Dark and downbeat war epic which is a far cry from Antonio Margheriti's frivolous earlier offerings along the line of CODENAME WILDGEESE and TIGER JOE. Here Fabrizio De Angelis is determined to make his film as gritty as he possibly can so there are no happy endings or surprise victories. It's like some unrelenting horror film and, be warned, is pretty grim to watch! Don't get me wrong, though, as the film still offers up lots of mindless action. We get exploding helicopters, shoot-outs, dozens of bad guys being mown down at a time by a single soldier, shacks exploding, violent torture flashbacks, boats and vehicles exploding, chases, grenades, guards being blown from their towers and prison breaks. The case with the action in these films is, if you've seen one you've seen 'em all. The most popular is Margheriti's THE LAST HUNTER, mainly because it was just about the first real Italian gung-ho jungle adventure movie made and many more followed in its wake.What COBRA MISSION does have is a great cast to recommend it. The four heroes are made up of the ageing Christopher Connelly (who died of cancer a few years later), European hearthrob Oliver Tobias, John Wayne's son Ethan (!) and genre stalwart John Steiner, here playing an American after many years as a Brit in Margheriti's movies. Support comes from the reliable Donald Pleasence in a small role as a priest who doubles as an arms supplier, Margheriti's regular Luciano Pigozzi in a tiny role as one of the parents of the P.O.W.s and former strongman Gordon Mitchell as the tough Colonel Mortimer, surprisingly not playing the bad guy this time around as is usual for him (well, he is bad, kind of, but he's just obeying orders and the script gives him a human character). Finally we have action director Enzo G. Castellari cameoing as a cohort who helps our heroes on their mission.The film opens with a prison escapee being mown down by enemy soldiers. This same kind of image recurrs throughout the movie giving it a hard edge, and it's a more thoughtful film than the rest. Most of the characters we see are tired, sweaty, drugged up or simply peed off. A shocking flashback shows one of the men being bloodily whipped while tied naked to a tree. Probably the film's most harrowing moment for me was when the Vietcong girl turns around and shoots one of the men in cold blood, at the same time displaying the scars on her chest which are a result of the American napalm. This comes as a real surprise and was totally unexpected on my part, although in retrospect with similar scenes in APOCALYPSE NOW and the like I really should have seen it coming.Despite offering up plenty of cheesy action for genre lovers, COBRA MISSION is a very downbeat movie so you won't come away with a smile at the end. It may make you think though, which is why I recommend it. A sequel followed shortly afterwards, which ISN'T a surprise to me!

A group of disgruntled Vietnam vets, led by Mike (Wayne), Roger (Connelly) and James (Steiner) decide to go back to 'Nam and find, then free, missing POW's. Once "in country", they get their guns and ammo from Father Lenoir (Pleasence) , a priest willing to help the "five men against all", to quote the Italian title of the film. Once loaded up with their supplies, it's like the war never ended, as Viet Cong soldiers battle them every step of the way to protect their camps, seemingly unaware that there had been a ten-year break in the action. Naturally, the discovery of the POW's leads to a government conspiracy that goes all the way to the top - and is the gruff Colonel Mortimer (Mitchell) involved? Will the men free the hostages and make it back home? And if they do, what then? Operation Nam (or Cobra Mission) is a standard jungle action/drama you've seen before, but it does have its moments, as well as a cast familiar to anyone who loves Italian exploitation films. Besides familiar faces Steiner, Connelly, and Luciano Pigozzi (AKA Alan Collins), we also have cameos by Enzo G. Castellari and Ennio Girolami, and the whole affair was directed by Fabrizio De Angelis (the infamous "Larry Ludman") without much panache. He's a better producer than director, most people would agree.While the idea of moody, misfit Vietnam vets adjusting to a changed society is a fascinating idea for a film, these ideas are only touched upon in the first half. The second half is the mindless shooting, guard tower-falling, hut-exploding, grenade-throwing , bar-fighting action expected of this type of film. It would have been nice if the psychology and emotion of the men was explored more, but perhaps I'm asking too much of a churn-'em-out genre film such as this.In the plus column we have the fact that the film was made pre-political correctness, a character plays Pole Position on his Atari 2600, and one character insults another by calling him, and I quote, a "Suckfish". Speaking of awesome dialogue, we also get an interesting glimpse into the future: right before one of the protagonists throws a grenade at a baddie, he says "You've got mail". This comment, which precedes AOL by many years, must have served as an inspiration to that company. Not to mention inspiring the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan crapfest, as that was a "bomb" as well! Ha! In the minus column we have the silly, Southern yokel-y dubbing for John Steiner's character, and some overall malaise. But John Wayne's son is in it! Anybody? Anybody? If you liked American Commandos (1985), you'll also probably like this film, as it has a similar concept and execution, but this is not a prime example of Italian action.For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Perhaps the main appeal in watching De Angelis's films (for me) is in coming in with low expectations and every now and then being surprised by how well some of the elements work. COBRA MISSION is a weird example because it features an excellent cast of B-movie stalwarts and even some cameos by Enzo G. Castellari, Luciano Pigozzi, Gordon Mitchell, and possibly Dardano Sacchetti. Francesco De Masi composed a moving, yet jarring and unmemorable orchestral score for the film but it is seldom used in favor of stock music from De Masi's previous films with De Angelis (a good call maybe, but distracting).There's lots of action and explosions but most of the time it's ruined by veteran producer Fabrizio De Angelis's budget-minded approach to filmmaking. At times the film is edited and shot in a very hands-off and lazy fashion. For some reason De Angelis likes to end his scenes with something exploding, but unlike in THUNDER WARRIOR uses his slow motion really infrequently. Some of the non-slow-mo explosions don't look very dramatic at all, and it seems like an incredible waste considering how much De Angelis must have dished out on the transportation and production costs associated with making the Philippines look like Vietnam.Maybe the most surprising aspect of the film is its fairly well-done downbeat ending. Christopher Connelly does some pretty hilarious scenery chewing, but in the end the audience really does feel sympathy for Ethan Wayne as the soldier that got left behind. The final shot of Wayne kneeling in the field while the camera pulls away from him to reveal a huge army of advancing Vietnamese soldiers surrounding him is one of the best and most memorable shots I've seen in a low-budget action movie.As is the case with DEADLY IMPACT, THUNDER WARRIOR, and THE MANHUNT, it's a mid-80's De Angelis film which I know is bad, but for some reason I just love watching it over and over.

This is one of the movies that I'm attatched some affection for, it is quite gritty and shows the fact that it is quite low budget but this doesn't harm it to much. It has a nice healthy amount of action and only a small amount of gore which is justified. The acting is acceptable and competent although some of the lines just stink "you've never seen an american before, this close". But if you can get through that it's a nice if quite bleak action adventure about (quoting from the EIV trailer) 'Vietnam, ten years after. The war is officially over, but the fight for freedom continues. The veil of secrecy that blinds the truth is about to be ripped apart. The soldiers that didn't return are soon to be avenged, while those remain alive at last taste freedom. Four men in a private army. Four men with one ideal. Four men who will change the meaning of bravery. They will bring their own kind of justice, they will bring their own kind of hate, they will bring freedom, they are Cobra Mission. The war is over but the fight will continue' At least that's the plan. I would certainly recommend that you see it, if you can find it. Also to any distributors out there, any chance of a double bill DVD of Cobra Mission 1 & 2 with audio commentaries and stuff?