This was the first of a German-produced war trilogy by leading Italian "Euro-Cult" exponent Margheriti; I actually watched the follow-ups (COMMANDO LEOPARD [1985] and THE COMMANDER [1988]) prior to it but, as often happens, the original is still the best (if still not saying very much in this case). To begin with, it has the best cast: Lewis Collins (star of all three films), Lee Van Cleef and Klaus Kinski (who also turn up in the third and second entry respectively, the latter in a different role since he dies here), Ernest Borgnine, Mimsy Farmer and even that "Euro-Cult" stalwart noted for his resemblance to Peter Lorre i.e. Luciano Pigozzi aka Alan Collins, albeit uncredited (he did similar duties, again playing someone else, in one of the sequels). The title would seem to aspire towards a cut-rate version of THE WILD GEESE (1978), itself followed by an inferior (and entirely unrelated) second helping a year after this one; anyway, the war we are dealing with here is not strategic but moral – since the mission involves annihilating an opium compound deep into the jungles of the Far East (thankfully, we are spared the sight of slithering reptiles which is usually obligatory with this type of setting, and one of the sequels did in fact have such a scene). Collins is the tough leader of a crack squad who typically rubs his men the wrong way but eventually earns their respect; the aging Cleef is a helicopter pilot(!) who took the job in exchange for a prison sentence hanging over his head (besides, he can handle himself on a battlefield); Kinski and Borgnine are, ostensibly, the men who oversee the plan and put it in motion respectively…but the former, along with Collins' own superior, are revealed to have ulterior motives (incidentally, the hero's own son had lost his life to drugs); Farmer and Pigozzi, then, are people the team meets on the way – she is a journalist captured and rendered a junkie by the native militia later freed by Collins, and he a priest who also administers medicine to the wounded but winds up literally crucified for his beliefs. The film emerges to be undeniably proficient in the action sequences (especially the scene in which Kinski perishes via flame thrower in a large fuel depository – a set which would actually be re-used in its immediate follow-up!) but is otherwise fairly routine, indeed clichéd; mind you, it offers mild entertainment while it is on (particularly the verbal sparring between Kinski and Borgnine) but is in no way memorable and certainly far below the work Margheriti could turn out in his heyday (though he had always been somewhat erratic).

Woohoo! Another Antonio Margheriti jungle actioner, this one starring Lewis Collins (from Commando Leopard!) and Klaus Kinski (from Commando Leopard!) and Lee Van Cleef (from Death Rides a Horse etc) and Ernest Borgnine (from also good eighties action film Skeleton Coast) and Mimsy Farmer (from the Black Cat, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, that Pink Floyd film and other stuff). I'm knackered from thinking of all those films those folks were in. Goodnight! This one isn't as good as Margheriti's The Last Hunter, but then I'm hard pressed to think of a better action film than that, but it's on a par with Commando Leopard, suffering slightly from the lack of John Stiener being a Glaswegian, but then helped by a depressingly old looking Lee Van Cleef as a helicopter pilot and helped immensely by eternally middle aged and jolly Ernest Borgnine. These guys are all on hand to help out Lewis Collins, a soldier heading for the jungle of some country I couldn't quite figure out in order to destroy drug factories! Collins and Cleef and a few other jungle warfare guys head off for the jungle and start blowing the absolute crap out of everything, picking up a junky Mimsy Farmer on the way. She's doesn't have too much to do in this one I'm afraid, but then again it's all about the action and less about the acting, so let's get to the bit where I mention the helicopter with the flamethrower attached.

Near the end the get double crossed by either Borgnine or Kinski (you guess which one) and can only escape by wasting scores of bad guys and countryside with a flame thrower attached to a helicopter. Margheriti gets to break out his famous miniature sets at this point (and also during a really daft car chase near the start) but you can't mark the guy down for effort.

This is yet another impossible-not-to-enjoy Italian trash film made by one of Taratino's heroes. I wonder why he never takes the hint and makes a decent action film with barely any dialogue?

Here's yet another jungle adventure yarn from Antonio Margheriti, following on from his previous Warbeck quartet. While this movie lacks Warbeck, it makes up for his absence by having a great exploitation cast to die for. I thoroughly enjoyed this action-packed adventure yarn which may be cheesy, far-fetched and predictable, but is nonetheless violent, and showcases some top actors going through their motions as they struggle for survival in the jungle. Probably the main disappointment is the music, which, as the credits proudly proclaim, is produced on Yamaha keyboards! The film begins with a shoot-em-up in the dark scene. I don't know what relevance it bears to the rest of the film, but it starts the move in an action-packed way so I'll let it pass. We are initially introduced to the characters at a bigwig meeting presided over by the immortal Ernest Borgnine. Why immortal? Well, he always seems to keep on making films and never letting his age worry him! Borgnine here is the team leader, so his job is to fret behind a desk for the film's course. Sadly he doesn't engage in any of the action in the movie.

Pretty soon, Margheriti's obsession with miniature effects comes into play during a car chase, in which cars fly up the walls of a tunnel. Hilariously these are matchbox models by the look of it, and are easily spotted due to the lack of people in the supposed vehicles! Pointless stuff, but it's fun anyway. Shortly afterwards, our hero Wesley (Lewis Collins) assembles his team and ventures into the jungle at night. The first action scene is an attack on a village, and contains a hilarious moment where a soldier jumps through the roof of a thatched hut and gets a huge spike through his arm! Surely the door would have been a better bet.

The film gets better as it goes on, and the next action sequence is to steal a helicopter and is very well done. It isn't anything you won't have seen before, but there's lots of bloody death and incessant shots of guards tumbling out of guard towers. Oh yeah, and around a dozen bad guys get knives thrown into their chests for variety. The film climaxes at around the halfway mark with a successful attack on the enemy base which culminates in our heroes' helicopter being destroyed - big surprise.

They then have to make their way on foot to another enemy base and destroy that as well. Along the way they stop briefly at a jungle church (!) run by none other than Margheriti's old friend Luciano Pigozzi as the priest. Pigozzi is just one of the familiar faces to reappear from Margheriti's previous movies. The native guy from TIGER JOE is also here. Keep your eyes peeled and you'll see the witch doctor from HUNTERS OF THE GOLDEN COBRA as a prisoner in one brief shot. This goes to show that, like with Hammer Studios, Margheriti tended to employ the same actors again and again in his films.

Well, the enemy shows up and Pigozzi gets attacked in the film's most horrific scene, enlivened by the quality acting. This is probaby one of Pigozzi's finest moments. Our heroes continue, their numble dwindling all the while, stopping briefly to blow up a (miniature) train and unsuccessfully negotiate a minefield. The excellent finale sees an all-out assault on the enemy base, and a surprise traitor attacking.

Lewis Collins is rather bland as the film's hero, but not a total loss. He tries to be David Warbeck for a lot of the time but doesn't have the same laidback charm. Spaghetti western icon Lee Van Cleef pops up in one of his last appearances as an ex-con helicopter pilot and delivers a solid performance as usual. Borgnine's role is limited but he's there for name value alone. Former giallo star Mimsy Farmer is also around as an opium addict-turned-gunfighting hero. Finally, we have Klaus Kinski doing his patented psycho shtick, at one point drilling a corpse with his machine gun and going berserk! Good stuff, and a fine action/war film which is easy on the brain but looks good and has lots of shooting and explosions for those who like them. Personally, I found this to be a superior action flick and I recommend it to all.