Enemy Action (1999) User Reviews

Good story, one great performance, rest of the cast only mediocre.

[Kalin-2 · 5/10 · 16 June 1999]

I watched this film only because I had read that Randolph Mantooth was in it. I must say I was pleasantly surprised at Mr. Mantooth's performance. He plays the bad guy to the hilt, but with a perfectly sane reason for his actions.

I won't go into details about the story, too complicated, but the film has reflections of another High Concept film that flopped at the box office I think it starred George Clooney and Nicole Kidman.

The rest of the cast are okay in their roles, but just okay.

Enemy Action isn't anything you haven't seen before. For a suggestion that's similar but better, try The Pandora Project.

[tarbosh22000 · 4/10 · 18 August 2022]

Because he is "the best", John Reed (Howell) is dispatched to the former commie country of Dagestan to stop some baddies who want to release advanced-technology missiles on the U. S. A. The small band of evildoers, led by the sinister Solonsky (Mantooth), but also including Price (Mandylor), Eyepatch (Struycken), Dimitri (Lynch), and Fatima (Pozniak) have met their match with John Reed. Backed up by Catherine Kelly (Thornhill) and Major Pedyed (O'Ross), Reed must stop the missiles, stop the commies, and save the day. But will he be able to stop the ENEMY ACTION?

Hey, remember Stealth Fighter (1999), Desert Thunder (1999), Black Thunder (1998), The Pandora Project (1998), or perhaps Interceptor (1992)? Well, here's another low-budget Roger Corman programmer to file along with all the others. Enemy Action has the benefit of a cast that is well above average, but the movie itself is the usual mishmash of plane slog, dogfight slog, sub slog and mix-and-match-footage-from-other-movies slog that we've all become acquainted with over the years, especially in the output from the late 90's/early 2000's when that sort of thing really seemed to proliferate.

It's not a total loss, however, because Howell and Mantooth are both really good in the film and seem to be giving it their all. Or something close to their all. It helps the proceedings a lot to see that. Of course, there's the time-honored Wacky Taxi Driver. In this case, he proclaims how much he loves the West and his fondest goal is to "marry a Spice Girl". The baseball-loving John Reed really seems to appreciate this. Larry Hankin plays a guy whose name is - if you listen to what other characters seem to be calling him - "Yuri Avocado". Makes sense.

The special effects are indeed quite special, as we've got miniatures that look like they were taken out of a box of Battleship, "explosions" that look like if you crash your plane in a CD-ROM flight simulator from 1994, and an exploding helicopter that's quite literally onscreen for one second. We only point out these things because they help make the movie more fun and more watchable, not out of any sort of negativity.

In the realm of constructive criticism, we would say that the plot was very simplistic and should have had more going on, perhaps more twists and turns. The solid B-Movie cast was nice to see, but what they had to work with wasn't that meaty.

The VHS tape, released by Corman's New Concorde label, states on the tape itself that the film runs 77 minutes. The back of the box states that it's 84 minutes. The film itself is 82 minutes before the credits. All split hairs aside, the movie is still pretty short, but it feels longer because we've all been down this road many times in our viewing past.

In the end, Enemy Action isn't anything you haven't seen before. For a suggestion that's similar but better, try The Pandora Project.

Not the worst B-movie action flick I've seen

[rm91945 · 29 January 2003]

When I first heard this movie was being made, and that Randolph Mantooth was in it, I couldn't wait to see it. Then when I learned another favorite, Richard Lynch, was in it as well, the search was on and after much searching in various video stores I finally found it.

Mantooth's portrayal of an angry, Russian-like character was superb, his acting always is whether playing a good-guy (his usual role) or a baddie. However, his accent was less than impressive, even Mantooth admitted in interviews he was never happy with it. But this does not take away from his obvious talents as the evil Solansky who wants to cause a political coup in a small `Eastern block' country.

Lynch is always fun to watch and never disappoints either, especially when playing the baddie. I especially like the scene where he punches C. Thomas Howell in the face, while holding a rather impressive looking handgun in the same hand -- ouch!

C. Thomas Howell did a good job, but his partner was horrible! Who told that woman she could act!? Think she was merely `window dressing'. The rest of the cast were `okay', not the worst I've seen, but not the best either. Clearly the standouts in this cast were Mantooth, Lynch and Howell.

A great villain is good to find

[taarna-2 · 15 July 1999]

A grade B Roger Corman production (he is King of the B's). There are no better B's than his. The standout Grade A performance is Randolph Mantooth. His 'bad' guy Solonsky is so good that you're rooting for him to complete his evil mission so he won't go the way of all bad guys. All the rest of the characters are cardboard cutouts. Solonsky is fleshed-out, warm-blooded,and hot-headed. Mantooth should be picked up for more roles in this genre. I can see him in a Bond type flick. Or Austin Powers...

An exciting Randolph Mantooth film.

[cgwright1 · 15 July 2000]

I must admit that when I heard that Randolph Mantooth was in a movie I rushed to the video store to rent it. I am a new user to the internet and was excited that I found this website. At first I watched the movie because Mr. Mantooth was included in the cast, but right away I realized that the plot was interesting. It is interesting to see Mr. Mantooth in a variety of characters. This character was fascinating, his accent "on the money". I enjoyed watching the movie and anxiously await more.

Great Acting by Randolph Mantooth

[carol.orndorff · 6 January 2002]

I purchased this video only because Randolph Mantooth acted in it. I must say that I was not disappointed at all. Randolph Mantooth's acting ability is great. I have not found a role that he has played that he did not play well. In this film he portrayed the bad guy wonderfully. I would suggest that anyone who is a Randolph Mantooth fan and wants to see great acting watch this movie. Mr. Mantooth definitely was the hit of the movie. I must say without Randolph Mantooth acting in the movie it would have been a lot less than okay, probably a flop.