MCBAIN is another hugely entertaining B-movie thriller from James Glickenhaus, the man who bought us THE EXTERMINATOR a decade before. This film is just as fun, and almost as violent, although it lacks the nasty, gritty edge of that movie. Things begin with an outrageously over-the-top Vietnam flashback which outdoes RAMBO in terms of body count, before moving into the present-day story. The corrupt president of Colombia is ripe for a coup, but when a rebel leader dies in the attempt, mercenary Christopher Walken is called in to sort things out. He assembles his old team to help out, which includes B-film stalwarts Steve James (in one of his last roles) and Michael Ironside (as completely bad-ass as ever). What follows is a string of South American action set-pieces, involving aerial combat, village ambushes, enemy compound attacks, and machine gunning and rocket launching galore. It's cheesy and low rent, but with tough guy Walken at the helm, the beautiful Maria Conchita Alonso (of THE RUNNING MAN fame) at his side, and Victor Argo as the imposing villain of the hour, it's never less than entertaining.

I don't have much to add to my summary, this film ranks right up the there with Top Gun as one of the funniest films ever made while not trying to be. I for one don't think it should be taken seriously when watched as it is very enjoyable.I don't think it brings Christopher Walken's reputation down either as his reputation was on the wane back then anyway. It took Pulp Fiction to wake him from the slumber he had been in. As for Michael Ironside, he has been in some of the great funny while not trying to be serious films. Total Recall, Top Gun. What I think is amazing is the budget this movie had. The scenes and actors and explosions etc. are quite amazing so obviously someone liked it quite a lot and was willing to risk a lot of money. Whoever he or she was I like them because I love this film! If anyone reads this looking for information on McBain (and I seriously doubt there'll be too many) just know that it is a hilarious movie and should be viewed with a smile on your face!

I expected worse when I picked this one up for 99p in the local supermarket - cheap effects, awful plot and other things came to mind. Luckily, it wasn't as bad as I thought - the budget must have been considerable, the plot is OK (well, as OK as action flicks can be) and over all it's quite entertaining. Walken has this screen presence which, even in this rather "early" work, just comes over very well. All the locations look well done, and nothing indicates that this movie was done "on the cheap" - not very often that you find something like this in the bargain bin. If you want to add a cheap to buy action flick to your collection, without missing big explosions, then this is for you.

I purchased this film on the cheap in a sale, having read the back of the DVD case and assuming that either way I can't lose, it if was rubbish then no loss, if it was any good then bargain...Then I watched it...I am normally a fan of Christopher Walken, but in this film he commanded very little screen presence, seeming not to do a whole lot, even the death of his friend near the beginning which sparks off the "action" in the plot seems to affect him very little, and his eventual revenge is just boring and undramatic.Normally a film which has themes as grand as revolution and revenge are able to capture the audience and snare them into feeling something for the characters, however watching this film felt more like seeing a series of confused, and almost random events that loosely tied together towards it's eventual conclusion...At this point I wept...I thought this film was the most horribly painful piece of viewing I have ever been subjected to, the scene where the pilot sacrifices himself by refusing to jump out the explosive laden truck due to not wanting to kill any civilians is not so much tragically sad as it is unnervingly horrible and painful, although not quite as bad as the emergency surgery on the wounded girl. The acting was poor all round, the script and story was weak, the "action" was even weaker, and the "visuals" were but bluntly not all that visual. To summarise there are films which are good, films that are bad, films that are so bad they are good, films that are terrible...And then on a whole new level is "McBain"