Leofwine_draca STRIKE COMMANDO 2 is another crazy jungle adventure film from Bruno Mattei, the undisputed king of Italian trash cinema. This one was shot in the Philippines like its predecessor, so you see folk like Vic Diaz turn up in minor roles. The film sees the wooden Stallone impersonator Brent Huff struggling to rescue a colleague from sinister terrorists, but there are twists and turns in store as well as a whole lot of cheesy and repetitive action sequences.Yep, this is another RAMBO rip-off from the late 1980s, with the addition of a scene or two outrageously stolen from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK; there's even a Nazi guy impersonating Ronald Lacey from that film. The most bizarre thing about this sequel is the presence of Richard Harris in support, certainly the biggest star I've seen appearing in Italian trash cinema. No wonder he gave up acting for a while afterwards.

Comeuppance Reviews Michael Ransom is back! This time around, he's played by Brent Huff, and he really has his hands full for this particular adventure. His old Major in Vietnam, Vic Jenkins (Harris) has been kidnapped, and his captors want ten million dollars in diamonds in return for his release. The baddie doing all the dirty work representing the terrorists who not only kidnap people, but have a large heroin-making facility, is named Kramet (Davidson). He wears a white suit in the dead of summer and has an army of ninjas backing him up wherever he goes. Soon, Ransom ends up teaming up with local tavern owner Rosanna Boom (Stavin) and CIA guy Kelly Sellers (Vanni) (who is coming up with these names?) - to ultimately shut down the drugs operation, run by the nefarious Huan To (Diaz, because this movie was shot in the Philippines) and save Jenkins, but some twists and turns might say otherwise. Will Ransom pay the ransom for Jenkins? Find out today! While Strike Commando 2 has some good moments, overall we prefer the first entry in this two-part series. It must have been tough for Huff to fill the shoes of Reb Brown, and he even tries his hand at a Reb-style scream, or, Reb-el yell as we call it, towards the end of the movie. While it would have been a perfectly serviceable scream in its own right, compared to the master Reb, it falls short. But the main problem is that there are too many "wacky" musical stings, which highlight some attempted comedy. Usually this comes in the form of the typical bickering between Brent Huff and Stavin, who plays the stereotype "nagging woman" role. That is, until they can learn to get along. Adding some loopy clarinets and silent movie-style sped-up fights detract from the intensity the movie should have.But there are plenty of positives to be found as well: many high-quality explosions are on show, and of course the main victims of these blow-ups are huts. There is some funny dubbing and some unintentional "laffs" as well. Naturally, there is the prerequisite torture scene, and in this jungle, many guard towers fall, or, poor unfortunate watchmen fall out of them. And lest we forget Richard Harris, of Richard Harris fame, whose presence here is inexplicable - but extremely welcome. Maybe the Academy Award voters held this against him and that's why he was a nominee but never a winner? Regardless, this is Harris as fans want to see him, and, like a true professional, he doesn't treat the material as inferior. He gives a strong, classy performance.Michael Ransom has some UNFINISHED BUSINESS - with his automatic rifle and his missile launcher. Despite some missteps, if you can see SC2, do go forth and watch. Don't leave in a Huff, check it out if you get the chance.

HaemovoreRex Brent Huff takes over the role of Michael Ransom, formerly played by Reb Brown, in this light hearted sequel to the original film. It's basically more of the same i.e BIG and beautiful explosions (a staple in Bruno Mattei action flicks), lots of macho posturing, our hero screaming his lungs out whenever he fires off a few rounds from his favoured M-60 and especially in the case of the film in question, some absolutely awful and inappropriate 'comedy' music! In fact, as regards the comedic value, the film plays out more overtly like a deliberate comedy throughout than its prequel which seemed to start out with serious intention before descending into an out and out hilarious laugh fest (with some possible debate as to if it was entirely intentional or not)Added to the mix this time around we have a sadistic panama wearing Russian who has a curious predilection to garrote his victims, a small army of ninja (!) and the presence of Richard Harris (!!!!) – Yes THE Richard Harris! It's a real credit to him that even considering the material he found himself lumbered with here he still gives a great performance without hamming it up and actually lends a touch of genuine class to a film that certainly doesn't deserve it. This is not to say that the film is bad however, far from it, for although this is a HUGELY derivative movie (more about this in a moment) it's certainly never dull and more than achieves what it sets out to accomplish i.e simply to entertain.Now, as to the aforementioned derivative nature of this, well put it this way, whilst these films are very usually shall we say politely, 'heavily influenced' by bigger budgeted American fodder, the movie in question, directly rips off amongst the most scenes (scene for scene) from other films that I think I have ever ever witnessed. As examples, obviously Rambo being a big influence here, we have a few direct re-enactments of moments from that movie in addition to and more shockingly, a number of scenes directly from Lethal Weapon including the electrocution torture scene and the staff/tonfa combat climatic fight sequence. Hell, there's even the drinking game from Raiders Of The Lost Ark lifted here! When I say 'lifted' I really do mean DIRECTLY lifted! For instance, in the previously mentioned Lethal Weapon torture scene, even the exact method of our hero's escape is copied i.e. by breaking his tormentor's neck with his legs!Back to the more positive points of the movie now though, there's some great stunt work on display throughout the film and the action sequences are competently handled (although the final showdown being so obviously sped up does come across as odd to say the very least)I particularly liked the macho slow mo shots of our man firing off his weapon towards the end of the film with the obligatory close ups of the spent rounds flying out and bouncing onto the floor whilst our hero hollers at the top of his lungs – cool stuff!I must say that overall, for me at least, this movie wasn't nearly as much fun as the original but that I would still nonetheless recommend it as well worth a watch if you wish to see a lighthearted take on the genre.Now, any chance of Strike Commando 3 Mr. Mattei?

gridoon More like a collection of ripped-off scenes (just to name a few of the "sources": "Predator", "Rambo II", "Lethal Weapon") than an actual sequel to "Strike Commando". Not as enjoyable as that film, anyway, but still worthy of two stars, because for those who can enjoy "Strike Commando" this won't be so bad after all. However, the villains are too stupid to be considered a threat and Brent Huff is an actor with all the talent of, say, Lou Ferrigno.