Cobra (1986)

A tough-on-crime street cop must protect the only surviving witness to a strange murderous cult with far reaching plans.

Director:

George P. Cosmatos

Writers:

Paula Gosling (novel), Sylvester Stallone (screenplay)

Stars:

Sylvester Stallone, Brigitte Nielsen, Reni Santoni

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sylvester Stallone	...	Lieutenant Marion 'Cobra' Cobretti
Brigitte Nielsen	...	Ingrid
Reni Santoni	...	Sergeant Gonzales
Andrew Robinson	...	Detective Monte
Brian Thompson	...	Night Slasher
John Herzfeld	...	Cho
Lee Garlington	...	Nancy Stalk
Art LaFleur	...	Captain Sears (as Art La Fleur)
Marco Rodríguez	...	Supermarket Killer (as Marco Rodriguez)
Ross St. Phillip	...	Security Guard
Val Avery	...	Chief Halliwell
David Rasche	...	Dan
John Hauk	...	Low Rider
Nick Angotti	...	Prodski
Nina Axelrod	...	Waitress

Storyline

A gang of neo-fascist thugs, led by the self-proclaimed 'Night Slasher', are breaking into people's homes & cars, then killing them at random. When of of these thugs holds up a food store & takes hostages, Lt. Marian Cobretti - an intense, take-no-prisoners cop, is brought onto the scene to end the hostage-taking. Ranting bizarrely about a 'New World', the man levels a sawed-off shotgun at Cobretti, who hits him with a knife, then guns him down when the man refuses to put down his weapon. Later that night, another murder occurs, attributed to the Night Slasher - and the next day, another one. This one is witnessed by a young woman, Ingrid Knutsen. She drives away before the thugs can kill her, but it isn't long before some creepy-looking people start making attempts on her life - and Cobretti's. Cobretti plans to move the only witness to the blood spree upstate, but with inside information, the thugs follow them. And a battle for survival rages between Cobretti and the thugs...

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Plot Keywords:

cult film | witness | supermarket | psychopath | car | 

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Taglines:

The strong arm of the law.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 May 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die City-Cobra

Filming Locations:

Dell Ave, Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$49,042,224 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cannon Group, Golan-Globus Productions, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min 73 min (heavily cut) 78 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Ultra Stereo (35 mm prints) (as Eagle Stereo)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although it was considered a box office disappointment at the time, especially compared to the recent results for the Stallone blockbusters _Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)_ and _Rocky IV (1985)_, Cobra (1986) grossed $12,653,032 on its opening weekend, which was the largest opening weekend in the history of Warner Brothers up to that point. It also earned over $160 million worldwide, making a substantial profit on its budget of around $25 million (along with marketing costs).

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Goofs

After the final fight, a police officer takes away Cobra's machine gun, but does not notice the pistol stuck in his belt.

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Quotes

Cobretti: As long as we play by these bullshit rules and the killer doesn't, we're gonna lose!

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: The Apple (2014)

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Soundtracks

Feel the Heat
Produced, Arranged, Composed and Performed by Jean Beauvoir
Courtesy of Columbia Records and Virgin Records

User Reviews

Rambo watch out

I do believe that "Cobra" first-appeared in theaters after the three or four Rambo films came out.This is definitely not Stallone's worst Film. It was deemed as one of the most violent, offensive mainstream movies of its era (1986) however it's a great flick for fans of exploitive films. After all how can you shy away from lines like: "You're the disease. I'm the cure." "This is where the law stops, and I begin." And there are some members from the old "Dirty Harry" cast, like Andrew Robinson, who played the vicious serial killer. Anyhow, it's worth the time to waste to catch it on cable or rent for 50 cents.