep. Time now to meet Remi Sykes (Shawn Huff). She's the attractive and edgy bad-assassin lady pictured up above there. You're still welcome. They have already picked up a tag-a-long in Jeremy Britt (Larry B. Scott) and it's a good thing, he handles information and travel. Brent Huff's character, Callin, shows up later on. Remember, he was behind the camera this time! So, there you have it! A top-shelf concentration of lower-budgeted action bad-assery!

The team heads down to Los Robles where they are greeted by the like locals the same way Elvis might be when touching down in a big city somewhere. These planning stages give us time to get to know what everybody is about a little bit better. Characterisation! Nice. Also, it's around this time that Mister Huff joins up. He was part of the problem, he had his reasons, but is more than willing to become part of the Pack after being left for dead on a deserted road. Why? Disclosure of that is a one-way ticket to spoilertown. I won't be taking you there, I don't do that. Regardless, his insider knowledge ends up being as big a help as you might expect later on. The 'Sons’ get wind of the mercenaries’ presence and send a small biker squad over to handle things. The ones that aren't lying on the ground or treated to high caliber ear-piercing are quickly sent home with their collective tale between their legs. This does NOT go over well with the head dicktator (purposeful spelling). Shortly after this point... It is ON!

What a fantastic good time! The energy is always high, even in quieter moments, and the whole presentation is surprisingly solid. Brent Huff demonstrates considerable skill as a director, it's filled to bursting with colourful characters in interesting situations, strikes the perfect balance between disarming humour and well-armed excitement, and showcases an effective and properly applied soundtrack backing the on-screen action. Positives are many, complaints are few if any. Over the years, reading other assessments, the common complaint is that this plays like an old episode of the A-Team. Some influence is there, sure, but it's not like this is the only movie to do that, now is it? No. And besides, look at the pictures, see what I'm getting at? A-Team was never like that. And for the record, I like this movie a whole heck of a lot more than the A-Team movie that we ended up with. I'll take BAD PACK any day. ANY DAY!

I have this theory that some people like to hate on movies like this because they feel like they should. I won't say more for fear of the several angry and alienating paragraphs that would surely follow. Seriously though, this is an excellent movie of its kind and if you're a fan of any of the cast, or all of them, you do NOT want to miss THE BAD PACK!

Reviewed by Xtro the Mutilator

Trivia and Notes:

• This was Brent Huff's second film in the director's chair but far from his last. He's still directing today and has projects coming even as I write this. 
• Brent Huff also wrote THE BAD PACK. 
• Yep, Shawn Huff is indeed Mrs. Brent Huff. They've worked together several times. 
• Cameo: Look for The Road Warrior's Vernon Wells as one of the bikers. 
• Cameo: Look for Clifton Collins Jr. as one of the townspeople. 
• Cameo: Look for character actor Joe Unger as the fight promoter.
• Ralf Moeller has had quite a career but is probably most recognisable to most as having played Conan in the TV series of the same name. 
• Sven Ole Thorsen has also had quite a busy career but will also be best known to many by his Conan association. He had roles in both of the original Conan films. There aren't too many 80's Schwarzenegger films that he wasn't involved with. 
• In Moeller's introduction, he is seen fighting a man mountain in a human cockfight. That opponent's real name was Jeep Swenson. Jeep's career in movies and TV was starting to take off at this time but he sadly died very shortly after making THE BAD PACK. 
• Larry B. Scott was famous as the effeminate Lamar Latrelle from the Revenge of the Nerds films. The first name of Dollaghan's character in this movie is Latrelle. 
• Extras details: The cast bios are light, to put it politely, and feature only three players. The text synopsis is wrong.  
• DVD shown and reviewed is the original Canadian release from 1999. The American DVD did not come along until 2004 and features slightly different packaging/art and, though out of print, can still be found for purchase at places like Amazon. There is a German PAL Region 2 DVD from Splendid Entertainment that, depending on where you look, promises a 1.85:1 widescreen image and an English language track. I found out the hard way that neither one of those things is true.

Trailer:

Back in Action (1993)

Tagline:

One cop. One Vigilante. One Mission. One Chance.

Back of DVD:

An undercover drug bust in L.A. goes badly wrong. The most notorious drug smuggling ring in Los Angeles, the Kasanjian gang, is duped into making a deal with the undercover cops. When the ruse goes astray, an out and out gunfight ensues. Los Angeles Police Detective Rossi (Roddy Piper) witnesses his partner brutally murdered in the melee as the gangsters escape. Rossi isn't the only man determined to destroy the gang. Bill (Billy Blanks), an ex-member of Special Forces and a martial arts expert, is also after the gang when his sister disappears after getting embroiled in the gang's affairs. The stage is set for an all-out confrontation...

Movie Review:

What a fantastic duo - Billy Blanks, the inventor of Tae-bo martial arts and star of Bloodfist, Wrong Bet/Lionheart and King of the Kickboxers, and Rowdy Roddy Piper, an 80's WWF wrestler and star of John Carpenter's They Live. With those two on the cover you can expect some arse-kicking action. This can't possibly go wrong.

Piper is going undercover at a drug deal with his partner and backup. As Roddy Piper bluffs his way through the deal Billy Blanks shows up in his cab (he's a cab driver, and his name in this is, creatively, Billy. They wanted to call him Ernie but Blanks tae-bo'd the Producer to the head. Probably.) His sister, Tara, is in one of the gang member's cars quietly minding her own business but Billy wants to save her (she's in with the wrong crowd, etc.). He upsets a thug in the way by beating him senseless and accidentally firing his machine gun. "Setup!" cries the lead bad guy in sunglasses (we learn later his name is Chakka) and it's on for young and old. There's a huge gun fight and in the process a barrel gets drilled with holes and water leaks out of it. Also Piper's partner gets shot. Not only shot but Chakka - after ensuring that Piper is watching - slits his throat. Cold, man. Later the escaped gang members get to a boat and Chakka kills one of his wounded men. Real cold.

Blanks escapes with his sister. A reporter, Helen (Bobbie Phillips, who went on to star as a cyborg in a Die Hard ripoff called Chameleon, and its two sequels. Must track those down!) starts asking Piper questions but he avoids her. He's sleeping with her later; not sure how that happened, I must have blinked and missed it. Anyway the escaped gang members hand over the drugs and money to their boss Kasajian who orders Billys sister killed because they assume she was the snitch. When Blanks turns up at a bar looking for his sister he ends up getting in a three way fight with her sisters boyfriend and gang associates as well as Piper who is at the same bar with Helen. It's pretty funny seeing a tae-bo vs. wrestling punch-up. Piper says he "hate's that karate shit" and tries to take Blanks in. Instead tables and chairs get thrown around and Blanks escapes. Then Piper buys Helen a cactus which she says is "sweet". Sorry but I found that hilarious.

I know some movies write up that you are about to see some "non-stop action" but in this case it's actually completely accurate. Whenever Blanks is on the screen he is beating somebody senseless. Piper gets his share of the action as well but it's really Billy Blanks' martial arts prowess on display here and the director knows this and focuses on it. Twin henchmen in matching blue wrestling singlets, matching zebra pants and matching Freddie Mercury moustaches come to Billy's place to kill his sister, to which he thrashes them in his white denim shorts with an ironing board. I rewound this scene and watched it again.

All the best fights are played in slow motion so you can see Billys' foot connect with some chumps face in clear detail. Blanks goes to a drag race to find the henchman and beats up a guy pissing on a wall and steals his hoody. He immediately fits in with the crowd in that hoody, but Chakka who is at the race doesn't buy it and another fight ensues. Blanks gut-punches a massive dude to the ground and Piper shows up, let's Billy into his car and they both get caught up in a mad car chase that ends in explosions when Piper blows the pursuers car up.

The action really just doesn't stop. Billy goes to all the Kasajian fronts (a car chop shop, and some sort of Japanese tea house/brothel?) and messes the places and occupants right up. He always tags 'Tara' on the wall before he leaves, a nice note for Kasajian. Blanks justifies it all by saying he is "protecting home and family". Blanks and Piper keep crossing paths, one saving the other one's arse, until finally they agree that their reasons are the same - revenge - and work together to take down Kasajian.

As well as kicking arse the movie has some pretty funny moments. Piper busts into Kasajian's house while he is having acupuncture done. Piper silently takes over the acupuncture from the doctor at gun point and rams a needle into Kasajian. When asked who he is, he responds with "I'm the apprentice". Blanks busts up a card game by shooting blindly through the wall and demanding "I want Tara back. One of you will live! One of you will live!", so the quickest guy blows the other players away to ensure his own safety. Then Blanks knocks him out anyway. Blank's 'action face' is hysterical too (see last screenshot).

Blanks really can't act but it doesn't matter, Piper can get by okay. This movie is so much fun and keeps giving and giving, never once being let down by too much plot exposition or dull drama. Lots of slow-mo fights, lots of explosions and LOTS of shootouts. It even has a fantastic final climax with Blanks and Piper in separate fights; Piper with his fists and Blanks with twin machine guns. This IS the movie you want to watch tonight with other aficionados of bad action. They don't get much better than this. Bring the popcorn and enjoy the ride.

The Video:

I reviewed the fullscreen R2 disc put out by Boulevard Entertainment. The video and audio are perfectly fine; the picture isn't that sharp or detailed but the colours are nice and the appearance overall is pleasing. The audio is clear and the gunfire and explosions dynamic. IMDB lists this as filmed in 1.85:1 ratio; if that is correct then I didn't notice any footage obviously missing off the side of the screen, and I don't think there is any DVD release in that scope available.

The only thing letting down the presentation is the god-awful menu they used on the DVD. It looks like it was made with some sort of My First DVD program, with a bad animated sky background, jerky-motion preview of the movie in the centre and soothing elevator music playing in the background. There is even a menu option for watching the trailer but it is not selectable! Just lazy. Runtime 88 minutes.

Sourced From:

eBay UK for $5 + shipping.

Trailer:

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