Death Before Dishonor (1987)

Director:

Terry Leonard

Writer (WGA):

John Gatliff (written by)

Release Date:

20 February 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

It's not just a job. It's a vendetta!

Plot:

Gunnery Sergeant Burns reports for duty to an American Embassy in the Middle East. However due to the 'enlightened' views of the Ambassador...

Plot Keywords:

Terrorist | Hostage | Ambassador | Middle East | Marine

Cast

Fred Dryer	...	Gunnery Sgt. Burns
Joseph Gian	...	Sgt. Manuel Ramirez (as Joey Gian)
Sasha Mitchell	...	Ruggieri
Peter Parros	...	James
Brian Keith	...	Col. Halloran
Paul Winfield	...	Ambassador
Joanna Pacula	...	Elli
Rockne Tarkington	...	Jihad
Daniel Chodos	...	Amin
Mohammed Bakri	...	Gavril
Chaim Girafi	...	Zabib (as Haim Gerafi)
Tuvia Tavi	...	Elias
Yossi Ashdot	...	Hamed
Yossi Virginsky	...	Attache
Yossi Virzansky	...	Attache
Katya Bishoff	...	Daughter
Rassan Tanus	...	Arab boy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kasey Walker	...	Maude Winter

Directed by
Terry Leonard

Writing credits (WGA)
John Gatliff		(written by)

Produced by
William Braunstein	....	executive producer
Frank Capra Jr.	....	executive producer
Lawrence Kubik	....	producer
Nava Levin	....	associate producer
Arthur H. Maslansky	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Brian May

Cinematography by
Don Burgess

Film Editing by
Steve Mirkovich

Casting by
Michael McLean
April Webster

Production Design by
Kuli Sander

Art Direction by
Ladislav Wilheim

Set Decoration by
Doron Efrat

Costume Design by
Rochelle Zaltzman

Makeup Department
Don Angier	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Eitan Alon	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eli Cohen	....	first assistant director
Sharon Shamir	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Doron Mizrachi	....	chief propman

Sound Department
R.J. Palmer	....	supervising sound editor
Steve Rice	....	adr editor
Steve Rice	....	dialogue editor
Jerry Trent	....	foley artist

Special Effects by
Gary Monak	....	special effects

Stunts
Doug Coleman	....	stunts
David D. Darling	....	stunts (as David Darling)
Terry Jackson	....	additional stunt double: Fred Dryer
Mike Johnson	....	stunts
Tracy Keehn-Dashnaw	....	stunts (as Tracy Keehn)
Lane Leavitt	....	stunts
Kerry Rossall	....	stunt coordinator
Paul Sherrod	....	stunts
Russell Solberg	....	stunts
Frank James Sparks	....	stunts (as Frank Sparks)
Kerry Rossall	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Itzik Ben-Aroya	....	key grip
Moshe Levin	....	camera operator
Moshe Levin	....	director of photography: second unit
Tami Porath	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lew Richard	....	technical consultant

Editorial Department
Timothy Alverson	....	first assistant editor
Reid Burns	....	color timer

Transportation Department
Doron Mizrachi	....	action vehicles coordinator
Gaby Weismann	....	production driver

Other crew
Franco Columbu	....	body building coach
Avner Peled	....	location manager

Production Companies

• Balcor Film Investors
• Bima
• MPI

Distributors

• New World Pictures (1987) (USA) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• Aquarius TV (1993) (Greece) (TV)
• Home Video Hellas (HVH) (1988) (Greece) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• Starmaker Video (video)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

USA:R | Iceland:16 | West Germany:18 (cut) | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Australia:R | UK:18 (cut) | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:18 | Peru:18

Company:

Balcor Film Investors

Trivia:

The US Embassy in Beirut was bombed in April 1983, six months before the Marine Barrack, not Army barracks, were bombed. Death Before Dishonor uses these incidents in the same manner the Heartbreak Ridge used the invasion of Grenada.

Quotes:

Gunnery Sgt. Burns:Both sides of those rocks.
Ruggieri:Why we got to paint both sides of the rocks?
James:I don't know.
Gunnery Sgt. Burns:You boys ever heard of Korea?
James:Yes sir, Gunny.
Gunnery Sgt. Burns:Well then you are probably very familar with the conflict at Hill 442. Is that right?
Ruggieri:Yes sir. Everyone has heard of that battle.
Gunnery Sgt. Burns:And did you know your Colonel is personally responsible for pulling 52 marines off that hill? Alive.
Gunnery Sgt. Burns:So don't you think the Colonel deserves to have his rocks painted tops and bottoms?
Gunnery Sgt. Burns:Good; paint the rocks.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People (2006) (V)

Peace through superior Dryer power.

Cardinal Richelieu said: "War is one of the scourges with which it has pleased God to afflict men."

The scourge who afflicts men in this wheeze is Gunnery Sgt. Burns (Fred Dryer). Burns is a career soldier, battle hardened and grizzled. He has his own interpretation of American foreign military policy, all foreigners are suspect by default and therefore subject to his military policy.

Armed only with this simple misunderstanding (and highly powered automatic weaponry), Burns' ire is aroused when his superior and friend, Col. Halloran (Brian Keith) is bushwacked and spirited away by babbling, machine gun toting "types". Burns' initial bafflement with his superiors reluctance to blame and incacerate every non-American in a hundred mile radius soon gives way to righteous indignation.

Bullets are soon being chambered, grenades are attached to bandoliers and rocket launchers hefted. Before you can say "United Nations peacekeeping envoy" Gunnery Sgt. Burns is (with the help of a few other people who don't stand on ceremony when there are asses to be kicked) laying siege to the desert fortress of a large man who looks like the product of an unholy union between Chewbacca and Dave Lee Travis (sorry, not funny if your not from the UK). After the smoke clears (and we have learnt that any combatant who has received a knife to the chest still has to be punched in the face really hard and fall from a terrace to ensure neutralisation), everyone who deserved to be (except the writers) is riddled with bullets, blown up and in one case has had a jeep dropped on them.

Possibly you may think I don't care much for this film, based on the above, but you'd be wrong. This is a slightly above average actioner, decently edited action scenes and pushes all the politically wrong buttons to get any red blooded blockhead like me baying for blood.

Its a shame Fred Dryer couldn't bring the same understated, laconic charm to this effort that he did to seven years of the excellent cop show Hunter, but he does make a pretty good action hero. Not a bad action pot boiler and I didn't even know it was Islamophobic until I looked it up on wiki.