Escuadrón (1988)

Director:

José Antonio de la Loma

Writers:

Douglas Borton (writer)
Carlos Vasallo (writer)

Release Date:

12 May 1988 (West Germany)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot:

A team of specialists is dispatched to protect the leader of a Middle Eastern country from a neighboring dictator who has designs on his country.

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film

Cast

Simón Andreu	...	Commisioner
Kabir Bedi	...	Koura
Kevin Bernhardt	...	Sutherland
Enric Cervera
Susana Dosamantes	...	Roxana
Robert Forster	...	The Dictator
Isaac Hayes	...	Ballard
Louis Jourdan	...	Kassar
George Kennedy	...	Vince Colby
Robert Millar	...	Baines
Josep Minguell	...	Selim
Betty Moran	...	TV Newscaster
Jorge Rivero	...	Harris
Enrique Rubio	...	Hasson
Noel J. Samson	...	Gammal
Andrew Stevens	...	Nash
Hugo Stiglitz	...	The Blond
Jordi Torras	...	Mohumar
Nancy Venables	...	Mohumar's Girl Friend

Also Known As:

Counterforce (USA)
Escuadrón: Counterforce (Spain)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA | Mexico | Spain

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Spain:13 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Company:

Golden Sun

Trivia:

Hugo Stiglitz's dialogue is dubbed in the English version by 'Ed Mannix'.

Enjoyable, lightweight nostalgia

Well first off I must say what a great assembled cast of B-Movie stars appear in this! We have Jorge Rivero, Issac Hayes, George Kennedy, Louis Jordan and Robert Forster to name but a few!

Rivero appears here as leader of the eponymous Counterforce, a sort of crack special unit designated to sort out trouble wherever in the world it may occur and under whatever terrain/conditions present. Strangely the group comprises only four members (!) but these are no ordinary soldiers, oh no, these guys are apparently the best of the best in their specialist fields.

The plot concerns our macho men given the assignment to protect an exiled leader from a fanatical Islamic dictator (Robert Forster in a decidedly odd bit of casting!) The various attempts on the exiled leaders life provide the basis for the bulk of the action sequences throughout the film, although it has to be said that there simply aren't enough of these said scenes present to satisfy the average action junkie. Added to this, even when the action sequences do take place, the said action is rarely handled with much panache by the director here. In fact even the supposed action soaked finale the viewer will no doubt be hoping for is something of a disappointment.

However, even having said the above, the film actually remains very watchable, not least of all because of the highly likable heroes. I actually found the film and especially the protagonists relationships with one another to be pleasantly reminiscent of that classic eighties show The A-Team. In fact everyone in the team seems to be the best of buddies and even during the heat of fire fights whilst dodging bullets, these guys are still cracking witty one liners at one another accompanied by wry smiles! Not just the relationships either, the whole film itself exudes that curiously pleasant 'feel good' 80's TV charm. Such an innocent action movie style is so refreshing to watch when viewed against some of the deadly serious, pretentious and overblown Hollywood action output of late.

For fans of 1980's nostalgia ala The A-Team, Knightrider etc I'd highly recommend this enjoyable yarn. Fans of super high octane action however, will probably find this to be underwhelming stuff and would be best advised to skip it.